Hey everyone,

It's time for another weekly Devlog for NIRAVASI. Two weeks ago, I talked a bit about Clovis and the beginning of the end of the game's 5th level. In this week's Devlog, I'll be shifting focus a bit more on the TEKMO Tower itself (from both a gameplay and design perspective). With that said, let's get straight into it.

Technical Implementation

After a couple of weeks of hard work, I've finally managed to nail a design for the TEKMO Tower that I'm excited to work on, as well as see how it's generally received among the majority of the game's playerbase. Now for context, the TEKMO Tower is not the entirety of the Aruvi District level. As such, I don't want to heavily invest my time into trying to make this place as intensive as the previous levels. But as the TEKMO company is still an important part of the story behind Niravasi and AEON in general, it wouldn't be fair to just simply chalk this area up to being just another bog-standard building to explore.

That's why the TEKMO Tower segment of the game will contain the most amount of story development elements so far. We're talking heavy emphasis on dialogue interactions, exploring different character relationships, and understanding a bit more about how the city of Niravasi came to fall so disgracefully. I already showed off a particularly important moment for both Mura and Clovis (best bros go for the hug) and I'm happy to say that there'll still be a lot more surprises players can expect to see going forward (the ending in particular will be absolutely adorable).

Verticality

One of the ways I'm keeping the players' adventures through the TEKMO Tower a short and sweet experience is by carefully constructing this part of the level in such a way that it successfully sells the illusion of climbing a tower, but doesn't feel too big to explore. That's why I've segmented the TEKMO Tower into several smaller floors that players will have to climb in order to reach the end of the level. These include:

Basement

Lobby

Assembly

Pitching

Finance

Relation

Develop

Sales

Admin

Each floor of the TEKMO Tower will contain a central hub room, two stairwells, and two side rooms filled with goodies like books, terminals and Vigarium artefacts. Some may be necessary for gaining access to the elusive Admin Floor, but my hope is that the level will be designed in such a way that it won't feel frustrating for players for having to backtrack. And don't worry, I won't be sending them on a wild goose chase anytime soon (save for a certain climactic finish to the level, though).

Going Forward

After the completion of the TEKMO Tower, NIRAVASI's 5th level will be done. I'm trying to get work on it finished before I leave to go on Holiday next Saturday, but I wouldn't be surprised if I had to dedicate a bit more time to wrapping things up while I'm away.

With the Aruvi District's completion, players will no longer be able to explore the city of Niravasi itself. While this may be sad to hear for some, it's an ultimately necessary decision from a design standpoint. Each level in NIRAVASI provides a noticeable different experience for players in terms of its environments, which will be a continual trend going forward with the final two levels of the game.

For context, the Tutorial gave players all the information needed regarding the game's setting and objective going forward. Old Hanirr provided them with a mysterious, but dangerous setting to better illustrate the kind of game NIRAVASI is going forward. The Stepwell of Dhara Hanirr slowly began to unravel the themes that would be explored in the game, including some of the game's more questionable narrative topics like enslavement and torture. Ishani Bazaar gave players a look at the technological wonders that the city of Niravasi held in the past, as well as introducing them to the threat of AEON and the CALI unit. Lotulanda showed players a side of the city that existed well-before AEON's involvement, as well as a setting that was both grand and ominous. Finally, the Aruvi District shows players the rawest emotions the people of the city felt in its last years, as well as explore areas that truly unnerved players.

Going forward, the Perfection Complex and Palace of Nira Ishan will focus more-so on setting the pieces for the conclusion of the game's story. We'll learn just what it is that AEON's been working on all this time, the fate of Mura's crew, as well as understand the heart and mind of the very man who created the city in the first place: Emperor Nirav Ishani.

That's it for this Week's Devlog for NIRAVASI. I can't promise you that there'll be another Devlog waiting for you next Tuesday or the next. I'll be pretty busy the first few days of my trip going away, but I'm hoping that once time passes, I'll be able to work on the final two levels of the game. I'm getting really nervous knowing that the end is just around the corner, but I'm also extremely thankful to everyone that's helped support the project along the way so far. It's been an absolute thrill working on this gem of a game, so let's continue working hard to ensure it'll be in a flawless state when it releases! With that said, thank you very much for reading and I hope you all have a lovely evening.

Kind regards,
Angus (Sangos)