Aloft News

We have a bunch of great news this week! Things are progressing in the right direction and we’re keeping to our schedule. Game production is a curious process, as we’re fluctuating and pivoting off of events and challenges. It’s a challenge that we’re eager to take on every day!


[h2]New team members[/h2]
We’re super hyped to welcome to the team several new members, who’ll help us build a great game alongside all of you! You can read more about it on our Facebook page. Among them, we have a super talented 3D artist, an amazing character artist and two creative game designers. They bring a lot of strong talent to the team, we’re really excited to show you their work!

[h2]Monsters[/h2]
The monsters concepts are almost done! They’re gooey, spikey and mushroomy! We’re aiming for 4 different enemy types, each having three tiers of competency. Regular enemies are your run-of-the-mill antagonists while Veterans are tougher and have more skills or weapons. Elites are the meanest fungi on this side of the hurricane and will take strategy and skill to take down.

The guard enemy is a small and stylish little fungus. Common enough on the islands, he slashes away at the players, dealing high damage. Veteran and Elite versions carry a hardened shroom-shield that also doubles as a hat. Attacking the players is their job, fashion is their passion.


The 3D model of the Guard isn’t finished yet, but here’s a quick peek at the WIP model. Notice the twisty shroom-hair and a chin worthy of Gaston.


[h2]Combat movement[/h2]
We just finished implementing the combat movement for our protagonist. There is still some polishing to be done, but we’re quite happy with how it’s turning out. In the GIFs below, you can see the block, push, dodge, sprint and slide movement! You can also see me fall down the island like a doofus.


Below, you can see the axe combo. It can be used to split logs and enemies.


[h2]What’s next?[/h2]
We are currently working on the 3D building pieces that you saw in our last devlog. Some pieces are already done, but we’ll wait to have them all before showing it in a devlog. Our awesome game designers are also hard at work on the survival system and lore building of the game.

If you want more Aloft or would like to give feedback, be sure to wishlist the game on steam here and join the Discord server using the image below

In this week’s devlog, we are going to show you some in-progress stuff! As you may know, we are a small team and we’re chugging along at a steady pace, so you’ll see a lot of WIP things in this devlog. We’re just really happy showing you our progress!

In any case, today we will cover part 1 of Aloft’s design philosophy and two things we hinted at in previous devlogs: automation and buildings!

[h2]The philosophy of Aloft (part 1)[/h2]
We have a strong design philosophy behind Aloft, something driving every design choice we make. Today, we will cover two of our core principles and will do more later, as it becomes relevant.

Aloft aims to be a relaxing experience where you get to heal an ecosystem and not reproduce the mistakes of humankind. For these reasons, fossil fuels, non-renewable energy and pollutants are not a part of the gameplay, which means that smelting is not part of the game either. Fortunately, it creates an opportunity for creative ways of creating tools and technologies. This includes bone-based weapons, and glass-forging techniques powered by lightning strikes, for example.

Creativity is also core to our game experience. In the context of construction, we feel the islands provide construction limitations to the players. To balance this and allow you to be as creative as you’d like, we have made the construction system in a very sandboxy way. Players will be able to build all over their islands with smaller building pieces, to create the structure they want to make.

[h2]Power and Automation[/h2]
In the previous devlog, we talked about crafting machines and resource transformation. All integral parts of the building/survival game genre. But maneuvering those machines can be rather time consuming. So you know, why not automate it?

Using the cutting edge technology of Wind Power, players will be able to hook windmills and wind turbines to their crafting machine and automatically transform those resources into sweet-sweet high-tier materials.


You can build power-generating structures near your crafting machines and simply link them together to automate the work.


The windmills and turbines aren’t modeled yet, but you can see our awesome concept art for them below. Players will have several models to choose from, to suit their aesthetic.

[h2]Building system[/h2]

Another important part of any building/survival game is… building things! Starting next week, we’ll get on producing 3D assets for the building parts, but the construction system is already implemented in our game build.

We take pride in having a great UI and better UX. We constantly strive to improve both and make the game as easy to pick up as possible and hopefully, you’ll never want to put it down ;) As you can see below, the building management screen is implemented and we can actually build things!


And for the building pieces, we have the whole package: turf roofs, walls, floors, windows and doors! You can see the roof and doors down here, but for more kickass concepts, join the discord using the link down below!


[h2]What’s next?[/h2]
Next week, we’re welcoming a new 3D artist to start working on all the many building parts you will be having fun with! We are also hard at work on combat and monsters. The design is well on its way and we already have concepts for our first monster. Of course, you will have more information in the next devlog.

If you want more Aloft or would like to give feedback, be sure to wishlist the game on steam here and join the Discord server using the image below

For this second devlog, we would like to show you what we’ve been working on in the last months, but also what we’re working on right now. Aloft is a young project and, while we’ve made a lot of progress, there’s still much to do!

This devlog perfectly showcases that duality, as the resources and building machines were designed, but we didn’t have the assets to visually represent them. Fortunately, we now do and you can see them in this devlog!

[h2]Resources[/h2]
In Aloft, you have access to a bunch of different resources, but they might not be what you’re used to.

Wood and stone are there, of course! They are some of the most important resources in the game, allowing you to build structures, masts, foundations, crafting machines and much more. Wood grows back, so you are unlikely to run out, though that might require some patience. Rock does not, but it is one of the more plentiful resources around.


Other resources you will be using often are the bones of great beasts long since dead, bleached by the sun and the ceaseless wind bearing the floating islands. Bones are useful to cook, craft tools and weapons and dye stuff white. Because of everything that happened, you’ll find plenty of bones, you might just have to travel a little bit.


Another outlier that’s definitely worth mentioning here is Flax. This pretty blue flower has been used in sail- and rope-making for thousands of years and in Aloft, it will play a similar role. After harvesting flax plants, either wild or cultivated, you can break them into fibers which are useful to braid ropes and weave linen sailcloth!

Of course, we have many more resources that we’d like to share with you, but those will come in a later devlog.


[h2]Crafting machines
[/h2]We already have an array of crafting machines with which you can transform resources (wood into planks, for example), but also build tools and weapons.


You can see some concepts and their 3D assets we created for the sawmill and millstone. Each will have various uses and recipes associated with them, recipes which can be found by discovering the appropriate resources in the world. Obviously, the sawmill is used to transform wood into lumber and planks, crucial to construct buildings.


The millstone is an interesting one. As you gather rare and exotic ingredients throughout the infinite sky, you can grind them in pulp or powder and use them in cooking and more.

And the best thing about those machines is that you can automate them. By harnessing wind power, they’ll run by themselves and cut your planks, break your flax and much more! More information on that in the next devlog.

[h2]What’s next?
[/h2]In the coming weeks, we’ll be putting the final touch to the P2P multiplayer system as well as properly implementing the building and sail system in the game. Our artists are also designing the building parts that will go in the game. You’ll see how that’s going in the next devlog!

If you’d like to accompany us on this adventure, be sure to wishlist the game on steam here and join the Discord server using the image below

Welcome to the wonderful world of Aloft! We are so very excited to show you the work we have done so far on our latest project. This will be the first of many devlogs concerning the development progress of Aloft. In them, you can expect screenshots, GIFs, concept art and sneak peeks at all the good things we’re developing here at Astrolabe Interactive.

Today, we are officially launching the Steam page out into the world! Making a game is a stressful endeavour, and showing it to the world takes a lot of courage, but we are confident that all of you will see the love and care we put in the game, even as it is in its first steps of development.

That being said, please enjoy this devlog #1, we’re glad to have you along for the trip.

[h2]The progress so far
[/h2]
Game development starts with an idea, a goal, a feeling. For us, it started in spring 2021, on the heels of our COVID-19 second wave confinement and of the Canadian winter. To say that we wanted to spread our wings and fly away is an understatement. We had other work to do at the time, but the idea of travelling the infinite skies was there, and it kept germinating until, in August 2021, we decided to start developing the prototype which would later evolve into what you see today.

We’ve been working on Aloft for the last couple of months and, while there is a lot of work left to do, we’re proud of the work accomplished. The trailer below has a lot of placeholder elements in it, but we’re working on improving our build every day with new assets, more mechanics and features. We’re a small, agile team, and we’re excited to bring this game to life!



[h2]So what is Aloft?
[/h2]
Aloft is a relaxing, fun and stress-free survival game. Usually, survival games are intense and visceral experiences, and we love those games and the thrill they bring. We wanted to go somewhere else with Aloft, though. We wanted a survival game that’s free from the usual stress and pressure of surviving against all odds.

Aloft is a game where you can play without having to look over your shoulder at all times. Unless you want to: The world of Aloft is not devoid of dangers and of the opportunities they provide, but as players, you must seek them out and vanquish them at your own pace.

Most prevalent among these dangers is the giant hurricane around which the world of Aloft revolves. Long ago, it tore chunks of earth and rocks, and they’re still flying. The violent winds surrounding the eye are no walk in the park, and only the most solidly built construction will resist the powerful winds.



[h2]What’s next?
[/h2]There is so much more we’d like to talk about and show you, but that will have to wait for another devlog!

If you’d like to accompany us on this adventure, be sure to wishlist the game on steam. To join the Discord server where we post videos and pictures of our progress, click the banner below. We would love to hear your feedback!