The sky’s the limit.
Just because WASD Live 2024 is now over and the doors are closed until the next event, the fun is far from over. With many games played and lots of developers and publishers to speak to, in today’s interview, we’re joined by Jason Loftus and Judith Cheung from Lofty Sky Entertainment. With a larger than life title and animated series both set to release later this year, here is our complete WASD Live 2024 interview:
Lofty Sky Entertainment | Sky Full of Ideas with Sky of Tides:
Miketendo64: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your role with Lofty Sky Entertainment?
Jason Loftus: I’m Jason Loftus, CEO & Executive Producer here at Lofty Sky.
Judith Cheung: And I’m Judith Cheung, Creative & Marketing Director at Lofty Sky.
Since 2017, Lofty Sky Entertainment has been creating engaging experiences in games, film, TV, and virtual reality. Our Toronto-based team garnered significant critical acclaim for our latest animated documentary, Eternal Spring, which was chosen as Canada’s entry for the 2023 Oscars® in addition to winning 27 awards and 27 nominations including ‘Best Writing’ at the 50th Annie Awards and the Peabody Awards. Shuyan Saga, was our first narrative game title, which was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award, and has 90% positive reviews on Steam. Tha is now available on console platforms. Our current sci-fi narrative Sky of Tides won GDC Pitch in 2023 and was nominated for Best in Play at GDC in 2024, we’ll be releasing that game in Q3 of 2024.
Miketendo64: In what capacity are you involved with Sky of Tides?
Jason Loftus: I am the producer and director of Sky of Tides. Creatively, I’m overseeing the storytelling and the voice directing of the game. I also give input on the game design, making sure the game mechanics feel organic to the story and the character’s mission.
Judith Cheung: I’m the creative director on Sky of Tides, mostly on the art and visuals that you see in the game as well as the UIUX. I’m also involved in the marketing of the game, so working alongside ESDigital ensuring we’re getting the word out about this amazing title.
Miketendo64: When did development of Sky of Tides first begin?
Judith Cheung: We first had the idea for Sky of Tides back in 2017. The creator of this world was Lina Skorbach, a Ukrainian Canadian who had envisioned this really unique world called Numen9, frozen mid-catastrophe where the planet has exploded but was hung together by the floating up oceans in the sky. We did some early prototyping during the pandemic, but the team decided to take the game in another direction that allowed for more player agency and exploration as the story evolved.
Miketendo64: Can you provide us with a brief overview of what Sky of Tides is about?
Jason Loftus: Set on Numen9, Sky of Tides explores the aftermath of a great calamity that fractured the planet, floated the oceans into the sky and split its population into nine separate planetoids. As Rin, you’ll set off to find your father, who mysteriously disappeared after uncovering a conspiracy to starve the people of Numen9. Along your journey, you’ll meet and interact with diverse characters, each presenting you with choices that will shape Rin’s place within Numen9’s future.
The game’s lite RPG approach centres around a simple loop that rewards both exploration and player choice while keeping storytelling at the heart of the experience. We created game mechanics that felt organic to the story, the world, and the character’s mission. The exploration mechanic mirrors Rin’s own journey in searching for her father and trying to understand her place in the world. Discovering objects gives players the agency to learn about Numen9 on their own terms and the lore behind it. With character points based on their choices, players earn customization sets for their Rin avatar, unlock new dialogue options, and generate 32 distinct outcomes based on their character stats.
Rather than the traditional min-max approach to RPGs, the goal for the player is to maintain a balance of the five personality stats they can gain through interacting with the world and characters. Not enough compassion, intelligence, courage, luck, or humour will result in consequences for the world and Rin. This ‘anti-RPG’ approach reflects the broken world of Numen9 and how the conflict and the separation of the planet were caused by divisive and extreme views. What Numen9 needs is a more balanced, middle-ground approach instead of pursuing extremes to bring the world back together again. Therefore players are rewarded by balancing their stats while approaching the game in the traditional min-maxing of stats will lead to consequences for Rin and the world.
Complementing the game is a five-episode TV series titled “Atla”, which expands the world of Numen9 and presents the conflict from the perspective of another protagonist.
Miketendo64: Who is the main protagonist of Sky of Tides and what motivates them?
Judith Cheung: Our main hero is a teenage girl named Rin D’Lorah from a powerful family in Numen9. When her father goes missing, a rebel crashes into her life and she chooses to leave her family farm to go search for him. She discovers he is the only one to come close to solving Numen9’s hunger crisis, and that she has unique power to help bring the fractured planet back into balance.
Miketendo64: If you had to compare Sky of Tides to another game, what would be its closest match in terms of gameplay or theme?
Judith Cheung: Some of the early press we’ve gotten and comments from play testers is they get Disco Elysium vibes. I think it’s because both games are top-down isometric views where players explore, both are very narrative rich and set in dystopian type worlds. Both games also have RPG elements, but there’s also huge differences between the two. Sky of Tides is more sci-fi and the tone is a lot lighter than Disco Elysium and our RPG system focuses on balancing stats instead of the traditional min-maxing approach which is a little “anti-RPG” in a way, but feels more organic to our game’s narrative.
Miktendo64: With Rin attempting to find a way to heal the broken planet of Numen, what broke it in the first place?
Judith Cheung: The separation of the planet was caused by divisive and extreme views between the nine nations that makes up Numen9. That created conflict in the world and the people there became out of touch with the planet and the gods of their world. The people of Numen9 also became dependent on a powerful, but corrupted energy source called corron which is actually destroying their planet. Instead of letting the planet explode completely, one of the water gods Alum, floated the oceans into the sky to hold the planet together and give the numenites another chance to come together again and heal the planet.
Miketendo64: With two warring factions seeking control, can you tell us a bit more about the Syndicate and the Sovereign?
Jason Loftus: The Syndicate are the faction that wields the most power and are a more autocratic authority led by The Chairman. We modelled the Syndicate off other totalitarian regimes. They created a power technology called corron that powers almost every aspect of life on Numen9, but it’s a corrupt technology from dark sources that is also destroying the planet Numen9 and its people. On the other side you have the Sovereign nations who still believe in the ancient traditional ways of the planet. They’re guided by the Numen Tomes, an ancient text that they believe holds the secret to healing their broken world.
Miketendo64: In terms of game length and content, how long should a playthrough of Sky of Tides take?
Jason Loftus: Anywhere between 5 – 7 hours for one playthrough depending how much time players want to spend exploring the different environments in each level. There’s a total of 32 different endings based on the five character stats you accumulate playing the game.
Miketendo64: With Sky of Tides in development, expected to release this year and an animated series, Sky of Tides: Atla in production and also slated to release this year, is it fair to say this is an IP we can expect to see more, be it a second game or something else entirely?
Jason Loftus: Absolutely! Sky of Tides is something we are very much dedicated to and have plenty of ideas for. We’ll be releasing both the game and Sky of Tides: Atla TV series at the same time this year in Q3. People will be able to unlock the TV series inside the game and they’ll be sold together in physical box sets. The writers have a ton of ideas for future seasons of the game and the TV series so you can definitely expect to see more!
Miketendo64: Lastly, would you be so kind as to list all platforms Sky of Tides is coming to?
Jason Loftus: With ESDigital Games onboard as our publisher, the plan is to bring Sky of Tides to all platforms, such as PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch and we’ve also plans to bring it to mobile platforms (iOS and Android) later.
For more WASD Live 2024 content, be sure to click on this link here:
About Sky of Tides:
Sky of Tides is a sci-fi narrative game set in a technologically advanced universe on the brink of war. Play as Rin, who must search for her missing father and heal the broken planet of Numen. Explore the world while your choices shape your character.
A calamity has fractured the world of Numen into nine floating planetoids. Diverse nations now hover isolated from each other in the sky, while the ocean hovers above them all, enveloping the broken planet, which hangs by a thread. Two rival powers vie for control—the Syndicate through their monopoly on a little understood but powerful technology that relies on mysterious Corron minerals that they control; and the Sovereign, which favors a return to the now nearly lost ways of the ancients outlined in the banned Numen Tomes.
Travel further away from home than you’ve ever been before. From your family’s rytail farm on Yantar, to the harsh desolate wasteland of the Bleached Relics. Explore the mysterious and ancient landscapes of Numen and unearth items to understand the world around you. You never know what you might find along the way.
It’s not just about what you do, but how you react. Think about who you want to be, as the world of Numen will mirror itself to your personality, the items in the world, and your dialogue options. Dialogue choices you make reflect in your Character Stats which go towards unlocking further dialogue options and unique customization items. Increase your intelligence, humor, courage, compassion, and luck, but be wary of what you say, the people you meet along the way aren’t afraid to talk back…
You play as Rin, the daughter of Syndicate researcher Lu D’Lorah who uncovers a conspiracy to starve the people of Numen and then goes missing. As you set out to find your father, you’ll encounter all sorts of interesting numenites—some friends, some foe. Discover a hidden power that may hold the answer to healing the broken planet before it’s too late, but be careful, there are others seeking this power as well.
