Terra Nil is 50% Off! Reclaim the wasteland during Devolvers December Sale till the 2nd of January! A Heatwave is Coming to Terra Nil!
A heatwave is coming to Terra Nil soon. Stay cool, more details next year

[ 2024-12-21 11:31:26 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi all, just some small bugfixes:

• Fix an issue where excavators would be invisible after loading a save
• Fix an issue where the map seeds would not result in the same map on Hill and Dale and Polar Volcano
• Add some missing localization characters

- Free Lives

[ 2024-12-12 13:46:38 CET ] [ Original post ]

Small patch to address some building unlock issues:

• Fix an issue where sometimes a building would not unlock despite the requirements being met
• Fix an issue where the animal observatory unlock would not be visible

- Free Lives

[ 2024-10-02 13:13:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi folks, this patch adds full localization for all of the text that was added in the past few weeks. Changelog:

• Update the localization for all of the additional text
• Improve the flying animation for the geese

- Free Lives

[ 2024-09-04 13:09:19 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi all, this is another patch to address some fixes for issues you've raised. Thank you again for your feedback. Changelog:

• Improve animal movement
  • Fix animals turning on the spot
  • Birds no longer turn in mid flight
  • Animals dont try to path over tiles they cant walk on
  • Reduce animal foot sliding
• Improve the new game experience
  • Disable hints entirely
  • Stagger tutorials better
  • Remove the first animal tutorial
  • The first animal that spawns in each map looks for an ideal location
  • Make wildlife bridges and sonic pulse have unlock conditions
  • Make intro page appear correctly on game start
• Replace > character with an arrow in the Animal Needs panel to avoid ambiguity in the meaning of the icons
• Add an option to disable tooltips when using building abilities
• Add debug option to allow silos to recycle monorail pylons
• Remove the kelp forest hard requirement from sea otters

- Free Lives

[ 2024-08-29 14:46:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi all, This is just a quick hotfix for an issue with monorail pylon recyclers that has been reported with the last patch. - Free Lives

[ 2024-08-23 09:24:42 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi all, we've just released another patch with some changes and fixes for things you've raised. Thank you for all the feedback, it's really helping us make the game more robust. Changelog:

• Fix a map generation issue that allowed skyscrapers to spawn in impossible to build on locations
• Fix an issue that prevented progression with bamboo in Continental Outskirts
• Fix an issue that prevented certain buildings like the standalone recycling beacon from being placed on concrete with deciduous forest
• Game will no longer enter a lose state if you have almost run out of resources and are moving a building with the monorail vehicle
• Game will no longer enter a lose state if you have almost run out of resources and have restored the rain/snow
• Remove greenery requirement from boars
• Allow eagles to be happy with just one skyscraper
• Add new art for the standalone recycling beacon building

- Free Lives

[ 2024-08-22 14:19:52 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone! We just wanted to let you know that after the last patch, you will need to double check your difficulty settings, especially if the costs of your buildings look wrong. A side effect of the last patch was that people's difficulty settings got changed, so if things are feeling too easy or too difficult, please have a look and adjust accordingly. Thanks Free Lives

[ 2024-08-21 10:08:02 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone, we've just released patch v1.1.6 with a number of fixes and QoL improvements. This version adds a few more strings that are English only. We are in the process of localization and will have them fully localized soon. Please note! We've had reports that with our adding Monk (zen mode) as a starting difficulty option, this inadvertently shifting the difficulty in existing saves. Please double-check your difficulty settings if you notice numbers looking off. Sorry about that! Full changelog:

• Improve way monorail recycling works:
  • Monorail beacons snap to monorail pylons
  • Monorail recyclers will now wait before recycling if another recycler needs to path past them
  • Sped up monorail recycling station animations
• Add debug options to the options menu for players to customize their experience:
  • Option to enable the dev console
  • Option to enable recycling silo chaining
  • Option to recycle all buildings
  • Option to end the level immediately
  • Option to give player resources
  • Option to remove building unlock conditions
  • Custom difficulty now correctly enables all options
• Improve settings to do with game resolution:
  • Game starts up at the last used resolution (or the maximum resolution if the last used isnt available) instead of only when the players profile is loaded
  • New setting added that separates out Refresh Rate from resolution
  • Add a borderless window setting
• Improve animal descriptions in the Handbook to be more precise about their animal needs
• Add a waving flag on top of shade pillars so that they are easier to see within tropical forests
• Add Monk as a difficulty preset
• Fix turning the volume down to 0 to actually mute audio
• Audio sliders better correspond with perceived volume
• Add a button to the Animal Info panel that allows cycling through to the next animal
• Change language dropdown to be a taller panel so that many more language options are visible at a time
• Make Relocate Animal button always visible, and add preview lines to better show where where the herd is moving from, and where they'll be moved to
• Fix a regression where animal herds could no longer be selected by clicking on the "sad animal" icon or their portraits

- Free Lives

[ 2024-08-20 14:03:40 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone, we noticed some players reporting frogs in the Tropical Caldera causing errors that would block progress. We're mainly pushing this patch out to address that bug since it blocks progress, but we also worked on some other animal UI-related issues while we were there. Changelog:

• Fix the game entering a broken state when interacting with frogs in the Tropical Caldera
• Fix some issues with opening and closing the Animal Group panel
• Fix undoing to not cause cause animal herds to be renamed
• Fix animal herds to not get selected when clicking on the map while using a buildings ability
• Fix animal herds that appeared behind a UI element to not get selected when clicking on UI

- Free Lives

[ 2024-08-06 13:14:19 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone, we've just released patch 1.1.4 which addresses a lot of the issues with the new animal system and reintroduces the animal observatory as a way to relocate animal herds. Full patch notes below. This update contains text changes that currently only support English - full localization will follow but we wanted to get the changes out asap. Changelog:

• Fix the water recycler hitching, especially when vehicle speed was set to maximum
• Add animal observatory back into the game with an ability that allows animal herds to be relocated once about 70% of animals are happy
• Add ability to dismiss animal herds from the Animal Info Panel UI
• Lower default animal difficulty in Gardener and Environmental Engineer modes
• Fix power pylons to not be able to spawn on building rubble (and vice versa) during map generation
• Change the weather to only cause lava to turn into rocks in Tier 3 in the Polar Volcano level
• Change whales to prefer spawning in ideal conditions
• Fix bamboo tiles count in City maps
• Move transpirator to tier 2 in tropical caldera and enable cloud seeder
• Temperate quarry now requires less biome coverage in tier 2
• Monorail ability is slightly cheaper
• Building ability costs are now affected by difficulty
• Fix a bug where recycling unlock conditions were tracking animals instead

- Free Lives

[ 2024-08-05 09:57:16 CET ] [ Original post ]

This micro-patch fixes a bug that was causing the screen to hang when taking full map screenshots. We're also working on more patches. You can see our progress and opt-in to the beta branch for early access here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1593030/discussions/0/4414172802930154865/

[ 2024-07-23 11:01:34 CET ] [ Original post ]

We're happy to share that the second Vita Nova patch is available right now! Changelog:

• Extensive improvements and bug fixes to the save system. It should be much less likely to lose any data, but in the event it does, it should handle it more gracefully
• Fix some issues loading a save with missing map data
• Fix the world map vine progress bar graphical issues
• The workaround for a rare graphical issue we've seen on macOS has been merged in. If you're seeing dark/black terrain backgrounds, you can opt into the fix in settings
• More fixes to animal spawning in T3
• Fix: undoing a monorail move should now refund currency
• Fix for screenshot crashes on GPUs with lower memory
• Other minor fixes and polish

We're also working on more patches. You can see our progress and opt-in to the beta branch for early access here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1593030/discussions/0/4414172802930154865/

[ 2024-07-17 16:10:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

We've been working hard to patch some of the biggest issues with the Vita Nova update, and we're happy to share that the first patch is available right now! Changelog:

• Much more likely for remaining animals to spawn in T3
• The T3 goal for animals is a bit easier on hard difficulty
• Wolves will use snow for water when it gets cold
• Whales' deep water need is a bit easier
• Make it easier for Snowy Owls to spawn, even if unhappy
• Fix for bug where animal territory over a wildlife bridge could get cut off
• Fix wildlife bridge positioning after loading from a save
• Fixes for various Steam achievements that weren't triggering reliably before
• Fix for some rare situations where a building cannot be unlocked
• Other minor fixes

We're also working on more patches. You can see our progress and opt-in to the beta branch for early access here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1593030/discussions/0/4414172802930154865/

[ 2024-07-04 16:10:52 CET ] [ Original post ]

Were thrilled to announce that Vita Nova, a free content update for Terra Nil, is now available! [previewyoutube=4qHI5xBa5q0;full][/previewyoutube]

New missions

One of the main things we wanted to do with this update was to add more content in each region. It seemed that as players were just beginning to dive into a regions mechanics, they would be whisked away to something new. So in Vita Nova, we wanted players to spend a bit more time in each region, gain some confidence from the mechanics theyve already learned, then throw in some twists and surprises. Weve introduced 5 new missions, which means new biomes, new structures, new achievements, new handbook pages, new music and a new animal.

New Animal System

Speaking of animals, weve also completely overhauled how animals function in the game. Previously, youd manually bring animals to your map near the end of a mission. We wanted it to feel more natural. To feel like the reclaimed habitats were attracting animal populations seamlessly. Now, when there are suitable habitats for them, animals will migrate to your map. Sometimes, the habitat may be sufficient for them to survive, but not ideal for them to thrive. To complete a mission, you may need to build Wildlife Bridges so they can cross rivers and climb cliffs, grow new habitats to better meet their needs, or nudge them to a suitable part of the map with a Sonic Pulse. This affects all the missions in the game, new and old, so if youve already played Terra Nil you can replay the old levels for a different challenge.

3D World Map

Adding more missions also felt like an opportunity to revamp the UI of the world map. Weve rebuilt the world map so that every mission is represented by its own area making it much easier to see which youve completed. It is also a little more interactive and reminds me of imagining the far off places around the world while spinning the house globe.

Development Update

In the early development of Terra Nil, we felt we were onto something special. You may have seen the original pixel art itch prototype from over 4 years ago. After working on that, we eventually did want to release a full version. When the Steam version launched last year, we were floored by your reception. Not only for the game itself but for the ideals we originally built the game upon - putting the natural world in the spotlight. So much so that its allowed us to become a significant contributor to real world conservation by donating over $100,000 to the Endangered Wildlife Trust. But after launch, we really needed to take a rest. We were very tired and were looking for some perspective after a long year, tunnel-visioned on Terra Nils development. For that final year, a few other Free Livers and contractors joined the team to push the project over the finish line. After the game came out, they went on to other projects like Anger Foot, which releases in a few weeks! Even though the dev team was back down to just two of us, Sam and myself, we still had many ideas to improve and expand Terra Nil. At the same time, 3.5 years working on one game is a lot (and it was even longer for Sam). We have even more ideas to work on new prototypes and projects. More of the weird, wacky and wild stuff that Free Lives is known for. So we spoke to our friend and fellow South African, Francois van Niekerk. He was starting his own studio after leaving Spry Fox. In August, we started working with his new studio, Clockwork Acorn. Sam, Francois and myself have assembled a team who have been the driving force behind Vita Nova and are already working on future updates. Sam and I will still oversee Terra Nils direction, but we believe that the game is in extremely good hands. The kind of hands we would trust to take care of our reclaimed ecosystems.

Whats next?

Our new development partners at Clockwork Acorn are already hard at work on another content update! We want to share more of our work-in-progress development and we are looking into hosting community playtests so that we can improve the game for all of you. If youd like to be involved in the future of Terra Nil, please join our Discord server! We are so happy to have Clockwork Acorns support. Weve now shipped a big update together, one where Sam was away on paternity leave for a chunk of that time (Congratulations, Sam!) More content is in the works and all of us, Sam, Francois, Free Lives, Clockwork Acorn and myself cant thank you enough for supporting our cause of putting environmental reclamation in the spotlight. Thank you for your support! Jonathan and Team Terra Nil

New Features

• New world map
• 5 new levels - Hill & Dale, Polluted Bay, Scorched Caldera, Subpolar River & Continental Outskirts
• 2 new biomes - Freshwater Lake & Rocky Scrubland
• 9 new buildings - Cone Filter, Pipe Hub, Carbon Compactor, Percolotrium, Mini Bamboo Nursery, Chaparrallum, Transpirator, Sonic Pulse & Wildlife Bridge
• Revamped animal system - Animals populations will migrate to the map when suitable habitats are available. To complete a mission, a certain number of animal populations will need to have ideal territories for their needs
• 1 new animal species
• 3 new climate conditions

Bug fixes

• Fix issues with scrolling the mouse and rotating buildings on Linux
• Fix invisible airship at the start and end of missions
• Fix airship to be in its flying state at the start of missions where it appears
• Fix airship to show correct placeable tiles in Temperate Bay
• Fix sunflower threshold being impossible to reach on the Island City on Environmental Engineer difficulty
• Fix overlapping text in the Seed dialog in the world map
• Fix recycling silos to no longer recycles standalone beacon
• Fix highlights drawing behind LOD objects
• Fix batched vegetation flickering for one frame at the origin
• Radiation cleansers and heliocages must be recycled before liftoff
• Setting the difficulty before starting a restoration will no longer show the difficulty select screen or incorrectly show tutorials
• A rare bug that causes terrain to appear black on Mac has a partial fix that requires changing a setting in the options menu. If youre experiencing this, you can opt into an experimental build that has a fix for this using the password blackterrain2.

Rolled back version

If you prefer the previous animal system, we've set up a way for anyone to play the version of the game before this update. [olist]

Right click Terra Nil in your Steam library

Properties...

Betas

Beta Participation - select "v1.0.4 - Roll back to version 1.0.4" [/olist] Please note that save files may break when switching back and forth between branches. Also, while you are on this branch, you won't receive new updates to the game unless you switch back to the Default branch by selecting "None" in the dropdown menu from step 4.

[ 2024-06-24 15:55:13 CET ] [ Original post ]

We are delighted to announce that we will be releasing our first major update, Vita Nova on Monday, June 24th! In this free update, we've added a herd of new content, features, and improvements, to enhance your eco-reclamation adventures. Heres a sneak peek at what you can expect:

• A new world map
• New levels
• Animal system overhaul
• New biomes
• New buildings
• New climate conditions
• A new animal species

We'll release more details about these new features over the next weeks. Once again, thank you for playing Terra Nil and helping us put environmental reclamation in the spotlight. We've listened to a lot of your comments and feedback so we hope you enjoy the new content and systems in Vita Nova

[ 2024-06-06 17:07:57 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone, we figured Earth Day would be the perfect occasion to touch base!

We're pleased to report that the new content & systems we've been working on with the Clockwork Acorn team are shaping up beautifully. Your enthusiasm and support means the world to us and we can't wait for you to explore all the new content. Here is a taste of some new elements from the next planned update :

We sincerely thank all our fans for their unwavering support and patience as we continue to enhance the Terra Nil experience for everyone. That being said, with your help, weve donated over $100k towards The EWTs ongoing conservation efforts!
Here's to the next chapter!

[ 2024-04-22 13:33:29 CET ] [ Original post ]

We have a new beta build with the new animal system on the Tropical Island level. There are definitely things we plan to improve, but we wanted to get this in front of folks to look at over the holiday period.

Changes

- Animals for tropical island - Remove territory penalty for non-ideal animals, and rebalance - Boost animal territory size for harder difficulties by a bit to make them more doable - QoL: when placing multiple buildings with shift, keep current rotation - Fix some bugs with animals in zen mode - Fixes for animal migration oscillations - Better mouse selection of animals when there are multiple in vicinity - Fix: clicking on animal group icons opens info panel - Button for sorting animal groups in the dock - Quick animations for animal dock - Fix: don't hover over animals when game is won and launch button is pressed - Add little arrow below animal need indicator - Reduce time between animal spawning from 30s -> 20s - Animals can have slightly worse initial happiness with higher difficulties - Other minor tweaks and improvements Let us know what you think over on the Free Lives Discord

[ 2023-12-15 16:15:32 CET ] [ Original post ]

As we find Terra Nil nominated in TWO categories at The Game Awards, we're overwhelmed with gratitude for each and every one of you who've supported us on this incredible journey. We wanted to make a game that put the environment in the spotlight & since launch, with your help, weve donated over $100,000 to The Endangered Wildlife Trust We're also super proud to be nominated in 2 categories at The Game Awards : Games For Impact
Best Mobile Game
Cast your votes here : The Game Awards

[ 2023-11-15 14:23:09 CET ] [ Original post ]

Terra Nil has earned a nomination for a Unity Award in the "Best Social Impact Project" category. Voting is officially underway! Now is your moment to show your appreciation for Unity-driven creators and projects in the 15th Unity Awards. What is the Social Impact category? Celebrating strong social impact experiences in any format that align concept and creativity with U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. You can cast your vote at https://awards.unity.com/ until November 1st, 2023 Thanks to everyone that has voted thus far, the team appreciates the support.

[ 2023-10-27 12:17:42 CET ] [ Original post ]

Were excited to put out the first post-release update for Terra Nil. This is a small update focusing on some performance improvements, polish, bug fixes, and the much awaited native macOS and Linux builds. Were also working on some bigger, more exciting changes for upcoming updates that were looking forward to sharing with you more news on that coming later. Note: if you have trouble installing macOS/Linux builds, you may need to restart Steam. If you are having trouble with the native Linux build, you can try opting into using Proton as a temporary workaround.

Performance

• Combining meshes
• LODs
• Reduced draw calls for some materials
• Speed up loading times by precomputing hashes
• Improve tile highlighting
• Rework tile rules
• Precomputing texture atlases
• Remove a significant amount of cruft from gameplay tiles
• More water quad work and gameplay tile optimization

Polish and Bug Fixes

• Improve edge panning and capturing the cursor
• Use more exact number for whether seeds should get ticked in seed bank
• Fix sunflower radiation softlock
• Add screenshake toggle setting
• Off-screen recycling arrows are now on an ellipse, so not overlapping with UI
• Add hover tooltip text for zen mode
• Changing building tabs doesnt count as hovering
• Show speed controls when first vehicle spawns, if before tier 3
• Click behind handbook to close it
• Clicking on background of seed bank closes it
• Fix bug where you can close handbook while it's opening
• Add monorail dirt transport vehicle for dredging
• Fix: bamboo nursery changes to skyscraper correctly on undo
• Fix a bug where water would show at the wrong height when excavating a cliff tile
• Fixed a bug where building can sometimes have ghosts

[ 2023-10-05 14:12:21 CET ] [ Original post ]

As we ramp up on Terra Nil work again, were setting up a beta branch on Steam where well release patches and updates prior to them being officially approved and released publicly. Eventually these changes will make their way to the public build on Steam and other platforms, but if youd like to see the latest things were working on before everyone else, you can opt-in to this branch right now! Note: by opting in to this branch, you do so at your own risk. We test these builds internally, but not as thoroughly as the public builds, so there is a chance a game-breaking or save-corrupting bug sneaks in. We advise backing up your save games manually before using the branch. You can opt-in by right clicking on the game in the Steam client, selecting Properties, Betas, and then the beta branch. These builds will often only have English translations, with other languages coming later. We always value feedback, but were especially keen to get feedback on the beta branch builds. Wed love it if you can join our Discord and give us feedback on the beta in the #-terra-nil-public-beta channel. Well also post patch notes of the beta builds to Discord as we release new builds. Right now theres a slightly newer build on beta with some bug fixes and polish. Well be updating it more over the coming weeks as we have things to share :)

[ 2023-08-14 14:19:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey all, We're back! We appreciate your patience and understanding while we took some very necessary time off to recover. Burnout is a real issue, and taking care of the mental health of developers is not typically something the games industry does very well. We're trying to do that better at Free Lives. Our team is ramping back up, and, to help us make Terra Nil even better, the amazing folks at Clockwork Acorn are going to be joining the team. To give you a rough idea of our current priorities, we're currently tackling bugs, optimization, and native Mac & Linux builds (we know you have all been waiting a long time). Thereafter, we're going to start experimenting with some new ideas that didn't make it into 1.0 and start figuring out what new content the game is asking for. Thank you all for coming along on this incredible journey with us, and we look forward to making Terra Nil even better together. Take care, Free Lives

[ 2023-08-03 12:51:18 CET ] [ Original post ]

Short Film | The Nature of Gaming

[previewyoutube=rin0IlJ1_Ak;full][/previewyoutube] Thanks to all of you who played Terra Nil, we've donated $95,000 to the Endangered Wildlife Trust! We travelled to see their conservation efforts firsthand and had this short film "The Nature of Gaming" produced to continue highlighting their work. It was a humbling experience. We wish more people could see these majestic creatures in their natural habitats but also see how human disruption puts them at risk. The EWT do amazing work to combat that disruption by protecting local wildlife and their environment. This is what you contributed to by playing Terra Nil.

'Most Innovative Game' at Games for Change

We also attended Games for Change in New York! It was a genuine honour to be included among many developers who are making games for a real world impact. And to not only be featured, but win the 'Most Innovative Game' award! When all of this started as a pixel art prototype, we didn't imagine that it would go this far. Who would have thought that our little game would be recognized by our peers AND contribute to real environmental conservation?

Future Updates

Along the way, we're still working on adding more to Terra Nil. We will let you know when we have more to share! Thank you for all of your support and we hope Terra Nil can provide a little bit of hope.

[ 2023-07-20 19:32:47 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! It's been a crazy week since launch. Terra Nil has had a wonderful response, much larger than we could have ever dreamed of! We're thrilled so many of you have enjoyed our unusual environmental game and are grateful for your feedback. We didn't anticipate that the game would resonate so deeply with so many people and are overwhelmed by the response. We wanted to share a little bit about the future of the game. We love Terra Nil, and it is extremely encouraging to see that many of you do as well. There's much more that we'd like to do with it, and we want to let you know that we intend to keep developing Terra Nil in the future. But first, we need to take a break. We are a really small team, and Terra Nil's team is just one of 3 different teams currently working under the Free Lives umbrella (the other two teams are working on Anger Foot and Stick It to the Stickman respectively). We pushed very hard to get to this point, and if we are honest we probably slightly overreached our capacity by targeting a simultaneous PC/mobile launch. The feedback provided by this community will be invaluable going forward, and will help us to focus on the features and content that will improve and expand the game. But we first need to take a break to get over the exhaustion of launch. We'll be making an effort to address bugs and performance issues as our first priority, then we can start thinking about new content updates. Thank you all for your engagement, feedback, and ideas. We're really excited to see where the future takes us! Take care and thanks for playing, Free Lives

[ 2023-04-04 18:26:16 CET ] [ Original post ]

Terra Nil is now available now!

Terra Nil is a game about transforming barren lifeless landscapes into thriving, vibrant ecosystems. Turn dead soil into fertile grassland, clean polluted oceans, plant sprawling forests, and create the ideal habitat for animals to call home. Then recycle your buildings and leave no trace that you were ever there. [previewyoutube=xXhO8jt0D2E;full][/previewyoutube]

Terra Nil's Real World Impact

From the very beginning of development, we've wanted Terra Nil to have a real-world impact. We will donate 8% of our profits from sales of Terra Nil on Steam to the Endangered Wildlife Trust in support of their efforts to preserve and restore ecosystems. We felt that the Endangered Wildlife Trust were the perfect organization to contribute to because they work in a plethora of conservation disciplines in our home of South Africa. We are working with them to produce a short film that will show how Terra Nil connects to real-world ecological efforts.

Growing a Real Forest

In celebration of Terra Nils launch on March 28, Devolver Digital and Free Lives have partnered with environmentally conscious Twitch streamers to create a unique streamer forest at Tree Nation and help make the world a bit greener. Plant trees in participating streamers' chats using custom-made emotes and well plant real trees in the world on their behalf as part of the Terra Nil Tree Warriors forest. The streamer forest is at its budding stage right now and will grow over the course of the campaign as participating Terra Nil streams complete their community tree-planting goals. You can also contribute to the forest directly by making a personal donation. Find more info and where to watch : HERE

[ 2023-03-28 16:11:12 CET ] [ Original post ]

Launching tomorrow!

The countdown has begun and we're all thrilled that you'll be able to play our game very soon. Terra Nil will be available tomorrow morning Pacific time.

Make a real world difference with your purchase

With Terra Nil, we've always wanted to put the environment in the spotlight. So that this game has a real world impact, we will be donating 8% of our profits from Steam sales to the Endangered Wildlife Trust.

What the Facts

[previewyoutube=5q-7JW8sKvs;full][/previewyoutube] If you'd like to learn more about our game, our friends at Devolver have prepared a video that explains the basic info about Terra Nil.

Win a custom ecology-inspired PC

[previewyoutube=vOgVIoV8V6s;full][/previewyoutube] This Terra Nil PC is a visual representation of the values of the game, to reclaim something manmade with natural beauty. Join us on social media for a chance to win this unique ecology-inspired PC by Random Design. VIsit https://www.terranil.com/PC to find out how to win this beautiful uniquely designed PC build.

Deluxe Edition Upgrade

With Terra Nil launching tomorrow, this is your last chance to get a free upgrade to the Deluxe Edition which includes a copy of the game on Steam, the original soundtrack by Meydn and a beautifully illustrated Digital Artbook.

[ 2023-03-27 17:08:02 CET ] [ Original post ]

Need to unwind?

Relax and indulge in a captivating hour of soothing music from Terra Nil's official soundtrack, crafted by the talented Meydan, and complemented by breathtaking visuals from the game itself. [previewyoutube=yG1OGoyqDb0;full][/previewyoutube]

Linux & Mac release info

Regrettably, after doing more testing on our Linux and Mac versions, we aren't satisfied with their performance and we want to optimize both versions before releasing them. The PC version is still on schedule for March 28. We're really sorry for any inconvenience caused, but we want folks to have a good experience when you get to play it. We'll provide an update about Mac and Linux as soon as we feel they're ready!

[ 2023-03-22 19:34:50 CET ] [ Original post ]

Our launch is just 2 weeks away!

As we get the final touches ready for our launch on March 28, we have a few more things to share about Terra Nil. We are donating 8% of our profits from Steam sales to the Endangered Wildlife Trust. An organization that is dedicated to conserving threatened species and ecosystems in southern and East Africa to the benefit of all. You can pre-purchase Terra Nil for a free upgrade to the Deluxe Edition which includes the meditative soundtrack and digital artbook.

Beginner's Guide Video

This new trailer created by our friends at Devolver Digital serves as a Beginner's Guide to Ecosystem Restoration. In each level, you'll remove toxins, grow suitable ecosystems, uncover returning wildlife and finally, recycle technology to continue your journey elsewhere. [previewyoutube=nui_kUMr_dU;full][/previewyoutube]

Regional Variations

Once your efforts create varied habitats for different kinds of wildlife, animals will begin to return. Each of the four regions features an array of species that help restore biodiversity.
From the Animal Observatory, sonar pings identify new creatures when their habitat conditions are met. The waterways of the River Valley are home to animals that spend time in the water and on land like frogs, beavers and migratory birds.
Cleaning pollution from the seas around the Desolate Island will bring back marine life such as the blue whale. Then you can transport coral polyps from the lab to the seabed so reef sharks and manta rays can thrive.
At the Volcanic Glacier, technology powered by geothermal energy can impact the climate's weather. Balancing those effects are crucial for polar bears to return to the ice.
Radiation from a former civilization pollutes the Flooded City. But those ruined remains can literally provide the framework for new life as giant pandas enjoy thriving bamboo forests grown in building husks.

Beyond the First Restoration

After you complete each region once, you'll unlock revamped levels that mix mechanics from other levels. These total to eight types of restoration challenges that are procedurally generated on each map. We can't wait for you to see the whole game in two weeks! Whether you've only recently heard about our game or if you've followed us since we were on Itch, thank you for your support towards putting the environment in the spotlight.

[ 2023-03-14 17:50:35 CET ] [ Original post ]

After years of development by our small team, we are overjoyed to announce that Terra Nil is launching on March 28. Next month, you can join us on this unique, strategic, and meditative experience of environmental restoration and biodiversity. [previewyoutube=wpX9MsuUmow;full][/previewyoutube]

Our Commitment to Conservation

From the very beginning of development, we've wanted Terra Nil to have a real world impact. After much searching, we found the perfect people to make this happen, the Endangered Wildlife Trust. They are a conservation organization devoted to a wide variety of efforts across 21 countries. These range from endangered animal protection, to habitat restoration, to green energy and even local community initiatives in our home of South Africa and beyond. We will donate a portion of our profits from Terra Nil on Steam to the Endangered Wildlife Trust in support of their efforts to preserve and restore ecosystems on this planet that we share with so many other species.

Pre-order for a free Deluxe upgrade

If youd like to join us on this campaign for environmental conservation, you can pre-order Terra Nil now. Doing so will get you a free upgrade to the Deluxe Edition which includes the soothing original soundtrack by Meydn and a beautifully illustrated Digital Artbook. The Digital Artbook shows works-in-progress, concept thumbnails of buildings, close ups of some of the games hand-painted textures, and the different directions that the art took before resulting in what ended up in the game.
We cant wait to share Terra Nil with all of you. Whether you were there for early prototypes on itch or if youre hearing about the game for the first time, thank you for being a part of this journey. After all of this work, being able to contribute to the Endangered Wildlife Trust feels Terra Nil has reached its original purpose - helping put the environment in the spotlight, both in-game and in the real world. ----- Free Lives Read more on our website

[ 2023-02-20 16:00:39 CET ] [ Original post ]

We love the way this turned out - A completely restored former quarry level.

[ 2022-11-24 14:40:49 CET ] [ Original post ]

The Terra Nil team were excited to showcase some gameplay at Day Of The Devs this year. Check it out below! [previewyoutube=5Kd_URFTsoo;full][/previewyoutube]

[ 2022-11-09 09:04:46 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi all, So first things first, we're happy to announce that Terra Nil will be releasing on Steam in early 2023. We will have a more specific release date closer to release time. With that out of the way, let's move on to our final region update :P The city region pictured above is the final and most challenging region of reclamation. Instead of starting from an empty wasteland, you'll be beginning from a flooded former metropolis. Dredge up earth to create land on which to grow your plants. Move vast quantities of dirt with your monorail networks. Recycle skyscrapers and use their frames as bamboo nurseries. But be careful of the radioactive waste stored in bunkers around the map. You wouldn't want to cause an earthquake which made it spill ... would you? We have stunning sunflowers, beautiful bamboo, luscious lagoons, and more in this region. With eagles, pandas, and peacocks being just a few of the animals you'll see. And when you're done here, instead of loading your recycled materials onto an airship to leave the area, you're creating a recycled rocket to leave the planet in pristine wildness. We know you're all excited to try the game and we're excited for you to try it. Next year's going to be amazing! If you're interested in seeing a bit more of the in-development process, come join us over at discord! https://discord.gg/freelives Until the next one, - Free Lives

[ 2022-09-02 09:54:06 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone, we're back with another region update Today we'd like to present a snapshot of the new polar region, replete with its own challenges, mechanics, animals, environments and buildings. Use magma to power geothermal generators. Melt snow to purify the ground beneath before restoring the snowy climate once more. Freeze lava to create rocks to grow lichens and restore the majestic kelp forests of the frigid ocean. And perhaps you'll even spot an aurora. You can see a little of our new lava, tundra, snow, and more in the image above. In addition to the polar region, we've overhauled the climate mechanics of the game to have a far more significant effect on gameplay than in the demo. We have various parameters that have region-wide effects when certain thresholds are reached. Next, we're tackling a completely different challenge, the restoration of a former urban city. Where before, Terra Nil's wastelands have been empty, the city turns that idea on its head. You're going to need to recycle as you go to make it work! We know you're all excited to get your hands on the game and we're all excited for you to play it! We just ask that you continue to be patient while we make the best version of Terra Nil we can imagine! As always, any and all are welcome to join for the ride of our development. As we continue to reach major milestones, we'll keep posting on steam, but if you want to see under the hood a little more, join us on discord or our weekly twitch stream. https://discord.gg/freelives https://twitch.tv/free_lives Until next time, - Free Lives

[ 2022-05-18 10:29:23 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone, and happy 2022 to you all! It's looking like it's going to be an exciting year for Terra Nil and we'd love to share some of the progress we've made since releasing the demo. We've been hard at work down in sunny South Africa, working on our next major region, which is tropical. We've got a wealth of new mechanics, environments, buildings and animals. Manta rays dart between coral reefs, you can spread shade cloth to encourage the growth of rainforests, the new monorail can pass high above the mangrove forests, and more! The image above is just a teaser of what's available. Once the tropical region is done, we're going to be moving to our polar region, complete with snow, tundra and lava. It'll also have it's own mechanics, challenges and animal species. We've love to have you along for the ride of our development. We're going to post major milestones here on steam, but if you're interested in a more granular process, hop on over to our Discord or weekly dev stream on Twitch (you don't even need an account). https://discord.gg/freelives https://www.twitch.tv/free_lives - Free Lives

[ 2022-01-14 12:55:58 CET ] [ Original post ]