So It’s been a few months since I’ve finished the initial posts and shown some early screenshots. I’ve been hard at work on Skylands, mostly polishing the game client and planning out the content. There is A LOT I want to make but a solid core is forming which will soon grow into the first alpha.

See the Progress page for screenshots.

I have broken up the work into different sections below

Platforms

I have managed to get WebGL working!!! It runs better than expected and for now will be one of the main supported platforms. So far everything works and apart from a few minor bugs there are no differences between webGL and other platforms, but this won’t last. Advanced graphics and lighting will be the biggest difference, but I intend for all gameplay to work. Long term it could be a good way to introduce friends to your private server, or check on your city in the Persistent Universe while you’re at work. For now the target platforms will stay at WebGL + Windows and at some point I’ll add steam deck support.

Multiplayer

I spent a remarkably small amount of time on this, I have gotten the dedicated server running fine and tested it over my machines. The next step is connecting the dedicated server into the game so it can be launched easily, and then the multiplayer services (Accounts, Server Listing, etc). WebGL also needs some extra work to be able to connect to servers and it will never be able to host games, but this work is fairly well documented and I just need to put some time towards it. Soon I’ll be getting full fiber internet, after this happens I will try hosting the current server software and doing more multiplayer testing.

Art

I have spent most of the last few months on art and graphics. As it is my weakest skill I have done alot of learning and have found an art style and workflow that works for me.

Island

The island has been rebuilt, now it is now made out of voxels, a new heightmap generation giving the island a much better feel. The mountains still need some work, but again much improved. I have also added trees to the forest.

Buildings

The 4 building visuals have been rebuilt completely. I will write a document/post on how buildings are made, intended for modders and any artists I hire (and me if I forget). The buildings are much more colorful, have the ‘modes’ (Ghost, UnderConstruction, Built) needed and it should be simple to expand with visuals and effects. Next up for buildings are animations/visual feedback showing the state of the building without having to view it in the UI.

Bug reporting

A weird feature to spend time on, but one I’m hoping will pay for itself in time. Skylands simulation setup is perfect for recording and replaying, so when playing all events are recorded and I will be able to play them back to help hunt bugs. Along with the event recording, a short (20 seconds) gif is recorded which should help solve graphical/visuel bugs. Next is to wrap this up in a UI and have a web service accept the bugs.

Automation

As always I have automated everything I can. The buildings being the main example of this, I build 1 prefab and it generates all the extra bits as needed. I have also expanded my automated tests, now I have a much more simple way to write tests and it can then run in memory or against unity.

What’s next?

I am still working on some core tech, Roads, Terrain features (like Forests) and have been planning out things like Progression, tech trees, resources trees and fun things like stats and level ups, most of my core systems will need expanding starting with buildings and jobs, adding ‘Stats’ to my buildings and a level up system. After that comes the content building, I will build out ~2 placeholder buildings, complete with animations and nice visuals, and use those to test out the ‘Wood’ production chain. And once all that is done I’ll have a new progress blog ready.

Thanks for reading. If your interested and want to learn more, join my Discord (I might even let you try it)