Dev Log 1 - Grab your hiking shoes!

 Welcome to the first ever devlog for Trailscape (A cozy hiking trail creator)!

Today I want to provide a brief overview of the gameplay as of today, cover the design pillars for Trailscape, and list out some of the upcoming items which will be included before the first build goes live. Let’s get into it!

 Trail what now? What is Trailscape?

Trailscape is a cozy hiking game where the player is tasked to create (and decorate!) hiking trails in a number of beautiful and relaxing locations. You will explore the landscape for Landmarks. These points of interest that make for great viewpoints and destinations for your trail. 

Once the player has discovered each location, the Trailscaping begins! Create trails to link together the Landmarks and place decorations such as signs or benches to add some flair to the new trail. 

Save your custom trails to revisit via an autonomous hiking mode or share with friends!

 Design Pillars

There are 2 key pillars which have stuck in my mind as I’ve been working through a vertical slice of Trailscape: A Cozy Vibe and Creativity Focused. While new pillars may be added as development continues, these 2 are key to the vision of Trailscape.  

• A Cozy Vibe

First and foremost, Trailscape aims to be relaxing, or to use a trending term, cozy. While there are gameplay mechanics, they have limited friction. You’re free to take on exploration and trail creation tasks in whichever order you prefer. The only real skill required is navigating the player character in the game world.

The other key to creating this cozy vibe is the real main character of Trailscape, the landscape! If these landscapes don’t immerse the player in a summertime city park stroll or a walk along the coast on a foggy day, then there is nothing driving the player to create trails to highlight the landscapes.

• Creativity Focused

Trailscape’s challenge is more a creative challenge vs a mechanical one. Players are free to connect Landmarks in any order they see fit. Its critical players have tools to express themselves in the form of decorations, trail types, signposts, and the ability to name trails.

As a result, the sharing of trials among friends is also key. Being able to see how others approached the same landscape can provide players with a fresh view of the game’s landscapes.  

What’s on the To-Do List

I have several items I’d like to polish up before the first prototype build of Trailscape goes live.

• Trail Snapping – The pieces currently snap to a grid on the ground but elevation changes can make some funky looking “ramps”. I’m working on trying to align the mesh to the terrain layer at multiple points to achieve a smoother deformation of the trail mesh.
• UI Polish – Clean up of the objective UI to align more with the Landmark discovery splash UI.
• In-Game Map – Create an in-game map to help the player navigate the landscape more effectively as they explore for Landmarks or plan their trail.

I don’t have a timeline of the first prototype build other than “soon” but there will be another post as soon as it’s ready!

Until next time! Take a hike!

crrash