Big Update: Speedrunning, Save, Leaderboards, and Community-Driven Improvements

(Live January 9th at 15:00 CET)

TLDR at the bottom

Hi Everyone, we hope you have had a great beginning to the new year! We are excited to start the new year off with a update based on all your great feedback! 🥳

Save System Between Islands

One of the biggest changes: Skybound now saves your progress between islands!

No more starting from scratch if you need to take a break. (We undertand how frustrating that is, thanks for the feedback!) The game automatically saves when you complete each island, so you can pick up right where you left off. Whether you're tackling the game over multiple sessions or just need to step away, your island progress is safe.

This was one of our most requested features, and we're thrilled to finally have it in the game!

When you press Play, it opens a level selector if you've completed past the first island, where you can then go to the next!

Steam post imageIf you ever want to relive the game from the beginning with quests and all, just use the Options --> Game Alterations --> Reset All!

Speedrunning & Steam Leaderboards

The most requested feature is finally here: competitive speedrunning!

We've added Steam Leaderboards for all three islands! Plus, there's an Act 1 Full Run leaderboard that tracks your cumulative time across all three islands(You have to play all 3 in a row to qualify for this). Think you have what it takes to claim the top spot?

Steam post image Screenshot of the leaderboards, you'll never beat the devs! 😎

Screenshot of the new timer, the player just started on Rubblerest!

How do you speedrun you eagerly ask, well it's easy! Just head to Options --> Game Alterations --> Speedrun On/Off, there you can enable/disable it, and you will automatically submit your best time to the leaderboard when you qualify! 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️

Steam post imageAnd this is just the beginning, we're planning an Agility Course with its own leaderboard (And new soundtrack 🔥) by the end of the month. Start practicing your grapple tech!

Visual Overhaul

Skybound is looking better than ever!🌟 We've given the island some love, and more detail, not perfect yet, but much better!

Graphical Improvements On All Islands

In this new Gameplay Teaser you'll be able to see a lot of improvements! The rest you'll have to explore yourself! 🤓

UI Tweaks

The UI has been improved, especially for discoveries, you now get a pop-up, aswell as a "NEW" tag on the new discovery to help show what you actually just got!

Steam post image Updated Travel Map

The travel map has been updated, i'ts now prettier and way better at communicating where you can travel!

Community Feedback: Skip-ability

You spoke, we listened (Something you do not want to do in game 😤)! One of the most common requests was the ability to skip through content you've already seen, so here it is.

Simply Press ESC to skip the intro cinematic and Press Q to fast-forward through dialogue when frozen.

Now you can jump straight into the action on repeat playthroughs or speedruns. No more waiting(or atleast less)!

30+ New Steam Achievements

Achievement hunters, rejoice! We've added over 30 new Steam achievements to unlock, including:

• Speedrun achievements for completing islands under target times

• Achievements for exploration and discovery

• Challenge achievements for mastering advanced mechanics

• A couple of silly ones

Steam post imagePlease not that you will note earn the majority of achievements if you have done "Unlock All" you cheater! 😵

How many can you collect? not more than me I bet!

Bug Fixes & Quality of Life

Beyond the headline features, we've squashed bugs, smoothed out the rougher edges, and made countless small improvements to make your journey through the islands as smooth as possible.

What's Next?

This is just the beginning. We're committed to expanding Skybound with new content, and more bug fixes (Please keep telling us about them!). A planned update is the Agility Course & leaderboard, coming not the not too distant future! and There will soon be a new button for those who would like to get more story! with a small cutscene in between islands. 🤓

Thank you for your incredible support and feedback. We can't wait to see your speedrun times and hear what you think of the update!

And as always please share awesome moments, bugs or other fun Skybound related stuff on the steam-hub page! We love reading / Answering your posts!

TL;DR

Major Features:

• Save system - Progress saves between islands!

• Speedrunning mode - Compete on Steam leaderboards (3 islands + Act 1 full run)

• Visual upgrades - Graphical improvements across all islands

• UI improvements - Better discoveries pop-ups, updated travel map and Quest UI

• Skip features - Press ESC to skip intro, Q to fast-forward dialogue

• 30+ new achievements - Speedrun challenges, exploration, and more

• Bug fixes & QoL - Smoother gameplay experience

Coming Soon:

• Agility Course with leaderboard (+ new soundtrack!) by end of January

All the best from Tim, Mikkel and Joakim. Half Home Games.