Dev Blog #23 - Photo Contest Winners & NextFest Takeaways

Hello Voyagers! Michael / Spacenorth here with photo contest results, playtest updates, and NextFest insights!

📸 "P is for Photo" Contest Winners!

Congratulations to our three amazing winners who captured the magic of Nera perfectly:

*First Place - Aittsel - Sittin' On The Dock of the Bay *

Second Place (a tie!!!) NexusCupcake - Skimmer Buddy

• ItsNikkiNii - Sometimes the Where is Close By...*

Third Place - ItsTheDanger - Taking my Bestie to Seaworld

Thank you to everyone who participated - the creativity in our community continues to amaze us!

🧪 New Internal Playtest

Our Discord test group just started diving into our latest internal build with some exciting updates!

Check out the full details in our patch notes here.

📊 Steam NextFest Takeaways

We're still processing all the incredible feedback from NextFest, but some clear themes have emerged (as you can watch from the montage above!):

What You Loved:

• The atmosphere and art style of Nera

• The exploration loop and sense of discovery

• Water traversal - sailing and skimming especially!

• Spirit system and the magic it brings to the world

What You Want More Of:

• More content (makes extra sense since the demo is just biome 1 and there’s still a ton to add!)

• Boat customization options

• Deeper spirit interactions

• Combat polish and refinement

• Did we mention more content? 😉

🔮 What's Coming

Your feedback is directly shaping our development priorities. Just to tease a few things in the works:

• In-game chat system

• Expanded graphics settings

• Dedicated server support

• Multiple save file support

• New biome with fresh armor, enemies, spirit abilities, and resources!

❤️ Thank You!

Your enthusiasm and feedback continue to fuel our development every day. We can't wait to share what we're building with you at the next playtest!

• Michael and the Treehouse Team

Also, Happy Canada Day to our fellow Canadians! 🇨🇦