NodalBastion was chosen as one of the games to be showcased during Indiecember!

Come watch PirateSoftware play the game and then interviewing me about all the bugs later ;).

Watch here now:

[dynamiclink href=\"https://www.twitch.tv/piratesoftware\"][/dynamiclink]

Localization news

Most of the work this time has been done on the system [u]background[/u] for [u]localization[/u]. While the game has been ready for translations since the beginning, it needed some cleanup and finishing touches. Soon I\'ll be adding the translations and rolling everything out - in total the game will support 11 languages soon!

Improvements

But that\'s not all, I\'ve been improving the game with more feedback. Noteable mentions are two main things.

Shader customizations - this allowed me to improve the quality separately between the upgrades screen and the map. The text is now more readable on the upgrades screen and can be made even more! The classic (the default) mode is now much better. But that\'s not all, I\'ve already been testing some approaches to make bigger changes, stay tuned for the future updates to see more.

Second noteable change is for those of you with two button mouses, or just a broken middle mouse button. In the settings you can now find a new section which enables emulation of the third mouse button for skill usage!\nThis was quite a large piece of work so it took a while but it;s now here, go give it a try please!

And the usual more smaller improvements and fixes - I hear you about that late game balance and I will be addressing it, don\'t worry you were heard ;-).

Improved tutorial experience

WIth this update I\'m addressing the confusion about how to use skills, despite the ? buttons informing you how to do it scattered everywhere, it was not clear enough (especially for all of you who never checked the info ;-)). Now there\'s a quick tutorial popup with how to use the skill, right at the moment when you should need it!

Also the [u]skills[/u] now have only one way to be [u]used[/u] and that\'s the [u]Middle Mouse Button[/u]!

So forget the right click and then confirming with left click which made it confusing for some. Also gone are the times you accidentally triggered a skill when panning around (right mouse) and quickly palcing down a node with the left mouse button.

New graphical settings picker when you start the game! This will show up just once - don\'t worry. It informs you about the graphical settings - added in the previous update - which many people missed.

Also first time players can quickly choose the style they want to use. But the graphical settings allow for even more customization so feel free to set your own combination!

Tutorial also now clearly informs the player about how to play - and that you need to first place down the core which you then defend!

Various bug fixes

Such as when you pause the game on the map before you place down the core and then your game skips ahead 16 hours and you get overwhelmed. Whoopsie, turns out the time at the beginning was set to the year 1, yep not the current year, this was changed right after you started but just before the start there was this one brief moment when you lived millennias in the past, but no more!

And more.

Balance changes

The biggest two changes:

The heal skill is now a lot more useful at the beginning (in total its strength hasn\'t changed, just shifted more towards the first ranks).

The extra boss rewards early on were too much, now you get one boss reward per first two stages which means you unlock only two skills rather than all three early skills - this was just too much power in your hands!

Couple minor changes.

Have fun with the game, your feedback has been amazing and I\'m incredibly grateful for all of it.

/nicknamegeneratorfailed (the developer)

Hello everyone,

I\'m now having a broadcast showcasing the demo gameplay. I won\'t spoil everything just first parts of the game so you can get an idea about how the game works and such.

Let\'s beat that boss at least once!

/nicknamegeneratorfailed

New graphical settings to customize your experience! Vignette, scan lines, glow, chromatic aberration are now all customizable in the Settings, go check it out and enjoy yourself!

Bug fixes.

Small balance improvements.

Patch 2 19.11.2025

Many smaller improvements and fixes again.

Major changes:

- Saving reworked, not it\'s a lot safer to make changes thus there\'s no longer a need to wipe the save data.

Major bugfixes:

- The ugprades tree no longer shows unupgraded nodes accidentally.

Major balance changes:

- Laser cost lowered 2 -> 1. Players can now choose between the laser, pulse, or heal skill as their first early on.

Patch 1 18.11.2025

First two big updates are already locked in.

Many smaller improvements and fixes.

Major bugfixes:

- Re-entering the Upgrades scene no longer repeatedly triggers the enemy progression (no more hundreds of score points everywhere for anyone until you actually progress far enough ;))

Major balance changes:

- I\'ve been rebalancing a lot of things.

- It\'s now easier to beat the first boss and progress.

- It\'s now easier and faster to beat the first three stages.

- Enemy shooters nerfed across the board - less often spawn, shoot slower, less damage, less health.

- AllieShooters are now more impactful - default shoot more often, the first ten attack speed upgrades now do not require X currency, only triangles making it more affordable even early on.

- The progression was changed, now EnemyShooters are on the stage 3 and the extra red wave is on stage 2. This means you have more time to build up and get used to playing before you encounter enemy range.

- More Boss currency added per first several stages (incrementally this means 1st stage boss drops 1 score point, 2nd stage boss drops 2 score points, 3rd stage boss gives 3, ...

- You can no longer miss the Boss currency, even if you don\'t pick it up at the end of a round it will be automatically added to your invetory - only the boss currency, you can still miss all the other ones, that\'s the player\'s responsibility since these currencies are common unlike the boss currency.

- Shield battery has a stronger shield, and is cheaper.

Unfortunately, with so many changes to the progression and such it was impossible to keep the save files intact so the next time you play the game it will be wiped out and you will start the game anew.

Hello,

The demo is now public!

Currently only in English. Other languages will be coming in the next couple of days.

Share your Feedback:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/3944520/discussions/0/658216290030303490/

Report a Bug:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/3944520/discussions/0/658216290030303627/

I hope you will have fun with the game, please let me know what you think, I\'ll be improving the demo over time reacting to feedback and fixing issues too.

by nicknamegeneratorfailed

Great news! The demo will be released in just couple of hours today (17 Nov, around 21:00 CEST) as part of the Czech and Slovak Games Week which starts today!

Hey everyone

Im excited to share that NodalBastion will have a playable demo this November!

The exact date isnt locked in yet, but the plan is to launch it during an event on Steam (if accepted). The demo will feature the core survival strategy loop: expanding your node network, defending the last AI core, and experimenting with incremental progression systems.

This will be the first chance for everyone to go hands-on with NodalBastion, and I cant wait to hear what you think. Your feedback will be invaluable as I continue refining the game.

Thank you all for wishlisting and supporting NodalBastion, it means the world!

Blank Name Studio (aka nicknamegeneratorfailed)

Thanks so much for the support
NodalBastion just passed 113 wishlists in its first week, way more than I expected as a no-name indie dev. Seeing this really motivates me to keep pushing forward.

And a little teaser: Im preparing a demo for November 2025. Its still a while away, but I wanted you to know whats coming. More details soon!

Thanks again for being here early it means a lot

NodalBastion

After 14 prototypes, my first game is finally on Steam!

The demo is still upcoming but the page is now live. I plan to release the demo in November 2025, together with a Steam event if I manage to get in.

Dont forget to wishlist if youd like to support the game!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3944520/NodalBastion/