[2023] 14th Dev Journal

A lil somethin somethin: You can find the details for this event on the announcement page here.

Hello Lumia Island survivors!
In today’s Dev Journal we will be introducing Operator Nadja!

Eternal Return is quite a complex game. At the moment, the many systems and user experience (UX) are fairly roughly placed, making it challenging to learn. While players may pick up the game step by step, they may still find themselves a bit lost in in-game situations.

Strategy games require constant decision-making in rapidly changing situations. The increasing depth of the game means that a wider variety of such situations can arise, and the factors to consider when making decisions become more complex. So there's a dilemma: the game has to have obstacles to be interesting and fun, but if it gets too complicated it can become difficult to play.

This is where having a visible indication of your next move becomes very important. The magnetic field that many Battle Royale games employ is a very clear indication of where you need to go. "If I'm on the edge of the field, I need to be prepared to get out of it somehow", so usually players intuitively realize that they need to move toward the center of the circle. In the MOBA genre, the three lines act as signposts, each with a minion marching toward the opposing tower.

The path you see isn't necessarily the best choice - even in the games above, it's sometimes more important to use the edges of the magnetic field to gain an advantage or to reach important strategic objectives outside the tower. For beginners, though, it's important we make viable choices visible.
At the moment, Eternal Return doesn't have pathing guides outside of the early looting phase, After finishing their builds, players are left in an open space. The game even has a Hyperloop, which can take players to the other side in an instance. While the free and open environment is a pro for some, it's also a source of anxiety for beginners, not knowing where to go or what to do.



When we're not sure what to do, history books tell us that schemers usually have 3 plans just in case one doesn't work: A, B and C. Modern consulting firms also rely on the Rule of Three to provide three alternatives. That's what Operator Nadja does: when you have no visible path and a lot of freedom, she gives you three safe choices that you can make at that moment.

Eternal Return is surprisingly easy if you have a friend to guide you through it, and giving you orders like "hunt now," or "move to Hotel because Alpha is coming soon," is a great way to help you get through the game, even if your friend's tier isn't that high. The options that Operator Nadja gives you don't have to be the best ones, they just have to be good enough so that players can follow them.

In fact, leading the player in this way in a game with a high degree of freedom is not a new strategy: the Mission System found in RPGs is a good reference. Missions in RPGs also give you a few things you can do at the moment, rather than giving you the most efficient answer, and Operator Nadja is an enhanced real-time Mission System.

Operator Nadja reminds you to stay on the path in Early Game.
All images and voices in this Dev Journal are still under development with no post-production work done.



If your Saved Plan doesn't work out well, she advises you to use a Remote Drone.



If you finish your Saved Plan early in team modes, Operator Nadja advises you to join your teammates.

She'll also let you know about incoming Special Materials. Operator Nadja can even warn you before a meteorite spawns.



After it spawns, she will tell you to go for it.



When a player gets within a certain distance of a Meteorite, the Operator's message changes.

"There's a Meteorite nearby. Go get it!"
But, since the object often moves closer and then further away depending on the situation, this type of proximity notification will only alert you by voice, no text.

If the player collects a Meteorite, she also recommends equipment upgrades.



When you enter a Battle Zone, there won't be a separate UI for it anymore, and Nadja will directly become the operator on the Battle Zone.




If you lose a teammate, you'll also be presented with Escape options.



In addition, Operator Nadja will also give you up to three pieces of advice for different situations. You'll see the top advice in order of priority, but if you want, you can press a button to see the middle and bottom advice as well.

The Operator UI is also automatically minimized when you are in combat. Of course, you can manually minimize it while out of combat by pressing a button.

While Operator Nadja can be a great help to new players, some of the descriptions can feel like unnecessary nagging for experienced players. For this reason, we'll have the feature enabled for new players, but once they have reached higher levels, Nadja will even advise you to switch to the Expert Preset. Selecting the Expert Preset will remove some of the beginner's guides and focus on guides that are helpful to experienced players, such as announcements regarding Objectives.



When you select Custom Games, you can also choose to do only the operations you want depending on your preference!

We still can't introduce all of Operator Nadja's facial expressions and voice as they're still in production, but we hope you'll find her to be a reliable guide for your trip through Lumia Island!
The next Dev Journal will be about the third update for Characters. Stay tuned for more!
Thanks for sticking with us as always!

*All preview images released in the Dev Journals are subject to change during the development process.


You can get WP from the Dev Journals on our {LINK REMOVED}web event page. Web Points(WP) are event points that can be obtained and used throughout the Season 9 web events