Why Nifflas hasn't been posting here lately

I just had a conversation with Nifflas via Twitter in which he explained the reason for his recent inactivity here. He said he wants to be open about this, so I'm posting the related excerpts of our conversation here for you.

I think I'm a bit more introvert these days than before. Twitter works because it's quick and keeps me in the loop of what's happening in the industry.

But, generally, I have less time than before in my life.

and game development is way more complicated than before with all the techy stuff I'm getting into.

So, I'm not sure I can be very good at the community thing too.

Building my entire life around games means I change focus and priorities a lot.

It's also why after this game, I'll probably make algorithmic music for someone else's game rather than make my own.

I think I'd enjoy being more in the background now.

Personally, I can understand his reasoning, though I still think this is kind of a shame. I really liked his efforts to involve the community here in Knytt Underground's development, and particularly his detailed comments on what he tried to accomplish with various aspects of the game. I don't think I would've been able to make much sense of the game's unconventional approach to storytelling without them, and they're all still fairly easy to access here.

He also left plenty of interesting information about Uurnog's development on Twitter while he was working on it, but digging through old tweets is a lot more tedious. Plus, Twitter is simply not well-suited for sharing overly detailed information.

Although it's sad to not see Nifflas as active around here, since he's very reasonable and a joy to speak with- it's also comforting to know that his attention is still involved in some very great projects (like his new game he just released). One man can only have but so much energy and time, unfortunately. He's absolutely right too, about development. He's basically learned a whole new engine, some complicated programming, and, at least in my opinion, evolved his abilities quite a lot in the last few years with disciplines he was already really good at. He's certainly been busy, and I suspect he would find trying to keep up with a lot of social outlets exhausting.

It's always satisfying to hear what he has to say about his latest games and we can still hope for that, but it will probably be on his time, which is how it should be. And of course, there's not just Nifflas who we could hear more from, but I suspect it's a similar case for a lot of people; there's just lots to do, and sometimes doing it is a better use of energy/time, than formulating a way to talk about it. I know I'm like this as well.

I appreciate you posting this, as well as Nifflas offering some insight; I think it will help anyone who's wondering why it's quiet sometimes.

This is insane! I just logged into this forum for the first time in a long time. Both Knytt and Knytt Stories have been games that have defined my taste in gaming as a whole, that have dictated what I look for whenever I get myself into a new experience. The stylistic choices; The whimsical visual aesthetic and the minimalistic musical direction, the explorative dynamic... You're not even forced or nagged on for to visit or run through every single screen, but it feels natural to you anyways, at least I thought so.

Most of my favorite videogames of all time elicit the same feeling this game did, and I was led to playing all those games after the Knytt games; Cave Story, Undertale, Yume Nikki, Gone Home (whose comparison to this Knytt is a far stretch, but nevertheless...) I can totally see Nifflas churning out another great game. Something with the quality of the Knytt games and WaDF, the same personality. The only thing that has had ever disappointed me about the Knytt games is that their concept allowed for so much more content, but they ended up feeling too small, cut short. The ambition of some of the game's fan mods, specifically Gaia, overrode that of the original games. (... I just remembered I never played KU. Perhaps that is something I should put my time into!) Nevertheless, I'll always be looking forward for something more from Nifflas. Something to bring me back a few years back, when I was thirteen or fourteen, downloading loads of neat Gamejolt games, browsing Kongregate and Newgrounds, and every once in a while, finding gems like Nifflas' catalogue. I really hope that day comes.

Welcome back!!! I'm so glad you decided to return after these many years. Though if you're expecting another Knytt-esque game from Nifflas, he did say that he'd rather be in the background, so that might not happen for a long while. But... maybe one day it'll happen. We'll see.

I can only wait. Thank you for the welcome back, tho.

You should definitely give Knytt Underground a go. Its a lovely game. WaDF has always been my nr 1 game from Nifflas, and the Knytt ones came right after. KU currently holds the 2nd spot on my list, but its nearly the nr 1. As in: it may happen that ku becomes better than wadf in my list at some time, because KU has more replayability.

It's not always easy to remain active on a forum. It feels like worldwide expectations for quality are getting a little higher each year, so any creator would feel the need to put more effort into what they're making.

But the note about making algorithmic music really caught my attention. I could probably understand this, though I haven't actually had the chance to develop any games yet.