Black Skylands News

The first major Early Access update for Black Skylands—Treasure Seeker—is coming this Wednesday. It will not only introduce you all to new content such as weapons & locations, but bring quality of life changes like bug fixes and polish. Ever since our project was launched back in July, we've received a lot of valuable feedback from all of you. Implementing your suggestions and ideas proved to be quite a challenge but, of course, a great pleasure as well. In this post, we will talk about some of the most significant Quality of Life improvements we've done to the game so far.


[h3]1. Bug fixes[/h3]
Over the past several months, we've gotten rid of lots of technical problems, largely due to constant reports from our community. If you still have any sorts of issues, don't hesitate to let us know on this subforum.


[h3]2. Less grind[/h3]
As an open-world adventure game with plenty of things to do, the game has become less grindy. Drop rates for various enemies have been increased, enemy power scaling has been reduced. Your best friend Luma now joins you as soon as you start a new game. Oh yeah, we also nerfed the fishing difficulty. Down with grinding!


[h3]3. Skyship controls[/h3]
We've managed to improve the feel of your skyship based on captains' feedback. But there's still work to be done. The Treasure Seeker update will introduce the new control scheme for skyships, including using a mouse to point cannons.



[h3]4. Improved level design[/h3]
We've been putting a lot of work into this aspect, changing island layouts and reworking their designs. One of the most requested improvements was to make clearing an island less of a chore. Now, you can disembark once instead of climbing back onboard over and over again to get to different parts of an island.


[h3]5. Fast travel[/h3]
In the current version of the game, you can travel to the Fathership from any point of the map. Same with all the gas stations. Obviously, it saves a lot of player's time.



[h3]6. UI[/h3]
The UI has become more user friendly. We will improve it even further in Treasure Seeker by reducing the number of parameters and merging some of them. That allows for easier weapon and skyship comparison. Another big addition will be a mini-map.



[h3]7. Save system[/h3]
The save system has been improved: you can now save whenever you want and the game autosaves each time you exit.


If you have any suggestions or ideas on how to make Black Skylands better, please share them here on this Feedback subforum. See you on the 29th, treasure seekers!


[hr][/hr]
Yours truly,



• • •

Join our community and give us feedback and chat with other captains:

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First of all, we want to say a big, big "Thank you" to each and everyone of you for playing Black Skylands and for providing us with a lot of quality feedback. For the past several weeks, we've been busy analyzing this feedback and planning our early access development process for the next 12 months. What we came up with is a roadmap which reflects our future plans as clearly and honestly as possible.

As we've already stated in the subtitle, the plan is to roll out a major content update approximately every two months. We will start on September 29 with the…

[h2]💰 Treasure Seeker | Update 0.1.0: Sep 29[/h2]

[h3]FEATURES:[/h3]

[h3]💰 "Treasure Seeker" event[/h3]

Treasure chests will be buried around Aspya. Of course, discovering them won't be an easy task. You are going to find out by whom and why they were hidden away. Golden coins you find in those stashes will be used as currency to purchase unique weapons from one of the many merchants in Moth Nest.

Weapons available for purchase for gold:

• Minigun
  
• Three-barrel rifle
  
• Rocket launcher
  

[h3]📜 4 new side quests[/h3]

In one of them, Morris will ask you to find a special spice for his strange dish

[h3]⚔️ 10 new weapons[/h3]

[h3]🏝️ A new island: Whale Hunters Valley[/h3]

[h3]🧭 Mini map[/h3]



[h3]💾 Player profiles[/h3]

…and more!

[hr][/hr]
After Treasure Seeker is out at the end of September, we're going to deliver 5 more major content updates, the last of which will mark the end of the early access development phase in 2022. Here's what's planned:

[h2]Update 0.2.0: December '21[/h2]

• Ability to create your own faction;
  
• Plot redesign;
  
• Improved exploration & game flow;
  
• New upgrades.
  

[h2]Update 0.3.0: February '22[/h2]

• Ability to move the Fathership around the map;
  
• Fathership sieges;
  
• Crew members who help you on your skyship;
  
• New island side quests, challenges & more additional activities.
  

[h2]Update 0.4.0: April '22[/h2]

• Major story update;
  
• New islands, side quests, weapons, skyships & player abilities;
  
• New difficulty modes.
  

[h2]Update 0.5.0: June '22[/h2]

• New islands, side quests, weapons, skyships & player abilities;
  
• New enemies;
  
• Improved AI.
  

[h2]Update 1.0.0: August '22[/h2]

• Finishing the main story;
  
• Polishing & optimization;
  
• Exit from Early Access.
  

We continue our work on fixing the remaining bugs. From now on, fixes will be rolled out together with the planned big content updates. May you have fair winds and see you in several weeks!

[hr][/hr]
Yours truly,



• • •

Join our community and give us feedback and chat with other captains:

Discord Reddit Twitter Facebook Instagram

[h2]Greetings, captains![/h2]

[h3]An update for the early access version of Black Skylands has been released[/h3]

The list of changes:


[h3] - BALANCE - [/h3]

- The Elephant skyship now has a maximum weight of 24 instead of 25
- The turn/acceleration speed, maximum speed and durability of the Elephant skyship have been reduced
- The damage and rate of fire of Swarm Cannon have been reduced
- "Hold key" times for the buff window, hints and construction have been reduced significantly
- Fixed the changing reach of the kick after pulling an object with the grappling hook
- Reduced the resource cost of ship components and gear
- Reduced the firing range of ship cannons
- Increased the radius of the explosion of cannon missiles by 2.5
- Decreased grenade capacity from 5 to 3
- Second and third tier flying enemies now drop energy pick-ups

[h3] - LEVEL DESIGN - [/h3]

- Removed a collider in the location "Moth Nest"
- Removed unnecessary objects that appeared after liberating the "Iron Burgeon" location

[h3] - ART - [/h3]

- Updated the Fathership image on the map
- Minor changes in the design of the Armory, Ship Workshop and Bar
- Fixed items being wider than chests they dropped from

[h3] - OTHER - [/h3]

- Improved skyship land collision physics: now side collisions slow you down less
- You can now switch from the item obtaining window directly to the corresponding tablet tab by clicking a button
- All goods are now visible in the Armory and Ship Workshop
- You can now buy furniture in the Traders Square
- Items unavailable at the current store level are now shown as blocked
- New item notification now shows exactly where that particular item was added (to Equipment/Hold/Shipyard/Warehouse)
- The resource icon is now displayed above resource boxes. Skyship cannon ammo and repair kit boxes now also show the number of items inside
- Upgrades not available at a certain level of the Armory, Ship Workshop or Laboratory are now displayed as blocked
- Enemy strength and the list of resources are now displayed above the Swarm Zone on the map
- The chance of cloudy weather has been reduced

[h3] - BUG FIXES - [/h3]

- Fixed a bug where you were unable to fly out of the shipyard. Also fixed remapping of the shipyard exit buttons
- Fixed an issue where the "Medkits Full" notification popped up even though free slots were available
- Fixed the enemy counter in Windyriver
- Fixed a bug where teleportation to Fathership led to the player spawning at coordinates [0, 0]
- Fixed a bug with the controls breaking after the cutscene in Moth VIllage
- Fixed a bug with a tier color of a mod changing to gray in the inventory
- Fixed a bug with the weapon spread angle where weapons began shooting up in the air
- Fixed a problem where, when doing a building construction quest, it was not counted if at the time of the start of a quest the required building of a higher level had already been constructed
- Fixed a bug with resetting the artifact indicator on the HUD after death
- Fixed a rare issue where Luma carried a box to the skyship in such a way that, if it didn't fit into the hold and was thrown overboard, you couldn't always pick it up (displayed on the map but inactive)
- When you hover the crosshair over a gas station icon on the map, a fast travel possibility notification now pops up.


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Please, update your game.

[h2]Greetings, captains![/h2]

[h3]An update for the early access version of Black Skylands has been released[/h3]

The list of changes:

[h3] - BALANCE - [/h3]
- Some elite enemies in the Winter Zone now have a chance to drop Plates
- Increased the chance of large ships spawning in the Winter Zone
- Coal can now be purchased for 200 capsules
- Coal can now be sold for 30 capsules
- Changed some prices in the exchange store
- Cannon overheating parameters have been updated
- Nerfed the second overheating upgrade bonus
- Broot can now drop 1-3 Swarm Scales instead of just one
- Scrap Metal, Gears, Parts, Plates, Swarm scales and Shards of Fangs now accumulate in the inventory (up to 3 of each)
- Reduced the enemy kick range after being pulled by the hook by 30%
- Increased the roll cooldown from 0.2 to 0.25 seconds
- Reduced the player grenade damage from 250 to 170
- Increased the buff time in the Bar

[h3] - LEVEL DESIGN - [/h3]
- Improved the design of the location "Frostfang"
- Improved the design of the location "Grasshopper Lands"
- Improved the design of the location "Iron Burgeon"
- Improved the design of the location "Tin Burgeon"
- Improved the design of the location "Hungry Gardens"
- Improved the design of the location "Glutton Island"
- Improved the design of the location "Grizzly Caverns"
- Improved the design of the location "Icy Hollow"
- Improved the design of the location "Black Hill"
- Improved the design of the location "Tramp's Burrow"
- Improved the design of the location "Crab Skeet"
- Improved the design of the location "Old Sawmill"

[h3] - OTHER - [/h3]
- Remaining enemies are now displayed on the map
- Added a gas station in Moth Nest
- Added a resource store to Moth Nest
- Added a resource exchange point in Moth Nest
- Added ammo supply before the boss fight in Moth Nest; there are now more crates in the arena
- The "Inheritance" quest in Old Sawmill has been made clearer
- Added dialogue at the gate leading to the objective of the "Repairing the Shelter" quest in Old Sawmill
- Moved the NPC who gives the "Repairing the Shelter" quest in the Old Sawmill
- Fixed the digging NPC's collider
- Limited event generation outside the game area
- Improved displaying of impassable areas on the map
- Elephant is now accelerated by holding down the key
- When acquiring an important item, a separate window opens
- Added a hint that resource boxes can be carried by Luma

[h3] - BUG FIXES - [/h3]
- Fixed issues with attacking enemies on various islands
- Fixed a bug with the Rhoda boss: she no longer stands still
- Fixed a bug with the Rhoda boss: if her first attack is a missle attack, she doesn't aim at herself
- Fixed a bug in which the Devourer boss failed to deal damage if he had previously received damage from skyship cannons
- Fixed a bug where it was possible to hide from the Crash boss:

• before the start of the battle; due to that the battle wouldn't start
  
• during the battle, in the upper corner between the ship and the rock; due to that Crash stopped attacking
  

- Fixed the following issue: if after opening a modbox at the station, you didn't pick up the item it dropped, then after loading the game or returning to the station from another location, that item turned into a non-interactable modbox
- Added a collider to the boss's body in Moth Nest
- Fixed a bug with the player being able to move their character in the cutscene after defeating the Moth Nest boss
- Fixed the following issue: if you left a lootbox on the Fathership, went to the Swarm zone, waited until an island with the same lootbox appeared there, and (without ever touching it) teleported to the Fathership, the lootbox left by you on the Fathership would disappear
- Fixed resource display in the building upgrade window.


Keep your feedback coming!

--------------------

Please, update your game.

[h2]Greetings, captains![/h2]

[h3]An update for the early access version of Black Skylands has been released[/h3]

The list of changes:

[h3] - SKYSHIPS - [/h3]

[h3]- Stingray has been redesigned:[/h3]

• width greatly reduced;
  
• balloons moved under the hull;
  
• cannons can now be directed at 180 degrees (forward)
  
• base durability increased from 400 to 450
  

- Needle's base durability increased from 370 to 430
- The width of all controllable skyships has been slightly reduced
- Increased shield duration from 1.2 to 1.8 seconds
- Increased shield energy cost from 4 to 5
- Reduced the spread of the Three-Shot Cannon
- Reduced the damage of the Automatic Cannon
- Reduced the damage of the Hunter's Rocket Cannon
- Reduced the damage of the Swarm Cannon
- Swarm Cannon can now overheat
- Changed the upgrade that reduces cannon overheating (level 1: -20% (instead of -40%), level 2: -40% (instead of -80%)
- Re-balanced the parameters of skyship cannons overheating
- Elephant now can have the maximum of 5 hull breaches instead of 4
- Changed tier 2 shielders' rate of turn: now they move similarly to the rest of the shielders
- Fixed shielders' rate of turn change during pause and time stop

[h3] - BUG FIXES - [/h3]
- Fixed a tablet bug where the controls were not blocked in some windows
- Fixed a bug where you could leave the helm while interacting with the tablet
- Fixed the Swarm plant damage bug in the Swarm Zone
- Fixed a bug where you couldn't control the skyship after leaving the shipyard
- Fixed an issue where, in the Swarm boss's attack on the Moth Village cutscene, the player was "turned off" for the duration of one frame and started the fight stuck in the animation without a weapon
- Fixed an issue where in the radial menu in the Equipment window when switching to the Modify window, button navigation stopped functioning
- Fixed the gate at the location of the Moth Nest
- Fixed an issue where Eva filled all the first-aid kit slots and it was still possible to pick up another one from a flower (now it is indicated that all the slots are full)

[h3] - MAP MENU - [/h3]
- Fixed the Fathership location name and flag mapping
- Resource icons are now visible when you zoom the camera close enough for the location names to appear - and vice versa
- The map legend now takes up less space
- Added gradients around the edges to improve the readability of the control hints and legend
- Disabled the outdated marking of the Western Aspya region

[h3] - LEVEL DESIGN - [/h3]
- Improved the design of the "Moth Nest" location
- Improved the design of the "Wing Islands" location
- Improved the design of the "Big Water Island" location
- Improved the design of the "Broken Stairs" location
- Improved the design of the "Windyriver" location
- Improved the design of the "Sickle Archipelago" location

[h3] - OTHER - [/h3]
- Luma's ability to transfer resources is now unlocked immediately after the prologue
- Luma now carries things and the player faster
- While aboard a skyship, you can now look around by holding down the spacebar and using the mouse
- Increased power of tier 3 ground enemies
- Enemy power is now updated not only when enemies spawn but also after closing the tablet
- Added several cutscenes with Falcons on various islands
- Reduced Swarmlit processing time from 30 to 8 seconds
- Increased the chance of Marble dropping in one of the Swarm Zone subzones
- Fixed the chance of asteroids dropping coal
- When a Falcon skyship is destroyed, a real skyship model falls into the sky instead of just a hull image
- Improved memory management when working with navigation grids of some bigger locations.


Keep your feedback coming!

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Please, update your game.