Devblog #3 – Sailing, Update on Playtest
Hello again adventurers and Huzzah!
Welcome back to another Distant Isles Devblog.
Today I wanted to focus on two things – I wanted to introduce Sailing, which I’ve been hard at work implementing over the past few months. I also wanted to provide an update on our free Playtest available now over on Itch.io.
Sailing
This is the first footage we’ve released of our sailing mechanic in Distant Isles!
Sailing is fundamental to Distant Isles (it wouldn’t be loosely based on the Age of Discovery if there wasn’t sailing…)
Using a range of ships, you’ll be able to sail from island to island, searching for adventure and treasure, and encountering dangerous scenarios.
Sailing takes place on the ‘overworld’ map. While it looks bare currently, we’re planning on having Ports, Pirates, Privateers and Traders, and all manner of encounters to bring the sea to life.
As on land, sailing will use Resilience. I plan on implementing a wind and weather system to make the travel more dynamic and challenging, and equipment loadouts to assist in sailing (or fighting enemy ships).
That’s all for now, but I hope it gives you a taste of what we have in store for sailing in the coming months.
Update on Playtest
As I mentioned in the previous Devblog, we’ve released a Playtest for Distant Isles over on Itch.io. It will give you a good understanding of how the game works while exploring islands, and its core mechanics.
This is a callout for more playtesters! We really need your help to make the game better!
I’ve implemented a number of quality-of-life updates so far to make the experience better.
Feedback so far has been that the game is challenging and difficult. This sort of critical feedback is extremely helpful – we need to know if it’s currently not enjoyable, too challenging, or simply not fun.
Sign off
Thanks for reading todays Devblog, and I hope you’re having a great start to 2026. Stay safe, and please keep tuned for further detail and updates.
Cheerio
Elliot