[h3]
⚠️ This Devlog includes very important information about your saves, so please be sure to read through it carefully.[/h3][hr][/hr][p]Ahoy, Sky Sailors!
[/p][p]We’re preparing to set sail with our
next major Early Access content update, and what better way to reveal what’s on the horizon than with a fresh Devlog?[/p][p]
Our upcoming
Fall 2025 update will be our
biggest yet, packed with exciting new features along with
major technical and
gameplay improvements.[/p][p][/p][h3]
PROGRESSION[/h3][p]“When will I learn the loom?” “Where do I find the sawmill?” “Why am I unlocking a lamp?”
Those days are over!
Progression in Aloft has been one of the biggest points of frustration for players so we are overhauling the way you
advance and unlock knowledge in the game through
tech trees.[/p][p]And fret not:
Knowledge Stones & Lost Anchors (along with the lore they brought) will remain part of the progression loop. Interacting with them will grant you the opportunity to
learn technology from their corresponding
tech tree. If you prefer, you will be able to save that knowledge and unlock a technology
at your own pace later on.
[/p][p]There will be a total of
3 types of tech trees, divided by type: a
Knowledge tree for basic machinery, a
Sailing tree for sailing equipment, and a
Research tree for cure-related technologies.[/p][p]
All 3 trees will feature
thresholds, requiring
Insight to continue purchasing further technologies.[/p][p][/p][p]
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[/p][p]There are many reasons for and benefits to these changes:[/p]
- [p]The current system forces a specific order for unlocking technologies. However, a lot of technologies unlock optional systems, like cooking, farming, and animal husbandry. A tech tree, by nature, lets us create optional technological branches that aren't mandatory to unlock. We want to give you the agency to decide which systems you are most interested in and want to unlock first.
[/p] - [p]There was a lot of confusion about how to obtain certain resources and how to interact with game systems. Stumbling upon stones and learning things you didn't know existed doesn't contribute much to the gameplay loop. By letting you visualise the upcoming technologies, you can now see the answers to your questions coming up in the tech tree and make it a goal to unlock those items.[/p]
[p]
Sketching a technology will unlock it normally and will allow a player to start learning further technologies from that point on the tree, even if some technologies below remain locked. Additionally, this system encourages
exploration to find building pieces & decor, while also allowing you to
catch up to your friends who may have progressed further into their technological unlocks.
Fresco technologies will appear on the tree, but cannot be unlocked through knowledge points. Once learned through the corresponding frescoes, they allow further technologies connected to them to be purchased.[/p][p][/p][h3]
ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION[/h3][p]
Ecosystem restoration has always been a core and enjoyable part of Aloft, but it needed refinement to feel
more engaging and less like simply ticking items off a checklist. No more abandoning your beloved animals or getting lost in confusing critter tasks![/p][p]
Moving forward, only
Life Sapling islands will start out
unhealthy, while all other islands will spawn in a healthy state. We’ve also streamlined ecosystem vitality needs to make restoration more immersive and approachable.
Islands will only track the quantity of three core requirements: funga, flora, and fauna. Players will still be able to
render any island unhealthy by manually removing those elements.
Funga health[/p]
- [p]Will track the quantity of mushrooms planted.[/p]
- [p]Players will still be able to inoculate the base of trees, but will also have access to an inoculation log, providing an additional way to fulfill fungal needs and to farm mushrooms.[/p]
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Flora health[/p]
- [p]Will track the total number of small plants, non-plotted crops, and trees combined.[/p]
- [p]Players will be able to plant all types of flora directly into the ground using seed mounds. These will act as temporary farming plots, but will disappear after being watered. This will allow players to plant crops long before they unlock the larger farming plot.[/p]
[p]
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[/p][p][/p][p]
Fauna health[/p]
- [p]Will track the quantity of small animals and insects both present and hidden on the island (not those in vivariums). Large animals will no longer be counted.[/p]
- [p]Habitats will be removed from the building menu thanks to better critter generation.[/p]
- [p]Habitats will only be present as an activity on Life Sapling islands where you’ll get to repair them and populate them with critters from your collection.[/p]
[p]
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LIFE SAPLINGS & LIFE TREES[/h3][p]
Life Sapling islands will be in very rough shape when you encounter them. They are complete
wastelands, devoid of life, and overflowing with hindrances. To restore them, you will have to
complete a series of mini-games and tasks to improve their vitality and get rid of the various hindrances.[/p][p][/p][p]
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[/p][p]As the last step to completely bring the wasteland back to life,
players will have the opportunity to conduct the life wind itself – spreading greenery around the island, growing plants on its way, and finally, by
restoring the Life Sapling! [/p][p][/p][p]
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[/p][p]
Healing a Life Sapling will grant a
Dream Fruit and open up all the
Wind Lanes connecting that cluster of islands to nearby ones.[/p][p]
Wind Lanes will let you
sail faster between
island clusters, reaching speeds of around
120 knots for a more fun and engaging journey![/p][p][/p][p]
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[/p][p][/p][p]
Life Trees are ancient and mystical trees that serve as key gameplay objectives, encouraging the player to restore ecological balance
one sector at a time. Life Trees will also enable players to
progress deeper into their
Tech Trees.[/p][p]
Once a sector’s three
LifeSaplings are healed, you’ll be able to channel their life winds by communing with the
meditation circle and
breathing life back into the Life Tree – cue the cutscene![/p][p][/p][p]
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[/p][p]With the
Life Tree restored, players will be able to descend into its
underground chamber and discover the
Insight Basin, where they can activate the
Orb to obtain
Insight. As mentioned earlier,
Tech Trees will have
thresholds that can only be crossed by
earning Insight.[/p][p][/p][p]
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[/p][h3]
RESET & RESTRUCTURED SAVES[/h3][p]As we continue
developing new and exciting features for Aloft during Early Access, it is equally important for us to strengthen the game’s
technical foundation. We’ve heard your feedback regarding
corrupted save files and while the in-game backup tool has recovered many of your saves, the underlying issue needed a
permanent fix.
To address this, our programmers have completely overhauled the save data system in order to achieve long-term stability.
This means your current characters, worlds, personal & shared home islands will no longer be compatible starting with this upcoming update.
This update is an important milestone for Aloft, and we have a window of opportunity to make the game as best as it can be while it is still in Early Access.
To ensure you can still
revisit your older saves, we’ll be creating a
Steam Beta legacy branch for version 0.3.3.22 of Aloft. You’ll be able to switch to it at any time to continue where you left off.
This branch will not receive updates or support, and as always, users must be on the same
version of the game in order to play together in
multiplayer.
The good news:
custom islands already created with the Island Creator will still be compatible with the upcoming update.
If you haven’t already done so,
we recommend uploading your custom islands to the Steam Workshop using the Island Creator tool. This will make it easy for you to re-download and spawn them into your new worlds after the update.
To be clear: this recommendation does not include personal or shared islands. This is because the
data structures for characters and worlds are undergoing major and incompatible changes, while the data structure of Island Creator templates (custom islands) is staying the same.[/p][p][/p][h3]
NEW WORLD GENERATION[/h3][p]The save overhaul also introduces a more
stable world generation system. Starting with version
0.3.4,
your worlds will be fully compatible with future updates. That means we will be able to seamlessly
inject new content into your existing worlds, and
you will no longer have to create a new world for each content update.
This new system will also allow our designers to generate worlds in a more
curated manner and control the
pace of discoveries. It also makes way for more
efficient testing of islands for our level designers and QA team.
The
new world layout will have fewer sectors overall and denser island positioning to provide a
better sense of direction. Island exploration should feel a lot more engaging, meaningful, and less repetitive.
Lost Atlas’ will no longer reveal islands within standard clusters. Instead, they will guide the player to hidden,
castaway islands outside of standard clusters.[/p][p][/p][p]
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[/p][p]That’s it for now, sailors! Stay tuned for
Part 2 of this Devlog, where we’ll dive deeper into
combat, corruption, and research.
We also want to take a moment to
thank you for all the
feedback and bug reports you’ve shared since launch – it’s been invaluable in shaping the future of Aloft. Alongside the core systems covered here, we’re continuing to make improvements across the board to
sound effects, visual effects, the user interface, and more.
As always, we’d love to
hear your thoughts on these changes. To keep the conversation going, we’re going to host a
live Q&A session on our community Discord, where you’ll be able to
ask the Aloft developers anything from programming, to design, to art, and whatever else you’d like to know about our
largest update yet. Details about the Q&A, including the date and time, will be
posted separately soon.
And finally, a reminder:
all features in this Devlog are still in development and subject to change as we continue building the game.
See you in the clouds! 🌥️[/p][p] [/p][p]
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