Over the last couple of weeks we've been overhauling the camera system by adding 2 new modes: Third Person View and First Person View.



To unlock your camera and enter third person view you can press X (default). The camera can be rotated around the player with your mouse or the right stick on your controller. When you start walking forward, the player will always walk where your camera is headed. You can also strafe and walk backward.
Use your mouse wheel to change the distance to the player. Zooming in will ultimately switch to...

For full immersion, enter this mode by zooming in the camera all the way until the player disappears. Freely look around with either your mouse or the right stick on your controller. See things that you haven't seen before. But be prepared to see what the world is made of: Voxels. Lots of them.



Decide yourself which camera mode suits your play style best.

The vehicle camera got an upgrade as well. You can now keep the camera unlocked while driving. Look around freely while you drive.
One of our long-term plans is adding a full first person cockpit view while driving.



Upon request we've added mouse steering for all the keyboard+mouse users. Adjust the mouse sensitivity in the menu to your liking. But please note that the vehicle will not turn more quickly this way. To use mouse steering effectively, it is recommended to use slow & steady left and right moves.

The input and key binding system has been overhauled completely as well. It now allows full customization of controller keys. If you like, you could both accelerating, braking, steering left & right to the left stick and use the trigger keys for something else. Your choice.



Furthermore, wherever input actions are referenced in the user interface (i.e. A to TALK), these icons now show the current key binding for either keyboard or controller users. We've also improved the input tutorials at the start of the game and added new tutorials for the camera and overmap.

A welcome addition to the streets of Nivalis are the new cleaning robots. They move from puddle to puddle to clean them up, a hopeless task with the endless rain pouring onto the streets. But they're cute looking and we love them.

Other changes in this update include a range of bugfixes and tweaks to support the new camera modes. We have started working on other more long-term new features and new stories and can't wait to share them with you soon.

Until then, enjoy your time in Nivalis and come say "Hi" on our Discord Server.

Your ION LANDS team

It's been nearly two weeks since we launched Cloudpunk and we're overwhelmed by the reception. Many of you have joined our official Discord Server to give feedback, tell us your suggestions or simply to share your love for the game. It's been really heart-warming for us and we want to thank you all for that.

We've had discussions in the team about the future of the game and decided to do a livestream on Youtube:

The livestream will be with Thomas, Roman, Eloise and Marko and we want to chat a bit about the game's development and our long-term vision for the game.

We've also worked on some more fixes and QoL changes in this update.

What has changed:

• Many performance changes. Lower quality levels now have much more impact as they also scale the amount of background vehicles and NPCs. Performance is also increased slightly in the High and Maximum levels because of improved character updating.
  
• It is no longer possible to get locked by Huxley or Pashta. Colliders of interactable NPCs on the streets have been reduced.
  
• Improved the quest removal during the Spire CEO prank choice.
  
• Fixed a rare situation in which talking to a CORPSEC character in the Stacks blocked progress near the gate at Alexa Theatre.
  
• Fixed voiceover lines stopping before the end when skipping and advancing the text.
  
• Fixed some map icons not being displayed or displayed too long.
  
• Fixed the unlocked vehicle camera not being reset properly.
  
• Fixed an empty dialog line with Emit.
  
• Japanese language fixes

One more thing, if you're having trouble with your controller not working properly, here's what you can do:

1. Make sure only one controller is connected
2. Activate Xbox configuration support in your Steam settings



You are welcome to join our Discord Server for a direct chat with us and other Nivali.

Control out.

This update is mainly about map and radar improvements. Our long-term vision for the game sees the map as an important feature supporting exploration.

What has changed:

• Radar and map only show icons of characters and other interactable objects, if that interaction is currently possible.
  
• There are now different icons for loot (items that are mainly for selling) and other items that might have a use for the story. Some can be considered in both categories (like Coolant), but these can always be bought from merchants if needed to repair a lift for example.
  
• Added a legend to the map for all currently displayed icons.
  
• Added labels for the destinations of ascenders (vehicle lifts).
  
• Improved zooming and panning the map.

Regarding performance and top-model GPUs like NVIDIA's 2080s running hot, we have introduced an option to limit the frame rate. After performing tests with players from the community (thank you!) limiting the framerate to 60 helps with the overheating and could also prevent crashes.
Please also make sure that in your graphics card control panel under 3D Settings the option "Power Management" is set to "Optimal Power".

You don't need to pull every last bit of performance out of your cards, it's better to keep them running at decent load. In your settings you can create a profile for Cloudpunk with moderate settings.

Furthermore we've been working on some more fixes and improvements.

Other changes:

• Included some of the post processing effects (of which there are plenty in Cloudpunk) to the quality levels. This includes volumetric lighting, fxaa and a skybox fog blending effect, which is now more detailed in the maximum quality level.
  
• Added an option to switch bloom on/off.
  
• Fixed a bunch of spelling errors in the dialog lines.
  
• Fixed a duplicate dialog with Mala.
  
• Added key binding options for Strafe Left/Right for keyboard users. Furthermore the controls menu has been revamped and key binding improved. Tertiary key bindings (i.e. supporting WASD, controller and arrow keys at the same time) have been removed. If you are an arrow key user, bind them. Fixed accidentally binding keys twice that would cause conflicts.
  
• Added missing minimap to TV tower.

You are welcome to join our Discord Server for a direct chat with us and other Nivali.

Control out.

Thank you very much for your continued feedback! We've been working tirelessly on some more issues you reported and managed to fix a bunch more in this update.

What has changed:

• Implement a system to detect false game states when continuing the game. If you were among the unlucky ones to just see the clouds after loading a game, this should fix things for you.
  
• Fixed the quest display bug in Evelin's story.
  
• Fixed a bug that could potentially make parts of the scene invisible or stop background sounds when switching between levels or loading a game.
  
• Shadows are now also culled, which could lead to a performance increase in some areas.

We thank you all for your patience while we iron out these issues. Once that is done, we can't wait to work on new and expanded features for you. We have a long list of cool things to add. You are welcome to join our Discord Server for a direct chat with us and other Nivali.

Control out.

EDIT:
If after this last update you were having a problem with your character falling endlessly, please make sure to have Steam update the game to the latest hotfix we uploaded.
We have made an attempt to automatically fix this for you. When loading the game you will see your character fall for a while until it should move back to the tunnel exit where the problem started.

If the fix doesn't work for you, please send over your save file to us (support@ionlands.com) so we can manually correct it. It is named "Slot0.sav" and located in this folder:
C:/Users/YourUsername/AppData/LocalLow/Ion Lands/Cloudpunk

We're sorry for the trouble.

Thank you very much for your continued feedback! We've been working tirelessly on some more issues you reported and managed to fix a bunch more in this update.

What has changed:

• Tweaked visibility (culling) of all lifts in the game.
  
• Tweaked the navpoint colors for higher contrast when multiple of them are active at the same time.
  
• Fixed wet footstep sounds while in apartment.
  
• Added an input control to disable the HUD (default: F3/DPad-Down).
  
• Added an option to invert X-Axis for the unlocked camera.
  
• Edited the Ventz level and lighting hoping to fix a crash with AMD-GPU's.
  
• Improved the dialog flow by adding a Dialog Delay option. Before, we had a bit of delay after each line. Let me elaborate on that to explain our reasoning. If you're not fluent with the English voice lines and have to read the translations, a delay is required to have a chance to grasp everything. Now you can decide in the options if you want that delay or not. By default it is off for English and on for all other languages. There is also a third value allowing you to make the delay longer if you desire.
  
• Fixed the dialog skipping for lines where one voice sample contains multiple text lines.
  
• Fixed a rare critical situation with moving platforms causing player errors after using them.
  
• Fixed holes in the CORA level.
  
• Added options to tweak the values of the GPU based culling solution we're using. One lets you change the culling accuracy (10-90%, the higher the value, the more objects are not rendered), the other is culling prediction (0-50%, culling prediction tries to predict what the camera is about to "see" next). If you are experiencing stutters, you can try to increase the prediction and see if it helps. Besides that we will look into further updates of the culling algorithm in the future to improve your experience.
  
• Fixed missing characters in Chinese, Korean and Japanese UI texts.
  
• Fixed a situation in which all available slots of a parking lot are used by NPC cars.
  
• Incoming calls will now wait before leaving the overmap if you have that open.

We will continue looking into other reported issues and suggested improvements. Feel free to join our Discord Server for a direct chat with us and other Nivali. They are lovely people, CorpSec will make sure of that. ːRaccoonː

Control out.

Thank you very much for your continued feedback! We've been working tirelessly on some more issues you reported and managed to fix a bunch more in this update.

What has changed:

• Added quality levels to the option menu:
  
  1. Simple: No dynamic shadows, low resolution textures, uses lowest detail of available objects only, no soft particles, no realtime reflection probes
     
  2. Medium: Low resolution dynamic shadows, low shadow shadow distance, realtime reflection probes
     
  3. High (default): High resolution dynamic shadows, standard shadow distance, uses standard LOD bias, soft particles
     
  4. Maximum: Higher shadow distance, renders high detail object variants much further away
• Added an option "Run In Background" which allows to enable whether the game should keep running when out of focus (default: on)
  
• Added a "Sell" button to the dialog window when trade offers are displayed. This indicates that you can sell items to this merchant. It opens the inventory where you can choose which items to sell and their prices in the details. If you haven't found out yet, merchants buy and sell items at different prices depending on where they are located. Find the ones who sell low and those who buy high to make a couple extra Lims.
  
• Fixed the achievements "Above the Clouds" and "Almost like Home".
  
• Fixed many spots where the player could potentially get stuck or the camera could clip into buildings.
  
• Also added a safety net feature. In the rare case you would fall through the floor, you will be teleported back to the last saved spot.
  
• Fixed a timing issue with the Huxley office mission.
  
• Fixed and improved the timing of the Baz mission. My ears are hurting now.
  
• Fixed a bug preventing area transitioning when opening the map or menu when entering vehicle ascenders.
  
• Added a missing voiceover sample for Camus.

We will continue looking into other reported issues and suggested improvements. Feel free to join our Discord Server for a direct chat with us and other Nivali. They are lovely people, we promise. ːRaccoonː

We are very happy that you like our game and that you would love more content. So do we.
Cloudpunk is only the beginning for us exploring the city of Nivalis. Once we ironed out the systems, we will begin to think about what's next. New deliveries, new characters, new stories, more of the city, more mechanics, the options are endless. First and foremost our main priority is making your time in Nivalis an experience, something you can't really describe, but that you can feel. <3

Control out.

Thank you very much for your continued feedback! We've been working on some more issues you reported and managed to fix a bunch in this update.

What has changed:

• Fixed the Metropol Building achievement. If you find it again, the achievement will be triggered.
  
• Fixed the Perfect Run achievements. If you already completed the game, these can unfortunately only trigger on your next playthrough.
  
• Fixed a quest display bug involving Huxley's Holocash account.
  
• Fixed player character getting locked after dropping off Baz under certain timing conditions.
  
• Added several minor language fixes.
  
• Revised the dialog line skipping. The first skip will reveal the full line, the second skip stops the voiceover and goes to the next line.
  
• Characters, vehicles and moving objects are now paused while the full map is open or while being in the menu.
  
• Improved player physics to reduce stuck situations. We will inspect this closer in the coming days.
  
• Map icons of characters are only displayed if interacting with them is possible.

We're still looking into other reported issues and suggested improvements. Feel free to join our Discord Server for a direct chat with us and other Nivali.

Please keep on reporting any issues you have with the game, it's highly appreciated and we're doing our best to fix what we can as soon as possible!

Your ION LANDers!

Thank you very much for your feedback so far! We've been looking into all the issues you reported and managed to fix a bunch of it since launch yesterday.

What changed so far:

• UI alignment for UW monitors has been fixed.
  
• This includes the full map feature, which now also has a zoom and pan feature. We have more improvements planned for it, but they will require a bit more time.
  
• VSynch is now enabled by default.
  
• Added an option to leave it up to you whether the mouse should be confined to the game window or not. (default = off)
  
• Fixed the Invert-Y Axis option affecting ascending/descending on keyboard.
  
• Fixed getting stuck on the table in the apartment. What were you planning on doing up there?
  
• Fixed getting stuck in the vehicle stands in Grimm's HOVA Mall.
  
• Fixed a camera clipping in Mercantile District.
  
• Fixed getting stuck at the CorpSec checkpoint near Lifecorp HQ.
  
• Improved the player spawn points on repair stations.

Someone is in trouble. Was she listening to Jazz?


We're still looking into other issues we saw. If you have trouble with your GPU getting too hot, we would advise you to try tweaking your graphics card cooling settings and you can also try to enable VSynch in the game. Feel free to join our Discord Server for a direct chat with us and other Nivali.

Please keep on reporting any issues you have with the game, it's highly appreciated and we're doing our best to fix what we can! ːcozybethesdaː

Your ION LANDers!

On behalf of the whole Cloudpunk team, we just wanted to take a moment to send a special thank you to our supporters on Steam. The enthusiasm for the game from the fans has driven us to work hard on making the world of Nivalis as beautiful, wondrous and weird as our imaginations would allow.



Nivalis is brought to life by its colourful characters and the stories they tell, but also by an evocative soundtrack, and a cast of talented voice actors. The beautiful city is the result of hard work by the programming team and the level designers, who have created a multi-levelled, realistic, living and breathing city that also serves as the cyberpunk playground for our story to play out.

It’s been a privilege to be part of this team, and we are all proud of the final game we have made. Every step of the way, we had cyberpunk fans cheering us on, and for that we want to say a big thank you.

We can’t wait to hear what you think of Rania’s story during her first night working in Nivalis. Cloudpunk is filled with intrigue, humour, darkness and hope, and we hope you love playing it as much as we loved making it.

Welcome to Cloudpunk!

We have done a lot of testing on different hardware, but with thousands more players, some will likely run into technical issues. The game is very demanding.
If you experience any technical issues, please send us a message to support@ionlands.com and we will try to help you as fast as we can. Here's what you can do before:

1. Check the minimum requirements on Steam
   
2. Keep your graphics driver updated to the latest stable version
   
3. Try disabling anti-virus software or add Cloudpunk to its whitelist

If you contact us, please include your system specs and a log file called output_log.txt, that you can find here:
C:/Users/YourUsername/AppData/LocalLow/Ion Lands/Cloudpunk

It's been nearly 3 years since I started working on the first prototypes with tiny little blocks called voxels. To be honest, it was a long and stressful journey. For us indie teams there are so many challenges besides just making the game. But we can finally reveal that Cloudpunk will hit Steam on




There is not much else to say other than that we're really happy to soon let you guys experience the game yourself. We're using the remaining weeks for QA, localization and adding last bits of polish.

Let us know what you think in the comments below.

-Marko