- World Map Redrawn, Controller Support, Blessings, Ofuda & Sandbox Mode - 25 July 2026
I hadn't realized it's been so long since the last devlog, sorry againšI've been heads-down on finishing the game, and there's a lot to show. Here are the biggest updates from the past 4-5 months.The World Map Got a Full RebuildI spent a lot of time redoing the map. It was the only thing I hadn't touched in years, and I kept getting comments that it looked weak and I agreed. For me the most important thing about this game is liveliness, and the map just didn't have much.So I redesigned it from scratch, added detail everywhere, and tried to honor each civilization on the map properly, with historical and cultural touches where they belong.Previously the map looked like this:Now it looks like this: The new map also comes with a new HUD: a route bar showing where your ship is heading and its ETA a progress bar with the details of the current journey your ship's cargo at a glance, so you'rā¦
- Atmosphere, Social Life, Controller Support(WIP), + Turkish Language - 27 February 2026
Lighting and Atmosphere UpgradeI did a major lighting pass. I added bloom and sunshafts, improved overall light quality, and reworked how lights are drawn in the world, making them much more vibrant.A big technical change is that lighting can now be layered properly. In a 2D side-view game this matters a lot, because lights used to always render on top of everything, which looked wrong in many scenes. Now lighting behaves much better with depth, so foreground/background composition is cleaner and the world feels more natural.The result is better atmosphere and better readability at the same time, especially during sunrise, sunset, and night scenes.There are also some other improvements:new twinkling star field with better variation and motionmoon/night color tuningimproved river reflection renderingmore variation in river life/objects (fish/lotus variety and movement feel)These changesā¦
- Bigger Map & Logistics - 25 October 2025
Hey guys, hope everyoneās doing great!Over the last two months, Iāve started experimenting with some marketing, and since August weāve gained almost 10,000 new wishlists, bringing the total to nearly 33,000! I really appreciate each one of them, thank you all for your support!There have been quite a few changes to how things work, and Iād like to talk about them today. Bigger MapThe map size was fine for the demo, but it became quite a challenge to fit all the late-game buildings. So, Iāve added one more vertical level to the map and changed the sprite, while keeping the width roughly the same so itās not harder to scroll. In the end, the buildable area increased by about 40%.Iāve also added paths on both sides of the waterfall to make it easier to traverse the hill. This was tricky because of the original pathfinding system, so I had to write a new one. Overall, Iām very happy with howā¦
- New Trailer, 4 Months of Demo Updates, and Festival News! - 7 August 2025
Hey everyone!For the last four months, I've been working hard behind the scenes, pushing over 30 patches to the demo. The in-game feedback system I implemented has worked wonders! Based on your suggestions, I've reworked core systems, added new content, and implemented numerous quality-of-life improvements. Thank you all so much for your invaluable feedback!Brand New Gameplay Trailer!I've launched a brand new gameplay trailer! The previous one was too long, a bit slow, and didn't show much gameplay. This new one is shorter, packed with action, and focuses on the core gameplay experience. Check it out here! Tiny Teams Festival!On top of that, I'm thrilled to announce that the game will be part of the Tiny Teams Festival, which runs from August 7th, 6 PM BST to August 14th, 6 PM BST! As a solo developer, it's a huge honor to be included alongside so many amazing games from other small teaā¦
- Demo Update for German Users - 1 April 2025
I recently discovered that my demo was not displaying the download button for users in Germany. Although I had completed the required ratings form, it turns out that additional demo-specific fields were needed. I apologize for the delay in fixing this issue. The problem has now been resolved, and the download button is visible for all German users. Thank you for your patience and understanding. I hope you enjoy playing the demo and I look forward to hearing your feedback!
- City Builder & Colony Sim Fest - 24 March 2025
I'm excited to announce that the City Builder and Colony Sim Fest has just begun on Steam, and I'm releasing a new version of the demo! This time, it will be available until the game's full release! I'll also be hosting a playtest at the end of May, which will be much than the demo. If you're up for a deeper dive into the game and want to help shape its development, don't miss it! š” Tip: There's now a quick feedback form in the game ā just press F8 or find it in the escape menu. Iād love to hear what you think! I also want to say a huge thank you for your support and patience. It means the world to me, and I'm grateful to have such a passionate community backing this project. Play the demo, join the playtest, and share your thoughts!
- Research System: Discover, Adapt, and Evolve! - 30 November 2024
Hello everyone! I hope this message finds you well. I've been hard at work on some exciting new features for Faraway Lands, and I'm thrilled to share them one of them with you today. One of the most significant additions is the new Research System, designed to add depth, strategy, and replayability. Scholars: The Minds Behind Progress Research in your settlement is conducted by scholars working in pagodas. These learned individuals are the driving force behind your technological advancement. Like other workers, scholars have unique traits that can affect their research efficiency. Your research progress is influenced by multiple factors: Scholar Count(This is not linear, each scholar after 4th adds 10% to overall research speed) Scholar Traits Researches Temporary/Permanent Bonuses from Random Events Four Paths to Progress The research system is divided into four distinct branches (Prodā¦
- Next Fest Recap, New Features and Improvements - 1 October 2024
Hello everyone! It's been a while since I last posted, and I apologize for the lack of news. The past few months have been quite busy for me. I had a wedding in August and a contract job that ended just before the wedding. Neither of us had our own house or furniture, so we spent a lot of time looking for rentals and furniture while also planning the wedding. Itās been hectic! However, Iāve had more free time in the last couple of weeks, and development has been going very well. As many of you know, I attended the Steam Next Fest in February, and it was a blast! I received incredibly valuable and heartwarming feedback from the community. I kept the demo available until the end of March, during which time I fixed bugs and added some small features. Your Feedback Makes a Difference! I truly appreciate all the constructive feedback. The features I've implemented below are thanks to you! Iā¦
- Catch the Action: Developer Gameplay - 6 February 2024
A pre-recorded gameplay stream will be on a loop throughout the duration of Steam Next Fest on my steam store page and the event page. If you haven't had a chance yet, make sure to give the demo a go before it's taken down on around Feb 19th. Hope you all are having a great day. Thanks!
- Catch the Action: Developer Gameplay - 6 February 2024
A pre-recorded gameplay stream will be on a loop throughout the duration of Steam Next Fest on my steam store page and the event page. If you haven't had a chance yet, make sure to give the demo a go before it's taken down on around Feb 19th. Hope you all are having a great day. Thanks! https://store.steampowered.com/app/1303940/Faraway_Lands_Rise_of_Yokai/
- Steam Next Festival Demo - 5 February 2024
Exciting news! The demo for my game is now available for play, and you can dive into the experience starting today until the 19th, which is a week after the Steam Next Fest concludes. Your feedback is valuable, so feel free to share your thoughts here on steam forums or on our discord channel! Happy gaming! š®āØ https://discord.gg/gkt2XqDZXZ
- Still Alive: Major Game Updates - 21 January 2024
First off, I sincerely apologize for the silence. This being my first game, I quite underestimated the time and skills needed for game development. The complexity of blending multiple genres in one game, I've learned, is quite challenging for a beginner developer. I've also realized that I tend to get fixated on small details, which, while important, often led me to spend more time than necessary on certain aspects of the game. This sometimes resulted in less productivity than I would have liked. A significant turning point came a few years back when my game engine, GameMaker Studio, received a major update. This necessitated a complete rewrite of my codebase, which, unsurprisingly, was a bit of a spaghetti mess. It pushed me to dive deeper into the world of programming ā I've since been educating myself on game development, learning languages like C++ and C#, and even branching out intā¦
- #Devlog-End of Demo,Current Progression - 9 December 2020
Hello guys, hope you are well & safe! I will first talk about how the demo experience was for me and then inform you about updates. Demo It has been a month since I published the demo,It was a pretty crazy week for me, I was late for the festival, couldn't manage to finish the demo in time.After 3 stressful and sleepless days into the festival I managed to release the demo.And...I got my first crash report in a few mins from the playersĖsteamhappyĖ There were a lot of bugs so the first people who played the game probably quit & never returned, but I managed to fix them rather quickly, so after a few days it was running fine mostly.I kept updating the demo, fixing,changing & adding few things based on feedback & my observations. Overall, it was a great experience.Even though I missed most of the festival, it got the attention of a few youtubers which has gained us quite a bit of new playā¦
- Demo is up for grab! - 11 October 2020
Hello guys! First of all I am sorry about the big delay.At first I couldn't publish the demo as it wasn't quite finished and contained major bugs(It still might have, but I tested it with as many people as I can and fixed the stuff) And yesterday I finally uploaded the demo but it showed an empty folder, I just managed to fix it now. As for the demo,it is just to show you the core gameplay loop.It lacks some quality of life features such as minimap and other little things,and also lacks enemy types and bosses. In the demo you will have 2 days(Which is about 48 minutes in real time) to build stuff and explore around, after that the enemies will attack your village and the demo will end. The vision I have about this game is to give you the joy of exploring new stuff and also she satisfaction of building a village and successfully defending it. Please report any bugs or suggestions in ourā¦
- Devlog #5 Port,Buildings,Delay - 18 August 2020
Hey guys, I hope you are well, staying safe and healthy! Sorry for the late update, been busy fixing some bugs and adding features as well as real life stuff.But still, it feels to me time goes by so fast these days :O So I have a bunch of gifs for you if you are interested in how things work. I made it so that villagers need to carry required resources in order to build stuff.And I have added building animation and particle effects. Upgrades and decorations such as lamps gets built instantly at the moment for convenience, but I might change that if people think it breaks the immersion. I have made it so that you can assign people to work on the Port, they will generate gold when idle, and will perform various tasks:Building a ship, carrying back the resources gathered by fishing ships, load the trading ship with required resources for trade routes. You start by building an exploration/ā¦
- Mini devlog #3, Trading & Exploration - 21 July 2020
Hello guys!I hope you are safe and well. I have been working on the exploration and trading part of the game.After you explore new lands, you will be able to establish trade routes with them, you will receive gold and relationship experience every few days/hours depending on the distance, in exchange for the resources the city wants to buy.And with the relationship points you can unlock new stuff at certain thresholds, these will be a mixture of decorations,new tech/bonuses,a few units.Here is a demonstration: I have also added shipwrecks and fishing spots to the map.Each spots contains a few fish type which you gather randomly, and shipwrecks contain some shiny rewards. Still working on how you should assign workers to those tasks.It will probably work like this:You assign villagers to the docks, and they will automaticaly assign themselves to the task once you click on it on the map iā¦
- Mini Devlog #2 - 5 July 2020
Hello guys, hope you are safe and well! A small update on what I have been up to over the past 2 weeks.I have redesigned the unit trait system, previously units had 1 to 3 bonuses based on their rarity, those bonuses could be negative or positive.I have felt it was too limiting hence the redesign.Units now have 10 talents each, they are randomized at the start, but they will level up their talents when they work on appropriate jobs. I have worked on the elemental power users, the monks.There are 4 types of monks:Earth,Fire,Water,Air.(I have plans for a fifth one later on(Aether)).They have 2 skills each, one is a basic ability and the other is a special ability with a cooldown, which you can cast manualy if you want(This might change on final build).I have finished all of them except for the air monk's basic ability.Here are some screenshots: I have also been coding, which takes quite aā¦
- First Devlog! - 17 June 2020
Hello guys! I announced the game two weeks ago and I've gotten a lot of positive feedback on it since then and I am grateful for it! I have also gotten some critism from some Japanese, I was told that the game looked a bit more like Chinese rather than Japanese.Mostly due to the how buildings and ships look.So I have remade most of the assets since then, and I want to share it with you. I have also added an option to change the roof colors of the buildings I am also working on the ship, this one will be the middle sized one. (That dragon ship head is imported from China, I will add such unlockable decorative figures as suggested by one of my followers on Discord (Join our channel if you haven't already!:)) Thanks a lot everyone!
- Official Discord Server - 30 May 2020
I am a solo developer working on the project.But who says it has to be lonely?Join our community to chat and discuss the development of the game!ĖsteamhappyĖ Click here to join the Official Discord Server
