We hit Stretch Goal #1! Last day tomorrow!
about 3 years ago
– Thu, Feb 18, 2021 at 08:00:40 PM
We're adding Vee's route to the game!
Thanks to all your support and shares, we are able to add Vee's route to the game! The team is really excited to bring their story to life: there will be thrill-seeking, Miasma diving, giant bugs, and aromantic companionship!
Tomorrow's our last day: come celebrate with us on Discord!
Tomorrow at 12PM EST we will be opening up a temporary discord server for backers and fans of The Sky Left Us! Come say hi, meet fellow backers, play bot games, listen to music, and celebrate our last milestones together.
At 7PM EST we will be doing an AMA (question and answer) session with the team in text.
At midnight EST we will be closing the discord. (We may create a TSLU community discord in the future, like many dev studios do, but right now it's not within our bandwidth.)
The invite to the discord will be posted in an update here, and also on our twitter.
Hopefully tomorrow we hit our second stretch goal, adding the last route to the game!
Let's bring the pirates to the game! Here's hoping for a big day together as the kickstarter closes. Thank you all so much for getting us this far!
This adorable game is combining the best of farming sim and monster taming games, like Stardew Valley, Slime Rancher, and Pokémon. I love that your slime creatures not only join you in battle on your adventures, but also need care and can help you on your farm. There's a cast of characters to befriend and romance, open to you whether you chose to play a boy or girl.
This game is jam packed with things to do and their kickstarter is well worth checking out. Take a look yourself!
Quick Reminders
All our thanks,
Aysha, Quinn, Sadia, and the rest of The Sky Left Us team
It's our last day!
about 3 years ago
– Thu, Feb 18, 2021 at 07:51:54 PM
Join us on Discord to close out the campaign!
Click here to join our temporary discord server! We have bot games, music, and a Q+A with the team at 7PM EST.
Thank you for making this kickstarter amazing!
It's obvious to say, but our team would not be able to make this game without you. The relief still hasn't hit me to be honest. I knew we were going for an ambitious goal for visual novels, many of which have base goals around 15-20k, but I was hopeful we could work hard and get here.
We set the goal this high so as not to compromise on paying our team fair rates; and after four years of running a live-event game business, we knew all the business incidentals that come with a year of game dev. 2020 was a hard years for our little business, and we were either going to make The Sky Left Us or close down.
So, I'm very grateful that we get to tell this story, and embark in a new direction in games with this fantastic team.
Next Stretch Goal at $43,500: The Pirates Route!
I hope we can make it there today! Give us a share on twitter or facebook, or tell a friend!
We may have a closing update tonight or tomorrow morning, but we might also just take a week long nap.
Thank you all so much!
Aysha, Quinn, Sadia and the rest of The Sky Left Us team
We're close to reaching Vee's stretch goal!
about 3 years ago
– Tue, Feb 16, 2021 at 09:38:14 PM
The home stretch is upon us!
Our campaign ends on Thursday at 9PM EST. We have until then to bring Vee's route into the game, as well as the route of our favorite lesbian pirates, Indigo and Avery. All three characters are side characters in the base game, but there's more to their stories that we'd like to tell.
Share the Vee love far and wide so we can meet this goal!
Q & A
We've gotten some great questions during the campaign that I'd like to share. If you have any, feel free to message us here or on curiouscat!
What platforms will the game be available on?
The Sky Left Us will be on Steam and Itch for Mac, PC, and Linux, and we also aim to get the game on other platforms such as Xbox, Switch, and Playstation as an independent designer. App versions involve more coding and are not currently in our plan for initial release.
Is the game only in English?
Right now the game is only in English. We would love to make official translations down the line, and is something we will consider as we grow, but will depend on funding.
Will there be voice acting?
Nope! We are keeping things simple for this game. Future games, however...
What add-ons will be available after the Kickstarter closes?
On backerkit you will be able to update your pledge to a higher tier for at least two months after the KS campaign closes. Pins and jackets are exclusive items that may not be available after this period. Digital rewards like the art book and lore book pdfs and OST will be available in perpetuity. Jeeyon Shim's mini game will only be available to KS backers and those who pre-order on backerkit!
What about the discounted version of the game?
The $15 discounted game, meant for anyone enduring economic hardship, will also be available to pre-order on backerkit. After the game is released we will be implementing a free community copy program on Itch.
How can I kiss the twins?
There will be opportunities to make out with a twin or two in each route, and it will not jeopardize your route relationship. I just find it annoying when dating sims punish you for hooking up so we're not doing that.
Promotional Art: Spire and Rowan
Alt text here
"You've caught me, off-worlder. Now what will you do with me?"
Now on Kickstarter! We know you already love sci-fi, but what about playing an outlawed sentient space ship? This game has absolutely gorgeous art and animation and shares our love of dynamic, nuanced characters. Let's bring more inclusive sci-fi games to life!
A Long Journey to an Uncertain End is a narrative focused Space Opera that’ll have you flying around the universe assembling an unruly crew from an eclectic cast of characters and taking any job you can to keep one step ahead of your abusive Ex. The twist: you’re not just piloting a ship… you are the ship.
Supplies don’t come for free in the verse, doubly so for outlawed sentient spaceships. Every planet, moon and space station is a valuable source of jobs and their precious rewards. Assign crew tasks based on their skills, and help their decisions along the way. If everything pays off you’ll have what you need to escape, and if not...well, you can call in those favors you’ve been saving.
A Long Journey to an Uncertain End presents a unique vision of the future, a universe of inclusivity and diversity tainted by uncertainty and fear. Build a family within your crew. Every crew member has their own story, every planet its own history, and even your own adventure remains unfinished.
All our thanks!
Hopefully the next update you get will be a celebratory one of hitting our stretch goal! Until then, you have our gratitude for your tremendous support.
WE DID IT!
about 3 years ago
– Sun, Feb 14, 2021 at 09:56:29 PM
Earlier today we hit our goal! Thank you all so much for your incredible support. The team is beyond excited to bring this game to life!
Our campaign ends this Thursday at 9:00PM EST. Let's keep the ball rolling until then (you can share us on twitter or facebook) and hopefully we can hit some of our stretch goals. We are also planning on having an end-of-campaign stream Thursday evening. It will be shorter than the campaign launch stream, but should be fun!
Our next goal is at $39,500, to add Vee the Diver's route.
Valentine's Day Cards
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Happy valentine's day to those who celebrate! Now you can do so in the Peakborn, Unmoored, or Sunken style.
Thank you all!!!!
Aysha, Quinn, Sadia, and the rest of The Sky Left Us team
5 Days Left! Stretch Goals, Fashion, etc.
about 3 years ago
– Sun, Feb 14, 2021 at 12:27:45 AM
The end is in sight: we're spitting distance away from funding! Thank you all for sharing our game and getting us to over 800 backers. If you have the chance to help us keep the ball rolling, you can share us on twitter or facebook.
From The Directors
I asked my fellow directors what making this game means to them.
"I can't wait to make this game that combines my two favorite things in the world: gays and space." - Aysha, Narrative Director
"I love gay mess and I'm so excited to wrap up all these trash fires in a beautiful bow" - Sadia, Art Director
For myself, I love this setting because it directly shows that climate crisis is shaped by power, and deeply affects communities and cultures. That's true for our world, today, not in some near-future. I'm just excited for the team to explore this rich subject with unapologetically queer, imperfect characters. (I'm Quinn, project manager / graphics / music.)
Stretch Goals
If we can fund before the end of the campaign, we'll be gunning to hit our first two stretch goals. These add two routes to the game, Vee the Sunken Fog Diver, and Indigo and Avery the Unmoored Pirates. We made these routes stretch goals because our funding goal is ambitious—we're not compromising on paying our team fair rates. Ultimately, we decided that the game could work without these routes, and would try our best to get them as stretch goals.
...But we really want to include them! Vee is our aromantic route. We hardly ever see aromantic representation, and never stories that really explore aromanticism in a way we find satisfying. Aro by aro creators! Plus, fog diving is really cool and we want to show more of it (and more big bugs).
The Pirates route is our polyamorous triad. While there are nods to non-monogamy in the base game (you can kiss the twins on any route) the Pirates route explores a poly relationship in depth. And adds even more piracy than you see in Breeze's story!
Peakborn Fashion
Alt-text versions here.
Quick Reminders
Thank you so much for all your support! Let's have a great end of this campaign :)
- Aysha, Quinn, Sadia, and the rest of The Sky Left Us team
