Nightingale Developer Update: Server Stress Test, Realm Card Updates

The video discusses key updates and insights regarding the launch of the game Nightingale, including changes to the launch date, outcomes of a recent server stress test, adjustments in gameplay mechanics, and improvements based on player feedback. The creators share detailed information about the game’s development progress, including UI/UX adjustments, changes to hail duration, bug and crash fixes, support for NVIDIA GeForce NOW, and new features like Vaults and changes to the Realm Card system. They also answer common questions about the game, including pricing, gameplay options, and progression systems.

Takeaways

📅 Launch Date Moved: The game will launch two days earlier than previously announced, on February 20, 2024.
🛠️ Server Stress Test Insights: A successful stress test with 50,000 participants helped validate server stability and gather valuable feedback.
🎮 Gameplay Mechanics Adjustments: Key rebinds will be available, and the starting conditions for players will be adjusted for a smoother onboarding experience.
🖥️ UI/UX Improvements: Efforts are being made to enhance the user interface and experience, including drag-and-drop functionality and better presentation of status effects.
🌍 Realm Card System Overhaul: Changes to how players interact with Realm Cards, including the introduction of the Realmic Transmuter and the ability to return to previous Realms.
🕹️ NVIDIA GeForce NOW Support: Nightingale will be accessible on NVIDIA GeForce NOW, allowing for flexible gameplay across devices.
🔑 Vaults for Rare Resources: Introduction of Vaults that offer combat and puzzle challenges for rare resources.
💬 Community Feedback Implementation: Adjustments based on player feedback, including hail duration modification and bug fixes.
🎲 Player Cards and Public Realms: New features to visit other players’ Realms and the option for public Realms with matchmaking.
📈 Progression and Multiplayer Options: Details on progression being character-based and the game supporting solo and multiplayer modes up to six players.

Summary

The game’s launch date has been moved up to February 20, 2024, to allow players earlier access and to provide the team with additional preparation time for the expected busy weekend.
The recent server stress test was deemed a success, with the server maintaining stability throughout and providing the team with crucial data for further optimization.
Key gameplay mechanics and user interface adjustments are being implemented based on feedback, including key rebinds for non-WASD layouts and UI/UX enhancements.
The development team is addressing feedback on hail duration and various bugs and crashes reported during the stress test.
Nightingale will be supported on NVIDIA GeForce NOW, offering players more flexibility in how and where they play the game.
Vaults have been introduced as a new feature, providing players with combat and puzzle challenges in exchange for rare resources.
The Realm Card system has been revised to offer a more intuitive and flexible experience, including the ability to apply minor cards instantly and return to previous Realms.
The game will feature player cards and the option for public Realms, encouraging community interaction and shared experiences.
Common questions were addressed, clarifying the game’s price, perspective options, multiplayer capabilities, and progression system.
The team expressed their excitement for the game’s launch and commitment to incorporating player feedback into ongoing development.

Thank you, Realmwalkers!

On Friday we ran a short server test to replicate the launch conditions for Nightingale. We had almost 50,000 unique users login to our Nightingale servers over 9 hours.

Even better, our servers held together and the real-world data matched our simulated server stress testing, which better prepared us for launch. We also saw a decrease in game crashes since our last beta playtest.

The data we collected gives us some important insights into how quickly folks can get into the game once it’s available and what the ramp-up looks like into the evening hours.

We also learned that the communications sent directly from Steam may be delayed by several hours to days after a product is live. We’re sorry for the confusion and disappointment to those who received a delayed email. We’ve reached out to our contacts at Valve to see if this is the general expectation for their systems, and if so, we’ve recommended updating documentation so developers can better prepare for such a scenario.

The Nightingale Team [Inflexion Games]

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Player Stats

Aside from server stats, we also collected some fun statistics from our users:

Players created 49,286 unique characters!
Players opened 3,238 portals to other realms!
297,936 Boars killed
258,747 Wolves killed
22,933 Deer killed (Regular and Demon Deer)
495,333 Bound killed (All Types)
4,655 Automaton Knights killed
1,270 Automaton Rook Harvesters killed
383 Automaton Bishops killed
633,934 building pieces placed and 574,647 completed
The most popular building piece was a wall, 191,068 walls were completed
137,005 Crude Wood pieces completed
163,837 Crude Stone pieces completed
196,684 Tudor pieces completed
21,852 Desert pieces completed
9,308 decoration pieces completed

We also saw content creators stream and record their experiences with Nightingale. We highly recommend that you check out their content, here’s some highlights:

Jade PG: https://youtu.be/1MxHX0IoATs?si=MPqkz9Y23jrSu75K
PartiallyRoyal: https://youtu.be/Y61xxjMsdW8?si=asA1oK1X5mXpGS0q
Cryptic Fox: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Keryvu3662I
Tales of Lumin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6cmvdsnmsc

We’re so pleased with their reactions and we love the feedback we received from them during their livestreams and YouTube videos. Many of us at the studio were tuning into streams and watching videos, and it was an honour to watch you all play our game.

Perhaps most exciting of all, Nightingale managed to crack the top 20 games streaming on Twitch during our stress test, with thousands of conconcurrent viewers tuning in! So thank you to all of the Twitch streamers who made that possible.

One other focus for us was community feedback. Over the test and the rest of the weekend, we received 190+ unique forum posts on our Discord stress test feedback forum. These ranged from network connectivity troubleshooting to the frequency of boars in the Realm to UI/UX suggestions.

We’re very appreciative of all of the feedback. Rest assured that we hear you, and have already begun working on addressing many of the core pieces of feedback you sent us. Some may be addressed for Early Access launch, and some pieces are being prioritized for following updates after launch, so stay tuned for more detailed updates in the coming weeks!

Thank you to everyone who sent us heartfelt messages about their experiences with Nightingale and the world we’re creating. We want to showcase a few photos from our community, join our Discord to see more!