Sink Your Teeth Into Our V Rising Case Study

Did you know? In addition to developing and publishing a variety of great video games, Auroch Digital is also available as a Work-For-Hire studio. Our team have worked on titles such as Sea of Thieves, Wobbledogs, Plague Inc, and Fury of Dracula: Digital Edition.

Speaking of Nosferatu, members of the Auroch Digital herd recently had the great opportunity to work on V Rising, the Vampire Action-RPG Survival game from Swedish-based developers Stunlock Studios. Our task? Support the team by porting the game from PC to PlayStation 5.

Today, we’re reflecting on the experiences from all areas of the development process so you can get a glimpse behind the curtain of all the hard work that goes into bringing great games to wider audiences on console.

Partnering with Stunlock Studios

After V Rising had been a smash hit through its Steam Early Access launch, Stunlock Studios wanted to bring the title to PlayStation to coincide with the game’s full release, which is what led the Stunlock Studios to approach Auroch Digital with this exciting new project.

In V Rising, you awaken as a vampire and must hunt for blood in nearby settlements to regain your strength and evade the scorching sun to survive. Raise your castle and thrive in an ever-changing, open world full of mystery. Gain allies online and conquer the land of the living.

With the successful Steam Early Access release and thriving community Stunlock Studios had built, it was essential to maintain the core experience from PC that players had enjoyed but adapt it for console, namely, playing with a gamepad.

“Knowing the sort of success the PC version had during early access was very exciting. Working with the team at Stunlock Studios while they were still refining the primary platform version was different from other projects we’ve worked on, but it allowed us to keep the source material as close to the original as possible.” Mark Inman, Lead Producer (He/Him)

Meet Our Team | The Auroch Brood

After recently celebrating our 14th birthday as a studio, we have a wealth of experience from a plethora of titles that we were able to bring to this project. Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun, Mars Horizon, and Brewmaster: Beer Brewing Simulator are all titles we’ve developed, and we have already successfully ported many titles to consoles, such as Democracy 4: Console Edition, Wildermyth: Console Edition, Wobbledogs, The Colonists, and Megaquarium. 

Reflecting on Auroch Digital’s work on the PlayStation 5 version of V Rising will be Mark Inman, Lead Producer (He/Him), Fraser McCormick, Principal Programmer (He/Him), Japeth Gurr, Programmer (He/Him), Caleb Duncan, Quality Assurance, (He/Him), and Dan Baldwin, UI/UX Artist (He/Him).

Understanding The Project | Sinking Our Teeth Into This Port

In previous porting jobs, the team took established ‘keyboard and mouse’ titles and made it feel natural and fun to play with a controller. V Rising was no different, and our different teams worked closely together to ensure each interaction felt just as good on a controller as it did on the keyboard and mouse

“The process for adapting content was highly iterative wherein we used programmes for speedy concepting and tweaking of layouts. Feedback was frequent with the [Stunlock Studios] and internally with all disciplines to ensure UI/UX didn't deviate systems too heavily from the preexisting PC layouts, whilst considering the rest of the teams needs such as gamepad flow within screens and panels.” Dan Baldwin, UI/UX Artist (He/Him)

As well as our UI/UX team working on making the layout of the game suitable for console play, our programming team were also involved in the process from their side, too:“Every single screen in the game (frontend or in-game) was reworked to improve sizing and readability, which was challenging enough for existing player-facing information. A lot of things would frequently be hidden in mouse-over tooltips or other context-dependent mouse actions, and we had to find new ways of displaying this information, too.” Japeth Gurr, Programmer (He/Him)

The re-design of the UI/UX in the PS5 version of V Rising was so well received by Stunlock Studios that the developer of the PC version made the decision to incorporate the console version’s UI/UX into the PC version of the game. Our team was delighted to hear this as it proved that the work they were doing on the PS5 edition went beyond the expectations of just replicating the PC version on console.

“Having their dev teams look at our solutions and say, ‘we’d like to integrate this into the PC version, if you are okay with that?’ felt hugely satisfying. It proved to the rest of the team that the work we were doing on this port could go beyond the PS5 version and it gives us even more knowledge for doing similar work on future projects.” Mark Inman, Lead Producer (He/Him)

Overcoming Obstacles | Keeping The Blood Flowing

To ensure that the console version was as close to the PC version as possible, the aim was to ensure V Rising ran at 60fps at 1080p. This was no small feat, however, and while it proved challenging at times, the team was able to achieve it!

“A lot of great work had already been done by our partners at Stunlock to optimise the game for PC. When adapting this to the console platform, it took some close collaboration to identify target areas for optimisation and who was best placed to carry out that work. Regular performance profiling enabled us to quickly react to any performance-impacting feature changes or regressions as the project approached release.” Fraser McCormick, Principal Programmer, (He/Him)

Once the game was in a playable state, our QA team started their work and provided feedback to the rest of the group so we could ensure that the game was running as intended. With V Rising being a multiplayer game, it was something which our QA team hadn’t much experience in testing, but that didn’t deter them.

“Other games I've tested were linear in nature or had a somewhat smaller scope, which made it easier for focused testing. In comparison, working on V Rising was like fighting a Dark Souls boss for the first time, I still had a great deal of fun despite the challenges we faced. Getting accustomed to the role of being a QA discipline lead for the project was also a first for me, as such, I take a great deal of pride in the work I did.” Caleb Duncan, QA Tester (He/Him)

Collaboration | Flying High With Our Partners

Ensuring that everyone is working towards the same goal and communicating effectively is key when working on any title. 

The PS5 version of V Rising was being created alongside the full release of the PC version (which was being handled directly by Stunlock Studios). Ensuring that both teams were working in tandem was paramount during development:

“My favourite part of the project must be the team. As well as our internal team at Auroch (who are all incredibly supportive), I also had the chance to collaborate with the tech team at Stunlock Studios, who were all a pleasure to work with.” Fraser McCormick, Principal Programmer, (He/Him)

“Due to the nature of the project cross discipline, collaboration was a clear highlight, receiving requests for updates to systems provided an excellent staging ground for disciplines to work closely together, personally I found this the most rewarding part of development.” Dan Baldwin, UI/UX Artist (He/Him)

The Results | Supernatural Response

When the reviews for V Rising on PS5 were published, we were delighted to see it achieving a Metacritic score of 79! Many of the reviews heralded the port as a success, which was a combination of great game design by Stunlock Studios and porting work from us at Auroch Digital.

God is a Geek: “The PS5 version of V Rising is just as playable and compelling as the PC version, and you absolutely should play one or the other if possible.”

Game Rant: “Minor issues of pacing and controls aside, V Rising on PS5 is a more than worthy port. Its expressive customization options, unfolding combat mechanics, and flexible build crafting have made it a must-own for PC players, and now the same can be said for PlayStation players.”

GLHF on Sports Illustrated: “V Rising has finally taken its final form on PS5, and it’s a fun survival crafting experience.”

What’s Next? | As Morning Draws Near, The Vampires Vanish

With V Rising now out on PS5 and Auroch Digital’s work on the project complete, what’s next for our blood-thirsty staff? We are always on the hunt to port more games to PC or console.

We are experts in porting a wide variety of games, from mobile to PC, PC to console, and even boardgame to video game. We work with large and established IPs, on asset and content creation, and much more. We also offer publishing services alongside our porting work with our in-house marketing department. 

Whether it’s a new work-for-hire project or another co-development opportunity, the team at Auroch Digital is happy to hear from you about any projects you would like to work with us on! Reach out to darkle@aurochdigital.com, and we’ll be happy to see how Auroch Digital can help you.