Nightingale: Realms Rebuilt - Reveal Blog: Part Two
Welcome Realmwalkers, to the second of our two blogs unveiling our next update Nightingale: Realms Rebuilt.
The ancient Crossways await
Our approach to Realms Rebuilt is to retain the core fundamentals of what players enjoy about Nightingale while refining, expanding, and enhancing the structure to create a more immersive experience. This is the biggest and most significant update to Nightingale’s Early Access experience to date.
Today, we’re stepping into the Realms themselves. From the moment Realmwalkers set forth in Realms Rebuilt, they’ll notice a very different Faewilds than the one they’ve become acquainted with in the past six months. From gravity-torn deserts to corrupted forests, the world of Nightingale is changing.
Let’s take a look at these improvements in detail.
Handcrafted Realms
We’ve previously discussed that one of our major goals moving forward is to make Realm exploration a more rewarding and immersive journey for players. As part of that work, the team has been exploring different ways to make the Realms feel more unique and differentiated throughout the game, elevating the sense of adventure for Realmwalkers. The foundation of this approach is our new ‘Storied Realms’.
Realmwalker’s taking a brief glide through one of the new Storied Realms, Sylvan’s Cradle
The Storied Realms are handcrafted Realms set within the existing biomes, each designed with its own theme, aesthetic, and challenges. Storied Realms will be introduced as part of a new campaign that will arrive with the next update (more on that below). As you progress through the main questline, you’ll unlock unique Realm Cards - each leading to a new Storied Realm to discover and explore.
Your journey through the Storied Realms begins as soon as you step into your new Abeyance Realm. Every player now starts in a Forest Abeyance housing the important mystical landmark: The Crossways. This collection of ancient portals is your gateway to the Storied Realms, acting as the hub of your new adventure.
Early steps of a new journey to come
That’s not the only location worth paying a visit to. Among other sights to see and discoveries to be found, this handcrafted Abeyance also features a number of locations where tools and recipes can be unlocked as part of your Progression Tree, including the new bow.
The Bow Tool Site offers up some target practice for Realmwalkers
While Storied Realms become the defacto worlds for mainline quests, procedurally-generated Realms will still play an important part in your journey as a Realmwalker. Their role remains the same - use Realm cards to open Portals (either your own or ones you discover in the environment) and explore each location for further adventuring, new challenges, collecting valuable essences, and to harvest rare resources.
As with everything else in Early Access, we’ll continue to refine and expand Storied Realms content. But this is very much a big step forward for Nightingale. The handcrafted approach creates a more immersive environment, offering more opportunities for meaningful discoveries and adventures. This new approach also benefits future updates, increasing the speed the studio team can create new biome and Realm content.
Finally, for players who like more options when it comes to planting their roots and setting a Respite Realm, you’ll be able to set your Respite point at any of the Storied Realms or player-opened Realms you discover on your journey.
A New Campaign
As mentioned above, Storied Realms are a central part of a new campaign in Nightingale: Realms Rebuilt. Puck is back with all new voice work from the incredible Marc Warren. He’ll be guiding Realmwalkers through each of the handcrafted Realms, featuring a series of new quests and challenges, while encountering some familiar faces from Nightingale’s cast of stranded survivors out in Faewilds.
While the fundamental premise of the story remains the same (Earth has fallen, the Portal network collapsed, and what remains of humanity is adrift looking for Nightingale), in Realms Rebuilt the player journey has been…well….rebuilt! As a Realmwalker, you will reawaken the ancient portals of the Crossways, recover secrets long buried and reclaim wonders once thought lost. This new adventure takes you across previously unexplored Realms from the corrupted woods of Sylvan’s Cradle, to the gravity-torn desert of Welkin’s Reach, and beyond.
The chaotic deserts of Welkin’s Reach
We hope your love of discovering the unknown will continue to guide you through these fantastical new Realms where Fae creatures roam, fellow survivors await salvation and deadly threats lurk in the shadows. We look forward to your feedback on the new campaign and can’t wait to hear about your new adventures.
Sites of Power and Boss Battles
The more structured approach to the main campaign opened up the opportunity to punctuate each story milestone with a challenging finale. We’ve seen how much players have enjoyed some of the more formidable creature encounters in Nightingale, whether stumbling upon an Eoten in the forest or taking on an Apex creature in one of the Hunt Realms. We wanted to expand those types of encounters and weave them through Nightingale’s revamped story.
The first part of this is new Sites of Power, providing engaging combat encounters and intricate puzzles that test the skills each Realmwalker has developed up to this stage. These dungeons replace the current Sites of Power that were found across the Abeyance but are now set within new environments and contain different content.
The entrance to the new Abeyance Realm Site of Power
Each one of these dungeons also culminates in completely new boss battles. We wanted to bring more variety to boss encounters in the Sites of Power and these deadly adversaries are designed from the ground up and are set within distinctive locations, and pit players against creatures with unique abilities.
One of the new Site of Power boss arenas
New Points of Interest
Another part of these changes to the Realms will be more Points of Interest (POIs) and the challenges you find within them and elsewhere in the Realms. The favorites are still around - the Bastille of Intellect and Agility sites, etc - but we’ve bolstered the range of POI challenges with new activities.
Concept art of a Bound Heart, which spawns Bound until it’s destroyed
As mentioned in the previous blog, we wanted to put more emphasis on Essence rewards when completing POIs, whilst expanding the type of encounters that players can expect. So we hope you both enjoy the new challenges you’ll face and feel suitably rewarded for your time exploring the Realms.
Next Steps
While we still have new biomes and other content in the works (triangular tileset pieces are coming soon), we’re excited about the new adventures Realms Rebuilt will introduce to players once it goes live later this Summer. We’ll talk more about some other features to expect in our upcoming Dev Update, and you may want to keep your eyes peeled at Gamescom for a sneak peek at what’s to come.
We look forward to everyone sinking their axepick into this new update we’ve been working hard to bring you. It’s been a tremendous effort from the studio team that marks a step forward for Nightingale’s Early Access, as we continue to add and expand to the game on the road to 1.0.
Until next time, fare thee well, traveler.
- The Nightingale Team
0.3.2a Hotfix Changelog
Heya Realmwalkers,
Today we rolled out a small game update for the following item:
Added a notification to the main menu to alert users about an upcoming progression reset with the next major update
There are no other changes at this time, but you can read more about the next update here.
Nightingale: Realms Rebuilt - Reveal Blog: Part One
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.
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:
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 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
What’s Next for Nightingale? Early Access Update
Six months into Early Access, what’s next for Nightingale? Inflexion Games CEO Aaryn Flynn and Art and Audio Director Neil Thomson discuss the journey so far, where things stand today, and plans for the future of the game.
Keep your eyes peeled for more update news dropping next week!
Community Highlights | July, 2024
Hello, Realmwalkers!
Summer is in the air and so are our Realmwalkers thanks to the recent addition of the Pickle (aka the new grapple ability)! The latest Community Challenge tasked Realmwalkers with taking advantage of their newfound verticality in a skybound photo competition. Take a look below.
Elsewhere in this month's Community Update, we have more awesome builds, stunning screenshots, and delightful videos to share with you all...so let’s get into it.
Defy Gravity Challenge
This month, we challenged our Discord community to take the best gameplay screenshot showcasing the new grapple hook. We received many awesome screenshots, but only one user can win the exclusive Fae Acolyte role! The community voted and our winner was…
Dacajun!
We want to thank everyone who participated and will see you at our next community challenge! Check out more entries below.
Developer Q&A Grapple & Travel Update
With the recent launch of our Travel and Grapple Update, we sat down with our community to answer some of your questions about Nightingale. If you missed this event, we have uploaded the VOD version on YouTube. Stay tuned to our Discord to be notified about future Q&As.
Estate Wonders
Nightingale builders are the foundation of our community and we’re always excited to show off their hard work.
🛠️Leitha_Lthil
🛠️einzelherz
Realm Photography
We love the Nightingale screenshots you all send our way. This month, we saw incredible images, and here are a few of our favorites!
📸Crow
📸Eagle131
📸Zaranil
Community Videos
Temple of the Eternal Forest - CeritusOrbis
Last month we showcased a couple of screenshots of CeritusOrbis’ build. Now you can watch their build video!
How to Build Custom Planters in Nightingale - Tenebris Infinite
Want to take your building skills to the next level? Tenebris Infinite has an awesome guide to making custom planters!
Thank you all for your continued support and for creating amazing content! If you want to see more, please visit our Steam Community and Official Discord!
Add #playnightingale to your social media posts to help us see more of your awesome work!
Stay tuned for more highlights, creator spotlights, and game updates.
Thank you all again,
-The Nightingale Team
8 New Features Added to Nightingale Since Early Access
For Realmwalkers both old and new (but mostly new) jumping into this week’s Grapple and Travelling Update, here’s a handy summary of a bunch of new features and improvements that have been added to Nightingale since it launched into Early Access on February 20. Is there anything else you’d like to see added to Nightingale in the future? Let us know on socials or jump into our Official Discord and have your say.
By far the most requested feature since Nightingale went into Early Access, Offline Mode offers players more flexibility when venturing into Nightingale’s mystical and dangerous Faewilds. What’s more, the Gapple and Travelling Update introduces a few key features for Offline Mode, including Steam Deck compatibility, Cloud Saves, and the ability to migrate your online save to offline.
Your arsenal of fierce weaponry continues to expand throughout Early Access. Recent updates have added projectile weapons to the Realmwalkers' repertoire of deadly accoutrements, including Throwing Knives and Grenades. You’ll also be able to get your hands on firearms in the early game with the formidable Blunderbuss improving your ability to take down the dangers lurking in the Faewilds.
Surviving the Faewilds is tough enough without having to constantly jump around storage boxes or wait for timers to tick down. That’s why improvements such as craft from storage, build from storage and queued crafting have been added, allowing Realmwalkers to immerse themselves in the art of crafting. Speaking of QOL features, the latest Grapple and Travelling Update introduces the Pepy’s Box, a multi-Realmic storage device where Realmwalkers can deposit heavy or surplus items, freeing up crucial inventory space without needing to return back to the homestead. Place items inside the Pepy’s Box allows you to access the items from any other Pepy’s Box, in any location, in any Realm.
You know what’s better than a razor-toothed Bound hunting you through the moonlight Faewild forest? A razor-toothed Bound hunting you through the moonlight Faewild forest with a cannon strapped to its back! Several new enemies have been introduced in recent months, including the aforementioned cannon-wielding Bound Breaker, the shield-carrying brute Bound Aegis, and sharpshooter sniper Bound Marksman. You’ll also discover other enemy variants with a range of new behaviours and attacks as you dive deeper into the Realms.
With the introduction of new enemies, a Realmwalker must have a number of new combat abilities at their disposal. Several tools have been enhanced to include additional attacks and powers. Sickles now feature a boomerang ability (Boomsickle, anyone?), Hunting Knives can parry, and Hammers have a special flurry attack to overwhelm enemies. The Grapple and Traveling Update also introduces the grapple ability to Climbing Picks, allowing Realmwalkers to zip to walls and traverse the Realms in a whole new way.
It’s not unusual to stumble upon a lost Realmwalker here and there in the Realms. Each day more and more souls find themselves lost in the multirealmic void. Recently the likes of Joan of Arc, Edgar Allen Poe and Taliesin the Bard have offered unique quests and rewards for Realmwalkers who seek them out looking for further adventures.
It’s all well and good traversing the portal network in search of adventures and glory, but any intrepid Realmwalker worth their salt looks to do so in style. Thank Humbaba then that a variety of new outfits and character options have been added, offering further flourish to would-be Faewild fashionistas. Take a look at some of the dapper duds that have been added recently.
All of the above would be worth nought if it wasn’t for the performance updates and refinements that have been made in the weeks and months since the Early Access launch. New players can expect a more robust and smooth experience from the outset, both for online and offline players.
And that’s not all. We’re still very busy working on a bunch of new stuff coming in the weeks and months ahead. Take a look at our latest Developer Update on more of what you can expect in the future. We’ll be expanding build limits, adding new tilesets and build pieces, more weapons, creatures, and bosses, while also working on making Realms richer and more differentiated. And, of course, we’re also working on brand new biomes.
Keep your eyes on our socials, website, Steam page and Discord for the latest updates.
See you in the Realms! The Nightignale Team
Nightingale - Grapple and Travel Update │ Gameplay Overview
Nightingale's latest update has a helluva hook - zip, climb and soar across the Realms using the new grapple ability! The Grapple and Travel Update also adds fast travel, a bunch of Offline Mode features (Steam Deck support, cloud saves, online character migration), an inter-realmic storage device called a Pepys Box, and more.
0.3.2 Grapple and Travel Update | Server Maintenance Complete
Realmwalkers,
Our server maintenance has concluded and our servers are now back online.
Please update your game to ensure you can access Online Mode once again. The below items will not apply to the Offline Mode until you update the game.
It's recommended to restart Steam/Epic or verify your game files to make sure you're on the latest version. The game version shows in the main menu when you start the game.
0.3.2 Changelog
Highlights
Pepys Box - allows players to access storage between other Pepys boxes
Zephyr Anchor Points - build to fast travel within Realms
Community Event trader and Hopeful Wisps are no longer available
Prodigious Explosive Grenade Satchel and Dauntless Throwing Knife Sheath are now purchased at The Watch Dauntless Tools Essence Trader
Rugged Throwing Knife Sheath can be obtained in Ascended Provisioner Swamp Realms
Rugged Explosive Grenade Satchel can be obtained in Ascended Provisioner Desert Realms
Player Character
Player loadout clothing recipes can now be obtained from Vendors
Resources
Added Charm of Brawling which allows for friendly fire for all players who have it equipped and have opted in via doing an in-game emote
Hopeful Essence will no longer be dropped. Existing Hopeful Essence can be extracted into regular Essence
Adjustments to Basic Spyglass resource requirement
Raw Mushrooms should now list Attribute Bonuses in the description
Bug Fixes
Building
Carnute will no longer regrow trees through player estates. As long as a stump is under foundation or shelter, the tree will not grow even if the Carnute calls
Adjustments to the build limit counter to show more accurate item counts
NPCs
Sun Giant should no longer summon unintended amounts of Automatons in Offline Mode
Resources
Bound Ichor can no longer be refined into Spice
Tools built before 0.3 that lost their ability to use spells should now be able to cast
Misc
Optimized shaders, reducing the installation size about about 10GB
Additional memory optimizations
Thank you for your patience and for joining us on this journey!
- The Nightingale Team (Inflexion Games)
0.3.2 Grapple and Travel Update | Server Maintenance Has Begun
Realmwalkers,
Servers have been taken down for maintenance to push a game update. Offline Mode can still be played at this time, but the Online Mode will be unavailable until the update is complete.
Please note the changes below will not be applied to Offline Mode until you update the game (you can see the version number in the main menu).
0.3.2 Changelog
Highlights
Pepys Box - allows players to access storage between other Pepys boxes
Zephyr Anchor Points - build to fast travel within Realms
Climbing Pick Grapple Ability
Online to Offline Mode Character Export - get your Online Mode character save here
Offline Mode now available on Steam Deck
Offline Mode now compatible with Steam Cloud
Closing the Spark of Hope event
Game Changes
NPCs
Community Event trader and Hopeful Wisps are no longer available
Prodigious Explosive Grenade Satchel and Dauntless Throwing Knife Sheath are now purchased at The Watch Dauntless Tools Essence Trader
Rugged Throwing Knife Sheath can be obtained in Ascended Provisioner Swamp Realms
Rugged Explosive Grenade Satchel can be obtained in Ascended Provisioner Desert Realms
Player Character
Player loadout clothing recipes can now be obtained from Vendors
Resources
Added Charm of Brawling which allows for friendly fire for all players who have it equipped and have opted in via doing an in-game emote
Hopeful Essence will no longer be dropped. Existing Hopeful Essence can be extracted into regular Essence
Adjustments to Basic Spyglass resource requirement
Raw Mushrooms should now list Attribute Bonuses in the description
Bug Fixes
Building
Carnute will no longer regrow trees through player estates. As long as a stump is under foundation or shelter, the tree will not grow even if the Carnute calls
Adjustments to the build limit counter to show more accurate item counts
NPCs
Sun Giant should no longer summon unintended amounts of Automatons in Offline Mode
Resources
Bound Ichor can no longer be refined into Spice
Tools built before 0.3 that lost their ability to use spells should now be able to cast
Misc
Optimized shaders, reducing the installation size about about 10GB
Additional memory optimizations
Thank you for your patience and for joining us on this journey!
- The Nightingale Team (Inflexion Games)
Developer Update : The Grapple and Travel Update Plus What We’re Working on Next
Heya Realmwalkers,
Ahead of the Grapple and Travel Update for tomorrow, here's a new Developer Update video where we discuss what to expect tomorrow and beyond.
