Hey, everybody,

we've had a few requests for the Christmas event.
Which is really meaningful and important for players who hunt achievemnts etc.

So we installed the old Unity 5 engine, activated the game code and created a new build in which we activated the Christmas event :)

We also made the old/new quests (content-wise they are identical to the last Christmas event), but they had to be made new - to activate them for everyone.

So you can complete or finish all Christmas achievements.
The classic Halloween event will then come in the fall of 2023 for the new version of the game.

If you don't want to complete the Christmas event, you can turn it off in the main menu.
The event will be active until the end of the year.

So good luck with your achievement hunting;)

McP

Hey, everybody,

It will take some time before the new update is ready and available to the public (Our current plan is January/February 2023).

So until then, we will try to keep you at least gradually informed about the latest progress or news.

So what has happened in the week since the last announcement/news.

Most importantly, there has been a change in game characters/characters.
The new models have a completely new skeleton rig that is identical for both female and male characters. Which ensures us a seamless implementation of any "humanoid" animation and easy change from female to male character and vice versa.

All this will also make it possible to do basic customization in the form of changing hair/beard, skin color, etc.

The images and video below are still very much a work in progress.
We are still working on tweaking the character controller and various details along those lines.
The full implementation of the game mechanics is yet to be seen.

You can also catch a glimpse of some WIP animals in the video (currently static, but they are and will be mostly completely new - we're working on their basic implementation).

The latest announcement has raised a few questions that are good to answer early on.

The game itself will remain fundamentally the same (game mechanics, sense of production, building houses, etc).
The first thing we want to implement is new characters, controls, world, and MP/co-op.
We don't plan to make any major changes to the game logic - that will come with time, but still to keep what is already defined.

There will be no special MP achievements - the future MP/co-op will be only for possible cooperative play between friends.

If anything will be changes, it will be in light of new and future plans/things in the game.


Thank you all so much for your patience, support, and trust.

McP

Hey, everybody,

As most of you may remember, we announced at the end of 2019 that we were putting the game on indefinite hold.
Which it did, and there were a lot of things leading up to it, both personal and professional.
The indefinite period of time eventually turned into three years, but Novus itself was never forgotten nor did it officially end its development. It just needed time and ideas to mature and valuable new experiences to be gained.

We were going to wait until after the new year to make this announcement, but I guess it doesn't matter when we go out with it - because getting the trust back will take a long time to build and every day counts towards the good.

The game is being worked on again.
Slowly but surely a big update is in the works.
We'll keep you posted on exactly what it all entails as we go along, because honestly there will be a lot of changes and returns to the roots of the game.

The most important thing is a complete change and modernization of the character controller and animations.
What was technically impossible for us in 2015-18 is now possible thanks to the experience gained over the last 3 years - you are always learning and the 2015-18 version of the game was really such a first attempt.

A working version of the new driver can be seen in the video below. Everything is still being tweaked and balanced, but the foundation has been laid.
The next thing is a return to the original world and the whole idea of the game. When the entire original world of 64km2 is just pure wilderness with a few hints of mystery. And everything else is going into anomalies so that it doesn't interfere with the world.
This world was meant to be a sandbox for house building, survival, etc.
Which it was (those who played the game in 2015-16 will remember all too well their megalomaniac buildings, anywhere in the world without limitations ;) ) - but as little experience and perhaps confusion led to the creation of a new limited world, which while great in many respects and has its charms caused a final break in development.

That's why we want to return to the original idea of the game as it was dreamed up long ago and as it should be.
This goes hand in hand with what was never in the game but we all still wanted, and that is multiplayer.
Admittedly the game won't be an MMORPG - not really, the technical capabilities, experience etc. aren't there for that. But steam P2P co-op (host-client) is currently in the early testing stages, technically everything is ready just need to connect it all to the original game.
So we don't want to promise 100% multiplayer yet, but it's all on the way;)

We will try to keep you actively informed about the progress - currently we want to have the first version ready for Q1/2023

Thank you so much for all the support you've shown the game over the years.
And also a big apology for the last 3 years when we were silent - it had its reasons and we are all just people who can and do make mistakes.

We will try to build your trust again (which will be a long journey) and bring the promised gaming experience to everyone who owns the game.

McP

Hello everyone,

we thank you in advance for your patience and support. Right at the beginning, we announce that the development of the game does not end. After all the hardships you've certainly noticed, we've been fully in the game development for some time, though it may not seem like it.
In fact, for the past six months, nothing has been done but work. Unfortunately, there was not much to publish or hasty conclusions and promise something that may not be met in the future.

(Just briefly about the individual parts).

1) Migrating to Unity 2019
Since all our projects were running on old Unity 5, it was necessary to upgrade to the new version and take advantage of it. Which brings a lot of problem and incompatibility for Novus, but on the other hand, this step brings new possibilities.

2) New character controller
As the first, we were to embark on a brand new character controller, including new animations.
We needed to make our own clean system that could be used for any of our projects and was flexible for the future.
Part of this controller is the control of the camera, so as to avoid camera jamming or other visual imperfections during movement.

3) Performance
Another problem is the performance, we were spending a have a long time to debugged different methods of how to best to improve performance in given situations. And they tried different ways to achieve the desired result with the least impact on the performance as possible while maintaining our imagination of visual impression. The goal was to always run the base core at Full HD on 50-60 FPS, to create space for further calculations game scripts.
Which basically succeeded - the base core runs very well on our old PC dev assembly.

4) Finding the way
This was the most difficult time, we will not hide that we really wanted to end and leave the project. In the end, however, cleaning the head and constantly working on internal tools and finding new ways to find a solution to the NI as such will lead to a successful end and finish the game.
It will not be now, nor will it be the kind of game we dreamed long ago years - big eyes and lack of experience caused NI was to grow over our heads and far away from our personal and financial possibilities.


The "reborn" version is and will be a big update for the current game (not a new game or something like that). This is a general big adjustment of the whole game from A to Z so that it can be completed.

1) Why NI Reborn
Because it is really a transformation of the whole game from A to Z mainly in technical terms.
The first step was to try to convert the game from Unity 5 to Unity 2019. It took a long time and eventually succeeded and the game is working under the new engine, but the whole project has been an absolute ballast and unreal mess over the years. The project takes up over 40 GB of disk space. And it contains a lot of things that are not needed for development - just over the years of learning and development it is basically acceptable but inconvenient for work and further development, and even a new version of the engine did not help.
It takes over half an hour to load the project. Testing minor modifications and debugging is a matter of 10 minutes (before the game can run in the engine and we can do it some test - which we need to do all the time, so the tuning of one thing was taking an hour instead of a few minutes.), etc. etc. Which is very inconvenient. It's a lot like working in messy and uncleaned OS Windows :) These are things that can say we have a mess in it, but the whole project we started building years ago and over the years it has accumulated a lot of items that have not been used in the game.
That's why the new character controller was solved so that it was separated from the project and could be tested quickly and easily.
All these limiting problems led to the way that we decided to convert the game gradually as a new clean project with only what is really needed.
So all scripts, assets, etc. are gradually transferred to a new clean project so that the code is clean and the project cleaned of impurities.
It may sound jumpy and complicated, but it's for the benefit of the game, and the last days show that it was the best and fastest possible option to do.

2) Returning to the roots
In order for the game to work really well, it is not good to constantly add new content without a deeper sense of the game itself. A lot of things added to the game over time lost the sense and logic of what the game was supposed to be.

The purpose of NI was mainly about building and manufacturing with a light touch of survival, who doesn't have the power to restrict playing. The world of the game was supposed to be calm and full of forests, where you can easily get lost and find a quiet place to build a cottage.
NI fans who played the game from day one certainly remember the first version of the world;)

And we have good news for these players. The original old world full of impermeable forests and high mountains, which had and has its charm, will return to the game. And most importantly, we will do not limit where you can build your dream home.

The current world will stay in the game will only lose some POI locations, but in return, it gets dense forests and most of all the opportunity to build anywhere.

It will be possible to travel between these worlds.

More information will come later, as we do not currently want to promise anything that is not properly tested and closed as possible and beneficial to the game as a whole.

3) So what is done and what does it look like?
Please note that the information and videos below are very underworking and still in development and do not match the final result. The videos do not contain the final layout of the objects, nor do they contain locations as you know them (this is only being converted) - all are WIP.
Aerial footage is just a show of performance - aerial video shows some background generation processes that you won't see as you play.

The basic scheme of the old world is fully and functionally translated into a new generation method.
Here's an example of what the old world looks like in working form. The distribution of flora in this video is random without logic - it is mainly used for performance tests.

https://youtu.be/opN72OL9fgc

The transfer of the current world is more difficult, but it is well on its way. Since the current world is working on a different logic of generation than the old, it entails a more complicated conversion under the new flora generating methods. However, basic terrain data is converted and performance tests in randomly distributed flora turn out very well. Thus, we managed to ensure the same logic of behavior for all worlds in order to avoid collisions.

https://youtu.be/eQMDsU5j1pg


The main character is already connected to the new controller. But since the character has a different skeleton rig than the new controller, it's not perfect. I.e. we have to adjust the character so that everything works well.

Maybe it doesn't seem to be much - yes, it will be a lot of work and time. But everything is well on track and the most difficult steps are already done.

We will try to inform you more often now so that you are more in the picture about our progress (but sometimes the work absorbs us so much that one month is like a week for us).
We hope that you will not lose confidence for the project and you will last until we have finished all this and can update.

We thanks a lot to everyone.

The energy is back, but the financial situation is not very good, so if you want to support further development, there are some options (we don't force anyone into anything, but we know we have a few hards fans who want to help):

1) Write a review of the game (few people realize how important reviews are and how they affect product sale).
2) Recommend the game to friends, share on social networks, etc.
3) Put the game as a gift to your friends.
4) Let us know in the comments that this makes sense and that the game is no longer totally dead for you.
5) Get our little side project “The Wild Age”.

https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/app/732160/The_Wild_Age/

Just a little information for our community - more comprehensive information comes in a few days.

Hello everyone,

after a very difficult time and comparing all our thoughts.
We can announce a return to active development.

There will be many changes, but we believe most will be well received.

During this period of development, however, we will not be able to make small updates, since all changes take a little more time and above all, it is not possible releasing is as small updates, but only as one big.

But we will gradually and actively inform you (videos, pictures, and progress).

At this time we can only say that it will be something like a remaster of the whole game.

PS: In fact, we have been working on key things for almost a month. But until we were sure it would work, we didn't want to promise anything, and we kept everything in a state of paused development.

Hello everyone,

this is only a small update:

• It is already possible to purchase a statue for the 3rd anniversary in the trading terminal. And accomplish achievement.
  
• The character icon on the map already shows the direction correctly.

Hello everyone,

please note that this is not a game update. But only the official statement on the current situation.

As most of you have noticed is a long pause. And unfortunately, this pause will take some time. And not only from a moral perspective it is also time to inform the community a little more.

For a part of people who don't want to read a long post and read bad English, there is a summary in:

Q: Is game development canceled or abandoned?
A: Temporarily YES - On long term but NO

Q: Is game development suspended?
A: YES (no updates will come in some time horizon) - NOT in internal plans

Q: When will the new update be?
A: We do not know - we cannot say this and we do not want to promise any dates or periods.

Q: Did I steal your money and run away (as some reviews say wrongly)?
A: Definitely NO - all the money from the game has always been used to develop Novus Inceptio. And right on the heart - the time you can spend in the game is adequate to the price of the game.

And here begins a long essay ...

So I'll take it gradually, including some history.
Novus Inceptio was created as a home project in the evenings during work sometime since 2012. It was purely a fan project affair for a few friends and was not planning to sell the game in the future. Over time, the game showed up to more people and other developers, and according to their response and recommendation, the game was put on Steam at the end of 2015. Only one person works from A to Z all the time (only a few models, music, etc. is the work of external people or other persons). But always only one person worked on the game at 100%, did updates for you, communicated here on a steam forum, soc. networks, support via email, etc. Although "we" was still written all the time (because it gets a little distance from personal attacks and i is not much under pressure in private life.).
Because Novus Inceptio has never been an extraordinary successful project, it has been possible to keep the development all the time because and it has only been a single person who has been working on the game. Unfortunately, this has borne side effects of burnout and other problems. True fans could notice that there were some breaks here and there when I had to really relax a lot. Overall, however, energy has run out on such a big project and I have basically fallen away. I couldn't even communicate on the forum and do support and development at the same time. The space for hiring people was not and unfortunately not in the current time. To put it simply, the game as such really beats me away, both physically and mentally. On the other hand, the game and the steam community helped me a lot where I am currently professionally and privately.

But at the end of 2018, I really needed to run away from Novus and relax with another project - small puns - to fill my head with problems other than novus bugs and what to do next in the game. This little project helped me to get back to normal life again - to clean my head both work and private. Since then, Novus Inceptio has gone aside (though not literally, always dealing with and planning around him). Currently, the new small project is already available on Steam and is in the stage before full release.

Which is certainly no good news for you fans and the Novus Inceptio community (that was I working on another project, etc. - I totally understand all the negative feedback, etc.).
But Novus is my child, but unfortunately, this child has grown over his head - they were very huge plans and big eyes. Over time, I must just realize that I can't do it in one person doing nonstop and constantly - because the end was in sight.

At present, the Novus remaster game is being solved (on paper and in planning) - how to keep everything that is good on the game and remove what is not needed or it is too much megalomania. I.e. Keep what the game should and should be but with the mind and with the fact that it still does and only one person will do it. Remaster will not be a new game, but a big update for the current game.

It would not be a problem to publish a new small update in a matter of a week - I have a done work (content for update) that is fine-tuned. But it would only be a temporary bonus that doesn't match the way you really need mean finish the game.
That is why there is and will be a pause before everything is solved - it is no longer possible to make hurry steps, but it is necessary to have clear rules and boundaries. Otherwise, the game will be unfinished.

For most of you, this is a piece of sad news. But for those who are not waiting for multiplayer (MP probably will not really be - it's really beyond the energy and power at this time), I think that as a single player game brings enough fun in a quite reasonable form. There are many players in the community that have more than 10 hours played in the game and a really big% has even 100-300 hours or more. Which, from my humble point of view, is not a waste of time and the game has certainly brought the fun.
So basically I have to ignore all negations (both recent negative reviews, hates, and comments) - it really takes me a lot of energy. And I believe that, despite these negations, the game has found its way to some people and they found enough fun in it.

I hope this statement was understandable. And please be patient.
I know that new negations and hates will come now. Unfortunately, I am reconciled with it and I believe that it will be time to get the game into active development and finally get out from early access.

Thanks a lot for your time and support.

Hello everyone,
we bring you a new minor update.
This year, we joined the 3rd anniversary event and the Halloween event in one. Some players do not like these events, so from now it is possible to turn them off (in the main menu).
But there are also many players who are looking forward to these events;)

This update is relatively smaller and rather focuses on minor repairs of new or older bugs.
We spent a lot of time dealing with nVidia cards and integrated graphics - this issue has caused us a lot of problems (when the game was runs under integrated graphics).

We know that the update rate of the last months is not as frequent as before.
But we still have big plans with our game, and some steps require a really big hit in the whole game (tuning the characters animation, which will allow us to implement firearms and horse riding - but this is really a big step that takes a lot of time and work) .
On the other hand, we have to keep our game / business in positive sales numbers - unfortunately, the sale numbers is slowly falling and is no longer able to make a reasonable profit for fulltime development. Therefore, we also need to take additional steps to ensure a sufficient income for the development of this game.
Soon we will inform you more - but certainly Novus Inceptio does not end - it is our child and primary project!
(only we need to ensure sufficient income for further full-fledged development)

Thank you so much for your patience, loyalty and support!

EDIT:
We certainly did not want to unleash a discussion on company income etc.
We just wanted to prepare the our players for situation when we must create and finish a new smaller project (about which we want to inform after the new year - the new project is already in the finishing phase) at this time.
And also that it will not threaten the development of the NI.
New small project is to ensure the continuation of our company and to support the development of NI.

• Starting the 3rd Anniversary Event.
  
• Starting the Halloween event.
  
• Both events can be turned off in the main menu.
  
• Halloween event quest - A new Hat is the main reward (include 2016 and 2017 Hats).
  
• 3rd Anniversary Quest - A new sculpture is the main reward (include 2016 and 2017 sculptures).
  
• Two new achievements that will be fulfilled after the 3nd Anniversary quest is finished.

• Removed the ability to turn off the dark edge around the game - this graphic element has been completely removed from the game.
  
• It is now possible to disable the collision model of the camera (when is disabled - the camera ignores collisions with surrounding objects) turn off or on you can in Settings -> Gameplay
  
• In the underground temple was removed the inactive teleport (which caused some misunderstanding during the quest's fulfillment).

• Fixed a collision door model in the dungeon.
  
• Fixed the quest display in the quest journal (if the tutorial quest and normal / event quest is displayed at one time).
  
• The logic of "Mix of dried herbs" and "Dried specific herbs" has been fixed, this item is no longer defined as a pure herb (which caused problems and confusion / consumption of these items during the production of oneself).
  
• Correction of the FPS indication (when the color definitions were swapped (red and yellow).
  
• Fixed some small bugs in game code.
  
• Dungeon - slightly increased performance.
  
• Added libraries for some nVidia cards that improve the compatibility for nVidia GPU systems and integrated graphics (to launch the game directly under nVidia and not under the integrated GPU).

• Fixed a small typing error

• Correction of inventory icons for 3rd statue.
  
• Alchemy station no longer produces silk.
  
• Correction of the collision behaviour for the stairs in the dungeon.

Hello everyone,
so after a some break there is a new update.

This is the first update from the newly planed and prepared updates for this autumn and winter.
And this first update does not bring much at first glance, but the opposite is true.

We do not want to burden you with lots of edits and preparations in the background of the game. Which are not visible but are essential for further development of the game, and rather we look at the news you can now play.

So we have prepared a new anomaly - it is a procedural dungeon that is ready for gradual expansion and upgrading.
This dungeon is always a little different and you always find some reward at the end.
Part of this dungeon is the new raw material "Ergastulum" - it is basically the best material in the game (for current time) and we will still balance him.
Anyway, this material is only found in the new Dungeon.

There are some further preparations and modifications - see the slightly modified anomaly "Ruined City", ("Hostile A2-A" patrol around the City! )etc.
All this is in consistent of the upcoming things that are planned.

So now for the crucial one - why was there a pause so long?
The pause in the development was unplanned, but we are happy for this work break.
We needed a lot of rest - the burn-out effect was slowly comes, and it was better for us to take a pause. Before being we defeated by the final pressure and ending up badly (both on health and on the job side).
So we used the summer holidays and revitalized us. Finally, after a long time, we could spend time on our families too. After all, we did not stop for a long time and preferred to work (which is also not good).

But it was not all about only relaxing - we was do it a lot of work and planning.
We have other new anomalies (this still needs to be fine tuned before we can release it) and basic parts of the game code and logic for further content and tuning.
But the main thing is that we are back in full at work.

Thanks so much for your patience and understanding.


Below is a list of this update:

• New Anomaly "Dungeon"
  
• "Dungeon Anomaly" - This is a procedurally generated dungeon that is not always the same and will be further developed (in future updates).
  
• "Dungeon Anomaly" - Each dungeon always contains the following parts in the specified sequence:
  
• 1) Start
  
• 2) Corridors or rooms
  
• 3) Some Quest or location with raw materials
  
• 4) Corridors or rooms
  
• 5) Creatures
  
• 6) Corridors or rooms
  
• 7) Some Quest or location with raw materials
  
• 8) Corridors or rooms
  
• 9) Final Creatures (Boss :) - a selection of heavy ingame creatures (Bear, Basilisk, Skorpion)
  
• 10) Corridors or rooms
  
• 11) Room with a reward
  
• 12) Exit
  
• "Dungeon Anomaly" - New material for production - Ergastulum - is currently the best material in the game.
  
• Ergastulum can only be obtained in the dungeon (predominantly as a final reward).
  
• New Item Ergastulum Silk
  
• New Item Ergastulum Branch
  
• New Item Ergastulum Ore
  
• New Item Ergastulum Ingot
  
• New Item Ergastulum Pelt
  
• New Item Ergastulum Stone
  
• New Item Ergastulum Shaft
  
• New Item Scroll to invoke Dungeon Anomaly (can be bought or obtained as a reward)
  
• New Recipe Ergastulum Ingot
  
• New Recipe Ergastulum Shaft

• The feeling of cold is now beginning at -2.5 (Celsius), not +5 (Celsius)
  
• The feeling of heat now begins at +39 (Celsius), not +35 (Celsius)
  
• It is already possible to fill an empty bottles placed in the skill bar (only when you a while standing in the water).
  
• The fracture can also be treated with bandages and healing covers - but with less chance of success.
  
• "New players" - Aggressive monsters don't spawn in the world, if player do not have finished the basic tutorial.
  
• "New players" - Anomalies are no longer generated, if player do not have finished the basic tutorial.
  
• "New players" - Scrolls for anomaly invoke can not be used, if player do not have finished the basic tutorial.
  
• "New players" - The reach of the safe zone was be reduced at the startup temple so that new players can place items on the ground around the start location.
  
• The Blueprint icons in the inventory are now showing whether the blueprint is learned or not.
  
• If you dig a planted tree, the quality of the seedlings is diminishing.
  
• Obtaining seedlings after harvesting farm fields is again influenced by FARMING skill = greater chances of obtaining seedlings (up to 100%).
  
• Improving Kits must have the same or higher Tier as the item to which they are used.
  
• Custom player Trees after cutting already give the correct ql / tier.
  
• Doe now has a better model size with respect to player size (smaller model).
  
• Mitigated and modified interval of idle sounds for monsters.
  
• Adjusted Anomaly "Ruined City" (preparation for additional content):
  
• "Ruined City Anomaly" - New and better placed flora (trees, shrubs, rocks, etc.).
  
• "Ruined City Anomaly" - Monsters now move more outside the city.
  
• "Ruined City Anomaly" - New "Hostile A2-A" patrol around the City! Be careful it's not possible to kill them - if they find you they will throw you out of the anomaly.

• Edit several core scripts in the background of the game.
  
• Troubleshooting minor deficiencies with regard to future content.
  
• Modifying and debug some game assets.

• Beehive Chip can no longer be used for fiber or straw production.
  
• Herbal tiling already correctly requires water as one of the ingredients.
  
• Scrolls to invoke anomalies are no longer visible in the filter (in inventory) for the food.
  
• Correction minor collisions with the uniqueness of each item (system error).
  
• Correction of Czech translation.
  
• Correction of the interaction script.

• Fixed problem with tree cutting.