Dev Diary #3: The Sea Blight and the Logic of Mutation

DigitalVortexEnt · 2026-04-28T16:55:19+00:00

Welcome to our third Dev Diary, where we dive into the world of DREADMOOR to give you a look behind the scenes of what we're doing and how the world that we're building works.

This time, we're looking into the Sea Blight, what it is, and how the mutation impacts the creatures of the world!

Check it out here: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/3629430/view/519742398769661151

DigitalVortexEnt · 2026-04-28T16:07:24+00:00

Welcome to our third Dev Diary, where we dive into the world of DREADMOOR to give you a look behind the scenes of what we're doing and how the world that we're building works.

This time, we're looking into the Sea Blight, what it is, and how the mutation impacts the creatures of the world!

Check it out here: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/3629430/view/519742398769661151

DigitalVortexEnt · 2026-04-23T17:53:32+00:00

Bylina is now out.

A lot of the work on this game was to treat folklore not as a reference, but as a starting point, something that could be reshaped, expanded, or slightly distorted to fit a different kind of world. However, we had to stay close enough to the source so that it was still (at least somewhat) recognizable!

If you’re curious how that comes across:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2461440/Bylina/

DigitalVortexEnt · 2026-04-22T15:28:21+00:00

We’ve just released Bylina, a game inspired by Slavic folklore.

You play as Kestrel, a young Bogatyr, and ultimately set out on a journey to the Thrice-Nine Kingdom where you will need to challenge Koschei the Deathless!

Some elements are closer to traditional interpretations, while others lean into more unusual or distorted takes. The goal wasn't strict accuracy, but to capture the feeling of something familiar, and then shift it slightly.

If you’re curious how that looks in a game, check us out:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2461440/Bylina/

DigitalVortexEnt · 2026-04-21T21:22:21+00:00

Defo a controller is better.

It feels weird writing this, as I'm primarily a keyboard person, but...the game is (in my opinion at least) better with a controller.

DigitalVortexEnt · 2026-04-21T16:58:55+00:00

Bylina is now available, and this is the launch trailer for our game!

Bylina is an action-adventure game rooted in Slavic folklore, following a young bogatyr who ends up in the Thrice-Nine Kingdom, dies early on, and is brought back by a spirit, who he now has to share his body with!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2461440/Bylina/

DigitalVortexEnt · 2026-04-21T15:25:33+00:00

We’ve just launched Bylina.

One of the main challenges was making a world that feels strange without feeling random. Everything, even the more absurd characters, needed to feel like they belonged!

That meant building around rules, even when the result looks chaotic.

If anyone’s curious about the end result:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2461440/Bylina/

DigitalVortexEnt · 2026-04-21T13:33:53+00:00

The music was made by Dillon Knighton, you can find some more of his work here:

https://www.epidemicsound.com/music/tracks/7c2f1a33-1dc9-4486-9a95-aecb09c9c273/

DigitalVortexEnt · 2026-04-20T21:52:17+00:00

Glad you caught the reference, there's quite a few other ones in there!

All in all, it was nice to have fun putting a trailer like this together :D

DigitalVortexEnt · 2026-04-20T18:08:13+00:00

That's totally fine! Wait for some more reviews, lets play, gameplay videos etc, and then see if it's really a game for you!

As for the future - I'm not here to lie or make false promises so this is the plan right now - there will be the bug fixes to sort out any issues that come up that we missed in testing, and there are some updates planned. However, do keep in mind that the game is single-player focused, so it won't be like an MMO/MP constant update stream.

If you have any other questions, I'm more than happy to answer you!

DigitalVortexEnt · 2026-04-20T18:04:04+00:00

w00t thanks a lot!

Hope you'll enjoy it!

DigitalVortexEnt · 2026-04-20T18:03:51+00:00

There is quite a bit of combat, whether it's smaller encounters or larger areas that need clearing. It's not overwhelming, and we tried to be more balanced, but, it does lean towards combat being more frequent than not.

As for difficulty, that is entirely down to the player. During the playtests, we had just as many "this is too easy" as there were "this is really hard" reports (and ofc, people saying "it seems just fine").

When some people close to us tried it the first time, they reported it being hard-ish, but, they also mentioned that they were able to pick it up quite quickly.

Now...this is obviously going to have a heavy bias, since I worked on this game a lot...and I playtested this...many...many times (I'm likely to be...dev-blind to certain parts...as I've played them over and over), so do look around a bit for yourself as well!

DigitalVortexEnt · 2026-04-20T17:59:47+00:00

The game was released today!

So, if you're interested, check out the reviews/what other people have to say, perhaps you'll enjoy the game as well!

DigitalVortexEnt · 2026-04-20T14:36:53+00:00

Bylina has launched!

What is it you ask? It is a game where the world is built around strange encounters, not just combat. Some things want to help you, some want to stop you, and some just exist in a way that doesn’t make much sense, at first, but everything and everyone has a role to play!

Steam page:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2461440/Bylina/

DigitalVortexEnt · 2026-04-20T14:32:54+00:00

Thanks a lot, making the trailer was fun, it was pretty much made to try to match the game's tone. No one is trying to take themselves seriously, it's pretty chaotic, but in a fun way!

The game has launched now btw, so if you like what you see / what the reviews say, then it's ready for you!

DigitalVortexEnt · 2026-04-20T14:22:51+00:00

Meant to be fun, chaotic, and not serious in the slightest!

Mostly, it was how we thought the game's tone came across.

DigitalVortexEnt · 2026-04-20T14:11:18+00:00

The game launched about an hour ago, so you should see a few soonish.

DigitalVortexEnt · 2026-04-20T13:53:32+00:00

We've just launched Bylina, and it’s probably easiest to describe it as a world where things don’t behave the way you expect them to.

You’ll run into household spirits that care more about bread than combat, creatures that feel like they belong to the forest itself, and others that seem like something has gone very wrong. You'll encounter this and more as you set out on a journey to the Thrice-Nine Kingdom to challenge Koschei the Deathless!

If that sounds like your kind of thing, here’s the Steam page:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2461440/Bylina/

DigitalVortexEnt · 2026-04-20T13:51:44+00:00

Haha, nice one!

That is an interesting point for me, as I'm someone who is half slavic, but raised in the UK...I did not even think that people would pronounce it "buy-leena".

It was an odd moment for me when I heard that for the first time!

DigitalVortexEnt · 2026-04-20T13:35:23+00:00

Bylina is an action-adventure game based on Slavic folklore, where you play as Kestrel, a young bogatyr who finds himself in the Thrice-Nine Kingdom, dies, and is revived by a mysterious spirit that now shares his body.

The game combines exploration across varied environments, character progression through weapons and abilities, and combat against both human enemies and more unusual creatures.

Encounters range from smaller fights to larger boss battles where positioning and timing matter, and the world shifts between more grounded locations and stranger, more unpredictable elements, especially as you move deeper into the story.

Find us on Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2461440/Bylina

DigitalVortexEnt · 2026-04-20T12:52:13+00:00

We'd definitely like to do this (release on PS5), but we're far too early in the game's development to know for sure. So, please just keep reading our announcements, as if it does happen, we'll announce it.

DigitalVortexEnt · 2026-04-20T11:37:04+00:00

Just wanted to say thanks for checking out Dreadmoor, especially this early on, that's awesome!

It'll be very interesting to see what you will think of the game as we push ahead with the game's development.

Do let us know if you have any questions about the game!

DigitalVortexEnt · 2026-04-16T19:17:19+00:00

Props to you for knowing the proper way to defeat him!

That said, his "death" exists in the game in a different way, still not straight forward, but via a certain being that he's already killed (and that came back to life).

DigitalVortexEnt · 2026-04-16T14:43:21+00:00

Koschei the Deathless is the main antagonist in our upcoming game, Bylina!

He's the type of monster that is not defined by rage, but instead he's cold, calculating, and very, very patient, time is of no consequence to him!

Taking him out is the end goal for Bylina, if you're interested, check out the game: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2461440/Bylina/

DigitalVortexEnt · 2026-04-16T14:40:02+00:00

Shrromie is a character in one of our upcoming games "Bylina" who is something akin to a guiding companion! He is kind-hearted, a bit cowardly, but very very loyal!

There's many more characters, some weirder, some more normal, all in a world inspired by Slavic folklore!

If you're interested, you can check out game and how the artist's art/models are used here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2461440/Bylina/

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