Baroque wilderness building Nightingale hasn’t been performing very well since Ed Thorn described the early access version at launch as “a numbers game disguised as a gaslight survival game.” We had moderately high hopes for the game ahead of its early access release – I personally enjoy the fairytale setting, with its pop-up pucks and magic umbrellas, but I reckon I’ve built enough huts on the procedurally generated maps to last me a lifetime. Still, I’d love for it to be good enough to justify writing columns about Lewis Carroll, and I’m a little encouraged by what I’ve heard about the game’s upcoming Realms Rebuilt update.
I particularly liked the sound of new “hand-crafted” or “Story realms” pushing aside procgen so that every aspect of the game “feels more unique and different.” These will be part of a revised and more “structured” story campaign that “takes you from the corrupted forests of Sylvan's Cradle to the gravity-torn desert of Welkin's Reach and beyond.”
Here's the summary from that Steam post – the second of two blogs about Realms Rebuilt. “Story Realms are hand-crafted Realms set within existing biomes, each with their own theme, aesthetic, and challenge,” the developers explain. “Story Realms will be introduced as part of a new campaign coming in the next update. As you progress through the main questline, you'll unlock unique Realm Cards, each leading to a new Story Realm to explore and investigate.”
To access these Storied Realms, you'll travel through a new Abeyance hub realm that's home to a mystical Crossways – a collection of ancient portals. The Abeyance Realm also contains locations where you can unlock tools and recipes, including new additions like the bow and arrow.
The developers say it's a “big step forward” for Nightingale, not least because it'll increase “the pace at which the studio team can create new biome and Realm content.” But Nightingale's current, looser survival game format will continue in some form. “While Storied Realms become the de facto worlds for mainline quests, procedurally generated Realms will still play a major role in your journey as a Realmwalker,” the post continues. When you're not exploring a Storied Realm, you can still use the old Realm Cards to open portals (read: set parameters) to procgen Realms, which are home to resources and challenges.
Realms Rebuilt should be live this summer. There’s a lot more to it: a new progression system, a Regency tileset for those who want to dig deeper into Jane Austen novels, increased build limits due to memory optimizations, and a variety of new gaspunk gadgets. There’s also the catch: you’ll need to start a new character to try out the additions, but you’ll be able to save your existing Respite Realms and the structures they contain to visit offline. You can read more in the first blog post. Will there be a Final Fantasy 14-style comeback? I’m not sure if the Nightingale concept has generated enough excitement, but you never know.