Skywatch #25 - Development Update

Welcome to Skywatch 25! 

Lost Skies development has been packed with the usual exciting antics. Let’s take a look at what we have been up to!

Unite Conference

Some of our team attended the Unite conference, where we demoed Lost Skies to other developers! We had tons of new players test the game, and the response was overwhelmingly positive but also gave us clear pointers for which areas of the game to improve.

Attendees loved the freedom of movement, visual direction, shipbuilding mechanics, and boss fights. The feedback aligns with what we’ve seen in the Open Dev community, and our lead designer, Luke, has already started implementing adjustments to streamline the onboarding experience (FTUE) based on this feedback.

Character Customisation & Animation 

Our character team has been hard at work expanding the customisation options! Jon has explored the distinct cultures of Lost Skies, adding unique hairstyles and face paints for deeper cultural connections. Meanwhile Klaudia has worked on some presets for head type, skin tone, hairstyle, eye colours and eyebrows.

Danny’s latest tests include a full-face rig, setting the stage for emotes down the line. ?

World Building

Our overarching focus this milestone remains on world-building. The team has crafted additional ambient VFX, like floating leaves in forests and dust in plains, bringing even more life to Lost Skies. 

With our new item rarity system, items now visually indicate their tier (common, uncommon, rare) through color-coded VFX. We’re iterating on these elements for natural integration into the world, which you’ll see more of soon.

Some of you may have seen some of this content already but Andy has been working some tech art magic into the environments too. 

Here we can see the player and large boulder flattening the grass as they move through it. Look closely and you can see an area of higher turbulence around the atlas lifter on the rock’s base.

Respawning Mechanics & Underside Biome

Our latest system tackles world resets and item respawns. To prevent players from running out of resources, Tamas has implemented resource respawning every 10 minutes on the tutorial islands and every 2 hours in all other areas. This means no more being stuck in the first area without resources. 

Here you can see Tony’s implementation of the new sub-biome - underside - that will support unique resources and a new creature!

Bosses & Herald Development

Our art team continues iterating on new Herald variants. Our latest “shark herald” design is in whitebox stage, showing unique movement and attack patterns. These variants will present new combat challenges and AI behaviour.

Ark Computer

The Ark Computer continues to evolve! Vlad and Ellen have updated visuals for the tech tree with UI adjustments to improve usability. 

Vlad also began work on a dialogue system for the Ark Computer, a key feature for narrative delivery across Lost Skies. 

John also continues his work on the Ark, which is a massive task he’s breaking into smaller bits. Check out these cool trim sheets for the Ark that John created! Arks will be present on many different islands and will be closely tied into player progression.

Buffs, Debuffs & Health Systems

Matt has been busy with a unified buff/debuff system. This includes elemental effects like burning and wet, with damage-over-time (DOT) effects based on debuff stacks. This system extends to ships, adding a new layer to combat. 

Alongside this, Matt has added bandages to extend combat longevity. These consumable items provide a health boost over time, though healing stops if you sprint, grapple, or dodge.

VFX & Audio Magic

Mark’s latest sound effects add even more immersion. He's integrated indoor/outdoor audio occlusion, meaning ambient sounds like wind will quiet when indoors. This is planned to work with your skyship too!

Wildlife SFX, combat music, footsteps, and impact sounds have all received quality-of-life improvements to enhance realism. Plus, we’ve tweaked sound transitions for a smoother experience.

Data Pads

Data Pads are here. These are objects that can be placed in the 'Island Creator' by the creator to provide players with custom lore, hints, or guidance. Jon finalized the concept art, and Mark has begun implementing the feature.

Ship Upgrades & Customisation

Here are Jon’s new concepts for ship core attachments, which are part of the larger progression loop.

To enhance the shipbuilding experience, Tony has improved the building system with dynamic stamps, stackable objects, and responsive icons that reflect your customisation. These updates make shipbuilding smoother but come with a heap of work, praise Tony! 

We can’t wait to see your creations.

Cave Bugs & Combat Improvements

We have put together an attack squad to handle the game combat made up of people from programming, VFX & design. They have been working on the cave bug encounters, as part of this we’re introducing a new ranged cave bug with acid projectiles that can break grapple lines.

You can also expect dynamic, physics-driven reactions when it comes to drones, Tom has been hard at work making it so they adjust their position when hit. These additions make combat feel much more dynamic and provide a more responsive combat experience which we can add to various mobs throughout Lost Skies.

Check out that goo projectile! Its shape, size and colour can be easily tweaked, and for now we're planning to use this VFX for cave bug and manta attacks.

That wraps up Skywatch 25! Thank you for your continued support and feedback. As always, join us on Discord to chat with the team and follow us on social media for sneak peeks and more! 

Cheers!

Adam