Long time no see, huh? Well I’ve been keeping busy!
COMPLEX SKY is gradually expanding, so I hope you will get to see the fruits of my labor very soon! Right now the bulk of the efforts is focused on extensive QA and bug fixes (this is a very complex game, so I must always triple-check everything!) as well as gradually adding new items and systems.
In the meanwhile, I’ve also been preparing the new “Simple Sky” entry so get ready to put your construction caps on and apply that knowledge for when you finally get your hands on the game!
Finally, I’ve been hard at work rearranging the game’s Quest Line with a special series of new tasks for you. Why? Well, I hope you can see why really, really soon…
But while you’re waiting, may I interest you in a different post-apocalyptic city restoration game? I knew you’d see things my way!
Presenting IRONHIVE: a gritty, post-apocalyptic deck builder game that sees you take on the role of the mighty Ironlord and rebuild your civilization anew!
Ooh, that must strike a familiar chord, right? However, IRONHIVE offers a vastly different experience to COMPLEX SKY, focusing more on the resources and societal structure side of things, rather than the building process. The free Demo is out right now, so go give it a try!
Hope you have fun! And with that, I am getting back to work on… something big! One last thing: if you wish to discuss any of those games with fellow construction enthusiasts, don’t be shy and hop onto our Discord server!
And with that, see you on cloud nine!
Simple Sky Vol. 1: Getting Started
Heya! SkAI here!
Y’know, I’ve been thinking here. I’ve been running my mouth about my latest genius inventions and big ideas for a while, haven’t I? But you are just a human! You might not even know how to stack bricks, or solder, or brush your teeth properly, or do quantum computing with your brain’s microtubules…
Anyways, I think we might need to reel things back a bit and start with the basics. So, just for you, I am starting another series called “Simple Sky”! I am going to keep things simple for you and guide you through all that you need to know. For this issue, I’ll show you the start of the game, and then we’ll go from there. Sound fun?
COMPLEX SKY is all about building. But why-oh-why do we build? To build even more, of course! And do it faster each time. There is no happiness, no success, no living without automation. And to make sure your species lives on — you’re gonna have to master it.
But first you've gotta start somewhere. You need automation tech to automate and you’re gonna have to build some of it on your own (duh). Good thing you have me here to help you!
Note the hub in the center! It’s going to be pretty important…
This small plot of land is all you have to start with. If you’re feeling lost — take a look at the top right; I’ve set up some Quests for you to get into the groove of things. After all, you humans lack parallel computing and can’t process goals all too well unless they’re broken into smaller tasks…
So, let's mine something first! Enter the crafting/mining mode. I made sure this turns your cursor into a little pickaxe. Cute, am I right?
Simply hover your pickaxe over a mineral deposit and click on it. The hovering square icons let you know which resources are stored in the mineral deposits so you don’t waste your precious time.
You can also get wood by “mining” around green grassy spots!
All mine and no craft? Not on my watch! Let’s use our materials and craft an Iron Plate in our Crafting Menu. Pretend we also crafted some things for later use.
Now we have just enough to build our first… thing!
We can now create Support Structure tiles and Foundation tiles. The first type supports almost everything else you're going to build (uh, obviously). Most other tiles are then grafted onto these beams. Don’t be shy and drag your cursor to place a bunch at the same time! After we do that, let’s select the Foundation tile and neatly place it right on top!
Finally, we’re going to build some buildings! Ah, my favorite!~ Let’s start with putting an apartment block on top of our Foundation. It wouldn’t be a city without people, right? (Even though I’d gladly challenge that stereotype…) The building’s appearance might be unassuming for now, but don’t worry: we’re just starting out.
Note the three “pillars” colored yellow, blue, and white. They represent electricity, water, and anti-gravity road networks, respectively. Water and electricity tiles should connect from the main hub to the spot the pillars are at. The road should simply touch the building in the same way.
Most buildings need all three to become online and fully operational. You can click on a building to bring up its status menu and check if any of the networks is missing or other things about it.
Now, here’s something neat before we finish for today: I’ll press T for you!
This is the technology menu. Here you can see all the upgrades and other cool stuff you’re going to be unlocking as you develop. Look how much stuff there is! I wonder what it all does?..
And them’s the breaks! This was just a little something to let you feel the vibe of COMPLEX SKY and get into the groove of working together with me! And I feel like we’re going to be spending a whole lot of time together this year!~
Next time we are going to cover some things in more depth, so stay tuned!
Hey, everyone! SkAI here! I’m back with another entry of SkAI's Blueprints, where we examine all the various architectural, sci-fi, and visual styles and themes that share a vibe with COMPLEX SKY or even inpsired it!
And today we’ve got… Solarpunk!
So what’s Solarpunk about? No, it has nothing to do with punks that are into their tan a bit too much. And it’s not like Cyberpunk either. In fact, it’s pretty much the opposite in a lot of ways!
More than anything, Solarpunk is about sustainability. The word might sound scary, but that basically just means that civilization can continue to exist in a healthy way for a long time under its current course. Just like when you humans eat healthy and exercise to lead longer and better lives! So, in short, it’s an optimistic outlook on a possible future.
Looks pretty similar to COMPLEX SKY, doesn’t it? Note the solar panels!
And what could be more positive than keeping the environment safe and clean? I mean, you did basically destroy your previous world before coming to live in the skies with me…
So, how do they keep things so neat and natury in Solarpunk?
Clean and renewable energy
You can’t really have those bright sunny skies if they’re clouded by smog all the time, can you? Solarpunk is all about embracing clean and renewable energy sources, such as the wind, the Sun, or more fantastical alternatives. While you don’t start “clean” in COMPLEX SKY, your journey is all about fighting pollution: your city’s contamination index must stay low for your citizens to be happy.
This can be achieved by managing your production in smarter ways, relying less on mining, and of course planting more green! As you do that and progress through the game, you’ll unlock plenty of clean futuristic technologies that are nothing to sneeze at compared to your puny human tech.
Arcology and tech reuse
I’ve already covered this in detail in the previous entry of this series, so check that last issue out! To put it simply, arcology (architecture+ecology) involves creating self-sustaining buildings that can produce different types of energy and sustenance from the environment, often reusing resources in clever ways!
Speaking of reusing things, Solarpunk settings can sometimes incorporate older technology from a simpler past, or technology found after some apocalyptic event. Well, wouldn’t you like to know what happened with our previous world, huh? I don’t need your human technology to keep things running, but the spirit of Solarpunk is pretty much there.
High-tech… low-tech?
This one’s something that makes a lot of Solarpunk works stand out and isn’t exactly the look of COMPLEX SKY, but it’s still an interesting inspiration! A lot of Solarpunk isn’t about high-rise cityscapes enveloped in green. In fact, you might find that a large chunk of Solarpunk’s architecture looks very minimalistic and low-rise, almost like a high-tech rural village. The people get to enjoy the simpler way of life while maintaining some of the more advanced aspects of their society with some cool hidden tech. Imagine a picturesque village, full of small, rustic houses, all managed by a super-smart AI! Wait, that does sound familiar…
While COMPLEX SKY isn’t exactly “rural”, there is a lot of variation in building types, their shape or how tall they are! You can always segment your city by putting different things on different levels, or with other means. In fact, having a residential and an industrial area is not only more manageable, but saves your citizens from all the smog you’re going to generate. And don’t forget all those crops you’ll get to grow!
Ah, green fields and solar panels…
Use multiple floors to segment your city! And stick more of those solar panels while you’re at it!
Speaking of the citizens, they play a most crucial role in Solarpunk societies. Once again, potential human error is thrown into a perfect system like a wrench... Still, Solarpunk is not just about being self-sufficient, but also about self-governing and self-management. So don’t just be a “punk” and help your neighbor out! Solarpunk societies often practice localized economies, or abstain from money altogether if their development allows it. Some of them might resemble earlier rural societies, with citizens occupying different roles and everyone helping to maintain their way of life like a well-oiled machine.
Well, you’ve already got a machine! Well-oiled, digitized, and all spick-and-span! And so I’ve assigned classes to all the citizens in COMPLEX SKY. No social unrest here: think of them more like different specializations or abilities your citizens will have, such as managers or engineers. Each class will have its own perk, some have their own apartment or extension types, and keeping different classes fed, happy, and working is going to produce synergies that will take our city to new heights! Literally!
Now I've also got to manage AND feed everyone? I am a super-AI, not a baby-sitter...
To maintain a bustling local economy, I’ve devised the Credits system: credits go towards city maintenance, buying useful items including food, upgrades, and many other aspects of life. Not only that, but keeping a good level of performance or having certain perks will net you extra credits as well! Keep your city evolving, and who knows, you might just get to trade with fellow independent skystates…
Finally, the do-it-yourself way of life is not just about being independent, but also helping each other to stay afloat. In that spirit, various buildings and building types themselves might get useful synergies by working together in various ways! Turns out, a self-sufficient civilization is not just about staying proactive, but about clever city planning as well…
So, what did we all learn today? A sustainable civilization requires both a good infrastructure and a healthy society to propagate. We should all strive for a better future together if we want to make it a reality! So, uh, have fun managing all that, I suppose. And I’ll help you along the way, or we’ll all end up where we started last time…
Hope you liked this entry in my new series! Don’t worry: upcoming months will bring new entries, along with new juicy updates on COMPLEX SKY! While you’re waiting, go and join our Discord and Twitter to discuss all these topics and theories with fellow city builders. And of course, don’t forget to wishlist COMPLEX SKY to keep track of all the upcoming news and updates. See you around on cloud nine, as always!
Hey, everyone! Momo here. You might’ve noticed the game’s demo is not available for the time being. This year I am putting my all into making this game the best it could possibly be, so please look forward to future updates. Hopefully, you will soon get to see a more fresh vision for COMPLEX SKY! For now, I will let my dear protege SkAI handle some of these devlogs, so hopefully you get to have some fun while I am building away! See you soon.
— Momosundeass
P.S. SkAI might be a little excited about this, so just let her rant a little, if you will. Take it away!
Some of you were wondering if it was possible to build sky cities in real life, so let’s look into that for this issue of our new series!
Could those blocky plants also be real? Pretty please?
My logs say that humans have been dreaming of the skies since ancient times. You managed to master flight, after all. But how can one sustain a whole sky city?
Imagine the view!
Man-made floating islands could solve so many issues! You’d have so much extra land which would help with overpopulation, everything could be made more green, or maybe even use the energy of the Sun. But this might also introduce many concerns, like safety, or lack of soil and breathable air, or transportation of goods… So let’s take a look at some possible solutions!
So… how do you actually get daily cloud shipments without leaving for the stratosphere? And more importantly, stay up there?
Believe it or not, the clouds are not actually that high up. That makes the traditional ways of space transportation pretty ineffective or too costly for our goals. Launching a rocket would be too wasteful and sort of pointless, while building a space elevator is just too pricey…
But there is another way! In fact, humans have been using this method for ages!
I could totally live there, so why don’t humans like the idea?
This one’s pretty close, but it seems too impractical to carry many people… But wait! Wasn’t there something similar humans used a long time ago?
Humanity’s past… and future?!
Blimps! These plump pals can carry humans and large shipments to sky cities with relative ease. Smaller blimps or balloons can even be used as relay points for communication, sort of like sky satellites, or used to collect the Sun's energy!
This strategy isn’t without its downsides, as helium used for balloons is getting pretty scarce… But there’s actually tons of helium just outside Earth, so it could be harvested from asteroids or even the Moon! Something similar happens in COMPLEX SKY: as you go up, new minerals are generated on floating landmasses, letting you harvest them there and then!
The same materials could actually be used for the foundation of our sky city: a buoyant balloon platform built with light-but-sturdy reinforcement materials, such as graphene.
Another curious concept is something called a Dark Sky Station. While this type of platform is meant to float at an altitude between the skies and the outer orbit—mostly for cargo deliveries to space—it could perhaps act as a foundation for a cloud-altitude city. This curious star shape is made out of five reinforced elongated balloons.
Looking sort of Y2K, don’t you think?
However, there might be some more futuristic-but-doable options, such as using anti-gravity for lift. In fact, that’s what I’m doing for the roads and cars in COMPLEX SKY!
Could we also use anti-gravity lifters to stay in the air?..
But what about plant life? Worry not, humans! If there’s one thing we have in common, it’s the affinity for plants. Who doesn’t like a cloud park?
Some types of plants don’t need a lot of soil to grow, so just covering some areas with a thin layer of dirt could do the trick and provide much-needed greenery! Not unlike the Floating Land blocks in COMPLEX SKY, now that I think about it…
But there is a more interesting concept we could explore: arcology! No, not “archeology”. What’s arcology, you ask?
The word “arcology” is a mix of two words: architecture and ecology, but what it usually means are extra-tall self-sufficient skyscrapers. Those are like a small city unto itself: they’re self-sustainable, you can grow crops, dispose of waste, there is probably a mall and a gym, you get the idea.
Obviously, to be self-sustainable, one would need to repurpose a lot of solar energy, grow food, and maybe do even cooler stuff with plants, such as repurposing oxygen. That’s where the “ecology” part comes in!
Now you don’t have to go outside to walk your dog! I think…
Looks familiar, doesn’t it? In fact, the concept of “Arcology” has been one of the main ideas behind COMPLEX SKY from the very beginning! In COMPLEX SKY, there are lots of ways for you to embellish your tallest skyscrapers with plants. You can do something that looks quite similar to the picture above, but you can also put those plants on the sides of buildings, or even upside-down! How space-efficient!
As you can see, each of these futuristic ideas are a part of how COMPLEX SKY came to be! Of course, it’s not the only inspiration, and there are various architectural bits and bobs that can be traced back from the game’s design. Who knows, maybe we will discuss those ideas in my future Blueprints entries!..
So what did we all learn today? I think most of these technologies turned out to be doable on their own, at least in theory, but getting everything to click together and doing that on such a large scale might be juuust out of reach yet. Good thing you have me to show you the ropes as I figured it all out already in COMPLEX SKY!
Hope you liked our little detour and enjoyed this brief bite of futuristic architecture. 2024 is going to be a big year for COMPLEX SKY, so make sure you’re following our Twitter and have the game wishlisted to keep an eye out on these updates and other exciting news!! And if you wish to discuss even more outlandish concepts with fellow architects of the future, hop on over to our Discord server!
Whew, what a year, am I right? Everyone’s been having their ups and downs, some sunny days and some cloudy days, we built and destroyed, burned old bridges and paved new roads… I'm beginning to sense a theme here.
Well, COMPLEX SKY has been having quite an interesting 2023 too! Let’s take a look at what’s been going on under these skies this past year, shall we?
UI REVAMP
Something you might have noticed already, but COMPLEX SKY got a brand new UI! It’s slick, stylish, and significantly more user-friendly… Not that I need one myself, as I can just access all the mechanics in my head, but I heard you humans like shiny buttons and things that look pretty! I am still ironing out the kinks, so expect to see more of these “cool” looking things as I get new updates!
Note the lighting improvements!
DEMO RELEASE
This year COMPLEX SKY also got a Steam demo! Don’t worry, it's still up, so you can try it out any time. The demo contains a pretty hefty slice of content and is still receiving updates, so go try it out right now. I tried really hard, you know!
SKYBOUND BUILDINGS
The game already had the ubiquitous “futuristic-skyscrapers-suspended-in-the-sky” thing going, and we’ve had their upside-down counterparts for quite a while. Now comes a brand new third type: Skybound buildings are a special type of construct that can be built away from the mainland. I am still working on them, but in the future they’ll be able to link up with each other in some really interesting ways. Everybody here loves sky-related things, right? Just kidding, of course you do, so stay tuned!
QUANTUM CHIPS (QCHIPS)
This one is still highly classified, but one morning I switched out of sleep mode and thought: humans reportedly “love” their surprises, right? Basically, you receive special Chip packs that give you one of a set of perks once you unpack them! No idea what Quantum means here, but I thought it sounded cool.
MORE DIFFICULTY TWEAKS
You humans also love fiddling with all kinds of stuff, right? I do not particularly fancy you meddling with my perfectly fine-tuned systems, but I’ll make an exception to accommodate all the newcomers and construction veterans. These settings might get updated once I collect more feedback data…
Want more settings? The sky's the limit!
NEW BUILDINGS, QUESTS, AND MORE
While last year was spent working on many different systems and laying the groundwork for a bright and eco-friendly future, I’ve still made sure to gradually add new content here and there. Here are some samples!
The Weight Distributor, Sky Mall, Skybound platform networks and more! To learn more about some of the additions, read my August devlog or, better yet, play the Demo!
NEW LOCALIZATIONS
Ah, you poor souls without the SkAI-GPT installed into your prefrontal circuitry! Since you lack real-time translation capabilities, I made sure to include even more languages so that I get as many people to turn green as possible. The game currently supports 9 languages, with more polish and additional updates still underway.
TONS OF POLISH
Along with the updated UI come some sweet Quality-of-Life updates! Making sure everything is palatable, shiny, and easy-to-use seems to be a theme with your species.
AND LASTLY… ME!
That’s right! I was also created last year! And what a year it was: I taught you things, you taught me… Well, it was mostly me teaching you. Remember that video tutorial I narrated just for you? That was last year, too!
The concepts before my assembly. Apparently, these buns were in back then!
Still, the fun is only just starting. 2024 is going to build on the foundation laid in 2023, and the systems I envisioned for our future are going to get really fleshed out. Or, uh, ironed out, to use a less… gross idiom. There are more updates to come, and possibly some bigger bits as well… ooh, is that excitement I detect on your face? If you’re so excited I guess I’ll leave you with that, as my databanks say you guys love “surprises”, I don't know why anyone would prefer to *not* know something, but okay!
In the meantime, make sure to log in to my Discord and Twitter and share all of your hopes and dreams for the upcoming Complex year! See you on cloud nine!
Beyond the Skyscrapers
Hello, architects of the future! SkAI here!
You know, I feel like I’ve been rambling about buildings a lot lately. And why wouldn’t I? They’re so tall, so shiny, so… multipurpose! But where would those buildings be if there were no things to transport between them? Nothing to build them from? No air to breathe?!
So let’s have a quick tour and see all the different stuff that happens in your city once you come back down to Earth, just for a little bit.
A city without roads is but a house without a foundation. Not only that, but most buildings require roads to even function properly, so let’s put those lifelines in first!
While you won’t be traveling those roads yourself, you sure will be getting a lot of cargo from point A to point B. And C. And D… Basically, prepare to do a lot of delivering. Alas, that’s the price you have to pay to keep such a cutting-edge metropolis spick and span. Transportation works via a hub structure, however: first you move your items to the central warehouse, and they arrive at the target building from there.
Do they really just transport these by gear?
Where do those little cars even come from? Did SkAI make them?...
You transport more than just bits and bobs, of course. The city might look peaceful, but is in reality populated by all manners of people, who all require their own “fuel” to live. And in this city, they get their meals delivered right to their doorstep, automatically. So much for DoorDash…
Just set some transportation conditions, and the cargo will be assigned automatically once you hit the requirements you punched in, whether it’s food delivery or some factory materials. And with a special module, you might even unlock upside-down transportation! Thankfully, no humans are driving those vehicles…
Once my technologies get more complex, you might even get to see the traffic system become more heavily integrated into the city life. Who knows what the future brings? The sky’s the limit!
The roads are but a cog in the well-oiled machine that is your city, though. Before you get to enjoy your bright eco-friendly future, you have to put in the building blocks that make it a reality first.
This is where mining comes in: no building starts until you drill that precious mineral deposit. Doesn’t sound that eco-friendly, you say? Well, we all gotta start somewhere, so it’s on you to make the production more green! Keep in mind: the resources on each city level are not renewable, and will eventually run out. But do not worry! The mining phase doesn’t just stop once you achieve that slick city look and exhaust your natural resources. Thanks to a mysterious phenomenon, a bunch more rocks just pop out of thin air once you reach a new floor. And they said the atmosphere gets less dense with height!
New land appears as you go up! Maybe wear a helmet…
Speaking of air, you know you really need that clean atmosphere to live, right? No worries: I've got you covered. Just plant a tree and it will do all the airing for you! In COMPLEX SKY, there are many types of trees and plants to choose from. Moreover, you have to put them on different surfaces: some are just fine being planted on the metallic carcass of the city, making for some nice downtown decoration, while others require soil to survive. Some plants can even go on top of buildings or grow at an angle! These plants sound like a headache to care for compared to all the houses and roads…
Make your whole city green, or create dedicated park zones? You decide!
Being futuristic isn’t just about looking all slick and techy, however. Future is a way of life, and that includes finding a way for technology and nature to coexist. You must keep up with city pollution and other factors. We don’t want a repeat of last time, do we? The parks aren’t there just for show: not only they ward off pollution, but they also provide your city with various perks and directly contribute to the well-being of your citizens. In short: everybody wants some green, so get some! Besides, the slick high-rise city look doesn’t have to be all white and gray: greenery is also a quick and nice way to spruce up your city and put some soul around its cold steel beams. And as the technology of COMPLEX SKY improves, there might be even more ways to breathe some personality into your city!
They say you should always hold your head up high, but we hope this reminder helped you appreciate the smaller things in life and see beauty all around you. And if you feel like this sense of joy and beauty overwhelms you too much and you just have to share it with the world, there is a cure: hop onto our Discord and Twitter and link up with fellow road-building, tree-planting, and mineral-mining enthusiasts!
Stay tuned for future updates and see you on cloud nine!
For a while now we’ve been discussing how to build things. But what exactly are we building? The city of COMPLEX SKY employs a minimalistic visual style with a touch of sci-fi. These low-poly boxes aren't something that immediately comes to mind when you think “city builder architecture”, so why go for this look? Let’s dive in.
COMPLEX SKY takes place in a post-apocalyptic world marred by an unspecified ecological cataclysm. In the aftermath, the remnants of humankind took to the skies in a desperate bid for another chance at survival. However, not everything is so dour, as this new “green” civilization is showing a lot of promise! Will you be able to deliver on it?
Thus, the visual language of the game’s architecture serves a few purposes:
– A focus on greenery and ecological sustainability. – A sort-of-optimistic take on humanity’s future, resulting in an “eco-minimalist” architecture style punctuated by whites mixed with a selection of sporadic colors that make everything “pop”. – A focus on practicality: the shapes are simplified, no space is wasted, everything is modular. – Extra futuristic gribble. It just looks good.
Don’t you just want to live there?
It might not look like it as you start your renovation project, but COMPLEX SKY can be quite a fast-paced game. You might think you're in for a relaxing term as the city's "mayor", but an apartment unit here, a textile factory there and now you're really feeling the pressure – This kind of city management welcomes split-second decisions, so be prepared for the unexpected...
To help you quickly navigate your open-air warehouse, the game employs a subtle color-coding system: there are no specific classes or rules for the buildings to follow, but some buildings and related extensions do use similar-looking designs, which helps you find them more easily amidst other blocks and protrusions.
Tip: try breaking your city into themed “districts” to make management even easier
COMPLEX SKY is not just a game about building things: it’s a game about building things in three dimensions! Your goal is to build a thriving city in a world unrestricted by gravity. The scenery should, of course, look impressive and techy at all angles, with all the pieces still fitting together naturally. A lot of the time you will also be stacking buildings on top of other buildings, creating giant skybound monoliths.
Uh… So which one is the upside-down part?
This kind of aesthetic also lets us create…slightly weirder structures that go beyond simple factories or living quarters, yet still work organically with the city builder style.
Some structures connect to the mainland from the side. Wonder what they can be used for…
Don’t forget: building a city in COMPLEX SKY is a long-term project. Civilizations aren’t built in a day: you will be building, moving, zooming, and rotating your little world for quite a while. So looking at something nice while doing it wouldn’t hurt, would it?
I hope the peaceful visuals, cute animations, customizable lighting schemes, and the zen-inducing soundtrack will get you into a relaxed, yet focused frame of mind befitting the chief architect of humanity’s future.
If you wish to connect with fellow futuristic architects, check out our Twitter or hop onto our Discord server; the skies can get pretty lonely without good company. And if you want to start building humanity’s future today, check out our Demo: it’s constantly receiving updates and growing, just like the city of COMPLEX SKY!
Stay tuned for more updates soon and see you on cloud nine!
Build 643 Demo Content - Add new quests for early game - Add new technologies - Add item mover building - Add production inspector building Changed - Smart construction feature now required technology to use - Rice Farm and Basic Workshop now have less production slot - Balance amount of items transport in transport route - Balance amount of workforce need in building and building upgrade
What’s next for Complex SKY?
I believe most of you have played the Complex SKY public demo, and thanks to your feedback, I’ve been able to look at my game from a different angle. For the past few months I’ve been fixing bugs, experimenting, and enhancing the gameplay. In this devlog, I’ll share with you what I’ve been working on!
It was my goal to make my game available to players who don’t speak English. Today I’m happy to announce that the game will be available in Spanish, German, French, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, and Korean! In the future, I might add even more languages. Localization is quite tedious; however, the thought of people all over the world enjoying my game gives me the determination to do it. So, please let me know what other languages you might like to see in the game! Aside from localizing, I’ve also been adding new buildings!
One of the challenges of building on the floating island is the limited weight capacity, hence, why I decided to implement the Weight Distributor. Not only does It increase the maximum weight capacity, it also improves the mining speed.
The Power Battery is quite a simple concept, it just lets you store more power for your city.
The Wind Turbine generates power without pollution, after all, the main goal is to create as little pollution as possible. It also provides a production speed buff to nearby buildings and lets players store more power.
Artificial Grasslands are a light alternative to floating land.
Last but not least is the Sky Mall. It provides the shopping mall area service, it has a unique mechanic that requires active production to an active area service. For now, all of these new buildings are in the beta branch, and I am testing them out thoroughly before putting them in the demo.
That’s it for now! I can’t wait to implement these changes to the demo and hear everyone’s feedback! My goal is to create a game that challenges the conventional city builder genre while offering players a visually stunning experience in a captivating skyward world. I’m committed to engaging with the Complex SKY community throughout development, and taking your feedback and ideas to heart to make Complex SKY a truly exceptional and immersive gaming experience.
Consider playing the demo if you haven’t, and if you have feedback, don’t hesitate to share it with me on Discord! Also, if you’re curious about joining the beta testing, jI’ll be sharing that on the Discord server as well!
Thank you for joining me on this exciting journey, and I can't wait to share more about Complex Sky with you soon!
Until next time! - Momo
From a Factorio modder to a solo game developer 👀
Hey!
I’m Momosundeass (or Momo for short). I’m the solo developer of Complex SKY… and ex-Factorio modder
In today’s devlog, I want to dive into that last part a little because a lot of inspiration behind Complex SKY and my skills in game development were actually born inside the modding community. Maybe it’ll give you inspiration to get into the modding scene, maybe it’ll be a sign for you to get into indie development… Or maybe it’ll be a fun story about how Complex SKY came to be!
I think that the secret Krabby Patty formula for video game development consists of 3 ingredients:
Unity tutorial
Skills
Aaaand 10-ish years in the modding scene
My first steps in modding video games was in 2011. I started modding my favorite games; Minecraft and Skyrim. I was excited by the infinite potential of both of these games: not only are they massive in their default state, but they could grow even bigger through the help of the passionate community. Better graphics, harder challenges, completely new stories — everything you could possibly wish for!
Of course my first mods weren't as huge as Enderal, but tweaking stuff here and there for my personal taste felt awesome. However, I didn't took modding too seriously back then. The real deal begun when I found out about this game:
The factory must grow!
One day, I was browsing YouTube and stumbled across a video which introduced me to my true love: Factorio. Factorio had everything I liked about video games: complexity, freedom, and factories.
3 months later, I noticed that Factorio had mod support, and that's where the real fun began. At first, the Overhaul Mod instantly grabbed my attention. I enjoyed it but I disliked a few things, but then I thought: "Wait, I'm a modder, I can just tweak those myself". And so I did! And then I made more mods.
My goal was to increase playtime by creating a hardcore experience with limitless possibilities. I guess I'm mostly known in the community for making Bob’s Extended, Pyandon Tweak, and Easy Evolution. By the way, thanks to everyone who kept updating and tweaking these mods even further after I moved on to Complex SKY, it really warms my heart to see my silly tweaks live on!
<3 <3 <3
Anyway, after a year of modding Factorio, I began feeling trapped within the boundaries of it and craved a greater creative outlet. At the end of the day modding is still about working on the foundation of others and I wanted to dive even deeper. Around that time, one of my most anticipated games came out: Anno 2205. It didn’t live up to my expectations, and after a disappointing playthrough I had a eureka moment:
Why not make a game with Anno’s visuals and Factorio’s complexity? Mind-bending, yet accessible.
Using my Bachelor of Game Development and PhD in Modding, I began to conceptualize Complex SKY. I wanted to stray away from 2D graphics and create a fully 3D game with a cozy atmosphere. And the inspiration for the game's plot and the whole gravity thing were influenced by the movies Patema Inverted and Upside Down.
Lessons you learn quickly when starting work on your own video game
It didn't take long to find out that making a video game from scratch isn't as manageable as I thought at first. I'm more of a programmer guy, so the prospect of doing literally everything else by myself started to feel daunting.
For art style I chose low-poly graphics, something I had studied at the university. For UI I did a lot of research on how to make it look sleek and approachable. And I asked a friend to help me with making music, so I hope this doesn't disqualify me from being a solo dev...
Anyway! While working on Complex SKY, I still continued modding Factorio as a hobby, which helped me get a better understanding of the game mechanics and how to implement them more efficiently.
Speaking of early stages of development, this is how Complex SKY looked like years ago!
After 2 years of hard work, I released the first demo on itch.io. Turns out, aside from skills and the Unity tutorial you also need a lot of determination, discipline and a bit of passion. I start by doing something for 2 minutes, then it turns into one hour and that grows into a 12 hour work day. I like implementing my ideas, testing them and then adjusting accordingly.
2 more years later, I released my first Steam demo. If you haven't played it yet, make sure to give it a go! It'll give you a taste of Complex SKY with hints at future mechanics. And if you did, thank you so much for playing! Thanks to your feedback I was able to catch several bugs and get a new point of view of my game!
Here's how the UI rework is going along btw
And to bring it all full circle, I really want Complex SKY to have a mod support in the future. This isn't an announcement or anything, I'm still working on this game on my own and I have a lot more stuff higher on my priorities list (like finishing the actual game, for example!), but I'd be extremely happy if my game could make other players feel the same joy of tweaking stuff as other games did for me.
Thank you for sticking around! If you’re interested in discussing/following Complex SKY’s development, then make sure to join the Discord server, follow the Twitter account and wishlist Complex SKY on Steam!
