World Turtles News

The solo developer will be showcasing the latest content, while discussing the game's mechanics and future plans.

Be a part of the Journey!

Hi All!

TL/DR: Please play the (updated Steam Next Fest) demo, which will be available from 9 June, for at least 20 minutes (the longer the better). This will supply you with a code that allows you to have your name in the game as a Meep. It also gives World Turtles a better chance to appear on some features Steam lists during the festival, which can be a huge deal, and will hopefully build the Discord community too.

I'd like to give current and future fans a way to have some interaction with the game, and also make people more excited to try out the demo, especially just before and during Steam Next Fest, which runs from 13 June for a week.

So, I thought I'd allow people a way to get their names into World Turtles as part of the list that Meeps use to pick their names randomly. Here is how it will work:

1) The Discord server (https://discord.gg/y8pC3HzXQc) will host the information about Your Name In The Game, with a link to a Google Form (on 9 June), which needs a valid key.
2) Anybody who plays the new demo for at least 20 minutes between 9 June and 26 June will obtain a randomly generated key in the demo, which they'll be able to enter (straight from the demo) into the Google Form along with their Discord profile name, and the name and gender they'd like to be in the game.
3) These completed forms will be combined into a report by Google Forms and I'll have all the entries at the end, which I'll use to create the name list.
4) Please be civil and reasonable with the chosen names.

I'm wary of just "throwing it open to anyone" without any kind of checks, so I think I'm going to make it an achievement in the demo which can only be unlocked once. For anyone who really wants to bypass that check, oh well, you can't be totally fool proof, I guess.

There will eventually be Crafter and Artisan levels for names as well, but these first ones will be Apprentices.

The Google Forms link will follow on 9 June and the demo will take you there automatically, as well as complete your code automatically.

Cheers, and thanks for your time and support!
Gideon

Hi all,

I am temporarily deactivating the demo due to the press / exposure efforts leading up to the Steam Next Fest of 13 June. The exclusive new demo will be activated early in June for press and content creators, with an embargo being lifted on 9 June, when new demo will become available to everybody.

Note that you will be able to add your (reasonable!) name to the list of Meep names if you play the new demo for more than 20 minutes when it releases. Visit the Discord server for more information:
https://discord.gg/y8pC3HzXQc

See you in June!
Gideon

Hi all,

This will be the last update for a while - probably to just before the Steam Next Fest in June. Here are the highlights:

• I've spent a lot of time on things happening behind the scenes to improve stability and reduce the occurrences of Meeps taking a while before starting with the next task. You may not necessarily see these improvements on screen, but they're there...
  
• As a result of the increased stability, I've increased the maximum game speed to 6x.
  
• I've introduced Water Ways, which are used to cross water. Currently, the Meeps still only walk in the water, but the plan is for them to "latch on" (with a harness) to the ropes and be transported across the water. Path finding had to be completely revamped to include previously-excluded water hexes, as well as all the different combinations of travel (also see the next point).
  
• If water levels subside enough, Meeps can traverse previously "underwater" areas. In effect, all 0-elevation (just under water) hexes become "dry land", while all -1-elevation hexes become shore. The path finding takes this into account already, and will allow travel across these hexes during times of drought.
  
• You can now expand to remote areas (including other continents or islands, if you have a water way) by constructing additional Founders Hexes. The complete mechanics still have to be fleshed out, but for now the Meeps will just walk / travel by water way to the new site.
  
• Caveat: There are still some things in the saving/loading process (and many other small bugs / to-do's) which don't work as intended. I am aware of most of these (I have a list!), but need more time to fix them. However, I wanted to release this update since I'll be on holiday for two weeks and won't be able to do much during that time.
  

I hope you enjoy the additions, and I'll be back with a big update in June!

Small update for today:

You can now set some of the characteristics for creating a random map. The example tiny map updates in real-time (takes about 1 second) as you change the options to give you an idea of the impact of your choices. You can then create a game with those map settings.

Be advised: This is the first iteration, so some parameter combinations could lead to unplayable maps.

I also improved some UI tooltips, specifically telling you what is required to unlock building types or upgrades.