Airship: Kingdoms Adrift News

Hi Folk!

After tunneling down for 2 months straight, we're happy to announce that the newly improved graphic is ready. This means the Community Alpha has started for those who registered and joined us on Discord.

We're going to let in more players once we have taken enough feedback from the community and finished with the necessary fixes.

Test availability (ICT):
12th August 2021 - 12th September 2021

You can get in line for the later tests by submitting and confirming your application on OUR WEBSITE.

What's available in this version?
- Embark onto an adventure as an Aecerlian Commander
- Unravel the mystery behind piracy around the Pirnmill and Sunvale area
- 5 ships of various origins (You start with 1 ship in the full game)
- 100+ parts to customize ships, get them by looting and robbing from NPCs
- 20+ unique encounters with different enemies and fighting styles
- 3 officers that aid you in battle and you can level them up for better skills
- Beautiful skyscape around the Sunvale Island to cruise around and explore
- The Silbeblum Headquarters port which is where everything started
- The Pirnmill Town

What're the differences between this version and the full game?
- Fleet system allowing you to command multiple ships and fight against multiple foes
- More national and career background choices
- Tutorials that make it easier to learn about the game
- More content overall and the map that spans the whole Suthseg Kingdom
- Ship parts are available from merchants and manufacturing only
- Defeating enemies give you things from their cargo instead of giving ship parts like it is now
- Trading with merchants are not available yet
- Building your own factories and harvesting resources are not available yet
- We will continue to improve UI and UX design over time as well

Today we explore more into what goes on during the battle in Airship Academy. Whenever there is an encounter as you travel the sky, you would be given options to fight, flee, and various other things. If you choose to fight, or the opponent chooses to fight, the battle starts.

At the beginning of the battle, Jean would hail the enemy's ships as per naval tradition. Then the actual battle would start. Both sides of the encounter would move into the guns' range and start having a go at each other.



Both sides would then continuously exchanging fire and parts of the ship would start getting destroyed. Once essential parts of the ship are gone, it is often time to close in and finish off the fight.



If things didn't go so well, your ship would get sunk and you will be sent to wait for an insurance claim at your home port. Ships can get sunk when they lost abilities to fly or enough of the essential parts were destroyed.



It is better if you are the one on the winning side though, as you get to see our opponent's ship diving headfirst down the depth of the sky. In that case, some of the cargo and the crew of the ship would escape on the mana balloons, waiting for you or some other passer-by to pick them up.



There is more to battles and tactics when it comes to defeating the enemies. What would you like to explore next?

Also, please join the community: https://discord.com/invite/BVcgwY6AM4
We post the development progress daily. And we need your help with feedback :)

Hi Everyone!

It has been a while since we showed off our story/gameplay teaser. And you might have noticed that its background music seems somewhat familiar. That's because it is something from almost 100 years ago. The song is called "Dana Dana" also known as "Dos Kelbl', written in 1941 for a theatrical play "Esterke". Esterke is a theatrical performance about a Jewish concubine who influenced a Polish King to do great things during his reign.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

But what does the song has to do with Airship Academy? A lot, actually, the core of the gameplay, the story, and the world has to do with it. Dos Kelbel is the song about a calf being led by a farmer to the slaughterhouse. It asks the farmer why it was born as a calf, destined to die while the swallow, flying above, roams free in the sky. Why we were all chained by our destiny since birth? More on this topic, upon the release of the game.

The song is very well arranged by: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoVp...
The superb vocal quality is featured by: https://www.instagram.com/jokictamara/
And join the community: https://discord.com/invite/BVcgwY6AM4

This version of the song is slightly modified to fit the narrative of Airship Academy. The lyric and its translation is below:

----------------------------------------------------------
Oyfen foorel ligt dus kehlbel,
Ligt geboonden mit a shtrik.
Hoykh in himel fleet dus oodler
Frayt zikh drayt zikh heen oon tzoorik.
Chorus:
Lakht dir vint in kuren,
Lakht oon lakht oon lakht.
Lakht ehr up a tug a gantzen,
Mit a halbe nakht.
Dona Dona Dona…
Shreit dus kehlbel zugt der poyer,
Ikh kehn deer gurnit farshtein
Vulst gekehnt dukh zein a foygel,
Vulst gekehnt dukh an oodler zein.
Chorus
Blinde kehlber toot men binden,
oon men shlehpt zei oon men shehkht.
Vehr s’hut fleegel fleet aroyf tzoo,
Iz bei kaynem nit kein knehkht.
Chorus
----------------------------------------------------------
On a wagon bound and helpless
Lies a calf, who is doomed to die.
High above him flies an eagle
Soaring gaily through the sky.

Chorus:
The wind laughs in the cornfield
Laughs with all his might
Laughs and laughs the whole day through
And half way through the night
Dona, dona, dona...

Now the calf is softly crying
"Tell me wind, why do you laugh?"
Why can’t I fly like the eagle
Why did I have to be a calf,

Chorus

Calves are born and soon are slaughtered
With no hope of being saved.
Only those with wing like eagles
Will not ever be enslaved.

Chorus

It has been a month since we put our Steam's page live and we have gathered a good amount of wishlists without much PR going on. We've only been sharing the project with friends, close contacts, and families thus far while introducing Airship Academy to publishers to see if our plan seems realistic and if it needs improvement.

In the meantime, we were invited by PlayPrime to talk about our vision for Airship Academy. And even though we have written about the game's features in such a great length on our game's description, it could never be as detailed as to hear us describe it with passion in this podcast.

Please feel free to go ahead and check it out, and our apology in advance for the Thinglish accent :D

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

There are many airships in Airship Academy, all of them have their histories. While each airship may come from many places, build at different times, and have been through different events; there are only a few places where their Airframe's Blueprint came from. Today, we have a look at one of the most commonly used pre-war transport designs in the Azure Ring, the Falcon's Victory.

A Falcon's Victory Airframe traversing the Blue Belt

As the name suggests, the Falcon's Victory's Airframe used to be classified as an Aecerlian Navy's frigate class warship. Its designers were praised back then for the frame's quality and industrial design, incorporating many of Azure Ring's plentiful and durable material, especially the singular mast made of one piece of an indestructible gigantic Ancient Metalwood pole. Ships using the Falcon's Victory Airframe were sights to behold during the pre-war era, when the Aecerlian's Empire Military' might, rules unchallenged over the sky of the Azure Ring.

A detailed frame space inside the Falcon's Victory

The Great Sky War changed everything for the Airframe. As the first encounter with the Confederation's Navy Core saw the introduction of high-explosive propellants for the first time to the Aecerlain Navy. Only one shot from the Teutonic Howitzer was enough to shatter the gigantic mast thought indestructible that hoisted all the sails and is the only mean of propelling the ships.

A Falcon's Victory Airframe in combat against a Teutonic ship in a post-war skirmish

The production and logistics behind transporting, refitting, and fixing the gigantic mast have been proven impossible outside the core of the empire. In later years, efforts to fix and maintain damaged Falcon's Victory ships were ceased and make way to other new designs that are more versatile and fit better into continental warfare.

An image shows the usual post-war fitting of the Falcon's Victory Airframe

As the war dies down, the Falcon's Victory ships have then been incorporated into local law enforcement and mostly refitted into logistic roles. Rows after rows of Mana Lances and Beams were replaced by cargo rooms and musket racks that guard the ships against pirates and marauders.

Jean Donnadieu cruising "The Falconeer", one of many Falcon's Victory survived from the war

The Falcon's Victory is an airframe that reminds the denizens of the Blue Belt of the bygone era and glorious days of the empire that will never return.

[hr][/hr]
Airship Academy is a story about the changing world, different in theme, yet very similar to ours. What do you think about imperialism? Should it have lasted? Or should it change with time?

Also, please join the community: https://discord.com/invite/BVcgwY6AM4
We post the development progress daily. And we need your help with feedback :)