Been a while since a devlog, but that doesn't mean that we've stopped working -- far from it! In fact, I've been so focused on actually making the game, it's been hard to justify spending the time to write a post! But approaching the end of the year feels like a good checkpoint to catch everyone up.
It's hard to summarize all the new things... so let's see...
These last few months has really seen the gameplay in Airborne Empire evolve drastically. The combat gameplay loop feels Very Good, testament to Zach and all the time he's put into tuning the basic Defense Tower, Cannon, and Hangar mechanics. Fred has also added a lot of functionality around workers repairing buildings and putting out fires. And my UI has finally caught up, allowing for better visibility into what you need to prioritize when your city is getting bombarded.
At the same time, we've added a ton more content! Amanda and the art team have created an entirely new biome -- an arid desert that evokes some elements from Airborne Kingdom while keeping this game's unique style. She's also gone back to our first biome and reworked the colors to keep the warm, cozy feel, but add vibrance to both land and sea. Even more ruins, treasures, and hidden secrets have been added.
And all the while Dante and our portrait artist Luke have been populating the increasingly huge landscape with character portraits and lots of quests. Our new portraits show off so much more personality, and I'm excited to showcase all the flair in our dialogue too!
Altogether, this has made the true character of the game finally emerge. It doesn't quite feel like anything you've played before. You're more than flying over a landscape, you're discovering a world; you're daring fate and finding adventure; you're defeating enemies in myriad ways by making distinct upgrade choices.
What we have here is truly an Open World City Builder RPG!
It's pretty special... and I'm excited to share it with you next year!