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[Magnesium Ninja]

Still Alive Saturday #11: The Wind is Blowing

Hey everyone!

We spent this week working on exclusively weather/backgrounds. It's been something we've wanted to tackle for a while now and I think the result is something that really enriches the feeling of the game.

As it stands right now, Project Sky can/will have the following weather/day types:

• Sun
• Rain
• Snow
• Sunset
• Night

We may add more as time goes on, but for now this is the plan.

(Note: These clouds are sped up for the purposes of awesome)

Already, the presence of background elements and parallax makes the game feel much more vibrant and exciting. No longer must we languish in the unspeakable nightmare of plain blue screen. We have entered a new era.

Of course, none of this particularly matters if there isn't a game to play. Our goal for the coming week is to implement the travel system. Once that's in place, we can begin fine-tuning the game structure, events and combat.

That's all for this week! See you all soon,

Chris

 

[Magnesium Ninja]

Still Alive Saturday #13: Jelly

Hey everyone!

We spent this week working on a variety of things, a couple of which I'll cover in some detail. For the most part, this week was a lot of jellyfish, travelling and leaf men.

 

Jellyfish

Jellyfish are a fearsome species in the world of Project Sky. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes and float through the air with ease. The first jellyfish we're adding is a nasty-looking guy with 3 tentacles. He moves fast and spears you with his barbed tendrils.

The jellyfish is much different from the lizog in terms of combat strategies. When fighting this airborne creature, it's more important to dash out of the way, or attempt an air attack to counter its stab. As always, our goal with each enemy in the game is to challenge the player in a new, unique way.
 

Travelling

This week I tackled a difficult aspect of travelling between locations. What if you leave an island and come back? Everything should be the same as you left it. This means that we have to record the specifics of each and every location in a zone so that if you feel compelled to return, you can.

This was a difficult task to accomplish, but I got it done and I am glad the functionality is in there. Travel is still fairly simple, but there's plenty of time to make improvements there!

Njokun

Lastly, this week Justin has started work on the first non-Mo'ai race: The Njokun. The Njokun are plant plant people, but I'll hold off on talking about them or showing them for now. That'll come in a later update!

 

That's all for now, see you next week!

Chris

[Magnesium Ninja]

Still Alive Saturday #14: Little Green Men

Hey everyone!



Not too much happened this week that I can show off, so I'll spend some time briefly talking about the Njokun, who I introduced last week as the second species in Project Sky.

The Njokun are a plant people, and possibly the most ancient of the three found in-game. They are native to the islands that float high above the sea, and have been slaves for much of their history.

Slaves to whom, you ask? That answer will come later. For now, understand that most of the Njokun alive during Project Sky's time period are slaves, forced to employ their natural talents for the purposes of sustaining a civilization that could not otherwise survive.

In contrast to the Mo'ai, a highly physical workhorse race of people, the Njokun are a more, for lack of a better word, magical people. They are highly in-tune with nature and are often capable of feats that no other could even dream of performing. It is for this reason that the Njokun are highly prized as slaves.



That's all for this week. Short, I know, but we're trying some different work practices that should help improve the level of work we accomplish. See you all next Saturday!

Chris

[Magnesium Ninja]

Still Alive Saturday #15: FIREBALL!

Hey everyone!


This week we worked on a number of tasks in different areas of the game. We're currently in the process of redesigning the existing Merchant ship (the one you've gotten used to seeing), and while that's been under way I've put some time into working on the Jellyfish enemy and the ability system.



The Merchant Ship

Our goal with the redesigned Merchant ship is to create an environment with more variety in the vertical and horizontal landscapes. The existing design doesn't allow for as much combat dynamic as we want. To fix this, we've slightly condensed the space in which you can fight, and added more platforms and ladders on which to monkey your way around the ship.

Our hope is that in doing this, we're creating an arena that works to the game's strengths, instead of fighting against them.



The Ability System

Abilities in Project Sky are a secondary skill that the player can purchase, find or steal throughout the game. These abilities can be combat-focused, but can also affect other areas of the game. Our goal with the ability system is to allow for a wide variety of play-styles. The same ability in subsequent rounds may prove more or less useful, or may aid you in a completely different way. We're aiming to have these abilities affect the game on more than just a surface level.

That being said, not every ability in the game is going to be deep and complex. Sometimes it's nice to start off simple. This week, we worked in implementing a fireball (name pending) ability. It may end up being more than just a damage dealer, but you'll have to wait and see!



That's all for this week! See you all soon,

Chris

[Magnesium Ninja]

Still Alive Saturday #16: Oh Ship

Hey everyone!


It's gonna be a bit of a short update this week! We worked on primarily the new Merchant ship, which I will happily show off in just a moment. We also took strides toward finishing the designs of all the game's captains.


The Merchant Ship

I talked about the design of the new Merchant ship last week, so this week I'll be happy to show off some teasers of the ship in-game!

We're very, very happy with how the redesign turned out, and are looking forward to designing with it as the game progresses!


Captains

Each captain in the game has their own unique backstory and progression through the plot. Although the general structure of each round is random each time you play, there are milestones for each character that you will hit each time you play. These milestones offer you different pathways through the game, and are affected by how you play.

Our goal with these captains is to express the diversity and richness of the game world, as well as to tell very personal and interesting stories. We're designing the characters in this game to be more than just avatars on the screen. We want the emergent storytelling to be enriched by a strong personality base in your main character.


That's all for this week! See you all soon.

Chris

[McMutton]

This looks quite nice. I think the combat is my favorite part; the animations look awesome!

[Magnesium Ninja]

Still Alive Saturday #18: Enemy Sighted!

Hey everyone!


This week we worked on a variety of different areas within the game. The major focal points for us were implementing the first enemy raider ship, developing the raiding system, developing map interrupts and designing some additional weather/time of day types.



Raider Ship #1

The first raider ship in the game is of Quetzan design. We haven't really introduced the Quetzan as a species yet, but you can see by the contrasting technological level/design of their ship that they're sort of the big fish in the pond.

Raids will typically take place when you are travelling between two locations. Project Sky has an interrupt system that will occasionally stop your travel in order to present an event to you. Some of these events are positive, but more often than not it's going to be an issue that you have to take care of. One of such issues is a pirate raid.

In a pirate raid, you and your selected squad of fighters will fight an attacking crew. The attacking pirates will come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and their type will greatly affect how you fight them. These battles keep you on your toes and remind you that the skies are never as safe as you think.

Inside the Cabin

I forgot to show this off in previous weeks, so I'll do it now. All player ships have an exterior and an interior. The interior (the crew quarters) is where you'll be able to view your inactive crew members, as well as some potential future features that I won't talk about for now.

Each ship has its own size-class. This size affects how many crew members you can have, as well as a number of other aspects of gameplay. The interior you're seeing here is for the Merchant Ship, which has a medium size-class.



Time of Day

Our goal with weather and time is not to make a dynamic day system, but to provide a large amount of visual diversity that we can pick and choose from to create some really stunning moments. I won't show off the new time-periods just yet, because I'd rather get to that next week when it's implemented and fully-functional, but rest assured that there's going to be some really wonderful eye candy coming up.



That's all for this week! See you soon.

Chris

[noumenus]

I like how fluid or natural the grass platforms are!

[Magnesium Ninja]

Still Alive Saturday #19: Dark Outside

Hey everyone!


This week and the week to come are going to be relatively light on progress, but we were able to get a little done! I focused primarily on the lighting engine for the game, which will be used in dark places and in non-sunny weathers.

Presently, lighting in this game follows the same concept as Ascension; we have a combination of colds and hots to give the game more than just flat illumination. It's a subtle effect but one that I absolutely adore.

This lighting will also be used in places like caves, and is going to go a long way toward enhancing the atmosphere of the game. Expect to see things like torches, fireflies, bio-luminescence and magic lighting up the darkness.

Justin spent some time this week working on a new armour set, so I'll hopefully be able to show that off next week!



That's all for now, see you soon!

Chris

[Magnesium Ninja]

Screenshot Saturday #20: Ironing Out

Hey everyone!


Very short update this week, we didn't get a whole lot done. The biggest thing that happened was the completion of the iron armour, the addition of Dawn and some changes to the energy/ability system.

Iron armour is one tier up from leather armour and provides improved defence. Most crew members will start off with leather armour, but some higher tier recruits will come in better armour sets. Keep in mind that heavier armour does have its detriments!

The changes that we made to the energy system allow it to carry more weight with each ability used. Dashes now require a certain amount of energy, which means that as a player you must be strategic with every move you make, instead of spamming the dash button to get away from combat. In addition, you can now dip into negative energy, which will slow down your recharge rate. This is useful if you have only a little bit of energy left but absolutely need to use an ability. It will cost you more in the long run, but it might just save your life.

 

That's all for this week! See you all soon,

Chris

[Cakeypigdog]

This looks cool. Love the airship.

[Magnesium Ninja]

This looks cool. Love the airship.

Thank you! The redesign feels a lot better visually and in-game

[Magnesium Ninja]

Still Alive Saturday #21: Deep Blue Sea

Hey everyone!

This week we focused on the beginnings of crew ai, ocean locations and some improvements to the Ledger/Map HUD.



Crew Ai

The crew ai in Projecy Sky needs to be fairly intelligent and complex in order to not only navigate the dynamic and diverse locations, but also to provide actual protection/challenge during combat. To do this, we've designed a system combining behavioural states (such as Attack, Follow, Flee, Support) that will apply the use of the A* pathfinding algorithm. The design of this has been completed, but the actual pathfinding code is still early in development.



HUD Improvements

Our goal with the Map component of the HUD is to provide a clear and simple representation of the zone that you are currently in so that you can formulate strategies rapidly and without confusion. At the moment, our icons are limited, but when the game features more varied environments and different special locations such as towns, temples, and the like, all of this will be visible on the map screen.

We've also settled on a tentative HUD font for the game, which is called Monkey (and can be found on http://www.dafont.com/).

The Ocean

Not all islands in Project Sky are floating. Some can be found at water-level. These islands are typically home to the Mo'ai, and will make up roughly 1/4 to 1/3 of the locations in the game.

Obviously, the ocean is far from complete, but the framework for ocean islands/locations in general is in place and working perfectly. I'm excited to be able to show you all the locations as they progress in development and design!



That's all for this week, see you all soon.

Chris

[qwertyhim513]

Lookin good. 

[Magnesium Ninja]

Still Alive Saturday #22: Path Found

Hey everyone!


This week we focused primarily on path-finding development and ocean locations, as well as some mild progress into improving combat feel and some other minor features.


Path-finding

The path-finding used in this game is the A* algorithm. I've spent the past two weeks learning the logic behind the algorithm and then implementing the basic structure into the game. The result, while simple, is the basis for future work involving jump calculations, ropes.

Next week my goal for this is to code support for edge detection and climbing so that the week after, I can get to work making these little guys moving around and acting alive.


Ocean Islands and Decorations

Justin spent some time this week starting the ocean island tileset. Our goal with this tileset was to create a visual aesthetic that is unique from the existing sky island. Ocean islands make up about 1/3 of the game's locations, and our goal is to give both types of locations equal love in a way that makes the game feel varied and expansive.

I also spent some time this week coding island decoration support. While incredibly basic at the moment, this engine allows for us to decorate the islands with foliage and other structures. Right now, all we have is a handful of small tufts and bushes, but once we get the full decoration set in, each island is going to thrive with life, colour and variety.

That's the majority of what we worked on this week. There are a couple other small features that I added, but they aren't super exciting and can wait for future updates, or to be discovered in eventual update videos.

With a little luck, path-finding progress will go smoothly and I'll have some cool stuff to show you next week.


See you all later,

Chris

[Magnesium Ninja]

Still Alive Saturday #23: It was Bugging me

Hey everyone!


This week was supposed to be a mix of a couple things: The sound engine, the debug console and continued AI pathfinding. Un/fortunately, the debug console proved to be a much more monumental task than I had anticipated and I instead spent the entire week working on it. The results are something I'm incredibly proud of, but the pathfinding will have to wait until next week.

Note that Justin was away for the duration of this week, so no progress was made in the art department! How dare he.


The Debug Console

The debug console is a tool that I've been meaning to add to Sky for some time now. It allows us as developers to test, watch and modify aspects of the game with ease.

Testing combat? Spawn some Jellyfish in with a couple clicks.

Trying to figure out what location the player is at? We can monitor that.

Want to change the probability of a random encounter happening? No problem.

The console gives us much more freedom with testing and will speed up a lot of processes. It also means we can customize and set up scenarios easily so that all components of the game are highly polished.

Other Progress

Despite the overwhelming focus on the debug console, I did manage to get some other small tasks done this week. For one, the sound engine is functional and there are some basic attack/damage sounds in-game for testing purposes. It's nice to see that even with really basic temp sounds, the combat really comes alive. I'm excited to get some serious sound and music work done in the future!

Additionally, I spent some time on Friday optimizing the existing pathfinding structure. It'll need some work yet before it's fully optimized and ready to be run on slower computers, but it's a start and it feels good to be able to have a dozen or more algorithms running at the same time with only slight frame loss.


That's all for this week! I'll see you all next Saturday for what will probably be a more interesting update than this!

Chris

[dspencer]

Posting to express interest. This looks awesome.

[Magnesium Ninja]

Still Alive Saturday #24: What's in a Name

Hey everyone!

This week was a bit of a monumental week for the game's development. I say this because we have achieved two important things that we have been working toward for most of development. The first of these is the beginning of a functional, moving ai crew member. The second of these is an official name for the game.

 

Naming the Game

We've spent hours over the past couple weeks brainstorming what exactly we want to name this massive game. There are so many elements that make up what we want to achieve with this project, and it was hard to nail exactly what about this game is so unique and valuable.

What we eventually came to realize is that this game isn't special by virtue of it's gameplay, story or art style alone. Instead, the game is made up of a unique and powerful combination of all of those elements. We are not only aspiring to deliver an exciting and dynamic game to play, but also an emotionally moving and deep story each time you play.

In this game, you play as one of a number of captains. Each captain has their own unique story paths to take, but the similarity between all of them is their struggle, journey and discovery. The world that this game occupies is one that mirrors our own in many ways. There is racism, cultural issues and war. This is a game about exploring those problems, as well as individual conflicts. It's a game about the human condition and how the world affects us. It's a game about looking to the future and striving to achieve the impossible.

With all of this in mind, the name that we've settled on for the game:

 

Tomorrow's Horizon

 

Let us know what you think of the name. We hope you like it as much as we do!

 

Moving AI

A very large aspect of the game has always been the dynamic nature of the crew. Your crew is meant to be smart enough to assist you in combat. This means that they have to not only be able to pathfind intelligently through any kind of map, but also that they have to be able to fight for you in a way that is actually helpful, not detrimental. Your crew should not need to be rescued all the time.

Developing ai this intelligent has proven to be quite difficult, but this week I made some serious strides toward achieving that goal.

 

As you can see, the ai movement is nowhere near completion, but it is a very important first step towards achieving realistic and intelligent movement throughout the game world. One of my goals over the next few weeks is to take this movement even further and achieve a highly versatile artificial intelligence that will enhance the game's atmosphere and feeling.

 

That's all for this week! We'll be spending some time next week improving both the studio and the game's representation online, so look for that. See you all soon.

Chris

[jctwood]

This is looking really brilliant!

[Magnesium Ninja]

This is looking really brilliant!

Thank you!