itch.io

Just wanted to update as it's been a few months. The next update will be later than expected. 

Hello, are you playing through the itch launcher?

These are good suggestions. I am planning on adding Windstone to Steam and it is close to ready. I'm solo so it's tough to estimate when. 

last update will take a bit longer, but it's coming

I appreciate the feedback. Using the launcher for updates is one of the reasons I recommend it as well as for avoiding or fixing crashing issues. I don't know exactly what the issue is, but using the launcher almost always fixes it. If it crashes while playing through the launcher, that is usually an issue I can find on my end, especially if it can be repeated. 

Some of the early tutorial objectives are for opening the crafting menu and crafting a few things. The objectives will change slightly when the skill point system is integrated. The journal also has gameplay tips. I don't want the tutorial to be too invasive, but I also don't want to leave the player totally in the dark and frustrated. I'm open to suggestions on improving the tutorial and appreciate the feedback. 

I'm glad you're enjoying it. I'm working on fine tuning stealth and archery on the current update as it introduces skill levels that affect how far your arrow flies before falloff begins and how quiet you are when crouched. 

Currently, if you are crouched, you can get closer to the antelope before it hears you, but if it sees you, it doesn't matter if you're crouched and it can see you from a much further distance than it can hear you. 

Hello, I apologize for the late reply. Are you using the itch game launcher, or are you running the game directly from the downloaded files? it has to be run through the itch launcher to run correctly. 

I apologize for missing this message.  I thought I had responded to it. I'm still working on Windstone and should have a big update within the next couple months that adds a skill and attribute system as well as other fixes.

Not dead yet, still kicking. I've been working on it in the shadows. Maybe a month or two for the next update that adds an attribute and skill system, plus lots of other fixes that are mostly under the hood for optimization. 

I hope to reimplement the glider someday. I'm glad you liked it.

I've had a busy summer and haven't had a look at it. Will get back to focusing more on Windstone come the colder months. Nothing wrong with starting a Discord server if you want to. 

I've considered it. Focused on working on the game first, but a Discord would be a good thing. I haven't streamed in months, but once I have more time to focus on stuff other than development I'll definitely start streaming again and start a Discord. I think it will just be me and you on there for quite some time, maybe a couple of my long time viewers, but it could grow.

I'm glad you found it!

In the ability and attribute system that I am currently working on there are multiple ways to increase the amount of items that you can carry by increasing carry weight with skills and strength and decreasing the weight of crafted items.

There is still much more that I want to incorporate before I think it will be ready for steam. I'm working on a skill tree and attribute leveling system right now. When that is finished, I'll have a better estimate for Steam launch. 

Thank you. I wasn't aware of the craft requirement issue. To make sure I understand correctly; if the craft menu says you need 4 items but only have 3 in your inventory, it will still say 3 ever after pulling another item from a chest?  Once I figure out how to reproduce this I will fix it for the next update.

Windstone isn't a final game. I didn't realize there was over lap in the settings menu, or do you just mean multiple elements on different parts of the screen at the same time?

To address some of your other feedback, I'm glad you like the cabin and cave indicators, although some have already stated that they don't because it takes an aspect of exploration and discovery away. It's impossible to please everyone because some people like some things that other's do not and also, many things are still evolving and half-implemented.  The cabin and cave indicators may not always be shown from the start and could require a point in a skill tree to activate for instance.

Similarly, the carry weight will be able to be increased with a skill point, and/or passively gaining strength over time and also with an upgraded backpack that the player can find or craft. The main reason I lowered carry weight in advance is because the only feedback I received about carry weight and inventory space is that it was too high/too big to even make a real difference anyway, which I agree with, but most things were intentionally made to make the game easier as the current main focus is to find bugs, not gameplay balance. This is also why there are so many starter tools and weapons just laid out to easily grab and test in the starter area. Picking them up does complete the crafting quest they are related to, but that quest has to be active for picking up the item to complete. I could change it, but the main point of the quest is to learn the crafting steps and those items won't all be there in the future to pick up anyway.

Windstone is very stable right now so I'm starting to evolve mechanics to be closer to the difficult challenging level of gameplay that has always been planned, similar to the difficulty of the The Long Dark, rather than a testing ground for bugs. That is why I recently made swimming and rain cause cold among other things that have increased the difficulty of surviving. Making the game more challenging may slow down the discovery of bugs, but the transition has to happen sometime and now seems like a good time.

The Overfed warning:

This pops up if your hunger meter has been over about 90% for too long, in which case stamina-draining actions drain more stamina. Conversely, if you are too hungry for too long, about 10% or lower for a handful of minutes, you will get the Malnourished affect, which has the same effects as Overfed with the addition of reduced carry weight.  Both of these effects are intentionally added to prevent two different exploits. Being Overfed keeps the player from gorging themselves on food that also grants health, while being Malnourished keeps the player from starving themselves to save food for too long. I believe these are a better way to address the issues than the "well-fed" bonus in The Long Dark, which promotes overeating and doesn't have any mitigating affect on starvation other than missing out on a debatably trivial well-fed bonus. Food in Windstone should be managed, not wasted or hoarded. Finding that balance during development will be difficult and will be greatly affected by how easy it is to acquire as much as the effects and rate of consumption.

In addition to adding a skill tree in the next update, I'm working on making water need to be purified before drinking safely, except from certain sources, making the ocean water non potable until desalinated, and adding permadeath, meaning that if you die, that's it, start over. If you don't like that, don't blame me, blame The Long Dark for being my favorite survival  game and inspiration, or just blame me, because I'm sadistic.

In all seriousness though, if there is enough public outcry, (wishfully assuming Windstone will someday gain a player base capable of what could even be called a public outcry) I will add a casual easier mode, but until then and especially now, Windstone is going to get a lot more difficult, purposely ridiculously difficult at times in this testing phase to push the limits and find a good balance and a difficult challenge. 

This ended up being a bit of a road map and long explanation, but I wanted to let you know my deep thoughts on these details especially because you take the time to play test so much and give lots of feedback. 

What is it about the settings menu that you don't like right now? I know it's simple, but it should be working properly or is something bugged that I'm not aware of?

And hey, I like that spider attack electrical malfunction sound! That one got me right in the feels. Cut me real deep Shrek.

I just uploaded a hotfix to address the rain, quest compass and landscape error.

Hotfix is coming soon to fix a few of those issues. Some other things like carry weight are in preparation for a skill tree, which will grant abilities including carry weight increase. 

Carry weight limit increase will come soon with an ability/skill tree and point system with leveling planned for the next update.  I'm trying to keep a balance also so you have to decide whether to wear everything and have less carry weight  or dress lighter and have more carry weight.

Sorry about the water containers and arrows disappearing. It was a result of making them non stackable. Good news is that the new canteens are better than the water gourds. Also added some extra arrows to the map, but I don't want to spoil where to find them. 

I'm deciding whether or not to have the cabins and caves marked instantly. I decided to mark them because it makes sense that the surveillance drone would see them and I noticed people streaming the game having no idea what they were walking right past, but I also understand your point of the joy of exploring. 

Maybe I'll make POI surveillance drone location a part of the level point system so you can spend a point to reveal POIs on the map. 

Thanks for your feedback. 

Those are pretty neat. The first one reminds me of ancient wells that are a spiral ramp lined with stone that I plan to add to the game. 

Thank you for confirming that the build works on other computers. It seems that it is an issue with Windows 11. Hopefully a future windows update will resolve it. If I come across anything I'll let you know. 

I have not had any other reports of the game crashing and I can't find any issue on my end so it seems like you may be right in guessing that there is something your system does not like. I assume it is an issue with Windows 11. The only thing I can think of to suggest is to uninstall completely, delete all Windstone files and then reinstall the itch app and make sure to only download Windstone with the app. Downloading the files and trying to run them without the app has caused many issues with playtesters in the past, but downloading and installing the game with the itch app always solved their problem because the itch app automatically installs extra required files that are not in the direct download.

I'll fix the layer order of the drop menu next update so it shows on top of the craft menu as well as the compass position as priorities.

The ring of the space ship is a work in progress as well as the main central cylindrical fuselage. I'm in the process of modeling a part of the interior of a ring section that will be explorable and the placement and size of all sections around the map will most likely change. 

The Broodmother battle will have a better reward. Currently it's a bunch of meat, carapace and XP.  

The rain is a tricky thing and not really a priority right now, but I'll spend time tweaking it in the future. 

Finding and fixing bugs is the biggest concern right now like what is listed in the latest Update 14 patch notes. Thanks again for the feedback.

Thanks for your feedback. You cannot enter the mother ship yet, but I'm currently modeling the interior of sections that will be accessible. 

I'll fix the quest soon also. 

I am working on Windstone everyday and have much more planned.

Thank you.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll check out all the things you listed. The items in the first cabin are there for play testing so you can discover bugs more quickly.  Difficulty levels are going to be added soon. 

Hello and thanks for trying out Windstone. I look forward to your feedback. 

I am the sole developer except for a real life friend who composed about half of the music.  I composed the rest .

I've been working with UE4 for about 6 years and have been 3D modeling in Blender for the same amount of time. I've used GIMP for about 15 years for digital art and photoshop long before that. I've been a life long artist in many mediums. 

All the assets in Windstone are created by myself with the exception of a few textures. The vast majority of the textures I make in GIMP.  I make all the 3D models in Blender.

I've been working on Windstone for about 5 years nearly every day, often all day, much more than a full time job. 

For a road map, I keep an endless list of things I want to complete to help stay focused. Usually I have a shorter priority list of 10 to 20 tasks and once those are done, I play test and add new things to the list, which usually includes a mix of bugs that need to be fixed, new mechanics to implement and new assets to create as well as game play balancing. 

It's usually not difficult to stay motivated as I love working on the game while watching videos or listening to music. The only time it was really hard to stay motivated was during 2019 when I was dealing with some major real life issues, but other than standard burn out from working too much and then taking a break every once in a while to regenerate, it's not hard for me to find motivation as most days I look forward to it. 

I'm very happy with how development is going, but that's not to say existential dread and fear of failure aren't often on my mind. I also am a bit envious of bigger dev teams who could have accomplished what I have in a fraction of the time, but I also enjoy working alone. I'm grateful to have the opportunity to work on game development and thankful for those who enjoy playtesting and offering helpful feedback. 

Also, did you download the itch.io desktop app and install the game with it or did you just download the files?

Have you ran earlier versions or is this the first time you've played? It isn't crashing for me but I'm looking into it. I play tested the update before I uploaded but it may not have uploaded correctly.  Thank you.

Thanks! The overhaul update took quite a while.  The updates will be much more often now and the next one is nearly ready.  I'm glad you've been looking forward to them. 

Thanks, I should have another update coming this week and have addressed some things from your latest feedback, as well as some major additions

Also confirm that Esc closes the pause menu, as it works for me.  You may need to start a new save.

Thanks doej.  Did you ever figure out why you're capped at 30fps? There's a possibility that your laptop just can't pull a higher frame rate, but if you can on other games as you stated, you definitely should be able to at least on the main title screen and in map view. 

Possibly you inadvertently set an fps cap in the nvidia settings for Windstone?

Thank you! I'm currently uploading a fix for the bedroll degradation that was just added in the last update. 

Much has changed over the years of development including the road map.  It's ever evolving but the main arch and core of ideas is constant. I've revamped much of the game heavily in the recent past and the road map needs updating. 

The world building, both literally and figuratively is a main focus. I've condensed the playable area to a restricted area bordered by impassable mountains that will open up as new regions are added. To get an idea of the current playable area and the rest of the world yet to be developed, you can move the over head map with WSAD to scope out unexplored areas.  The map mechanic will be explained when a little camera drone is added. At first, it will be just an animation when opening the map, but real-time scouting with the drone nearer to the ground will be implemented also.  This is just one of many things planned including fleshing out the story of the first colonists that arrived on Windstone, the Formican invasion and the mission to repopulate. The gameplay focus will be on open world survival with the story being integrated with objectives and encounters around the world. 

Improving AI and mechanics of current wildlife is a major focus before adding new creatures, but that is on the menu. A unique large Formican "boss" is planned to be the next wildlife addition, as well as a unique Formican and wildlife creature for each new region as new regions becomes accessible. 

The dragon companion will also be able to grow older and larger as each new region is released, expanding her attack skills and eventually being able to fly and carry the player. 

New items, weapons and armor will be periodically added also, the most recent being the Wolf Fur Coat in preparation for access to the winter climate island via boat initially.

Some other additions to be added soon are the crashed escape pod, wreckage of the mother ship, the first npc and the implementation of difficulty levels and hardcore mode. 

Development will continue as long as I'm still kickin' but what I've listed above is a close approximation for where I want the game to be for the next milestone, which will be launching on steam hopefully sometime this year.  After launch, more regions and more content and overall functionality will be added with subsequent updates. 

Thanks again for playing and I hope you continue to enjoy Windstone. 

Thank you

Something is up if it's set to 60 fps but only getting 30, especially on the map screen. 

The gpu usage and overall performance is lower on the map screen because most objects are beyond the view distance at that height, which is why the view distance setting has such a large effect on fps when the map is closed. 

Is your gpu software capping your global framerate at 30?  

I must also reiterate that if you are holding a relatively steady fps while gpu usage fluctuates, that's great. High gpu usage isn't necessarily a bad thing if the framerate stays steady. It just means there's a lot of things to draw on the screen. Fps is the primary concern.

It would also be good to set everything to maximum and then check how view distance effects fps.

You should get better fps with everything set to maximum with the lowest view distance than everything set to low with the highest view distance. Although something else is capping your fps at 30 and the lowest it dropped is 29 so not much can be gleaned unless we figure out why your fps is capped.

Sorry, I didn't mean record a video. I just meant record the data; take a screen shot as a record. Leave the fps setting at 60 and only change the view distance setting. View Distance has 4 stages which greatly reduces the number of mountain rocks, trees, boulders and foliage in the distance, which should increase your fps. 

Thank you. You should only get the muddled effect if the brain circle or icon is red. This may be a bug from loading an old save and shouldn't happen with a new game, but it might. I'll look into why this may be happening. Thanks again.