- Happy New Year! - 13 January 2026
As we cross into 2026, I want to thank everyone who's been following the development of Sky Trader. Your enthusiasm for dieselpunk airships, atmospheric exploration, and incredible patience means everything! I realise progress has been... inconsistent to say the least. For my New Years resolution, I plan on keeping everyone updated a bit for frequently on progress made! This year brings us closer to takeoff - The Plinkett 42 is almost ready to fly, and I can't wait to share this journey with you. Stay tuned for an upcoming demo! Here's to a year of discovery, the smell of diesel in the morning, and finding out what's over the horizon. Clear skies and following winds, JJ
- Installable Parts - 19 July 2024
] Progress has been a bit slower over the last few weeks due to "life"... but Sky Trader is one step closer to an Early Access release! The most interesting recent change are the inclusion of "installable" parts. Now, you can swap out motors, generators, batteries, and more! Purchase new equipment from merchants or install rare items found throughout the world. Everything connects to everything else, so you will be able to install new switches and remotes to control your new toys. Go faster, fly higher, and generally be more awesome! Keep the greasy side down, Grimfox Jones
- New systems, new trailer. - 4 July 2024
Hey future Sky Trader captains! There have been some small but significant changes and upgrades this week, including setting up rotating engines for (sort of) vectored thrust. It all ties back into cockpit controls and displays through the new signals system, and I'm happy to report it works quite well! Having gimballed motors definitely adds some complexity to flying the starter airship, as well as improved maneuverability and usability. I have also been working on physics, specifically getting everything to a state where it doesn't regularly "explode"... there have definitely been some challenges, with crates are barrels flying in random directions and airships dancing across fields, but things are looking much more stable with the latest configuration . Additionally, I've recorded a new trailer with a bit more actual gameplay content. Still lots to do and show, but progress is progre…
- Airship Systems - 24 June 2024
This week, I've been focused on getting the ship systems to communicate with each other. The big achievement is a switch that turns a light on and off! It's magic! It might not look like much, but it’s the foundation for more complex system controls, some of which are already implemented. For example, the light is part of the electrical system, which slowly drains your ship's batteries. Other systems, such as electrical and internal combustion propulsion, generators, solar panels, fuel systems, and more are in the works. In the Sky Trader world, airships use different systems depending on their intended missions. Your starting airship is a "Utility Skiff," designed for short-distance flights. It’s powered by electric motors with high-capacity batteries, sometimes connected to an auxiliary generator or solar panels. These systems are simple, reliable, and cheap. The skiff isn't fast, eff…
- Sky Trader 2024 - 4 June 2024
Sky Trader, 10 years later... If someone had told me it would take a full decade to figure out how to make this game, I may never have started. Honestly, at the beginning of 2023 I had all but given up. It didn't seem like anything was coming together the way I wanted it, and most of all I was frustrated that the game just wasn't fun to play. After serious reflection, and looking all the way back to the original prototype (on Steam Greenlight, if any of you remember that), I realized I haven't been staying true to what I imagined Sky Trader to be so many years ago. What I really want, and I hope some of you do too, is an airship simulation. All the bells and whistles, everything modelled and simulated in gritty detail. Switches and buttons galore. Here is a short list of experiences that I feel are key for Sky Trader and may have been lost over the years: Features You will control your…
- January 2019 Update - 30 January 2019
Hey Sky Trader fans, Here is the latest news from the trenches of airship development! Sky Trader has been through a fair number of changes over the last month, but the biggest one was setting up the camera to "follow" the mouse cursor. This allowed me to bring the camera in much closer while still maintaining the same visible area. It also makes the parallax effect of the 3d terrain really obvious (TL;DR - it looks cool). I haven't resolved how to make this work with the controller yet, but I have some ideas. Most of the other improvements are less dramatic... just steady progress towards the launch. As the feature set is getting firmed up, I am focusing more and more on adding content. There will be lots of areas to explore, even in Early Access. Check out the videos below for more deets! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdXkC4IvYX4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaZPFvxiH4Q Let me kn…
- We're back! - 18 January 2019
Hey Sky Trader Fans, Well, what can I say... it's hard to excuse disappearing for over a year. A lot has happened for me both professionally and personally, and I finally seem to have ended up where I started. It has been a great regret of mine that I was never able to deliver the game I promised you so long ago... so without further ado I present... Sky Trader 2019 https://cdn.steampulse.org/steam/asset?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsteamcdn-a.akamaihd.net%2Fsteamcommunity%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fclans%2F27656784%2F8045986a75edd9b22db6761e5fa28e1cf65a813b.png My vision for Sky Trader has been forced to evolve with the dissolving of our original team. I have taken over all art responsibilities, and as such I have moved to a new art style for the game. I loved Nick's work on the original game, but it wasn't something I was able to reproduce on my own very effectively... that said, I am really happy with the way the new game looks and I hope you will enjoy it too.…
- Status Update - 24 December 2017
Hey Sky Trader Fans! December has been a rough month... we recently submitted Sky Trader to Valve for pre-release review, and it unfortunately didn't pass. The fine folks at Valve discovered a critical bug in our final build. We hadn't found it because it wasn't present in our editor, but it happens every time in the executable. The bug was related to our inventory system and it actually causes a hard crash where the application abruptly terminates. We worked on it for about a few days, but because of the nature of the bug we weren't able to effectively determine the exact cause. Pulling out a large portion of the inventory code fixed the issue, but unfortunately a trading game without an inventory system isn't very fun! We had to choose between continuing to diagnose a very tricky issue and stepping back and rebuilding the inventory system from the ground up to make it more robust. Aft…
- Status Update - 24 December 2017
Hey Sky Trader Fans! December has been a rough month... we recently submitted Sky Trader to Valve for pre-release review, and it unfortunately didn't pass. The fine folks at Valve discovered a critical bug in our final build. We hadn't found it because it wasn't present in our editor, but it happens every time in the executable. The bug was related to our inventory system and it actually causes a hard crash where the application abruptly terminates. We worked on it for about a few days, but because of the nature of the bug we weren't able to effectively determine the exact cause. Pulling out a large portion of the inventory code fixed the issue, but unfortunately a trading game without an inventory system isn't very fun! We had to choose between continuing to diagnose a very tricky issue and stepping back and rebuilding the inventory system from the ground up to make it more robust. Aft…
- So, November is almost over... - 29 November 2017
Blame the pirates! November is drawing to a close... where is this glorious game we have promised? Unfortunately, we are running a bit long in getting everything wrapped up. We thought that our November estimate was a good one, but there are still some serious issues that make the game pretty unplayable. I personally apologize for missing this release date. We have a plan for post-release that should keep us on track for regular (every 2 weeks) releases moving forward, but getting a release candidate ready to go has been harder than I anticipated. You guys have been with us from the start, and we appreciate you all a great deal! Thank you so much for your patience and good will, it's what keeps us going. We intend to have Sky Trader ready to go in early December, hopefully in the first two weeks, but we will keep you updated. As a condolence, we would like to offer free Steam keys to th…
- So, November is almost over... - 29 November 2017
Blame the pirates! November is drawing to a close... where is this glorious game we have promised? Unfortunately, we are running a bit long in getting everything wrapped up. We thought that our November estimate was a good one, but there are still some serious issues that make the game pretty unplayable. I personally apologize for missing this release date. We have a plan for post-release that should keep us on track for regular (every 2 weeks) releases moving forward, but getting a release candidate ready to go has been harder than I anticipated. You guys have been with us from the start, and we appreciate you all a great deal! Thank you so much for your patience and good will, it's what keeps us going. We intend to have Sky Trader ready to go in early December, hopefully in the first two weeks, but we will keep you updated. As a condolence, we would like to offer free Steam keys to th…
- New Cinematic Trailer - 16 November 2017
Hello Sky Trader fans, It has been 6 months in the making, but we have finally uploaded a new cinematic trailer for Sky Trader! (It hasn't actually been 6 months... it only took a few days. We just announced it 6 months ago.) Head over to our store page to check it out! We know the new trailer is more of a teaser as far as gameplay goes. We have been working so hard to get the game ready we just haven't had much time to prepare a proper gameplay trailer. We will be sure to have one before we launch, so you will know what you are getting! As far as our release goes, we are still tracking for a release this month. If you smell something, it is our keyboards burning up as we work feverishly to get Sky Trader out the door! Cheers, JJ
- New Cinematic Trailer - 16 November 2017
Hello Sky Trader fans, It has been 6 months in the making, but we have finally uploaded a new cinematic trailer for Sky Trader! (It hasn't actually been 6 months... it only took a few days. We just announced it 6 months ago.) Head over to our store page to check it out! We know the new trailer is more of a teaser as far as gameplay goes. We have been working so hard to get the game ready we just haven't had much time to prepare a proper gameplay trailer. We will be sure to have one before we launch, so you will know what you are getting! As far as our release goes, we are still tracking for a release this month. If you smell something, it is our keyboards burning up as we work feverishly to get Sky Trader out the door! Cheers, JJ
- Welcome to Braeleen - 7 November 2017
Enjoy the refreshing smell of fish oil! Welcome to Braeleen! Walk the tree-lined streets, and enjoy the fresh smell of fish markets in the morning. Prail may be the official capital of Elanis, but Braeleen is the undisputed "Fish Capital"! While fishing and fish products form the backbone of Braeleen economy, there are many craftsman and traders as well. Surprisingly, one of the best bakeries on the island can be found in this quaint seaside town. It has been said that the humid ocean air helps keep the bread soft! Come visit Braeleen and all the other towns and villages of Elanis when Sky Trader is released on Early Access later this month! Best Wishes, JJ
- Welcome to Braeleen - 7 November 2017
Enjoy the refreshing smell of fish oil! Welcome to Braeleen! Walk the tree-lined streets, and enjoy the fresh smell of fish markets in the morning. Prail may be the official capital of Elanis, but Braeleen is the undisputed "Fish Capital"! While fishing and fish products form the backbone of Braeleen economy, there are many craftsman and traders as well. Surprisingly, one of the best bakeries on the island can be found in this quaint seaside town. It has been said that the humid ocean air helps keep the bread soft! Come visit Braeleen and all the other towns and villages of Elanis when Sky Trader is released on Early Access later this month! Best Wishes, JJ
- A really quick update. - 24 October 2017
http://cloud-3.steamusercontent.com/ugc/854981756020698979/B4231D38EAAE7642A44A67501882D3020C7B546E/ AI Controlled Airship Hey Sky Trader fans! Just wanted to let you know we are still working hard to get Sky Trader ready for launch! I took a couple of minutes to record this neat little animated gif of an AI airship cruising around. Okay, back to work... JJ
- A really quick update. - 24 October 2017
http://cloud-3.steamusercontent.com/ugc/854981756020698979/B4231D38EAAE7642A44A67501882D3020C7B546E/ AI Controlled Airship Hey Sky Trader fans! Just wanted to let you know we are still working hard to get Sky Trader ready for launch! I took a couple of minutes to record this neat little animated gif of an AI airship cruising around. Okay, back to work... JJ
- A citizen of Elanis, and some news - 10 October 2017
Sir Edwin Doyle Just a quick update for you today, as we are all working madly to get Sky Trader ready for release! Meet Sir Edwin Doyle of Prail... this is the legendary airship captain of the Glory Star, renowned for his role in the Bleakerlings Uprising of 1482. Sir Doyle has fallen on rough times as of late, and has recently lost his beloved ship in a particularly high-stakes poker match. Perhaps you can help poor Edwin out... maybe even re-unite him with his long-lost ship? In other, more somber news, I have to announce a delay in Sky Trader's release date. While we plan to finish core development by the end of October, there are quite a few things that aren't quite finished and we want to be sure the game is ready for you! As such, we are moving our early access release date back to the end of November. Thanks for your understanding! We will be sure to keep you updated as things c…
- A citizen of Elanis, and some news - 10 October 2017
Sir Edwin Doyle Just a quick update for you today, as we are all working madly to get Sky Trader ready for release! Meet Sir Edwin Doyle of Prail... this is the legendary airship captain of the Glory Star, renowned for his role in the Bleakerlings Uprising of 1482. Sir Doyle has fallen on rough times as of late, and has recently lost his beloved ship in a particularly high-stakes poker match. Perhaps you can help poor Edwin out... maybe even re-unite him with his long-lost ship? In other, more somber news, I have to announce a delay in Sky Trader's release date. While we plan to finish core development by the end of October, there are quite a few things that aren't quite finished and we want to be sure the game is ready for you! As such, we are moving our early access release date back to the end of November. Thanks for your understanding! We will be sure to keep you updated as things c…
- Presenting the new Sky Trader! - 25 September 2017
A beautiful Sky Trader dawn Hello Sky Trader fans, As promised, here is the first screenshot of the visually re-imagined Sky Trader! Nick has been working around the clock to put this together, and I am really excited by how it turned out!! In this scene, you are looking west from the swampy region on the east side of the island. There are some mysterious, ancient ruins overlooking the waterfalls. In the distance, the grand city of Prail glows in the early morning light. Also, don't miss the caves... you can actually fly through them if your airship fits! As awesome as the screenshot looks, flying through the valleys and past the ruins is even more exciting! Stay tuned for more screenshots and a new video! Let us know what you think, JJ
