Sky: Light Awaits was the Limited Live and Pre-Global Release Beta version of Sky: Children of the Light. The beta testing period ran from December 2017 through July 2019.
Credits to some images from:
The Timeline and Aviary content in this page have been added by Tara. The rest is by observation, looking through Youtube videos. A lot of information have been confirmed with ShiraChesrire from their Imgur image collection. If you see anything that is not accurate, please make the correction or send us a DM - Help:Admins and Moderators
Timeline of Pre-Global Release Events[]
- Sky Alpha/Beta testing begins (November 2017)
- People who started testing in November 2017 were able to get the Journey costume in game. It was a testing item that was briefly available and then removed from the game later on. The Journey cape is available again through an IAP, which was for a time exclusive to PlayStation, but now is available on all platforms.
- Most of the following milestones are shared with soft-launch:
- Load testing of the servers began in January 2018.
- Eden was added March 2018.
- Aviary (see below) was added May 5, 2018.
- Prairie was extended to include Caves, Nest, and Villages in September 2018. Citadel was added to Valley.
- Winter Season was introduced December 2018.
- First Season of Gratitude was introduced April 2019, with a repeat (which included the Weasel mask) before global release.
- The current home island replaced Aviary in April 2019.
- Beta reset in June 2019.
- iOS Soft Launch of Sky: Light Awaits (December 2017)
- First country was Philippines, later to include Singapore, New Zealand, Sweden, and Norway.
The "Journey" Cape[]
Some people who started testing in November 2017, or otherwise early on (info is still uncertain), were able to get the Journey costume in game. How people got the Journey cloak is a mystery. It seems to have been available for only a very brief time, very early on and was removed from the game later, after a full Beta reset. This version of the Journey cape does not exist anymore. It is also believed that the Journey outfit was only worn by TGC Developers making brief appearances in the game from time to time. The outfit included a cape (cloak), a hooded hairstyle and an outfit (pant) to make players looking like the Journey Wayfarers.
After 5 years (December 2022), with the official launch on PlayStation, a newer version of the Journey Cape has been reintroduced in the Journey Pack. It was exclusive to PlayStation platform for a time, but is now available on all platforms.
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Private Home Space[]
| “ | Port to friends & worlds discovered |
” |
–Home opening | ||
The first iteration of the Home place was a large water-filled area with 6 portals to all the Realms (Eye of Eden was added later and a seventh portal was introduced) and as many candle shrines as the number of friends the player had. The appearance of the statue changed depending on your friendship level. Between the friends' candle shrines there was a light shrine where players were able to collect rewards given by your friends (Rainbow candles fragments): "Visit nearby friend statues to send them a Rainbow".
In the front, between the Realm shrines, a shrine to Aviary was added later on.
At the back, there was a large Friendship Monument with two Skykid statues, the Wasteland Ancestor and four friendship stones showing you different information about friendship levels and thresholds to reach them. This was a sort of achievement stone. You would be given light for completing tasks such as making friends. This monument was later transferred to the Aviary.
Home was usually a single player area. The exception was if someone meditated at the Home stone at the same time you did, at which point they would appear in Home with you.
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The Aviary[]
| “ | Crossroads to the Clouds |
” |
–Aviary opening | ||
Aviary (also known as The Aviary) was an early version of Home only found in Sky: Light Awaits and Sky Beta, prior to Global Launch.
The Aviary was introduced to the Kingdom of Sky (Sky: Light Awaits Beta) in May 2018. In the early beta and limited live period of development, the player's Home was a mostly private space. It remained until April 2019. (Prior to Aviary there was a hub that looked much like the Social Space of Prairie does today. This was not the Aviary.)
When players completed The Eye of Eden, they would automatically return to this place.
The Aviary served as a place to meet up with friends prior to beginning an adventure, much as Home area and the current, fairly different, Aviary Village, added during the Season of Revival do in the current version of the game.
Initially it held no Spirits, but contained the only closet area of the game (where you could change your attire), and portals to every other Realm, including Isle, much as the current Home area does. Eventually three Spirits were moved into The Aviary (from Isle), and then a new Spirit was added to Aviary (No Thank You expression).
The portals to each Realm were very wide but only the Isle Realm was reached via a tunnel and a large pit in the ground. There was darkness to burn, but few candles originally. Players, of course, immediately started climbing the spire of the broken tower, and eventually TGC rewarded those adventurous players by adding candle bunches along the way up, including the very top.
Visit ShiraCheshire Imgur image collection for more images
Reasons for Removal[]
In a livestream in April 2019, thatgamecompany cited several reasons for why they opted for the design choices that led to the updated Home Space in the current game that resulted in the Aviary being removed.
- Getting the player started more quickly
- The portals were moved closer to the player's spawn location on launch, in order to help the player get started more quickly
- Friend shrines from old Home was integrated as shrines in the water (then as constellation table later on), to help the player get started in the game more quickly and begin straight into the multiplayer game world, rather than begin in a separate private Home space
- Possible performance issues, but this is reported by players and not by TGC
- There was little to no storage space on old phones
thatgamecompany initially said that they were hoping to bring back Aviary in some way, on a page on Helpshift, which has lead to Project Aviary.[1]
Isle of Dawn[]
| “ | Follow the bird, the Lost kingdom awaits |
” |
–Isle opening | ||
You started the game in Isle, not Home. There was a simple cutscene of a gold-winged bird flying by, and when it flew over the beach your child would awaken. A lot of "kids'" shadows were scattered on the beach and did not react to you. At first no one knew if they were sleeping or dead. You began life as a shadow, like all those "sleeping" kids laying around.
Players started in a version of Isle that is a bit different than the one we know today. Instead of exiting to the vast Isle desert, players climbed inside a hallway and up to a shrine monument where they would sit and meditate to return to their Private home space. That is where you would receive your first light and finally see what you looked like.
Once you acquired you first light, you returned to Isle and climbed to the top of the Island, where there was a large portal. This portal there led to the Temple as we know today in Isle of Dawn. Instead of flying to the cloud on your way to Daylight Prairie, after viewing the Elder cutscene, four boats were available to bring you to the clouds and to the boat dock located before the social space. Players received their first cape in that cave; an orange cape that appears to be the orange cape available today in the Starter IAP pack. Climbing the stairs to the light led players to the "hub" (later renamed "The Aviary") where an NPC was waiting to greet all players with introduction help.
Visit ShiraCheshire Imgur collection for more images
Plains of Day[]
| “ | Ring the bells to summon your ride |
” |
–Plains opening | ||
"Ring the bells to summon your ride" later changed to "Ring the bells, the Flock awaits" , and changed again to "Ring the bells, and the Flock will carry you forward".
In Sky: Light Awaits, Daylight Prairie was first introduced as Plains of Day. From the Aviary, players were able to jump and fly through the cloud tunnel, directly into the Village. The Butterfly Fields, the Caves, and Bird Nest was added later to the Global Live version of the game.
The village looked like the present Village with a few differences. There were two boats and one of them would circulate around the village, acting as a chatting boat with four seats. The other boat was used to get into one of the islands, where a spirit was found. At that time, flying was quite difficult and the boats were a good way to safely enter the cave. When flying got updated, the boats were removed since they were no longer required. There is still a remnant of the boat under the first Island at the Village.
Visit ShiraCheshire Imgur Prairie collection for more images
Weeping Forest[]
| “ | Protect your light and find the source of the ancient Power |
” |
–Forest opening | ||
Hidden Forest was first introduced as Weeping Forest. It was accessible from the top of the Temple at the end of Daylight Prairie. The entrance to the Weeping Forest is still accessible via an Out of Bounds area in today's game.
Prior to June 2018, burning Darkness did not give Pieces of Light.
In today's version Forest's End, two doors are visible but no entry is possible without going Out of Bounds. The door on the right side was home to a Spirit. Players had to burn a couple of Darkness to enter, and three large circular buttons had to be activated simultaneously by three players to start the animation for the Spirit. The room on the left was home to a cape shrine.
Visit ShiraCheshire Imgur Forest collection for more images
Valley[]
The first version of Valley had no social space and flying from the end of Forest to Valley led straight to the slope. Candles were added into the buildings surrounding the slope and the slide itself was not covered. The "ice rink" was a smaller version of the current rink, located on an elevated platform containing water. The water was later changed in ice. The entire area was covered in clouds (there was nothing under the ice) and there was only one exit, leading to the sliding race. Some remnant of this area was preserved, notably the posts with candles at the end of the Citadel (before entering the flying race) and the Doorway to the race itself that is only visible from the Citadel nowadays. As you may see in one of the images, the famous cannon in today's office was first introduced in Valley.
The sliding race had a blue side and a red side, and your cape changed color depending on which side you chose so you could compete with your friends. Throughout the race, players were able to collect butterflies, and the more butterflies you collected, the more your flag was filled at the end of the race. It was more of a personal challenge as no rewards were given for the player who collected the most butterflies, nor were any Candles given for completing the race. Today's Temple features both the red and blue flags on each side of the doors.
Valley was the last level for a brief time, as Wasteland was still under construction.
The Piano used to be a reward obtained in valley after getting all the spirits. Collecting all the emotes in the level would grant you the piano, which was the only instrument at the time.
Visit ShiraCheshire Imgur Valley collection for more images
Shores of Manna[]
| “ | Beyond the barren wastes, the vault of Light awaits |
” |
–Shores opening | ||
The Golden Wasteland was first know as the Shores of Manna.
Players were able to access The Shores of Manna directly from the Aviary or by teleporting from Home to the Broken Temple area. The first area had two broken temples, and the wall with the exit was much higher with many more pipes than today. Shrine stones were added to the middle elevated platform for players to change outfits. Shipwreck and Ark was added much later in the Global live version with Seasonal events. There was no crabs in the Shores of Manna.
The Battlefield resembled today's area except it was missing the large plant and all Darkness. None of the waste water was toxic to players at that time. The Elder shrine was located outside of the final gate where today's gate activation button is. Meditating opened the gate and liberated Krills at the same time. The Elder shrine was later moved inside the temple.
Visit ShiraCheshire Imgur Wasteland collection for more images
Forbidden Vault[]
| “ | Climb the vault, the knowledge awaits |
” |
–Vault opening | ||
The Vault of Knowledge was first introduced as "Forbidden Vault". The first floor before the stairs was just a large room with four large columns surrounded by candles. The rest of the levels were basically the same as today, with a few minor difference in sizes and animation. The major difference could be seen in the final level as the large platform was just a ball-shaped land with the Spirit mediation shrine.
Images coming soon
Eden[]
| “ | Push into the darkness. The Light awaits |
” |
–Eden opening | ||
Eden was only accessible from the room you reached after meditating atop the Vault of Knowledge (the same room as of today). No other shortcuts were available at that time. The large portal with five buttons to light that we open today was a small two-door entry leading inside the Temple. (Note from ShiraCheshire: The first area of winds and rocks did exist in an unfinished state for a while before this, accessible only via glitch - it was mostly just some fragments of rocks. However, it also had the pink cape station. This was the only way to obtain the pink cape for a while before it was available officially, making it something of a glitcher's badge of pride.)
There was only one krill in the pipes section, and the hallway with lights did not contain any Children of Light, as it had not been introduced in the game yet.
The area past the Point of No Return (named Hailstorm by players) was an area full of statues leading to an open lighted door where blue crystals rained down continuously. Getting protection from one light statue to another helped you go further, as well as teleporting to your friend and recharging from them. The goal was to reach the final gate without losing any emotes from the blue crystal rain. No player died in Eden in this version of the game.
Visit ShiraCheshire Imgur's Eden images collection on Imgur
Orbit[]
Orbit consisted of only a single room floating high above the planet, with a stone for each Ancestor. When the reward was available, the statue would be replaced with an ancestor. There was a single statue of light in the middle, and sitting on the meditation spot demonstrated any emotes you had upgraded since your previous visit to Eden: "The light you returned is yours forever, no longer threatened by darkness". Tapping on emotes you successfully brought to Eden made up the ancient spirits appear, and allowed players to claim the ultimate hairstyles we know today. You only needed to save level 1 of each emote for the reward. Gaining multiple levels were not required for the reward.
Visit ShiraCheshire Orbit image collection on Imgur
Leveling up, Ascending and Losing Emotes[]
The most dramatic difference between "Sky: Light Awaits" and "Sky: Children of the Light" was the fact that you had to ascend each level of your expressions in order to gain the next level. Once you acquired level 1, you had to go through Eden in order to earn that level permanently. After the trip to Eden, players would come back and revive the spirit in order to win the next level and then return to Eden to protect it and so forth, until the 4 levels were completely leveled up. After the last level, full protection, in the form of a shield, was added to these fully ascended emotes.
If attacked by a krill, the shield was lost, unless it was immediately picked up on the spot. Shields could be lost similar to emotes and would vanish after completing an Eden run, with the purpose of protecting emotes you had not maxed out yet.
Getting to Eden was the hardest part though: players lost emotes on their way to Eden, got hit by rocks, or attacked by krill, so you weren't guaranteed to come back with your full expression ascended nevertheless.
Reliving Spirits Memories[]
Spirits were accessible by lighting small meditation stones activated by special candles located around the meditation stones. Those stones were scattered in the Realms, where the spirits are today. All those meditation stones have been moved to the Social spaces that we know today. The first available Spirit was the Laughing spirit located in the area known as Prairie Social Space today, hidden behind a two-player door. Their appearance was rather primitive and their animation was very different from today.
Spirits found in Valley were only available by collecting special red lights hidden in the sliding race.
Video Gallery[]
Sky Light awaits playlist from WhattaGameplay on youtube
Beta Memories Playlist – videos by Tara's Sky Journey (@Ilivetowrite)
Image Gallery[]
Seasons during Sky: Light Awaits[]
Winter 2018[]
The first season introduced during the game's limited live release was the unnamed Seasonal Event during Winter 2018. This Season began on December 20, 2018 and ended January 27, 2019. Five Seasonal Spirits were introduced.
Season of Gratitude (Spring 2019)[]
The Season of Gratitude was introduced in early April of 2019 to the beta, and released to the limited live audience in the middle of April. All Seasonal Spirits and their collectibles were available from the beginning of the season, rather than released week by week as they were in the first Winter Season in 2018.
References[]
- ↑ A bug introduced in Patch 0.19.5 gave the players the ability to bring back the old Aviary friends constellation. Players opened the map shrine at Home a number a specific time, flew into the Wind path and teleported back home would temporary give the ability to use the old Aviary friend constellation in real time.