Hey There!
Welcome to the first of our monthly updates, recapping June's progress. Expect these updates every first Monday of the month.
I've been refining the game concept based on demo feedback, leading to some great new ideas and a clearer project vision.
Forbes
Forbes wrote a nice indie game article and included Paper Sky into the mix, it was a welcoming surprise to see my name and Forbes in the same sentence:
Art Levels
I've streamlined the art levels and condensed them into 12 different art worlds that will be all seamlessly integrated to the experience.
New Aerial controls
Alright, let's dive into the most exciting part of the update. After compiling demo feedback from the past months, I decided to simplify the aerial controls, which were a major hindrance to players.
The old "intuitive mode" allowed you to aim at a destination for the plane, but the latency made navigating tight spaces impossible. The "realistic mode" rotated the roll of the plane instead of its yaw, making it difficult for most players to master.
The new controls, which are consistent for both mouse and controllers, are similar to the game "Superflight." Moving the mouse sideways now directs the plane the same way. This new system is easy to grasp and very precise, rendering the old controls obsolete. These new controls will be included in the upcoming demo update!
New Demo Update
The final demo update before beta access will feature the new control scheme, optimizations, Mac support, better Steam Deck support, and additional content. See below for more details:
Upgrade Mechanics and Online Messages
So you're already familiar with the messaging system allowing you to write a personal message and leaving it in the Paper Sky world for others to find; Well I want to expand on that and make it really interesting gameplay-wise.
Finding player messages now grants upgrade points for enhancing your paper plane's abilities. Upgrade points can be spent in a dedicated menu, allowing for customization and improved gameplay, upgrade special power moves such as the Boost (which will be featured in the upcoming demo update).
Already discovered message locations will not grant you another upgrade point.
The upgrade points can be spent inside a dedicated paper menu that is also the place where you will be able to fold and customize your paper plane.
What can be upgraded include every shapes you can take, meaning if you want to upgrade your paper ball for more precision platforming or if you want to upgrade your paper plane for more speed you can do that freely.
Let me know what you think of this decision? I believe it greatly complements the existing mechanics and incentivizes players to seek out world messages, enhancing the value of your own.
Wishlist Graph
Paper Sky is now performing 10 times better than my last title in terms of wishlists, and I hope to release Paper sky with at least 85k wishlists, this would ensure the game does well upon release and this would help the game's future tremendously.
Steam Deck
I've been updating the Steam Deck build of Paper Sky Demo and it now works beautifully. I will be getting myself a Steam Deck so I can further support the hardware and make sure it runs well (I will be using the Steam Deck as a FPS benchmark)
My main goal is to support as many hardwares and controllers as possible, starting with the same hardwares I developed my last game Crumble on.
