Hey everyone,

It's time for another Weekly Devlog for NIRAVASI. This week, we've got a lot to talk about in regards to both Lotulanda and the 5th Level (at long last)! I'll keep the introduction brief as I've got places to be for today, so let's get straight into it.

Safety in Isolation

Work on Lotulanda is going along well and I've managed to complete the first of the main gameplay loops for this level. I've been teasing it for a while now, so let's delve deeper into it and talk about the nitty-gritty.

So in Lotulanda, the primary threat you will have to face is the SARA unit, the custodial machine that oversees the safety and well-being of the Grand Library. Before you make your way through one of the first wings, the SARA unit itself will actually warn you not to make any sudden noises while exploring each of these wings. So don't make any silly mistakes like deciding to call Clovis to ask for help. If you do, you'll find that all of the lights in the current room (if they're on) will be dimmed, and a very angry SARA unit will make its way to super-murder you. The SARA unit is dangerously fast and most of the time, you'll have difficulty avoiding certain death. Thankfully, there are two parts to this mechanic that you can use to your advantage. The first is that like CALI, there is a delay for when SARA enters the room. The second, and more important mechanic, will be the safety plates. These lovely rainbow-coloured devices will obscure Mura's silhouette and allow him to ward off the SARA unit's advances. These plates will be spread all throughout Lotulanda, so be sure to keep an eye on their position.

Other than that, as long as you don't activate any audio traps or refuse to call Clovis out openly, you'll be absolutely fine. After all, there must always be silence in the Library.

The Dark Within

So as I'm writing this, a brand new idea popped into my head regarding another layer of exploration for the player within Lotulanda. A few years ago, I came across the story of the Spider's Thread, which was about the Heavenly Buddha offering a man in Naraka a chance at redemption, by allowing him to climb up a Spider's Thread. As the man tries to climb up, other sinners in Naraka follow him and in his selfishness, the man kicks the other sinners off. The web then breaks, signifying to the reader that had the man truly been innocent, he would've allowed the other sinners a chance at redemption as well.

As Lotulanda follows very similar themes to both Buddhist and Hinduist mythology, I decided to give the fourth level of Niravasi a new area for players to explore. The gameplay loop of avoiding the SARA unit will still be in effect, but I've decided that there will also be areas that the machine CAN'T follow the player through. These would be the employee-only/maintenance tunnels of Lotulanda and they would give players another way of navigating through the Grand Library. But, as you might expect, this wouldn't be as easy to do as one might think. While the SARA unit won't be able to hunt you down here, another series of robots would be able to.

It appears in their arrogance, the Lotulanda Staff simply mass-produced the SARA unit in an attempt to create more. However, these incomplete machines would serve little-to-no purposes above and so were cast down as security detail within the employee quarters. As they were mass-produced, not all their bugs were nailed down and the defective robots now roam these dark corridors, eager to destroy anyone that ventures through their lair. I'll be going into more detail about these machines at another time, but know that they looked REALLY scary during their concept stages and I hope they'll play the part too when the Lotulanda Demo is released.

Water World

As development of Lotulanda went along, I found myself stuck in a rather funny situation in my personal life. Turns out that after the blistering heat waves we experienced earlier this week in the UK, some pesky storms came along and coated the place in rainwater. While I was being drenched in water, I got a really cool idea. What if I made a level like Ishani Bazaar flooded with water?

Enter Niravasi's 5th Level, which I'm now officially dubbing as the Aruvi District. Where Ishani Bazaar was a look at the common man's life in Niravasi, the Aruvi District focuses on the stories of the some of the higher-end people and businesses that held power over the politics of the city. But as you'll find out when you arrive in the level, the whole place has become flooded with rainwater. As it turns out, AEON's desire to create a artificial weather system has had an unintended side-effect of completly washing away the streets of this place. As such, Mura will have to navigate across fractured buildings filled with water, while still avoiding AEON's machines (which will also include a brand new enemy that I will be dubbing the "Lurker". Stay tuned for more information as I crack on with the development of Lotulanda.

That's it for this week's Devlog for NIRAVASI. I'm really happy to have a solid idea on what to do for the next few levels and it's really encouraged me to crack on with Lotulanda and making sure that it's a great level to explore. I'm also really looking forward to seeing how I can put the vision I have for Aruvi District into practice. There may be some funny workarounds with it here and there, but hopefully I can make it into a absolutely phenomenal area in terms of setting and location. Until then, thank you for reading another one of NIRAVASI's Devlogs and I'll speak to you all again soon.

Kind regards,
Angus (Sangos)