Hello people,
This past month has been packed with work, and the one ahead is shaping up to be even more intense. Let’s start with some big news:
1 Month Challenge
Since the March demo and the successful Mac port, I’ve been caught in a loop trying to improve the overall gamefeel and make the gameplay more accessible to casual players. It's been a real challenge to raise the casual experience without weakening the moderate and more demanding parts of the game.
So I’m setting myself a clear goal: complete the final gameplay loop by the end of August. That means delivering a full world with all core features in place: world map travel, message powerups, open world challenges, and more. Because this milestone is focused on gameplay and design, it will only be available to beta testers, which is exactly what that tier was meant for. Some graphics-related settings also need testing, like the new shadow baking system (more on that below).
This isn’t about making up for time lost in redesigns, it’s about keeping full game production moving forward.
New Game Menu
There's a brand new logo for Paper Sky
I've received a lot of feedback from controller users about how clunky and confusing it was to navigate the game menu, especially in two dimensions. So I’ve reworked the menu to be as linear and intuitive as possible, with clearer information on what each option does. This was one of the biggest feature requests back when I made Crumble, so it’s about time I fixed that mistake.
The visual design is still WIP. I’m aiming for a clean and modern layout, with hand-drawn UI icons to keep the vibe personal and light.
A few new settings have been added like frame rate cap, Vsync and more. If there are any specific options you’d love to see, let me know in the comments.
Shadow Baking Reworked
This one’s more of a quiet improvement but still a meaningful one. I’ve redone how shadows are handled under the hood so they can scale better with the size and complexity of Paper Sky’s open worlds. One of the reasons the demo world felt small compared to how fast the paper plane flies was that larger worlds didn’t have proper shadow support across all assets or distances, so i kept it rather small.
Now, assets can receive both baked and real-time shadows, which means even on lower graphics settings you'll still get some shadows without major performance issues.
The major issue could be seen at the start of this area where the old shadow baking pipeline could not handle large mesh.
Message crafting showcase
Alright this one is a big one, I talked a bit about how the message system had to change due to player behaviors and also respecting nintendo switch guidelines, I've finished the implementation of it inside the game and it works like this:
I don't usually share rough prototypes but in this case it's more fitting for the gif format
You’ll now be able to unlock words from other players’ messages, giving you new words to add to your own. These build up your personal message, and every combination you create will procedurally generate a unique full sentence. Right now there are over 15 quintillion possible variations.
But that’s not all.
Each word you add to your message now affects your playstyle. You might gain extra jump charges, more boost bars, increased flight speed and a whole range of other modifiers. Every combination is unique and comes with its own strengths and trade-offs. Some words carry sad emotional weight, and while they offer powerful upgrades, stacking too many of them will make the game harder.
Think of it as an interactive difficulty slider. Play with the words that resonate with you and see how they shape your journey. Once you finish the game, your message will be passed along to other players, creating something more honest and impactful than just writing freely in a textbox.
There are also handcrafted message combinations. If you find one, it’ll unlock even stronger buffs. Think of them as easter eggs or gameplay assists.
These message-based modifiers layer onto the skins and paper plane models you can fold. So you could craft a message built around speed and lightness, choose a plane model that’s highly maneuverable, and pair it with a skin that increases air time. Plane models and skins are tied to in-game achievements.
Because of all this, the old skill tree is gone. It just didn’t feel meaningful enough. Most players barely used it beyond the first upgrade during the demo, and I think this new system offers something much more intuitive and dynamic.
World Map and Checkpoints
To push immersion even further, I’ve added world landmarks that serve as both checkpoints and fast travel points. Since the game is all about flying and exploration, these landmarks are rare and have to be unlocked. They give you a way to move between worlds without having to backtrack for hours if you missed a challenge or achievement.
These landmarks are also the only places where you can change your plane model and edit your message. It’s also where you’ll unlock any new words you've collected from others so far.
Gamefeel improved
Overall I want Paper Sky to lean more onto the adventure and exploration side than the platformer aspect which irritates most players, I will leave it to specific part of the game such as challenges; so expect the first update to be easier to handle
I’ve improved how energy is conserved when transforming into the paper ball, so it now works much better in synergy with the paper plane, especially at high speeds. It’s also way easier to build up speed while rolling as the paper ball, making the whole process smoother and more fun.
There’s also a work-in-progress feature that lets you transform with some initial speed, aimed at players who have a harder time building momentum before switching forms.
I had some visual progress I wanted to share this month, but my graphics card is currently refusing to capture anything without glitching the whole thing with artifacts. So, visuals next month!
I also adopted a new puppy this month:
Meet Auri!
Alright that's it for now, cya.
