Nicklas Nygren

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Nicklas Nygren (born 6 January 1983), better known by the handle "Nifflas", is a video game developer and musician. He is known for his freeware games Knytt, Knytt Stories, Within a Deep Forest and the #ModArchive Story series. He currently lives in Umeå, Sweden.^[1]

He first started composing music in 1999 with Fast Tracker 2, but later switched to using hardware instead of software^[1]. Nifflas often composes songs for his games himself, and other collaborators include: Alterfish Gravity, Ceekayed, Decibelter, D Fast, Doragon, Gopher, LittleElk, Metasonix, Nurykabe, troupe, xerxes, xTr1m and Zepsi^[1].

Contents 1 Games 1.1 The Turtle Philosopher 1.2 Pteranodon 1.3 #ModArchive Story 1.4 Riddle 1.5 #ModArchive Story 2: Operator Status 1.6 Geoffrey the Fly 1.7 Roll 1.8 Within A Deep Forest 1.9 Knytt 1.10 Knytt Stories 1.11 Nano Pack 1.12 Future projects 2 Other programs and files 2.1 Utilities 2.2 Beta versions (games) 2.3 Patches 2.4 Other files 3 Music 3.1 Albums 3.2 Soundtracks 4 Notes 5 Links 5.1 Interviews

[edit] Games

In creating Games, Nifflas uses Multimedia Fusion 2 a development program created by Clickteam.^[2][3] He claims that influence for his unique style comes from such games as Cave Story, Seiklus, Ico, flOw, Ballance, and Samorost 2 among others^[4][5].

[edit] The Turtle Philosopher

A simple game featuring a ball character common to several Nifflas games^[6]. In The Turtle Philosopher, the player's goal is to navigate the ball through a difficult landscape within a time limit defined by the length of the background song. Completion of the game having collected all gold rings and without a single death earns the player one out of six turtle philosopher's secret messages of wisdom^[6].

[edit] Pteranodon

A simple 2D, vertical-scrolling, single player, musical shoot 'em up game where the player takes control of an aircraft and must evade or destroy all enemies. As in The Turtle Philosopher, the duration of the game is determined by the length of the background music^[6]. In addition, instruments which make up the background song provide the cues for new enemies or new enemy aircraft types to enter the playing field. As such the game resembles a rhythm game, however unlike standard rhythm games, the player in Pterandodon is free to select his own means to hit the "notes" within the context of the shoot 'em up framework. Consequently the player is afforded greater freedom of play than in a rhythm game and Pteranodon is instead best considered a hybrid musical game.

[edit] #ModArchive Story

available from: [1] #ModArchive Story, released on modarchivestory.ni2.se (no longer available) in 2004 ([2] [3]). The main character is a small purple ball with no musical skill, "who has just attempted to compose his first song in ModPlug Tracker", who sets out on a quest to beat the four #modarchive regulars of doom, in order to be accepted as a member of the IRC channel. The ball only has the ability to jump, and there are four bosses to beat.

[edit] Riddle

A simple puzzle game composed of a number of levels each with different rules and no instructions as to how to pass them. Each level is minimalist and simple and the challenge lies in trying to determine the rules. Levels range from manual dexterity challenges to Simon says musical challenges, to simple word games.

[edit] #ModArchive Story 2: Operator Status

available from: [4] and #ModArchive Story 2: Operator Status is the sequel to #ModArchive Story, released in 2005. In this game, the purple ball tries to become an operator in the IRC channel. There are no bosses to beat, but there are puzzles. New abilities are available: 'ctrl' stops the ball from jumping, and 'z' allows it to orbit around a red square. It is also available in the "just a lil' bit harder" edition, #ModArchive Story 2: Operator Status XH.

[edit] Geoffrey the Fly

A simple platformer wherein the player takes control of a fly. The fly must progress through a difficult terrain, however there is no time limit. The fly's movement consists of a simple thrust which propels the fly forward and upward; however thrusts may not be applied too closely in succession as the fly then becomes tired and falls.

[edit] Roll

A simple 2-level platformer game featuring a non-bouncing variation on the Nifflas ball. In Roll, the player strives to gain the greatest score by a combination of speed (to gain time bonus) and accuracy (in hitting certain point platforms). The game can also be modified to make the physics a little more challenging.

[edit] Within A Deep Forest

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.^[7]

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.

When the game is completed, a speedrun mode is unlocked.

[edit] Knytt

Main article: Knytt

(Knytt is pronounced /kˈnɪt/, with a hard k and a y pronounced as in the name Dylan.)^[8] A peculiar creature living on a unique planet, the Knytt (which roughly translates as "tiny creature" in Swedish)^[9] is abducted by an alien in a spaceship for no apparent reason and taken into space.^[10][11] While the alien is traveling through space, the spaceship is hit by a meteoroid and it 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 different types of terrain and caves on this planet to retrieve the pieces of spaceship so that it can return to its home.

[edit] Knytt Stories

Nifflas' latest game, Knytt Stories, features Juni, a character who shows up commonly in Knytt myths and stories.^[12] 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 Nifflas as well as to encourage community development of expansion packs and third party stories.^[13][14] To date, Nifflas 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"). Nifflas 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."

[edit] 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, Nygren's girlfriend, who has assisted him with the creation of many of his previous games.

[edit] Future projects

Nygren is currently engaged in development of his newest game, tentatively entitled Night Game. Night Game is to be a platformer which, unlike his other platformer titles, will employ a new physics engine^[5][15][16]. On May 5, 2008 Nygren released three minigames that were going to be part of Night Game, but were abandoned due to incompatibilities with the new engine^[17].

Concurrently, Nygren has joined Team Nicalis as director, lead artist, and primary designer for a single-player action puzzle game entitled Skymning ("dusk" in Swedish). This game is intended for release on the PC, Wii (via WiiWare), and possibly Xbox 360 (via the Xbox Live Marketplace).^[18]

[edit] Other programs and files

Nifflas has also developed several programs which can be used as tools for development or modification of his games. These tools enjoy regular use among his fan-base and the community which has arisen around his games.

Examples of programs he has created include:

[edit] Utilities

• A Random Song Title Generator
• Four Cycle Synth
• Ghost Tileset Designer
• Quick Tileset Designer
• NotKnytt Tileset Helper (later renamed simply Tileset Helper)

[edit] Beta versions (games)

• 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. Nifflas has canceled work on this game.
• NotKnytt - A beta version of Knytt Stories.
• Knytt Experiment - Unfinished third member of the Knytt series.^[19] Nifflas has canceled work on this game.

[edit] Patches

All patches are freely available at the UnOfficial Nifflas Game Page (links below)

• #ModArchive Status 2: Operator Status - patches released include v.1.0.3 and v.1.0.4 upgrades
• #ModArchive Status 2: Operator Status XH - patches released include a v.1.0.4 upgrade
• Within a Deep Forest - patches released include v.1.0.0, v.1.0.1, v.1.0.2, v.1.1.0, v.1.1.1, v.1.1.2, and v.1.1.4 upgrades
• Knytt Stories - patches and updates include v.1.0.0, v.1.0.1, v.1.0.2, v.1.0.3, v.1.0.4, v.1.1.0, v.1.1.0.r2 (including Knytt Stories Manager 1.06)

[edit] Other files

• Within a Deep Forest speedrun
• Car Game - a mini game created by Nifflas for a game-design one hour competition
• Bagatelle - a mini game originally created by Nifflas for inclusion in Night Game as an unlockable.
• Cannon - a mini game originally created by Nifflas for inclusion in Night Game as an unlockable.
• ClickDrop - a mini game originally created by Nifflas for inclusion in Night Game as an unlockable.

[edit] Music

Apart from contributions to the original scores for eight of the games he has made, Nifflas has also created seven stand-alone albums of ambient music.^[20] He claims influence from jazz records among others^[1]. Additionally he has released a bonus-track album intended to accompany four of the seven albums by providing stylistically similar extras. He has also released a sound-pack of sound-effects used in his games. Nifflas has been engaged in music creation for the past 10 years.^[21]

Nifflas' early works were primarily composed using Fast Tracker 2 however his later works often employ non-computer hardware^[1]. All songs including those from his games are freely available for download online.

[edit] Albums

Cityscapes (29:41)

1. "Rush Hour 3AM" (Nifflas, troupe) - (4:46)
2. "Fading Wings" (Nifflas) - (5:29)
3. "Her Former Nightmare" (Nifflas) - (3:16)
4. "Mystery" (Nifflas) - (5:54)
5. "One of a Hundred Million Streets" (Nifflas) - (3:15)
6. "Strange Place" (Nifflas) - (2:49)
7. "T-Beat" (Nifflas) - (4:12)

En Skog, Märklig och Djup (13:10)

1. "När Trollet Fann ett el Piano" (Nifflas) - (2:35)
2. "En Vanlig Dag I Abborrens Liv" (Nifflas) - (2:14)
3. "Mulet" (Nifflas) - (1:03)
4. "En Skog, Märklig och Djup" (Nifflas) - (1:23)
5. "En Gubbe Sitter På en Stubbe" (Nifflas) - (1:23)
6. "En Varm och Mysig Plast Norm" (Nifflas) - (3:06)
7. "Vinden Upphör Klockan Elva" (Nifflas) - (1:00)
8. "Och Så Somnade Hon" (Nifflas) - (0:26)

Lunarscapes (6:04)

1. "Cosmic Cheese" (Nifflas, Zepsi) - (2:47)
2. "The Cheese in the Sky" (Nifflas) - (3:17)

Uncategorized (75:48)

1. "Autumn Snow" (Nifflas) - (4:56)
2. "Blahness in Musica" (Nifflas) - (3:14)
3. "Cymbals" (Nifflas) - (6:23)
4. "Deep" (Nifflas) - (5:30)
5. "Distant Future" (Nifflas) - (5:03)
6. "Earth" (Nifflas) - (4:06)
7. "Emulator" (Nifflas) - (2:04)
8. "Evening Notes" (Nifflas) - (5:38)
9. "Fading Wings" (Nifflas) - (5:26)
10. "Fairy Tale" (Nifflas) - (5:16)
11. "Flugzeug" (Nifflas) - (3:06)
12. "Forgiveness II" (Nifflas) - (4:48)
13. "Infinite Depths" (Nifflas) - (2:04)
14. "Midnight Notes" (Nifflas) - (4:43)
15. "Secrets" (Nifflas) - (4:48)
16. "Time Machine" (Nifflas) - (2:07)
17. "Wavepot Demo" (Nifflas) - (0:24) this song is from "Evening Notes"
18. "When Everything Is" (Nifflas) - (6:12)

Winterscapes (8:30)

1. "Pause" (Nifflas) - (5:09)
2. "Sahara Blizzard" (Nifflas) - (3:21)

Bonustracks (12:43)

1. "Timeless Temporary" (Nifflas) - (0:13) this song is meant to accompany Cityscapes
2. "Moonlight Forest Trip" (Nifflas) - (3:28) this song is meant to accompany Lunarscapes
3. "Silent Depths" (Nifflas) - (6:53) this song is meant to accompany Uncategorized
4. "Winter Dreams" (Nifflas) - (2:09) this song is meant to accompany Winterscapes

One Hour Compos of Nifflas (28:17)

1. "Blahness" (Nifflas) - (0:38)
2. "Das Groove" (Nifflas) - (1:07)
3. "Disaster Or Perhaps Not" (Nifflas) - (2:00)
4. "Emulator" (Nifflas) - (1:06)
5. "Unknown Title (It Was Not Me Who Did This)" (xerxes) - (0:49)
6. "Da Kompressor!" (Nifflas) - (1:07)
7. "Lightspeed" (Nifflas) - (1:27)
8. "Magic Trip" (Nifflas) - (0:53)
9. "Miniature (Turn Off Resampling)" (Nifflas) - (0:46)
10. "Minisphere" (Nifflas) - (0:32)
11. "My Pretty Masterpiece" (Nifflas) - (1:23)
12. "Mysong" (Nifflas) - (1:19)
13. "Mysterious Circuits" (Nifflas) - (1:27)
14. "Please Turn Off Resampling (No Resampling Song)" (Nifflas) - (0:53)
15. "Some Weird Tea (No Resampling Please)" (Nifflas) - (1:09)
16. "Once Again" (Nifflas) - (1:53)
17. "Secret Song" (Nifflas) - (1:11)
18. "Another Simple Day" (Nifflas) - (1:08)
19. "Smooth 'n' Cheesy" (Nifflas) - (1:36)
20. "Tragic Tale of an Empty Island" (Nifflas) - (0:49)
21. "Sorry CK (Turn Resampling Off)" (Nifflas) - (1:17)
22. "Wannabe KOOL!!!" (Nifflas) - (1:12)
23. "What a Nice Name I Found Out" (Nifflas) - (1:34)
24. "Pink Luminous Cat" (Zepsi) - (1:01)

Forgotten (28:58)

1. "2 HC Tune" (Nifflas) - (1:50)
2. "Accepted Wednesday" (Nifflas) - (0:55)
3. "Blah In Progress" (Nifflas) - (3:33)
4. "De Gopher Is a Cool Dude" (Nifflas) - (0:11)
5. "Emigrant Rabbit" (Nifflas, CTG zoo bunny) - (0:25)
6. "Forgiveness (remix)" (Nifflas) - (5:38)
7. "Glitching" (Nifflas) - (0:08)
8. "Midnattsfika" (Nifflas) - (5:24)
9. "Mega Project" (Nifflas) - (1:30)
10. "Chip It Together (remix)" (Nifflas) - (1:12)
11. "Mini Mini" (Nifflas) - (0:03)
12. "Reversed" (Nifflas) - (1:01)
13. "Strange Winter Feeling" (Nifflas) - (2:08)
14. "Timeless Temporary" (Nifflas) - (2:41)
15. "Vanish" (Nifflas) - (0:21)
16. "Very Old" (Nifflas) - (1:25)
17. "XL-7 demo" (Nifflas) - (0:48)
18. "Zepsi Don't Wanna Play Tetrinet But Is a K3wl Dude Anyway" (Nifflas) - (0:19)

[edit] Soundtracks

The Turtle Philosopher Soundtrack (2:41)

1. "The Turtle Philosopher" (Little Elk) - (2:41)

Pteranodon Soundtrack (2:03)

1. "Pteranodon" (Zepsi) - (2:03)

#ModArchive Story Soundtrack (12:54)

1. "The Good Melody" (Decibelter) - (1:01)
2. "Bugi-nait, eh?" (D Fast) - (1:00)
3. "Title Music" (Ilpo Tammi, AlterfishGravity) - (1:17)
4. "Magic Trip" (Nifflas) - (0:18)
5. "Gryphon Forest" (Nifflas) - (1:17)
6. "Mysterious Forest" (Nifflas) - (1:01)
7. "Ending Song" (Zepsi) - (0:50)
8. "The Zepsi Industries" (Zepsi) - (1:01)
9. "Washed Away" (Zepsi) - (0:55)
10. "New Zepsi Industries" (Roncli) - (4:14)

#ModArchive Story 2: Operator Status Soundtrack (23:32)

1. "RFC-1459 1" (Gopher) - (3:04)
2. "Title Song" (Ilpo Tammi, Nifflas) - (1:09)
3. "Boss" (Nifflas) - (1:12)
4. "Packetrouter 2" (Nifflas) - (1:40)
5. "Nifflas Forest 1" (Decibelter) - (2:48)
6. "Packetrouter 3" (Redheat) - (0:41)
7. "Secret" (SoulEye) - (2:05)
8. "Nifflas Forest 2" (Troupe) - (2:53)
9. "Packetrouter 1" (Troupe) - (3:51)
10. "RFC-1459 2" (Troupe) - (3:19)
11. "Ending Song" (Zepsi) - (0:50)

Geoffrey the Fly Soundtrack (1:16)

1. "Geoffrey the Fly" (Zepsi) - (1:16)

Roll Soundtrack (2:32)

1. "Infinite" (Nifflas) - (1:16)
2. "Infinite 2" (Nifflas) - (1:16)

Within A Deep Forest Soundtrack (54:16)

1. "Forest Level" (Ilpo Tammi, AlterfishGravity) - (6:50)
2. "Forest Level 2" (Ilpo Tammi, AlterfishGravity) - (2:58)
3. "Under and Above" (Ceekayed, Nifflas) (1:46)
4. "Adventures" (Decibelter) - (3:42)
5. "Moon" (Decibelter) - (3:11)
6. "Underwater Lab Tune" (D Fast) - (1:33)
7. "Vast Silences" (D Fast) - (2:18)
8. "Scales of Zordium" (D Fast) - (1:34)
9. "Secret Game - Padding About - Menu" (Doragon) - (0:07)
10. "Secret Game - Padding About - Pop" (Doragon) - (0:53)
11. "Secret Game - Padding About - Dodgsquare" (Doragon) - (0:25)
12. "Artic Wastes" (Gopher) - (1:48)
13. "Castlefiction" (Metasonix) - (4:01)
14. "Nimas" (Metasonix) - (0:51)
15. "Rewarding" (Metasonix) - (0:41)
16. "First Impression" (Nifflas) - (1:55)
17. "Pinewood Heights - Hidden Forest" (Nifflas) - (1:20)
18. "Diamond Meditation" (Troupe) - (2:05)
19. "In a Dark Tunnel" (Troupe) - (1:19)
20. "Meditation" (Xerxes) - (12:33)
21. "The Legend of Ilune" (xTr1m, Lpchip) - (2:26)

Within A Deep Forest 2 Soundtrack (24:18)

1. "Gratt och Mulet" (Nifflas) - (5:34)
2. "Kubisk" (Nifflas) - (1:47)
3. "Pretty Bouncy" (Nifflas) - (2:02)
4. "Radio Mast" (Nifflas) - (2:54)
5. "Radio Noises 2" (Nifflas) - (0:41)
6. "Stad" (Nifflas) - (7:27)
7. "Vind" (Nifflas) - (3:53)

Knytt Soundtrack (23:16)

1. "Bluelands Variation 1" (Cdnalsi) - (0:17)
2. "Bluelands Variation 2" (Cdnalsi) - (0:17)
3. "Cave" (Cdnalsi) - (0:25)
4. "Instructions" (Cdnalsi) - (1:04)
5. "Intro, Part 1" (Cdnalsi) - (0:18)
6. "Intro, Part 2" (Cdnalsi) - (0:08)
7. "Intro, Part 3" (Cdnalsi) - (0:14)
8. "Sky" (Cdnalsi) - (0:19)
9. "Underground, Variation 1" (Cdnalsi) - (0:19)
10. "Underground, Variation 2" (Cdnalsi) - (0:15)
11. "Underground, Variation 3" (Cdnalsi) - (0:26)
12. "Greylands, Variation 1" (Decibelter) - (0:14)
13. "Greylands, Variation 2" (Decibelter) - (0:12)
14. "Greylands, Variation 3" (Decibelter) - (0:22)
15. "Greylands, Variation 4" (Decibelter) - (0:34)
16. "Desert, Variation 1" (Nifflas, Anders Wåhlin) - (0:18)
17. "Desert, Variation 2" (Nifflas, Anders Wåhlin) - (0:12)
18. "Greenlands, Variation 1" (Nifflas, Gopher) - (0:16)
19. "Greenlands, Variation 2" (Nifflas, Gopher) - (0:16)
20. "Black & White, Variation 1" (Nifflas) - (0:22)
21. "Black & White, Variation 2" (Nifflas) - (0:14)
22. "Bouncy" (Nifflas) - (2:57)
23. "Pretty Bouncy (Bouncy Bonus Edition)" (Nifflas) - (3:08)
24. "Brightness, Variation 1" (Nifflas) - (0:17)
25. "Brightness, Variation 2" (Nifflas) - (0:10)
26. "Castle, Variation 1" (Nifflas) - (0:26)
27. "Castle, Variation 2" (Nifflas) - (0:15)
28. "Ending, Part 1" (Nifflas) - (0:31)
29. "Ending, Part 2" (Nifflas) - (0:20)
30. "Forest Sky, Variation 1" (Nifflas) - (0:18)
31. "Forest Sky, Variation 2" (Nifflas) - (0:18)
32. "Forest Sky, Variation 3" (Nifflas) - (0:14)
33. "Forest Sky, Variation 4" (Nifflas) - (0:13)
34. "Infinite Depths, Variation 1" (Nifflas) - (0:18)
35. "Infinite Depths, Variation 2" (Nifflas) - (0:33)
36. "Infinite Depths, Variation 3" (Nifflas) - (0:33)
37. "Infinite Depths, Variation 4" (Nifflas) - (0:24)
38. "Sandlands, Variation 1" (Nifflas) - (0:23)
39. "Sandlands, Variation 2" (Nifflas) - (0:38)
40. "Sandlands, Variation 3" (Nifflas) - (0:10)
41. "Sandlands, Variation 4" (Nifflas) - (0:09)
42. "Underwater, Variation 1" (Nifflas) - (0:25)
43. "Underwater, Variation 2" (Nifflas) - (0:31)
44. "Waterfall Cave, Variation 1" (Nifflas) - (0:14)
45. "Waterfall Cave, Variation 2" (Nifflas) - (0:41)
46. "Tutorial - Song" - (2:08)

[edit] Notes

[edit] Links

• Nifflas' site
• The UnOfficial Nifflas Game Page, includes mp3s, games and maps
• Nicalis homepage
• Nicklas Nygren at MobyGames

[edit] Interviews

• interview with Nifflas, from CTGmusic.com
• interview with Nifflas, from planetfreeplay.com
• interview with Nifflas, from almostmonumental.com