Stray Fawn Studio’s latest release, Nimbatus is a procedurally generated drone simulation game. It takes place in an endless universe that is yours to explore. The third release from the studio in Switzerland, Nimbatus has one of the most difficult learning curves of a game that I’ve ever played.
The graphics of Nimbatus are not at all ground breaking, but they are smooth and even on a dated computer, provided an excellent framerate. The simplicity of the graphics keep the load times to a minimum and keep the user interference uncluttered. When I saw the images that others had posted, I was ready to make the massive mandala-esque drones that looked like they were ready to devour planets whole.
Once I launched the tutorial, I was put into the shoes of a drone designer and given a vague description of what my goal was, I got to building. Each part requires its own type of resource but, again, a vague description is given as to what that resource is and how to provide it. When designing, you’ll have a few categories to add to your drone; weapons, fuel, thrusters, batteries, resource gathering and sensors to name a few. Once I muddled through the drone design, I launched it.
Controls wise, Nimbatus allows you to map the controls as you design your craft. However, you have very little idea what the bindings will do when you press them in-game. There is a test feature while in the build phase, but with the limited direction and instruction that you get before, during and after the design phase, it’s extremely difficult to build an effective drone. I tried mapping the controls to the classic WASD bindings, but never got to the point where I felt fluent in my piloting ability.
There is no story per se, in Nimbatus, but a screen that shows all available missions. In the very first mission, I was tasked with destroying a hive. I had no idea going in, what this hive looked like or what it would take to destroy it, but I set out anyways. About 2 minutes into the level, I was frustratingly lost. My rockets found what I thought to be a hive, but I ran out of fuel. Drifting aimlessly for a few moments, I headed back to the drawing board.
And that’s the rub. I spent more time in the design screen than actually attempting levels. That may be entirely my fault as I couldn’t perfect a control scheme to effectively control my drone, so I spent more time trying to implement better positioned thrusters and better bindings. That may be the goal of the game but, for me, I was ready to explore the universe.
From the outset, the tutorial, I got the impression that I wasn’t smart enough to play, let alone excel at this game. Even with the 3rd level tutorial, Advanced Structures, I struggled. I am by no means a structural engineer and, after launching quite possibly the shakiest drone in human existence, I knew that Nimbatus was going to be a difficult play. Once I was introduced to logic gates, I started cursing myself for not listening the college professor who spent way too much time eulogizing the finer points of Boolean functions. The worst part of me playing this game is that I am absolutely sure that there is a decent game in here. The problem is that I am not smart enough to find it.
Nimbatus is not a bad game. It’s just not for the average gamer. This early release has a bit to improve on and I’d like to revisit it once it is complete. This game takes a next level thought process to play or, at the very least, the patience and stick-to-it-iveness that rivals Kerbal Space Program. I do not possess those traits.
We look forward to further evaluate Nimbatus as it progresses through development.
