Dev Blog #39 - Discovering and Rebuilding Nera

Hey there Voyagers! Stephiroth here. We’re reporting back with another update on our next big patch Depths Worth Diving. Our last few Dev Blogs have been focused on the underwater aspects of the update, but we’re also adding a ton more things to find and do above land as well!

What is Nera like today?

Nera has a beautiful world that players love and are excited to explore. We’ve always wanted it to feel like the world is alive and around any corner you could find something exciting. Currently the main way this manifests in game is through loot chests or resource placement, but we are really excited to bring more rich and interesting discoverables into the world. Additionally, we have a strong theme of rescuing Spirits and restoring Nera, but outside of the encounters with them there is limited interaction. We improved this a bit in our last big patch, where we allowed Spirits to spawn in and around the base and let them lounge on all of your furniture. But we’ve always wanted to bring themes of restoration into the general world as well, and have Spirits return to places outside of the player’s base. This brings us to two of our major features coming in the next patch: Locked Doors and Spirit Shrines.

Locked Doors

Steam post imagePlayers have told us how much they love the story of Nera and their desire to learn more about the world, and there’s so many more stories we can tell! We feel that stories can be experienced in many ways. Sometimes that can be direct, like reading a specific piece of lore - but that can also be through the environment, like seeing a cave with mysterious markings or finding an abandoned camp from another character. We do a lot of story telling through direct story telling, but we felt that incorporating more of the story telling through the environment and discovery would make Nera feel much richer in its history and more alive.

Imagine you’re out exploring the Greatwood, further than you’ve ever been, and you see something strange. Nestled in the root of a giant oak, half hidden by leaves, there is a structure. Its walls are of neat rows of planks, the roof is pleasantly pitched, and there are even decorations hanging outside. This was not made by the crude hands of a Hunter. Through a window, you can faintly see that a light is flickering. Curious, you approach. You make your way to the structure’s door, but find that it has some kind of combination lock. You try a few combinations, but are unable to get it to open. You search the ground, the yard, behind the house, but there are no clues to be found. You try hitting the door with your sword, and with an axe, but it holds firm. With no way inside without the combination, you mark the location on your map and move on, wondering who it is that lives so deep in the woods and what lies behind that door. Later in your journey, on another expedition out, you turn a corner and practically trip over a jumble of cloth and sticks. It’s a tent, or at least it was. Now the camp that it once belonged to is in ruins. The stones that once lined the campfire are scattered, and the flame itself long gone out. There is evidence of a fight as well. Broken spears and arrows litter the ground around you. Within the mess that was once the tent, you discover a note, it reads: “The Hunters have found me. At first there was only a three, but now they’ve arrived in force. Twice I’ve driven them back. They fear the flame, but they’re getting bolder. I can hear them, chattering in the darkness. And those things they brought with them too. I do not know what they are saying, or if they even speak, but they won’t wait much longer. I was so close to making it home. If this note finds its way to one with a mind to read it, then what little I have I leave to you.” At the end of the text there are three symbols that match the symbols seen on the combination lock at the cabin. You rush back to the door and enter the combination and the door creaks open to reveal a hidden chamber…

• Our awesome Engineer Luke

The above passage is just an example, but I won’t detail any more – you’ll have to experience it yourself! But you can expect to find things like resources, powerful items or special unlocks and often some interesting story about what happened there.

Restorable Spirit Shrines

Steam post imageCurrently, Spirits are primarily seen at the base. As players build up their Sanctuary, more Spirits will spawn there and take safe haven within its radius – but it wasn’t always like this. Long before players got here, Spirits inhabited the world – but they were pushed into hiding by The Deep. As Echoes, your mission is to push back The Deep and restore magic to the world of Nera. As you adventure and explore the reaches, defeating Deeplings and conquering Spires along the way, you will be able to restore destroyed Shrines. Once restored, Spirits will inhabit this shrine and they’ll provide gifts to you. These gifts will respawn over time, so you can visit these Spirits over and over to see how they’re doing and grab any goodies. These will be themed per biome, and give out specific rewards for the biome that they’re in.

What else is in the patch?

There are a lot more features in this jam-packed patch, and later this week we’ll be showcasing updates to our imbuement system and how that will change the way you upgrade your gear and power up your character. Keep an eye out closer to the patch time where we’ll do an all-up preview of everything coming in the patch!

When is the patch?

The patch will be on June 25th! That’s all for now. If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading – we’ll see you next time! - TH Stephiroth