FAR: Changing Tides news & patch notes

After working for more than two years in the dark, Okomotive is proud and happy to present their brand new IP and upcoming game «HERDLING». https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/33976734/f83796f984d94a394296f2ce93285e7acc0e8bec.png Herdling is a new adventure from Okomotive, creators of the atmospheric and acclaimed FAR games, and Panic, publishers of Firewatch. Head out on a grand alpine expedition with a herd of loveable beasts, as you ascend a mountain path, encounter eerie dangers and surprising obstacles, and forge your way to the mystery at the summit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUEcKBVzhQg Features:

• Guide, protect, and fall in love with a motley herd of Calicorns
• Traverse stunning mountainscapes, fog-wreathed forests, snowy plateaus, and forgotten valleys
• Hone your herding skills as you navigate a wide range of challenges, threats, and light environmental puzzles
• Feel the rush of the mountain air alongside your herd in exhilarating stampede sequences
• An emotional, wordless tale of trust, survival, and companionship during a great crossing through a fallen world

Release date: 2025 Platforms: PC & Consoles Visit herdling.game https://store.steampowered.com/app/3047750/Herdling/

We would be honoured if you would consider nominated FAR: Changing Tides for the Sit Back and Relax Steam Award! https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/1977672363925265314/CD41DC18DE0A549E26EFEC1B1B112DFAA0568DC3/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false If you haven't yet had the opportunity to "Sit Back and Relax" with FAR's meditative journey, Changing Tides is now also available with a 40% discount for Black Friday!

Hello folks! Just wanted to provide some brief notes for the changes made in the recent patch for FAR: Changing Tides. We’ve made a few control/interface changes based on player feedback. Please see below: FAR: Changing Tides v1.2.0 Interface/Experience • Implementation of arrow key control for the protagonist • Keyboard layout to be set to either QWERTY or AZERTY. • Default camera can now be adjusted • Minor revisions to credits, including the ability to press a key/button to bypass Gameplay • Increased the sensitivity when climbing ladders • Improved physics/collisions • Minor optimization of key systems Enjoy!

Yet to set sail and discover a changed world in FAR: Changing Tides? Pick up the game today on Steam at 20% off! All versions of the atmospheric story-driven puzzler from Frontier Foundry and Okomotive are currently 20% off on Steam - both the standard game and the Deluxe Edition. The original soundtrack, featuring the stunning and hauntingly beautiful score from composer Joel Schoch, is also available on Steam at a 20% discount. Take the helm of a unique ship as Toe, who must captain this vessel through the flooded landscape he once called home. Sail unknown waters, overcome puzzling obstacles, dive beneath the waves, and journey to find hope. The discount runs until 7pm BST on April 21st. Look for other Frontier titles also on sale during the same period, as part of our Steam Publisher Sale!

Immerse yourself in this behind the scenes look at FAR: Changing Tides that dives deep into the unique sounds of the FAR Universe. Don Schmocker and Fabio Baumgartner of Okomotive, and composer Joel Schoch, discuss the inspirations behind the distinctive soundtrack and the challenges of creating an atmospheric soundscape beneath the waves. FAR: Changing Tides is available now on Steam - head to the Store page to also check out the game's official soundtrack, purchasable separately.

It's finally time to set sail on an epic new journey in the FAR universe as FAR: Changing Tides launches today! Embark on an emotional, vehicular adventure from the team that brought you FAR: Lone Sails, this time mastering the waves and a ship like no other to ensure your survival and unravel the mysteries of this flooded world. A LONE SAILS LEGACY Immerse yourself in an entrancing odyssey like no other. FAR: Changing Tides is the companion title to 2018’s multi-award-winning FAR: Lone Sails. Like the critically acclaimed first game, it encompasses ecstatic highs, mournful lows, and great mysteries to uncover. At the centre of this evocative and poetic journey is the unforgettable tale of a boy and his ship, searching the world for answers. CAPTAIN YOUR SHIP Experience the thrill of captaining a unique seafaring vessel with a mind of its own. More than a ship, this is a friend. Together you’ll brave high seas, navigate intense storms, and plumb the perils of a briny deep, growing as an inseparable partnership. Along the way, you’ll need to keep things functioning by unlocking parts and fixing faults. The farther you travel, the more you’ll learn about your ship’s fascinating complexities. A CAPTIVATING WORLD Contend with both the fantastical and familiar in a richly detailed environment to captivate and mesmerize. From bleak shorelines lapped by tides, to desolate basins in flooded forest valleys, to submerged enclaves frozen in time, each lovingly hand-painted location tells its own story. A MEDITATIVE EXPERIENCE FAR: Changing Tides is a relaxing, accessible, and meditative adventure for everyone to enjoy. Set against exquisite and elegant scenery, and scored by a hauntingly beautiful soundtrack, this game transcends language to deliver a charming, warm-hearted, life-affirming experience that will stay with you. So prepare yourself for a once-in-a-lifetime journey, befriend your ship, discover the mysteries of the past and survive... together. Available on the Steam store page now! We'll also be doing a special, launch celebration live stream with some amazing giveaways and playthrough of the start of the game. Be sure to join us at 3PM GMT over on the Frontier Twitch channel! Stay tuned to our socials @FARtheGame on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for exciting post-launch content and giveaways!

Another chance to watch our NextFest Demo developer commentary with Don and Phil from Okomotive. We play the demo and talk about some of the design choices and the environments you pass through. You still have time to play the demo until 6PM GMT on 28th February and you can pre-purchase the game before launch on March 1st to save 10% off the full game! Download the Demo from the Store Page here.

Another chance to watch our NextFest Demo developer commentary with Don and Phil from Okomotive. We play the demo and talk about some of the design choices and the environments you pass through. You still have time to play the demo until 6PM GMT on 28th February and you can pre-purchase the game before launch on March 1st to save 10% off the full game! Download the Demo from the Store Page here.

Another chance to watch our NextFest Demo developer commentary with Don and Phil from Okomotive. We play the demo and talk about some of the design choices and the environments you pass through. You still have time to play the demo until 6PM GMT on 28th February and you can pre-purchase the game before launch on March 1st to save 10% off the full game! Download the Demo from the Store Page here.

A sneak peek of the FAR: Changing Tides demo which you can download NOW as part of NextFest!

We've put together a special "Developer Commentary" video to celebrate the launch of our FAR: Changing Tides demo as part of Steam #NextFest! Watch along as Steve (Frontier Community Manager) chats with Don Schmocker (Creative Lead) and Phil Stern (Game Design Lead) from Okomotive about the demo and development of the game. Get a small taste of the journey to come and then head here to download the demo for yourself!

The winds are picking up for FAR: Changing Tides as we prepare to launch on the 1st of March 2022! So make sure that you angle your sail and pre-order now! Expanding on the setting of FAR: Lone Sails, FAR: Changing Tides swaps sun-scorched, dusty plains for stormy skies and high seas. Face new challenges and new mechanics with an exciting new experience for both fans of this beloved series and newcomers alike. Experience the thrill of captaining a distinctive, seafaring vessel. Together you'll brave high seas, navigate storms and delve into new depths to explore and uncover what happened to this world, in search of a new beginning. Pre-order now to prepare for your journey. If you want to keep up to date with all the FAR news, then head to www.farchangingtides.com and sign up for our Newsletter, and follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/FARtheGame, Facebook https://www.facebook.com/FARtheGame, and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/FARtheGame/.

It's time for our final Deep Dive, a series of questions that we ask the developers at Okomotive, the creators of FAR: Lone Sails, and FAR: Changing Tides to give you a look into their minds, and thought processes behind the creation of the games. Our last Deep Dive focussed on game direction, you can catch up here. For our sixth installment, we're asking Don Schmocker questions about the art direction of the FAR titles. What is the biggest influence on your art style in video games? I’m usually more influenced by media other than games, I find a lot of inspiration in places I see in photography or visit, but I would say that the Bioshock series and Dishonored had a lasting impression with their environmental storytelling and the recent Control, and Death Stranding with their atmosphere and environment design. This question is probably more difficult to answer for me than it should. If I play a game where I particularly like the art style I often think that they already did it very well so it wouldn’t make sense to recreate it, except maybe some smaller elements and designs that I find really interesting. Can you tell us how you worked together to finalise the art direction for the FAR games? The process was very different for both games. For FAR: Lone Sails, the art direction was independent of the level design and storytelling. For FAR: Changing Tides, we planned the art alongside the game design, storytelling, and world-building. It should be more coherent, believable, and also have a progression throughout the game. During development we had two artists join our team who also influenced the art style a lot and worked well within what was planned at the start, while also adding cool new ideas. I think it’s important to have some space for improvisation and to add new elements during development, as the journey for the player should be unpredictable and surprising at times. How much of the concept art have you ended up using in the games? Most of them. I recently looked at the old concept art again and was surprised by how much of it we have recreated in the game. Of course, there are some assets that went through a lot of iterations, like the ship or Toe, but in general, we have more assets and environments than we made concept art for. This probably has to do with our team size and that I did most of the concept art and assets at the beginning of both projects. This meant that it didn’t go through a large selection process and I only made concept art when I had trouble coming up with a design, or if it was a more complex asset. That approach has its pros and cons. It’s definitely quite fast but it could also be very useful to make even a rough concept artwork first, which could save time later in the process. What is the process of going from 2D concept art to 3D game art? In our case, it’s not that big of a step because the game is played mostly from one viewpoint. So assets and environments could have an optimal view angle, which was the one we made concept art for. Most assets are used at several locations in the game but from a different angle or in a different combination. In those cases, we could show the less attractive, less eye-catching sides of the assets, as they should better blend in with the background. One thing that certainly was difficult is to adapt the painterly art style of the concept art in the 3D assets. On one side we had to hand paint the textures but also had to fit the assets well into the game scene, so they don’t look too detailed when they’re far in the background. After FAR: Lone Sails, how have the different environments affected the art in FAR: Changing Tides? The water played a huge role when designing the environments, even though it doesn’t look that way at first glance. We wanted to have a variety of landscapes and also environmental storytelling which meant that the ship had to drive close to land or some swimming objects most of the time. We also wanted to give the background more importance and depth, so the environments are designed to depict more natural landscapes that work in three dimensions. The underwater environments were another entirely different world that had to be designed as well. We had to focus our work on some specific underwater areas the player will likely see but we also couldn’t neglect the vast space in between those, in case the player wants to dive. When designing the environments in FAR: Lone Sails and FAR: changing Tides, what was your process in adding elements into the design? In FAR: Changing Tides, the player is driving with the ship, slowly but steadily, and is mostly focused on the ship and maintaining it. This was a big factor when designing the environments other than just the visual appeal. There are interesting scenes or structures in the background in regular intervals, they can tell a bit about the world, tease the next area or lead the player below water. Those things had to be sparse enough so the player has time to notice them but frequent enough that the background still stays important. Also, objects further away are visible for a longer time but are less obvious. The rest of the environment should support the focus areas and not overpower them. Another new challenge was to lead the player below water when there’s something of interest. To achieve this we put objects on the water gradually closer to the ship until there’s a buoy with a chain or something vertical the player can follow downwards. With FAR: Changing Tides being a companion title, how did you continue on the world-building elements of the game? I really enjoy working on world-building, maybe more than I have to. For both titles, the world-building and the environmental storytelling are very connected. We ask ourselves what information can be visually communicated well and can also help develop the story further. This information could be for example in what kind of world the player is travelling, how old the buildings are or how devastating an event was. Because it’s important to learn about all this from the start and have enough chances to pick up on the story thread, we wanted to tell a new story in FAR: Changing Tides which required its own world-building. Not only that but there are several threads that start at different points in the game and continue to develop throughout the playthrough. If you want to keep up to date with all the FAR news, then head to www.farchangingtides.com and sign up for our Newsletter, and follow us on Twitter, Facebookand Instagram.

It's time for another Deep Dive, where we ask the developers from Okomotive some in-depth questions about their roles and their work on FAR: Lone Sails, and their upcoming title FAR: Changing Tides. Our last Deep Dive focussed on animation and modelling, you can catch up here. For our fifth installment, we're asking Level designer Philipp Stern questions about Game Design Let us know in the comments if you have any other questions for Philipp! What got you into Game Design? I was a kid with a vivid imagination. I would create stories and whole worlds while playing with my LEGO or reenact them in person. I remember one time I wanted to go rock climbing so I grabbed a hammer and nails from my dad's toolbox, climbed up the furniture in my room, and peppered them with nails to the disdain of my parents. Sometime in the early 90s, my dad got a computer and I'd spend hours drawing up maps in MS Paint. I've always felt the need to create, which was probably why I decided to become a graphic designer later on, but after a few years in that job, I realized that working for clients didn't give me enough room for self-expression. So when I saw the opportunity to study game design I did not hesitate and applied. What are some of your favourite designs in other games that have helped you on both FAR titles? The basic concept of FAR was created by Don (Schmocker) who drew some inspiration from Little Big Planet. But recently we talked about the similarities of timings in FAR and the sequences you press keys when playing World of Warcraft. We took the buttons from the physical to the virtual space. Another inspiration is the machines you encounter in the different obstacles, we always try to find that sweet spot between fantastical and realism to make it believable. Lots of the mechanics are then derived from these locations or machines we wanted to create. We think about how they would work and try to recreate this with the tools available. Puzzle elements are a major part of the game, can you talk us through some of the processes when designing a puzzle? We set some guidelines that we tried to follow when we designed the puzzles in Changing Tides. Each puzzle needs to have an emotional or visual payoff when completed as well as teach the player a new mechanic or tell them something new about the world. In the first half of the game, the player unlocks the different upgrades of the ship. Each puzzle to get these upgrades teaches the player step by step about the new functionalities they're going to encounter in the ship afterwards. So when they return to the ship the player already knows what to do. In the second half of the game the puzzles are more about the world-building and the creation of emotional moments or stunning vistas, so the puzzles focus more on telling a story or reusing existing mechanics in a new and interesting way. How did you find adding new ship mechanics to FAR: Changing Tides? Were there any challenges, concerns, or fixes from the first game? The ship in Changing Tides is much bigger than the Okomotive from Lone Sails, around double in size, and we wanted the player to feel that from the very first moment they encounter the ship. So we decided to change from attaching things to the vehicle, to unlocking existing compartments within the ship. This made the actual process less complex for us to implement. One concern we had was: Would the ship feel as much your own as the Okomotive did because you were "building" it yourself, which we feel creates a stronger bond. So we decided to let the player change the appearance of the ship themselves at least once in Changing Tides as well so a similar connection can be forged. One thing we improved much upon from Lone Sails to Changing Tides is the sails. Whereas in Lone Sails you’re just able to raise or lower the sails in Changing Tides you have to adjust them to the wind direction which makes the ship feel more connected to the world. I think that a general change from Lone Sails to Changing Tides is that everything is bigger, not just the vehicle, but also the world and locations. We needed to add more depth to the different mechanics without being overwhelming. One way we did that was to have a basic mechanic, one would quickly understand and then add an element that was less crucial, but would improve the outcome when the player picked up on it. The engine for example: if the player fuels the oven and starts a fire the engine starts and makes the ship go forwards, so far so simple. But if the player pushes the oven to its limit, the engine will start to heat up and eventually, the heat valve will pop out – completely stopping the ship. Now the player can just push the valve back in and start going again or they can start to cool the engine using the hose, which is much more efficient than having the ship stop each time the valve pops out. This depth allows the player to learn about the ship at their own pace, which further builds up a connection to the ship. Both games have an ongoing story in the background, what was your process in making the story mix without being intrusive to the gameplay? We've always had more of a symbiotic relationship between the world and the gameplay. Almost all of the puzzles are story-motivated. We usually start with the story we wanted to tell which defines what locations the player would encounter. For example, the fallen civilization wanted to protect themselves from the flood their scientists foretold. So they decided to build a big wall to hold off the flood from their capital. But they still needed to get out through that wall until the flood came, so they built a huge gate. From this point on we were asking ourselves what would make a good experience opening that gate and how could we involve the ship? How could that gate have worked mechanically? And what do we need to teach the player at this stage of the game? Opening such a huge gate would need a lot of force so we decided that it would be a good location to introduce the boost of the ship. Most of the decisions we make are based on the story in some way. They’re often logical consequences of the different elements we established during the concept, world-building, or story writing phase. So by growing the gameplay and the world-building in parallel we can ensure they work with each other. Neither game has a player tutorial, can you explain how you were able to teach the players the controls without being obvious with a text box? We do have some button prompts to tell the player the basic inputs, but the more in-depth mechanics we wanted the player to discover themselves. It gives people a great sense of pleasure to feel they’ve figured something out for themselves. But to make sure the player is not walking up to a huge puzzle being completely overwhelmed by it, we try to isolate each part of the puzzle into a separate section. It's way easier to solve one small task because the options to do something wrong are limited. Then when the player understands this small part we put something on top of the first element to slowly add more complexity. FAR: Lone Sails & FAR: Changing Tides both unlock mechanics over time, could you tell us how you manage that progression to make the experience enjoyable? Unlocking new things is always fun, it presents the player with a new way to interact with the ship and keeps the interest of the player, asking themselves "I wonder what the next upgrade will be?". It’s the equivalent of a birthday present: Unpacking something new and fun. The upgrades in FAR always try to make the player's life piloting the vessel easier or more interesting in some way. The sails help to save fuel, the engine helps to progress when there's no wind. It's about giving the player more options to handle different situations. We slowly increase the knowledge required to keep the ship going in different situations. In Changing Tides, we expanded on this concept. When the player first gets a new upgrade, the oven, for example, they’ve already been taught how the basics of it work in a puzzle. But the oven in the ship behaves differently if it has been damaged. Also, there’s more depth to the interaction, since the bellows can get stuck if the player doesn’t pay attention. So over time the player gains more knowledge about the vehicle and the more the player knows about it, the more attached they get to it. It’s like getting to know a person, the more you know about the person the closer you feel to them. If you want to keep up to date with all the FAR news, then head to www.farchangingtides.com and sign up for our Newsletter, and follow us on Twitter, Facebookand Instagram.

Last month, we gave you a look into the audio and music with Joel Schoch, the musician and composer of FAR: Lone Sails, and FAR: Changing Tides. If you missed it you can check it out here. This time, we have Animation Artist, Martina Hugentobler to talk us through the animation and modelling of the characters and animals in the FAR Universe. Let us know in the comments if you have any other questions for Martina! What got you into Modeling characters and animals? I have loved games and making art for as long as I can remember. In my game design studies, I specialised in game art and have been doing that ever since. There's something magical about making digital characters and creatures and bringing them to life with animation. What do you prefer to model, characters and animals? And why? Anything can be interesting to model, but characters and animals are definitely my favourite thing to make. I also enjoy the challenge of it as making them combines many different aspects of art with technical knowledge. For example, it already starts with the design which has to make sense in regards to anatomy to be believable, even if the result is something fantastical or cartoony. What was your favourite thing to model and animate for the FAR games and why? Bringing the characters of both games to life was one of the best things. They move very differently and it was really cool to give them both their own personalities and individual characteristics. And I loved making the creatures like the caribous or birds, they are lots of fun to animate. What tools and software do you use to animate and model? For modeling I use Blender, and for rigging and animation, I work with both Maya and Blender. Does the fact that characters such as Toe, have exaggerated or altered anatomy help or make it harder to model, and animate? In general, I'd say it always depends on the design. In Toe's case modeling him was fairly straightforward since our art team created a character sheet that shows him from all sides. When it came to animation all I had was Toe's backstory and personality, so I developed the way he moves based on that information, his current circumstances, and the items he wears. A realistic animation style, for example, would not have fit him due to his proportions and stylization. Toe was not the easiest character to animate, his huge pants could look off in motion so they had to be posed like any other part of the character. On the other hand, his overly long sleeves were a lot of fun to experiment with, and the giant diving helmet was extra neat to work with! The animals in the game are beautiful, what is the process behind turning these from concept art into models in the game? Thank you! When starting a 3D model I roughly block out the main shapes and limbs to get the proportions right. Afterward, I start refining and adding the definition, and finally add in the details. Reference images are important to get things right, and an understanding of anatomy helps a lot when making creatures so you know for example where muscles and bones go. Making a clean topology is another part of it, in other words thinking about how to build up the model so it can deform well in the animation stage later and look natural. To follow from the last question, once these are modelled, how does this affect the way you animated these animals? The next step after making the model is rigging, the process of creating a digital puppet of the model so you can pose and animate it. Personally, I enjoy making rigs as it allows me to build up the creature exactly the way I need it. Part of animation is understanding motion and character intention. Also acting out as much of the action as possible helps, and video reference is crucial: No I'm not goofing around and watching random animal videos on the internet, I'm working here! Did I mention animation is awesome? :) In FAR: Lone Sails, you had to make things seem real and alive on the ground, how has it been adding the underwater element in FAR: Changing Tides? The overall process remained largely the same. With a different environment, I just had to imagine there is water around the character when animating. His helmet made for a nice contrast, often a burden on land but speeding him up once submerged. For the underwater creatures, Tim and Teodora from the art team collaborated with me so together we could create a variety of them, which was super cool. If you want to keep up to date with all the FAR news, then head to www.farchangingtides.com and sign up for our Newsletter, and follow us on Twitter, Facebookand Instagram.

We're back with another exclusive insight into developer Okomotive and the FAR universe! This is our third Deep Dive into the inner workings of development of the game. You can catch up here on Deep Dive 1 and Deep Dive 2. This time we're joined by Joel Schoch, musician, and composer for the FAR games, to discuss the music and sounds of FAR: Changing Tides and how they came to be. The soundtrack was a huge part of the emotional storytelling in FAR: Lone Sails, why was this so important to you? For me, the soundtrack in FAR: Lone Sails as well as in FAR: Changing Tides aims to strengthen the emotional bond between the character and their vehicle. Since both games have an unobtrusive form of storytelling, this also gives room to suggest a story through music. What or who were your biggest inspirations for creating the soundtrack? The sketches and drawings by Don Schmocker, the lead creative, are certainly a great source of inspiration, as they already carry a lot of the atmosphere of the game. I also get inspired by trying different real instruments and searching for new sounds that they can make. My musical idols range from Tigran Hamasyan and Radiohead to great impressionists like Maurice Ravel. In music for games, I was so fascinated by the soundtrack to "Samorost III" by Floex aka Tomáš Dvořák, that I even wrote my master's thesis on it. What were your biggest challenges in producing the soundtrack to FAR: Lone Sails? The biggest challenge was knowing when to do what in the process. When is something fixed and how long can certain things be open? Since the game and the music grew more or less at the same time, it is a challenge to remain open to the fact that a game can develop in different directions and the impact that this can have on a soundtrack. And what challenges did you face creating the music for FAR: Changing Tides during a pandemic? I live in a shared flat in Zurich, where suddenly all my flatmates were working from home. I didn't want to constantly blast the poor guys with my music, so I bought a really good pair of headphones pretty quickly! Since I was used to working alone, the pandemic didn't have a huge impact on my work, although distancing myself from people I like wasn't always easy or great. What was your favourite part of creating the soundtrack for FAR: Changing Tides? The best thing for me was to work with a team that I know and trust. So again, it felt to me like I could make the music for this game that I imagined. To have this artistic freedom and to know that your work is trusted is probably the best feeling ever for a composer and musician as it is not always commonplace in the games industry. In the process itself, I love learning about and recording new instruments to find my own personal blend of sounds for the game. Do you have a favourite instrument that was used? Of the many new instruments used in FAR: Changing Tides, two were particularly great: My good friend Dominic Röthlisberger was given an organ with about 400 wooden pipes from an estate not long ago. This organ was built by a hobby organ builder at home in the attic over his lifetime. To play and record this already visually beautiful instrument was extraordinary. I also had Jim Double – an inventor of musical instruments - build me a "Chromatic Aquarion", a kind of xylophone made of glass. Since it took some time to build, this sound was added at the end of production and it gave me the feeling of finding the missing piece of the puzzle in the orchestration of FAR: Changing Tides. What software/tools did you use for the production of the soundtrack and why? For sessions with musicians, I compose on Dorico. For recording, producing, and mixing, I use Ableton. Since individual tracks can be gigantic with up to 300 tracks, changing the DAW (That's "Digital Audio Workstation") would take too much time anyway. To make the music for the game dynamic and to let it react to the game and the player, I work with FMOD Studio. I love the clarity but the almost infinite creative scope that FMOD offers me. If you want to keep up to date with all the FAR news, then head to www.farchangingtides.com and sign up for our Newsletter, and follow us on Twitter, Facebookand Instagram.

We're back with another insight into the FAR Universe and its developer Okomotive! This is the second Deep Dive into the life and workings of developer, Okomotive, and their new upcoming title FAR: Changing Tides. Joining us again is Creative Lead and Co-Founder, Don Schmoker at Okomotive to bring you a closer look into the differences, challenges, and revelations in creating both FAR: Lone Sails and FAR: Changing Tides. Let us know in the comments if you would like to ask any other questions in our next Developer Deep Dive where we'll be focusing on the music of the game! First off, what were your fondest memories of FAR: Lone Sails? We were able to go to many exhibitions and events with the game which was a lot of fun, and it was amazing to see people play our game for the first time and see their reactions. However, in the beginning, we were going to large events with the very first “prototype” which was a really daunting experience. A good example of this is when we showed FAR: Lone Sails at the stadium in E3, it was a great experience with friends and fans, but since it was a prototype is was a lot of work and pressure. After the success of FAR: Lone Sails why did you continue with this IP instead of creating something else? We felt that the FAR universe has quite a unique mechanic so we wanted to explore it more and see in which directions we could go. It was not difficult for us to be fascinated by new ideas for a different type of vehicle and new areas to travel through. On the other side we were a small team and had to be smart about our resources. To continue the IP also meant we could use our experience and be more efficient with the development of FAR: Changing Tides, which in turn meant that we could make a bigger game in less time rather than create something completely new. What are the main differences between FAR: Lone Sails development and FAR: Changing Tides? Mainly three things: a better plan, a larger team and mostly working from home. This meant that the organisation and communication played a much bigger part during the development of FAR: Changing Tides, compared to FAR: Lone Sails. The length of the game also meant that we had to divide the levels and features into smaller parts that we could work on to avoid too much complexity. Oh, and working on many different platforms simultaneously doesn’t make things easier! Do you feel that you took a lot of lessons from FAR: Lone Sails and adapted them into FAR: Changing Tides? Yes, as much as we could. The experience with Lone Sails played a part in a lot of our decisions. Before starting with Changing Tides we analysed most of the feedback we could get and decided how we would improve these parts, keep them like they were, or change them. What key aspects of FAR: Lone Sails have you put into FAR: Changing Tides? I hope this quickly becomes apparent when you see the gameplay. Driving a big vehicle and building up a relationship during the journey, beautiful landscapes and music. We like a lot of elements in FAR: Lone Sails so we wanted to keep as much as possible while still giving Changing Tides something new that’s interesting for the players and for us. FAR: Lone Sails released 5 years ago, what were the biggest challenges making FAR: Changing Tides during a global pandemic? I would say it went relatively well for us, considering how much worse it could have been. We were lucky to quickly make the switch to working from home. Being somewhat isolated from the rest of the team was (and still is) not very fun; I miss the small discussions, conversations, and just looking at a cool new thing someone made across my desk. Are you using the same tools and software for FAR: Lone Sails to create FAR: Changing Tides? If not, what was the reason for changing the way you built the game? Yes, mostly, we still work in Unity and have a similar workflow. What are you most excited for people to experience in FAR: Changing Tides? Learning more about the ship and its abilities. And the ending of the game, but I won’t reveal any spoilers here! Some other games in this genre have antagonists and a high element of danger. Was this ever considered for the FAR titles? This was discussed several times during development. But it didn’t make sense for us to artificially create more tension. We didn’t want the player to be afraid to take their time or to stop the vehicle. There are some moments in both games that create tension, often by natural events, to use the vehicles to their full potential. In that case, the purpose isn’t to use the vehicle as a weapon to fight enemies but to survive the journey together. What was the reason behind the simplicity in gameplay such as lack of HUD, or an onboarding system? During early testing, we found out that it’s very rewarding and a big first step to build up a bond with the vehicle when a player figures out how the vehicle works. It’s somewhat risky because it’s so early in the game. To make things more intuitive we took a lot of real-world mechanics and simplified them, like igniting a furnace or cooling an engine with water. It also made sense to put the displays of the machines directly into the vehicle as you would expect from a real machine. To make the onboarding easier in FAR: Changing Tides we introduce the player step by step to new mechanisms and actions inside the ship. If you want to keep up to date with all the FAR news, then head to www.farchangingtides.com and sign up for our Newsletter, and follow us on Twitter, Facebookand Instagram. Wishlist your copy now!

To celebrate the announcement of FAR: Changing Tides we have decided to christen this voyage! But instead of champagne, we have teamed up with Cooler Master and Hyper X to give away some amazing prizes. The winner will get a custom-wrapped EG200 Graphics booster with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 8GB GDDR6 Graphics Card to help them appreciate the world of FAR in greater clarity. But that's not all, two runners-up will have the chance to win:

• An Alloy Elite 2 Keyboard from HyperX
• Custom FAR: Changing Tides T-shirt
• Custom FAR: Changing Tides Pin
• Custom FAR: Changing Tides Tin

• Pulsefire Dart Wireless Gaming Mouse from Hyper X
• Custom FAR: Changing Tides T-shirt
• Custom FAR: Changing Tides Pin
• Custom FAR: Changing Tides Tin

To win all you have to do is head over to our Gleam competition here and follow the steps provided. (T&C's can be found on the competition page.) Make sure you sign up with as many options to increase your chances of winning. The competition will close on Thursday the 22nd of July at 23:59 GMT! If you want to keep up to date with all the FAR news, then head to www.farchangingtides.com and sign up for our Newsletter, and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Good Luck!

Okomotive is the indie games studio based in Zurich, Switzerland who brought you the award-winning game FAR: Lone Sails. With the recent announcement of their new title FAR: Changing Tides, we wanted to speak directly with the developers and get some answers about the company and the FAR universe. We will have regular exclusive posts on r/FARtheGame and on the FAR: Changing Tides Steam Community Hub, where we ask the developers questions directly. Today we are joined by Creative Lead and Co-Founder, Don Schmoker at Okomotive, to answer questions about the company and the FAR Universe. How did the company Okomotive begin? Goran and I founded the company when we were still students while also working on FAR: Lone Sails. At the time Okomotive was just a name we quickly came up with, so we could have a studio to release the game (it was the name of the vehicle in FAR: Lone Sails). Soon we found out that a company comes with a lot more responsibilities, but it was also something we could build up over the years. During the development of Lone Sails, our team grew larger and it was nice to see how Okomotive got more and more personality and became something very important to all of us. What are Okomotives goals as a developer? The projects and the people in our studio are both very important to us and we want to keep creating games we enjoy developing together. In most cases, these are games that have an artistic and original approach but have the player experience as a core element. What is it like being an indie developer working on your second game? In our case, it definitely felt more streamlined which is a good thing to help stick to the development plan. I think the most difficult part was to create a concept that’s not just like “now we add all the things we couldn’t do in the first game and make it bigger and better” but instead something that has its own identity and place. During production, the question to make a feature the same or different from the first game came up a lot. We decided to move away from that mindset and ask if the feature worked independently before deciding to add it into FAR: Changing Tides. What gave you the idea for the FAR Universe? The initial idea came together while we were at university and took some months until it found its identity. The two main components were the idea of driving a slow-moving vehicle, while only controlling the driver directly; and the second one was the atmosphere and visuals of the foggy coastal areas around the North Sea. An important distinction was that the player doesn’t have to hurry or fight and can enjoy the scenery and mood of the world around them. The universe was built from these ideals and has become its own place through these ideals. What were the biggest challenges presented when you were starting? I don’t remember any big challenges except trying to finish the game overall. The people involved all helped to keep the challenges small enough. So it was more a question of navigating through small challenges, like getting a demo ready for an event, handling changes in the timeline, or making the vehicle intuitive but also fun. Is FAR: Changing Tides a sequel? No, not directly. It’s more of a companion title. There are many connections and similarities but more in terms of gameplay and feel of the world. Why is it not a continuation from the last game? We think that starting with a new vessel in an unexplored world and then slowly getting to know them better is one of the most important parts of the game. For this reason, we created a new vehicle and an environment that has a different story and behaves differently, so it works for players that have played the FAR: Lone Sails and for players who haven’t. Can you tell us what happened to the planet and why it's flooded? Maybe you can find out the answer to that question when you’ve played FAR: Changing Tides? Worldbuilding is a large task, how did you begin creating this universe? In FAR: Lone Sails we had only a rough idea of the background story at the beginning of the development but the aesthetics and architecture were more clear. During development, we had to define and build more of the story, which became increasingly difficult towards the end. In FAR: Changing Tides we wrote most of the story and the world-building during pre-production, which gave us a better direction. Because we tell most of the story through the environment we had to plan and design the environments together with the story. Sometimes we had a cool idea for a scenery shot and adjusted the story so it would fit the experience. Is there a reason both characters use vehicles in both games? They wouldn’t be FAR games without it and they are the core of the gameplay and experience, so everything else kind of revolves around them. The world has a beautiful art style, can you tell us how you decided on it? For FAR: Lone Sails I started with limited colours as I was more comfortable with that and it worked well to create the foggy atmosphere and to highlight the interactive objects in the game. We chose to create the backgrounds in 3D to give the environment more depth and to make it more believable. For FAR: Changing Tides we wanted to show more variety and environments we haven’t explored yet. The water is always part of the scene so we had to design landscapes and colour palettes that gave us enough variation but also incorporated the water well. What excites you the most about this new story you are going to share with us? We’re very proud of the story we created for FAR: Changing Tides but as a developer, I’m most excited about how the players experience the storytelling in the world and the little moments that are different for each player and in the end creates a very personal journey. Can we expect more stories from the FAR universe? I can’t say at this point, but we’re definitely not out of ideas. If you want to keep up to date with all the FAR news, then head to www.farchangingtides.com and sign up for our Newsletter, and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Wishlist your copy now!

Set sail and discover the wonders of a flooded world filled with mystery. Traverse the ruins of a once great society and use the pieces from its past to build a brighter future. Dive into unknown depths on the hunt for precious fuel and salvage, devise innovative solutions to overcome intricate obstacles, and unearth forgotten relics lost to time. Carry their memories and don’t give up hope. Check out the announcement trailer here! CAPTAIN YOUR SHIP Experience the thrill of captaining a unique seafaring vessel with a mind of its own. More than a ship, this is a friend. Together you’ll brave high seas, navigate intense storms, and plumb the perils of a briny deep, growing as an inseparable partnership. Along the way, you’ll need to keep things functioning by unlocking parts and fixing faults. The farther you travel, the more you’ll learn about your ship’s fascinating complexities. A CAPTIVATING WORLD Contend with both the fantastical and familiar in a richly detailed environment to captivate and mesmerise. From bleak shorelines lapped by tides, to desolate basins in flooded forest valleys, to submerged enclaves frozen in time, each lovingly hand-painted location tells its own story. A MEDITATIVE EXPERIENCE FAR: Changing Tides is a relaxing, accessible and meditative adventure for everyone to enjoy. Set against exquisite and elegant scenery, and scored by a hauntingly beautiful soundtrack, this game transcends language to deliver a charming, warm-hearted, life-affirming experience that will stay with you. A LONE SAILS LEGACY Immerse yourself in an entrancing odyssey like no other. FAR: Changing Tides is the companion title to 2018’s multi-award-winning FAR: Lone Sails. Like the critically acclaimed first game, it encompasses ecstatic highs, mournful lows, and great mysteries to uncover. At the centre of this evocative and poetic journey is the unforgettable tale of a boy and his ship, searching the world for answers. If you want to keep up to date with all the FAR news, then head to www.farchangingtides.com and sign up for our Newsletter, and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The tide waits for no one so hoist your flag, ready your sea legs and Wishlist now!