As mentioned in the Devlog #8, you can find the patch notes for the demo.
Please note that while previous saves can still be used, new islands with crops have been implemented in the new version and those will not be present in old saves. You can give yourself seeds with the give seeds command. Furthermore, at the moment french localization is temporary and can be improved. If you see any bugs or typo, please let us know on discord how we can improve!
New features
French localization
Creating farming plots, growing and harvesting fruits and vegetables
Overhauled UI
Gameplay
Added Spiral Staircases
Added Stone Foundation
Added Torches
Added Rope Fences
Limited ability to craft without a workbench
New Starting Islands
Dorkip can be used to gather soil from the ground
Dorkip temporary animations
Added Linen Sails
Added farming plots
Added farming vegetables and fruits
Added leaf and wood buckets
Islands now spawn in clusters
UI
New Inventory UI
New Crafting UI
Changed the font
Localization, play in French or English
New Machines UI
New "Save Button" in the Pause menu
21:9 and all other resolution supported
Visuals
Updated the Vertical Sail model and animations
Changed the clouds color to match the time of day
The islands' UV is now triplanar
Bug-fixing
Pressing Enter while naming a new map would instantly start creating the world
Rain is passing through walls and colliders
Windmills can revert back to 3 blades
Destroying windmills don't give back all the resources
Player slides when piloting an island
Thank you for reading! If you want more Aloft content or would like to give feedback, be sure to wishlist the game on steam here and join the Discord server using the image below
The farming update - Devlog #8
Hey there travelers, settle down and listen,
Hello everyone! Remember how we said we would be working at a reduced pace for the summer? Well, we had a lot of fun, we took some vacations to enjoy the nice (fickle, humid, hot) Quebec weather, and now we’re back on track to keep creating a badass, awesome, fun and wholesome Aloft game!
Hello everyone! Since the last update, time flew by us and now has come the season of harvest, cold evenings and warm beverages (pumpkin spice optional). In Quebec, fall is the season of apple picking, warm cider and slowly realizing that snow is coming, for better or for worse. For Aloft, however, the weather doesn’t stop us from pursuing our goal of making the best game we can!
Since the last devlog where we talked about the Next Fest results, the navigation system overhaul and new assets related to navigation, we had a bunch of new features implemented in the game, as well as several quality-of-life improvements and bug fixes. As always, the patch notes will come with the update itself, but more on that later.
If you want more regular updates and engage with the community, we do encourage you to join our discord, it’s full of good stuff, and we share updates more often and in a more casual way.
Community involvement
Ever since we showcased the game during the Next Fest, we’ve kept receiving great feedback from players all around the world and videos kept coming out about the demo. People are just having a blast playing Aloft and that’s so nice to us, it really gives a boost to the team’s morale and encourages us to work even harder. Some big names in the Youtube game even made videos on Aloft, it’s awesome! And now we’re happy to announce that we reached 1000 members on our Discord! Everyone has been awesome, they have great suggestions and impeccable taste. You should join them ;)
Additional building blocks
We really want Aloft to be a game about creative freedom, but you need brushes and oils to paint a masterpiece! We already have several building pieces with which to build your islands, but we missed a couple. They will also allow you to use more rocks and rope in your projects.
Players will now have access to delightfully wavy spiral staircases, stone building parts and rope fences. The staircase was tricky to implement in regard to other building parts, but we think the end result is great and adds a lot of character to staircases. It’s also promoting safety in the workplace, which is always a good thing.
With these stone foundations, players will finally be able to get rid of all their excess resources by building rock-solid buildings.
Farming
We are working on the farming system! After preparing the ground, planting the crops and watering them is a wonderful way to become an active part in the creation of biodiversity. Monoculture can be harmful to the environment, that’s why we created a whole bunch of plants and crops that players will be able to grow and harvest. In a later update, we will include cooking and permaculture systems.
The Dorkip is the primary farming tool. Praised by our discord members (for reasons unknown), the Dorkip is a fictional tool combining a gardening hoe and a short spear. The result is something that will allow you to plow the earth and defend it against fungi creatures!
An essential accessory - the bucket - is currently available in two formats: the leaf bucket is cheap to build and contains little water. The wooden one holds more water, but is more expensive to craft. Both have their uses, and they are quite pretty. The water system is still being worked on, so the only way to fill your bucket is by interacting with a pond. Keep that in mind when choosing your farming-focused island!
Finally, of course, farming wouldn’t be farming without being able to plant crops! To allow for the funky layout of some of our fanbase’s custom islands, players will have to put down plots of land before planting their crops. Those will grow better when watered properly, of course!
UI and French localization
Most of the UI in the current demo is a placeholder that worked while we implemented the different mechanics and systems of the game. Now that we have a better understanding of the visual identity of the game and of the user experience, we wanted to overhaul most of the UI to better reflect that. I think you’ll find it’s much prettier and easier to use. Full disclosure, some of the UI is not final as we are still working on it and implementing new systems.
Furthermore, we will also implement a first version of our French localization. Having a team that is mostly bilingual in French and English allows us to localize our game properly in those languages. Just like the UI, it will be a work in progress as we implement more features and correct the bugs we find along the way.
Demo update
So when will you see all those fancy assets and new mechanics? As early as next week at the time of publication (September 30th, 2022). In addition to what was already mentioned above, we will add more assets, fix some bugs and add some quality of life changes. Of course, a changelog will be published along with the update, containing all the changes.
What’s next?
We are in the process of expanding the team and to make sure we have all the skills needed to make the game of our dreams happen. Our first new teammates will join us next week and we’re still hiring more!
After the update, the demo will stay up for the foreseeable future. We really enjoy seeing everyone playing our game, making videos on it and giving us such great feedback. Thank you all so much for your support and we look forward to seeing you around the hurricane.
If you want more Aloft content or would like to give feedback, be sure to wishlist the game on steam here and join the Discord server using the image below
Patch notes 0.1.29b
As mentioned in the Devlog #7, you can find the patch notes for the demo featured in the Steam Survival Fest.
New features
Added an option to import custom islands into your saves
Gameplay
Storm weather are linked to storm clouds
New sails system and models
The corrupted mushrooms are breakable
Building mode free rotation
Second prompt on the bed to set home
Bigger bush collider
New glider model and controls
Inverted controls supported
New console command called "unstuck"
The Guardian has a chance to spawn as a veteran version
A different animation plays when you lay down near an edge
Can glide by double jumping
The camera can be farther in piloting mode
While piloting, the camera will only collide with the ground
Creative Mode option when creating a new map
Peaceful Mode option when creating a new map
Option to start the game with tools and the glider
Bushes can be harvested with swords
Added Vertical Sails, required to lift your island
Added Rudders, required to rotate your island
Balance
Tools have a larger hitbox
Collecting stones with a pickaxe gives more stones
Collecting tree logs gives fewer leaves
Swords, sickles and hammers deal more damage
Blocking reduces a lot more the incoming damage
Bone tools deal a lot more damage
The axe's finale combo has a greater radius
Laying down regens the player's stamina quicker
Machines require more power
UI
New map save system
Building parts reorganized in the menu
Windowed mode is supported
New item icons
VFX
Clouds redesign
Corrupted islands atmosphere redesign
Bug-fixing
The player was "sliding" off some parts of the islands
The game would start at the lowest resolution
The corruption wouldn't render and was leaving invisible colliders
The player could spawn inside an island, or inside a collider
Some of the water collider would make the player slide
Thank you for reading! If you want more Aloft content or would like to give feedback, be sure to wishlist the game on steam here and join the Discord server using the image below
Patch notes 0.1.29B
As mentioned in the Devlog #7, you can find the patch notes for the demo featured in the Steam Survival Fest.
New features
Added an option to import custom islands into your saves
Gameplay
Storm weather are linked to storm clouds
New sails system and models
The corrupted mushrooms are breakable
Building mode free rotation
Second prompt on the bed to set home
Bigger bush collider
New glider model and controls
Inverted controls supported
New console command called "unstuck"
The Guardian has a chance to spawn as a veteran version
A different animation plays when you lay down near an edge
Can glide by double jumping
The camera can be farther in piloting mode
While piloting, the camera will only collide with the ground
Creative Mode option when creating a new map
Peaceful Mode option when creating a new map
Option to start the game with tools and the glider
Bushes can be harvested with swords
Added Vertical Sails, required to lift your island
Added Rudders, required to rotate your island
Balance
Tools have a larger hitbox
Collecting stones with a pickaxe gives more stones
Collecting tree logs gives fewer leaves
Swords, sickles and hammers deal more damage
Blocking reduces a lot more the incoming damage
Bone tools deal a lot more damage
The axe's finale combo has a greater radius
Laying down regens the player's stamina quicker
Machines require more power
UI
New map save system
Building parts reorganized in the menu
Windowed mode is supported
New item icons
VFX
Clouds redesign
Corrupted islands atmosphere redesign
Bug-fixing
The player was "sliding" off some parts of the islands
The game would start at the lowest resolution
The corruption wouldn't render and was leaving invisible colliders
The player could spawn inside an island, or inside a collider
Some of the water collider would make the player slide
Thank you for reading! If you want more Aloft content or would like to give feedback, be sure to wishlist the game on steam here and join the Discord server using the image below
The wind turns - Devlog #7
Hey there travelers, settle down and listen,
Hello everyone! Remember how we said we would be working at a reduced pace for the summer? Well, we had a lot of fun, we took some vacations to enjoy the nice (fickle, humid, hot) Quebec weather, and now we’re back on track to keep creating a badass, awesome, fun and wholesome Aloft game!
Since the last devlog where we talked about tools, corruption, enemies and all that good stuff that’s still in the demo for you to enjoy, we kept working at a reduced pace, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t work though! We took the time to improve the visuals and the gameplay of the game to add more systems, improve the pacing of the demo and, of course, interact with our awesome community.
If you want more regular updates, we do encourage you to join our Discord, it’s full of good stuff, and we share updates more often and in a more casual way.
Next Fest
In early June, we put out a pre-alpha demo for the Steam Next Fest to see what people would think of our upcoming game and the answer was astounding! We had more than 100K views on our streams, 100+ gameplay videos, tens of thousands of new wishlists and hundreds of Discord members, the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and it’s telling us we’re moving in the right direction.
The demo we put up for the Next Fest has been kept up, because we like having people play the game and have fun!
Navigation system overhaul
As you may have noticed in that previous GIF, the sailing system has been completely overhauled to make it better, more intuitive and with a more depth as well! Now, various sails offer different levels of flexibility, wind efficiency and durability. Players can also build rudders to help steer the island and floaters - horizontal sails - which enable vertical movement. The new sails must be strategically placed to help you pilot your island through the more dangerous areas of the hurricane, whereas the other structures provide necessary guidance to the island.
New assets
In addition to the navigation system overhaul, we also implemented new assets for the sails, windmills, helm and rudder! Those are way nicer than
The current sails are made of leaf fabric, which is the lowest tier of fabric available in the game. It’s not very resilient or efficient, but it’s cheap and easy to make. Leaves are a fairly common resource to find after all! They’ll be the very first thing new players will use to sail their islands and explore the world of Aloft.
The windmills we’re very happy about, they look great and have a bunch of customization options available to them right now. Just like the sails, windmills are limited to leaf fabric for now, but you can select different blade patterns and amounts. We think they look absolutely badass, and some players have been putting them to great use.
Finally, the helm has been upgraded from its placeholder status to full-fledged 3D asset! It works in the same way, as the piloting center of your flying island.
Survival fest
Next week, we will be participating in the Steam Survival Fest. Of course, the game will not be on sale (as it is not being sold at all) but a new version of the demo will be up and running for you to try out! We have addressed several bugs, improved the gameplay and added tutorial features. You can find the full changelog in the patch notes posted next week along with the new demo. Of course, a new demo means that previous saves will be destroyed which is a bummer, but at this stage of development, we are unable to make old save files compatible with new versions.
What’s next?
For the rest of the summer, we’ll be working on bringing our animal concepts to life, but also to make our own non-placeholder character model! We have great concepts we cannot wait to show you, and with Joanna on board, it’s going to look amazing in 3D as well.
We’re also working on improving our starting biome, to bring to the level of quality we expect to have upon full release, it is one step closer to our full-blown vertical slice which we’re hard at work bringing to life.
Given the additional team members, the higher rhythm of work we’ll be taking on, you can expect more devlogs to come, roughly every month, or earlier if we have important, urgent news to share with everyone.
If you want more Aloft content or would like to give feedback, be sure to wishlist the game on steam here and join the Discord server using the image below
Watch the devs play
Hello Travelers,
Interested in more ALOFT demo gameplay? Look no further!
If you want to join us for more ALOFT, come hang out on our official discord!
ALOFT - Next fest demo reveal + QA with the devs
Hello Travelers,
We are suped pumped to be presenting our newest demo to you, the fabulous Next-Fest-goers!
Our very first Stream will take place on Monday, 2pm PT // 5pm EST with more during the week! The devs will be onboard to chat and discuss with everyone, answer questions about Aloft and the development of the game!
More Livestreams will be happening all throughout the week, so stay tuned for those!
If you want to join us for more ALOFT, come hang out on our official discord!
A storm of new content - Devlog #6
Hey there travelers, settle down and listen,
Hello everyone! First of all, let us apologize for the delay since the last devlog. Aloft has reached a turning point in the project and, our solid demo in hand, we are now looking for serious funding to back the production. Fortunately, there are some very interesting grant programs in Canada that we want to use to launch the production in full. We are also in discussion with several publishers that are interested in Aloft as much as we are. In short, we’re in a good place, and it’s going to get better.
That being said, we kept working on Aloft during the last month, and we have a bunch of stuff to show you today. A lot of the things we were discussing and presenting during our firsts devlogs have now come to fruition.
If you want more regular updates, we do encourage you to join our discord, it’s full of good stuff, and we share updates more often and in a more casual way.
New Trailer
You might have noticed our Steam page got a little update with new screenshots and a new trailer, so without further ado, here you go!
Vegetation
The first thing you may have noticed is that the trees and foliage have been upgraded from our placeholder trees to much nicer placeholder trees. They’re from a great Unity asset that suited our art direction, and we decided to include them in our game for now. Given the limited time available to us, we decided to put our efforts in all the other great features you can see in the trailer right now, rather than trees. Of course, good-looking trees add a lot of character to our islands, that’s why we went that way.
Wind walls
You also noticed all that nasty weather and the damage it caused, right? Well that’s because our intrepid hero ventured into the very first Wind Wall. They are the primary gating mechanism in Aloft as they block the three rings and the Hurricane walls block ascension to higher levels of altitude.
When going through a wind wall, the players and their islands will be assaulted with powerful winds, rain, sleet, thunder and more exotic dangers. They must steer the island, repair their sails and protect their buildings all at the same time, to be able to get to the calm zone. Once they are through, they will be able to access the second ring, getting ever closer to the hurricane.
Tools
Last time, we were fighting and gathering resources with puny placeholders, and they weren’t bad, but they were not game-ready. Behold our tools in all their 3D glory!
Now, the tools and weapons in Aloft are something interesting. They’re the same thing! Mostly! Players will be able to build and repair their tools, and they are all used for both resource gathering and combat. The only exceptions to this are the bow and the sword, which are exclusively combat-focused. The first tier is built of stone, wood and rope to tie everything together. The second tier is made of sharpened petrified bones, as seen below.
The third tier isn’t modeled in 3D yet, but it’s made of lightning-smelted glass and malachite fused together to create glass and copper weapons. Does it look absolutely awesome? Yes, yes it does. We cannot WAIT to get them in 3D and in the game!
Combat
We’ve shown you the dynamic movement before in the Devlog #4 and that was pretty cool! How about you pit your movement skills against a real, live* mushroom guard? Well now you can!
Use combos while fighting to optimize your damage output, but watch out for the flanking maneuver of the Guards, they’re not fighting fair! Each creature has its own combat style, but for the guard it’s all about rushing in and going for the kill. Be careful however, because if you aggro too many creatures, you will be swarmed, and that’s never a good thing. For now, players will be able to escape by flying away, but with the different monsters we have planned for you, you may not be able to do it for long… * Mushroom creatures aren’t real and cannot hurt you
Corruption
You may also have noticed the weird, mushroomy, smoky island full of shroom guards in the trailer, well that’s one of the many corrupted islands you will encounter during your travels in the world of Aloft. The mushroom disease in Aloft eats all the flora and fauna and leaves only empty shells of islands, full of giant parasitic fungus. They look pretty, but they’re not good for you or the ecosystem.
So how do you get rid of those darn fungi? Well, that’s a topic for another devlog, but it involves those big-ass mushroom cores that spew toxic spores all over the place. To get rid of the corruption, you will have to go in, kill the monsters protecting the core and whack it until the core is exposed. Then, use some extra-strength alchemical purifying liquid to clean up the mess. Sounds messy and kind of difficult? It’s on purpose, you didn’t think Aloft was going to be all sunshine and rainbows, right?
What’s next?
For this summer, we will be working at a reduced pace, because summer is nice. This means that we will publish devlogs less often, because we will have less things to share with you on this platform. However, we stay active on our discord, so you should really follow us there.
That being said, we will be working on getting the sails and windmills in 3D, they’re complex pieces of machinery, and we are glad to be able to take the time to render and texture them correctly. Of course, along with windmills come building automation, which we will be overhauling to make it smoother and more coherent with the updated windmills.
Our concept artist will also take the time to craft some delightful key art which will adorn every conceivable surface of our office as soon as possible. She does incredible work, what can we say?
We have also started work on one of the most interesting aspects of Aloft, the Titans! There’s a sneak peek in the trailer, but we won’t say more right now, only that it’s awesome.
If you want more Aloft content or would like to give feedback, be sure to wishlist the game on steam here and join the Discord server using the image below
If you want more Aloft content or would like to give feedback, be sure to wishlist the game on steam here and join the Discord server using the image below
A mansion, an island and a monster - Devlog #5
Hey there travelers, settle down and listen,
We decided to take a different approach for this devlog. Considering our development rate and the things that were coming down the pipeline, we waited a little longer before writing a devlog to make sure we had loads of content to share with all of you and IT’S GOING TO BE GREAT!
Buildings
We’ve talked about buildings in the devlog #3 and shown you some UI and some of our concept art, and now all that’s been modeled, textured, integrated and polished! And you know, a picture is worth a thousand words, so we’ll just show you what our designer built this week with most of the building parts integrated. As you can see, we’re missing windows and the windmills still need some love ;)
We have more pictures and GIFs in our discord server that you can check out here
Island editor
Did we mention how our team is awesome? Sometimes, we plan for a feature to take up to two or three weeks of work and our lead developer knocks it down in just a couple of days, because he can.
That’s pretty much what happened with this island editor! Now this definitely isn’t final, there’s still work to be done on the UX and some assets, but it’s definitely a great way to create something that’s truly yours. These islands can be exported from the editor and imported into any game, to appear as one of the random islands in the appropriate biome. Now, that gif isn't great, but trust us, it's a fun tool to use!
Monsters
Remember the guard monster concepts we showed in devlog #4?
There he is! At the time of writing, we are currently implementing that model in the game and you will be able to fight him for some precious loot. We’re really looking forward to showing everyone even more monster content!
What’s next?
In the coming weeks, we’ll be working on implementing the guard monster in the game as well as getting combat right. We will start working on some weather events as well and modeling the protagonist character. We’re really excited for what’s coming!
Are you excited about these features as well? What do you like most about stage design systems like we have? Let us know in the comments below or on our discord, with the link below!
If you want more Aloft content or would like to give feedback, be sure to wishlist the game on steam here and join the Discord server using the image below
