Paper Sky News

[h3]Paper Sky demo is now available on Mac—plus, it's optimized enough to run on a baked potato on all platforms!

This update brings 3 new quality settings. "High" is the intended experience, while the others are for extreme stuttering cases. The "Potato" setting ensures the game runs on virtually any low-end hardware from the past 15 years.

Enjoy the demo! 🚀[/h3]

[h2]Play it here:[/h2] https://store.steampowered.com/app/1617230/Paper_Sky/
Available for PC/Linux

• New Level Design
  
• New visual art style
  
• New flight controls
  
• Upgrade mechanics
  
• Boost mechanics
  
• Huge optimization pass
  
• New online messaging system
  

Lots of good stuff and more. Feel free to let me know what you thought about the new demo either here, on the steam forums or on the discord! The mac version is coming in the coming days.

I have so much to share, but I’m saving it for the March update—see you soon!



Hey would you look at that, right on time. Crushing the deadlines 💪

[h3]Hey people![/h3]
[h3]The new demo is almost here! Huge progress has been made, and exciting opportunities are ahead. Let’s dive in:[/h3]



I couldn’t fit the full GIF here, so check out my Twitter for higher-quality videos and (almost) daily updates: https://x.com/BruteForceGame/status/1894064670505418967

Almost all planned features for the demo are in, except NPCs and a secret animal interaction mechanic that lets you blend into the world’s fauna and "evolve".

The GIF shows a track challenge where you pass through gates to unlock rewards. These gates also provide a natural environmental boost for relaxed exploration.



Paper Sky will be featured in a demo showcase at the Future Game Show on March 20, 2025—a great chance to introduce more players to the paper plane concept and gather fresh feedbacks!


The new demo update will launch on Steam on March 20, alongside the show.

This update introduces a second part with progression and environment interactions. A major change is the flight control scheme, refined based on feedback to offer the best experience—no more difficulty selection!

The demo’s beginning remains mostly unchanged, aside from bug fixes and level design tweaks.

See you for the new demo release and thanks for the support! ✈️


doggo

[h3]Hey everyone!
Let's dive in January's update[/h3]



After lots of testing, I’ve refined the boost mechanics. While last month’s version looked cool, it didn’t feel quite right and let players bypass too much of the game’s challenge. The new boost system is inspired by Abzû—if you time your inputs right, you can chain boosts for longer distances.

I’m still deciding if missed inputs should have negative consequences, but for now (and in the upcoming demo), it won’t. I'll tweak this based on how it fits with level design.

Speaking of level design;


I’ve added cloth simulations to help you glide across vast aerial sections and to highlight where other players' messages are hidden. These notes give you upgrade points when found. Look for the red drapings!

And don’t worry if you miss any—they’ll be marked on your map, with progress tracking for all the completionists out there (myself included!).


Now we're entering in a spoiler and weird territory, much like my precedent game when I was in that period of development there are some things I do not wish to discuss simply because it would spoil a great majority of the game's narrative and game experience.

So without diving into spoilers, I’ve wrapped up the core narrative of Paper Sky. It’s not a direct story with characters or dialogue but an underlying thread that ties the universe together and gives meaning to your journey.


We’re close to breaking into the top 1000 most wishlisted games on Steam! It’s incredible to see so many people excited about Paper Sky, trying out the demo, and giving valuable feedback. This support is helping shape the game into something truly special.



I’ve got three worlds left to draft art-wise, and things are moving steadily. The prologue I planned for March will now be an update to the current Steam demo, thanks to recent changes in how Steam handles demos compared to prologues. While I missed the chance to release it as a separate prologue and benefit from the Steam changes (because they did the changes right after I released the demo 🤡), the game's media traction and your support mean I don’t need to chase visibility as much, so I'm not too bummed about it.

I’m aiming to release this updated demo in the coming weeks, but it may land around the March milestone.

That’s it for this month—back to polishing the demo! Thanks for being part of this journey. ✈️💨🍃

[h3]Here’s a quick look at what I’ve been working on for Paper Sky this December:[/h3]


Let's start with the coolest one, I’ve added another layer of detail to the grass in the demo, which looks amazing when flying over it at high speed.




The old skybox (that we all agreed wasn’t great) is gone! It’s been replaced with a new dynamic skybox that blends beautifully with the world. It aligns more closely with the concept art. Check out the before/after comparison and how it integrates into the game:




Shadows now look softer, reducing aliasing and improving overall stability. Plus, I’ve got some cool environmental color bleed effects for added style!



The shadows will appear more soft which will prevent aliasing and streaming bitrate going down.



Grass now reacts dynamically to the player’s wind displacement, and I’ve added patches of white flowers to guide you through denser areas.


Progress has been slower than I’d hoped, but for good reason: I’ve been reworking assets to be compatible across all worlds in Paper Sky. This will speed up development moving forward.

Here’s what’s left before the new demo can drop:

Last town assets: A key city hub essential to the demo (yet to be revealed).
Interactive map: A fast-travel system that doubles as a pop-up art book, complete with guidance and secret-hunting features.
Upgrade/customization menu: Still tweaking it to make sure it’s perfect!

I’m aiming to release the updated demo in January. Thanks for your patience—I’m excited to keep building the world of Paper Sky!

Cheers!