Baroque wilderness builder Nightingale hasn’t exactly been doing great since Ed Thorn described the Early Access version as “arcade number crunching disguised as a gaslight survival game.” We had moderate hopes for it before its Early Access release—I personally like the fairytale setting with popping Pucks and magic umbrellas, but I also think I’ve built enough huts on procedurally generated maps for one lifetime. Still, I’d like it to do well, if only to justify my Lewis Carroll columns, and I’m mildly encouraged by what I’ve heard about the upcoming Realms Rebuilt update.
In particular, I like the sound of the recent “handcrafted” or “historical realms,” which push procgen aside to make each of the game’s dimensions “feel more unique and diverse.” These will be part of a revised and more “structured” story campaign that will “take you through previously unexplored Realms from the corrupted forests of Sylvan’s Cradle to the gravity-torn desert of Welkin’s Reach and beyond.”
Here is the compact version the Steam entry in question – This is the second of two blogs about Realms Rebuilt. “Storied Realms are handcrafted Realms set in existing biomes, each designed with its own theme, aesthetic, and challenges,” the developers explain. “Storied Realms will be introduced as part of a new campaign coming with the next update. As you progress through the main questline, you’ll unlock unique Realm Cards – each leading to a new Storied Realm to discover and explore.”
To access these Storied Realms, you’ll journey from the recent central realm of Abeyance, home to the mystical Crossways, a collection of archaic portals. The Abeyance Realm also contains locations where you can unlock tools and recipes, including recent perks like the bow and arrow.
It’s a “major step forward” for Nightingale, the developers say, not least because it will apparently boost “the speed at which the studio team can create new biomes and Realm content.” Nightingale’s existing, looser survival game format will continue in some form, though. “While the Storied Realms are becoming the de facto worlds for main quests, the procedurally generated Realms will still play an important role in your journey as a Realmwalker,” the post continues. When you’re not exploring the Storied Realm, you can still apply the elderly Realm Cards to open portals to (read: set parameters for) procgen Realms that hold resources and challenges.
Realms Rebuilt should launch this summer. There’s a lot more to it: a recent progression system, a Regency tile set for people who wish Jane Austen’s novels had more pickaxes, increased structure limits due to memory optimizations, and various recent gaspunk gadgets. There’s also a catch: you’ll need to start a recent character to try out the expansions, although you’ll be able to save your existing Respite Realms and any structures they contain to visit them offline. You can read more at first blog post. Will this be a Final Fantasy 14-style plot twist? I’m not sure if Nightingale as a concept is thrilling enough, but you never know.
