Nightsunder
DEVELOPMENT JOURNAL
Development milestones, design announcements, and major changes from the making of Nightsunder.
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Nightsunder World Builder
We are preparing a World Builder workflow: a dedicated Claude session connected to Unreal Engine, intended to construct environments from detailed zone descriptions. Testing begins with a small area.
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Development Pipeline: The Asset Lab
We are setting up the Asset Lab, a dedicated workspace for producing textures, props, materials and other reusable assets for Nightsunder.
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Damage Types and Resistances
Combat now distinguishes physical and numen damage, and targets can carry resistances that reduce incoming damage of the matching type. Blocking is unchanged and still stops a hit completely.
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Save, Load and the Final Death Restore
Nightsunder now has saving and loading. On final death, the game restores the most recent valid save – manual, auto or quick – returning the player’s position, resources and weapon stance. The world itself does not…
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Death, Incapacitation and the Revive Window
Zero Health now downs the player instead of killing them, opening a ten-second revive window. Healing does not revive – only an explicit resurrection does, and only before the window expires.
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Combat Update: Melee Damage and Blocking
Melee attacks now deal damage: hits reduce a target’s Health, each swing damages a target once, and blocking absorbs a hit fully or fails entirely. Death and hit reactions are not implemented yet.
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Basic Melee Attack
The first melee attack is in: with a weapon drawn, the left mouse button performs a single swing with windup, active and recovery stages. Hits are detected but do not yet deal damage.
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Draw and Sheath Weapon Stance
The character can now draw and sheath a weapon with the R key. Each motion is timed and commits once started, and the character counts as combat-ready only when the weapon is fully drawn.
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Interaction System: Focus and Prompts
Nightsunder has its first working interaction system: look at a nearby object, see its prompt, and press E to engage it. The building block for doors, levers and pickups is in place.
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Sneak and Walk Stances
Two new movement stances join sprinting: sneak, a crouched, slower stance, and walk, a slower upright pace. The stances follow a clear priority order and work alongside the existing movement systems.
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Sprint and Energy
The character can now sprint. Sprinting drains Energy; running it dry causes exhaustion until enough Energy recovers. It is the first feature to combine the input and resource systems.
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Welcome to the Nightsunder Development Journal
The first entry in the Nightsunder development journal: the hybrid camera, the Health, Energy and Numen resources, and the input foundation that supports rebinding, alternate keyboard layouts and gamepads.