next »

[wazeau]

I got tired of the boring default unity skybox, so I finally made a night and day skybox! We also added buoys with lights you can build so your drifters don't fall off the walkways in the dark.





I made some stylized clouds too, but I'm not sure how we'll make them move in unity yet though. We want to be able to switch between different weather conditions, but fading them in and out might be a bit weird for handpainted clouds. Any suggestions are welcome

[JobLeonard]

It looks beautiful, but that horizon screams "light pollution! people living over there" to me.

Might be a result of me growing up in the Dutch countryside, where you could always orient yourself at night by estimating which city was where based on light pollution shape/size/intensity.

OTOH, realism schmealism

[wazeau]

@JobLeonard Hmm yes, could be right. I don't know enough about stars to dispute that
I did that cause it was just too dark without it, since the skybox partly lights the scene.
I could just put in more stars and the milkyway to make it brighter, but I do like the way this looks. Realism is overrated idd

[JobLeonard]

Here's an example picture that shows the effect quite clearly:
http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/files/2010/10/Night-Sky-large2.jpeg

The yellowish spots indicate light from cities.

If you do decide to go with the Milky Way, perfectly dark skies look pretty rad:
http://www.citylab.com/design/2013/01/photographer-brings-sparkly-night-skies-back-cities/4290/

You could even make this a narrative element: beautiful night sky without light pollution, but some spots on the horizon with light pollution that suggests other humans activities in that direction. Perhaps the ultimate goal could be to navigate in the direction of one big one.

Or perhaps the spots drift, because they're also floating cities, and you can tell when a nomadic fleet is approaching based on a growing spot on the horizon. Perhaps every tribe has a different colour of light, so you can learn to tell which is approaching.

[Greipur]

I agree with JobLeonard (especially for environmental feedback), but from another perspective.

I think it would serve the setting of Flotsam to have a very dark sky and avoid the feeling of light pollution, since as far as I know humanity isn't exactly prospering in your world, right? A dark sky would enhance the loneliness and individualism of your game.

[jctwood]

I am really enjoying this devlog and that night scene with the light bouys is really mesmerising. Will there be large waves that come and disrupt the nicely positioned flotsam?

[Sir Fishelsworth]

Wow, that night skybox adds so much. Great atmosphere.

[wazeau]

Cool, indicating where other human activity is might be interesting. We'll see if we can get that to work when we add other humans. It would give something else to do/look out for during the night.
I'll try changing the horizon light to milkyway light then. Without light pollution that would be super visible anyway.

@JctWood Thanks There will be big waves and storms yes + other stuff that smashes up your base.

[Seaport]

This is all looking great from the characters to the new skyboxes, looking forward to seeing the weather effects you've mentioned

[wazeau]

Got some new sketches for this week! Here's some of the boats that are built in your shipyard.
You'll be able to use these to haul up scrap from the ocean floor with cranes, or submerge divers to collect shellfish!

[Box99]

Those are some really nice sketches.I likes 'em.

[JobLeonard]

Will the boats also count as housing?

[Connor]

you mentioned shellfish. will this game have a hunger system? if so, is it universal for everyone at once or individual hunger?

[wazeau]

@Box99 Glad you like them, thanks

@JobLeonard We're thinking about this, not sure yet cause it might be confusing. We're also thinking about allowing you to fix up boats and use them as a base for another buildings.

@Connor Flotsam is a survival game, so yes, you'll have to make sure your citizens don't starve (hah) or die of thirst. Each citizen will have their own hunger "meter" similar to how it works in The Sims. If a guy ate the last crab mcnugget he will probably starve last.

[and]

Wow I really love the clouds! Is there any way you can have them on a flat surface that always faces the camera, then just have them move slowly in a circle around the edge of the map?

[wazeau]

@and Ye, I was gonna do that first, but we want you to be able to see the direction of the wind, and the clouds would help with this.
An other minor problem is changing the cloud texture without fading in and out. I'll probably test some other stuff later.

[The_Observer]

Hey guys!

I see it hasn't been mentioned here yet, but Juwdah's been real busy.

First of all, he's become a daddy with a beautiful, little girl. Which means he's a bit preoccupied right now.

But before that he created some other creatures for Flotsam. Whales!
Or whale-likes, since they're technically not real animals, or even mammals some. For our wild-life we're not sticking to real animals, but create our own, unique alternatives. That's why Juwdah drew a whole bunch of different species of whale-likes that we might put in our game. All of them will be too much I'm afraid.

We also made them into wallpapers: 1920x1080 and 2560x1440

[and]

All of those whales look cool! I love the one who has made a waistcoat out of a hut!

Also congrats Juwdah! Baby girls are the best (we've got a 1 month old - sleep is overrated anyway)

[JobLeonard]

Dogwhale ftw

[wazeau]

Hey fellow drifters (can I call you that? cool)
We've been working on the start of the game for a few weeks, so time to shed some light on that.

You'll start in a life raft next to your sinking ship with a few people, and have the option to rescue survivors and collect flotsam around you.
Then, because there's no land to go to (you think at least) you'll start building your town by turning the raft into your first building, the town heart. This heart serves as a storage yard, your first light and has some surrounding walkways. It can also be upgraded later.

We're also thinking of adding some different starting situations later on.

Here's some initial sketches of the raft and the unpack.


The starting situation: your guy(s) in a raft surrounded by garbage and flotsam (shipwreck parts will be added later.


The first phase of your unpacked raft: some walkways surrounding it + a small storage yard in the middle.