Time really flies, and we've reached the last community blog of 2024. It’s been a year full of hard work, challenges, and tough decisions, but thanks to your incredible support, we’re ready to dive into 2025 with enthusiasm and open the doors to the city of Nivalis, a place we’ve come to think of as our home. So, let’s take this opportunity to do a quick recap of what we’ve shared with you over the past year!
We kicked off the year by showcasing a glimpse of the game during the Taipei Game Show, an incredibly valuable experience that gave us plenty to think about and helped us set several new goals.
Throughout 2024, as a fully remote studio, we organized several meetings that we like to call workshops, where we explored numerous ideas, left behind previous concepts, and worked on new ones. The game is a complex mix of features that is hard to tame, but we're getting there!
For all the virtual photographers out there, we also gave you a glimpse of the photo mode. Designed to give you the feel of using a realistic camera, we introduced you to some of its features: the ability to change focus distance, aperture, focal length, field of view, and the chance to experiment with a wide range of creative filters and image modification settings. We’re confident you’ll have a lot of fun capturing some of the city’s atmospheric views scattered here and there.
We answered many of your questions, showcased some of the local dishes you’ll be able to serve at your tables, and once again put the spotlight on our composer Harry Critchley, who last year shared a detailed look at his work with you. The soundtrack is a core part of the game, one of the pillars of the immersive experience we aim to deliver.
We’ve begun introducing you to some of the protagonists of the many stories that it will bring to life. We introduced Thaddeus Carmunis, a 92-year-old business owner on the brink of retirement, who has some valuable advice to share, and Banor, a man with an unusual sense of humor who might just turn out to be a key ally in the chaotic work life.
As you can probably imagine by now, it’s been a truly intense year, with so much happening behind the scenes. We’ve experimented with many ideas, and we continue to do so to breathe more life into the game. As the city grows and evolves, so do we as a team, facing life’s normal challenges, watching families expand, and sharing in your incredible enthusiasm, the fuel that drives our work.
We can’t wait to see you wandering the streets and alleys we’re meticulously crafting, voxel by voxel.