Windblown News

Welcome to the June instalment of our Development Log series

Over the last 4 weeks the team has been hard at work on the game, focusing on things like trinkets, progression loop, multiplayer and loads more!

Not to mention we featured in this years PC Gamer's PC Gaming Show, Gamescom latam, and had a bunch of awesome feedback from our closed alpha testers!



[h3]Let's take a look[/h3]

• Trinket Refill - We made some changes to how our trinkets (usable items) recharged in-game. However things didn't quite land as expected with our tests, so more testing and changes have been looked at to make sure they hit the mark.
  
• Meta Progression Loop - We needed to spend some more time ensuring that progression felt accurate and rewarding. Ultimately, we want to push players to experiment, so we changed the way you unlock new equipment and now allow you to test it immediately upon unlock.
  
• Bestiary and Bosses - A huge part of Windblown is it's enemies, so a lot of time has to be spent on the units players will be facing. This means we have continued to work on our existing pool of enemies and bosses, while introducing some new mobs that appear in some of our later biomes.
  
• More Multiplayer Tech Stuff - We continued to develop the multiplayer aspect of the game, ensuring that it is a smooth and easy to understand experience. This is something we will focus on heavily as we continue development and head towards early access.
  
• Steam Friend Integration - We added the functionality to invite and join your Steam friends while in game. The aim is to make accessing multiplayer as easy as possible, as we know players want simplicity when it comes to gaming with their friends.
  
• Lots of Cinematics and Lore stuff- We mentioned in a previous dev log that we needed to revisit our onboarding process and world building. This lead to us to rework how players are introduced to the game and even add additional cinematics to help players better grasp the world of Windblown.
  

[h3]PC Gamer & Gamescom latam[/h3]

We were super proud to see Windblown featured in this years PC Gamer Showcase, where our small community focused video was played alongside some incredible up-and-coming Indie games! And on top of that we were lucky enough to have this same asset be showcased at Gamescom latam, where Click no Paulo was kind enough to lend us his voice to send a special message to all of our latam friends!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Closed Alpha[/h3]

Our closed alpha is still going strong, with testing happening on a near continuous basis. Players have been working closely with the development team to iron out bugs and give their vital insight into what's enjoyable and what's not.

A key great example of this is when we added some changes to how Trinkets recharged in game. We went from a time based system where you just had to wait for the ability to be available again, to an on-hit system where attacking enemies reduced the cooldown instead. Our players reported that although the change was interesting, it was harder to grasp and wasn't quite what they were expecting. This lead us to make some changes and revert back to a time based system.

The goal here is to make sure that Windblown is in the best possible place and condition for when we launch into Early Access later this year, as the more testing and iterating we do now, the better the experience you'll all have when you dash into your first run!

That's all for this month's development log, but stay tuned for some incredibly exciting things we have in the pipeline!

[h3]Until next time![/h3]

You can Wishlist Windblown below, and stay up to date on our social media!

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https://store.steampowered.com/app/1911610/Windblown/

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

We have loads still in the works, so head over to our Steam page for the latest updates!

Follow us on Social:

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[h3]Wishlist today![/h3]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1911610/Windblown/

new trailer from the PC Gaming Show highlights some key bits of new gameplay from Windblown, the next game from Dead Cells developer Motion Twin. Notably, Motion Twin wants it to be not just a good single player roguelite, but a cooperative one for up to 3 people...
Read more.

In this months Dev Log, we'll be discussing a topic we've been super excited to dive into!

[h3]Multiplayer[/h3]

As gamers ourselves, we know how much fun it is to jump into experiences with our friends, and we knew right from the beginning that Windblown would be a perfect, chaotic fit for co-op.

Over the recent weeks we expanded our closed Alpha test to a bunch of new players, and at the same time flipped the switch for a Multiplayer update. This enabled teams of up to three to dive into Windblown and tackle its diverse biomes as a group.

Since then we've had a TON of feedback, ranging from balance discussions and tweaks, to adding additional features and systems to help improve the overall experience.



Based on this feedback from players, we wanted to dive a little deeper into why we chose to make the game multiplayer, and explain how the process has gone.

[h3]Why make a Multiplayer Game?[/h3]

• Ultimately, we wanted a fast-paced game that was playable with friends. Looking at the current market, there wasn't something that ticked both of those boxes, and we felt this was our opportunity to create something unique!
  
• We took a lot of inspiration from games like Dark Souls and Elden Ring. We wanted something challenging that allowed you to overcome hurdles together. This sense of comradery was a key focus for us when looking at Windblown.
  
• Fun fact: Motion Twin mostly made community based and multiplayer games before Dead Cells, so making Windblown was a way to go back to our roots!
  

[h3]The challenges of making multiplayer:[/h3]

• With fast-paced multiplayer: there is no “how-to formula”. It took us years to find features and systems that were compatible with the level of octane we wanted to reach, while keeping them understandable. This was particularly true when it came to the readability of the game. The game needs to be readable when you play it, as our combat is pattern-based and requires clarity.
  
• Single player VS Multiplayer struggles:
  
  • a LOT of ideas had to be thrown in the trash because multiplayer simply made them incompatible.
    
  • You need to find the right balance on social friction (collective decisions VS individual).
    
  • Testing takes WAY more time, as you need more people at the same time and technical issues can block you for several days in some cases.
    

[h3]Feedback from the players:[/h3]

• Players told us that they wanted more of a connection to the world earlier in the game. This meant we had to look at how we onboarded players, and set the stage for Windblown. This way, everyone should be on the same level of knowledge and understand why they should care.
  
• Our healing system wasn't quite up to scratch for multiplayer, as it was too easy to accidently use a potion and waste it's shared effects. This lead us to some tweaks that have made a significant difference to our players experience.
  
• We are working on enhancing the Alterattack system (the big flashy attacks at the end of a combo), to bring more depth and diversity.
  
• We've implemented Voice and Text chat to have a more seamless co-op experience.
  

That's all for this months monthly recap! We hope you've enjoyed this sneak peek into Windblown's multiplayer, and better understand the direction we're heading with it. We're still on track to releasing into Early Access later this year, and can't wait to welcome you all in!

Stay tuned though, as we still have plenty of cool stuff on the way!

[h3]Until next time![/h3]

You can Wishlist Windblown below, and stay up to date on our social media!

Twitter Facebook YouTube TikTok

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1911610/Windblown/

Welcome back to another Windblown Development Log!

Over the last month we've been hard at work on new additions and features for the game, with a focus on community feedback. Our closed alpha testers have been paramount to our progress and have continued to offer their insight into how Windblown is shaping up and what they'd like to see.

In the coming weeks we'll begin inviting more players to our test, as we move closed and closer towards multiplayer!




[h2]Here's a breakdown of the development work from last month![/h2]

[h3]Main Topics[/h3]

• Prepared the game for our first Multiplayer alpha playtest (core tech, basic UIs, making some unlocks multi-compatible) - Multiplayer is our next major milestone, and something that has taken a lot of work. We can't wait to see how it's received, and how quickly everyone can break it...
  
• Gameplay rebalancing (order of unlocks, level generation) - Players reported that there could be difficulty spikes, so we wanted to look into the flow and progression of users runs through Windblown.
  
• Working on a new Shop (gameplay + graphics) - Thanks to player feedback, we looked to overhaul the system, increasing accessibility and diversity.
  
• Working on dialogue & scenography systems (dialogues, camera close up, NPC animations, sounds during texts) - Testers wanted to see some of the world building sooner than we anticipated, but it was important that they feel connected to the game and it's development. It's also important for players to understand the story, and why they should care!
  
• Working on something cool for the opening sequence of the game! - this feeds into the above point of player experience and world building. Without going into too much detail, this will help set the stage and paint the picture of Windblown!
  

[h3]Additional Work[/h3]

• Drafting the Onboarding of the game (simplify discovery and develop the story from the get go)
  
• Made backstabs more visually clear
  
• Added a proper save system
  
• Added new types of secrets that require some special moves to access
  
• Explored the tech we’ll use for advanced UIs
  
• Posted our first gameplay trailer!
  

And if you didn't catch that trailer, worry not, we have you covered!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Plus lots of bug fixing (or making bugs features...IYKYK)[/h3] 👀



(This was originally and bug, but players seemed to like the idea of carrying a weapon 10x the size of your character...)



Well that's simple - just head to our website and fill in the form!

We'll continue to expand out playtests as time goes on, and look forward to welcoming as many people to Windblown as possible ahead of it's Early Access launch later this year!





Our focus remains on the development of the game, and our relationship with the community. Windblown is a game born with the idea of developing it alongside the players. After all, you'll be the ones playing it!

We look forward to bringing you updates on our multiplayer testing soon, along with some cool stuff we have in the pipeline.

You can Wishlist Windblown below, and stay up to date on our social media!

Twitter Facebook YouTube TikTok

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1911610/Windblown/