For this development update, we’re taking a dive into one of the most important systems in Sunless Skies: procedural generation. Your feedback in Early Access has been instrumental in some major changes coming later this month, that will transform the way Sunless Skies feels to play.

AN ENDLESS VOID

World building is hugely important to our games, especially because Sunless Sea and Sunless Skies focus so heavily on player exploration. We’ve been using procedural generation to create a populated world of interesting things to find in Sunless Skies.

As Early Access opened, we heard fans say that Sunless Skies felt empty. While actual space can certainly feel like an unending void, we didn’t want players to experience the world we’ve spent months building and designing to feel uninhabited.

Another concern we picked up was sudden environmental changes—one minute you’re flying past an asteroid, then a giant tree, then a clump of fungus and so on. Players were struggling to understand how these elements fitted together.



Currently in Sunless Skies, a region like The Reach is essentially a circle, divided into three rings (a core, an inner ring, and an outer ring). The game procedurally places the ports, agents and terrain inside each ring based on a system of tags that match sympathetic environments and decoration: this way we make sure palm trees don't appear next to the snowy port of Lustrum, for example.



(Original proc-gen example, where each labelled item can spawn anywhere in the core)

This design was an iteration on the original proc-gen system we used in Sunless Sea. While it was faster and easier to use than the Sunless Sea system, which relied on a lot of data input, we soon realised that it wasn’t ideally suited to creating the rich, coherent world we wanted to build.



It also created its own technical and design issues for our team:

• It’s difficult and time consuming to create individual art assets that have the possibility of fitting anywhere within the region
  
• The unit of design (a singular port, rock, or homestead etc.) is incredibly small, and thus restricts the team’s ability to build the atmosphere of a region so that the geography echoes the narrative content
  
• It takes a lot of iteration to get the numbers right so that travelling through a region doesn’t feel empty

SEGMENT DESIGN

All this lead us to design a new system. Now, instead of allowing small units of terrain to generate anywhere in a particular ring, we are now dividing our regions' rings into curated segments.

These segments can spawn in any rotation as long as they stay within their designated ring, which gives us more control to shape the environment, while still leaving some proc-gen to allow for varied player experiences.



Each segment is designed by a collaborative team of an artist, a writer and a designer. They spend their time deciding:

• the general atmosphere of that segment
  
• which ports will be included
  
• what the weather will be like
  
• the general art direction and colour palette
  
• which agents will be present (NPCs, beasties, etc.)
  
• the Spectacles and Discoveries within the segment
  
• which pieces of equipment will be most useful
  
• trade opportunities
  
• the audio required for the segment
  
• the log messages that will appear on screen
  
• and the geographical layout of the segment

(Above is half of a segment design example from one of the segment meetings)

This segment design approach effectively allows us to do level design, so that we can deliver a world that feels detailed and lush. A world full of Victorians exploring and conquering space. A world that you will hopefully get to know with your captains.

Here’s a bird’s eye view of part of an inner segment. You can see Port Avon on the right and some abandoned ruins on the left.



Of course, moving to segment design means we had to redesign the in-game chart as well. Here’s what it looks like currently:



And here’s what you can expect when the new proc-gen system goes live:






When will these changes be implemented in-game?

Most likely before the end of the month, but as it’s a huge change to the game, we’re going to add it on initially as a separate branch.This means that the original proc-gen system of the game will still be the main playable build of the game if players login to Steam/GOG, but that anyone wanting to try out the new proc-gen can follow some simple steps to open up and play on the new branch. We’ll be sure to post the instructions for everyone when it becomes available.

We’re also hoping to add Spectacles and Discoveries into the game soon too, which will also help to make the world feel less empty. Once both Spectacles/Discoveries and the new proc-gen are in, space should feel more lush and exciting!


If you have any questions about procedural generation or the new system, we’d welcome you to come join our FBG Podcast on 10th November at 16:00 GMT! We’ll have stolen Paul away from his artistic duties to talk about all the changes.

REMINDER: Any backers who have not received their game keys yet please email skies@failbettergames.com, as it appears that quite a few people’s keys got eaten by spam filters.

For this development update, we’re taking a dive into one of the most important systems in Sunless Skies: procedural generation. Your feedback in Early Access has been instrumental in some major changes coming later this month, that will transform the way Sunless Skies feels to play.

AN ENDLESS VOID

World building is hugely important to our games, especially because Sunless Sea and Sunless Skies focus so heavily on player exploration. We’ve been using procedural generation to create a populated world of interesting things to find in Sunless Skies.

As Early Access opened, we heard fans say that Sunless Skies felt empty. While actual space can certainly feel like an unending void, we didn’t want players to experience the world we’ve spent months building and designing to feel uninhabited.

Another concern we picked up was sudden environmental changes—one minute you’re flying past an asteroid, then a giant tree, then a clump of fungus and so on. Players were struggling to understand how these elements fitted together.



Currently in Sunless Skies, a region like The Reach is essentially a circle, divided into three rings (a core, an inner ring, and an outer ring). The game procedurally places the ports, agents and terrain inside each ring based on a system of tags that match sympathetic environments and decoration: this way we make sure palm trees don't appear next to the snowy port of Lustrum, for example.



(Original proc-gen example, where each labelled item can spawn anywhere in the core)

This design was an iteration on the original proc-gen system we used in Sunless Sea. While it was faster and easier to use than the Sunless Sea system, which relied on a lot of data input, we soon realised that it wasn’t ideally suited to creating the rich, coherent world we wanted to build.



It also created its own technical and design issues for our team:

• It’s difficult and time consuming to create individual art assets that have the possibility of fitting anywhere within the region
  
• The unit of design (a singular port, rock, or homestead etc.) is incredibly small, and thus restricts the team’s ability to build the atmosphere of a region so that the geography echoes the narrative content
  
• It takes a lot of iteration to get the numbers right so that travelling through a region doesn’t feel empty

SEGMENT DESIGN

All this lead us to design a new system. Now, instead of allowing small units of terrain to generate anywhere in a particular ring, we are now dividing our regions' rings into curated segments.

These segments can spawn in any rotation as long as they stay within their designated ring, which gives us more control to shape the environment, while still leaving some proc-gen to allow for varied player experiences.



Each segment is designed by a collaborative team of an artist, a writer and a designer. They spend their time deciding:

• the general atmosphere of that segment
  
• which ports will be included
  
• what the weather will be like
  
• the general art direction and colour palette
  
• which agents will be present (NPCs, beasties, etc.)
  
• the Spectacles and Discoveries within the segment
  
• which pieces of equipment will be most useful
  
• trade opportunities
  
• the audio required for the segment
  
• the log messages that will appear on screen
  
• and the geographical layout of the segment

(Above is half of a segment design example from one of the segment meetings)

This segment design approach effectively allows us to do level design, so that we can deliver a world that feels detailed and lush. A world full of Victorians exploring and conquering space. A world that you will hopefully get to know with your captains.

Here’s a bird’s eye view of part of an inner segment. You can see Port Avon on the right and some abandoned ruins on the left.



Of course, moving to segment design means we had to redesign the in-game chart as well. Here’s what it looks like currently:



And here’s what you can expect when the new proc-gen system goes live:






When will these changes be implemented in-game?

Most likely before the end of the month, but as it’s a huge change to the game, we’re going to add it on initially as a separate branch.This means that the original proc-gen system of the game will still be the main playable build of the game if players login to Steam/GOG, but that anyone wanting to try out the new proc-gen can follow some simple steps to open up and play on the new branch. We’ll be sure to post the instructions for everyone when it becomes available.

We’re also hoping to add Spectacles and Discoveries into the game soon too, which will also help to make the world feel less empty. Once both Spectacles/Discoveries and the new proc-gen are in, space should feel more lush and exciting!


If you have any questions about procedural generation or the new system, we’d welcome you to come join our FBG Podcast on 10th November at 16:00 GMT! We’ll have stolen Paul away from his artistic duties to talk about all the changes.

REMINDER: Any backers who have not received their game keys yet please email skies@failbettergames.com, as it appears that quite a few people’s keys got eaten by spam filters.

Greetings Sky-Captains,

There’s a number of new features in this build for you to get your claws into.


Engine Yards:
These are shops in port (currently just New Winchester) where you can purchase new locomotives. Instead of a straight purchase situation, players will be able to trade their current locomotive in towards the price of a new beauty. Be forewarned—locomotives are not cheap, and prices may change as we continue to balance the economy. Start saving those Sovereigns!

Banks:
You can now store items that are taking up valuable space in your hold. Banks are available at major ports (which means just New Winchester at the moment until new Regions are released). Items stored in banks can also be retrieved by a new captain if your previous one meets their demise. To access the bank speak to the Scrubbed Clerk at New Winchester once you reach level 2.

Legacies:
When starting a new game you can now choose to play the Legacy or Merciful campaign.

In Legacy mode, players can start from the last major port visited by their previous captain, with their locomotive, half their sovereigns, any items stored in their bank, a percentage of their experience, and all but one piece of equipment assigned to their locomotive.

In Merciful mode, players can choose to either start with a new captain as in Legacy mode, or continue with their previous captain from their last auto-save point.

Character Creation:
This update allows players to select a character portrait, character name, what they’ll be addressed as, an origin story, their base statistics, and their chosen ambition.

As a note: Character Creation is not yet fully complete. There will be more origin stories, ambitions, and facial features will be added later on. We’d very much appreciate your feedback about which type of features you’d like to see more of/which are lacking.



There’s not as many bug fixes for existing issues with this update but that is because our focus has mostly been on developing and testing the new features in this build.

As always, if you spot a bug, please check to see if it’s a Known Issue (any workarounds are in red text) before emailing us at skies@failbettergames.com with details of the bug (specific info on what to include in bug reports can be found on our Bug Reporting page).

As for feedback, please let us know what you think of the new features and existing ones too at skies@failbettergames.com. Feel free to post on the forums too, particularly on our Focused Feedback threads. Our current ones are on Terror and Economy, Progress & World Shape


UI
* The chart zoom now functions when the chart is accessed with a storylet open.
* The Hull tooltip now auto-updates as soon as Bronzewood shielding is equipped. You no longer need to repair your hull or exit and re-enter the game to see the update.
* Cruise Control can no longer be activated when you have an interface open.
* If you gain more items than your Locomotive can carry whilst in a dock, you are now able to close the Jettison interface temporarily in order to sell items at shops, or bank them if at a hub (major) port.
* The Hold UI now expands correctly when purchasing additional items.
* The Main Menu can no longer be brought up on the Title Screen.

Combat
* Agents no longer damage themselves with ranged weapons.

Content
* We've updated Titania so the Mayor won't explain the construction options after you've already started building.
* The Magician at Polmear and Plenty’s no longer sets your Sovereigns to 100 when handing in items to him.
* You can once again attend a performance at the circus (determined by the date).
* All options can now be seen in the Parsimonious Chairman’s offices even if you don’t meet the requirements.
* You are now correctly awarded Favour at Victory Hall in Exile when handing in port reports.
* Pane of Stained Glass is available to buy no matter the state of the Winchester War.
* Rewards from the Parsimonious Chairman and Sweet Jane have been tweaked so they are in-line with each other.
* Fuel and Supplies are now available for sale at all ports.
* The Brendan at Hybras now disappears at the correct moment in the Hybras storyline.
* Titanian Petals and Mandrakes can no longer be farmed for Sovereigns.
* The Formidable Lacquerer is no longer referred to as the Formidable Onnagata.
* Likewise the Pharonic Enthusiast is no longer referred to as the Pharonic Aficionado.
* Several typos and grammatical errors have been fixed.

Legacies
* Dying in dock during Merciful mode will no longer cause perpetual death when loading from the last autosave.

Misc
* We have removed some blocking at the Bronzewood trees decoration.
* Hull is now reduced correctly when unequipping Bronzewood Shielding.
* Crew is now reduced correctly when unequipping Cosy Cabins.
* Crew can no longer be exceeded at The Labour Exchange.

Greetings Sky-Captains,

There’s a number of new features in this build for you to get your claws into.


Engine Yards:
These are shops in port (currently just New Winchester) where you can purchase new locomotives. Instead of a straight purchase situation, players will be able to trade their current locomotive in towards the price of a new beauty. Be forewarned—locomotives are not cheap, and prices may change as we continue to balance the economy. Start saving those Sovereigns!

Banks:
You can now store items that are taking up valuable space in your hold. Banks are available at major ports (which means just New Winchester at the moment until new Regions are released). Items stored in banks can also be retrieved by a new captain if your previous one meets their demise. To access the bank speak to the Scrubbed Clerk at New Winchester once you reach level 2.

Legacies:
When starting a new game you can now choose to play the Legacy or Merciful campaign.

In Legacy mode, players can start from the last major port visited by their previous captain, with their locomotive, half their sovereigns, any items stored in their bank, a percentage of their experience, and all but one piece of equipment assigned to their locomotive.

In Merciful mode, players can choose to either start with a new captain as in Legacy mode, or continue with their previous captain from their last auto-save point.

Character Creation:
This update allows players to select a character portrait, character name, what they’ll be addressed as, an origin story, their base statistics, and their chosen ambition.

As a note: Character Creation is not yet fully complete. There will be more origin stories, ambitions, and facial features will be added later on. We’d very much appreciate your feedback about which type of features you’d like to see more of/which are lacking.



There’s not as many bug fixes for existing issues with this update but that is because our focus has mostly been on developing and testing the new features in this build.

As always, if you spot a bug, please check to see if it’s a Known Issue (any workarounds are in red text) before emailing us at skies@failbettergames.com with details of the bug (specific info on what to include in bug reports can be found on our Bug Reporting page).

As for feedback, please let us know what you think of the new features and existing ones too at skies@failbettergames.com. Feel free to post on the forums too, particularly on our Focused Feedback threads. Our current ones are on Terror and Economy, Progress & World Shape


UI
* The chart zoom now functions when the chart is accessed with a storylet open.
* The Hull tooltip now auto-updates as soon as Bronzewood shielding is equipped. You no longer need to repair your hull or exit and re-enter the game to see the update.
* Cruise Control can no longer be activated when you have an interface open.
* If you gain more items than your Locomotive can carry whilst in a dock, you are now able to close the Jettison interface temporarily in order to sell items at shops, or bank them if at a hub (major) port.
* The Hold UI now expands correctly when purchasing additional items.
* The Main Menu can no longer be brought up on the Title Screen.

Combat
* Agents no longer damage themselves with ranged weapons.

Content
* We've updated Titania so the Mayor won't explain the construction options after you've already started building.
* The Magician at Polmear and Plenty’s no longer sets your Sovereigns to 100 when handing in items to him.
* You can once again attend a performance at the circus (determined by the date).
* All options can now be seen in the Parsimonious Chairman’s offices even if you don’t meet the requirements.
* You are now correctly awarded Favour at Victory Hall in Exile when handing in port reports.
* Pane of Stained Glass is available to buy no matter the state of the Winchester War.
* Rewards from the Parsimonious Chairman and Sweet Jane have been tweaked so they are in-line with each other.
* Fuel and Supplies are now available for sale at all ports.
* The Brendan at Hybras now disappears at the correct moment in the Hybras storyline.
* Titanian Petals and Mandrakes can no longer be farmed for Sovereigns.
* The Formidable Lacquerer is no longer referred to as the Formidable Onnagata.
* Likewise the Pharonic Enthusiast is no longer referred to as the Pharonic Aficionado.
* Several typos and grammatical errors have been fixed.

Legacies
* Dying in dock during Merciful mode will no longer cause perpetual death when loading from the last autosave.

Misc
* We have removed some blocking at the Bronzewood trees decoration.
* Hull is now reduced correctly when unequipping Bronzewood Shielding.
* Crew is now reduced correctly when unequipping Cosy Cabins.
* Crew can no longer be exceeded at The Labour Exchange.

Today is a very exciting update for us (and you!) as today is our first feature update to the game! Once your game updates in Steam/GOG, you’ll be able to explore: Engine Yards, Banks, Legacies and—perhaps most excitingly—Character Creation. These features make up quite large systems within the game, and so we’ve spent this sprint and a few others tidying them up and bug testing them. Alongside that, we’ve also been working on Albion content, other large systems like Prospects and Bargains, and of course addressing feedback from players.

NEW FEATURES ADDED

Engine Yards:
These are shops in port where players can purchase new locomotives. Instead of a straight purchase situation, players will be able to trade their current locomotive in towards the price of a new beauty. Be forewarned—locomotives are not cheap, and prices may change as we continue to balance the economy.

Banks:
Where players can store items that are taking up valuable space in their holds. Items stored in banks can also be retrieved by a new captain if your previous one had met their demise. To access the bank speak to the Scrubbed Clerk at New Winchester once you reach level 2.

Legacies:
Death is hard to avoid, but thankfully where one captain fails, another may continue on in their place and hope to further their great work.

In Legacy mode, players can start from the last major port visited by their previous captain, with their locomotive, half their sovereigns, any items stored in their bank, a percentage of their experience, and all but one piece of equipment assigned to their locomotive.

In Merciful mode, players can choose to either start with a new captain as in Legacy mode, or continue with their previous captain from their last auto-save point.

Character Creation:
Those who had fun with our Kickstarter prototype will find this familiar. This update allows players to select a character portrait, character name, what they’ll be addressed as, an origin story, their base statistics, and their chosen ambition.

As a note: Character Creation is not yet fully complete. There will be more origin stories, ambitions, and facial features will be added later on. We’d very much appreciate your feedback about which type of features you’d like to see more of/which are lacking. Thanks!






ART

Meet the Enduring Dreadnought, a fast and powerful locomotive available only to the agents of Her Enduring Majesty's Government. These locomotives are generally manned bv ambassadors, Constables, Ministers, and other enforcers of London's will - they are a sign of London's power wherever they travel.



Besides creating the above three-cylinder locomotive, Tobias was also tasked with the Aeginae, leviathans that dwell in the belly of the heavens. Usually, they are only glimpsed as sliding shapes–grand as mountain-ranges–in the fogs below. It is said that the suns have an ancient pact with them.

We are keeping these under cloud-cover for now, but will be very glad to share them when we’re ready…


CONTENT

In preparation of adding Engine Yards, James dove into spreadsheeting work again to write content for within the Engine Yards, as well as cover where they exist in game, what their names are, and which locomotives they're going to sell.

Alongside that, Chris designed and specified locomotive details necessary for players to be able to use the Engine Yards, for example: price, where locomotives can be bought, their qualities, quarters, hold and hull.

This sprint also sees Albion and Eleutheria port work continue with pitches, writing and quality assurance.

GAMEPLAY & DESIGN

Besides a whole host of tweaks to Engine Yards and Banks, Mac has been working on the implementation of Prospects and Bargains, our system for trade in Sunless Skies.

Chris and Barry have been working in tandem to this to implement the design-focused bits Chris has been working on. This allows our team to link the trade system to logical places within the game world.

Our design team has also been busy discovering a solution to one of the main pieces of feedback we’ve received so far—that currently Sunless Skies feels quite empty.

While actual space can feel vast and empty, we of course do not want our game to feel as such. Therefore, Liam, Chris and Paul have been discussing and rejigging how to lay out the world of Sunless Skies so it feels more full and lush.

This has involved intense planning sessions and a redesign of how the world is procedurally generated within the game. We’ll share their solution here soon in fuller detail!


If you have any questions regarding the new features, please join us for the FBG Podcast Friday 27th October at 16:00 BST!

REMINDER: Any backers who have not received their game keys yet please email skies@failbettergames.com, as it appears that quite a few people’s keys got eaten by spam filters.

Today is a very exciting update for us (and you!) as today is our first feature update to the game! Once your game updates in Steam/GOG, you’ll be able to explore: Engine Yards, Banks, Legacies and—perhaps most excitingly—Character Creation. These features make up quite large systems within the game, and so we’ve spent this sprint and a few others tidying them up and bug testing them. Alongside that, we’ve also been working on Albion content, other large systems like Prospects and Bargains, and of course addressing feedback from players.

NEW FEATURES ADDED

Engine Yards:
These are shops in port where players can purchase new locomotives. Instead of a straight purchase situation, players will be able to trade their current locomotive in towards the price of a new beauty. Be forewarned—locomotives are not cheap, and prices may change as we continue to balance the economy.

Banks:
Where players can store items that are taking up valuable space in their holds. Items stored in banks can also be retrieved by a new captain if your previous one had met their demise. To access the bank speak to the Scrubbed Clerk at New Winchester once you reach level 2.

Legacies:
Death is hard to avoid, but thankfully where one captain fails, another may continue on in their place and hope to further their great work.

In Legacy mode, players can start from the last major port visited by their previous captain, with their locomotive, half their sovereigns, any items stored in their bank, a percentage of their experience, and all but one piece of equipment assigned to their locomotive.

In Merciful mode, players can choose to either start with a new captain as in Legacy mode, or continue with their previous captain from their last auto-save point.

Character Creation:
Those who had fun with our Kickstarter prototype will find this familiar. This update allows players to select a character portrait, character name, what they’ll be addressed as, an origin story, their base statistics, and their chosen ambition.

As a note: Character Creation is not yet fully complete. There will be more origin stories, ambitions, and facial features will be added later on. We’d very much appreciate your feedback about which type of features you’d like to see more of/which are lacking. Thanks!






ART

Meet the Enduring Dreadnought, a fast and powerful locomotive available only to the agents of Her Enduring Majesty's Government. These locomotives are generally manned bv ambassadors, Constables, Ministers, and other enforcers of London's will - they are a sign of London's power wherever they travel.



Besides creating the above three-cylinder locomotive, Tobias was also tasked with the Aeginae, leviathans that dwell in the belly of the heavens. Usually, they are only glimpsed as sliding shapes–grand as mountain-ranges–in the fogs below. It is said that the suns have an ancient pact with them.

We are keeping these under cloud-cover for now, but will be very glad to share them when we’re ready…


CONTENT

In preparation of adding Engine Yards, James dove into spreadsheeting work again to write content for within the Engine Yards, as well as cover where they exist in game, what their names are, and which locomotives they're going to sell.

Alongside that, Chris designed and specified locomotive details necessary for players to be able to use the Engine Yards, for example: price, where locomotives can be bought, their qualities, quarters, hold and hull.

This sprint also sees Albion and Eleutheria port work continue with pitches, writing and quality assurance.

GAMEPLAY & DESIGN

Besides a whole host of tweaks to Engine Yards and Banks, Mac has been working on the implementation of Prospects and Bargains, our system for trade in Sunless Skies.

Chris and Barry have been working in tandem to this to implement the design-focused bits Chris has been working on. This allows our team to link the trade system to logical places within the game world.

Our design team has also been busy discovering a solution to one of the main pieces of feedback we’ve received so far—that currently Sunless Skies feels quite empty.

While actual space can feel vast and empty, we of course do not want our game to feel as such. Therefore, Liam, Chris and Paul have been discussing and rejigging how to lay out the world of Sunless Skies so it feels more full and lush.

This has involved intense planning sessions and a redesign of how the world is procedurally generated within the game. We’ll share their solution here soon in fuller detail!


If you have any questions regarding the new features, please join us for the FBG Podcast Friday 27th October at 16:00 BST!

REMINDER: Any backers who have not received their game keys yet please email skies@failbettergames.com, as it appears that quite a few people’s keys got eaten by spam filters.

The office has still been a bit quiet this sprint due to quite a few people taking holiday in this post-Early Access launch time period. Our Albion work continues to forge ahead in each department. Alongside creating the next region, we remain focused on taking the feedback we’re seeing from players and having internal discussions about our design and production moving forwards.


ART

One area of feedback we’ve been looking at is Terror. Our first Focused Feedback thread on the forums was all about Terror, which led to the discovery that we could do a better job communicating/showing Terror levels to players in-game. Thus, Tobias has been working on how Terror levels and Terror increase are visually communicated on-screen. Later on, music will also be added to help illustrate this as well.

Upon his return from holiday Paul began work on the Isambard Line assets which consist of gates and track. The Isambard Line will be a railroad line located in the Reach, owned by the Windward Company.



Players will have the option to fix the line and bring it back into service or leave it to disrepair. Fixing the line will help the Stove Pipes, while the Tacketies would be rather pleased if it stays unusable. If fixed, the line will act as a fast-travel service throughout the Reach, in a similar way to Currents in Sunless Sea. If left in disarray, you’ll have a better relationship with the Tacketies and may find new trade opportunities open up.


CONTENT

We’re thrilled to announce this sprint that Cassandra Khaw will officially be one of our excellent freelancers for the game! Specifically she’ll be working on Worlebury-juxta-Mare, a seaside-esque port in Albion.

The writers (including our wonderful freelancers) are in full Albion mode and have been busy working away at the content for Albion ports and other bits of Albion content.

Similar to Terror, we’ve also received some great feedback about the game’s economy, and so Chris has been looking into some solutions as he designs and write s content for Prospects and Bargains—or the trade system within Sunless Skies. Chris answered quite a few questions about the future of trade in the last FBG Podcast.

MUSIC

Maribeth, the exceptionally talented composer behind the Fallen London and Sunless Sea OSTs, has started creating the tracks for Albion. Since each region has its own unique atmosphere, the theme music for each region is extremely pivotal. Alongside the Albion music she has also been composing the Terror, Death, Victory and Hero themes.

GAMEPLAY & DESIGN

Mac and Barry have continued implementing both the Character Creation and Legacy systems. The Legacy system in Sunless Skies is designed both to respect players’ time and to address the change players will experience as the move through the map of the High Wilderness.

In Sunless Sea, players always returned to London and often moved from right to left. In Sunless Skies, players will still return to major ports often, but there won’t be a singular ‘home’ port and we hope the circular structure of the regions will put more of an emphasis on exploration and cause more variance in travel pathways.



Players will initially be able to choose from two game modes in the Legacy system: Merciful or Legacy. In Legacy mode, when your captain dies, your new captain will start from the last major port that your previous captain visited, along with:

• Their locomotive
  
• Half their sovereigns
  
• Any items they stored in the bank
  
• A percentage of their experience

They will also start with most of the equipment assigned to the locomotive, however, players will lose one random piece of equipment from their hold.

When players die in Merciful mode, they can choose between starting with a new captain as in the Legacy mode, or continuing with their previous captain from the last auto-save point.


BUGS & FEEDBACK

Lesleyann would like to remind everyone playing Sunless Skies to check out the Focused Feedback threads on the Steam and FBG forums. So far there are two posted: “Terror” and “Economy, General Progression and World Shape,” with plenty more to come!



Keep an eye out week commencing 23rd October, as we’ll be updating the game with its first new feature build—meaning our first update to the game that will include new bits and pieces and not just bug fixes.

Catch our FBG Podcast this week at 16:00 BST Friday 13th October on Twitch! We’ll be joined with Cash and James, who would adore to answer any writerly questions, or in Cash’s case, singing requests.

REMINDER: Any backers who have not received their game keys yet please email skies@failbettergames.com, as it appears that quite a few people’s keys got eaten by spam filters.

The office has still been a bit quiet this sprint due to quite a few people taking holiday in this post-Early Access launch time period. Our Albion work continues to forge ahead in each department. Alongside creating the next region, we remain focused on taking the feedback we’re seeing from players and having internal discussions about our design and production moving forwards.


ART

One area of feedback we’ve been looking at is Terror. Our first Focused Feedback thread on the forums was all about Terror, which led to the discovery that we could do a better job communicating/showing Terror levels to players in-game. Thus, Tobias has been working on how Terror levels and Terror increase are visually communicated on-screen. Later on, music will also be added to help illustrate this as well.

Upon his return from holiday Paul began work on the Isambard Line assets which consist of gates and track. The Isambard Line will be a railroad line located in the Reach, owned by the Windward Company.



Players will have the option to fix the line and bring it back into service or leave it to disrepair. Fixing the line will help the Stove Pipes, while the Tacketies would be rather pleased if it stays unusable. If fixed, the line will act as a fast-travel service throughout the Reach, in a similar way to Currents in Sunless Sea. If left in disarray, you’ll have a better relationship with the Tacketies and may find new trade opportunities open up.


CONTENT

We’re thrilled to announce this sprint that Cassandra Khaw will officially be one of our excellent freelancers for the game! Specifically she’ll be working on Worlebury-juxta-Mare, a seaside-esque port in Albion.

The writers (including our wonderful freelancers) are in full Albion mode and have been busy working away at the content for Albion ports and other bits of Albion content.

Similar to Terror, we’ve also received some great feedback about the game’s economy, and so Chris has been looking into some solutions as he designs and write s content for Prospects and Bargains—or the trade system within Sunless Skies. Chris answered quite a few questions about the future of trade in the last FBG Podcast.

MUSIC

Maribeth, the exceptionally talented composer behind the Fallen London and Sunless Sea OSTs, has started creating the tracks for Albion. Since each region has its own unique atmosphere, the theme music for each region is extremely pivotal. Alongside the Albion music she has also been composing the Terror, Death, Victory and Hero themes.

GAMEPLAY & DESIGN

Mac and Barry have continued implementing both the Character Creation and Legacy systems. The Legacy system in Sunless Skies is designed both to respect players’ time and to address the change players will experience as the move through the map of the High Wilderness.

In Sunless Sea, players always returned to London and often moved from right to left. In Sunless Skies, players will still return to major ports often, but there won’t be a singular ‘home’ port and we hope the circular structure of the regions will put more of an emphasis on exploration and cause more variance in travel pathways.



Players will initially be able to choose from two game modes in the Legacy system: Merciful or Legacy. In Legacy mode, when your captain dies, your new captain will start from the last major port that your previous captain visited, along with:

• Their locomotive
  
• Half their sovereigns
  
• Any items they stored in the bank
  
• A percentage of their experience

They will also start with most of the equipment assigned to the locomotive, however, players will lose one random piece of equipment from their hold.

When players die in Merciful mode, they can choose between starting with a new captain as in the Legacy mode, or continuing with their previous captain from the last auto-save point.


BUGS & FEEDBACK

Lesleyann would like to remind everyone playing Sunless Skies to check out the Focused Feedback threads on the Steam and FBG forums. So far there are two posted: “Terror” and “Economy, General Progression and World Shape,” with plenty more to come!



Keep an eye out week commencing 23rd October, as we’ll be updating the game with its first new feature build—meaning our first update to the game that will include new bits and pieces and not just bug fixes.

Catch our FBG Podcast this week at 16:00 BST Friday 13th October on Twitch! We’ll be joined with Cash and James, who would adore to answer any writerly questions, or in Cash’s case, singing requests.

REMINDER: Any backers who have not received their game keys yet please email skies@failbettergames.com, as it appears that quite a few people’s keys got eaten by spam filters.

This sprint, seven of our crew headed to EGX to showcase Sunless Skies! New and veteran fans alike stopped by to give the game a try and we were delighted to chat with everyone and hear their feedback. On Friday, Chris, Lottie and Adam headed to the EGX stage to chat with Eurogamer’s Johnny Chiodini, which you can watch on Eurogamer’s YouTube page.



ART
With the Early Access launch finished, Paul has departed for a well-deserved holiday, so the art this sprint has primarily been done by Tobias. One of the things he’s been working on is another locomotive: the Altani-class outrider, an evasive locomotive from the Khanate.



Alongside the Altani, he also tackled some Discovery homesteads. There are currently five types of homesteads: eerie, friendly, recently abandoned, hostile and pro-trading.




CONTENT
Content have been continuing their work on Albion and its ports. James and Olivia have been finishing up the writing for ports such as the Serene Mausoleum and Brabazon Workworld, which Caolain has been mechanically QA'ing afterwards.

Chris created the art briefs for Discoveries and Spectacles, which aren't yet in-game.

Discoveries are points of interest in the High Wilderness. A Discovery could be something simple, like a floating crate of munitions, or could be the (hopefully) empty wreck of a crashed locomotive. These Discoveries will provide resources and stories for bold explorers to find.

Spectacles are awe-inspiring locations in the High Wilderness. Some will strike terror into the hearts of your crew, while others may bring them comfort. A wise skyfarer will learn routes that will keep their crew's dread at bay.


GAMEPLAY AND DESIGN
Before heading off to EGX, Barry worked on the Legacy system. This included selecting a Legacy and how new characters are created after a previous character dies. Under the Legacy system, captains may find they inherit a few bits from the expired captain, such as their ship and some donations from the old captain’s acquaintances.

Liam has been tending to the UI work for Character Creation while Henry and Mac have continued the tech work involved in implementing this system.

Mac has also been implementing Experience Gain within the game, so that players will receive the proper figures upon passing landmarks. He's also been working on the Banking Service, which is a feature that will allow players to store some of their items in New Winchester to save space in their locomotive's hold.

Shipyards are also being implemented, which give players the ability to rename their locomotive. Prospects and bargains have also been started. Once these are implemented, players will be able to scope out potential deals for trading.

BUGS AND FEEDBACK
This sprint we’ve started focused feedback sessions on our game forums. The first Feedback Focus we’d like to dive into is Terror. You can find these threads here on our Steam forum or on the FBG forum.


REMINDER: Any backers who have not received their game keys yet please email skies@failbettergames.com, as it appears that quite a few people’s keys got eaten by spam filters.

Our next FBG Podcast will take place this Friday 29th September at 16:00 BST! Come with your content questions at the ready, as we’re hoping to have a writer join us this week.