Paper Sky News

[h3]Hey guys!
Welcome to the second monthly update, recapping July's progress.[/h3]

I've got some exciting new mechanics and features to discuss. I’ve been hard at work refining and expanding the project's base architecture to ensure it's solid and easily scalable for future growth.



I've implemented one of the most requested features from the demo: the boost mechanic. This addition enhances level traversal and adds depth to player movement. The boost will be unlockable and upgradable, which leads us to the next topic, content expansion!

I've also reworked the "Speedlines" effect and it will now distort the edge of the camera at extreme speed giving a better sense of speed.



To increase environment interactivity and enhance player movement without introducing entirely new features or complex designs, I’ve come up with a solution. Players will be able to upgrade and customize their paper plane using messages found throughout the world. This means that players who finish the game and leave a message will directly help others progress. This system encourages exploration and creative approaches to movement-based gameplay. You’ll have the choice of upgrade paths, allowing you to enhance any aspect of your paper character, including the plane, the ball, the boat, and more.

You’ll be able to decide whether to increase your roll speed or your aerial distance capabilities etc...



Great news! I just received my Steam Deck and will use it to benchmark Paper Sky’s general optimization. The Steam Deck was the last piece of hardware needed for my desired platform porting list. With my experience from developing for the Nintendo Switch, I’m confident in shipping all platforms simultaneously.

See you next month!

Hey There!

Welcome to the first of our monthly updates, recapping June's progress. Expect these updates every first Monday of the month.

I've been refining the game concept based on demo feedback, leading to some great new ideas and a clearer project vision.


Forbes wrote a nice indie game article and included Paper Sky into the mix, it was a welcoming surprise to see my name and Forbes in the same sentence:



I've streamlined the art levels and condensed them into 12 different art worlds that will be all seamlessly integrated to the experience.


Alright, let's dive into the most exciting part of the update. After compiling demo feedback from the past months, I decided to simplify the aerial controls, which were a major hindrance to players.

The old "intuitive mode" allowed you to aim at a destination for the plane, but the latency made navigating tight spaces impossible. The "realistic mode" rotated the roll of the plane instead of its yaw, making it difficult for most players to master.

The new controls, which are consistent for both mouse and controllers, are similar to the game "Superflight." Moving the mouse sideways now directs the plane the same way. This new system is easy to grasp and very precise, rendering the old controls obsolete. These new controls will be included in the upcoming demo update!


The final demo update before beta access will feature the new control scheme, optimizations, Mac support, better Steam Deck support, and additional content. See below for more details:


So you're already familiar with the messaging system allowing you to write a personal message and leaving it in the Paper Sky world for others to find; Well I want to expand on that and make it really interesting gameplay-wise.

Finding player messages now grants upgrade points for enhancing your paper plane's abilities. Upgrade points can be spent in a dedicated menu, allowing for customization and improved gameplay, upgrade special power moves such as the Boost (which will be featured in the upcoming demo update).

Already discovered message locations will not grant you another upgrade point.
The upgrade points can be spent inside a dedicated paper menu that is also the place where you will be able to fold and customize your paper plane.
What can be upgraded include every shapes you can take, meaning if you want to upgrade your paper ball for more precision platforming or if you want to upgrade your paper plane for more speed you can do that freely.

Let me know what you think of this decision? I believe it greatly complements the existing mechanics and incentivizes players to seek out world messages, enhancing the value of your own.


Paper Sky is now performing 10 times better than my last title in terms of wishlists, and I hope to release Paper sky with at least 85k wishlists, this would ensure the game does well upon release and this would help the game's future tremendously.


I've been updating the Steam Deck build of Paper Sky Demo and it now works beautifully. I will be getting myself a Steam Deck so I can further support the hardware and make sure it runs well (I will be using the Steam Deck as a FPS benchmark)

My main goal is to support as many hardwares and controllers as possible, starting with the same hardwares I developed my last game Crumble on.



[h2]That's it for now! Stay tuned for a special Steam Update and Discord notifications about the new demo update. See you next month![/h2]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bruteforce/paper-sky


[h3]With 668 Backers for a total of €37,523 Paper Sky is now successfully funded thanks to all of you 🥳[/h3]

[h3]The project has reached its goal and is now guaranteed to be released, thanks to you! From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU![/h3]

I will keep you updated on Paper Sky’s development with monthly Kickstarter updates, starting at the end of June.

Thank you for all the support—from a simple retweet to small and large contributions.

[h3]Paper Sky is now 90% funded, and on its way to full funding in 3 days![/h3]
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bruteforce/paper-sky
[h3]Please consider supporting the project to make it a reality, you can pledge the minimum amount to get the game at a 5$/€ discount, or pledge a bit more to get a copy of my previous game ːcrumbleː[/h3]

[h2]New gameplay footage[/h2]




[h2]Wishlist Update[/h2]

[h3]Almost reaching 20k wishlists in 5 months![/h3]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1617230/Paper_Sky/

[h2]It's a boy![/h2]

During the weekend one of our dog had a little baby dog

It's a boy, weighing 160g. We named him Viking because he's a warrior, just like his father, King.

It's been a rough week managing this alongside the Kickstarter campaign, but I'm glad to have the end in sight. I'm humbled by all the support you guys have shown in the comments, on Discord, Twitter, Reddit, in the game world, and through my emails.

[h2]THANK YOU![/h2]
I hope to see Paper Sky fly

[h2]Links[/h2]

[h2]Special announcement from the Kickstarter campaign: Paper Sky is now half-way funded![/h2]

[h3]Huge thanks to all of you for believing in me and my project! I could not be doing this without your support.[/h3]



[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h3]I made this special video to celebrate the 1 year of developing this game. I actually started working on this game 3 years ago after my last project released.[/h3]



[h3]I've updated the Paper Sky Demo with new optimization features, now pretty much anybody can play the demo without performance issues!

I fixed the Linux build that previously had some graphical issues, now it's working perfectly. You may want to switch the graphics API to Vulkan when playing it on your linux machine or on the Steam Deck by using this executable command: "-force-vulkan"[/h3]