Good day, fellow Meeps! Here are the patch notes for version 1.04, which has just been released:

• Expanded the range you can see into space before having Lookout Towers, to make steering easier as you can plan ahead better.
• Fixed a bug that caused some Reeve customization not to be applied to the Reeves.
• Fixed a "reasonability check and log" step on loading, which caused some saved games not to load correctly and lead to a black screen. All games saved with the previous version (1.03) can still be loaded with the new version (1.04).

De Chelonian Mobile! Gideon

[ 2024-09-09 12:29:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

Good day, fellow Meeps! For patch #3, which is now live, I've standardized camera rotation and scrolling across frame rates, and the camera movement is smoother. I've been spending some time on the "behind the scenes" of the threading and have decreased the "overhead cost" of the threads, which should improve stability and reduce occasional stutters. The Steam Summer Sale starts in a couple of hours' time. World Turtles will be discounted by 40% for the sale, which is the largest Steam discount yet! Just saying...
De Chelonian Mobile! Gideon

[ 2024-06-27 12:17:48 CET ] [ Original post ]

Good day, fellow Meeps! I'm uploading Patch #2 with a few small additions / changes, plus an impactful one (in some cases): Added:

• "Reduce Cutscenes" option under Game Options | UI. This will prevent the cut scene while, in some cases, still displaying only the message.

Fixed:

• After saving a tutorial game where Reeve Learning was not yet activated, it would be activated on load. The value is now correctly loaded for new saved games. For existing saved game, it will still be activated on load, but the game will work.
• AI Realm names were sometimes duplicated on Tooltips.
• Big impact to a small number of maps: Depending on random map creation, it could happen that the Tribe Member closest to your Founders Hex could be from a Tribal Camp (just across the sea) that does not actually have a path to your Founders Hex. There would be a Tribal Camp with a path to your Founders Hex (on your continent), but slightly further away from your Founders Hex. However, the closest Tribe Member is picked to join your tribe and, in this case, no path would be found to your Founder Hex. If this happened repeatedly, it would clog up the pathfinding thread, leading to delays in everything, and possibly freezes/crashes. This has now been rectified!

Did not impact the game, but fixed / improved:

• A wild animal would "lose visibility" of the surroundings and would not be able to find a path to walk around randomly.
• Idle Meeps don't clump up for extended periods of time anymore.

I've had reports of a Reeve harvesting medicinal herbs, and then "getting stuck" without returning it to the Founders Hex. I am unable to replicate this on my side, even when loading someone's saved game where this happened. If this still happens after the changes above, I'd appreciate if you could log a report with as much information about the circumstances under which it occurred as possible. De Chelonian Mobile, Gideon

[ 2024-05-01 10:54:53 CET ] [ Original post ]

Good day, fellow Meeps! I'm uploading Patch #1 with a few small changes:

• The "Mouse Scroll" icon looked more like a "Click Scroll Button" icon. Arrows added to the icon to clarify.
• In the farming tutorial, once in a blue moon (by random numbers and very specific lay of the land), it could happen that the Dwellings was requested to be constructed outside of your territory, preventing you from progressing past that step. The launch build already catered for this happening for the farm, but I've now also catered for the Dwellings.
• If, for whatever reason, a path cannot be found back home by a Reeve ending an expedition, it will wait a short while and keep looking for a path back home, rather than stay stuck out on the map.

I've had reports of a Reeve harvesting medicinal herbs, and then "getting stuck" without returning it to the Founders Hex. I am unable to replicate this on my side, even when loading someone's saved game where this happened. If this still happens after the changes above, I'd appreciate if you could log a report with as much information about the circumstances under which it occurred as possible. Regards, Gideon

[ 2024-04-29 05:49:22 CET ] [ Original post ]

Good day, Fellow Meep! It's been four and a half years since I first started tinkering with a hex grid map and thought "wouldn't this look neat on a Discworld-like Turtle!" It's been quite the journey... so far! First off, I wanted to thank everyone who's supported me in whatever way to get to this point. Making an (even slightly successful) game is a huge undertaking, and I've had loads of assistance and support throughout the years. I hope I can ask for one more, crucial, favor:

How You Can Support Me

As a solo developer, there are so many ways you can help support me and the game.

• If you buy the game (thanks!), please consider leaving an honest review on Steam! Reviews have a massive impact on Indie games and I'd love to see your thoughts and experiences through a review.
• Sharing the game through word of mouth with family and friends or on social media with your followers can really help spread the word and give others a chance to discover their next adventure. So many indies are discovered with a simple share or casual discussion.
• Join our community on Discord and follow us on Twitter/X to share in the excitement and get to know other gamers trying to keep World Turtles alive.

Trailer and Gameplay video

[previewyoutube=k4h9SBur_mg;leftthumb][/previewyoutube]

About World Turtles

A tribe of peace-loving beings known as the Meeps has chosen a select few to embark on a cosmic quest of monumental importance. Their mission: to save the life of the World Turtle, a colossal space reptile bearing the burden of entire worlds upon its shell. As the Turtle journeys through the cosmos, encountering treacherous stretches of space, the survival of the Meeps and the world they inhabit depends cooperation, as the Meeps strive not only to sustain themselves but also to ensure the well-being of their celestial guardian. Exciting Features Await You in the 1.0 Release!

• Manual control and customization of the special Reeves.
• Explore numerous diplomatic avenues!
• Feed and Heal the turtle via Helicopter and Catapult.
• Construct a Space Pod to start preparing the search for other World Turtles!
• Play on maps created by manually configuring tectonic plates, or import one of the Topographic maps and set your starting locations!

Join us as we embark on this epic adventure, where the fate of worlds hangs in the balance, and the Turtle beckons us to greatness.

30% Launch Discount!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1512050/World_Turtles/ De Chelonian Mobile! Gideon

[ 2024-04-15 14:30:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

Good day fellow Meeps! With launch date almost here, I thought I'd share the final two additions for now.

Naval Expeditions

Once you have constructed a boat yard, your Reeve can embark on expeditions across the waters. Search for distant neighbors, special islands and medicinal herbs to apply to the World Turtle's wound.

One Day, Age Will Catch Up With the World Turtle

While we have managed to keep our World Turtle reasonably healthy up to now, age will eventually catch up to it, even on the cosmic scale. It may only happen in the distant future on the Meep-scale, but we have the capability to start preparing for it now. Our actions may sometimes seem inconsequential, but has any significant event ever come to pass that had not been constructed entirely from inconsequential ones? So, let us do what we can, when we can, to try and ensure our own survival, and the survival of those around us.
See you again soon, for 1.0 launch... Our Discord Server https://store.steampowered.com/app/1512050/World_Turtles/ De Chelonian Mobile Gideon

[ 2024-04-08 20:16:02 CET ] [ Original post ]

World Turtles is set to launch on April 15th!

[hr][/hr] [previewyoutube=veI61qtwBDs;full][/previewyoutube]

Sail Across Space on Turtleback

The World Turtle carries entire civilizations on its back through outer space. Cooperation, rather than conquest will save the day, so prepare to harvest, build, research, and explore the void in this wholesome turtleback builder.

Manage Your Meeps

Meeps are eager to work, enthusiastic like no other, and unfortunately, exceptionally disorganized without leadership. Build up the Meepvilization from a small village in one corner of the turtleback to a sprawling colony that has mastered the challenges of living on the literal back of a spacefaring reptile.

Beware of Dangers

While space is full of opportunity, there is also danger! Sectors can impact life on the turtleback - alter the climate, water levels, or unleash (un)natural catastrophes. Prepare the Meeps adequately and help them survive the journey of a lifetime.

Join the Countdown

Don't forget to wishlist the game and join the community in our Discord to begin counting down to launch day! We are beyond excited to share this major milestone with you! [previewyoutube=UKISAkt3Pgg;full][/previewyoutube] See you at launch! - De Chelonian Mobile, Gideon https://store.steampowered.com/app/1512050/World_Turtles/

[ 2024-03-28 19:00:39 CET ] [ Original post ]

Good day fellow Meeps! I've got some exciting updates to share!

Customize Your Reeves

You will be able to customize your Reeves (one Male and one Female), and these settings will be used whenever a Reeve joins your Realm.

Diplomacy / AI Realm Interactions

I've added diplomacy / interactions with the AI Realms to the game at last! Each AI realm will focus on a speciality, for example Woodcutting or Fishing. The interactions you can have with that AI realm will then be tailored around their speciality and various events in the game.
Examples of AI Realm Interactions / Diplomacy:

• If they're close enough (remember, your buildings can even mix), you can allow them to take leisure trips on your helicopters, increasing Goodwill.
• If you have enough Goodwill, they can boost your research in the field they're focusing on. Thus, depending what your neighbors can assist with, you need to adapt what your Realm needs to focus on.
• They can provide you with an additional controllable Reeve (as Consul) if you can help them become a large enough Realm (by number of Meeps).
• If your Reeve learns any of the skills an AI realm does not specialize in from your own Meeps in those fields, you can send it out on an expedition to teach those skills to the AI realm. That allows the AI realms to gain access to additional skills over time, allowing them to become a more "fully fledged Realm".
• In return, they provide you with "medicinal herbs" to create Heal Bales from. You will have limited Heal Bales available, and can only build more by helping your neighbors progress, allowing you to keep the turtle healthier.
• AI realms will have access to some foodstuffs you won't have. You can send them resources in exchange for access to these, allowing your farms to plant a larger variety, for increased Appeal.
• You require enough carts at the Tavern, as well as Provisions, to form expeditions to the AI Realms, as well as to distant parts of the map.

Improved Optimization

I've also been tinkering with the optimization and have managed to get rid of some serious later-game issues in terms of path finding. I've let some elements react better to the graphics quality setting, for example fewer raindrops on lower settings.

Launch Date Announcement Coming Soon

Finally, I will soon announcement the 1.0 launch date... It's around the corner! The changes of the last 4 months or so will go live with the 1.0 launch. Our Discord Server https://store.steampowered.com/app/1512050/World_Turtles/ De Chelonian Mobile Gideon

[ 2024-03-15 12:05:07 CET ] [ Original post ]

Good day fellow Meeps! Development around the new controllable Meeps (which I call Reeves) is progressing well, and I've expanded on a number of things in the last month and a half.

Controllable Reeves

I've completed the way Reeves are selected and displayed, allowing the player to easily keep track of more than one. Selecting a Reeve temporarily hides non-applicable in-map UI to make it clear which tasks can be allocated to them. The icons are created dynamically based on their skill sets, location on the map and the location of the mouse cursor. I have also updated 4 of the 5 tutorials to include the introduction of Reeve actions (including as Objectives). Reeves can already perform the following tasks:

• Explore a limited distance around your borders.
• Create Expeditions, which will let a number of Meeps (with carts) follow them while they perform various tasks (to be developed) further out on the map.
• Complete Apprenticeships at Woodcutters, Stonemasons, Builders, Wanderers, etc. to allow the Reeve to perform the tasks associated with those skills, to assist in time of need.
• Gather wood, stone, shards, clay, clay pipes, mortar, foodstuffs and crystals.
• Survey important points on the map (similar to the Wanderer).
• Keep the realm's campfire burning and stock up on firewood for it.
• Calibrate helicopters initially, which allows other Meeps to start using them.

Treating Wounds

The AI Realms will assist you in creating "Heal Bales" for treating the Turtles' wounds. These need to be manually placed on the wounds by helicopter, taking into account the movement of the Turtle's head. Treating wounds will further improve the Turtle's health.

Provisions and Expeditions

Various Expeditions out onto the map will require Provisions, which has always been in the plans but are now finally on-line at Farms and Fishmongers.

Various

• I've improved the clarity of the fonts, especially the smaller numbers and headings.
• Mortar Pits and Kilns now use wood, clay and stone to produce Mortar and Clay Pipes, which are required for Monuments and Water Points.

I'll be back with another update next month... https://store.steampowered.com/app/1512050/World_Turtles/ De Chelonian Mobile

[ 2024-02-20 16:04:10 CET ] [ Original post ]

EDIT: I am working with Alexander to try and find different ways to automatically "whitelist" videos. As of 08Jan2023, if your video description contains "World Turtles", you should be fine. We're also looking at the possibility of videos tagged with the YouTube "World Turtles" meta-tag to automatically whitelist the video, so that most of this should happen behind the scenes with as little effort as possible. To all Content Creators, Due to a huge increase in illegal claims on videos from "imposters", Alexander Nakarada has had to place his excellent music (a lot of which is used in World Turtles) into a "Smart Content ID system". Unfortunately, this may lead to claims from his new system for coverage of World Turtles, which is really unfortunate. There are 2 ways around these claims...

Option A:

Whitelist your channel with Alexander. I'm happy to assist with that, so drop me a comment with your channel link, and I'll arrange with Alexander. This will clear all current and future videos on your channel at once.

Option B:

Videos containing his music has to include the following in the video description (scanned for by the Smart Content ID system): Music by: Alexander Nakarada, creatorchords.com

Clearing a Claim:

In case you do get a claim, here's a claim release form, which forces immediate rescan and resolution after you've added the attribution: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeMwrUlFH41BYPJrpolAxaHHm9yxpnNo6ZSUBdU3KI94FBNXw/viewform

Explanation by Alexander Himself

https://youtu.be/bIV-IGDpK1E?si=W15nfqm4CM7h2GpP&t=156 This is a very unfortunate turn of events for World Turtles and content creators, but for now the above 2 options are the only ones I have available to combat this. Thanks for your support. Gideon

[ 2024-01-07 22:11:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

Good day fellow Meeps! After spending loads of time on the recent UI update, I've started working on new gameplay features again. First off, I'm adding the functionality to allow manual control over certain individual Meeps. These Meeps will be required to perform special tasks required to keep the realm ticking over efficiently. Icons will appear at special locations around the map for some tasks, while others will be highlighted around the current location of the mouse cursor.
Some of the tasks currently envisioned / implemented, are:

• Completing Apprenticeships at Woodcutters, Stonemasons, Builders, Wanderers, etc. to allow the Meep to perform the tasks associated with those Meeps' skills, to assist in time of need.
• Fast-tracking construction.
• Fertilizing fields used to cultivate crops, so nutrients do not get depleted.
• Gathering wood, stone or shards.
• Surveying important points on the map.
• Keeping the realm's campfire burning and stocking up on firewood for it.
• Helicopter-based tasks!

Many of the building blocks required to implement this functionality already exist, but all the new possibilities need to be properly blended into the existing gameplay without causing clashes or bugs.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1512050/World_Turtles/ Thanks for your support in 2023 and see you next year! May you be happy and content in 2024... De Chelonian Mobile

[ 2023-12-31 12:36:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone! If you were thinking about getting the game, now is a great time to do so as we are part of the Steam Winter Sale through our publisher Freedom Games! From December 21st until January 8th, the game will be on sale for 30% off! Make sure to check out Freedom Games' Winter Sale 2023 page to pick up some great games to play over the holiday season. Whether you like to play alone or with friends, there are some great deals you won't want to miss out on! https://store.steampowered.com/app/1512050/World_Turtles/

[ 2023-12-21 18:02:08 CET ] [ Original post ]

Good day, fellow Meeps, The World Turtle has shed a few scutes and its new shell is finally ready! But, along with the brand new UI comes some gameplay updates too, and another tutorial, focused on steering the World Turtle towards food in space. There are also a few short cutscenes included to highlight the most important events. The UI update is not just a facelift of new art. Almost every element has been reworked to be snappier, look more pleasing, be more functional (including tutorials) and provide more information about the applicable mechanic at hand. It was quite a task trying to find locations for all the elements, but I think I landed on something that works well. Also, look out for places where you can actually tinker with what gets displayed, and how (as well as how large) it gets displayed, should you prefer an alternative option.
The biggest gameplay update centers around the turtle in space, which now includes naturally occurring food zones that help keep the Turtle's health up. You are able to steer the turtle around from very early on in the game, and the feeding and food zones have a larger impact on health.
More interaction with Tribal Camps has also been implemented. You are able to convince them to share their knowledge and assist with the construction and operation of Reflective Towers, which allows you to influence where Snow Comets will crash down, reducing damage.
We've aligned the release with the Steam Autumn Sale, and a nice discount, so it's a good time to hop on board for the journey if you aren't already a full-blown Meep! As always, please join us for a chat and/or provide feedback (and bug reports) on our Discord. De Chelonian Mobile! Gideon https://store.steampowered.com/app/1512050/World_Turtles/

[ 2023-11-20 17:00:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

Good day, fellow Meeps, I considered carefully whether I should mention this here, and finally decided I should. I recently took a 4-week "working holiday" with my wife and kids - we camped in tents for 3 nights driving down to stay with good friends for a couple of weeks before heading back. Towards the end of the trip my mother unexpectedly passed away... So, I've had a couple of weeks largely away from work/developing. My mom was my biggest fan and she had always been extremely excited that I'd grabbed the opportunity to do something I loved - creating World Turtles. If my kids one day thinks half as highly of me as my mom did, I will deem my life successful... I have now started developing in all earnest again and am still loving it! I have a long list of things to tie down before the huge UI (and more) update, which we are planning for early-to-mid November. The biggest updates since the last post here are:

Objectives and Messages

Objectives (with dynamic text updating with the game state) are now displayed with messages, and the player can choose to hide/display either/both categories. Clicking on an objective/message also takes you to relevant location or opens up the relevant UI. You can also minimize the messages, which displays only the icons, while restoring the one you hover over.

New Functionality / Gameplay

The most important new functionality centers around Space and the Turtle. Feed Bales are now available from the start of the game. These can be delivered to the Turtle via Helicopter, and you can steer the Turtle around in space (with some new elements, detailed below) from the start.
The Space Minimap has been greatly enhanced! It shows you the range and sensitivity it's able to display, and how to increase that (using Lookout Towers). It also supplies a Climate forecast (the span of the forecast increases as your visibility increases), which will also be used to indicate suitability of crops for the immediate future. On the right you will find information on Feed Bales and Catapults, with progress indicators and tooltips, while the steering happens in the center of the space map. Finally, you will also notice some new "icons" on the space map indicating naturally occurring food and crystals in space. These will be the targets you aim for while steering the Turtle.
Implementing the functionality for allowing a "climate map", a static overlay (for aiming) centered on the Turtle and a dynamic overlay (for special regions) moving with space, while also allowing the player to interact with all of these and the game to know when the Turtle finds itself in which conditions, was quite technical, but it all seems to be working very well now.

Short Cutscenes

Certain achievements now have short cutscenes (skippable) as a reward. For example, the first time you feed the Turtle with a feed bale and helicopter, or the first time a fault erupts, a cinematic camera will follow the action. The game also starts with a quick zoom-in-from-high up (and runs in reverse when you exit), and the title screen has an interesting zoom-in from time to time. Let me jump right back into working on the UI - I can't wait for the next update to go live! De Chelonian Mobile Gideon

[ 2023-10-14 08:02:59 CET ] [ Original post ]

Good day, fellow Meeps! It's been a while since the last update, and I wanted to post some screenshots of the new UI/UX progress, to show off what I've been working on with the UI team. Almost all of the required artwork pieces have been completed, but I'm also spending a lot of time on the new layouts, functionality and behind-the-scenes technicalities, so that the updated UI/UX is much more than just a facelift of the icons. I've also already reworked the "Assistant panel" of the tutorials to allow it to stay on-screen while you perform the actions it requests. It also allows you to cycle back through all the previous messages of the tutorial, and the construction panel only displays icons for the building types applicable to the specific step of the tutorial, introducing the UI information in steps. Some of the UI panels / levels of detail can be toggled by the player, so you can decide how granular you want the information on these panels to be. Not everything in the screenshots below have been finalized, but they give a very good idea of the direction of the new UI/UX. I'll be back soon with more previews! De Chelonian Mobile! Gideon

[ 2023-08-27 20:23:03 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone! We're excited to announce that World Turtles will be showcased at DreamHack Beyond on August 18th, 2023! Check out the Summer Indie Showcase at https://store.steampowered.com/curator/40157993/sale/DreamHackBeyondSummerIndieShowcase . Were super excited to see you! If you want to join the community, join our Discord! Thanks for your support and were super excited to show off all of our hard work!

[ 2023-08-18 18:49:37 CET ] [ Original post ]

Good day, fellow Meeps,

Nominated!

"The Beginning", especially composed by Kyle Misko as the title track for World Turtles, has been nominated for the very first "Game Music Award" category of the "World Soundtrack Awards" along with some HUGE names like Star Wars Jedi, Hogwarts Legacy, World of Warcraft, Resident Evil, Far Cry, Diablo, God of War Ragnark, A Plague Tale: Requiem, Gotham Knights, The Settlers, Ghostbuster, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, etc.

Public Voting

This forms part of the International Film Fest Gent. After public voting closes on 21 August, 5 finalists will be nominated, with the winner being announced on 19 October. We don't realistically expect to beat out such heavyweights, but you never know, and just being part of the 88-track-long-list is already quite exciting! If you would like to listen to the candidates and vote for your favorite, you can follow the links below: Spotify Playlist Film Fest Gent Voting Page YouTube video of the complete track "The Beginning" De Chelonian Mobile! Gideon

[ 2023-08-09 13:12:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

Good day, fellow Meeps!
I'm happy to report that the smoother terrain triangulation, less restrictive building placement, new terrain textures and improved optimization is now live! More detail in the links below. Improved Optimization: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1512050/view/3674421166715540061?l=english Smoother Terrain Triangulation and Less Restrictive Building Placement: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1512050/view/3696938531596732980?l=english
I'm aware of a few small visual glitches that do not affect gameplay (mostly where rivers and roads are concerned). If you encounter anything strange with the new triangulation, please mention it here or on the Discord server. Next up: Improving the UI/UX. I'm working with a professional UI team on this one... De Chelonian Mobile Gideon

[ 2023-06-24 10:58:53 CET ] [ Original post ]

Good day, fellow Meeps! I've been spending a lot of time on optimization recently, and wanted to mention a few improvements that will be included in the next update:

• I'm now emitting all "dust" and "water spray" visuals from a single pair of particle systems, changing its parameters before emitting specific particles, where previously I placed a copy of the system at each point where dust / spray needed to be visualized, and then destroyed the system to get rid of the visuals. The central particle systems now emits particles for all locations specified in a dynamic list. Rain, clouds and snow emission have been working like this for a while.
• Finding locations for Fracture Springs when Fault Lines erupt now runs on one of the parallel threads, getting rid of the most notable (and very noticeable) temporary stuttering in frame rate when Fault Lines erupt.
• Some "take small steps over time until all is done" changes are now made instantaneously if the Fault Line isn't explored by the player (and thus not visible), further reducing frame rate stuttering.
• I've improved memory management by implementing list pools across all threads to reduce the strain put on garbage collection, reducing temporary frame rate drops.
• I've reduced "Set Pass Calls" and "Batches" to reduce the amount of communication required between CPU and GPU.
• I've reduced excessive triangles in the Food Ball and Snow Comet models.

Along with the improved triangulation (see previous post), the next update will also include huge improvements in the terrain texture, which I have completely revisited (with only a few left to go). Here's an example of what the game currently looks like. Although the new triangulation requires more GPU resources (I've always been CPU bound on my side anyway), the texture improvement is achieved with no additional strain on the CPU or GPU.
I'm very excited to release this update, but there are a few loose ends to tie up before we can go live. Please stay tuned! De Chelonian Mobile Gideon

[ 2023-06-16 12:00:20 CET ] [ Original post ]

Good day, fellow Meeps!
I've been working on the following very impactful changes:

• An alternative terrain triangulation for a much smoother look.
• Relaxing restrictions on building placement, making it easier to find suitable locations.

Terrain Triangulation

I have completely reworked the triangulation to make the terrain more flowing, less blocky. This increases the GPU needs, but the original style will still be available for lower graphic settings. Less Restrictive Building Placement Previously, Meeps could raise/lower terrain one elevation level for most buildings and 2 for special ones. They can now alter the terrain by up to 3 elevation levels for most buildings, and 4 for special ones. This greatly reduces the restrictions placed on building placement.
Previously, Meeps could only walk, and roads could only go, up and down 2 elevation levels (as indicated by terraces). They can also now traverse a maximum of 4 elevation levels, again lifting restrictions on where Meeps can go and how roads connect. Finally, this also makes pathfinding quicker, improving stability / performance. These changes are quite impactful, so I still need to finalize a few loose ends and test that everything still works properly, so the game will not yet be updated to include these changes - stay tuned, it won't be long! De Chelonian Mobile! Gideon

[ 2023-06-05 06:48:52 CET ] [ Original post ]

Good day, fellow Meeps! Today brings some more UI improvements, and some quality of life additions.

I've made these changes/improvements since he previous update:

• Added an "Auto: Balance" option to the Building UI, which will let the building always select the task with the smallest percentage experience, which allows you to have an automated balanced progression through the experiences and allow the building to upgrade as soon as possible. When all tasks' experience has run full, it falls back to the set task priorities.
• Fields, Animal Camps and Shoals that have not been set are highlighted in red (on the terrain itself) in addition to the existing target icon on black background. The previous temporary warning message when deselecting a building with some unscheduled foodstuffs also remains in place.
• "Game Saved as...." message does not contain full path anymore (privacy reasons).
• Save/Load Menu contains a button to open the saved game path.
• Border Flags display even when the terrain they're on is unexplored.
• Slight tint on building floorplans makes it easier to know which hexes are occupied by buildings.
• Added doodad models to some buildings to also make it easier to know which hexes are part of their floorplans.
• Objective Target Icons are now created closer to the proposed area of application, rather than randomly around the Founders Hex.
• The first time the game is run, the Personalize segment of the Game Options menu is loaded automatically, so that the player is aware of the available languages.
• Disabled icons are not quite as dark anymore, to make them easier to distinguish.
• More time between Fault Line eruptions, so there's more time to build "dam walls" to protect your realm.
• When displaying the cost of buildings or tasks, values for which there aren't enough resources are printed in red.
• All Tooltips now update their text every second to make sure these colored amounts reset back to white when enough resources are available, and all other functions displayed in the tooltip also update.
• The temporary change in Tooltip that tells you which resource is lacking now remains for 3 seconds rather than just until the cursor is moved (which often caused the message to be missed).
• Fixed a bug when loading a leader board without any current entries.
• Changed the message when path-finding takes too long to not mention CPU speed (since that isn't technically the issue), but rather mention it's an unexpected path-finding issue. For reference, if none of these crop up, I can run the game at 18x speed for a long time before the CPU gets overloaded.
• Added stand-in auto-translated German and Chinese phrases (as well as proper Afrikaans ones) for the few UI elements I've added. These will be updated in the next localization round.

See you soon with another update! Gideon

[ 2023-05-23 07:02:22 CET ] [ Original post ]

Good day, fellow Meeps! I've been working on the UI functionality during the last week, and have made some good progress towards making the UI more intuitive and less clunky to get around to information / functions applicable at specific points. We've not updated the visuals /theme yet, but the upgraded Building UI panel will make it easier and more intuitive to give orders.


The Building UI panel now contains separate tabs, giving the player focused access to the information and actions specific to that building:

• Tasks: As before, the player sets task priorities, order roads and upgrades the building on this tab.
• Research: The research "wheel" (as currently on the Research Overview panel) is displayed here, but for this building type only, allowing the player to focus on, and change, the research of this building type in isolation.
• Annexes: Displays (and links to) all currently existing Annexes commissioned by this building, and also shows how many Annex slots are still available. A list of all Annexes commissioned by this building type is also displayed and the player can order an Annex straight from this panel.
• Resources: For Farms and Fishmongers, this panel displays all the workable hexes, as well as what livestock / seafood / crops are currently growing on them. The player can also schedule crops straight from this panel, and a color-coded frame around foodstuff icons now show the suitability of each crop given the climate of the specific building. When scheduling foodstuff on the map, these frames are now also present on the icons there.

I've also fixed a few minor bugs and made some small changes:

• Some of the zooming on certain UI elements (especially when they appear) have been removed to make them snappier and feel less laggy.
• Farming, Research and Combined Tutorial achievements did not fire.
• Builder's Yard Achievements did not fire (this was a fix on the Steam backend, so they would have already started firing without the game update).

See you soon with another update! Gideon

[ 2023-05-09 14:51:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

[ 2023-05-04 15:36:04 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi all, Thanks for the support so far! I've updated the game to fix a few small Gremlins:

• I've noticed from YouTube videos that the Rain, Snow and Clouds are not switched on by default (you have to switch them on in the Game Options | Accessibility menu - people with simulation sickness could be bothered by them). This means you've been losing out on some ambience! I've corrected this that the setting will always be set to true when the game is started, and needs to be switched off if desired.
• When performance is extremely low (huge Realms or possible difficult path finding), it can happen that another AutoSave gets "chained" before the first scheduled AutoSave could complete, leading to a string of AutoSaves in a row. This has now been fixed.
• Some players have reported not being able to set 4K resolutions. It seems Unity does not pick up 4K as a viable resolution for their monitors. I've included a toggle in Game Options | Graphics to allow forcing 4K to try to be set, to obtain some feedback from the players with this problem. Please leave 4K untoggled if this does not affect you.

The Windows build has been updated. We'll update Linux and Mac soon... That's it for now. Please log any bugs on our Discord server, so we have them in one place: Bug Reports Gideon

[ 2023-05-02 23:09:05 CET ] [ Original post ]

Today is the day, fellow Meeps! I hope youre just as excited as I am! Let me be the first to celebrate that World Turtles Early Access is now live on PC! [previewyoutube=y8DBSWXQkYA;full][/previewyoutube] Thank you all for your support throughout development! Im super excited to show you everything weve accomplished so far, and I hope you enjoy saving the turtles as much as I do. You can follow us on Twitter and join our Discord to interact with our amazing community! Dont forget, you can leave us a review (which really helps a lot), share part of your journey, tell us about a bug youve found, or just give some feedback in our Discord. Save the Turtles! De Chelonian Mobile! Gideon

[ 2023-05-01 15:45:03 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi all, There are, understandably, two very frequent connotations being made between World Turtles and existing popular culture. I wanted to address those briefly here. TL;DR We all have a very positive relationship and mutual respect for each others efforts and intentions! The Wandering Village I have actually become online friends with Philomena (team lead of The Wandering Village), and she's been very friendly and helpful towards a noob solo dev. The two games' designs were done completely independently - we only found out about each other later, and became friends due to it. I've been working on World Turtles since 2019, long before I heard of The Wandering Village. I've also purposefully not played or watched TWV since I didn't want it to influence me. I actually have a YouTube channel with dev logs from 2019 (and there exists some early independent YouTube coverage as well) showing my progress, I'm just a lot slower than the TWV team! Many of World Turtles' Discord members came straight from the Discord of The Wandering Village! Discworld I am a huge Sir Terry Pratchett and Discworld fan. It is indeed why I chose this setting. However, the World Turtle myth has appeared in various forms via various civilizations across earth and is, in itself, not a problem. I actually contacted Rhianna Pratchett about this very early on to make sure I would not be stepping on any toes. She is completely fine with me using the setting, as long as I dont make it Discworld-y by basing my characters, places and ideas directly on those of Discworld. To add to all of this, there's also Beyond These Stars coming out fairly soon, but I also know their team lead, Sam, and the situation is similar to the other two discussed above. See you in the game! Gideon

[ 2023-05-01 10:05:12 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi all, While World Turtles seems to be working well on most Linux and Mac machines, there have been a few exceptions (details below). To avoid disappointment and unhappiness, please test whether the demo runs on your rig before the demo is disabled, which will happen a couple of hours before release. There will be support channels in the community hub after launch to help sort out specific issues on a case-by-case basis, so please join us there if you run into some problems and don't mind trying a few fixes. If you have the technical experience and capacity to help out, that would also be very much appreciated. As a solo developer I, unfortunately, don't realistically have hours to spend on individual, more obscure issues, although I'd like to somehow cater for as many as possible, with the community's help. However, if you do have an issue and this sounds like too much of a drag, I completely understand. Also, if you have bought the game without having the opportunity to test the demo, and run into any issues that cannot be resolved in the amount of time you are willing to afford it, please feel free to refund the game - no hard feelings from my side, and I hope from yours. Known exceptions:

• I've had reports of the game crashing on the Title Screen on Apple Silicon machines, even though these binaries are included in the builds. I have not been able to determine exactly why. If you have an Apple Silicon machine I would appreciate it if you could send me Player Logs (on Discord) so I can try and figure out what the issues are.
• Sometimes the game runs fine, but some of the shaders look weird. This can usually be fixed by adding the correct command line parameter(s) when launching the game.

Thanks for your time, Gideon

[ 2023-04-29 08:48:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

Good day, fellow Meeps! I bet youre excited to hear the news! World Turtles launches into Early Access on May 1st, 2023 on PC! [previewyoutube=SNuvn5lJvE8;full][/previewyoutube] Thank you all for your support throughout development! Im super excited to show you everything weve accomplished since the last demo update, and I hope you enjoy saving the World Turtles as much as I do. Make sure to join our Discord server and follow us on our Twitter for more frequent updates and to connect with other Meeps! De Chelonian Mobile! Gideon

[ 2023-04-17 17:20:45 CET ] [ Original post ]

Good day, fellow Meeps!

Welcome to the last update before the release date announcement! Although World Turtles is Made with Unity, it still feels Unreal that were almost at the Early Access release point. When I started tinkering with Unity 4 years ago, I had no idea what lay ahead! The biggest updates for the last 5 weeks are discussed below. As before, some more Quality of Life improvements have also been added. Join our Discord server for more frequent updates and previews! De Chelonian Mobile! Gideon

Voiceovers for all Four Tutorials

There is now a Meep voice guiding you through all four of the tutorials. Theres not much more to say about that!

Localization

Localization for German, Chinese and Afrikaans (my mother tongue) has just about been completed, and the process is working quite well! More languages will be selected based on the support for World Turtles in different regions. Personally, Id love to just add 6 more languages off the bat, but it also has to make financial sense. Fan-based localizations are not off the cards, although any such endeavors must be properly managed and executed.

Introducing: Challenges with Variability and on-line Leader Boards

You can now ply your trade against four challenges that need specific strategies to complete successfully. There are five difficulty levels to choose from. You also have the option of submitting your best score for any challenge-difficulty combination to an online leaderboard. The challenges introduce variability in the game parameters: Experience can be gained at different rates; Upgrade multipliers can alter the efficiency gained from levelling up; Goodwill can accumulate at different rates for different challenges. Tutorials and Challenges can also have different Research tech trees the research items can be organized in any way that fits the data structures and the UI will automatically display and handle it correctly. Theres no reason why this feature cannot eventually make it into the Map Maker as well!

Helicopter Rides

In addition to Water Ways being constructed by Builders using helicopters, Meeps on Leisure tasks now also use Helicopters to fly over their homes, while Wanderers now use available helicopters to scout further, including across water.

The First Draft of a Detailed Map Maker (Tectonic Plates / Topography)

While you will not yet be able to play on these maps, you can now create your own maps by specifying Tectonic Plates (and the direction and speed with which they move) right on the map, or by applying Topographic Maps to determine land elevation. Then, you can select Climate parameters and even edit hexes individually. More options will continuously be added and eventually, you will be able to play on and share these maps.

Hello, World!

65 New Music Tracks

Ive added 65 more of Alexander Nakaradas wonderful tracks to keep the playlist fresh. His discography is an absolute treasure!

UI

The UI is constantly improving, although the additions this month are not as impactful as last month. However, I should be able to share some exiting news on this front soon

[ 2023-04-08 16:53:40 CET ] [ Original post ]

Good day, fellow Meeps! The Early Access release of World Turtles is now thundering ahead like a starving World Turtle eyeing a juicy Space Cucumber! I may not reveal the exact release date yet, but I can say that there will be only one more update like this (after this one) before release! The biggest updates since the release of the January demo are discussed below. The current build runs smoother with fewer little niggles and bugs than the demo, since weve received some good feedback and identification of issues via our Closed Beta and internal testing rounds. Quality of Life improvements have also been added and some more are planned. Join our Discord server for more frequent updates and previews! De Chelonian Mobile! Gideon Discord

Tectonic Plates and the Map Builder!

I have completely reworked the way the landmasses (before erosion and climate) are determined it now uses a system based on Plate Tectonics to determine the layout of land and water. This leads to greater control over the characteristics of the created maps and much more natural looking worlds. The factors available in the revamped Map Builder each have a clear, focused impact on how the randomly generated world looks and plays. You can preview a map with a specific seed and then play on that exact map!
As an example, note how much more natural the continents and beaches (Ive also added a more sandy look) appear when the water level drops, revealing more land next to the beach but not in the deeper seas, like before:
This also makes water a mechanic that actually influences gameplay, where water was previously very random and erratic. Finally, starting locations are a lot more dependable to be playable.

Demolition and Repairs

Buildings can now be canceled or demolished at any stage of construction, as long as they have not yet been upgraded or are special buildings that would lead to problems if demolished. Demolishing a building returns some of the resources and repairing a building now also costs resources. Repairs and Demolition are also progressive, with the building models updating a few times in the cycle. In addition, damaged buildings lose some of their functionality until they are repaired (for example Water Towers not providing water and having to be refilled from scratch).

Minimap and Meep Cam Control

The minimap can now be panned and zoomed, allowing you to focus on specific areas. The resources are also displayed more clearly now. The space minimap can also be zoomed, while the Meep Cam can now zoom and orbit around the Meep being followed.

Message Vault

All previous important messages are now saved in a Message Vault and are also available after loading a game. Note that we now also keep track of the day, not only time of day.

Space Resources

In addition to the basic resources, I have started adding Space Resources. The first two are crystals that are deposited by the Gas Pollution (Octavium) and Snow Comets crashing down (Niveum). These crystals dissolve/dissipate over time, so Meeps need to gather them before theyre gone after one of the natural disasters have deposited them on the terrain! This makes the Snow Comets and Gas Pollution more interactive, as they also bring opportunity with their damage, and the player needs to act fast to gather the resources before they disappear. Theres space for 4 more kinds of Space Resources, possibly with more than one tier each. Uses for Space Resources still have to be implemented, but I can reveal that they will have scientific and cultural / artistic uses.

Three New Shorter Tutorials

Ive added the following three shorter tutorials, focusing on specific mechanics in more detail:

• Resource tutorial, for gathering Wood and Stone and expanding borders.
• Farming tutorial, for getting the most out of your Farms and Fishmongers.
• Research tutorial, for understanding building-specific and realm-wide research. Some Research items now also cause Breakthroughs in other, related lines of study. These Breakthrough connections are randomized, so will play differently on different playthroughs.

These tutorials will also receive voice overs this month!

UI Additions

Among the UI additions are:

• Icons that allow you to find damaged buildings and buildings that can be upgraded.
• The option of switching off On-map Hints after becoming familiar with them. They will still be available in the Message Vault.

[ 2023-03-01 20:54:14 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello fellow Meeps! After almost 6 months, it's time for an exciting update to the World Turtles Demo! The biggest changes are discussed below. The demo should be more performant and stable since Ive, uhm, persuaded a few Gremlins to find other lodgings. I would love to hear your feedback and suggestions for the next leg of the journey. Enjoy the new demo, and join Discord for the chance to participate in the Closed Beta! De Chelonian Mobile! Gideon Discord : https://discord.com/invite/2NEb4HxwhF Water System A complete water system needs to be constructed and maintained to supply Meeps with water of increasing quality, improving their health.
Feeding and Steering the Turtle The mechanic of feeding and steering the Turtle with the Catapult has been implemented! The Meeps will now have to plant and harvest feeding grass with which to load the catapult, so it will be a lot more work. But don't despair, the AI realms will assist you with everything!
Annexes Annexes have come a long way! Most building types can now commission Annexes around them, including Water Towers, Water Points, Wells, Play Wheels, Kennels, Mortar Pits, Helicopters, Monuments ... and more are being planned!
Natural Disasters Natural disasters can damage infrastructure but can also be managed to avoid catastrophes (try the new terrain manipulation feature). Snow Comets crash down on the terrain and eruptions from Fault Lines cause Fracture Springs, which in turn cause new rivers to form and spread throughout the land.

UI Overhaul I have spent a lot of time on trying to make the UI more intuitive, aesthetic (given I dont have a UI artist!) and standardized, and just improve the overall user experience. Some elements have changed positions I hope you get used to these changes quickly! Functionality for complete localization has also been completed and the translations will be attended to during the next few months. The list of languages still needs to be finalized, but theres always the option of including community-driven translations as well.
Game Options Menu The clunky Game Options menu has been broken down into more manageable, logical groups of options. Note that Twitch integration is now possible, allowing Meeps to pick their names from the participating chatters in the Streamers Twitch channel so, persuade your favorite streamers to try out World Turtles!

[ 2023-01-15 20:33:45 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi all! Ive been working on a lot of new things and I would love to share them with you. Last time, we spoke about the Water System. Now, I'm almost done implementing it! The lake or sea water will be polluted by toxic gas in space from time to time. For this reason, as well as to distribute water more efficiently, you will need a system of Water Towers, Wells and Water Points to supply your growing Realm with water. Technological advancements will allow you to produce cleaner, safer water for consumption, increasing the health of your Meeps. Heres an example of what your system might look like!
Large ice and snow comets can break off of the Turtle's flippers, crashing down on the world below and causing havoc. Damaged buildings would have to be repaired before becoming operational again. Heres an example of what happens visually when those comets crash down!
Wanderers will be able to annex Kennels, allowing their dogs to have offspring, so that more Wanderers (and AI Wanderers) can have canine companions. Heres an example of what a kennel might look like:
I've been working hard to improve the UI, and the UX is much smoother and more intuitive already - it's an ongoing process, but Im excited to share it with you!
And last but not least, remember the Research Overview Screen we talked about last time? Well, the design and icons for a bunch of research items have been completed. I am currently implementing their impacts.
Once again, thank you for all of your support, encouragement, and excitement throughout development. I cant wait to share more about World Turtles with you! If you want to be more a part of the journey, feel free to join our Discord where you can hang out with myself and the community. De Chelonian Mobile Gideon Discord : https://discord.com/invite/2NEb4HxwhF

[ 2022-11-29 15:42:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi all! Ive been working on a lot of new things and I would love to share them with you. One big thing Ive been working on is the the layout of the new Research Overview Screen. Each row contains one of the "categories" (Settling, Gathering, Improving) of buildings, while the tasks and research items for each building type is set out around it. Locked items are greyed out, currently researching items are marked with a thicker frame, and all research progress is indicated in the frames of the icons. Whenever any of this updates, the icons, frames and greyed-out status update automatically. The research items under the Research Hub are "realm wide". Each building type can either work on its own research items, or direct its efforts towards the realm-wide research (which can thus be boosted considerably at the expense of the building-type-specific research). Whenever something else is selected at the Research Hub, all the icons at the other buildings are also updated and the research changed for those that are set to realm-wide research. Heres a quick peek at what I have so far for the Research Overview Screen - Ill be adding more later so stay tuned!
I know that its different than how games generally do it, but I really don't like the system where you "gather" a bunch of research points beforehand, and then select what you've supposedly researched when you have enough points built up. I also don't like the "only one item is researched at one time by everybody", so I wanted to bring in building-type specific research and an overall tree. Thats why I landed on this! Second, the first elements of a "Water System" has been added. Water will have to be supplied to buildings from time to time. At first, only unsafe water sources will be available (from lakes), which will negatively affect Meep health, but access to safe water can eventually be secured. By constructing Water Towers and Wells and by extending the reach through Water Points, the amount of effort the Meeps need to assert to cater for all their Water needs can be reduced over time. In the screenshot, the range of the Water Tower (to where Water Points can be commissioned) is indicated - this is dependent on the elevation level of the water tower as well as the contours of the surrounding terrain.
Heres what filling up the water tower looks like!
Another thing I added is that you will also be able to prioritize resources to be cleared (for example to create space for buildings). Any Meeps close-by that can harvest that resource type will ignore all other priorities set at their building and focus on clearing these resources, before going back to their set task priorities.
Areas set to be cleared will be indicated by small icons above the terrain, and the specific hexes will be highlighted when you hover over the main hex like in the screenshot below.
Lastly, here is how youll be keeping track of the water supplies!
Once again, thank you for all of your support, encouragement, and excitement throughout develpment. I cant wait to share more about World Turtles with you! If you want to be more a part of the journey, feel free to join our Discord where you can hang out with myself and the community. De Chelonian Mobile Gideon

[ 2022-10-27 22:54:19 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi all! The biggest new feature at this time is that I've started working on letting you, the player, manipulate the terrain. For example, builders will be able to raise and lower terrain hex by hex. They need to do this to guide new procedurally generated rivers that spring up when outcrops burst through fault lines in the ground, so that the realm is not overrun (buildings damaged) by these rivers. You can pick which hexes to be raised to form the "wall". This assigns tasks, the builders perform them and the terrain adjusts bit by bit as they work.
You can also add and cancel waypoints (indicated in yellow) to build a more elaborate wall.
Sometimes, things may go a little awry I was testing the "flood fill" that will be used to identify enclosed dams or areas. Help!
When things go right, however, this should be what it looks like. The dam wall has been completed and the dam is filling up!
Once again, thank you for all of your support, encouragement, and excitement throughout the last two and a half years. I cant wait to share more about World Turtles with you! If you want to be more a part of the journey, feel free to join our Discord where you can hang out with myself and the community. De Chelonian Mobile Gideon

[ 2022-09-01 18:56:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi all! I am proud to announce that World Turtles is now being published by Freedom Games. For those of you who may not know, a game publisher can take care of a lot of the business and marketing side of releasing a game. That includes managing the store pages, marketing and advertising the game, helping showcase the game at both digital and live events, PR, and a lot more. Really it lets me totally focus on working to make the game the best it can be, and provides me with the resources to do so. You may also be concerned about horror stories of publishers ruining the vision of a game or forcing arbitrary restrictions on the dev team. For Freedom, that cant be further from the reality I have experienced with them. Freedom has been a great partner to me, only enhancing and supporting my vision. I was very careful when considering whether to go with a publisher or not, and selected Freedom because they are committed to my vision of the game, and only want to see it reach its full potential as I see it. I maintain complete creative and development freedom, and Freedom (heh) wouldnt have it any other way! With all of that being said, we are going to delay the game just a little bit. With the addition of a publisher and more funding, I am going to take a bit more time to make sure the game is the best that it can be, before asking you to invest in it. Freedoms investment (money, time, skills, experience and industry contacts) makes it possible to present a much improved World Turtles to a bigger audience, making it more probable that I can create a decent career out of this opportunity in the longer term. Without all of you and your support, encouragement and excitement throughout the last two and a half years, I would not have found myself in this position. I hope to have you along for the next exciting leg of this journey! If you want to be more a part of the journey, feel free to join our Discord where you can hang out with myself and the community. De Chelonian Mobile Gideon

[ 2022-08-12 19:05:03 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi all! While the Campaign/Tutorial combination serves the purpose of bringing in some back-story, it is a little long-winded for someone who just wants to quickly learn how to play the game, so I've designed a completely new tutorial alongside it. The new tutorial is dynamic (it can be run on any random map, so it adjusts to the map you've been dealt) and interactive (you can make a few decisions and it will adapt the tutorial to those). It hides some of the interactions at the start and then introduce them step by step, so that the early game isn't as filled with information and "new stuff" as before. It guides you through completing the objectives linked to the choices you've made. Highlights: - You can work through 13 building types, harvesting, research items, building upgrades, and more mechanics in about half an hour at 3x speed, which plays comfortably. Using 6x from time to time makes it faster still. - It proposes proper locations for the buildings but doesn't force you to choose them. - It takes you up to the first building upgrades to Crafters. I plan on expanding on it as development progresses. - As of the previous update, you can now click on the models of buildings/units/etc. on the map itself to select them instead of only on the UI elements or terrain hexes. There were a few glitches with this, which has been corrected. - As of the previous update, there are now icons for things that were hidden behind key bindings before, but they now also have toggle indicators to show whether they're on or off. - The UI reacts much smoother now after I added some checks, smoothing parameters, etc. - The UI is more visible in-map after some background and other adjustments, making sure that crops and other items are more spread out (less overlapping UI) on the map, etc. - I've used a more readable font for the detailed messages / labels. I will need to replace the "header font" as well, since the current font does not cover all the required characters. - I am about half-way through converting the game to allow localization by entering text in external files! - Improved some behind-the-scenes workings. I'd love to hear how you find the new tutorial. I'm hoping it will grab more attention from people who want a quick introduction/guide without going into minute details. De Chelonian Mobile, Gideon

[ 2022-07-31 06:52:12 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi all, The UI has come a long way since the "horrible first drafts" I was working with for such a long time! Today's demo update adds a very significant improvement, and a few smaller ones:

• You can now click on the building and Meep models themselves to open up the specific UI elements.
• For an alternative UI experience, try out the "reduced clicks" mode (the toggle can be found below the minimap), which opens and closes some UI elements without requiring a click. For example, keep the cursor relatively still for a fraction of a second over a building model and that building's UI panel will appear. Simply move the cursor far enough away from the UI panel and it closes automatically.
• The UI should play much smoother, since I streamlined how it reacts / zooms in and out.
• The default volume levels the game starts with have been adjusted. Saving and loading of settings is on on the way...

Next, some questions I'd appreciate your feedback on:

• The "reduced clicks" mode: Does the fact that the UI panels pop up / close down when the cursor is relatively still / moves away from the UI bother you, or does this improve the experience since you don't have to click as much?
• The game's font: The font is maybe a bit too "bulky". A simpler, streamlined font would probably improve the ease at which information is processed on the various UI panels. Any thoughts/recommendations on this?

Thanks! Gideon

[ 2022-07-05 10:57:09 CET ] [ Original post ]

Join me for a World Turtles playthrough and be a part of the journey!

[ 2022-06-15 19:22:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

The solo developer will be showcasing the latest content, while discussing the game's mechanics and future plans. Be a part of the Journey!

[ 2022-06-14 06:15:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

The solo developer will be showcasing the latest content, while discussing the game's mechanics and future plans. Be a part of the Journey!

[ 2022-06-13 18:59:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi All! TL/DR: Please play the (updated Steam Next Fest) demo, which will be available from 9 June, for at least 20 minutes (the longer the better). This will supply you with a code that allows you to have your name in the game as a Meep. It also gives World Turtles a better chance to appear on some features Steam lists during the festival, which can be a huge deal, and will hopefully build the Discord community too. I'd like to give current and future fans a way to have some interaction with the game, and also make people more excited to try out the demo, especially just before and during Steam Next Fest, which runs from 13 June for a week. So, I thought I'd allow people a way to get their names into World Turtles as part of the list that Meeps use to pick their names randomly. Here is how it will work: 1) The Discord server (https://discord.gg/y8pC3HzXQc) will host the information about Your Name In The Game, with a link to a Google Form (on 9 June), which needs a valid key. 2) Anybody who plays the new demo for at least 20 minutes between 9 June and 26 June will obtain a randomly generated key in the demo, which they'll be able to enter (straight from the demo) into the Google Form along with their Discord profile name, and the name and gender they'd like to be in the game. 3) These completed forms will be combined into a report by Google Forms and I'll have all the entries at the end, which I'll use to create the name list. 4) Please be civil and reasonable with the chosen names. I'm wary of just "throwing it open to anyone" without any kind of checks, so I think I'm going to make it an achievement in the demo which can only be unlocked once. For anyone who really wants to bypass that check, oh well, you can't be totally fool proof, I guess. There will eventually be Crafter and Artisan levels for names as well, but these first ones will be Apprentices. The Google Forms link will follow on 9 June and the demo will take you there automatically, as well as complete your code automatically. Cheers, and thanks for your time and support! Gideon

[ 2022-05-27 19:29:35 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi all, I am temporarily deactivating the demo due to the press / exposure efforts leading up to the Steam Next Fest of 13 June. The exclusive new demo will be activated early in June for press and content creators, with an embargo being lifted on 9 June, when new demo will become available to everybody. Note that you will be able to add your (reasonable!) to the list of Meep names if you play the new demo for more than 20 minutes when it releases. Visit the Discord server for more information: https://discord.gg/y8pC3HzXQc See you in June! Gideon

[ 2022-05-23 09:37:05 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi all, This will be the last update for a while - probably to just before the Steam Next Fest in June. Here are the highlights:

• I've spent a lot of time on things happening behind the scenes to improve stability and reduce the occurrences of Meeps taking a while before starting with the next task. You may not necessarily see these improvements on screen, but they're there...
• As a result of the increased stability, I've increased the maximum game speed to 6x.
• I've introduced Water Ways, which are used to cross water. Currently, the Meeps still only walk in the water, but the plan is for them to "latch on" (with a harness) to the ropes and be transported across the water. Path finding had to be completely revamped to include previously-excluded water hexes, as well as all the different combinations of travel (also see the next point).
• If water levels subside enough, Meeps can traverse previously "underwater" areas. In effect, all 0-elevation (just under water) hexes become "dry land", while all -1-elevation hexes become shore. The path finding takes this into account already, and will allow travel across these hexes during times of drought.
• You can now expand to remote areas (including other continents or islands, if you have a water way) by constructing additional Founders Hexes. The complete mechanics still have to be fleshed out, but for now the Meeps will just walk / travel by water way to the new site.
• Caveat: There are still some things in the saving/loading process (and many other small bugs / to-do's) which don't work as intended. I am aware of most of these (I have a list!), but need more time to fix them. However, I wanted to release this update since I'll be on holiday for two weeks and won't be able to do much during that time.

I hope you enjoy the additions, and I'll be back with a big update in June!

[ 2022-03-17 19:23:25 CET ] [ Original post ]

Small update for today: You can now set some of the characteristics for creating a random map. The example tiny map updates in real-time (takes about 1 second) as you change the options to give you an idea of the impact of your choices. You can then create a game with those map settings. Be advised: This is the first iteration, so some parameter combinations could lead to unplayable maps. I also improved some UI tooltips, specifically telling you what is required to unlock building types or upgrades.

[ 2022-02-09 15:45:13 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi all, Today's update adds the following:

• The terrain contains fault lines through which high rock towers will emerge in real-time while playing!
• The starting positions and map geography has been reworked to be more visually interesting and less prone to "dud starts" (where you don't have enough space and/or resources and/or tribal camps nearby).
• By the way, the next update will include a map builder where you can set map parameters yourself and see a real (tiny) example map created using the current parameter set. The example map takes about 1 second to create and visualise, so you can get almost-instant feedback on your selections :)
• A new messaging system is introduced, where hints and other messages are shown in-map at the locations they apply to. An icon with heading is displayed until you hover over the hex in question, at which time the full message is displayed. Clicking on the hex dismisses the message, else it remains there for future reference. You can thus dismiss messages you've already dealt with, while keeping others for a bit later. This also works when saving and loading (your live messages remain in-tact).

I made quite a few changes to the data structures behind the scenes to accommodate the real-time geography changes and message system, so I hope there are no new bugs I haven't caught in my playtesting. Please let me know if something isn't working anymore. Finally, as one of 2021's weekly winners, World Turtles is participating in the year-end Fan Favourite vote over at #GDWC2021. Please consider voting for me! Latest video showcasing the procedural real-time geography: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jvt9BG2ULkQ #GDWC2021 Game Page with Voting Button: https://thegdwc.com/pages/game.php?game_guid=5e9bcd56-50a2-45b4-bc29-aaa114c805fa Enjoy the rock eruptions!

[ 2022-01-29 11:12:57 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi all, May you be happy and content in 2022! Welcome to the first update for the year. While there were a few smaller updates as well, the main factors to focus on today are:

• Meeps can now have children, which take up progressively more food and appeal capacity as they age, until the join the workforce when they become adults.
• Meeps now have randomly chosen names :)
• Your realm now has a Nutrition score, which is determined by how balanced your food supply is (between Staples, Treats and Protein) and by whether there is enough food supply.
• Nutrition is one of the factors that feed into a Health score. The other two are still in development. The health score determines the rate at which Meeps get born and will influence more mechanics later on.

Go forth and prosper!

[ 2022-01-08 07:57:03 CET ] [ Original post ]

The final update for this year brings fish as a resource, while all crop and livestock yields are now continuously affected by weather conditions. See you next year with some more updates!

[ 2021-12-23 09:00:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi all! Another update, and this one brings space into the picture at last! Parts of the UI have also changed dramatically.

• For now, use the keypad to steer the turtle around in space. You will use the catapult eventually.
• Space contains Humidity, Temperature and Flux parameters, which impact water levels, rain, snow and power in your world.
• The bulky "information UI panels" have been replaced with something cleaner, more streamlined and standardized. It populates itself procedurally based on your progress in the game, starting small, with only a few entries, and slowly building up to the full UI.
• The UI is divided into mini panels, with each panel containing info on a connected group of items. The panels display icons and totals, but clicking on a panel opens up a more detailed "UI wheel" with expanding spokes.
• You can now have a cinematic camera fly-by at any time. The camera takes a procedurally generated path through the world, taking the extent of your presence on the map into account.
• There are now more than 80 beautiful songs by 3 artists as background music, and a new track composed specifically for World Turtles!
• If you haven't noticed before, the water has been spruced up and contain fish and rowboats (when you construct a Fishmonger's Hut). These are aware of the water levels and movement is restricted when water dries up.
• Upgrading the Woodcutter's Cabin unlocks a Play Wheel, which is the start of the power generation process of World Turtles.
• Upgrading the Wanderer's Cabin allows you proclaim a Nature Reserve, which will come into play later.
• Similar additional buildings are planned for the other buildings already in the game.

I hope you enjoy the new additions! Gideon

[ 2021-12-07 21:56:21 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello all! The demo has been updated with the most impactful visual update yet! Look out for the following:

• Each hex can now be a blend of three textures.
• I'll be using this mainly to visualise droughts and snowy areas.
• After a rain shower, grass will be at its greenest, after which it will turn more yellow over time. This change is aware of the amount of moisture in the area, so areas around water are not affected as much. Determining the moisture content is part of the map creation process.
• Snow has a varying impact on the terrain and everything on it, from no impact to total snow covering. This is dependent on the temperature that is part of the map creation process.
• The campaign/tutorial episode has also been updated with the changes.
• Rain and snow are localised, instead of just a fixed particle system around the camera only. This means it will be properly visible in cinematic fly-by scenes and any other angles of view. I handle the emission of particles manually.
• The research icons are looking better and better - I'm working on the next batch...
• The way I apply icons has been reworked. Each icon is composed of a frame, background and picture/icon proper. Instead of having to create copies of icons on different backgrounds, I can now build it up as required. It also means I can have background-less icons in the in-line text, which looks a lot more polished.
• I'll be working on a UI overhaul, especially the information panels, soon.

I hope you like the new look!

[ 2021-11-02 19:01:05 CET ] [ Original post ]

Welcome to another World Turtles update! It's been a while since I added something new to the demo, but I've been busy developing some exciting new content:

• The start of a Tutorial/Campaign
• Interplay between the different game systems, specifically centred around the Wanderers and Farmers.

What to look out for in this build:

• Try out the first episode of the Tutorial / Campaign! It's a first release, so there's bound to be some niggles (I'll eventually smooth out the transitions between scenes), but I have tested it extensively. It will give you a good introduction to the very basic UI controls.
• There is a lot of interplay between the Wanderers Cabin and Farm now, including new research that actually affect the gameplay!
• The new research items have stand-in icons - I'm working on the formal ones!
• Researching Domestication lets your Wanderers survey crops and livestock to unlock them for your farms.
• Farmers plant crops and keep livestock to increase both Supply and Appeal capacity.
• Get your farms going early - they take a while to come into effect! Two farms should be enough.
• Researching Cultivation allows your farmers to tend crops for more yield.
• Researching Fertilization further increases the yield of crops, provided your farm also houses some livestock.
• Farmers require experience to upgrade, as before, but you also need to complete certain research items before your farms can be upgraded.

I'm looking forward to your feedback. De Chelonian Mobile!

[ 2021-10-13 15:06:59 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi all, I have some exciting news! I've reworked the way hexes are created and managed, which has lead to significantly reduced loading times. Where a huge map used to take about a minute to be created and populated, it now takes about 10 to 20 seconds (depending on map layout). In addition, loading a game will now take only about 3 or 4 seconds! In terms of the AI, you'll notice that they now also construct roads between their building, and upgrade them! There's still a lot to do before you can interact with them though... I'm working on it! I've made the UI more performant - the frame rate won't drop as rapidly as before when your realm grows. Finally, the UI has an alternative look and arrangement. What do you think of the new highlights built right into the terrain shader, instead of the flat, semi-transparent hex overlays!? Enjoy!

[ 2021-08-01 20:07:17 CET ] [ Original post ]

I've put a lot of thought into how farms need to work, and the main points are: - As you upgrade them, they will plant more hexes and provide more supply, becoming more efficient at their work. They start off with 2 hexes to plant, then 4, then 6, with a total supply possible of 3 per hex (may later increase with research). - Each hex can be planted with one of 10 crops. Some crops are food-focused, giving 2 supply, while others are luxurious, giving 1 supply and 1 appeal. I will also add more differentiating characteristics later. - If you successfully tend the crop at important times throughout the growing cycle, the hex yields an extra supply. - Each harvested crop's yield lasts until the next harvest on that hex, which then replaces the yield of the previous harvest. So, if you don't tend a hex that was tended on the last cycle, you will lose 1 supply. - To make sure upgraded farms can harvest 6 hexes in time, as many as 4 idle Meeps will help the farmers harvest crops as they ripen, to clear the farmers' time for planting and tending again.

[ 2021-07-26 20:29:24 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi all! I've been hard at work changing the World Turtles map behind the scenes into a map that can handle different players / factions. Exploration, resources stockpiles, Meeps, capacities, experience and research are now managed per player, allowing proper "multiplayer map" functionality. A small map will have 2 randomly scattered AI realms along with the player's realm. I've also introduced the first survey points on the map for the wanderers to survey. This will provide you with dogs and farm animals. Many more kinds of survey points are being planned... Please give the demo another go. I've tried polishing the new functionality enough to prevent game-breaking bugs, so apologies if any creep into your realms... De Chelonian Mobile!

[ 2021-07-10 10:54:54 CET ] [ Original post ]

Join the developer and other Meeps for a casual no-commentary playthrough

[ 2021-06-19 19:45:57 CET ] [ Original post ]

Let's see how large we can grow our realm in one hour! We start with some extra builders to hurry things along... I will be playing and discussing World Turtles with anyone interested to know more about the current state of the game and envisioned additions. Join us and Be a Part of The Journey! Also be on the look-out for unscheduled Broadcasts during the Next Fest! Game Play Samples Preview: [previewyoutube=Qt66-KmNziQ;full][/previewyoutube]

[ 2021-06-18 14:05:42 CET ] [ Original post ]

I will be playing and discussing World Turtles with anyone interested to know more about the current state of the game and envisioned additions. Join us and Be a Part of The Journey! Also be on the look-out for unscheduled Broadcasts during the Next Fest! Game Play Samples Preview: [previewyoutube=Qt66-KmNziQ;full][/previewyoutube]

[ 2021-06-17 15:23:03 CET ] [ Original post ]

I will be playing and discussing World Turtles with anyone interested to know more about the current state of the game and envisioned additions. Be a Part of The Journey! [previewyoutube=uWttqXQ4JMc;full][/previewyoutube]

[ 2021-04-29 20:48:19 CET ] [ Original post ]

I will be playing and discussing World Turtles with anyone interested to know more about the current state of the game and envisioned additions. Be a Part of The Journey! [previewyoutube=uWttqXQ4JMc;full][/previewyoutube]

[ 2021-04-29 20:40:41 CET ] [ Original post ]