Speed & Gratitude!

Speed!

Simulating water physics is a big part of what makes Make Sail unique, and if your boat gets big, it's also a big part of what makes Make Sail slow. This update has been a long time in the making but I've finally finished it: A full rewrite of the water physics core logic. The new physics are much, much faster. And takes much better advantage of multi-threading. You probably won't see much difference for small boats but, for complex boats with several hundred pieces, this update can more than double the frame rate. If water physics is what makes your heart sing, you might want to check out this water toy I made to demonstrate this big improvement. You can play with it right in your browser
This is a demo of the new tech now powering Make Sail!

Gratitude!

This update is also celebrating our crowdfunding campaign backers with a musical overture accessible from the title screen and their suggestions in the boat name generator. For the whole story about our glorious book and posters, see here! Full changelog:

• Significant CPU usage reduction for complex boats
• Musical overture
• 1000s of new boat name generator combinations
• Improved: Better darkness when inside in the storm
• Fixed: blueprint collection goals may not be visible
• Fixed: islands and boats named after twitch chat users may have extra "'s"
• Fixed: some world names were too long to show on the continue button

[ 2021-11-29 17:19:09 CET ] [ Original post ]

There's a beautiful new tool to paint your own wind patterns and lots of bug fixes, but the real heart of this update are the new progressively changing wind patterns designed to solve a big problem.
New wind patterns are unlocked as you play to reduce repetitious traversals and create challenging new situations and opportunities. Every time you expand the ring or need to return from the edge to the center, the wind changes to a carefully selected pattern designed to enhance your trip. At first, the new patterns will expedite your journey, pulling you in faster or providing quick paths out to the edge. Later the winds can speed you along but also require a bit more mastery to handle. Near the end of the game, the wind can be downright antagonistic. [previewyoutube=8oVuIT9cKEk;full][/previewyoutube] The wind is much more of a living character and a participant in your experience. I think the result makes for a more engaging adventure with more opportunities to make clever plans and test your creations. Do you need to start the game over? No: wind patterns will unlock on your existing save. But I recommend it to experience the new challenges and joyful quick return winds. If you're most excited about painting your own wind patterns, jump right in to it in creative mode or turn on cheats in the adventure. Full change list:

• New feature: Wind discs! The tower changes the wind patterns frequently and gives you patterns on disc you can choose from yourself.
• New feature: Paint your own wind. Unlocked in creative and late in adventure mode.
• New feature: Wind maps are image files than can also be edited outside of the game.
• New feature: Layers menu on map. Show and hide islands, obstacles and jellyfish.
• Fix: Prevented a ghost piece from being left when undoing a placement with symmetry turned on.
• Fix: Solved multiple problems which could cause energy sails not to return to inventory while building.
• Fix: The graph checkboxes were broken in creative mode.
• Fix: Better handling the deletion of the save folder.
• Fix: Boat widgets turn off when jumping straight from boat to land.
• Fix: Wind on map no longer pops through the clouds sometimes.
• Fix: Blueprint map markers are now always above the clouds.
• Fix: Slight visual improvement when panning map to extremes.
• Fix: Improved text layout for longer popup messages
• Fix: Prevented map clouds from being pitch black at night.
• Fix: Fixed a typo on the end-game screen.
• Fix: Wind multiplier slider in creative mode would not reset after exiting and re-entering creative mode.
• Removed: Collection menu. It was broken and did not bring me joy.

[ 2021-08-03 15:18:35 CET ] [ Original post ]

Teaser: The Wind Update!

Lest you think I've fallen asleep over here, I will now tease you with thrilling tidbits about the next update in the works: The Wind Update! Make Sail's wind has long been over-engineered. Meaning, I wrote way more complex behaviors for it than the game ever used. For the last few months, I've been adding features that finally use all that raw vector-math-a-licious power. Several big changes are coming, here's a sneak peek: For advanced players, there's gonna be so much more than just circular wind.
And then there's this
I'm shaking the bugs out and sprinkling on fun. While you're waiting, hoot at me in the discord. Love, Ziba

[ 2019-06-25 21:45:07 CET ] [ Original post ]

Today we release our biggest update yet: Creative Mode!

Creative Mode

Make Sail is was already a game about your ideas and your creations. Now, there's a whole set of new toys for you to play with! Creative Mode is a new option right from the start menu. Its an open ocean where you can build with unlimited amounts of every piece. Want 30 wooden birds, a 40 foot tall sail made of shimmering energy and enough jets to get serious airtime? Doooo iiiit.
But what's really new is the creative control panel!
Press C while any time in Creative Mode and now you can control:

• Ocean wave intensity!
• Wind strength!
• Storm effects!
• The very pace of time!

And quick access to the cheats!

Story Mode Totems!

Fans of progression, we've got a big new feature for you too. We didn't want all those new pieces to only be accessible in Creative Mode. So we've carefully scattered hundreds of totems throughout the sea. Each totem you knock over will grant you one piece. Just be careful not to sink yourself in the attempt!

Full Changelog

Thanks for being with us on our Early Access journey as we celebrate today's milestone of a release!

• Creative mode!
• 80+ new piece styles
• Totems spread throughout the world (new saves only)
• Totems give pieces when knocked over
• Symmetry and clone build tools now substitute similar pieces when possible
• New UI options: toggle minimap, point of sail, speedometer, goals, input tips
• New cheat: slow time slider
• New graphics option: toggle speed based FOV change
• Fixed blueprint snapshot creator
• Fixed bug pressing undo while mirroring a piece
• Build stations use slightly less CPU
• Screenshot button (F4) now works in build mode
• Improved inventory display count
• Removed motionblur

[ 2018-11-05 17:43:49 CET ] [ Original post ]

Mail SailS

Here at Popcannibal, we're committed to empowering you to make bold and questionable nautical designs in the safety of your own home. Previously there were some limitations regarding how many sails you could operate at once. And no way to operate both square and triangle sails on the same boat. Now, if you have square and triangle sails, the control tips will inform you that you can hold shift to operate the square sails as you normally would. So, please, stick 32 sails on your boat and aim for the moon. (If you do reach the moon, please file a bug report, that's not really possible). More seriously, even just a pair of a single triangle and a square sail are a very capable combo that lets you steer sharply, but raise the halyard and really take off downwind when you need it. Also, triangle sails can now freely rotate just shy of 180 degrees. This will let you sail sail at new angles and make slowing to a halt much easier. Plus: bugfixes!

Full Release Notes

• Control multiple triangle sails
• Control square and triangle sails independently (hold shift)
• Triangle sails can swing much wider
• Better default rotation for several pieces
• Jellyfish magnet prototype (cheats required)
• Fix: Symmetry tool failed for some pieces
• Fix: Walrus tusk less weird

[ 2018-09-13 19:24:35 CET ] [ Original post ]

Why click twice when once will do?

Building just keeps on getting better! Press the spacebar while building to toggle symmetric building on the forward axis of your boat. Symmetry can work in combination with cloning (hold alt) and grabbing groups (long press mouse). Duplicate complex chunks, rotate them and mirror them in one swift motion!

Less bad weirdness, more good weirdness

Boats shouldn't fall from the sky when you're trying to edit them. So we stopped doing that. Oceans should be full of bouncing jellyfish full of energy, so we're doing lots more of that.

Preview the next update now!

Creative mode isn't done, but it's available for troublemakers like you to poke at. Just hop in to the discord and we'll set you up. We'd love your feedback!

Full change list

• Symmetry Mode! Build boats twice as fast! Press spacebar to toggle while building.
• Tutorial entry for symmetry mode.
• Note: symmetry mode does not duplicate energy sails.
• Generally improved build snapping consistency. Should reduce surprise deconstructions.
• Improved the symmetry of many build in boat blueprints.
• Fixed: Jellyfish spawn bug. Way more jellyfish now.
• Fixed: Errors when cloning and rotating some complex pieces like Trireme Sails.
• Fixed: That stupid bug where the boat would fall from the sky upon entering build mode. I got you, stupid bug.
• Fixed: Deleted energy sails were producing save file and log garbage.
• Fixed: Energy sail build cursor image.
• Fixed: Highlighted pieces not unhighlighting when exiting building.
• Fixed: First grabbed piece sometimes didn't want to snap.
• Fixed: Shifted some islands to make it harder to get stuck under them.
• Upgraded to Unity 2017.4.8

[ 2018-08-27 21:58:07 CET ] [ Original post ]

Better Boat Building Buttons, Baby!

Menus can't just look good, they have to feel good. They should to invite you into their GUI embrace with a tender whisper: Together we will enact your will with ease and clarity. Today's update brings Make Sail's build menu a few steps closer to realizing this soothing and unnervingly sensual ambition.

Learn tricks, get pieces

In addition to improved visual feedback for a range of actions, there's a new tutorial. Earn unique pieces while learning advanced maneuvers like cloning whole groups of pieces!

What's next?

We're not done improving building! More convenience and power is already in the works. Plus more gameplay elements and other surprises. I'm not naming dates, but I will say that creative mode is coming along nicely. Thanks for joining us on our journey through the blue oceans of Early Access! Stay tuned!

Full change list

• New optional build tutorial: Learn advanced tricks and win unique pieces
• New cheat: Super Glue. Really strong boat connections.
• Inventory icons grouped together by piece type to save space
• Inventory icons show number of how many available
• Inventory icons show number of how many obtained on mouse over
• Inventory icons bounce on hover
• Inventory icons have attention badge to indicate new types
• Inventory tray can be dragged and scrolled without affecting the build area
• Inventory category icons now highlight the selected category
• Grabbed pieces represented as icons when held over the inventory menu
• Pieces can be removed from the boat by dragging them over the inventory
• Fixed: Ctrl-z could cause boat position to jump
• Fixed: Multi-part pieces (like sails) were highlighting incorrectly
• Fixed: Moldy plank and Long Squid plank were jittery
• Fixed: Grabbed pieces could auto release when dragged from inventory
• Updated suggested key background image to be a soothing blue
• Improved lighting when building during twilight or fog
• Improved predictability of piece placement when dragging on and off a boat
• Prevented pieces from being placed too high or low
• Disabled underwater camera when building to allow better visibility looking up from far below

[ 2018-07-16 19:18:03 CET ] [ Original post ]

Giant Sea Turtles At 5,000kg, our majestic sea turtle weights about as much as the tongues of two blue whales. (Or one t-rex for those of you who prefer traditional measurements) They instinctively swim upwind, so consider attempting to climb aboard for a ride. Maybe even land your boat on one if you're feeling fancy. Each turtle carries an exclusive piece: the Sea Turtle Square Sail. Our first stack-able sail. Guaranteed to get you into trouble faster. Other updates Lots of AI work this month. All creatures have more vertical variation to their flight patterns. They're also a touch easier to stand on if you can get there in the first place. They know your innermost feelings but are too polite to bring them up. You can also now press escape or r to move back to build mode from placement mode, in case you forgot to add cup-holders or something. Full Changelog

• Turtle Islands
• Turtle Sails (exclusively found on turtle islands)
• Improved sail behaviors when sideways, upside down, or propped open
• Option to return to build mode from place boat mode
• Fixed error which could cause boat name menu to appear at wrong times
• Clarified the below-minimum-specification warning menu
• Fixed issue which caused player to slide off some rotating pieces
• Via twitch, the "storm" trigger no longer requires accent marks in Vietnamese: "bao tap" (because that's the feature everyone's been waiting for)
• Updated to Unity 2017.4.5

[ 2018-06-20 18:49:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

By request: a center of mass indicator! For all you boat crafters working to achieve greater design perfection, we now have a little green dot showing the center of mass. If your hand was giant and inside the game, this is the point where you could balance the boat on your finger tip. So now you can know, without even having to put your boat in the water, that the 5 meter tower of stone you piled on the nose of your boat will indeed be a problem. Full Changelog

• Center of mass indicator. Turn on in build settings.
• Never drown cheat.
• Simpler inventory display when using all inventory cheat.
• Fixed a bug which could cause boats not to be visible when building.
• Fixed duplication bug on some pieces. (Thanks Nixae)
• Fixed jitter on the ropes atop gas buoys.

[ 2018-05-25 20:34:25 CET ] [ Original post ]

A bunch of little fixes and.... Smarter Creatures It used to be that creatures stopped thinking as soon as they went out of view. Now creatures have thoughts, paths and actions that persist at all times and are part of your save game. You may notice some improved behaviors now, but the big pay off will be with new creatures and events that are in the works. Smarter Updates Half the fun of early access is being connected to the developers and following our growth. (Or so I like to flatter myself). So we've added a video preview and countdown to the title screen where you can see what's coming next and when it's happening! Of course, you can still just ask us what's next and make requests in our discord. Full Changelog

• Video news capsule on title screen with countdown to new features.
• Smarter creatures. Their movements and memory simulate no matter their distance from the player.
• Raptors are more fearful of scarecrows.
• Fixed errors caused by double clicking to enter build stations. Thanks Matzebrei85.
• Fixed gif preview disappearing after switching focus and returning to game.
• Reduced peak RAM use by 50MB.
• Removed multiple causes of stutters.
• Removed mysterious light glowing underground on center island.
• Inverted camera zoom during building to match other modes
• Fixed a case where extraneous pieces could be left in the world.
• Lots of under-the-hood preparations for future updates.
• Upgraded all platforms to Unity 2017.4.3

[ 2018-05-20 03:21:53 CET ] [ Original post ]

Easier, simpler, faster. The last two weeks have been about making Make Sail's building system require less precise input while delivering more precise results. Instead of all the points you COULD connect to, you now see only the points you WILL connect to and a predictive outline showing where your piece will snap when you let go. Bring a place near your target, witness the prediction and when you let go, it will jump in to place. We've also added the ability to copy chunks of your boats, big speed improvements, fixes and much more.

• Major building system changes.
• Piece and group cloning. Hold alt while clicking.
• Far less visual clutter while building.
• Much faster piece snapping on large boats.
• Disconnected pieces are highlighted.
• Established joints show on mouseover.
• Camera movement with keyboard when not holding a piece.
• More build camera settings.
• Build settings quick access button from build mode.
• Fix: Snapping could be confused by looking up while over an island.
• Fix: Holding pieces while clicking UI buttons caused errors.
• Fix: Prevented Ronne's feet from disappearing.
• Fix: Corrected hiding build stations only when in storms.
• Updated to vanity discord link.
• Updated to Unity 2017.4.1 (Linux still on 2017.3).

[ 2018-04-28 23:19:19 CET ] [ Original post ]

Building had a really unfortunate bug which caused pieces to rotate slightly and make snapping very difficult. This only affected some computers. So the tools worked for some people (me) and were maddeningly unusable for others (sorry if that was you). That's fixed, but just usable isn't good enough. We're aiming for brilliant. Today's update simplifies the number of snap points, introduces guide lines and more. And there's lots more improvements in the works. Thanks once again to everyone who submitted reports to support@popcannibal.com, discord, or via the in game reporter.

• Building: Fixed error causing pieces to rotate inappropriately.
• Building: Hiding back facing snaps in build mode. Improves clarity and speed.
• Building: Attachment guide line while building shows nearest valid connection.
• Building: Raised the building area so the camera does not hit the water as easily.
• Building: Fixed jitter when hovering between two good snap positions.
• Building: New config options for using back facing snaps and guide lines.
• Improvement: Allow attaching world files to bug reports
• Improvement: Marking blueprints on the map if not found before opening next ring.
• Improvement: Reduced ram use by 100MB and disk use by 170MB.
• Fix: Button to open gif save directory on Mac was broken.
• Fix: Improved minimum spec hardware warning system.
• Fix: Multiple blueprints unlocked simultaneously were not rewarded. Fixed retroactively.
• Fix: Stopped offering non-existent handbook tips.

[ 2018-04-14 18:41:56 CET ] [ Original post ]

It's been one whole grand week drinking from the firehose of Early Access. The feedback (good and bad) has been amazing. Keep it coming, we're listening! Today's update is about speed and convenience.

• Performance: Using 17% less RAM
• Performance: Using 14% less GPU RAM
• Performance: Using 28% less disk space
• Fix: Some energy sails could cause the game to panic on boat placement
• Fix: All boat energy could be lost unintentionally
• Improvement: Keep previous sailing camera zoom and height on build exit
• Improvement: Character "run by default" config option
• Improvement: Walking speed config option
• Improvement: Never recenter camera config option
• New: Minimum specification hardware warning screen

[ 2018-04-06 08:45:25 CET ] [ Original post ]

It's been one whole grand week drinking from the firehose of Early Access. The feedback (good and bad) has been amazing. Keep it coming, we're listening! Today's update is about speed and convenience.

• Performance: Using 17% less RAM
• Performance: Using 14% less GPU RAM
• Performance: Using 28% less disk space
• Fix: Some energy sails could cause the game to panic on boat placement
• Fix: All boat energy could be lost unintentionally
• Improvement: Keep previous sailing camera zoom and height on build exit
• Improvement: Character "run by default" config option
• Improvement: Walking speed config option
• Improvement: Never recenter camera config option
• New: Minimum specification hardware warning screen

[ 2018-04-06 08:45:25 CET ] [ Original post ]

Thanks for all the launch weekend love! So many videos and streams. Make Sail peaked at over 30k simultaneous viewers on Twitch! We've learned a ton from watching you all play. Today's update is just the start of our work to polish Make Sail until it gleams! * Feature: MUCH easier to start operating a boat while swimming nearby. * Feature: Hold instead of tap R to return to building. Prevents accidental taps. * Feature: Drowning simply warps you back to build. * Feature: Minor input key ui update. * Feature: Flashy pink warp effect. * Fix: Menu visibility error that could happen after drowning. * Fix: Less sinking after traveling large distances. * Fix: Error when active propeller leaves view.

[ 2018-04-02 06:56:59 CET ] [ Original post ]

Thanks for all the launch weekend love! So many videos and streams. Make Sail peaked at over 30k simultaneous viewers on Twitch! We've learned a ton from watching you all play. Today's update is just the start of our work to polish Make Sail until it gleams! * Feature: MUCH easier to start operating a boat while swimming nearby. * Feature: Hold instead of tap R to return to building. Prevents accidental taps. * Feature: Drowning simply warps you back to build. * Feature: Minor input key ui update. * Feature: Flashy pink warp effect. * Fix: Menu visibility error that could happen after drowning. * Fix: Less sinking after traveling large distances. * Fix: Error when active propeller leaves view.

[ 2018-04-02 06:56:59 CET ] [ Original post ]

Pickup the nearest table, rip the curtains off the wall and drag them towards the closest body of water: Its time to make a boat! Make Sail is now live in Early Access! Bonus: Its 10% off for a limited time! Many thanks to all the streamers and discord folks whove been testing for months now. Weve learned a ton from you and put as much of it as we could into the 30+ builds weve released since December. And theres lots more on the way. Our grand sailing construction adventure begins now!

[ 2018-03-30 17:05:37 CET ] [ Original post ]

Pickup the nearest table, rip the curtains off the wall and drag them towards the closest body of water: It’s time to make a boat! Make Sail is now live in Early Access! Bonus: It’s 10% off for a limited time! Many thanks to all the streamers and discord folks who’ve been testing for months now. We’ve learned a ton from you and put as much of it as we could into the 30+ builds we’ve released since December. And there’s lots more on the way. Our grand sailing construction adventure begins now!

[ 2018-03-30 17:05:37 CET ] [ Original post ]

Make Sail is hitting Early Access on March 30th!

In just over two weeks, you will be hoisting your mainsail and dodging jellyfish as you cruise between icebergs and ruins searching for the best new parts for your custom made ship.

Streamers! It's time now!

Streamers and Let's Play-ers. It's your time to shine! Hit us up on discord, twitter, or support@popcannibal.com. Let's show people how to float their boat!

[ 2018-03-14 01:23:52 CET ] [ Original post ]

Make Sail is hitting Early Access on March 30th!

In just over two weeks, you will be hoisting your mainsail and dodging jellyfish as you cruise between icebergs and ruins searching for the best new parts for your custom made ship.

Streamers! It's time now!

Streamers and Let's Play-ers. It's your time to shine! Hit us up on discord, twitter, or support@popcannibal.com. Let's show people how to float their boat!

[ 2018-03-14 01:23:52 CET ] [ Original post ]

Round 1 of the beta has begun for our fig backers! Hundreds of sailors have already crafted their boats, raised their sails and set their sights on the horizon. The feedback has been super helpful and (at the risk of sounding arrogant) quite positive. Players have helped us make 30+ fixes and improvements in the last two weeks. Even if you're not in the beta yet, join the party on our (freshly verified) discord server. We're just getting warmed up!

[ 2018-01-02 22:56:15 CET ] [ Original post ]

Round 1 of the beta has begun for our fig backers! Hundreds of sailors have already crafted their boats, raised their sails and set their sights on the horizon. The feedback has been super helpful and (at the risk of sounding arrogant) quite positive. Players have helped us make 30+ fixes and improvements in the last two weeks. Even if you're not in the beta yet, join the party on our (freshly verified) discord server. We're just getting warmed up!

[ 2018-01-02 22:56:15 CET ] [ Original post ]