"Nothing ventured... nothing gained. To add venture you must Adventure!"
-Castleberry
I decided to try something new. I haven't played any real video games in many years. I have tried a few games on a couple of my friend's consoles and played some retro stuff on an emulator. I don't really count that though. It's been a very long time since i have bought, owned, and played any real games.
After reading a post by 
I wasn't exactly sure what i was getting myself into... but now i am sure it will be quite the Adventure to add venture! The first i needed to do once i got set up was make a character. I called him Björn Berserk... referencing Björn Ironside, an actual Viking king and the Berserker rage Vikings were also known for.
This game definitely doesn't hold your hand in helping you understand or get your Viking sea-legs under you. I quite enjoy that aspect of the game. This game is loosely based on one of the Nordic mythical realms and the mythology of the Viking culture. The structure of the game is to build, develop and grow, explore, conquer, and most importantly... survive.
As part of fulfilling many of those aspects, you need a good dwelling. Since i have never played any of the newer building games such as Minecraft and the rest, i began this game with a major disadvantage. It's ok though... since i had a lot of help from a couple of friends.
Getting yourself a home base is one of the keys to getting going with some momentum. Of course, you have to build that home. Fortunately, i was able to have a bed in the cold dark corner of Deranged's house temporarily. You can see me looking to my corner in the image below.
Since we have the Hive settlement growing at the moment i didn't want to start building until i hooked up with the hommies. As i mentioned building is a strategic aspect of this game for furthering the adventure. I think i started my house over about three times. Here you can see the sun shining into my unfinished roof.
In the background, you can see the house 
After building, then deconstructing, and then reconstructing over and over i was a bit tired mentally and frustrated. Just like me in that state... the character needs to rest from time to time. You can see me sleeping in the house that Ruben built after a hard day's work on my other house. This game is not for the faint of heart... but it is much easier with a team and fellow Vikings.
The cycles of day and night are kind of cool. It makes you feel like you got to prepare in advance for the passing of time. Of course, it's not very fun having those long, cold, and sleepless nights. This is definitely a game experience you can't rush... even if you wanted to.
I finally finished building my house and could now get started on the game. That was a gratifying experience considering how many mistakes and ignorances it took to overcome and find a small victory. You can see the built-in fireplace next to my bed. You have to have a vent for your fire since you can die from smoke inhalation. You can see my workbench for crafting on the far left, which i just upgraded! Not my dream home yet... but for now, this will do. I really feel ready to get this adventure going now!
If you want to get started too then come and join the Hive Viking Settlement with us! We can build together! There is also a contest for building in this server which just kicked off today. Below, i will tell you how to get started and you can read about the Valheim contest on our exclusive Hive server!! at that link there.
Valheim is available as an early release at The Steam Store and can be purchased for about $22.00 dollars USD after taxes. I had to set up a Steam account just to get this game. Once you buy it you own it! So there isn't a monthly fee or anything. From what i read in the reviews and one of the things that persuaded me to take the risk was that many folks were saying this game was better in early release than many others as final products.
Honestly, i couldn't say, but it is trending as one of the most successful games sold on Steam ever. That is pretty incredible since it's only going to get better as it develops.
Once you buy and download the game and launch it... you will have to create your character. Then you will come to a start menu which looks much like the screenshot below. If you see i circled CANCEL... that's because to join the Hive server you will need to skip that popup.
Next, you will be brought to the screen below. I put a 1, 2, and 3 in the steps you need to take to get connected. First, click Join Game. Second, click Join IP. Third, fill in the IP number to connect. After you fill in the IP you will be prompted to type in a password. Below is the IP and Password. Copy it somewhere because you will have to paste it in every time you log in to the server.
IP: 173.237.31.108:30000
Password: valheim (all lowercase)
Earlier today i was able to challenge, face, and vanquish the first boss. I almost shat my britches trying to take this screenshot below. I could have gotten a better image... but didn't want it to be too much of a spoiler. Come join our Hive Viking Settlement and build, develop, explore, and survive with us LIKE A BOSS!
I don't have the best gaming computer or setup and I am definitely a noob. Trust me... if i can do it... so can you! It would only take winning a contest or two (there will be more to come) and/or posting a few times about your experience to pay for the game itself. I hope to see some of y'all over there!
Thanks for taking time to stop by and check out my post! Now it's time for me to go get started on the contest!
