Welcome, Realmwalkers, to the reveal of our biggest update yet!
Today, in the first of two blogs, we’re going to discuss some details of our much anticipated next free update coming to Nightingale later this summer. ‘Part One’ will take a look at one of our most requested features and then talk about our new approach to how progression works throughout the game. In next week’s ‘Part Two’, we’ll be diving into the Realms themselves, discussing story updates and other exciting things you can expect to discover when venturing into the Faewilds.
Let’s have a look at what’s coming!
Nightingale: Realms Rebuilt
We’re happy to reveal the title of our next update will be Nightingale: Realms Rebuilt.
This is our largest and most significant update since we launched into Early Access, and we wanted to give it a title that made it clear that we’ve been up to important stuff - tinkering, improving and rebuilding large parts of the Nightingale experience (we’re also increasing build limits, so it doubles as a bit of on-the-nose wordplay). Our goal for the update was to take a holistic look at what’s working and what’s not in the game, making valuable changes and introducing new features that add more meaning and substance to our Faewilds.
A glimpse at the mystical Crossways...
It’s all thanks to a huge effort from our studio team over the last few months - and it feels great to finally reveal it to all our intrepid Realmwalkers. While we’re launching the update later in the Summer, we’re still in Early Access, so the whole team is eager to hear your feedback so we can continue to make the right improvements and adjustments as we continue this journey to 1.0.
Now, time for details…
Progression Tree
When the Portals open to Realms Rebuilt, you will notice that there has been a change to the way that you unlock recipes and progress your Realmwalker and Estate on your journey. In the current system, players unlock recipes either by completing quests or by purchasing them from Traders scattered across the Realms.
While that was a functional way to unlock new tools and equipment, in reviewing the system we felt that the reliance on Traders created a disconnect between how players increase Gear Score and how they progress through the game. Our aim is to make progression unlocks more intrinsic and overall feel harmonious to the player journey.
The Realms Rebuilt update will debut our new Progression path for players.
Unlock new gear, tools, augmentations, and more via the 'Progression' tab
Tech tree? Skill path? Ability aurora borealis? While there are lots of different terms and visual representations of the same basic idea, we’ve gone with the straightforward ‘Progression’ tab that you’ll now find in your Guidebook. By having a clearer understanding of how you progress your tools and equipment through the game, we hope that it will empower players with more autonomy over how they progress through Nightingale.
In practical terms, how this works is not totally unlike the current system. Essence is used as a currency, and as you gain Essence you can use it to unlock new benches, tools and gear on the Progression tab - Tier 1 Essence unlocks Tier 1 items, Tier 2 Essence unlocks Tier 2 items, etc…
We know what some of you are already thinking - time to put the Boomsickle to use and vacuum up a bunch of grass and sticks to harvest for Tier 1 Essence. Puck would approve of your cunning. Well, your lawnmowing days are over. Plant fibre, rocks, and sticks no longer extract into Essence. You can still extract Essence from other items and resources but there will also be more emphasis on completing points-of-interest (POIs), quests and challenges to reach Essence goals while reducing the overall grind - but we’ll talk more about what to expect from the new challenges and POIs in the next blog.
One other note is that we're changing the role of Augmentations in Nightingale. Augmentations are no longer required for crafting specific items. Now, players can attach Augmentations to benches to gain a variety of buffs in the crafting process. Additionally, we've also revisited the number of Augmentations in the game.
Structure Limit Increase
We’ve been working hard to bring you this update as quickly as possible. For the last few months, we’ve been asked the same thing again and again: “When are you going to increase the structure limits?”. That moment is just around the corner as the Realms Rebuilt update not only brings along a bunch of changes and new content but also marks the inclusion of this much-requested expansion.
We’re now simplifying the system to two limits instead of three. The first limit is how many individual pieces you can have in a structure. This has been increased to more than triple what it is right now. The second is a Realm-wide weight limit that includes both building pieces and freestanding structures (like workbenches). If a player approaches the new limit a UI indicator will appear (you also have an option to display this information at all times).
A Realmwalker overlooking their much larger estate (hey - that tileset looks new...)
For those interested in the technical effort, we’ve achieved this by reducing the underlying data required to represent the game state of an individual structure piece by 80%, which allows for a significant increase to the number of building pieces per structure. We’ve also changed how structures replicate, allowing us to further increase the limit in future updates based on data from large builds. And by implementing a weighted system, we’re giving the player maximum flexibility in what they can build in a Realm.
Overall, these new limits will ensure that players - whether alone or playing together - can expand their architectural imaginations significantly once the latest update goes live.
We’ll continue to work on further expansions and updates to the build system as we continue to move forward in Early Access. Happy building, folks.
Realms Reset
As this update improves and enriches the world of Nightingale by introducing a number of new features discussed here and in the next blog - such as the Progression Tree, new maps, as well as new Realm content - plus the significant backend work that was required to achieve the higher structure limits, the Realms Rebuilt update will implement a player character progression reset, requiring players to start a new character. This was the only way to ensure that existing players would be able to experience the breadth of new content available within this update.
As we know a lot of players will want to keep their existing Estates in some form, players will have the ability to save their current Respite Realms and use them in Offline Mode. However, this parked save will not receive any future content updates. More details on how this will work are coming closer to Realms Rebuilt’s launch.
[08/08 EDIT: For players who have unlocked Twitch Drops, these will be available to claim again in the Realms Rebuilt Update. Previous event items, such as Spark of Hope, will be available for all players to unlock in the regular Progression tab.]
Regency Tileset
We couldn’t make the change to build limits without giving Realmwalkers something new to play with. Introducing the Regency Tileset.
This elegant design finds its roots in 18th-century Georgian architectural fashion with a dash of Italian inspiration. All very befitting any Realmwalker looking to bring a bit more nobility to their Estate. Take a look!
What better way to celebrate the new build limits with a fancy new tileset
Weapons and Magick
We know that Realmwalkers relish the opportunity to wield more might and magick as they brave the perilous unknown of the Faewilds. So we’re delighted to bring you fresh additions to our expanding range of tools and spells.
Firstly, any survival game worth its wasna has a bow and arrow strapped across its shoulders. It’s the familiar starter weapon of many a survivalist and we’re excited to be introducing this deadly, primitive combo to our Realmwalker arsenal. Find the bow and arrow in your Abeyance (more on that next week) and take aim. It’s an exciting time for any hunters in our community and a terrible time to be a deer in the Faewilds.
Concept art of the Mystic Shortbow and Longbow upgrades. Shortbows and Longbows are available across different tiers.
If you’re looking for a little more firepower, a whole bunch of weapons have had additional tier upgrades added:
- Dauntless: Slingbow, Lancaster Pistol, Winchester Rifle
- Mystic: Slingbow, Double-barreled Shotgun, Blunderbuss Shotgun, Lancaster Pistol, Revolver Pistol, Bolt Rifle, Lever Rifle
Each one of the above is a completely new weapon model and design, creating more distinct aesthetics and expanding the range of weapons with a huge amount of diversity. A big shout-out to the design and art teams for all their amazing work!
Dauntless and Mystic weapon concept art
And that’s not all. We’ll also be introducing the new Refined Revolved (previously called Colt Pistol), which you can see in action below.
We’ve also got a couple of new spells magicking their way into Realmwalkers’ hands.
- Immolation: A powerful fireball that can be launched at enemies setting them on fire.
- Fionn’s Wrath: We’re not going to make this sound fancy - you’re gonna be hitting Bound with fish missiles!
We hope you all enjoy the additional firepower.
Reawaken the Ancient Crossways
Realms Rebuilt is our 0.5 update and has taken a little longer to cook than usual - this is due to the scope of the update, which includes a lot of new features and adjustments to some of the fundamentals of the gameplay experience. “But wait, what happened to 0.4?” we hear you ask. Well, the 0.4 update ended up being rolled into the larger update of 0.5, so we’ve jumped straight to 0.5 to keep our internal milestones aligned with our external naming.
A look at one of the new Sites of Power
But the good news is that the wait is almost over and it won’t be long before you’ll be able to jump through a Portal into the update we’ve been working so hard to bring you. Next week we’ll be back with more information on what you can expect in Realms Rebuilt, including new ways to experience the Realms, creatures, POIs and more!
We hope you’ve enjoyed this first taste of what’s coming in Realms Rebuilt, and we look forward to seeing your new adventures in the Faewilds.
Until next time, fare thee well, traveler,
- The Nightingale Team