Blakeney is intended to become a place

Yesterday was one of those days where there was not necessarily a dramatic new screenshot at the end of it, but quite a lot changed underneath.

The main job was working out whether the hardware we are using can realistically handle what we want Blakeney to become.

The answer, thankfully, is yes.

We are building the new version of Blakeney in Unreal Engine 5.8.

We also went back to something rather more interesting: the harbour itself.

One of the things that matters to me about Blakeney is that this should not simply be a generic sailing game with the word “Blakeney” stuck on the front.

The channels, pontoons, mud, creeks and distances need to feel recognisable.

We revisited the map of the Athill pontoons at Morston, including Athill East, North and West. These sorts of details will gradually become the framework from which we build the virtual harbour.

That is probably the biggest difference between this and the original Blakeney Pit Sailing.

Blakeney Pit Sailing is a sailing game.

Blakeney is intended to become a place.

A small digital version of the harbour that you can sail around, explore and hopefully recognise.

There is still an enormous amount to build, but we now have the engine, Xcode, a workable development machine and the beginnings of the real-world geographical reference material.

The next interesting stage is getting some of that geography into Unreal.

Mud, water, pontoons and eventually a boat.

Then it starts to become Blakeney.