Paper Sky News

[h3]Hey everyone!
As we near the end of the year, it’s time to recap all the exciting progress made on Paper Sky this past month. Let’s dive in![/h3]

I’ve made big progress in the new art style and assets, especially for the demo world and areas beyond the demo playthrough. And yes, Twitter can now officially stop commenting on how orange the buildings are! 😊

The demo environment is shaping up beautifully, and you can catch a sneak peek in the background of the pic. I’ll reveal the full map once the demo is ready!




If you didn't see the special announcement last month, The CNC has granted €45,000 (roughly $48,000) to Paper Sky.
The CNC (Centre National du Cinéma et de l'image animée) is a French Ministry of Culture agency dedicated to supporting cinematic and audiovisual arts, including video-games.


I’ve been refining what the Paper Sky experience is meant to feel like. At its core, the gameplay revolves around Movement and Exploration.

I want players to feel the natural flow of the world without frustration. Upgrades will be tied directly to gameplay and exploration:

Earn upgrade points by finding messages left by other players.
Unlock upgrade slots by achieving feats within each world, like flying long distances without touching the ground, reaching high speeds, or pulling off daring stunts for style points.
This system means every playstyle is rewarded: whether you prefer to chill and explore, or tackle challenges head-on, you’ll have a fulfilling experience.

I will soon work on the clear visuals for that upgrade feature, the main thing to takeaway from it is that you'll be able to customize your experience based on the actions in the game, if you want to upgrade the ball more than the plane you will be able to do so.

Another key feature is the world map, which will show your location and allow fast travel between worlds—but not within them. This preserves the sense of journey and discovery in every environment.


Originally, the new demo was set for the end of November, but plans have shifted. Steam recently updated how prologues and demos are featured on their homepage, so I’ve decided to aim for a 30th December release.

This change gives me time to pack in more content and polish, including some final-stage features. I want to start 2025 on a good note and get early feedback on all the finished, polished mechanics. Thanks for your patience!


One of my Paper Sky TikTok videos hit 1.3M views in just a week! 🚀 More and more people are discovering this project, which feels surreal. It’s also a great reminder of how much has been accomplished over the past year. I can’t wait to see what 2025 holds!

Doggo got a bath

[h3]Hey everyone, special surprise announcement today!
I’m thrilled to share that Paper Sky will be receiving financial support from the CNC![/h3]



The CNC (Centre National du Cinéma et de l'image animée) is a French Ministry of Culture agency dedicated to supporting cinematic and audiovisual arts, including video-games. Their mission includes offering financial aid to outstanding artistic and video-game projects; and I’m incredibly honored that Paper Sky has been recognized as one of them.


While this doesn’t change the core plans of the game, it makes everything easier for me as a solo developer. During my last project, Crumble, I often found myself worrying over; “Will the game sell well?”, “Will I have the resources to make another game?”, “Am I making a mistake somewhere?”

With the CNC’s support, many of these concerns are now behind me. Here’s what this means for Paper Sky:

• The CNC has granted €45,000 (roughly $48,000) exclusively for the project
  
• I am now 100% confident the game will have enough funding to reach completion, including handling any potential delays
  
• I won’t need to depend on Paper Sky’s future sales to start my next project
  
• Development and marketing are significantly less stressful, allowing me to focus on making the best game I can
  
• A detailed development roadmap and comprehensive game design document are now fully in place, ensuring every planned feature is accounted for
  
• Some features that I wasn't sure I would have enough time and resources to implement will be implemented, this includes the progression system with skill points, an underwater world and many more secrets
  
• The soundtrack will now receive extra care and attention, with more features to make it truly stand out
  
• I’m now committed to releasing Paper Sky on PC, Mac, Linux, and the Nintendo Switch!
  
• Due to the project financial viability, Paper Sky will be more tailored for the people who've been following and supporting the project instead of aiming for mass-market appeal
  

As a solo developer, this combination of Kickstarter funding and public support is what makes creating games like Paper Sky possible. I am deeply thankful to the CNC commission for this incredible opportunity.
You can check out the official public release of the CNC commission results here: https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/aides-et-financements/resultats-commissions/fonds-daide-au-jeu-video-fajv--resultats-de-la-commission-du-26-septembre-2024_2294001
(Warning: A lot of french words)

In next month’s update, I hope to share the new demo with you, featuring completely overhauled mechanics and a brand new look of the town world.

Thank you so much for your support and enthusiasm. See you in the next update!

[h3]Another Month, Another Paper Sky Update!
We’re back with another update on Paper Sky! Here’s what’s new:[/h3]


The big announcement is still in the works, but I’ve shared a sneak peek in an unofficial post on the project Discord!
The new demo release is delayed slightly due to some exciting features I’m adding, including a redesigned upgrade menu. This extra work won’t affect the final release date, as these features were always planned.


I’ve finalized the visuals for the updated boost mechanic. Now, recharging your boost charges happens by flying fast and close to the environment; essentially rewarding "cool" and risky maneuvers. This setup reinforces a sense of flow, encouraging you to stay airborne as long as possible.

To guide you, red trails will mark the main route for progression, and flying near them will naturally boost your speed and recharge your boost charges. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on this feature once you try it out.


The upgrade menu has been revamped to feel more interactive and engaging. Now, when you open it, a popup book unfolds, letting you turn pages to select and upgrade different paper transformations. Each page is like a mini diorama of the model you’re customizing. Upgrade points are represented by messages left by other players that you find on your journey. I hope this visual approach makes customizing your plane even more fun, the visual here is still very rough.


I know the first demo was a bit sluggish on the Steam Deck, though it mostly ran well on PCs. I’ve optimized the lighting model, and the game now runs consistently on the Steam Deck. Moving forward, the Steam Deck will be the primary benchmark for optimization—so if your hardware outperforms a Steam Deck, you’ll have no issues running the game at high settings.

However, there’s one world in the game that uses a different render pipeline and incorporates ray tracing. This area may still be demanding on certain graphics cards, so I’ll be working closely with beta testers to make sure it’s accessible for as many players as possible after the new demo is out.

I’m still exploring ways to make clouds interactive for players. If the current shader approach doesn’t work out, it won’t be a big loss, but I’ll keep you updated!

What I'm working on in November?
I’m focusing on filling out and polishing the art assets for the third world, which will be featured in the upcoming demo. Once that’s complete, the new demo will be released for you to enjoy.

That’s all for now—see you in the next update, or for the big announcement (hopefully soon 💀)!

Time is flying by faster than a paper plane!
I could have sworn September just started last week.

Anyway, I’m thrilled to bring you some exciting Paper Sky updates for September.



The new demo is almost here! I've reworked every gameplay mechanic and introduced a few new ones, all based on the feedback I received from the first pre-alpha demo featured during the Kickstarter launch.



What you're seeing is a still from the current blocking phase of the demo's playground, which is intended to represent the final gameplay and serve as a sample of the full game. It will feature everything the main game offers: an upgrade menu, different paper transformations, optional environment-based quests, and a brand-new messaging system. The goal of the demo is to allow players to freely explore the world while progressing through the story and challenging their flying skills.

After some internal testing using this new game design workflow and prototype blocks, I found that the new demo is four times bigger than the old one. Players also tend to spend more quality time exploring areas of interest and relaxing in the natural, chill flying zones.

Each world, except the first and last, will follow this main progression cycle:

• Discover a new world
  
• Freely explore a playground filled with small challenges (both explicit and hidden) and secrets
  
• Progress the world’s story
  
• Complete a speed/fun phase
  
• Face a custom-scripted, large event
  
• Then, repeat!
  

One day, someone asked, "Hey, why isn’t there any camera tilt when turning the plane at high speeds?" It hadn’t even occurred to me until then, so I decided to test it out—and it works great! So now, camera tilt is officially part of the game.




One thing that bugged me about the first demo, which was a bit rushed for the Kickstarter, was the lack of time to polish and add water interactivity. This month, I’ve been hard at work on a detailed, wave-based ocean. It will act as both a failing state when you go too far and a fun feature to surf across at high speeds.
What you’re seeing is still a work in progress, and it’s missing the water trail effect that the player will create.

Of course, this is the intended gameplay before you unlock the boat transformation and the ability to go underwater.


And now, for the most exciting news since the Kickstarter launch! After months of behind-the-scenes work, I’ve been contacted with some fantastic news. Although it hasn’t been officially approved yet, I’m posting this Kickstarter update as late as possible this Monday, hoping I can share it here.

If I can’t make the announcement this month, don’t worry! I’ll make a special update on all social media channels and on Kickstarter to let you know as soon as possible!

All right this is it for me, so much good news in the future I am very excited!

[h3]Hey guys!

Welcome to the third monthly update, recapping all the progress made in August. Another month, another update!

So, let’s dive in and take a look at what I accomplished last month on Paper Sky.[/h3]



I dedicated most of August to completing the shaders for the Moebius-inspired world. This will be a challenging, desert-like environment filled with buried secrets and rocky towns.



After releasing the open beta demo for Paper Sky, one of my main concerns was managing the online messages with a live upvote system. I’m happy to announce that I've finally completed a new framework to address this. It will allow me to easily monitor and control what’s being shared in the world. Previously, messages in the demo world could only be updated when players logged in and out, but now, they’ll be updated live and regularly without any input needed. This marks the near-final state of the messaging system backend.



Your messages will now be permanently carried on your paper plane, so whatever you write will always be there to encourage you!

Still WIP but you get the point

You earn points by discovering player messages in the world, whether they’re hidden or part of a quest reward. You can then spend those points on various paper forms (plane, ball, boat, etc.), which will enhance your mobility and speed on your journey.

That’s all for this month’s progress! I’ll soon need beta testers to help populate the new messaging system and stress-test it along with the new movement mechanics I mentioned last month. Also, there’s a possibility of some exciting news for Paper Sky’s development next month. If I don’t mention it in the next update, it probably didn’t pan out, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed!

That’s enough from me for now. I’ll be more active on social media as I dive back into art asset creation. Alright, see you soon.