Nicklas Nygren
Encyclopedia
Nicklas Nygren better known by the handle "Nifflas", is a video game developer
. He is known for his freeware games Knytt, Knytt Stories, Within a Deep Forest and the #ModArchive Story series, and is currently developing software for indie publisher/developer Nicalis. He currently lives in Umeå
, Sweden
.
Nygren's career in game-making began with a number of small games he released as freeware. Many of these games were extremely simple - consisting of little more than a physics engine and a single level on which to test it, however it was in developing these games that several themes would emerge that would later come to characterize Nygren's work. Among other themes, the concept of the ball as a hero originated in these early games and the games became increasingly more atmospheric and ambient in nature. Early games include:
Early betas include:
Within A Deep Forest is a freeware
game, taking place in the year 2500, after a devastating war has left the Earth a desolate wasteland. One of the survivors, the infamous and notorious Dr. Cliché, creates a time machine that enables him to travel many hundreds of years back in time in order to complete his most dastardly deed, the building of an underwater laboratory in which he has placed the most powerful bomb the world has yet known. "If ever this bomb should explode, the entire planet will freeze and all life will be lost. In this way, Dr. Cliché aims to eliminate beyond all reckoning the possibility of such a future ever coming to pass." As the game starts the bomb has been activated and the world lies in grave danger.
The bomb is in fact Dr. Cliché's second attempt as "his first attempt failed and instead lead to the creation of a ball, although, no ordinary ball." The player controls this ball throughout the game. The ball can be transformed into different substances with various materials found in the landscape. Many hazards, including spikes, water, lava, and certain creatures can kill the ball. There are warp spots (save points) at certain places in the game areas. When the ball is killed, it reappears in the last warp spot visited.
Note: The setting of the tutorial of Within A Deep Forest (Harara Mountains) is very similar to the home of the creature in Nicklas Nygren's other game known as Knytt.
Bigdownload.com highlighted Nygren's minimalist sound and graphics in Within A Deep Forest, and praised its sense of frustration and emotion.
Knytt's (icon) name comes from a character in the book, Vem ska trösta Knyttet
, by renowned Swedish-Finnish children's author Tove Jansson
.
A peculiar creature living on a unique planet, the Knytt (which roughly translates as "tiny creature" in Swedish
) is abducted by an alien in a spaceship for no apparent reason and taken into outer space
. While the alien is traveling through space, the spaceship is hit by a meteoroid
and crashes onto another planet. Thankfully, the Knytt and the alien who has abducted it survive, but the spaceship is so heavily damaged that they are trapped on this new world. It is up to the Knytt to venture courageously through the various types of terrain
and caves on this planet to retrieve the pieces of spaceship so that it can return to its home.
and the indie game Lyle in Cube Sector. The game, together with a level editor, is available as a free download; however, custom level support has to be purchased.
,; only in late 2010 it was announced that the PC version would appear first.
In NightSky the player controls a glowing sphere which can accelerate and decelerate, and sometimes has the ability to invert gravity. The goal is to guide the sphere through 10 different worlds, each divided into 13 three-screen sections, each section containing a challenge or a puzzle. The soundtrack was made by Chris Schlarb; the game was produced by Nicalis.
Nygren has also been credited on the following games:
With Nicalis, Inc. Nygren has also contributed to the enhanced soundtrack of the WiiWare
version of the independent game, Cave Story.
Nygren's early works were primarily composed using Fast Tracker 2
; however, his later works often use non-computer hardware. All songs including those from his games are freely available for download online.
The stand-alone albums include:
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
. He is known for his freeware games Knytt, Knytt Stories, Within a Deep Forest and the #ModArchive Story series, and is currently developing software for indie publisher/developer Nicalis. He currently lives in Umeå
Umeå
- Transport :The road infrastructure in Umeå is well-developed, with two European highways passing through the city. About 4 km from the city centre is the Umeå City Airport...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
.
Early games
- The Turtle Philosopher- a simple platformer
- Pteranodon - a simple 2D, vertical-scrolling, single playerSingle playerA Single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. "Single-player game" usually implies a game that can only be played by one person, while "single-player mode" usually refers to a game mode for a single player, where...
, musicalMusic video gameA music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs...
shoot 'em upShoot 'em upShoot 'em up is a subgenre of shooter video games. In a shoot 'em up, the player controls a lone character, often in a spacecraft or aircraft, shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks. The genre in turn encompasses various types or subgenres and critics differ on exactly what...
game - The #ModArchive series - early ball-based platformers
- #ModArchive Story
- #ModArchive Story 2: Operator Status
- Riddle - a simple puzzle game in which the goal is to discover the rules
- Geoffrey the Fly - a simple platformer
- Roll - a simple ball-based platformer
Early betas include:
- Dis - The player takes control of a man as he runs through a disintegrating train
- Goble - Precursor to The Turtle Philosopher, Goble also features the Nifflas ball.
- Pie War in Water - A 2-player racing game
- Within a Deep Forest 2 - Unfinished sequel to Within a Deep Forest. Nygren has canceled work on this game.
Within A Deep Forest
Freeware
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
game, taking place in the year 2500, after a devastating war has left the Earth a desolate wasteland. One of the survivors, the infamous and notorious Dr. Cliché, creates a time machine that enables him to travel many hundreds of years back in time in order to complete his most dastardly deed, the building of an underwater laboratory in which he has placed the most powerful bomb the world has yet known. "If ever this bomb should explode, the entire planet will freeze and all life will be lost. In this way, Dr. Cliché aims to eliminate beyond all reckoning the possibility of such a future ever coming to pass." As the game starts the bomb has been activated and the world lies in grave danger.
The bomb is in fact Dr. Cliché's second attempt as "his first attempt failed and instead lead to the creation of a ball, although, no ordinary ball." The player controls this ball throughout the game. The ball can be transformed into different substances with various materials found in the landscape. Many hazards, including spikes, water, lava, and certain creatures can kill the ball. There are warp spots (save points) at certain places in the game areas. When the ball is killed, it reappears in the last warp spot visited.
Note: The setting of the tutorial of Within A Deep Forest (Harara Mountains) is very similar to the home of the creature in Nicklas Nygren's other game known as Knytt.
Bigdownload.com highlighted Nygren's minimalist sound and graphics in Within A Deep Forest, and praised its sense of frustration and emotion.
Knytt
Who Will Comfort Toffle?
Who Will Comfort Toffle? is the second picture book in the Moomin series by Tove Jansson. It was first published in 1960. It was first translated into English by Kingsley Hart....
, by renowned Swedish-Finnish children's author Tove Jansson
Tove Jansson
Tove Marika Jansson was a Swedish-Finnish novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. She is best known as the author of the Moomin books.- Biography :...
.
A peculiar creature living on a unique planet, the Knytt (which roughly translates as "tiny creature" in Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
) is abducted by an alien in a spaceship for no apparent reason and taken into outer space
Outer space
Outer space is the void that exists between celestial bodies, including the Earth. It is not completely empty, but consists of a hard vacuum containing a low density of particles: predominantly a plasma of hydrogen and helium, as well as electromagnetic radiation, magnetic fields, and neutrinos....
. While the alien is traveling through space, the spaceship is hit by a meteoroid
Meteoroid
A meteoroid is a sand- to boulder-sized particle of debris in the Solar System. The visible path of a meteoroid that enters Earth's atmosphere is called a meteor, or colloquially a shooting star or falling star. If a meteoroid reaches the ground and survives impact, then it is called a meteorite...
and crashes onto another planet. Thankfully, the Knytt and the alien who has abducted it survive, but the spaceship is so heavily damaged that they are trapped on this new world. It is up to the Knytt to venture courageously through the various types of terrain
Terrain
Terrain, or land relief, is the vertical and horizontal dimension of land surface. When relief is described underwater, the term bathymetry is used...
and caves on this planet to retrieve the pieces of spaceship so that it can return to its home.
Knytt Stories
Knytt Stories features Juni, a character who shows up commonly in Knytt myths and stories. In the game, the player acts out these stories (also called levels or worlds) as Juni. The two stories that comes bundled with the game, "Tutorial - Learn How to Play Knytt Stories" and "The Machine - A Save-the-World Adventure," are fairly short, but the game comes with a full level editor and support for many extra levels in game, loaded from .knytt.bin files. This format is meant to allow for easy access to new stories designed by Nygren as well as to encourage community development of expansion packs and third party stories. To date, Nygren has released two official expansion packs, A Strange Dream (featuring the 4 stories: "A Strange Dream - That Night, She Had a Strange Dream," "An Underwater Adventure - ...In an Underwater Laboratory," "Sky Flower - Abstract and Slightly Pretentious," and "This Level is Unfinished - The Author Simply Lost His Interest"), and Other Levels (featuring the story: "Gustav's Daughter"). Nygren has also released a story, the purpose of which is to explain some of the advanced features available for level design. This story is entitled "Advanced Features Demo - Useful for Level Designers."Nano Pack
Nano Pack volume 1 is a batch of 2 games and an art collection. All of these open in relatively small windows. The games are "Knytt Nano" and "Nano Lasers." Knytt Nano concerns the attempts of a new, unnamed Knytt to return home. The second game is titled "Nano Lasers" and is a small puzzle game, the object of which is to cause a laser beam to strike a block, overcoming various obstacles. The art collection is entitled "Nano Portfolio" and contains a small amount of art, ranging from "Gubba" to pixel art. All of these pieces are made by Sara Sandberg who has assisted him with the creation of many of his previous games.Knytt Experiment
The ambitious but unfinished third member of the Knytt series. Nygren has canceled work on this game.Saira
Saira is a 2D puzzle platformer. First announced during the final stages of work on NightSky, the game was initially known as Project Q. It was released on 12 December 2009. The eponymous Saira is a photographer who, as a result of a mysterious accident, found herself as the only remaining person in the entire galaxy and has to find out what happened. Saira features six endings and a unique graphical style that combines traditional 2D animation with high resolution photographs taken by Nygren—the press-release stated that the game was "developed almost as much in the outdoors as indoors". A level editor was included with the game.FiNCK
In May 2010 Nygren released FiNCK ("Fire Nuclear Crocodile Killer"), a two dimensional puzzle platformer inspired by Super Mario Bros. 2Super Mario Bros. 2
Super Mario Bros. 2, often abbreviated SMB2, is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System as a sequel to the 1985 game Super Mario Bros. The game was also remade as part of the Super Mario All-Stars collection for the Super Nintendo Entertainment...
and the indie game Lyle in Cube Sector. The game, together with a level editor, is available as a free download; however, custom level support has to be purchased.
NightSky
NightSky, a physics-based puzzle platformer, was released on 6 January 2011. The game had a long development history; first announced in 2007, it was known variously as Skymning and Night Game. On 5 May 2008 Nygren released three minigames that were going to be part of the project, but were abandoned due to incompatibilities with the new engine. In 2009 news appeared that the game would only be released for WiiWii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
,; only in late 2010 it was announced that the PC version would appear first.
In NightSky the player controls a glowing sphere which can accelerate and decelerate, and sometimes has the ability to invert gravity. The goal is to guide the sphere through 10 different worlds, each divided into 13 three-screen sections, each section containing a challenge or a puzzle. The soundtrack was made by Chris Schlarb; the game was produced by Nicalis.
Other games
- Car Game - a mini game created by Nygren for a game-design one hour competition
- Bagatelle - a mini game originally created by Nygren for inclusion in Night Game as an unlockable.
- Cannon - a mini game originally created by Nygren for inclusion in Night Game as an unlockable.
- ClickDrop - a mini game originally created by Nygren for inclusion in Night Game as an unlockable.
- Det Officiella EDGE Dataspelet - a mini game programmed by Nygren for EDGE festivalen.
- Avoid the Evil Space Eel - a rhythm mini game created by Nygren for the No More Sweden competition.
- The Mushroom Engine - an updated version created by Nygren of an earlier game by another author, Jump On Mushrooms: The Game
- R-Type 3.141592653589793238469 - a mini game created by Nygren for the No More Sweden 2009 competition.
Nygren has also been credited on the following games:
- Bonesaw - a hockey-themed adventure game
- Floating Islands Game - a puzzle game similar to LemmingsLemmings (video game)Lemmings is a puzzle computer game developed by DMA Design and published by Psygnosis in . Originally developed for PC and Commodore Amiga, Lemmings was one of the most popular computer games of its time, and several gaming magazines gave it some of their highest review scores at the time...
- Heroes in Guitarland - a music gameMusic video gameA music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs...
similar to Guitar HeroGuitar HeroGuitar Hero is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by RedOctane for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It is the first entry in the Guitar Hero series. Guitar Hero was released on November 8, 2005 in North America, April 7, 2006 in Europe and June 15, 2006 in...
With Nicalis, Inc. Nygren has also contributed to the enhanced soundtrack of the WiiWare
WiiWare
WiiWare is a service that allows Wii users to download games and applications specifically designed and developed for the Wii video game console made by Nintendo. These games and applications can only be purchased and downloaded from the Wii Shop Channel under the WiiWare section...
version of the independent game, Cave Story.
Future projects
Two games currently in production are The Great Work, a platformer made for a documentary film by Oskar & Oskarsson, and a project currently titled KnyttWaDF, which combines the features of Knytt and Within a Deep Forest and will be released in 2012 or later.Music
Apart from contributions to the original scores for eight of the games he has made, Nygren has also created seven stand-alone albums of ambient music. He claims influence from jazz records among others. Additionally, he has released an album of bonus tracks intended to accompany four of the seven albums by providing stylistically similar extras. He has also released a collection of sound effects used in his games. Nygren has been engaged in music creation for the past ten years.Nygren's early works were primarily composed using Fast Tracker 2
Fast Tracker
FastTracker 2 is a tracker created by Fredrik "Mr. H" Huss and Magnus "Vogue" Högdahl, two members of the demogroup Triton which set about releasing their own tracker after breaking into the scene in 1992 and winning several demo competitions. The source code of FastTracker 2 is written in Pascal...
; however, his later works often use non-computer hardware. All songs including those from his games are freely available for download online.
The stand-alone albums include:
- Cityscapes
- En skog, märklig och djup
- Lunarscapes
- Uncategorized
- Winterscapes
- One Hour Compos of Nifflas
- Forgotten
- Bonustracks