Making Sailing Feel Right in Sailswept
How small visual and feedback changes transformed the feel of sailing in my indie game.
In development Made in Godot PC
An exploration game about sailing. Read the wind, trim your sail and drift between quiet summer shores.
About the game
A quiet, reflective sailing game about things ending, set across a chain of lakes at the height of summer.
Movement and atmosphere matter just as much as mechanics. Sailswept is being built by a solo developer in Godot and is still in development, so everything here will keep evolving.
Sailing
Wind drives everything. Trim the sheet, find a beam reach and feel the boat heel over and surge forward. Point too close to the wind and the sail starts to luff.
Water
Your wake is a real wave simulation: the hull pushes the water down and a V of ripples spreads out behind you. Swells grow with the wind, and stray too close to shore and you'll run aground.
Art
The world is rendered at a low resolution and snapped to the pixel grid, so it stays crisp as you move. Toon lighting, coloured shadows and outlines give every shoreline a hand-drawn feel.
World
Pine forests, pale shingle beaches and a lone house by the pier. Sailswept is a quiet, self-contained story about things ending, set at the height of summer.
Media
Captured in-game from the current build. Click any shot to view it full size.
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