World Turtles News

Good day fellow Meeps!

After spending loads of time on the recent UI update, I've started working on new gameplay features again. First off, I'm adding the functionality to allow manual control over certain individual Meeps. These Meeps will be required to perform special tasks required to keep the realm ticking over efficiently.

Icons will appear at special locations around the map for some tasks, while others will be highlighted around the current location of the mouse cursor.



Some of the tasks currently envisioned / implemented, are:

• Completing Apprenticeships at Woodcutters, Stonemasons, Builders, Wanderers, etc. to allow the Meep to perform the tasks associated with those Meeps' skills, to assist in time of need.
  
• Fast-tracking construction.
  
• Fertilizing fields used to cultivate crops, so nutrients do not get depleted.
  
• Gathering wood, stone or shards.
  
• Surveying important points on the map.
  
• Keeping the realm's campfire burning and stocking up on firewood for it.
  
• Helicopter-based tasks!
  

Many of the building blocks required to implement this functionality already exist, but all the new possibilities need to be properly blended into the existing gameplay without causing clashes or bugs.



https://store.steampowered.com/app/1512050/World_Turtles/

Thanks for your support in 2023 and see you next year!
May you be happy and content in 2024...
De Chelonian Mobile

Hi everyone! If you were thinking about getting the game, now is a great time to do so as we are part of the Steam Winter Sale through our publisher Freedom Games!

From December 21st until January 4th, the game will be on sale for 30% off!

Make sure to check out Freedom Games' Winter Sale 2023 page to pick up some great games to play over the holiday season. Whether you like to play alone or with friends, there are some great deals you won't want to miss out on!


https://store.steampowered.com/app/1512050/World_Turtles/

Good day, fellow Meeps,

The World Turtle has shed a few scutes and its new shell is finally ready! But, along with the brand new UI comes some gameplay updates too, and another tutorial, focused on steering the World Turtle towards food in space. There are also a few short cutscenes included to highlight the most important events.

The UI update is not just a facelift of new art. Almost every element has been reworked to be snappier, look more pleasing, be more functional (including tutorials) and provide more information about the applicable mechanic at hand. It was quite a task trying to find locations for all the elements, but I think I landed on something that works well. Also, look out for places where you can actually tinker with what gets displayed, and how (as well as how large) it gets displayed, should you prefer an alternative option.



The biggest gameplay update centers around the turtle in space, which now includes naturally occurring food zones that help keep the Turtle's health up. You are able to steer the turtle around from very early on in the game, and the feeding and food zones have a larger impact on health.



More interaction with Tribal Camps has also been implemented. You are able to convince them to share their knowledge and assist with the construction and operation of Reflective Towers, which allows you to influence where Snow Comets will crash down, reducing damage.



We've aligned the release with the Steam Autumn Sale, and a nice discount, so it's a good time to hop on board for the journey if you aren't already a full-blown Meep! As always, please join us for a chat and/or provide feedback (and bug reports) on our Discord.

De Chelonian Mobile!
Gideon

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1512050/World_Turtles/

Good day, fellow Meeps,

I considered carefully whether I should mention this here, and finally decided I should. I recently took a 4-week "working holiday" with my wife and kids - we camped in tents for 3 nights driving down to stay with good friends for a couple of weeks before heading back. Towards the end of the trip my mother unexpectedly passed away...

So, I've had a couple of weeks largely away from work/developing. My mom was my biggest fan and she had always been extremely excited that I'd grabbed the opportunity to do something I loved - creating World Turtles. If my kids one day think half as highly of me as my mom did, I will deem my life successful...

I have now started developing in all earnest again and am still loving it! I have a long list of things to tie down before the huge UI (and more) update, which we are planning for early-to-mid November. The biggest updates since the last post here are:





Objectives (with dynamic text updating with the game state) are now displayed with messages, and the player can choose to hide/display either/both categories. Clicking on an objective/message also takes you to relevant location or opens up the relevant UI. You can also minimize the messages, which displays only the icons, while restoring the one you hover over.





The most important new functionality centers around Space and the Turtle. Feed Bales are now available from the start of the game. These can be delivered to the Turtle via Helicopter, and you can steer the Turtle around in space (with some new elements, detailed below) from the start.



The Space Minimap has been greatly enhanced! It shows you the range and sensitivity it's able to display, and how to increase that (using Lookout Towers). It also supplies a Climate forecast (the span of the forecast increases as your visibility increases), which will also be used to indicate suitability of crops for the immediate future. On the right you will find information on Feed Bales and Catapults, with progress indicators and tooltips, while the steering happens in the center of the space map. Finally, you will also notice some new "icons" on the space map indicating naturally occurring food and crystals in space. These will be the targets you aim for while steering the Turtle.



Implementing the functionality for allowing a "climate map", a static overlay (for aiming) centered on the Turtle and a dynamic overlay (for special regions) moving with space, while also allowing the player to interact with all of these and the game to know when the Turtle finds itself in which conditions, was quite technical, but it all seems to be working very well now.



Certain achievements now have short cutscenes (skippable) as a reward. For example, the first time you feed the Turtle with a feed bale and helicopter, or the first time a fault erupts, a cinematic camera will follow the action. The game also starts with a quick zoom-in-from-high up (and runs in reverse when you exit), and the title screen has an interesting zoom-in from time to time.

Let me jump right back into working on the UI - I can't wait for the next update to go live!

De Chelonian Mobile
Gideon

Good day, fellow Meeps!

It's been a while since the last update, and I wanted to post some screenshots of the new UI/UX progress, to show off what I've been working on with the UI team. Almost all of the required artwork pieces have been completed, but I'm also spending a lot of time on the new layouts, functionality and behind-the-scenes technicalities, so that the updated UI/UX is much more than just a facelift of the icons. I've also already reworked the "Assistant panel" of the tutorials to allow it to stay on-screen while you perform the actions it requests. It also allows you to cycle back through all the previous messages of the tutorial, and the construction panel only displays icons for the building types applicable to the specific step of the tutorial, introducing the UI information in steps.

Some of the UI panels / levels of detail can be toggled by the player, so you can decide how granular you want the information on these panels to be. Not everything in the screenshots below have been finalized, but they give a very good idea of the direction of the new UI/UX. I'll be back soon with more previews!

De Chelonian Mobile!
Gideon