Nova Drift News

[h2]Nova Drift's new game mode, Daily Challenge is now included as a free update![/h2]

But before I get into the details, I'd like to remind everyone that the World Ocean Day Steam Sale is live now.



100+ other games are participating, and any of your purchases will support vital conservation work to create safer seas for whales and dolphins, as well as fund a brand-new project to retrieve lost ocean fishing gear. Also, there are some amazing titles in the mix!

See what's for sale: World Ocean Day Steam Sale 2025

[h2]One week left to claim your Nova Drift OST on Vinyl![/h2]

Also, our Campaign to bring the Nova Original Soundtrack to Vinyl is more than halfway over but only just barely halfway to it's funding goal. Even if you don't want a record, there are a lot of digital-only rewards for those that just want to support the project, including steam keys for the game (that one could give to friends) at almost half price ($10).



The campaign ends June 12th: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/milestilmann/nova-drift-soundtrack-on-vinyl-and-cd

Without further ado,

[h2]New Game Mode: Daily Challenge[/h2]



Take on a new seeded challenge each day, competing with players globally. All together, there are 10 main Daily Challenges, and 23 modifiers that can be applied to them to in different combinations. This results in an enormous number of unique challenges that cycle daily.

[h2]Here are the main Challenge Modes:[/h2]

[h3]Super Nova Brothers[/h3]
Begin your journey alongside a unique and powerful Ally construct. You and the Ally share a portion of damage taken.



[h3]20-Point Draft / 45-Point Draft[/h3]
Begin your journey in Draft Mode with a different number of upgrade points.



[h3]Serpentine Drift[/h3]
Begin your journey as a Leviathan and munch orbs to increase your size. Protect your head, and don't chomp your own tail! Your only threats are cosmic hazards and yourself.



[h3]Turbo // Turbo Endless[/h3]
Experience a condensed and intense journey. Leveling and wave progression happen much faster.



[h3]Boss Rush[/h3]
Face a gauntlet of every boss. Bosses are faster and much tougher. You earn massively increased score and experience.



[h3]Way Of The Sword[/h3]
Begin your journey wielding a powerful variant of the Swords weapon. It can't be damaged by enemies or create spark projectiles. Only you may wield the Sword. You are faster and can use mobility powers more frequently, but you take more damage.



[h3]Purity[/h3]
Begin your journey with a powered-up Ataraxia Super Mod. Once you have 7 Mods, you can't upgrade anymore.



[h3]Cosmic Egg[/h3]
Begin your journey with a COSMIC EGG, which enemies want to destroy. You're tougher, but if it breaks, you lose.



[h3]And here are the modifiers to those Challenge Modes:[/h3]

• Long Shot - The battlefield size is greatly increased.
  
• Grace - Power-ups last longer. Enemies and constructs drop more power-ups and orbs, and Cargo Trains are longer.
  
• Unbreakable - Your Body Gear is stronger, and body powers are improved.
  
• Unstoppable - Your Weapon Gear is stronger.
  
• Immovable - Your Shield Gear is stronger and shield effects are improved.
  
• Heist - Cargo Trains are much more common but spawn with dangerous escorts!
  
• Hyperactive - You have improved recovery and faster shield cooldown.
  
• Compact - You are much smaller.
  
• Hurt Me Plenty - Everything takes more damage.
  
• Ultra Violence - Everything takes much more damage.
  
• I'm The Boss, Now - You are much larger, and have massively increased hull and shields, but they never recover.
  
• Chosen One - Gear is predetermined, but stronger.
  
• Wilder Metamorphosis - Wild Metamorphosis is enabled and Wild Mods are much more common.
  
• Pandemonium - Wild Metamorphosis is enabled, and every other upgrade only Wild Mods are offered.
  
• Cage Match - Screen wrapping is impossible, but your gear is stronger.
  
• Sterner Stuff - Enemies are much tougher.
  
• Rogue Harder - Rerolls do not exist.
  
• Vengeance - Bosses are much stronger and provide greater rewards.
  
• Slippery Fish - Friction is halved.
  
• Frenzy - Enemies are much faster.
  
• Celestial Shower - Comets are more frequent and numerous.
  
• Cosmic Ballet - Special wave encounters happen much more frequently.
  
• Wilderness - Wild Metamorphosis is enabled.
  

[h3]A few other highlights from 1.2:[/h3]

• Buffs for Blade and Self Destruction
  
• QoL settings added for asteroid visibility
  
• Difficulty adjustments for Scion, Dweller, Seraph, Spitfire, Station Omega, and Star Eater, making them more in line with the power curve of other bosses, especially for Boss Rush mode
  
• Dozens of bug fixes, including some fatal crashes and memory leaks
  

Here's the full change log.

Thanks for reading. I hope you love the update!

-Jeffrey (Chimeric)

[h2]Don't want to miss my next project? Follow me![/h2]
On BlueSky (My preferred platform), or Twitter



We've got quite an active discord with a very chill and inclusive community. The dev team is also pretty active there. There are channels for #ask-the-devs and #feedback. I also enjoy the #game-dev-help channel, which is a space for current and aspiring developers to learn and collaborate. So... come chat with us!

[h2]Want to help Nova Drift grow?[/h2]
Steam Reviews really help! As a tiny operation, Nova Drift relies on its quality and reputation to sell, and fantastic reviews help people choose games with less exposure. Please do take a moment to fill out a short review, even if it's only a few words. It just might make a difference.

Every few moments in the current build of arcade space shooter Nova Drift there's a chance the game will spawn a Cargo Train. Whenever the game decides to spawn a Cargo Train, there's a 1/7777 chance it will spawn a Space Whale instead. "Nonsense," you bellow. "Space Whales are a myth. Designer Jeffrey Nielson has been telling us they're not real ever since the original Kickstarter in 2017." Ah, you poor, unsuspecting mooncalf. You chirpy little starfish. Consider the subtleness of the sea; how its most dreaded creatures glide treacherously hidden inside downloadable software packages. Nielson has been telling you porkies.

He did, in fact, surreptitiously add a Space Whale to the game shortly before Nova Drift's 1.0 release back in August 2024, after years of conspiracy theories. This, friends, is the good kind of lie, the kind of lie that makes combing through a million changelogs for potential headlines worthwhile.

Read more

I have a confession to make. I have been living a lie for far too long, and the guilt weighs on my conscience like a great, barnacled, blubbery mass. Lately, it's taken all my energy to keep my head above water, so I'm just going to spout it out:

[h2]It exists. There is a Space Whale.[/h2]
Whew... That's a relief. I feel like I can breathe again.



So... context. If you're not already a member of our Discord community, this statement makes no sense. You see, I have been denying its existence for more than 7 years. It does exist, though it hasn't always, and it is very, very rare. What started as a running in-joke got carried away, and today I will tell you that story, but first...

My inky-black deception shall not go unanswered. I must begin the long journey of my penance! To begin, I pledge this to you:

When Nova Drift's 1.2 update launches, for the period of June 5th-12th, I will donate 20% of the game's profits to the WDC Whale and Dolphin Conservation charity. And over a hundred other games will do the same!



Read more about their contributions here: https://games.whales.org/world-ocean-day-festival-2025

Please, mark your calendars, grab some amazing games at low prices, and let's do some good together.

[h2]A deep dive into Nova Drift's cetacean server lore.[/h2]
Ever since Nova Drift's 2017 Kickstarter campaign concluded and people started migrating into the game's Discord server, players have been asking for a Space Whale.



They've been asking... a lot. The game's reception was more than I expected. I tried to respond to everyone but I was eventually overwhelmed by the torrent of feedback and requests. I got some help from players and also implemented some systems like a feature voting website and bots. Those helped, but even after I found a community manager, it was still a leviathan task.

After a while, I noticed that the more players requested Space Whales, the more other people piled on. This only became more true as it went unanswered. Interesting.

Years later into development the meme was still going strong, and people were enjoying it, so I leaned into it, pretending to forbid people from discussing Space Whales.



Naturally, this resulted in community members warning new players that they could get banned for even mentioning a whale, further stoking the fires. By the time the game started to go viral, I was refusing to engage with discussions about whales in any form, and the meme self-perpetuated for years after.

It was funny to me for a while, and it seemed to be a good thing for the community, but I felt compelled to take it to the next level. April Fool's was coming up soon, so that was perfect. I usually made fake patch notes or released a mini-game, but this time I did this:



Kuva?? In this economy?!

Even with all the in app purchases and pay-to-win-dark-patterns-bullshit I was surprised that some people thought this was real, but I shouldn't have been. Every developer knows you can't make gamers read. I'm a gamer. I don't read.

Doing this made me realize that that the funniest thing I could do would be to secretly, finally, add the whale to the game. I'd already made the art. I had to do it.

I started work on this shortly after, but it got sidetracked, so the assets were in the game for a while before I actually made it possible for the whale to spawn in game. I realized that this could be fun misdirection. Knowing that my players love to data mine, I gave the files confusing names as an attempt at plausible deniability, but it was not enough. Players used the Undertale mod tools to rip the sprites and then assemble them into something approximating a whale, but I expected this. I claimed that putting them in the engine was the easiest way for me to spoof that April Fool's day shot. But mostly I tried to stay out of the conversation. I'd muddied the waters enough that, with the help of the other community members, people weren't sure what was true anymore. Perfect.

At long last, I put it in the game as a rare spawn. Riiiight before the game fully released.



A really, really rare spawn. If you're interested in the way it works under the hood, it's like this: Every few minutes the game is likely to have a chance to spawn a Cargo Train. Whenever that chance occurs, there is a 1/7777 chance that it instead the Space Whale appears.

I didn't want players to try to kill it, so I made it almost indestructible. Also, as long as it swims around, it unleashes a stream of orbs which grant experience. Early game, this translates to a whole lot of free levels, but its not so much that it breaks the game balance. So, if anyone did manage to kill it, it would be to their own detriment. One of our top players did actually manage to bring it down, and I doubled its health as punishment for his sin. Whales are our friends.

I wanted the encounter to be infrequent enough that seeing it was actually insane, but not so uncommon that long time veterans never saw it. Estimating play time, my friend and I tried to make it so that you'd be likely to see it once every few hundred hours. My plan was that it'd be just rare enough that players couldn't be sure whether evidence was doctored. After all, the art had existed in the game files quite a while before anyone captured it in a screen shot. This was of course unsustainable as video evidence did eventually appear, but by the time it did, we were way past the truth mattering. I'd just claim the video wasn't playing or that Discord was busted.



Or I'd deflect.



Or I'd just act really impressed at their forgery skill...

[h2]But All of That Ends Today[/h2]
No longer shall I deceive you. Instead, let us revel in the existence of the Space Whale together. Nay, let us celebrate all whales! For we are all connected!

In honor of World Ocean Day and WDC, I have snuck a Space Whale calf into the game. See if you can figure out how to encounter it during the 1.2 update!



Oh?! It's hatching!

[h2]In Conclusion[/h2]
Listen, maybe a 7-year-running gag is taking things a bit too far. Maybe I shouldn't have lied, obfuscated, and denied the evidence against my claims. I owe it to my players to apologize for that deception. So, I'm sorry.

Moving forward, what I can promise you is this (and I mean this from the bottom of my icy, black, abyssal heart):

[h2]I Won't Ever Lie To You Again[/h2]
(Unless its funny.)

Cosmic love,

Jeffrey (Chimeric)



Oh, right, I should probably talk about the update:



June 5th's 1.2 update introduces a new mode of play, "Daily Challenge", where you can take on a new seeded challenge each day, competing with players globally.

Here are a few of the new modes of play you can take on:

SUPER NOVA BROTHERS – Begin your journey alongside a unique and powerful Ally construct. You and the Ally share a portion of damage taken.



SERPENTINE DRIFT – Begin your journey as a Leviathan and munch orbs to increase your size. Protect your head, and don't chomp your own tail! Your only threats are cosmic hazards and yourself.



BOSS RUSH – Face a gauntlet of every boss. Bosses are faster and much tougher. You earn massively increased score and experience.



All together, there are 10 main Daily Challenges, and 23 modifiers that can be applied to them to in different combinations. This results in an enormous number of unique challenges that cycle daily.

Other Daily Challenge modes include: Cosmic Egg, 20-Point Draft, 45-Point Draft, Purity, Turbo, Turbo Endless, and Way Of The Sword.

Daily Challenge launches June 5th, along with the World Ocean Day Steam Sale, as a free update. I hope you love it.

Thanks for reading!

[h2]Want to help me make more games like this?[/h2]
Steam Reviews really help! As a tiny operation, Nova Drift relies on its quality and reputation to sell, and fantastic reviews help people choose games with less exposure. Please do take a moment to fill out a short review, even if it's only a few words. It just might make a big difference.

Hello all,

If you didn't already know, the Daily Challenge Update will launch on June 5th. It's stable and ready for you to preview in the BETA branch if you want to check it out early. Thanks to everyone that helped us shape it up over the last few months.

Also, Pixeljam is going to start streaming again to support the Kickstarter Campaign to get the Nova Drift soundtrack on vinyl and CD. The campaign is 40% funded with only 2 weeks left, so we really need your support to make it happen! Even if you don't want vinyl or CDs, there are plenty of digital-only rewards for those that pledge.

Click here to visit the campaign.

I'm going to start streaming again as well, please subscribe to Pixeljam's Twitch Channel to get notified when we go live. Here is the planned schedule. All streams start at 3 PM EST:

• Friday May 30
  
• Tuesday June 3
  
• Friday June 6
  
• Tues June 10
  
• Thursday June 12 (last day of the Kickstarter!)
  

This Friday (May 30), I'll be examining the track Chronos and deconstructing it live, and probably starting a remix for it as well. If you have ever wondered how the music for Nova Drift gets made, this is a good opportunity for it. You'll even see my face for the first time!

Hope to see you there,

- Miles @ Pixeljam

The Kickstarter Campaign to bring the Nova Drift Soundtrack to Vinyl and Compact Disc has launched!

Check it out: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/milestilmann/nova-drift-soundtrack-on-vinyl-and-cd

• Printed on BioVinyl, no toxic dino-sludge involved.
  
• Compact disc options for those that could give 2 craps about vinyl.
  
• Digital-only rewards for those that could give 3 craps about physical rewards. Grab some extra discounted Steam keys for your buddies!
  
• No-reward option for those that like to put money into creative projects and receive nothing in return (wow!)
  
• Shipping to 6 different countries supported now, but if we get enough requests for certain countries I will add them to the campaign. Drop a comment here if you want to buy Vinyl but your country is not supported.
  

Please spread the word as well to all Nova Drift fans! We’ll need a lot of support on this if we’re going to meet our goal.

Talk to us in the #soundtrack channel on our Discord if you have questions or feedback.

- Miles @ Pixeljam