I tried the latest build today and oh what a joy to play. After reading the thread, i had to try and see the new biomes. They are beautiful. I'm really impressed! And like i said, it is a joy to play already and i'm eager to see where it's heading. Sorry for the lack of feedback on handling, but i don't really have problems in the moment. If you need feedback on specific things, i'll focus on the next time.
The mountain biome looks amazing, th changes were excellent. Tree shape, water -- it's so lush. I think it's my favorite biome, after those changes. Re: controls, I think I like the new experimental better than the current normal, and I had noticed the inability to rise after a deep dive at times in the older model. I think that the new model allows a bit too easy / distant drifting, though. I made a fast, low altitude run through a canyon with the sun to my right (repeating, 256 voxels) and measured my drift distance after starting to coast at full speed. At normal model, I drifted ~1.8x around before going in the drink. At experimental, I drifted ~6.2x before hitting water. That's quite a difference. I think the normal mode on this version is the better place to be for drift, if not for dynamic flight. It seems a difficult thing to get perfect. I'm glad to offer my input to help as I'm able. bp
I'm loving this so much. This is shaping up to be one of the most unique and joyful games I've played all year. Out of curiosity, what will the "game" aspects be like?
Thanks for checking in! I appreaciate the feedback, even if it's all good! It's good to know I'm heading in the right direction (no pun intended, haha).
Yes, it turned out really well, good contrast to the canyon for sure. Yes, I agree. I have tweeked it further, I got the drifting down to about 2.8, should be ok for now. I also cranked up the gravity with 50 %, it really helps with the downward acceleration and the general feel of the game. Yes, but we're getting there, slowely but surely. I let a friend of mine with no gaming experience to speak of test Fugl today and he could get into the flying very easily. He thought it was awesome, so I think with the current scheme the handling of the bird is going to feel pretty natural and intuitive.
Thank you! Hmm, good question. I haven't really settled on one idea in particular, as all ideas kind of exclude a fun part. So I'm thinking of splitting the game in several modes: 1) First and foremost is the game about the joy of flying, so the main mode might actually be free flight, which is based on exploring the environment. We'll add custom made stuff that rarely appears, so there will always be something fresh to see. 2) I also want to have a distance mode, where you are scored based on distance. In this mode you will need to hunt the animals to gain energy to flap the wings or you'll crash eventually. You will also need to look out for falling rocks, meteors, lumps of lava etc. 3) Proximity-mode where you are scored on how close you fly to terrain x the speed. Haven't figured it out just yet, but it might be some requirements to stay close to the ground at all times. Like it will start to beep or something if you get far away from the ground, and if you don't get close to it, you'll explode (or something). I haven't given it so much thought yet. Think of it as a really stressful arcade mode. 4) Hunted-mode where you are being hunted by hunters. You will need to dodge bullets and take them out. To be honest I think the main appeal of this game is maybe not a particular game-mechanic, but more about the relaxation of soaring over the terrain, and going though small crevices etc, so I'm a bit torn on how to proceed with the gameplay. I would like to have gameplay, but every idea I thow at the wall doesn't really stick yet. I'm still open to ideas. Basically I'm just making my dream flight sim, and that is good enough for me. I'm planning more games based on this same engine with more defined gameplay. With Fugl I would really just like to keep it simple, but if there is something that fits very well gameplay-wise, I would use it. I'm afraid to narrow the game down to a specific gameplay trope.
If this massive gif breaks the internet let me know and ill remove it Loving the new biomes, this game is just a never ending delight to play. Have you put some thought into the sound track yet?
My apologies for ignoring this game... It has been quite a number of builds since I have provided any input! I couldn't believe my eyes upon seeing the new biomes. I'm glad to finally escape the desert! I was confused for a while, I thought you had to select the biome from the menu. They look great from the sky but up close some of the coloration in the new biomes can get a bit weird (ex. the way the grass fades to rock makes the rock just look like dead grass at first, and grass near rocky areas looks quite blue). Regardless, I'm really glad to see some more colorful areas to fly around. It would be nice to see some particle effects in these areas, such as water splashes when you fly through the thin waterfalls and snow in the arctic biome. Regarding your discussion of how game mechanics will work... It sounds like you are having trouble finding a way to fit in the many potential styles of play you have in mind. One possible way to include all of these game modes in an organized fashion would be to adopt a similar format of the game Alto's Adventure (or I'm sure, many other similar endless games). In that format, the player has three or so challenges at a time, each one could belong to a different playstyle/gamemode (ex one challenge could be to earn a certain amount of points by flying close to the ground, another could be to hunt a certain number animals, etc.). Completing all of the challenges in a set would give the player bird unlocks, achievements, or other in-game goodies. I think that format would keep play sessions quick, very diverse, and rewarding while also keeping the game organized, easy for the player to understand, and not too broad. Also, sorry if I've contradicted any ideas/changes you've done recently... I haven't had the chance to catch up on all of the things I missed in this thread.
Cool that you were able to embed a gif, Marco tried uploading directly, but that didn't work. Think think of embedding. Cool little video, what program did you use to make the gif? Happy you like them, more coming soon! Regarding sound: First and foremost we will be working on the soundscape done with 3D audio. Hopefully this will enough for a free flight mode, but if it isn't we'll probably make some loops that can be combined dynamiccaly in many different ways depending on situatuion, biome etc. I haven't given it much thought yet, but the sound guy is starting production now, so we'll soon see what he comes up with, but the main focus for the time being is all the animal, wind, water and flapping sounds in addition to general ambience sounds.
Welcome back, I'm just happy we didn't loose you, as you have been one of the regulars... All the coloring is a bit work in progress at the moment, but it's good with this kind of feedback, I'll have a look and see if I can make it work a little better. Transitions are always a bit tricky. Yes, absolutely, good idea. I'll make it happen. I want as much environmental effects as possible... These kind of things are more like achivements in my mind, something that is an added bonus to just flying around with no purpose. In addition to free flight-mode (where these kind of missions could be a thing), I also want to make a proper game, maybe even with an ending. Like you start off at the first biome and progress though all the biomes, where it get more and more difficult. Maybe even some kind of boss fight at the end, or like the trench run in star wars, where you would have to navigate some really tricky area, like deep down into a volcano. I have also some vision for gameplay that I would like to stick to if possible: 1) Player has to fly close to the terrain 2) Player needs to explore 3) There is a contrast between going fast and slow - both have their time and place in the game 4) There should be some underlying tension, some danger lurking 5) As little violence as possible 6) No tired old gameplay tropes No, it's great thanks. Happy to have your feedback!
Amongst the Trees (60fps video) I wanted to take advantage of some low-level tree weaving before the current release's rather long-distance soaring flight model got adjusted down. Subscribe to the TouchArcade YouTube channel Anyone recognize the tune...? bp
nice weaving there BP, and great video! The tune reminds me something from Gran Turismo when checking out new cars to buy If i had your video capture stuff, i'd post a video of flying through the polar biome with Lindsey Stirling's Crystallize playing, it's how i do it at home Could you post something like this? Edit: by the way Johan, can you add the option to have birds and animals on/off? sometimes i find i want to take a solitary flight through the biomes, no birds messing the scenery with explosions (yes, i know, i said it, it's a shock to me too, that's how beautiful the game is) and can you please please give us the option to land and turn the camera? landing on high places and looking around is what birds do anyway
wow - I had forgotten that that Pilotwings 64 music was that good. Beautiful stuff. This game looks terrific too by the way.
No special equipment needed -- just a Mac running Yosemite (OS X 10.10), an iOS device running iOS 8, and a Lightning cable. With that setup, QuickTime player for OS X will record 60fps video off of your iOS device. bp
Impressions Hey everyone! I just got access to this wonderful game today, and I wanted to post my impressions so far after around 90 minutes or more of playing. I haven't read through the forum thread yet, so some of this might repeat earlier comments, please bear with me. My Holy Spirit surveying the Great Divide: -When first launching, it loaded for a long time, then crashed twice before getting me to the menu. No crashes after that though! -Very pretty logo and neat menu particle effects. When I already start enjoying the game while using the menu, I know I'm in for a good time -"Imagine you are superman" is an awesome thing to say in the instructions to a game -Getting control of the bird felt hard and confusing in the beginning. Took me around 10 tries before I learnt to fly straight and steady. After that though, it didn't take long before I felt like the most goddamn elegant bird to grace this planet. -Favorite flight style: "experimental" flight mode and inverted y-axis, rest of the settings at default. Switching to "normal" flight mode felt like flying a different kind of bird. I would definitely love to be able to choose from different "species" of birds to fly with. Some smaller and faster, some larger and slower, etc. -THE GAME IS FREAKING BEAUTIFUL OKAY. EVERYTHING. Sat with my mouth open for a good hour. -All the other control schemes than default felt like gimmicks. Maybe I just didn't give them a fair enough shake, but I couldn't really make any of them work nicely. Scenic VR is fun for sight-seeing though -I love the biome variation. The grassy biome was my favorite, just felt so peaceful and idyllic. The ice landscape one was breathtaking when I first arrived, but has too little variation right now to keep me interested for long. Great in small doses though. The canyon biome got a little bland after some time, until I learned to skim the water. The long canyons are wonderful now! New desktop wallpaper: -Turning the wind on was fun. Riding the wind feels great, especially through holes. Flying against the wind feels like being a bird in a dramatic movie, fighting through a storm to deliver a message or rescue its children. Nice to have the option to turn it off as well though. -I was confused as to what "fly towards the sun" meant for a while. The wind could maybe be used to gently guide new players in the right direction? -Talking about flying towards the sun: I tried flying upwards for a while. When I wanted to go down, I was super confused and couldn't tell up from down. Would have been nice with a restart button or something like that for situations like that, since I had to fall for quite a while. -Feature request: when you go to change the colors of your bird, it should show the last used bird. That way, if the game generates a bird in colors that you like, you could go to the color changing screen and instantly choose that again. -Feature request 2: the ability to store favorite bird color schemes! -I absolutely adore all the animals (alliteration!), especially the silly penguins and the happy mountain goats. -Request: More particles! Everywhere! Waterfalls, skimming water, skimming walls, diving, etc. Could add a lot of feel. -I'm sure you're working on this already, but I can't wait for sound effects to be added. There's a dimension missing there for sure. If you decide to add music, you could do it Minecraft-style: start it at random intervals and have breaks between the songs. Personally I listened to Agnes Obel while playing, which was very fitting -There were no trails after me on the water in the grassy biome -The game asked for access to my photos at one point. What's up with that? To summarize: This game is amazing. The best thing is of course how great flight feels, I can tell you've worked on that a lot. I am so grateful to have the chance to try it. I hope you keep this free roaming mode till the end, as it is so wonderfully relaxing. If you feel the need/want to add a goal to the game, a focus on exploration would work well I feel. Fugl reminds me of the wonderful Secrets of Rætikon, which also has a superb flight system, although it's in 2D. Rætikon has a focus on exploration, and I feel like that works great for giving the player the chance to enjoy the feeling of flying without too much tension. Later on more tension and challenge is added to the game, which serves to let the player enjoy and learn the finer nuances of flying. Great stuff, if you haven't tried it, I highly recommend it. I'll be following the development of this one closely. Looking forward to seeing where you take this. And it doesn't even drain the battery very much! Played with no problems with Spotify playing in the background for quite a while. Game is pretty, even in death. Or something: -ZC PS. Sorry about the layout, couldn't get the forum list thing working. Also, sorry about the long post...
Thanks so much man! Stay tuned, we're adding new biomes very soon, there are also some more on the works for sure. And we're also fine-tuning the biomes we already have as well.
Thanks so much ZeppelinCaptain! Such kind words, positive feedback and constructive criticism! The larger the post the better! It was a very descriptive post and its always great to see fresh new insight in our game. Thank you for all your support and feedback!
0.6.3 0.6.3 is out! New stuff: - New biome: Cave - New animal: Bat - Experimental mode is now the normal mode - New experimental mode with 50 % more gravity, I think it's pretty fun - Better transitions between biomes (not so straight) On my short term to do list: - Mo' particles! - Jungle biome - Polar biome rework - Rework of land animal movement - Rudimentary sound Known issues: - Fish disappear after four biomes, restart to fix. I blame dolphins.
