Meet just a few of the fully-voiced characters you'll encounter during your time in Nivalis.
Iām Thomas Welsh, lead writer and narrative designer on Cloudpunk, and I created the characters youāll meet in the cyberpunk city of Nivalis.
Since release, seeing players’ response to the diverse and colourful cast of characters has been a blast. Everyone has their favourite, and Iām really touched by how the community has taken these androids, humans, and cyborgs to heart.
Today Iām going to tell you about five of the most important people youāll meet during your rain-soaked, neon-infused cyberpunk adventure.
When I first joined the project, Cloudpunk had a beautiful voxel world filled with flying vehicles, but no characters or plot yet. We knew Cloudpunk wasnāt going to be a typical cyberpunk story about grizzled cyborg cops or robot gangs shooting each other in the street.
Instead, we wanted to tell the story of a regular person living a normal life in a cyberpunk world. How do they pay their bills? Who are their friends and rivals? What is it like for them to work the nightshift for a delivery company, flying between buildings, meeting interesting people, and listening to a pulsing synth soundtrack? To answer those questions, we needed a hero. That hero was Rania.
Rania is an outsider, an immigrant and — most importantly for Cloudpunk — a good driver. Just like the player, she is new to the city and has a lot to learn. Sheās clever and a little cynical, and sheās not easily manipulated or tricked. Rania doesnāt drink, but she connects with Nivalis through her love of street food. From cherry pie to dumplings, sheāll never walk past a food stall without checking out what is hot and cheap.
Raniaās call handler for the night is Control. He is grizzled and tired but laughs often. Control knows he shouldnāt get attached to his drivers as the job is dangerous, but he canāt help himself. His mysterious background is slowly revealed throughout the story. Control canāt wait for the end of his shift so he can finally open the bottle of sake he has waiting in his desk drawer.
Raniaās best friend is Camus, her dog-car. Camus was a robotic pet before they came to Nivalis, but Rania had to sell his metal frame to clear her debts. His personality is stored on a data drive and when she receives her first wage, Rania pays to upload his consciousness to her vehicle. He is cheery and helpful, but naĆÆve. Camus acts as Raniaās conscience, often questioning her decisions when they are selfish or cynical. Camus doesnāt eat human food, but he is “food-curious.” He wants to try donut-coffee, though Rania is not sure thatās even a real thing.
One of the weirder characters Rania meets during her shift is Huxley the android, and he has become a real fan favourite. Huxley is “Nivalisā best, cheapest private investigator” and due to an overheating CPU, he speaks like he is narrating a noir crime novel. He eats anything, as long as itās hard boiled.
Finally, we have Lomo, owner of the Sin Wave nightclub and local crime boss in Midtown. He helps Rania when she is detained by Nivalisā authoritarian police force CorpSec, but in return he demands a favour. As Lomo says to Rania, “Your hands are too clean.” They wonāt stay that way. Lomoās drink of choice is expensive whisky.
These are just a few of the fully voiced characters youāll meet in Nivalis. I canāt wait for a whole new batch of players to join us for their first shift when we launch Cloudpunk on PlayStation on October 15 this year!
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