As of the past few weeks, we've been doing a lot of behind-the-scenes work on Nauticalith. This week is the beginning of our transition to brand-new content! Things are still in the intermediary stage of us cleaning up and improving the project, but we do have a few neat additions to show off.
One of the most notable features we added recently was buoyancy. As Logan mentioned in the last update, this required a complete rework to how swimming, sailing, and floating worked. Now when you jump or fall in to the water, you'll notice that you sink down before coming back up. This relates directly to your falling speed, making you go deeper in to the water before shooting back up - just as you'd expect.
To accompany the new underwater views, we had to make some large changes to many parts of the game. Previously, the player could never go below the surface of the water, so we had no need for much visual content down there. Now, we have added some great full-screen effects and heavy fog while underwater. You can't see too far in any direction like in reality. However, you can still see objects near you. This meant remodeling the base of every island to be very, very deep. Now, islands will seem to stretch underwater in to darkness. The player cannot see the ocean floor because it is far too deep. This helps improve the foreboding ocean feeling that we were aiming for.
One final visual change this week comes in the form of improved lighting. Now, lanterns will project shadows to objects in the area around them. Instead of just giving off light in a sphere, you'll see areas illuminated much more realistically.
That's all for now. Check back later for some juicy new content!
~Dave
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