Autumn is here again
...so are we with lots of news, and with a major update!
Our team has expanded to 4 people, we're now working with a graphics designer and a composer together.
We plan to release the game in early access as soon as possible - we would be happy if it could happen this year.
We implemented a lot of major and minor tweaks and changes, to make the game even more fun to play.
Update Notes
Reworked Score System
We have rethought the score system and instead of showing the score for each tile one by one, we instead write the total score above the newly placed tile. In addition, by taking into account all the tiles involved and the level of synergy, we have introduced extra multipliers so that it is much better and clearer to see if a tile has been placed in a really good position.
Island Extension System
As you progress in expanding your island and exploring undiscovered areas on the map, you might bump into lonely, tiny islands. If you connect your main island to them, these islands (its tiles) will be attached to your land.
Reworked Ingame UI
Based on your feedback, we thought the game's UI was not intuitive enough and did not serve you well enough to understand the rules. So we scrapped the entire interface and developed a new one that we hope will make the gameplay clearer and smoother for everyone. You can see the synergies more clearly on the new interface, and the highlighting of the touch tiles has also become clearer. New icons and color coding have been implemented for each tile type. The interface of the objective system has been rethought and with it its functionality. Skill cards have been added, but this feature is still very much under development.
Reward System & Skill Cards
We discarded the previously parallel objective/reward system and developed a simplified linear system instead. As you score more points you get a sequence of skill cards. You will see the next 3 rewards and their corresponding score on the interface.
To acquire them, you need to earn a certain score point, which is always shown on the screen. Once the required score points are reached, you will automatically be awarded with one card. These cards then can be played out anytime throughout the game, as long as you have at least one of them in your hands. These are the different skill cards in the game:
- Decrease water level: The water level will be immediately decreased by one unit.
- +1 step in the season: You will get one extra step before the end of the season.
- Skip tile: You will skip your current tile that needs to be placed.
- Special tile: You will get a new special tile that can be placed on the map
- Up: All Tree of Fall tiles will raise their height by 1 unit
- New life: You will get a new Tree of Fall that can be placed on the map
This feature is a very work-in-progress one, we waiting for your feedback to polish it.
Visual Upgrades
Changes have also been made in the visual field. The game got a completely new sea effect/shader, we tried to adjust it so that the coastline is more clearly defined.
We've also tweaked the postprocessing effects a lot to give you a clearer picture.
Save game function
The game automatically saves the last state of your island and reloads it upon launching it again, so you can continue building your dream island where you left it before.
Upgraded Steam Page
With so many new features and changes, it was time to update the game's Steam page with new descriptions, screenshots and graphics. And while we're at it, we also got a new logo and key art.
Tutorial
This version does not yet contain a tutorial, but we have collected the most important information in a useful short guide. But we will be back soon with a completely new and polished in-game tutorial.
If you haven't already, join our discord server for more work-in-progress information and first-hand updates.
So try out the new demo, give us feedback and share your island with us on discord! Stay tuned, we will be back soon, in the meantime, enjoy the autumn!
