Hey there beautiful people of the SKYE team
Here is my feedback
after completing all the current available missions and roaming
around for about half an hour.
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The greatest
strength of the game is undoubtedly relaxation.
Slowly exploring the
island with colours that are easy on the eyes, soft brushstrokes on
every surface, tranquil music, the soft hum of the propeller, and the
lenient controls all add to that goal. And leaning in to
this exploration element is undoubtedly the best course moving
forward.
That being said I do
think the flying itself, although controlling well, is a little bland
and could be improved immensely with just some small changes.
A gradual FOV change
as speed increases, some subtle wind lines on the edge of the screen,
and wind trails emitting from the edges of the wings (similar to the
satisfaction the particles that appear when landing on the water
give) would have enormous impact on the general feel of the game.
Apart from story
related exceptions, I think not having to fly back to base to receive
a new mission would greatly improve the pacing.
Perhaps the mission
menu can be accessed by just landing.
Also not having to
fly to the starting point of races and instead teleporting the player
there would likely improve pacing as well (also making the initial
direction clearer. I approached the first race from the wrong
direction confusing me for a while).
Giving the pause
menu a different soundscape or at least stopping the sound of the
propeller would make navigating those menus more comforting too.
Allowing the plane to land on surfaces other than water would would make exploring some of the currently uninhabited islands far more rewarding, letting players just stop and smell the beautiful white flowers (letting the player move the camera around with the right stick when landed would make that even better).
Although understanding their function for development, the purple columns were distracting. A poorly mapped or unpolished texture would be more desirable in a posted build while keeping them purple for the dev builds.
And here are some
nitpicks:
Some subtle
variation in colour for the ground (but mostly the grass) would make
the islands look less bland while flying by.
Showing the amount
of binoculars/telescopes that exist would make collecting them a more
satisfying task.
The roaming boats
and planes also make flying around more comforting, and giving them
some form of collision would ground them in the world even more.
I hope my feedback
was helpful, and I wish you all the
best of luck!