Dev Update: November 2023

Welcome to Winter in Kilima Village!

The light of game development has been glowing all across Singularity 6, warming up our imaginations for all the updates to come in the next few weeks and months. We have plenty of festive and functional updates for you this time around, so let’s settle in with a lovely beverage and enjoy these early sneak peeks!

Winter Worldbuilding: Coming Soon

As you saw with our first step into Fall, Palia is eager to celebrate the turn of the seasons. As we approach December, you will start to see heaps of fluffy snow all around Kilima Village, a mischievous way to “share” that snow with your friends, and a new creative way to add decor to your home. You will also be learning more about “Winterlights”, a Majiri celebration that brings light to the darkest days of the year, and shares that light with family, friends, and community!

According to S6 Vega, our Senior Narrative Designer, players can expect a special interaction with your Shepp (if you've chosen one), and lots of fun new decor inspired by various traditions relevant to the winter season. Learn more about what Ancient Humans celebrated, what the Majiri and Grimalkin celebrate now, and maybe create some new traditions of your own. It's the end of your first year in Palia, but we hope it isn't the last!

Want to know more about how these ancient customs have evolved over the years in Palia? Keep an eye out for a letter from Jina during our Winter Update, coming soon!

Tree Decorating!

As you have learned by now in Palia, there are a few Majiri who are studying the ancient humans and their traditions. To help bridge some of the human traditions with the Majiri Winterlights ceremonies, they have generously provided you with a tree to decorate!

You will be able to discover decorations for your tree (as well as your home) all around Kilima Village and Bahari Bay through Treasure Chests, Fishing, and more. The best part is, you’re able to keep your tree year-round, as fresh and green as the day you received it!

11/29/23 Edit: Please note decorating the fireplace is a feature that will not be added with upcoming updates...yet.

Snowballs!

What would winter be without throwing some snowball fights? We’re super excited to bring some festive and frivolous winter fun to Palia with throwable snowballs!

You will be able to purchase Snowballs with gold at a seasonal register found just behind Jel’s shop (the same place you found the jaak-o-lanterns during Halloween!). You can sneak up on your fellow players with a fluffy surprise that sparkles upon impact. To keep things friendly, there is no scoring system around this - just a fun way to enjoy the chilly season with your friends!

In Development

Temple of the Gales

Here’s a first look at the Temple of the Gales, a new and exciting area in Palia that offers a mix of challenging puzzles, intriguing mysteries, and deeper insights into ancient human history. This area is similar to the Temple of the Flames and Temple of the Waves, where your contributions of items will unlock new decorations and recipes.

Like in other Temples, you'll team up with a couple of villagers to help you solve the mysteries. This collaboration is not just about puzzle-solving; it's also a chance to help the players learn more about Caleri and Elouisa’s past and hopefully help them grow closer as sisters.

Any more information would be spoilers, so we’ll end there - well, maybe one sneak peek would be okay.

Hot Topics & Notable Bugs

Quest & Ammo Pouches Status

• An addition to players’ inventory management system is something we’ve been excited about for a long time - we were so excited, in fact, we shared some details with you ahead of testing in our September 2023 Dev Update.
• We have been working hard to make sure the current Palia experience is fun and consistent for all players across PC or any future platforms. Because of this, we need some additional time to test and adjust Quest & Ammo pouches, which means they will not be in Palia in 2023. But we plan on getting right back to work in early 2024, and will provide more details on when you can expect them in the new year.

Accomplishments

• There are some improvements coming in patch 0.174 and, overall, the experience should feel more reliable. These fixes are targeting two specific issue areas:
  • Not getting credit for completing accomplishments.
  • Not getting rewards for completing accomplishments.
    • Players who found themselves stuck with these areas should now be able to move forward with completing these accomplishments.
    • Due to the complicated nature of this issue, some players may find they need to complete a previously bugged accomplishment again.
• These fixes don’t cover every outstanding issue with accomplishments. However, they should present a far more reliable experience, and should help establish a good baseline focus in on the remaining problem areas.

Eshe and Subira

• We know a lot of you are unable to meet Subira after telling Eshe you weren't quite ready. Never fear: a fix is on its way and will be part of our 0.175 patch. If that seems like a long time out, don't worry! Subira's introduction questlines will be around for several months for players to enjoy!

Controller Support

• In the next patch, we’re going to be rolling out a few updates that lay the groundwork for ensuring Palia feels like it is designed for your input method of choice. Some of these changes are for all players, and some are specific to anyone who currently plays Palia with a controller.
  • Emote Wheel Updates - All Players
    • We’ve given this a new coat of paint, increasing the number of slots while also making unequip more accessible to all players.
  • Controller Binding Update
    • We’re updating the current bindings for controllers; a significant amount of thought and iteration has gone into these, and though this will require some adjustment, we don’t plan on making changes after this.
  • Camera Assist
    • For players on controllers, this is a new, optional feature that reduces the need to manage your camera while moving left or right. Our goal was to make Palia more accessible to players who prefer not to manage both movement and camera at the same time.
• Controller Support is just one of many asked for accessibility options for playing Palia, and work will continue to support and expand those options in 2024. We know many people have continued to play Palia with controllers up to this point and we’re excited to bring you these updates early next week!

That’s all for now!

We know you’re excited about a few more things coming down the pipeline - like being able to play Palia on the Nintendo Switch, for example - but we don’t have anything new to share on that… yet.

As for Dev Updates, we’re going to take a short break for December, but we’ll be back strong in 2024!

From all of us at Singularity 6, we’re so thankful to all of our players who have joined us so far and are so excited for what’s next in Palia. We hope you have a joyous and restful winter break and New Year. See you in January!