Hello Pals! Happy Holiday season! We’re here with an update on the Island Skies Alpha, and as 2023 draws to a close, we wanted to take a moment and reflect on the incredible year we've had together! 🎉
⭐ Alpha 1.3! (Next Update)
The next Alpha Testing phase will be coming early 2024 (exact date coming soon)! This will be an incremental update to test the latest camera and control revisions that we’ve made based on your feedback. We'll also be testing our enhanced character customization features! Camera and controls are critical parts of the game, and some of the features where testing helps us the most. Focusing on this during testing will help make sure it gets to the level of polish it needs!
Island Skies on MacOS!
-
If you have a Mac, you should be able to download and launch the next Alpha Test through Steam!
-
Our pre-alpha schedule was completely packed, but this was one of the biggest requests we got during the first test, so our developers moved this up the post-alpha priority list!
-
Platform specific bugs can be unpredictable, so we have been conservative with our estimates and announcements, but things have been going smoothly and we should be able to start testing Island Skies for Mac in the next Alpha update!
Character customization and visual improvements!
Check out our newest blog post for more detailed information about our character updates!
Camera improvements!
The camera will have received a revision based on your feedback! We expect the camera and controls to be in a place we’re happier with by the time we get to the next alpha release, but we’ll still be looking closely at your feedback for ways to improve!
Control & UI improvements based on feedback
Farming controls will have gotten improvements that should give you better control over what you’re doing!
Key remapping is also planned for an update later this year after the controls are in a good place, and won’t be changing too much more! While it’s not ideal in the short term, this will help reduce bugs, inconsistencies, and points of frustration with key remapping in the long run, which is always our priority.
Other quality of life improvements!
This will be stuff like sound effect volume fixes, some animation improvements, and other small fixes!
This will be a more incremental update, but it will give us critical information about how we can make Island Skies the best game it can be!
⭐ Content Updates in 2024!
We want to release content in larger batches, so we can design the content more cohesively! We estimate the first batch will be ready in the second quarter of 2024! Here are some of the visual testing we’ve been doing for the next biomes:
What does “visual testing” mean?
It’s how we figure out the best balance of mood, gameplay, and performance, as well as what assets are necessary to build out a compelling scene! Visual tests won’t always end up in the game exactly as is. Sometimes they will, sometimes we want to change them up completely as the goals of the scene shift. They’re done alongside more functional level and gameplay blocking.
⭐ 2024 Feature Roadmap!
Here are some rough estimates for when we will begin to test these features! Note: This is a preliminary outline, and is subject to change based on your feedback and the ins and outs of development!
Character customization update: Q1 (in the next update!)
Friendship: Q1-Q2
Seasons & weather: Q1-Q2
Crafting update [processing]: Q2-Q3
Mining: Q2
Decoration: Q2-Q4
Stage 1: minimal version to test interface and stability
Stage 2: more complete test to check the depth of the feature
Stage 3: polishing stage
Multiplayer: Targeting End of 2024
These features will be improved on an ongoing basis:
Farming
Fishing
Camera, Controls, & UI
Quests
Crafting & Cooking
Everything else!
⭐ 2023 Milestones!
This year we began our Island Skies Alpha Test and the experience was nothing short of surreal. Witnessing people outside of our team immerse themselves in and genuinely enjoy our game was an indescribable feeling. The first Alpha Test went even better than we could have anticipated, thanks to the incredible participation and feedback from our community. Your input is helping us shape the future of this project! We are hyped for the next Alpha Testing phases and game development milestones that await us in 2024. Together, we'll continue to create our dream game! 🥺
⭐ Discord!
We’re ending the year with over 20,000 Discord pals! From silly community games to Q&A sessions, your participation has made our Discord server such a FUN place to be! We're grateful for the friendships forged and the memories created within our corner of the internet. 😊💗
⭐ Thank You!
None of this would be possible without the support of our fluff community. Thank you for sharing your excitement, your feedback, and your love for our project. Every message, every comment, and every share means so much to us.
Here's to another fantastic year ahead filled with pals and more memorable moments together; let’s make 2024 a year to remember! 💖✨
Fluff and Love,
The Fluffnest Team