Nested Lands News

Greetings, Survivors!

August has been a busy month for the Nested Lands development team, as we've focused on refining and polishing the systems we’ve built so far and fixing existing bugs. Here’s a quick rundown of what we’ve been up to:

• Updated the fog and lighting systems for a more immersive and atmospheric environment.
  
• A new island is now part of the world, offering untouched areas to explore.
  
• Continued development of the multiplayer system.
  
• NPCs will now sleep in their beds when tired.
  
• NPCs now have hygiene stats and can bathe to stay clean and healthy.
  
• A new system allows NPCs to recover health over time and use bandages to heal.
  
• Added new villager stats dialogs to manage them more efficiently.
  
• Introduced the first iteration of the plague system, adding a new layer of challenge to village management.
  
• Torches now provide warmth, similar to campfires, helping you survive in colder times.
  
• You can now split items in the inventory, making resource management easier.
  
• NPCs are now able to search for more resources, including water.
  

Stay tuned as we continue to enhance the world of Nested Lands! Your feedback and support are invaluable as we move closer to the alpha test.

Make sure to join our Discord server to stay tuned!

The world of Nested Lands is dead, and so is anyone foolish enough to attempt surviving the horrors of the Death Plague without the aid of others. While you might yet be able to live and explore by yourself for some time, the challenges of this decaying land will eventually become far too great to face alone. If you truly hope to not only survive, but one day also to thrive, you will need a village, and, to achieve that, you will need villagers.



[h2]Villagers[/h2]

Villagers keep the wheels of progress turning, be it through collecting raw materials like wood, stone, or metal; through crafting tools, weapons, food, and medicine; or through working as a nurse to treat the sick, a guard to protect the village grounds, or perhaps a priest to lift the spirits of others through all the hardship. Ultimately, villagers are the heart and soul of any settlement, and the more trusted souls you can find, the more you will be free to focus on other, more pressing matters.

Today, we will tell you a little bit about how villagers will work in Nested Lands, how to recruit them, what they can do once in your village, and even how their stories and personalities will take center stage in one of the central recurring dilemmas of the game: “Should I recruit this person, or will they eventually betray me and harm the village I’ve worked so hard to build?”



[h2]Recruitment[/h2]

First things first: the initial step in the journey of any villager is taken, technically, by you. While exploring any Norovellir islands, you might run across random encounters, which may be hostile, neutral, or friendly. In some of them, a potential villager might be involved, and you can choose between helping them or not. If you do, you may speak to that person to discover some initial information: Who are they? How did they get there? What can they do?

After that, you must make your decision. Is that person trustworthy? Does that person deserve a place in your village, or is the risk just too high?



[h2]Village Life
[/h2]

If you decide to recruit them, that person will now become a villager. They will occupy one of the available beds, and you must fulfill their needs and desires if you want them to stay. After all, the player character has needs, and so do the villagers. Hunger, thirst, warmth, hygiene, and happiness, which is the total sum of all the others, plus a few other attributes, are all of the utmost importance. This is because if any fall to dangerously low levels, a villager may decide to leave, or, worse still, to settle the score their own way.

To keep them happy and hard-working, a player must ensure that their needs are met, that their houses are maintained, and that they have a meaningful occupation within the village. To choose that occupation properly, you should assign jobs in accordance with the traits and skills of the villagers.
Speaking of which…

[h2]Traits and Skills
[/h2]
In Nested Lands, each villager has a unique personality, and nowhere is that more visible than in the character’s traits and skills.



Skills represent that villager’s ability with a certain type of task. Villager skills include things like Farming, Forester, Defender, Crafting, Apparel, Cooking, and Medicine. Each skill is then used for different jobs, each of which requires a corresponding building, and allocating a villager with a high skill to a matching job is essential for the growth of the settlement. For example, a character with a high Cooking skill will obviously do well when working at a Cookhouse, but that same character might also excel as a Butcher or when working at a Brewery. Similarly, a villager with a high Forester skill would be best suited to work outside the village and in the forest itself, be it as a wood chopper, as a miner, or even as a hunter.



Also, villagers have individual traits that represent their most unique aspects, including their bodies and personalities. Currently, we have over sixty different traits, divided into seven categories: Habit related, Needs related, Plague related, Event related, Religion related, Stats related, and Work related.
Obviously, some of them are somewhat simpler than others. Work related traits mostly deal with the aforementioned skills, with each villager always having one positive and one negative trait for each. Others, such as the Habit and the Plague related traits, can be more interesting. We will discuss them further in our next diary, giving more specific examples for each category!

If you don’t want to miss it, be sure to subscribe to the upcoming closed alpha, to join our discord server, and to wishlist the game on STEAM!

July has been a busy month for the development of Nested Lands. Here’s a quick rundown of the latest updates:

• 
  
• Added energy, thirst, warmth, and hunger metrics for a more dynamic gameplay experience.
  
• Introduced random events, including Plague-related occurrences to keep you on your toes.
  
• Improved player animation, movement, and level design for smoother interactions.
  
• Added Plague mechanics with varying levels and effects.
  
• Improved day and night changes for a more immersive environment.
  
• New villager behaviors and idle animations bring more life to your settlements.
  

Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to refine your gameplay experience!

While exploring the land of Norovellir, you will be faced with many different threats. From hunger, to thirst, to freezing temperatures, and even the Death Plague itself, there will always be something to worry about. Still, some foes are more directly antagonistic than others, and this distinction is best exemplified in the many different factions that have taken control of certain regions of the island.

While some of these enemies, such as the Bandits and Wild Peasants (which we discussed in the last dev diary), have simpler motivations, others have come to this land with more ambitious goals. For today, let’s focus on the foes that are native to the island of Norovellir, and who once freely worshiped the deities of the Four Trees, before their very culture was taken away.



The province of Norovellir was discovered over a thousand years ago by a powerful explorer named Kaia, also known as the GuideHeart. Kaia, weary of the unending wars of her homeland in the Far North, sailed away in search of a better life for her people.

After months of sailing, they arrived in a new and beautiful land and began working on a new vision of their religion. While other deities, such as Lopalo, Ullar, and Syragna were not forgotten, the pilgrims’ efforts to move away from the destruction and eternal conflict of the Far North led to a new focus on Nobara, goddess of nature, balance, and the moon.

And so it was, for a time.



[h2]Mad Occultists
[/h2]
Far later down the timeline, after Norovellir had been vassalized by the growing power of the Sacner Kingdom, the peaceful worshippers of the Four Trees were hunted down and exiled to the putrid swamp of Dark Waters, where their hatred festered into sheer insanity.

They began to view Nobara as the one true goddess, now dead and corrupted like the world, and claimed the plague was her vengeance against the colonizers who had taken everything from them. Madness and bloodlust completely consumed them, to the point where they now kill anyone who crosses their path, decorating their surroundings with the innards of their victims, as well as venerating the plague itself as a mark of divine favor.

However, they started and whatever their goals are, these cultists have managed to survive amongst the most vile of corruptions, of the body, of the mind, and even of the soul.



[h2]Infected Savages
[/h2]
Yet, these cultists are not the only residents of Dark Waters. Hidden amongst the dark fog and damp blight are the accursed souls known as Infected Savages.

No one knows their exact origin, but they have appeared more and more in the last few years. Some believe they are nothing more than the product of botched treatments of the Death Plague, while others claim their condition is the product of divine punishment. Others still claim they are not even human, but ferocious monsters born of the plague itself.

Whatever the truth, these beings now serve only the will of the disease: to spread their corruption, and to kill all those unfortunate enough to cross their paths.



[h2]Chaos and Order
[/h2]
The Mad Occultists and the Infected Savages represent the chaos and corruption born of a dying world, where madness, carnage, and decay are the new norm. For those that lost everything, even themselves, there is no higher reasoning than to spread their own suffering to others.

And yet, they are only one side of the coin. On the other side reside the Corrupted Priests and Rogue Soldiers, agents of the powerful Glorious religion, or what remains of it, which we will discuss next time!

In the meantime, remember to wishlist the game on Steam, join our Discord and, of course, sign up for the Alpha version of the game by clicking the buttons below!

The Death Plague has completely decimated any resemblance of law and order in the world of Nested Lands. Those few that survived the initial outbreak have had to fight for their lives every single day, both against the everlasting threat of disease, and also against each other.

The enemies you’ll be facing in the game vary in their motivations and objectives. Some, like you, simply want to survive; but others have darker, more sinister goals. Some enemy types you will only encounter in certain regions, while others will be an everlasting threat throughout your journey.



In time, we will discuss them all here, from the Rogue Soldiers, the Corrupted Priests, the Mad Occultists, to the Infected Savages, but, for now, let us focus on the first foes you’ll be facing while exploring Norovellir.

[h2]Bandits
[/h2]

Bandits are, without a doubt, the most common foe in the entire game. Unlike some of the other larger factions, bandits are not an organized force, but rather several independent groups composed of opportunistic ruffians who thrive on stealing the resources and items of other survivors.
To bandits, a fellow survivor is simply an opportunity for gain; and they act accordingly. A bandit who spots you will charge forward while calling for any nearby allies. While a single bandit might be considered weak, they are rarely alone, preferring to fight in numbers, and they will go to any lengths to achieve victory.



[h2]Wild Peasants[/h2]

While bandits are more actively antagonistic in nature, searching for potential victims among the plagued wasteland they live in, Wild Peasants are more reserved, preferring simply to be left alone to their own efforts. Still, these former civilians will defend their farms with violence born of desperation and suspicion, and will attack any trespassers on sight, leaving the player with the question:
Are you willing to attack other survivors, who may have done nothing against you, in order to achieve your own objectives? Do you even care?



[h2]North Plains
[/h2]

As said before, these two groups will be the main adversaries encountered at the beginning of the game. The North Plains, the first region of Norovellir, is crowded with these foes, but it is not the only biome where they will appear. In the other regions, such as the Silent Forest, Wild Hills, and Dark Waters, you will also learn how both groups react to the presence of larger and more powerful factions, be it through servitude or conflict.

Of course, before describing such reactions and connections, we will first need to more thoroughly discuss the other enemy organizations first, which we will do soon. In the meantime, remember to wishlist the game on Steam, join our Discord server and, of course, sign up for the upcoming Alpha version of the game!