2.2 is the current version

Pirates, Vikings, and Knights II
Announcing Beta II

Since it's original public release in January of 2007, Pirates, Vikings, and Knights II has been one of the most popular and innovative independent games using the Source game engine. The response to the release of PVKII has been largely positive, but the number one thing that gamers want is "more". Beta II addresses this issue with the addition of three entirely new playable character classes, a host of new weapons that adds more variety and a greater sense of intensity, chaos, and fun to combat. These new classes are as follows-

Pirate Captain
This grizzled old seadog is a veteran of sending unfortunate landlubbers to Davy Jones' locker. Armed with a powder-packed blunderbuss rifle, he's not afraid to get up close and blow away whoever or whatever stands in his way. As if that's not enough, his vicious man-eating attack parrot is more than willing to peck the eyes out of the nearest bilge rat. For close quarters combat he carries a rusty old cutlass that may not be as effective as the other instruments of destruction, but it sure can cause a bad case of tetanus.

Huscarl Viking
Big, bulky, and wrapped in the latest chainmail fashion, the Huscarl is part of elite class of Viking warriors. In addition to carrying an axe capable of splitting a man in half, he has several throwing axes, a sword, and a big wooden round shield. His chain shirt and engraved headpiece are not only the envy of the other vikings, they're also practical!

Knightly Archer
The archer carries the most effective missile weapon in the game. Able to target an eyeball at 100 yards, the longbow is deadly accurate in the hands of an experienced bowman. He had better keep from the melee though, as his wimpy little short sword isn't going to protect him from that horde of angry Vikings. That is, unless his special meter is powered up and he fires a volley of arrows in one notch.


In addition to the new classes, we have taken a careful look at the existing combat system. In Beta II, we have modified this system considerably to add more options and to prevent abuse of certain features. We don't want to reveal too much, as these changes are still a work in progress and are subject to modifications as we continue to test and balance the next release. One thing that we have implemented is a change in how melee hits are registered. Normally, melee weapons act much like a gun would- they 'trace' out from the player in 3d space, and if something is hit within a certain distance, the object being hit receives damage. As you can see from the video below, the weapon arc is now taken into account when swinging a weapon. This makes the first person view more accurately match what is actually being hit, and minimizes those occasions where a swing clearly looks like a hit, but it never registers because of the old simplistic hit detection system. With a weapon that has a wide arc like the two-handed sword, it is possible to damage multiple objects or players in a single swing.

Beta II is currently planned for a release when it's done.We are all very excited about continuing development of PVKII, and hope to bring you all more news soon!