[h2]Early Access v0.9.6d[/h2]

• Small optimization fix with input events
  
• Fixed shop panel showing in the HUB instead of only a message
  
• Upgraded to Godot Engine 3.5.3
  

Hello everyone!

The Steam Spring Sale have started and I'm glad to share that Skycliffs is now at -50% during the whole event!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1888200/Skycliffs/

But that's not all! The music soundtrack is also discounted at -25%!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2096090/Skycliffs_Original_Soundtrack

You can benefit from these discounts until the end of the Steam Spring Sale on March 23rd. This is a great opportunity to give the game a try. I hope you'll like it!

Wanna purchase both the game and the soundtrack? Don't forget to check out the permanent bundle that gives you an extra -15%!

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/28112/Skycliffs_Game__Soundtrack/

See you next time!
-Radiant Sloth

Hello everyone!

Lets talk today about Skycliffs. It is an action shooter roguelike with the unique hook of mixing top-down dungeon-crawling and verticality mechanics. The game has been out in Early Access on Steam for a couple months now. So I feel this is a good time to assess what happened and clarify what to expect for the future of the game.

[h2]Development on hold[/h2]

I want to be honest and transparent: Skycliffs sales have been very disappointing so far. The Winter Steam sales and the recent week-long deal did not change the situation much. The sad truth is that, as a solo developer having already spent 18+ months on this project, I cannot afford to keep working on it. I am of course quite sad about this. I was hoping to add more game content during the Early Access phase, as well as refine the difficulty balance and continue polishing the existing. But making and marketing games is hard and time consuming, and it can result in very little payoff. It is sometimes best to let go of a project and move on, although it is a tough decision.

Hence I am not planning any more content update and v1.0 release for Skycliffs for now and I hope for your understanding. Still, I am very happy of the current state of the game. It fits what I had envisioned and Im proud to have released it commercially. I also believe the current version contains enough content and replayability to allow for 10+ hours of entertainment. More if you like secret quests and seek 100% completion. So, if you enjoy this kind of game, please do give it a try, you may like it! Also, I am NOT dropping support for the game. I will continue to fix bugs. So please do report any issue you encounter and I will do my best to patch them.

[h2]Marketing a game is as hard as making it[/h2]

You may wonder what hindered sales and so did I. This is a good question and it is difficult to pinpoint a single root cause. I could write an entire analysis devlog but this is not the point of this post so lets simply mention a few elements. The market is quite saturated with dozens of games coming out each week, making it hard to stand out. Journalists, streamers and youtubers have to be picky as they do not have enough time to feature everything. Shooter dungeon-crawlers are also not very popular anymore, the current trends encourage arena survivors-like gameplay. Maybe mixing top-down fast-paced action and verticality platforming only appeal to a niche audience.

I also probably didnt spent enough effort on marketing as I was mainly focusing on learning how to make a good game. Contrary to what highly publicized success stories would want us to believe, success doesnt happen overnight and the early stages of any creative career almost always yield mixed results. We have to accept external factors out of our control and continue to work on what we can control and improve for the future.

If you have Skycliffs in your wishlist but have not bought it yet, I would be very curious to know your reasons. So please do not hesitate to reach out if you feel like sharing your take on this. It is always super valuable for a solo dev to read community feedback

[h2]Thanks[/h2]

To end this post, I would like to thank everyone who played Skycliffs and supported its development in any way, shape or form. Making a video game fully alone, from programming and art to music and writing, is a lot of work and takes a lot of time. The process can even feel a bit lonely every now and then. So thank your for being part of this journey, I appreciate your support and it was a great experience.

Releasing my first game was indeed a dream come true. I enjoyed it a lot and learnt so much. I cant wait to use this knowledge to keep making games. Actually, I am already working on a new project It is called Destroy The Monoliths and it is a real-time strategy tower offense roguelike. There is no Steam page yet (I will create one later), but for now you can play the free alpha version here! Please share your feedback if you give it a shot!

See you next time

-Radiant Sloth

Hello everyone,

It has been a while since the last post, and I'm sorry for that. I've been quite busy with life and other projects, and as a solo developer it is sometimes a bit hard to keep up with everything. However, I am glad to share with you a little update! It brings no new content, but I did some welcome optimization improvements. The overall frame rate is now better, and also the game launches faster. I hope you will find these changes valuable, especially in late runs where there are often a lot of bullets everywhere.

Also, let's be honest: the classic twin-stick shooter dungeon-crawler formula that Skycliffs follows is clearly not very popular anymore. People seem to be more attracted to survivors-like (also known as bullet heavens) or arena shooters. Since the game is still in Early Access phase, I'm starting to think about a few changes I could make to push the game a bit more into this genre direction while leaving its core hook (i.e. a roguelike shooter with verticality) untouched. If you enjoy Skycliffs, please tell me in the comments your opinion about this. I'm very curious to read your thoughts and I'd like to take them into account before making significant reworks.

Thanks for playing Skycliffs and your support, and see you next time!
-Radiant Sloth


[h2]Early Access v0.9.6c[/h2]

FIXES

• More optimization to rendering and bullets
  

[h2]Early Access v0.9.6b[/h2]

QUALITY OF LIFE

• The map in the quick menu now centers on the island where the player currently is
  

• Mystery bullets: reduced the number of random effects from 1/3/6/10/15 to 1/2/4/6/9
  
• Reduced the challenges money rewards in the later zones
  

• Fixed issue with the player keeping shooting after winning the best tier of the lunar balls challenge
  
• Player orbitals no longer hurt enemies before they are entirely spawned
  
• Tweaked all enemies shapes so that they are less likely to get stuck against obstacles (which should prevent some lags with the physics engine)
  
• Fixed memory leak affecting performances during long play sessions
  

Hello everyone!

Skycliffs has been released in Early Access a couple of days ago and first I would like to thank you all for the support! It is really great to read your feedback and to talk about the game!
Today I'm glad to release a patch with a few fixes and also some new content. Let's start with the biggest addition!

[h2]Alternate gamemode[/h2]

Having multi-height islands is a core aspect of Skycliffs since the goal of the project is to combine fast-paced dungeon-crawling and top-down platforming. However, I understand the platforming may not be everyone's cup of tea. If the jumping is not what interest you most but you still enjoy other aspects of Skycliffs like the fighting, the many items and synergies, the roguelike mechanics, or the secret quests, I've got you covered!

I am introducing an alternate gamemode that you can activate at the start of a run. It affects the generation to produce entirely flat islands! Obviously, this brings a whole new experience. Going to lower and higher grounds is a great way to dodge enemy attacks, but you cannot do that anymore if everything is flat. Also, some items become weaker as their effect is less likely to trigger while other become stronger. Overall, I feel this alternate gamemode offers a different experience that can be interesting in its own way. Please tell me which gamemode you personally prefer!


You can select the gamemode at the bottom of the menu where you choose your starting items.


A flat Lunar Ridge island.

[h2]Full changelog (v0.9.6a)[/h2]

ADDED

• Added a new alternate gamemode available at the start of runs: flat islands
  
• Added 2 new achievements
  

• Hybridobot nerf: now throws only one turret at once + turrets shoot a bit less bullets
  

• Fixed issue with meteorologist blessing and curse effects not applying properly
  
• Fixed issue with holding down the shooting button. If the button is still pressed, the shooting will now automatically resume after being hit, reloading, dashing, smashing or falling into the void.
  

Hello everyone!

Im very excited to announce that Skycliffs is now available in Early Access! You can grab the game right now (There is a 10% discount for launch week! And there is also a bundle with a 15% discount if you purchase the Soundtrack at the same time!) and start a new adventure through hazardous floating islands!

It has been a long journey to reach this milestone. Skycliffs is a bold and unique mix of fast-paced dungeon-crawling and top-down platforming, I hope youll like it as much as I enjoyed making it! It all started with me wondering: why are most dungeon-crawlers so flat and gloomy?. On the flip side, I absolutely loved the colorful environments of CrossCode and its unique take on top-down platforming. What if we had an Enter The Gungeon-like with some Crosscode-inspired visuals and mechanics, along with a more FTL-inspired roguelike structure? Thats how the project was born! 18+ months later, the game is finally available in Early Access and I can now say I understand why many bullet hell developers keep their levels flat Height introduces many challenges to keep things readable and to prevent player frustration. From procedural generation to pathfinding, the extra dimension coupled with a fixed top-down camera makes a lot of aspects more difficult to manage. Im proud of how the game turned out to tackle these challenges, and I hope you will find it enjoyable in its own way!

Here is the content that is available right now in the Early Access version:

• 5 mains archipelagos [+ a few secret more]
  
• 35+ enemies to fight + the final boss of the Skycliffs
  
• 80+ equipment items to get more powerful and 60+ items synergies
  
• 20+ weather events that will spice up your fights
  
• 10+ traps to avoid or lure enemies into
  
• 4 optional challenges
  
• 8 starting classes
  
• 160+ journal entries to unlock
  

Hello everyone!

I'm glad to announce that after 18+ months of solo development, Skycliffs will be released in Early Access very soon, on November 3rd!

Here is the content that will be available in the Early Access version of the game:

• 5 mains archipelagos [+ a few secret more...]
  
• 35+ enemies to fight + the final boss of the Skycliffs
  
• 80+ equipment items to get more powerful and 60+ items synergies
  
• 20+ weather events that will spice up your fights
  
• 10+ traps to avoid or lure enemies into
  
• 4 optional challenges
  
• 8 starting classes
  
• 160+ journal entries to unlock

Hello everyone!

I'm glad to announce that Skycliffs is part of the Dreamhack Beyond Indie Showcase! The events is live today and lasts until October 23rd!

You can head to the sales page to discover plenty of indie games and demos. I hope you will give Skycliffs demo a try and I'm looking forward to hearing your feedback!

Hello everyone!

This week, Skycliffs demo is part of Steam Next Fest! For this special occasion, there will be a second livestream on October, Saturday 8th, 4 PM CEST.

I will play some runs of the demo, and also be present in the chat. I will be glad to answer questions and talk about the game!

See you soon for the livestream!

Hello everyone!

This week, Skycliffs demo is part of Steam Next Fest! For this special occasion, there will be a first livestream on October, Friday 7th, 4 PM CEST.

I will play some runs of the demo, and also be present in the chat. I will be glad to answer questions and talk about the game!

See you soon for the livestream!

Hello everyone,

I'm glad to announce that Skycliffs Demo will be part of the upcoming Steam Next Fest. The event starts on October 3rd, this is very soon! I'm looking forward to have you playing the demo and sharing your feedback on the game!

I wrote a tiny FAQ for this occasion, so here it is!

When is the Steam Next Fest?
The event takes place from October 3rd to 10th.

Will the Demo be updated before the Steam Next Fest?
Yes! The Nest Fest Demo v0.9.4 is already available with all the content I intended for this event, but I'm working on v0.9.4a and will upload the patch before the start of the event. This will fix some issues and improve performances, as well as add some visual enhancements to the game. I hope you'll like it!

Where can I share feedback on the game?
First of all, thanks for considering to share feedback, this helps me a lot to improve the game! To report bugs, suggest improvements, discuss things, there are a few possible places:

• The Steam forums
  
• Skycliffs subreddit
  
• The contact form on Radiant Sloth website

Hello everyone!

Skycliffs will be part of Steam Next Fest starting October 3rd! Im glad to have my demo in this event and I cant wait to read all your feedback to make more improvements before the Early Access release in November! For this special occasion, the version 0.9.4 of the demo is now available! This latest patch adds 36 new item synergies and fixes many bugs!




[h2]More meta progression[/h2]

Im trying to keep the meta progression mechanics in Skycliffs quite simple. I want to emphasize the roguelike aspect more than the roguelite. Thats why most gameplay elements are available from the very first run.

When you win or loose a run, you earn tokens that you can use to unlock classes. These allow to start a run with different items. More details in the last devlog here since I reworked the system recently.

I decided to add an extra layer to the meta progression. First, lets explain why. I plan to add more items during the Early Access phase and Id like to reuse more enemy mechanics to the players advantage. Currently, there is for instance an item that summons tricked gifts, just like the Jokelf enemy does. Id like to do this also with enemies from later (and secret) zones. But it doesnt feel right that you can get these items right away when you never fought these enemies in the first place. Or that you can have items summoning lightning strikes when you never saw the lightning storm weather event or completed the weather study challenge.

Thats why Im introducing some meta progression on the items. Not much. The game currently has 85 items and 50 of them remain available from the get-go. For the remaining 35, they unlock at the end of runs depending on various conditions. Some unlock because you killed a particular enemy, or because you encountered a particular weather event or got hurt by a particular trap. Here is the popup that appears to inform about the unlock:


A new item joins future runs!

I hope you will like this change. It allows me to design even crazier items to unlock for players who explore every part of the Skycliffs.

NB: the items meta progression system will only be part of the full game. In the demo, all 85 current items remain unlocked from the start. Also, the demo will not receive any more new content after the Steam Next Fest, but I will continue to patch bugs and make QoL improvements until the Early Access release.

To end this devlog, Id like to mention that I created a subreddit for Skycliffs. Please feel free to join and post bug reports, suggestions, discussions, etc. Im looking forward to have you in the community!



Also, the store page for the original soundtrack is now live! The album contains 15 tracks and will be available for sale at the Early Access release.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2096090/Skycliffs_Original_Soundtrack/

See you soon for the Steam Next Fest!

Hello everyone!

Im releasing today v0.9.3a of Skycliffs Demo! To read the full patchnote, you can head here. But lets review the main changes together!

[h2]Classes and meta progression improvements[/h2]

Skycliffs has a very simple meta progression system (I want the game to be more roguelike than roguelite). Similarly to games like Faster Than Light or Spelunky, all items and special quests can appear from the get-go. The meta aspect only consists of a class system where you can start runs with various presets. However, I was not entirely happy with two points of this system:

• Some classes had a set of starting items which did not have a significant impact on the way to play the game. So these ended up feeling pretty much the same.
  
• Tokens earnings to unlock classes were linked to getting achievements. I think this was not entirely satisfying.
  

• Upon completing a run or dying, you earn tokens depending on how far you got into the Skycliffs. In the full game, a standard victory will give 25 tokens. In the demo, you can only visit the first two zones so I boosted the token earning so that it is easier to unlock classes and explore the game content available. Also, the stats screen at the end of a run now displays the number of tokens that you gained.
  

• I removed some existing classes to focus on 6 presets. I chose better items / improved existing items so that each class feels significantly different to play from the others. One focuses for instance on the smash, another turns your dash move into a powerful attack or relies on drone minions to assist you. Also, the Mentalist class introduces a new mechanic: taking control of the enemies so that they attack their peers! I hope you will have fun with these various play styles!
  

• I added 2 more special classes to unlock. These also cost Tokens at each use.
  
  • The Random class allows to start a run with a random set of items.
    
  • The Customized class allows to start a run with a set of 3 items you choose! This class is locked in the demo, but it will be available in the full game at Early Access release.
    

Hello everyone!

Im glad to release today v0.9.3 of Skycliffs demo! Full patch note is available here. It contains a few tweaks and bug fixes, but mostly some significant improvements to the equipment system. Lets dive into the details!

[h2]How it was working before[/h2]

So, previously there was an inventory tab in the menu where you could see all the items you have. Items you bought would go into your inventory and you would have to manually equip them in the status tab. What happened is that most players did not notice buying was not enough and a second step was required. So they ended up having lots of unequipped items in their inventory

Now, lets explain why I implemented such a seemingly complex system in the first place. The reason lies in locked slots. If you did not have a free slot to equip an item you just bought, you could keep the item in your inventory and clear a few more islands to get enough money to later on unlock the slot and equip the item.

Seeing how players were interacting with the demo made me reassess this choice. In most other games of the same genre, you buy items and then you see the effects, you dont have to manually activate something. So I realized it makes sense for Skycliffs to operate the same way. It feels way more intuitive. But then, what about the locked slots? What happens if you buy an item but have no free slots? Thats where I had to make some new design choices!

[h2]New equipment system![/h2]

I decided to rework the inventory by removing this duality of equipped / non equipped. You either own an item, in which case it is equipped, or you do not own it. This means the instant you buy an item, it is auto equipped in a free slot. There is no more manual step to take. This comes with a few more decisions:

• There are no more locked slots. All item slots are available from the get-go. There is still a limited number of them though (I want to force players to make choices). If you have all of them equipped, you cannot take any more item and you will not be able to buy from shops anymore. This also means I removed the system upgrade for equipment slot capacity.
  
• I doubled the number of slots. Yes, you can now have up to 20 items at the same time in a run! You probably wont fill them all in the demo, but it will happen in the full game. I want builds to become crazy!
  

• Besides shops, there are a few other ways where you can get items. It can be a challenge reward or a rare loot from an enemy. These do not auto equip. They instead trigger a popup where you can decide if you want to equip them or ignore and recycle them (which gives you some money).
  

• I also reworked the animation to notify the trigger of a synergy. It now happens in-game. You can then of course open the status menu and hover the icons to read the details of that synergy.
  

• Shops do not have a sell tab anymore. Inventory tab in the menu also no longer exists.
  

Hello everyone!

Im glad to be back from my summer break and to release a new patch for the demo! Version 0.9.2 brings a lot of polish and I hope you will enjoy it. As always, detailed patch notes for the demo are available here, but lets review together the main changes!

[h2]User interface[/h2]

The user interface got a huge rework. I polished every sprite of it to make sure everything look consistent and nice. I also remade the icons of the current 78 items implemented in the game. That tool some time, but the result was worth it.


Polished HUD


New items icons

Also, I reorganized the interface of the different challenges like the lunar balls or the race. I think the new layout makes the different rewards tiers clearer. At the end of the challenge, I added loot animation (similarly to when an enemy die) to better convey that you won some rewards. The NPC will also recall your score after the challenge so that you can see how you did compared to the different tiers goals.


Challenge new layout


After the challenge

Challenge rewards are still prone to be balanced further but there are now better than they used to be. The lunar balls challenge is cheaper too.

The map also got some improvements. You can now hover icons to show a tooltip and see what they mean.


New tooltips on the map

The UI may still need some tweaks here and there but it mostly has its final look. Portraits and achievements icons are the last elements that still need to be polished as well, but I will do them later.


Status menu

[h2]Tutorial[/h2]

I added some player ghosts to the tutorial to show how to do things. Hopefully it will be easier to understand how to traverse the level and get to the end without being stuck at the very start of the game.


Player ghosts showing the way

The dummies in the tutorial are now destructible! It is more satisfying and it better shows that you are doing things right when shooting and smashing. The dummies respawn immediately so you can attack them as much as youd like


Shooting a dummy

Finally, the height numbers will now be hidden by default. Many people said they were kind of unnecessary and added a lot of visual clutter. If you need them, you can still turn them on in the accessibility options.

[h2]What is next?[/h2]

We are getting closer to Q4 and thus to the Early Access release! I will now focus on polishing the in-game sprites (e.g. everything that is not UI) and adding as much new content as possible. This means mainly items and synergies, and maybe a few enemies. Moreover, there is still a lot of optimization work to do to make sure the game runs smoothly. This patch also contains some under-the-hood changes for a future new challenge Id like to add, so stay tuned!

Thanks for reading, and see you next time!

Hello everyone!

Today I would like to share a brand new logo and artwork I made for Skycliffs! Im very happy with the result and I feel it conveys the ambiance of the game a lot better than the previous one! I hope you like it


New logo and artwork for Skycliffs

[h2]Demo changes[/h2]

Since last devlog, I uploaded a few patches. Here is a summary of the main changes.


Starfly new animation and attack pattern

• I reworked all enemies of the second zone to address fairness issues and balance their behaviors
  
• I made some changes to the tutorial since some platforming sections were a bit too difficult for newcomers
  
• The controls panel has a new option to choose which controller key names you want to display between Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo
  
• I reduced slightly the player running speed and tweaked the speed ramp up (some people felt the fast movement was causing to fall a lot into the void)
  
• Critical hits are now x2 damage and not x4 anymore
  
• I added two new equipment items, one related to critical damage and another to pushing enemies into the void
  

Hello everyone!

[NB: Starting with #25, I will post all Skycliffs devlogs here on Steam as well! If you'd like to read previous ones, you will find them on Radiant Sloth website.]

It has been ten days since the release of the demo of Skycliffs! First of all, thanks a lot to everyone who gave it a try and shared feedback so far! This helps me a lot to improve the game. I already uploaded a couple of patches since the release, so here is a devlog to detail a bit more some of the main changes.


[h2]Enemies tweaks[/h2]

I reworked all the enemies of the first zone so that their behaviors feel more fair. I also introduced new sprites for Lumbricus, and a charging animation for Squibull. The latter makes it more obvious you should not stand in its way!


Squibull new charging animation

Mole is now weaker, but I added a stronger variation as a new enemy.


Mole and Godmole enemies

Finally, Pandoney is not static anymore, it can teleport away from the player. Also, the honey missiles now behave differently. They were too brutal and hard to dodge for the first zone of the game. They are now harmless but the honey puddle they produce summons a new enemy: Bombee. It is basically a kamikaze bee as you can see below. Youd better kill it before it reaches you!


Honey puddles summon bees


[h2]New synergies[/h2]

Some items, when equipped together, trigger a synergy and activate some unique additional effects. The core system was already implemented at the time of the demo release, but they was only one synergy available. Im working on drastically increasing this number. Last patches introduce 9 new synergies, for a total of 10 at the moment. Here is below one of them that looks really cool!


Piercing + boomerang bullets synergy. In reality, enemies are rarely static and aligned like this, but it still feels pretty strong, right?


[h2]Other improvements and fixes[/h2]

Apart from this, I fixed a critical issue on Windows where the game would freeze on the generating screen. I also made some optimization to reduce lag spikes when first opening the game menu or when enemies die and drop their loot.

The UI got some improvements. It is now much easier to rebind controls (keys do not need to be available anymore, they auto swap if the new selected is already bound elsewhere).


Controls rebinding is now more practical

I added explicit close buttons to all menus as an alternative to pressing the Cancel key. I also made it clearer that some buttons are disabled because of not having enough money. In the status menu, I modified the lines in the background to emphasize that the last system controls the number of equipment slots available.


Status menu tweaks

Finally, I reworked the smash and jump animations of the player to have more frames. I reduced the base player gun spread since people found it too wide. Also, I added short invincibility frames at the end of a teleportation from the void. I hope this makes it easier to move away and not fall again right away because of some enemy!

If you'd like to read the complete patch notes of the demo, you will find them on the Steam forums here.


[h2]What is next?[/h2]

Now Im planning on making some tweaks to the enemies of the second zone to balance the difficulty and address potential frustrating aspects. In the meanwhile, Im working on implementing more items and synergies. If you have any cool ideas that youd like to see in the game, please share them in the comments!

Thanks for reading this devlog, and see you next time!
-Radiant Sloth

Hello everyone!

I am pleased to announce that a demo for Skycliffs is now available!

[h2]Content[/h2]

In the full game, a standard run consists of going through 5 different zones and facing a final boss.

In the demo, you explore the first two zones and fight a weakened version of the final boss. However, you have access to 70+ equipment items currently implemented in the game, and can encounter 20+ existing weather events and 3 optional challenges, along with a few secrets.
Skycliffs is meant to have a very simple meta progression system to unlock different classes and start runs with various configurations. In the demo, tokens are easy to get to make sure you can unlock classes and test all the content.

[h2]Bug and feedback reporting[/h2]

If you find any bugs or want to share any suggestions, please post a topic on the Steam forums. I will do my best to patch issues in the demo and I am looking forward to hearing your feedback to improve the game before the early access release later this year!

I hope you will enjoy the demo and this new trailer I made for the occasion :)

[previewyoutube=YuBFDCCOFUs;full][/previewyoutube]

Until next time,
-Radiant Sloth