Tidewhim

I’ve been giving Tidewhim more sculpted pixel-art detail while keeping the ocean paintings and my wife’s creative direction. The Neo Tide overhaul reached beta build 11 on 18 October, with revised creatures, scenery, equipment and animation.

The next local version brings in the Retro Poolside swimmers. You can choose Girl or Boy at Shore, with 41 costumes and 13 flipper choices. The same swimmer appears in the Store, Closet and powered forms, and the motion follows swimming, rising, diving, recoil and arrival. Existing shells, progress and wardrobe ownership carry across.

I’ve also changed the opening film to play only on the first start. Later swims enter the ocean directly. These newer swimmers are still local development work; they haven’t been uploaded to TestFlight. I’m still working through how the animation feels in the hand.

The playtest feedback has changed how you choose a swim. I’ve been working from my wife’s revised design: selected levels now have a finish, while Free Swim keeps travelling through the ocean. Voyage and Drift are now difficulty choices for either format. Reaching the end opens the next level; the postcard discoveries are optional things to look for along the way.

Each level has more room to develop its own rhythm: rising kelp, floating coral, wrecks, weaving jellyfish and approaching eels make different demands on the same up-and-down steering. I have separated points, hearts and shell currency more clearly, and refined how attacks announce themselves before they reach the swimmer. The longer routes and prices are still being tuned through playtesting.

Buying and wearing things now have separate homes. The Store lets you try a look before spending shells, and the Closet holds what you own. Optional fish companions can swim beside you without changing the difficulty. I’ve given those menus deeper sea-glass surfaces, illuminated previews and pearl achievement medallions, while keeping the ocean paintings. I have also improved compact-phone and large-text layouts so the actions remain reachable.

These changes are in my local build 9, which I’ve checked in the iPhone, iPad and Apple TV simulators. The last build I’ve confirmed in TestFlight is 7. Next I need to play the changes on the devices themselves and work out how the challenge, rewards and longer swims feel.

The first native version of Tidewhim now has two ways to swim: Voyage asks you to keep going through hazards with three hearts, while Drift lets you explore without damage or a game over.

I have implemented seven regions, five temporary powers, shell collection, cosmetic suits and masks, and an ocean album. Touch steering starts relative to where your finger lands, with optional held buttons, controller support and Apple TV remote input. Local saves keep discoveries and wardrobe choices, and a checkpoint can restore a swim in the paused state.

Lately I’ve been trying to make the water feel like a place. Reef arches, hanging kelp, coral terraces, submerged arcades, luminous caverns, thermal vents and midnight mineral reefs now sit across six depth layers. Fish schools, turtles, rays, caustics and bioluminescent light add motion around the swimming lane. The album postcards use those same landscapes.

An earlier build is in internal TestFlight. I’ve checked the newer landscapes and controls in the iPhone, iPad and Apple TV simulators, but those changes are still local. I’m continuing to work through the next round of changes.