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Nightingale’s closed alpha tests revealed one glaring omission: doors"They were somewhere in our schedule," say Inflexion, but “people’s estates were constantly under attack.”
“They were somewhere in our schedule,” say Inflexion, but “people’s estates were constantly under attack.”
It’s been a full year since ex-BioWare boss Aaryn Flynn and his new studio Inflexion announcedNightingaleat The Game Awards. In case you’ve forgotten,Nightingaleis a PvE crafting survival game with a strong Victoriana vibe, but sinceour chat with themback at Summer Games Fest in June, and an early accessdelayinto the first half of 2023 to accommodate the switch to Unreal Engine 5, we haven’t heard too much about the game.
I got to natter with Flynn, director of production Leah Summers, and art director Neil Thompson earlier this week, ahead of the debut of a new trailer for Nightingale atThe Game Awardsthis evening. They filled me in on how the game’s blend of fairies and reality-hopping realmwalkers has progressed over the past year - and it turns out that players have had a lot to do with it.
The team tell me that the last twelve months have been satisfying for the studio, particularly since the game’s closed alpha test began in October and feedback from players started to roll in. Summers points out that realmwalkers can now encounter one of the top player-requested features: doors. “They were somewhere in our schedule, and then after one of our playtests, and people’s estates being constantly under attack, someone said, ‘Doors please,’” Flynn laughs. “And one of our developers took it upon themselves to put doors in.”
You’ll happen across some mightily large beasties in Nightingale’s realms. |Image credit:Inflexion Games
The team say they’re also getting the thumbs up from players for the Nightingale’s Realm Cards, which adjust the parameters of the three different types of procedurally generated realm (desert, swamp, and forest) that it’s currently possible to portal into. Thompson tells me that there’s plenty of scope for variation in how the realms look with just those three for now, and the kinds of environmental challenges within. Inflexion are hoping to eventually add more types of biomes with unique things to do there.
“We intend it to be a very dynamic interface with Realm Cards, so that all sorts of things can change and adjust there,” he adds. When I ask if Inflexion will ever monetise the Realm Cards, Flynn tells me that might happen. It would only be cosmetic elements like card backs, though, not the attributes of the cards themselves.
Devs Inflexion Games are still fiddling with how survival and crafting work in Nightingale ahead of its early access launch in 2023.
Each of Nightingale’s realms measures around four square kilometres. I ask if players can build their structures to fill up an entire realm, and Flynn tells me that isn’t possible yet. “You can make some pretty cool villages for players so, especially if you’ve got you and some friends, you can each have your own little estates and they can kind of abut each other.” Thompson explains that there’ll be options to customise your base with multiple architectural styles, should you fancy it.
“You can start with a shack base, and then build a wonderful Tudor extension and top it off with someGothicarchitecture on there made of stone,” Thompson says, “so there’s plenty of extensibility.” I prod him to see how tall you can build your gaff, after seeing Nightingale’s coolflying umbrellasin the new trailer shown at The Game Awards. Flynn tells me three floors is probably the limit for now, but Thompson points out it’s possible to build a structure over the side of a cliff for some extra reach.
Nightingale has some tall enemies, but remember that you can glide over them with your magical brolly. |Image credit:Inflexion Games
Inflexion thought that was a bit much, particularly for solo players. Now, revivified realmwalkers will keep whatever’s on them when they cop it, but lose the stuff in their backpack. That’ll stay where they died and wait to be reclaimed. Watch out though, because dying means you’ll be cursed.
In order to lift the curse, you’ll need to either just wait it out, trek to get your missing goodies back, or use a concoction to remove the bad mojo. “Really, what’s important to us is that players have clear strategic choices they can make about how to proceed, and they’ll do what works for them,” Flynn says. “So if it makes sense to go back and get your stuff, go get it. If you’re like, ‘I barely had anything in there, it’s not worth my time’, you don’t have to do that either.”
The team tell me they’d “love to pay off” a return to Nightingale City, the magical metropolis the game’s named after, for dedicated realmwalkers one day. Flynn reckons that would have to play out over perhaps a year of storytelling and game updates. “And then eventually, can you?” he wonders. “Can you do all the incredible things necessary to unlock a portal back to Nightingale City itself?”
The game’s early access release onSteamand theEpic Games Storeis still a ways off - sometime in the first half of 2023 - but there’ll be another beta taking place between January and March.
For more of the latest news and trailers, check out ourGame Awards 2022hub. We also live-blogged the show as it happenedright here.
