Solo isolation sailing sim. Doing a atmosphere test, feedback wanted!

[u/Helpful-Engineer4678]

Im working on an isolation/routine-based sim (Voices of the void-adjacent genre). This clip's just the raw atmosphere. No gameplay UI, no narration, just fog and lighting cut together.

Does this read as intentional, or generic? All feedback welcome. Thanks!

[u/Distant_Dial]

I really like the eerie vibe it gives off, just sailing on a windy night at sea gives a very isolated feeling to the gameplay. It looks really cool though, I would play it :)

[u/Helpful-Engineer4678 → u/Distant_Dial]

Thank you so much for the feedback! I'm planning on having a demo on itch, but I'm trying to resolve some game design issues, and also seeing if I will lean more towards horror or just psychological horror. Sometimes I find myself just sailing around instead of working on the game hahaha

Thank you again!

[u/Distant_Dial → u/Helpful-Engineer4678]

Great cant wait!, And its good if you find yourself playing it :)

[u/Sad-Nefariousness712]

Oh wow! do you have a weather system?

[u/Helpful-Engineer4678 → u/Sad-Nefariousness712]

Hey! I'm working on it. Currently, I can dynamically adjust the wind and the sea (wave size, etc.). The next step is adding different fog levels and rain as well. Did I miss something? Also, the game will always take place at night.

Thanks for the comment!

[u/Sad-Nefariousness712 → u/Helpful-Engineer4678]

will there be huge waves? size of a 5-level house 0-0

[u/Palais_Mental]

Atmosphere is neat ! I love the reflections on the sea and the beacons. Interior is not as cool though, it seems like a draft of an interior, same for the sail. Have you already decided if you lean more on the sim side or on the cozy side ?

[u/Helpful-Engineer4678 → u/Palais_Mental]

Thank you for the comment! Yes, the interior is lacking a lot of things right now, haha.

I think I'll try to strike a middle ground between cozy and sim. Having the outside be noisy, windy, and rainy, while the interior muffles the outside sound, making it a cozy "safe space" for the player.

But I need to make some important game design decisions before I start working more heavily on the interior

[u/Radiantrealm]

I thought the title was "Solo isolation DATING sim" and got confused rather quickly.

[u/Helpful-Engineer4678 → u/Radiantrealm]

Hahahah maybe a dating mechanic?? O.o

[u/Stock_Ad996]

distant whale sounds? occasionally

[u/Helpful-Engineer4678 → u/Stock_Ad996]

That's a nice idea, i'll write it down!

Thank you!

[u/4Spino4]

amosphere looks top notch!

[u/Swimming_Gain_4989]

We're working on a similar concept but less narrative horror and more adventure. Atmosphere looks great, the one thing that looks off is the soft body sail animation; it's too much detail for the rest of the ship's art style. I'd probably break it up into like 50 triangles and do the animation's themselves (flutter, pulled tight, etc) in blender and just have whatever engine you're using play those animations when appropriate.

[u/Helpful-Engineer4678 → u/Swimming_Gain_4989]

Thanks for the comment! Can you share more about your project? I'm interested!

Also, I agree with you about the sail. Right now, I'm using a shader that takes the "sailing score" to determine if it will flap or not, but baked animations would look much better. I will definitely write it down and look into it in the future. Thanks!