Aloft News

[h2]Hey there travelers, settle down and listen,[/h2]


Hello everyone! We are so happy to see you again!

Winter settles comfortably in Montreal and you can feel that the holidays are around the corner.
The streets are lit up, cheerful music is playing and the Christmas markets are in place, along with the city's ice rinks!
This is the perfect season to stay cozy near a warm fireplace right? This is exactly what we did the last couple of weeks so we don’t really have anything to share…

Just kidding! We have SO many news for you!

First, since the last update, our team has grown considerably. We are fortunate to welcome 5 new members :

• Solene : our Project Marketing Manager
  
• Emma : our Rigging & Animation Artist
  
• Vincent : our Game designer
  
• Calvin : our 3D Character Artist
  
• Kyle : our Composer & Sound Designer
  

Our team is up to 11 people now, we are really happy and proud.
[h2]
Community involvement[/h2]
With Solene’s arrival, we’re developing our social platforms. If you want to support us, we are now on: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & Linkedin

Every Thursday we share Kenzie's beautiful concept art through thematic posts. For example, the last one was about eye colors and facial hair.

On Saturday, we follow the ScreenshotSaturday trend and post a screenshot of the game.

We also try to share regularly about various topics, without any particular agenda, so stay in touch :)

It goes without saying that our Discord stays the best way to communicate directly with us. It’s always such a pleasure to exchange with you all. We answer every question, suggestion, comment… and show exclusive content.

Last October, Megamigs took place in Montreal and we were lucky enough to be among the participants. It was so good to chat with the different actors of our community from all over the world. Many players enjoyed our demo and the feedbacks were very encouraging. This experience was very positive and reminded us how much we appreciate physical events.

We also participated to the November Play test organized by GamePlay Space in Montreal. It was a very formative event, we took many notes and interacted with a lot of friends.

We’re amazed that more than 270 videos have been made on Youtube about Aloft. Big names continue to be added to this list with Meatwagon22 creating a series of 7 videos about our game, go take a look!
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]Cooking[/h2]
In the last devlog, we discussed farming and all the great produce you could get out of it. There’s more to come regarding farming, but that will be for a future devlog, as there is still a lot of design work to be done before we can announce anything. In the meantime, we decided to get busy with the logical successor of the farming system: the cooking system!

Our designers have built a very flexible system that allows players to combine many different food items in order to make all sorts of meals, no matter what combination you input! Of course, that amused the fans on our Discord server to no end, as they are really looking forward to break our system.



In short, you need a heat source, either a campfire or a fireplace, and a cooking plate. By interacting with the cooking plate, you can input three ingredients, which will slowly cook over time. If you feed the fire with coal and if you actively cook the meal, it will go even faster! But watch out, you might end up with a burnt meal, which is never very appetizing.



The ingredients you use actually determine what kind of meal you’ll get (provided it’s not burnt). Is it a soup, a skewer, a stew or a salad? Who knows! You will need to try it to discover it!



[h2]New character model[/h2]
One comment that came back many times was that our player character model had a bow & arrow on his back, but that we didn’t have a bow & arrow! Well, that’s because our model was a placeholder while we hired the perfect 3D character artist. Calvin is now part of the team (see 1st paragraph) and he worked on an amazing character model over the last month and a half.



The character and its outfit is inspired by maritime cultures and sailor clothes. As you have seen on our social media over the past few weeks, we have a lot of character customization options in our pipeline, but we decided to make a single character for now. It will be of course a lot of work to create all of those options, we will let you know whenever it’s ready to show!

[h2]New character animations[/h2]
Emma, our new rigging and animation artist has also been hard at work making the animations for both our new player character, but also for the guard monster! Fighting him is much better now that there’s proper animations and its falling animation is very funny to look at.



Working on animations is a lengthy and complex process, so the animations you see above are not final. We will keep working on them until they are perfect. Of course, there will be much more animations to keep everything lively and varied.

[h2]
Doors & Windows[/h2]
Sometimes, in the development cycle, we have to cut some things short to make sure we reach our objectives. That means that some things are left for later, like at the end of our milestones, when we try to wrap everything up and do all the things we didn’t have time to do before. A good example for this are doors and windows! The assets themselves were done a while ago, along with the last wave of construction pieces (like the doorframes…).

Well those assets are now implemented! You can have a door in your house! It doesn’t change much, but it’s one more building piece that our players can play with. And hey, now they swing like a saloon door, which is pretty funny to us.



[h2]Survival system[/h2]
The last thing to mention here is the upgrade of our survival system. Up to now, people had health points and stamina galore, monsters were hitting like wet noodles and globally there was little challenge in the game. Now, there’s a lot of new things to consider during your playthroughs.

First of all, stamina and health have been greatly reduced, which means you now have to manage those resources with greater care than usual. Additionally, eating food and meals now gives you additional bonuses that will make survival easier and more efficient.

Furthermore, now there is a more cohesive approach to our survival system, with stamina, resources and health being resources to trade with each other, emphasizing the “survival” aspect of Aloft. We will keep tweaking and working on it to make the experience better and better for our players.


[h2]What’s next?[/h2]
2023 is around the corner. New year, new Aloft : An updated demo will be available soon and we can't wait for you to try it! Everything you see in this devlog will be in it!

Also, we are looking for volunteers for a private playtest from December 16th to 19th.
The participation survey is on our Discord and, if you see it soon enough, there might still be a way to get in! If you want to be sure to get in during the next playtest, join our Discord server using the link below!

We hope to see you there ;)

Don’t forget to follow & wishlist Aloft!

As mentioned in the Devlog #8, you can find the patch notes for the demo.

Please note that while previous saves can still be used, new islands with crops have been implemented in the new version and those will not be present in old saves. You can give yourself seeds with the give seeds command. Furthermore, at the moment french localization is temporary and can be improved. If you see any bugs or typo, please let us know on discord how we can improve!

[h2]New features[/h2]

• French localization
  
• Creating farming plots, growing and harvesting fruits and vegetables
  
• Overhauled UI
  [h2]Gameplay[/h2]
  
• Added Spiral Staircases
  
• Added Stone Foundation
  
• Added Torches
  
• Added Rope Fences
  
• Limited ability to craft without a workbench
  
• New Starting Islands
  
• Dorkip can be used to gather soil from the ground
  
• Dorkip temporary animations
  
• Added Linen Sails
  
• Added farming plots
  
• Added farming vegetables and fruits
  
• Added leaf and wood buckets
  
• Islands now spawn in clusters
  [h2]UI[/h2]
  
• New Inventory UI
  
• New Crafting UI
  
• Changed the font
  
• Localization, play in French or English
  
• New Machines UI
  
• New "Save Button" in the Pause menu
  
• 21:9 and all other resolution supported
  [h2]Visuals[/h2]
  
• Updated the Vertical Sail model and animations
  
• Changed the clouds color to match the time of day
  
• The islands' UV is now triplanar
  [h2]Bug-fixing[/h2]
  
• Pressing Enter while naming a new map would instantly start creating the world
  
• Rain is passing through walls and colliders
  
• Windmills can revert back to 3 blades
  
• Destroying windmills don't give back all the resources
  
• Player slides when piloting an island
  

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

[h2]Hey there travelers, settle down and listen,
[/h2]
Hello everyone! Remember how we said we would be working at a reduced pace for the summer? Well, we had a lot of fun, we took some vacations to enjoy the nice (fickle, humid, hot) Quebec weather, and now we’re back on track to keep creating a badass, awesome, fun and wholesome Aloft game!

Hello everyone! Since the last update, time flew by us and now has come the season of harvest, cold evenings and warm beverages (pumpkin spice optional). In Quebec, fall is the season of apple picking, warm cider and slowly realizing that snow is coming, for better or for worse. For Aloft, however, the weather doesn’t stop us from pursuing our goal of making the best game we can!

Since the last devlog where we talked about the Next Fest results, the navigation system overhaul and new assets related to navigation, we had a bunch of new features implemented in the game, as well as several quality-of-life improvements and bug fixes. As always, the patch notes will come with the update itself, but more on that later.

If you want more regular updates and engage with the community, we do encourage you to join our discord, it’s full of good stuff, and we share updates more often and in a more casual way.

[h2]Community involvement[/h2]
Ever since we showcased the game during the Next Fest, we’ve kept receiving great feedback from players all around the world and videos kept coming out about the demo. People are just having a blast playing Aloft and that’s so nice to us, it really gives a boost to the team’s morale and encourages us to work even harder. Some big names in the Youtube game even made videos on Aloft, it’s awesome! And now we’re happy to announce that we reached 1000 members on our Discord! Everyone has been awesome, they have great suggestions and impeccable taste. You should join them ;)

[h2]Additional building blocks[/h2]
We really want Aloft to be a game about creative freedom, but you need brushes and oils to paint a masterpiece! We already have several building pieces with which to build your islands, but we missed a couple. They will also allow you to use more rocks and rope in your projects.



Players will now have access to delightfully wavy spiral staircases, stone building parts and rope fences. The staircase was tricky to implement in regard to other building parts, but we think the end result is great and adds a lot of character to staircases. It’s also promoting safety in the workplace, which is always a good thing.

With these stone foundations, players will finally be able to get rid of all their excess resources by building rock-solid buildings.

[h2]Farming[/h2]
We are working on the farming system! After preparing the ground, planting the crops and watering them is a wonderful way to become an active part in the creation of biodiversity. Monoculture can be harmful to the environment, that’s why we created a whole bunch of plants and crops that players will be able to grow and harvest. In a later update, we will include cooking and permaculture systems.


The Dorkip is the primary farming tool. Praised by our discord members (for reasons unknown), the Dorkip is a fictional tool combining a gardening hoe and a short spear. The result is something that will allow you to plow the earth and defend it against fungi creatures!


An essential accessory - the bucket - is currently available in two formats: the leaf bucket is cheap to build and contains little water. The wooden one holds more water, but is more expensive to craft. Both have their uses, and they are quite pretty. The water system is still being worked on, so the only way to fill your bucket is by interacting with a pond. Keep that in mind when choosing your farming-focused island!


Finally, of course, farming wouldn’t be farming without being able to plant crops! To allow for the funky layout of some of our fanbase’s custom islands, players will have to put down plots of land before planting their crops. Those will grow better when watered properly, of course!


[h2]UI and French localization[/h2]
Most of the UI in the current demo is a placeholder that worked while we implemented the different mechanics and systems of the game. Now that we have a better understanding of the visual identity of the game and of the user experience, we wanted to overhaul most of the UI to better reflect that. I think you’ll find it’s much prettier and easier to use. Full disclosure, some of the UI is not final as we are still working on it and implementing new systems.



Furthermore, we will also implement a first version of our French localization. Having a team that is mostly bilingual in French and English allows us to localize our game properly in those languages. Just like the UI, it will be a work in progress as we implement more features and correct the bugs we find along the way.


[h2]Demo update[/h2]
So when will you see all those fancy assets and new mechanics? As early as next week at the time of publication (September 30th, 2022). In addition to what was already mentioned above, we will add more assets, fix some bugs and add some quality of life changes. Of course, a changelog will be published along with the update, containing all the changes.

[h2]What’s next?[/h2]
We are in the process of expanding the team and to make sure we have all the skills needed to make the game of our dreams happen. Our first new teammates will join us next week and we’re still hiring more!

After the update, the demo will stay up for the foreseeable future. We really enjoy seeing everyone playing our game, making videos on it and giving us such great feedback. Thank you all so much for your support and we look forward to seeing you around the hurricane.

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

As mentioned in the Devlog #7, you can find the patch notes for the demo featured in the Steam Survival Fest.

[h2]New features[/h2]

• Added an option to import custom islands into your saves
  [h2]Gameplay[/h2]
  
• Storm weather are linked to storm clouds
  
• New sails system and models
  
• The corrupted mushrooms are breakable
  
• Building mode free rotation
  
• Second prompt on the bed to set home
  
• Bigger bush collider
  
• New glider model and controls
  
• Inverted controls supported
  
• New console command called "unstuck"
  
• The Guardian has a chance to spawn as a veteran version
  
• A different animation plays when you lay down near an edge
  
• Can glide by double jumping
  
• The camera can be farther in piloting mode
  
• While piloting, the camera will only collide with the ground
  
• Creative Mode option when creating a new map
  
• Peaceful Mode option when creating a new map
  
• Option to start the game with tools and the glider
  
• Bushes can be harvested with swords
  
• Added Vertical Sails, required to lift your island
  
• Added Rudders, required to rotate your island
  [h2]Balance[/h2]
  
• Tools have a larger hitbox
  
• Collecting stones with a pickaxe gives more stones
  
• Collecting tree logs gives fewer leaves
  
• Swords, sickles and hammers deal more damage
  
• Blocking reduces a lot more the incoming damage
  
• Bone tools deal a lot more damage
  
• The axe's finale combo has a greater radius
  
• Laying down regens the player's stamina quicker
  
• Machines require more power
  [h2]UI[/h2]
  
• New map save system
  
• Building parts reorganized in the menu
  
• Windowed mode is supported
  
• New item icons
  [h2]VFX[/h2]
  
• Clouds redesign
  
• Corrupted islands atmosphere redesign
  [h2]Bug-fixing
  [/h2]
• The player was "sliding" off some parts of the islands
  
• The game would start at the lowest resolution
  
• The corruption wouldn't render and was leaving invisible colliders
  
• The player could spawn inside an island, or inside a collider
  
• Some of the water collider would make the player slide
  

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

[h2]Hey there travelers, settle down and listen,
[/h2]
Hello everyone! Remember how we said we would be working at a reduced pace for the summer? Well, we had a lot of fun, we took some vacations to enjoy the nice (fickle, humid, hot) Quebec weather, and now we’re back on track to keep creating a badass, awesome, fun and wholesome Aloft game!

Since the last devlog where we talked about tools, corruption, enemies and all that good stuff that’s still in the demo for you to enjoy, we kept working at a reduced pace, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t work though! We took the time to improve the visuals and the gameplay of the game to add more systems, improve the pacing of the demo and, of course, interact with our awesome community.

If you want more regular updates, we do encourage you to join our Discord, it’s full of good stuff, and we share updates more often and in a more casual way.

[h2]Next Fest[/h2]
In early June, we put out a pre-alpha demo for the Steam Next Fest to see what people would think of our upcoming game and the answer was astounding! We had more than 100K views on our streams, 100+ gameplay videos, tens of thousands of new wishlists and hundreds of Discord members, the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and it’s telling us we’re moving in the right direction.

The demo we put up for the Next Fest has been kept up, because we like having people play the game and have fun!

[h2]Navigation system overhaul[/h2]
As you may have noticed in that previous GIF, the sailing system has been completely overhauled to make it better, more intuitive and with a more depth as well! Now, various sails offer different levels of flexibility, wind efficiency and durability. Players can also build rudders to help steer the island and floaters - horizontal sails - which enable vertical movement. The new sails must be strategically placed to help you pilot your island through the more dangerous areas of the hurricane, whereas the other structures provide necessary guidance to the island.


[h2]New assets[/h2]
In addition to the navigation system overhaul, we also implemented new assets for the sails, windmills, helm and rudder! Those are way nicer than

The current sails are made of leaf fabric, which is the lowest tier of fabric available in the game. It’s not very resilient or efficient, but it’s cheap and easy to make. Leaves are a fairly common resource to find after all! They’ll be the very first thing new players will use to sail their islands and explore the world of Aloft.



The windmills we’re very happy about, they look great and have a bunch of customization options available to them right now. Just like the sails, windmills are limited to leaf fabric for now, but you can select different blade patterns and amounts. We think they look absolutely badass, and some players have been putting them to great use.



Finally, the helm has been upgraded from its placeholder status to full-fledged 3D asset! It works in the same way, as the piloting center of your flying island.


[h2]Survival fest[/h2]
Next week, we will be participating in the Steam Survival Fest. Of course, the game will not be on sale (as it is not being sold at all) but a new version of the demo will be up and running for you to try out! We have addressed several bugs, improved the gameplay and added tutorial features. You can find the full changelog in the patch notes posted next week along with the new demo. Of course, a new demo means that previous saves will be destroyed which is a bummer, but at this stage of development, we are unable to make old save files compatible with new versions.

[h2]What’s next?[/h2]
For the rest of the summer, we’ll be working on bringing our animal concepts to life, but also to make our own non-placeholder character model! We have great concepts we cannot wait to show you, and with Joanna on board, it’s going to look amazing in 3D as well.

We’re also working on improving our starting biome, to bring to the level of quality we expect to have upon full release, it is one step closer to our full-blown vertical slice which we’re hard at work bringing to life.

Given the additional team members, the higher rhythm of work we’ll be taking on, you can expect more devlogs to come, roughly every month, or earlier if we have important, urgent news to share with everyone.

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