YANTH WBW Update #1

Happy Holidays ladies and gents! This begins the series of weekly/bi-weekly (WBW) updates for YANTH development. I wanted to make this update before the 25th, but my family celebrates on Christmas Eve instead so things got a bit busy quickly. Hopefully you're all out having a good time! I've primarily been working on bringing the Winged Zephyr to life since the last update by populating it with people, some backers, and special functions. I realized now's a good a time as any to introduce the various sections you'll be visiting in the Zephyr. The screenshots have been taken of a build where the walkable tiles are visible under the graphics, so please disregard them.


The Deck
This is the top level of the ship, one of two areas open to the environment. Although there's little function to be seen here, a lot tends to happen, and you may want to visit it from time to time during your journeys.


Engine Room
This is the aft most section of the ship where the engine resides. A large window acts as a viewport in the rear where the player can grow select plants.


Bridge
The second area open to the elements, the bridge connects the engine room to the cargo bay.


Cargo Bay / Compartments
The lowest level of the ship, this is where the cargo is held, and where one can enter the ship from the ground. The crew quarters and the captains quarters are held at the fore section of this level. Certain unsavory characters dwell on this level.


Helm, Shops, Suites
This is the middle level of the ship where the pilot resides at the helm. In the middle and rear of this section you'll find shops for the various passengers that fly on the ship. To port and starboard, a series of doors lead to vacant or occupied rooms for passengers. Near the rear you'll also find Petula's shop, and an as-of-yet unfinished blacksmith quarters where Petula can also craft things to sell or barter.

There are a few smaller nooks and crannies you can find around the ship that can carry you from one section to another quickler. I had some trouble at the beginning about how I would approach running a shop in the game. Considering you would be traveling the world, it would have been limiting to have her return to a single location to open up shop or clumsy and convoluted to have her open a shop at each town. This is how the roaming shop came to fruition. The Zephyr will be her home in the mid to late stages of the game, so it was only natural to have her base of operations there as well.

It allows for a bit more complexity when it comes to selling things. With a limited amount of space, you should think about what you want to sell at each town you're currently at to maximize your profits. It's probably not a good idea to sell weapons and armors at the dwarven stronghold, but in a town ready to revolt against its oppressors? Sounds good.

The Zephyr is the next location to be explored after the events of the current build available on Steam. Initially I wanted to wait on releasing it until more of the world is fleshed out because it becomes more open world, but that kind of defeats the purpose of being early access if I wait to finish things. I hope to have the next public build up by the next update for you guys to break.