Introduction

Hi, welcome to the first devlog of For Nykanak! In this post I will explain the idea behind the game as well as some of the backstory and lore of the world of For Nykanak.

But first, here is a little bit about me. My name is Brandon and I am the sole developer of this game. I have been developing games as a hobby for over ten years. I started out playing around in level creation tools for games as a kid, such as Little Big Planet or even the simple map creation tools in Age of Empires. Soon after, I learned the basics of coding. I spent a lot of my free time learning Unity engine and Blender. I took my passion for game development with me to college where I graduated with honors and a diploma in game design.

Over the last couple years I have been learning Unreal Engine including the c++ side of it. With all the cool things that Epic Games has been doing with the engine, I wanted to dive in and check it out.

I really enjoy immersive and hardcore games. Some of my favorite games are: The Metro Series, Escape From Tarkov, Stalker and Into The Radius.

I have decided to work on this game full-time, because making games is my passion and I can see that there is a need for more accessible extraction shooters.

The World

The game takes place around ten years after a nuclear war has decimated the planet. As a child the player character fled with their community to an underground shelter built from an old coal mine museum. This new underground community was named “Nykanak”.

Some of the people who helped found Nykanak anticipated how bad the war was getting and started preparing the underground for long term living. After ten years, supplies are starting to run low. As an adult, the player character has volunteered to be the first to face the dangers of the surface to help keep their people alive. Not only is the surface war-torn and covered in radiation, but it is filled with the consequences of years of biological warfare. The countries involved in the war did everything in their power to win. Throwing everything from airborne viruses to mutated horrors at each other. Leaving them behind for you to deal with.

The Game

For Nykanak is a single-player extraction shooter. The primary gameplay loop can be simplified down to:

1. Prepare at home
   • Prepare your gear
   • Plan your tasks
   • heal/rest and maintain your body
   • Maintain your underground home
2. The Surface
   • Complete tasks
   • Loot supplies
   • Survive the environment/ enemies
3. Make it to the extraction
   • Bring back what you found
   • Make it back alive
4. Repeat

This is how the game works at a very simplified level. Now I will go into more detail about each point. Keep in mind that this devlog is meant to be a general overview of the game and in future devlogs I will go into even more detail about each specific feature.

1. At Home

In your underground home of Nykanak, you will have access to a personal stash that you can store any items or components that you want. This will be separate from the community supplies. You will be able to craft and modify gear at a workbench. Since there is an emphasis on extraction-based gameplay, for now I have decided to limit crafting and modding to mostly at home. The idea is that you prep for your adventures beforehand. This creates room for learning from your mistakes and removes the need for bringing crafting components along with you.

The community supplies are used to help keep Nykanak running. These include food, fuel, water, air filters and construction materials. Since Nykanak was built in old mining tunnels, there is some room for expansion. These expansions will be up to the player. The player will have to find these supplies while on the surface. As time goes on, opportunities for more sustainable options will be available. For example: A mining operation could be created to gather coal to help power the facilities, find an underground water source to tap into or create an air filter workshop so the community can be more efficient on air filters.

Tasks are given to the player by community members. Completing these tasks improves your relationship with them but also helps them, and in turn helps you. These community members usually have skills to aid you. An example is doing a task for the local mechanic where they need you to find welding equipment. This task might unlock the ability for them to make makeshift weapons that you can use on the surface. With these community members, I like the idea of it being trading favors or items, rather than some merchant not selling you something because of some number or level that’s not high enough. There can still be a progression system but I think it feels more natural if it’s actually based on realistic problem solving instead of just numbers. From time to time maintenance tasks will come up. These will be tasks that will involve keeping certain parts of Nykanak running. One of the first tasks of this type will be to establish connection with what remains of the GPS system. The GPS satellites have been slowly decaying over the years but aren’t gone completely. By infiltrating a satellite control station and rebooting some of the remaining satellites, you will gain access to a basic form of GPS.

2. On The Surface

When you visit the surface you will need to wear a gas mask. This is not only for the radiation but also for the airborne viruses. You can scavenge for gas mask filters or learn how to craft them yourself. There are several other health related things you will need to manage while you are up there. You will need to eat food to maintain your stamina, depending on how long you are out there, as well as drink water. Due to the nuclear war, temperatures have shifted colder. On a warm day it’s around 0 degrees Celsius and on a cold day it can go down to -50 degrees Celsius. You will need to manage your warmth with clothing/ fires. If you get too cold your food will burn faster and when you are out of food your stamina will drain a lot quicker and eventually stop regenerating. Once this happens you will start to die. On cold days any water or drinks you find can be frozen. I will do another devlog on the player health system in the future going into more detail about its various features.

You can loot items by fitting them into your backpack. Backpack space is represented by a grid. Each item takes up a different amount of grid space. I like this approach versus having a weight based system that slows you down or stops you from walking when you are holding too much. Sometimes it can be hard to find what is causing you to be over the weight limit, or the game just puts something in your inventory automatically and suddenly you can’t run. Using the grid space method, you can’t “overfit” anything, so you don’t run into that issue. Weight can still be taken into account for stamina costs and other mechanics. The specifics will have to be tested and tweaked during the game’s development.

3. Extracting

When leaving for a mission you will be transported to your area of choice via an old restored steam train. When you are ready to extract you can call the train back over the radio, and it will come pick you up. There isn’t a dedicated match timer. How long you can stay on the surface will depend on a few different factors, including your hunger and radiation levels. The train can be fitted with various upgrades as you progress through the game. An example of this is a mounted machine gun that shoots any enemies it sees as the train comes to pick you up.

What’s Next?

In the upcoming devlogs, I will go into detail about each specific feature as they are developed. I will post video versions of these devlogs on the YouTube channel as well and more frequent updates will be posted on the Patreon. If you would like to support the development of this game, you can support by becoming a Patron or even following on social media. Every little bit helps and is appreciated!

For Nykanak

The name “Nykanak” comes from the word “niikinaahk” which means “my home” in my ancestral language. So the game’s name roughly means “For My Home”.