1990 Ubi Soft
Platforms: Amiga, Atari ST
Valgaard was an ambitious Viking themed title in development by Dominique Sablons and his team under the name Zeugma, with a publishing deal signed with Ubi Soft in March 1990. The game put players in the role of a Viking warrior or prince, cast out from his homeland after a duel gone wrong. Forced into exile, you would set sail with a small crew, limited resources and a longship, tasked with surviving and ultimately restoring your honour.
Previews in French magazines at the time told of a very expansive and varied experience within the game. Génération 4 described how players would explore northern Europe, managing supplies and crew morale whilst facing dangers such as sea monsters like the Kraken. Survival could be achieved through multiple means, including trade with merchants, looting villages or outright piracy, with both naval and land based encounters playing a key role.
On land, the game switched into action sequences, with battles similar to North & South, featuring both infantry and mounted units. These sequences would see players attacking settlements, chasing villagers and taking control through force. Alongside this, there was a longer term objective of colonising new regions and building up wealth and resources.
Tilt magazine expanded further on the structure, describing a game split into a series of ten missions of increasing difficulty. Exploration, intelligence gathering and careful resource management were all crucial to success. Players would need to monitor morale, provisions and weapon supplies constantly, whilst choosing how to approach each situation. Trade systems were also said to be quite in depth, allowing exchanges of goods, warriors and even slaves.
Combat could also take place both at sea as well as on land. The naval encounters were described as taking place from an overhead perspective, where players would control ships individually, adjusting sails and rowing power depending on wind conditions. Attacks could be directed and boarding depended on the strength of your crew. The land based gameplay included hunting, ambushes and sieges of towns and fortifications.
Graphically, the game was strong, which is perhaps no surprise given Dominique’s background in animation. Génération 4 in particular highlighted the quality of the visuals and animation, suggesting the game was shaping up to be something quite special. Tilt also noted that the gameplay system was aiming to be highly sophisticated, blending action, strategy and adventure elements together.
A later mention in Micro News (issue 49) confirmed that well known composer David Whittaker had been brought on board to handle the game’s music duties. With David’s strong track record, the audio side of Valgaard was in very capable hands – but it means there is lost music to find from the legend as well.
Despite positive coverage and a planned release window around early 1991, the game quietly disappeared. It is currently unclear exactly what led to its cancellation, though it may have fallen victim to internal issues at Ubi Soft during that period.
Some materials relating to Valgaard do still exist today. Archives belonging to Dominique Sablons, held at the Conservatoire National du Jeu Vidéo, reportedly contain seven floppy disks including source code for the project. At the time of writing, these have not yet been recovered or preserved publicly.
With any luck, these disks may one day be accessed and allow Valgaard to finally be seen once more. Until then, it remains a fascinating and highly promising lost title from the early 90s.
Thank you to Hoagie/Abandonware France for the information and Abandonware Magazines for the scans.
Gallery
Looks amazing.