Hey everyone! As you may know, Salt 2 has been in development for about a year now and we are making great progress. We plan on releasing onto Early Access later this year and we want to make sure the game is as feature complete and polished as we can get it when we do. Kickstarter is a way for us to do that. If you liked Salt 1 and want to support Salt 2, please consider donating to our Kickstarter! Even if you can't donate, help us spread the word about the campaign. Thank you to everyone who has played Salt 1 and supported us from the beginning! We are so excited about this sequel and are looking forward to make a new and improved pirate experience.

[ 2021-03-23 15:39:06 CET ] [ Original post ]

Ahoy mateys! We just launched our second open world title, Wild West and Wizards on Steam. If you were a fan of the exploration and open world aspect of Salt, you might enjoy an adventure in the Wild West.

What is Wild West and Wizards?

Wild West and Wizards is a massive hand built world with quests, loot, bosses, magic, and tons of places to explore. In Wild West and Wizards you choose a character class with a unique talent tree, level up, and explore the world at your own pace. Pick a direction and head out into the great unknown with over two hundred points of interests, a main story, lore, side quests, secrets, and replayable end game content. Face off against outlaws, go on epic quests, solve puzzles, discover towns, earn new loot and abilities, and uncover mysterious places scattered across the Wild West.

Salt Sequel

Also, in addition to a few more updates to Wild West and Wizards, we will also be starting the development of Salt 2! Although we were proud of a lot of things in Salt, it was our a first game and we believe there's a ton we could do better. We've since streamlined our development process, drastically reduced our development time, and improved our quality. This will allow us to deliver better, more polished games in a shorter amount of time. We will be posting more updates on the development of Salt 2 soon and can't wait to involve you in the process. Thanks for reading and as always, happy adventures!

[ 2020-05-04 13:44:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! We recently pushed some bug fixes and changes since release. If you find anymore bugs or issues, please let us know so we can fix those as soon as possible!

Changes

• Fixed a bug where some fish were not able to be caught.
• Fixed name of lighting rod arrow recipe
• Fixed sea turtle shells showing up in the bait tab (if you have it unlocked)
• Fixed some typos with sea chef and his sold items.
• Fixed the name on the buff given by the fruit bowl item.
• Fixed too many hermington's brew dropping.
• Belt of the lost hunter's effect now has a name.
• Assassin's cloak can no longer apply its effects multiple times.
• Fixed description on the network update frequency setting.
• The spyglass now has a set zoom amount regardless of your current FOV settings.
• Hiding HUD now hides the keyboard quick bar.
  
  [ 2018-02-19 14:42:18 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! We recently pushed some bug fixes and changes since release. If you find anymore bugs or issues, please let us know so we can fix those as soon as possible! Also, just as a reminder we do not have any plans for any other major content updates. We reached our original roadmap for the game and have since fully released. Thank you again so much to our amazing community for your support throughout the early access process.

Changes

• Fixed a bug where some fish were not able to be caught.
• Fixed name of lighting rod arrow recipe
• Fixed sea turtle shells showing up in the bait tab (if you have it unlocked)
• Fixed some typos with sea chef and his sold items.
• Fixed the name on the buff given by the fruit bowl item.
• Fixed too many hermington's brew dropping.
• Belt of the lost hunter's effect now has a name.
• Assassin's cloak can no longer apply its effects multiple times.
• Fixed description on the network update frequency setting.
• The spyglass now has a set zoom amount regardless of your current FOV settings.
• Hiding HUD now hides the keyboard quick bar.
  
  [ 2018-02-19 14:42:18 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! Today we have released Salt out of early access! Again we want to thank everyone for your support and feedback throughout the early access process. As a small team, it's been a large game to work on and while there's more we would have liked to do, we have completed our original roadmap of the game and will still be supporting the game with bug fixes and balancing changes. We have also recently pushed some new updates live. You can read the patch notes below for that update. Again, thanks to everyone for your support and we hope you have a fun adventure in Salt!

Patch Notes - Update 2.0.0b17

- You can now scroll the map with WASD. - The equipment set UI is no longer visible when trading. - Dragged icons now render in front of the hot-bar when it is set to always show. - increased transparency of collection particles. - The chat window now fades out after a time of not receiving messages. - Deer can no longer bump into other deer. - Updated description on the guardian core. - Moved the arrow count UI so that it doesn't overlap with the multiplayer icon. - Changed offhand bobbing animation. - You can now use any red lure in the crafting recipe for the pink lure. - Removed collider in the hole in the back of ships with the maiden model so you can shoot cannons through them. - Added craft-able compass stand. - Added craft-able healing arrows for use in multiplayer. - Added a collider to The Blacksmith's forge. - Added an icon in item descriptions to indicate if the item has an associated visual when equipped. - Added an option to turn off help notifications. - Added editable macros that you can create to quickly say things in chat, as well as some default macros to do social gestures. - Added an option to change your skin color in the avatar view. - Added ability to change the sort behavior (page vs whole inventory) in the sort UI itself. - Added option to reverse sorting order. - Added help entry for equipment sets. - Added music for Grent.

[ 2018-02-06 14:19:57 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! Today we have released Salt out of early access! Again we want to thank everyone for your support and feedback throughout the early access process. We will still be supporting the game with bug fixes, balance changes, and other changes. We have also recently pushed some new updates live. You can read the patch notes below for that update. Again, thanks to everyone for your support and we hope you have a fun adventure in Salt!

Patch Notes - Update 2.0.0b17

- You can now scroll the map with WASD. - The equipment set UI is no longer visible when trading. - Dragged icons now render in front of the hot-bar when it is set to always show. - increased transparency of collection particles. - The chat window now fades out after a time of not receiving messages. - Deer can no longer bump into other deer. - Updated description on the guardian core. - Moved the arrow count UI so that it doesn't overlap with the multiplayer icon. - Changed offhand bobbing animation. - You can now use any red lure in the crafting recipe for the pink lure. - Removed collider in the hole in the back of ships with the maiden model so you can shoot cannons through them. - Added craft-able compass stand. - Added craft-able healing arrows for use in multiplayer. - Added a collider to The Blacksmith's forge. - Added an icon in item descriptions to indicate if the item has an associated visual when equipped. - Added an option to turn off help notifications. - Added editable macros that you can create to quickly say things in chat, as well as some default macros to do social gestures. - Added an option to change your skin color in the avatar view. - Added ability to change the sort behavior (page vs whole inventory) in the sort UI itself. - Added option to reverse sorting order. - Added help entry for equipment sets. - Added music for Grent.

[ 2018-02-06 14:19:57 CET ] [ Original post ]

Ahoy Mateys! We are very excited to announce that Salt will be leaving early access next week! We also wanted to let you know that the price will be increasing from $14.99 to $19.99 upon full release. It has been a crazy journey over the past few years creating this adventure and an honor to have such a dedicated and helpful community. The overall response to the game has been incredibly positive and supportive and for that we are thankful. If you don't know, we're a small team at Lavaboots of only three members. When we set out to make Salt we knew it would be a big task but we loved the idea of creating a massive world for players to explore. We knew early on that we wanted feedback and help from the community so we chose to release onto Steam Early Access. Since then Salt has changed a lot. Here's a look at just some of things we've added since early access release: - Main quest line - Over 50 side quests - Multiple quest characters - Merchants and mysterious places to discover - Hundreds of items, weapons, and armor - Different island types - New enemy types and wildlife - Boss battles - Secrets - Multiple new ship types - Weather - Multiplayer In addition to that and a whole lot of other changes, we also added steam achievements, cloud saving, and a lot of polishing and bug fixes. Next week we'll also be pushing a small update with some fun new changes including macros for emotes, a new ship, a mountable compass boat upgrade, healing arrows, and some bug fixes. We will also be continuing support of Salt for bug fixes, balancing changes, and other issues that may arise after full release. Again, we are incredibly thankful for your support and are happy to finally be releasing Salt as a full game! Thank you for reading and thank you for participating in the journey. - The Lavaboots Team

[ 2018-02-02 15:11:14 CET ] [ Original post ]

Ahoy Mateys! We are very excited to announce that Salt will be leaving early access next week! We also wanted to let you know that the price will be increasing from $14.99 to $19.99 upon full release. It has been a crazy journey over the past few years creating this adventure and an honor to have such a dedicated and helpful community. The overall response to the game has been incredibly positive and supportive and for that we are thankful. If you don't know, we're a small team at Lavaboots of only three members. When we set out to make Salt we knew it would be a big task but we loved the idea of creating a massive world for players to explore. We knew early on that we wanted feedback and help from the community so we chose to release onto Steam Early Access. Since then Salt has changed a lot. Here's a look at just some of things we've added since early access release: - Main quest line - Over 50 side quests - Multiple quest characters - Merchants and mysterious places to discover - Hundreds of items, weapons, and armor - Different island types - New enemy types and wildlife - Boss battles - Secrets - Multiple new ship types - Weather - Multiplayer In addition to that and a whole lot of other changes, we also added steam achievements, cloud saving, and a lot of polishing and bug fixes. Next week we'll also be pushing a small update with some fun new changes including macros for emotes, a new ship, a mountable compass boat upgrade, healing arrows, and some bug fixes. We will also be continuing support of Salt for bug fixes, balancing changes, and other issues that may arise after full release. Again, we are incredibly thankful for your support and are happy to finally be releasing Salt as a full game! Thank you for reading and thank you for participating in the journey. - The Lavaboots Team

[ 2018-02-02 15:11:14 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! We hope you are all enjoying the multiplayer update. Today we are pushing some more changes to fix bugs, add some new content, and polish up the game in general! Here are the patch notes:

Patch Notes

- Added failsafe for if your game gets saved when you are at 0 health. - Fixed a bug where it would show you the wrong item count in the info pop up when crafting or collecting an item. - Added multiplayer help section in help window. - You can now board a boat from another boat. - Added indicators for last few pirates, poachers, or deer on an island with a challenge chest. - Fixed max stack size of hardstone being 1000. - Added intoxication effect to rum. - Players can now use other player's cannons. - Fixed a bug that would cause inventory items to move down several rows sometimes. - Fixed some broken navigation in sort menu. - Fixed inconsistent navigation when no items are on the edge of inventory. - Each tab now remembers which page it was on. - Fixed a crash that would happen when starting the game on mac. - Shortened teleport reuse timer to 10 seconds. - Added visual effects for mining boulders and collecting objects. - Repairing the starting raft now destroys the unrepaired one for other players. - Added logic to keep other people's boats from appearing upside-down. - Reduced rubber-banding on while riding other player's boats. - Increased stats on captain's tunic. - Fixed a leak in the Sea Skimmy boat that players would see when riding someone else's Sea Skimmy. - Added option for new item placement in inventory: First available or Current Page. - Made the fully upgraded tiger fang necklace tradable. - Fixed non-hosts not being able to cause some enemies to spawn. - Cannonballs can now destroy ancient ruins. - Autosave now occurs every three minutes, when enabled. - The show hot bar option is now on by default. - Added an indicator to challenge chests when they are unlocked. - Added a reduction to concealment when using lanterns. - Dimmed the light in the merchant huts. - Added ability to save equipment sets. - Increased the chance for ship cannons to spawn. - Fixed an issue where a bronze challenge chest would drop two pickaxes. - Adjusted the stats on the captains boots to be more competitive with other boots around its tier. - Added a description to sea turtle shells mentioning it can be crafted into armor. - Lowered the volume of the Lavaboots intro sound. - Implemented five new heroic bosses and the ability to summon them from the Sea Hunter. - Added autorun (activated by clicking the middle mouse button by default). - Added option to disable gamepad input. - fixed typo on jungle spear description. - Added logic to not sync objects that are far enough away, improving network performance when players are spread out. - Added logic to automatically mark the ancient skull cleansing as complete if you are past that part in the quest for the all bosses achievement. - Fixed drag n' drop into crafting window not working. - Fixed inventory buttons' alignment to be better. - Added 'Sort Behavior' game setting for sorting individual inventory pages vs all pages together. - Fixed sorting by name arranging by descending rather than ascending. - Rearranged inventory. - Reduced inventory visible rows by 1, but increased visible columns by 1. - Increased amount of inventory slots per page by 7 (to 112). - Moved sort button and page navigation buttons to top of inventory. - Added fade to top and bottom of inventory. - Each inventory tab now remembers which page it was on. - Fixed an infinite loading screen bug in multiplayer that would some occur after a death. - Fixed poison damage blocking normal damage from weapons on the same frame. - Fixed lightning traps placed on boats duplicating when you save, quit, and return to the game. - Fixed Old Blue health bar not syncing in multiplayer. - You can now raise the sail from interacting with any mast of the larger ships. - Fixed bug that would cause other players to appear to hold their boot in their hand when not in their inventory. - Temporarily removed the Lavaboots Logo scene from Mac to avoid a crash.

[ 2018-01-15 16:12:53 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! We hope you are all enjoying the multiplayer update. Today we are pushing some more changes to fix bugs, add some new content, and polish up the game in general! Here are the patch notes:

Patch Notes

- Added failsafe for if your game gets saved when you are at 0 health. - Fixed a bug where it would show you the wrong item count in the info pop up when crafting or collecting an item. - Added multiplayer help section in help window. - You can now board a boat from another boat. - Added indicators for last few pirates, poachers, or deer on an island with a challenge chest. - Fixed max stack size of hardstone being 1000. - Added intoxication effect to rum. - Players can now use other player's cannons. - Fixed a bug that would cause inventory items to move down several rows sometimes. - Fixed some broken navigation in sort menu. - Fixed inconsistent navigation when no items are on the edge of inventory. - Each tab now remembers which page it was on. - Fixed a crash that would happen when starting the game on mac. - Shortened teleport reuse timer to 10 seconds. - Added visual effects for mining boulders and collecting objects. - Repairing the starting raft now destroys the unrepaired one for other players. - Added logic to keep other people's boats from appearing upside-down. - Reduced rubber-banding on while riding other player's boats. - Increased stats on captain's tunic. - Fixed a leak in the Sea Skimmy boat that players would see when riding someone else's Sea Skimmy. - Added option for new item placement in inventory: First available or Current Page. - Made the fully upgraded tiger fang necklace tradable. - Fixed non-hosts not being able to cause some enemies to spawn. - Cannonballs can now destroy ancient ruins. - Autosave now occurs every three minutes, when enabled. - The show hot bar option is now on by default. - Added an indicator to challenge chests when they are unlocked. - Added a reduction to concealment when using lanterns. - Dimmed the light in the merchant huts. - Added ability to save equipment sets. - Increased the chance for ship cannons to spawn. - Fixed an issue where a bronze challenge chest would drop two pickaxes. - Adjusted the stats on the captains boots to be more competitive with other boots around its tier. - Added a description to sea turtle shells mentioning it can be crafted into armor. - Lowered the volume of the Lavaboots intro sound. - Implemented five new heroic bosses and the ability to summon them from the Sea Hunter. - Added autorun (activated by clicking the middle mouse button by default). - Added option to disable gamepad input. - fixed typo on jungle spear description. - Added logic to not sync objects that are far enough away, improving network performance when players are spread out. - Added logic to automatically mark the ancient skull cleansing as complete if you are past that part in the quest for the all bosses achievement. - Fixed drag n' drop into crafting window not working. - Fixed inventory buttons' alignment to be better. - Added 'Sort Behavior' game setting for sorting individual inventory pages vs all pages together. - Fixed sorting by name arranging by descending rather than ascending. - Rearranged inventory. - Reduced inventory visible rows by 1, but increased visible columns by 1. - Increased amount of inventory slots per page by 7 (to 112). - Moved sort button and page navigation buttons to top of inventory. - Added fade to top and bottom of inventory. - Each inventory tab now remembers which page it was on. - Fixed an infinite loading screen bug in multiplayer that would some occur after a death. - Fixed poison damage blocking normal damage from weapons on the same frame. - Fixed lightning traps placed on boats duplicating when you save, quit, and return to the game. - Fixed Old Blue health bar not syncing in multiplayer. - You can now raise the sail from interacting with any mast of the larger ships. - Fixed bug that would cause other players to appear to hold their boot in their hand when not in their inventory. - Temporarily removed the Lavaboots Logo scene from Mac to avoid a crash.

[ 2018-01-15 16:12:53 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! Prepare to sail the seas with your friends and go on a new adventure! Today we are officially releasing the multiplayer update. We want to thank everyone who has helped us test multiplayer and for your feedback and suggestions. In order to play multiplayer all you need to do is make sure Salt is up to date, invite your friends on Steam in the main menu, and start up a game! If you don't have any friends to play with, head over to our discord and check the multiplayer or lfg channels. Once you've joined a group, you can then either choose to create a new game or load an existing game with the same seed as the host. In addition to multiplayer this update also includes other changes such as the addition of NPC villages, a revamped inventory system, tons of balancing changes, and bug fixes. You can read the full list of patch notes below. As always, we'd love your feedback and thoughts. If you encounter any bugs, please let us know and we'll work on those as soon as possible!

Patch Notes

• Added multiplayer.
• Added trader villages.
• Added a new npc that can spawn in high places.
• Spiders can now drop Adventurer's Satchels, which contain some loot.
• Improved gamepad UI navigation.
• Adjusted stats on some items.
• Adjusted drop chances on some items.
• Changed the item icons for some items.
• Added new items to some loot tables.
• Added a new rope sound when you use climbing ropes.
• Fixed an issue where certain meal buffs could be stacked.
• The Jungle Fisherman and Huntsman are now both a guaranteed spawn on jungle islands.
• Added strong plant fibers as a possible drop from some crates.
• Deer and tigers now change orientation based on the slope of the terrain.
• Lowered the cost of the maiden ships from the sea collector slightly.
• The windy sail item is being phased out of the game. If you have one one your boat, it will automatically remove it and give you a replacement item.
• Lenvell should now be in an inn when he is needed.
• Fixed a bug where Lenvell would fail to tell you a location.
• Added a new icon to an item's description to let you know that it cannot be traded or sold.
• Torches no longer burn down while resting.
• Added a new hotkey (T by default) which equips/unequips a torch if you have one.
• You can now rest at the starting island campfire.
• Reduced lag spikes that would sometimes occur when looting an item.
• Updated one of the ambient sounds to reduce the intensity of a bird chirp.
• Increased the chance for some enemies to drop health potions and bandages.
• Added recipe to craft bandages from spider silk.
• Increased capacity of crates from 5 to 12.
• Fixed a bug where deer challenge chests would sometimes open before killing all the deer on the island.
• Fixed a bug where jungle challenge chests would not spawn.
• Made all NPC campfires not burn out.
• Fixed NPCs not navigating around some ruins properly.
• Dirt mounds now orient to the slope they are on.
• Updated inventory UI to include pages, new tabs, and sort option.
• Improved performance of inventory UI.
• Increased stamina bonus from alpha stag set.
• Increased stats on alpha stag cloak.
• Made fishing take a little less time, and capped the max amount of time it takes to catch a fish in a single cast.
• The cartographer now offers to erase a wrong island for you for some gold.
• Interacting with sailboat wheel and raft oar no longer causes your main hand item to un-equip.
  
  [ 2017-12-20 21:53:57 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! Prepare to sail the seas with your friends and go on a new adventure! Today we are officially releasing the multiplayer update. We want to thank everyone who has helped us test multiplayer and for your feedback and suggestions. In order to play multiplayer all you need to do is make sure Salt is up to date, invite your friends on Steam in the main menu, and start up a game! If you don't have any friends to play with, head over to our discord and check the multiplayer or lfg channels. Once you've joined a group, you can then either choose to create a new game or load an existing game with the same seed as the host. In addition to multiplayer this update also includes other changes such as the addition of NPC villages, a revamped inventory system, tons of balancing changes, and bug fixes. You can read the full list of patch notes below. As always, we'd love your feedback and thoughts. If you encounter any bugs, please let us know and we'll work on those as soon as possible!

Patch Notes

• Added multiplayer.
• Added trader villages.
• Added a new npc that can spawn in high places.
• Spiders can now drop Adventurer's Satchels, which contain some loot.
• Improved gamepad UI navigation.
• Adjusted stats on some items.
• Adjusted drop chances on some items.
• Changed the item icons for some items.
• Added new items to some loot tables.
• Added a new rope sound when you use climbing ropes.
• Fixed an issue where certain meal buffs could be stacked.
• The Jungle Fisherman and Huntsman are now both a guaranteed spawn on jungle islands.
• Added strong plant fibers as a possible drop from some crates.
• Deer and tigers now change orientation based on the slope of the terrain.
• Lowered the cost of the maiden ships from the sea collector slightly.
• The windy sail item is being phased out of the game. If you have one one your boat, it will automatically remove it and give you a replacement item.
• Lenvell should now be in an inn when he is needed.
• Fixed a bug where Lenvell would fail to tell you a location.
• Added a new icon to an item's description to let you know that it cannot be traded or sold.
• Torches no longer burn down while resting.
• Added a new hotkey (T by default) which equips/unequips a torch if you have one.
• You can now rest at the starting island campfire.
• Reduced lag spikes that would sometimes occur when looting an item.
• Updated one of the ambient sounds to reduce the intensity of a bird chirp.
• Increased the chance for some enemies to drop health potions and bandages.
• Added recipe to craft bandages from spider silk.
• Increased capacity of crates from 5 to 12.
• Fixed a bug where deer challenge chests would sometimes open before killing all the deer on the island.
• Fixed a bug where jungle challenge chests would not spawn.
• Made all NPC campfires not burn out.
• Fixed NPCs not navigating around some ruins properly.
• Dirt mounds now orient to the slope they are on.
• Updated inventory UI to include pages, new tabs, and sort option.
• Improved performance of inventory UI.
• Increased stamina bonus from alpha stag set.
• Increased stats on alpha stag cloak.
• Made fishing take a little less time, and capped the max amount of time it takes to catch a fish in a single cast.
• The cartographer now offers to erase a wrong island for you for some gold.
• Interacting with sailboat wheel and raft oar no longer causes your main hand item to un-equip.
  
  [ 2017-12-20 21:53:57 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! Get ready to explore the world of Salt with your friends and go on a pirate adventure! We wanted to let you know that you can now help us test out the multiplayer update! We are releasing the update on a special multiplayer branch and we want you to help us test and find last minute bugs before an official release of the update. This update not only includes cooperative multiplayer, but also some other new additions such as NPC villages, bug fixes, and a lot of balancing changes. We are so excited to finally be at this point in multiplayer development and want to thank you all for your patience. Here is how to access the multiplayer branch:

• Right click Salt in your Steam library and select "Properties".
• Select the "BETAS" tab at the top of the properties window.
• Enter the access code "playwithfriends"
• Select "multiplayertesting" from the drop down list.

Once you are in the main menu, you can click on the friends icon in the top right hand corner of the screen and invite your friends to play with you!

Current Patch Notes

• Added multiplayer.
• Added trader villages.
• Added a new npc that can spawn in high places.
• Spiders can now drop Adventurer's Satchels, which contain some loot.
• Improved gamepad UI navigation.
• Adjusted stats on some items.
• Adjusted drop chances on some items.
• Changed the item icons for some items.
• Added new items to some loot tables.
• Added a new rope sound when you use climbing ropes.
• Fixed an issue where certain meal buffs could be stacked.
• The Jungle Fisherman and Huntsman are now both a guaranteed spawn on jungle islands.
• Added strong plant fibers as a possible drop from some crates.
• Deer and tigers now change orientation based on the slope of the terrain.
• Lowered the cost of the maiden ships from the sea collector slightly.
• The windy sail item is being phased out of the game. If you have one one your boat, it will automatically remove it and give you a replacement item.
• Lenvell should now be in an inn when he is needed.
• Fixed a bug where lenvell would fail to tell you a location.
• Added a new icon to an item's description to let you know that it cannot be traded or sold.
• Torches no longer burn down while resting.
• Added a new hotkey (T by default) which equips/unequips a torch if you have one.
• You can now rest at the starting island campfire.
• Reduced lag spikes that would sometimes occur when looting an item.
• Updated one of the ambient sounds to reduce the intensity of a bird chirp.
• Increased the chance for some enemies to drop health potions and bandages.
• Added recipe to craft bandages from spider silk.
• Increased capacity of crates from 5 to 12.
• Fixed a bug where deer challenge chests would sometimes open before killing all the deer on the island.
• Fixed a bug where jungle challenge chests would not spawn.
• Made all NPC campfires not burn out.
• Fixed npcs not navigating around some ruins properly.

[ 2017-12-05 20:38:49 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! Get ready to explore the world of Salt with your friends and go on a pirate adventure! We wanted to let you know that you can now help us test out the multiplayer update! We are releasing the update on a special multiplayer branch and we want you to help us test and find last minute bugs before an official release of the update. This update not only includes cooperative multiplayer, but also some other new additions such as NPC villages, bug fixes, and a lot of balancing changes. We are so excited to finally be at this point in multiplayer development and want to thank you all for your patience. Here is how to access the multiplayer branch:

• Right click Salt in your Steam library and select "Properties".
• Select the "BETAS" tab at the top of the properties window.
• Enter the access code "playwithfriends"
• Select "multiplayertesting" from the drop down list.

Once you are in the main menu, you can click on the friends icon in the top right hand corner of the screen and invite your friends to play with you!

Current Patch Notes

• Added multiplayer.
• Added trader villages.
• Added a new npc that can spawn in high places.
• Spiders can now drop Adventurer's Satchels, which contain some loot.
• Improved gamepad UI navigation.
• Adjusted stats on some items.
• Adjusted drop chances on some items.
• Changed the item icons for some items.
• Added new items to some loot tables.
• Added a new rope sound when you use climbing ropes.
• Fixed an issue where certain meal buffs could be stacked.
• The Jungle Fisherman and Huntsman are now both a guaranteed spawn on jungle islands.
• Added strong plant fibers as a possible drop from some crates.
• Deer and tigers now change orientation based on the slope of the terrain.
• Lowered the cost of the maiden ships from the sea collector slightly.
• The windy sail item is being phased out of the game. If you have one one your boat, it will automatically remove it and give you a replacement item.
• Lenvell should now be in an inn when he is needed.
• Fixed a bug where lenvell would fail to tell you a location.
• Added a new icon to an item's description to let you know that it cannot be traded or sold.
• Torches no longer burn down while resting.
• Added a new hotkey (T by default) which equips/unequips a torch if you have one.
• You can now rest at the starting island campfire.
• Reduced lag spikes that would sometimes occur when looting an item.
• Updated one of the ambient sounds to reduce the intensity of a bird chirp.
• Increased the chance for some enemies to drop health potions and bandages.
• Added recipe to craft bandages from spider silk.
• Increased capacity of crates from 5 to 12.
• Fixed a bug where deer challenge chests would sometimes open before killing all the deer on the island.
• Fixed a bug where jungle challenge chests would not spawn.
• Made all NPC campfires not burn out.
• Fixed npcs not navigating around some ruins properly.

[ 2017-12-05 20:38:49 CET ] [ Original post ]

Update 1.9.6 - Storms of the Sea is finally here! This update includes a lot of great new changes such as weather and storms, a new NPC, and a lot more. Let's dive into some of the content you can expect to find in this update.

Weather

One of the biggest changes in this update is the introduction of weather! Now throughout the world of Salt you can experience cloudy days, rain, and storms. Weather really adds a nice sense of dynamics to the world and helps it feel more alive. Along with the weather we've included some new related items we think you'll find fun as well.

The Blacksmith

Throughout the world you will now be able to find a new NPC known as The Blacksmith. He offers various new loot for you to get as well as a new item known as salvage tools. These materials allow you to salvage some of your excess weapons for resources!

Ship Cannons

Also in this update is the inclusion of ship cannons! Around various pirate villages you can now find cannons and cannonballs. These are useful for placing your ship and blasting pirates from afar! We also anticipate these to be quite fun once multiplayer is implemented.

Player Avatar

Another fun introduction in this update is the player avatar. Now in the UI you can see what your character looks like with various clothing on. Equipping chest armor will affect the look of your outfit and you can also equip various hats for visuals as well.

Patch Notes

This update includes a lot of other changes such as jungle challenge chests, bug fixes, and general game balance changes. Here is a full of list of the patch notes:

• Added weather and associated content.
• Added a window where you can see your character's appearance in the inventory UI.
• Added a new NPC to be found on islands.
• Added cannons that you can find and place on your ships.
• Adjusted the stats on some items.
• Implemented jungle island challenge chests
• Adjusted the number of pirates that spawn on some islands.
• Fixed a bug where some fish were not able to be caught when they were supposed to.
• A single stat (concealment) now affects how well and far away enemies can see you.
• The stealth stat affects how well an enemy can hear you.
• Torches now reduce your concealment.
• What journal you can find in a particular hunting shacks and abandoned camp sites will now be consistent for all players on a given world seed.
• How many enemies remain on an island is now saved when you quit the game and come back.
• Fixed moonrock not glowing properly.
• Many enemies now leave footprints. This can be adjusted in the options.
• Arrows now inherit your velocity.
• Pirates no longer collide with each other, keeping them from stacking, but allowing them to occupy the same position sometimes.
• Weight now reduces your sprint speed by 1 m/s for every 5 weight.
• Fixed trees spawning inside some abandoned camp sites.
• Removed extra hitbox from player that caused double-hits in some instances
• Changed the visual effects of bomb explosions.
• Added graphical options presets in the options interface.
• Fixed item placement button back to A on gamepad (was Y).
• Inventory now opens upon button press on gamepad, rather than release.
• Fixed cultists empowering their staves multiple times, giving them a huge damage bonus for a time.
• Corpses of night-only creatures will no longer despawn at daybreak.
• Fixed particle effects looping when destroying one of the portals in the Draegan fight.
• Summoning Draegan now consumes one of the items, at random, required to summon him.

[ 2017-10-16 19:09:53 CET ] [ Original post ]

Update 1.9.6 - Storms of the Sea is finally here! This update includes a lot of great new changes such as weather and storms, a new NPC, and a lot more. Let's dive into some of the content you can expect to find in this update.

Weather

One of the biggest changes in this update is the introduction of weather! Now throughout the world of Salt you can experience cloudy days, rain, and storms. Weather really adds a nice sense of dynamics to the world and helps it feel more alive. Along with the weather we've included some new related items we think you'll find fun as well.

The Blacksmith

Throughout the world you will now be able to find a new NPC known as The Blacksmith. He offers various new loot for you to get as well as a new item known as salvage tools. These materials allow you to salvage some of your excess weapons for resources!

Ship Cannons

Also in this update is the inclusion of ship cannons! Around various pirate villages you can now find cannons and cannonballs. These are useful for placing your ship and blasting pirates from afar! We also anticipate these to be quite fun once multiplayer is implemented.

Player Avatar

Another fun introduction in this update is the player avatar. Now in the UI you can see what your character looks like with various clothing on. Equipping chest armor will affect the look of your outfit and you can also equip various hats for visuals as well.

Patch Notes

This update includes a lot of other changes such as jungle challenge chests, bug fixes, and general game balance changes. Here is a full of list of the patch notes:

• Added weather and associated content.
• Added a window where you can see your character's appearance in the inventory UI.
• Added a new NPC to be found on islands.
• Added cannons that you can find and place on your ships.
• Adjusted the stats on some items.
• Implemented jungle island challenge chests
• Adjusted the number of pirates that spawn on some islands.
• Fixed a bug where some fish were not able to be caught when they were supposed to.
• A single stat (concealment) now affects how well and far away enemies can see you.
• The stealth stat affects how well an enemy can hear you.
• Torches now reduce your concealment.
• What journal you can find in a particular hunting shacks and abandoned camp sites will now be consistent for all players on a given world seed.
• How many enemies remain on an island is now saved when you quit the game and come back.
• Fixed moonrock not glowing properly.
• Many enemies now leave footprints. This can be adjusted in the options.
• Arrows now inherit your velocity.
• Pirates no longer collide with each other, keeping them from stacking, but allowing them to occupy the same position sometimes.
• Weight now reduces your sprint speed by 1 m/s for every 5 weight.
• Fixed trees spawning inside some abandoned camp sites.
• Removed extra hitbox from player that caused double-hits in some instances
• Changed the visual effects of bomb explosions.
• Added graphical options presets in the options interface.
• Fixed item placement button back to A on gamepad (was Y).
• Inventory now opens upon button press on gamepad, rather than release.
• Fixed cultists empowering their staves multiple times, giving them a huge damage bonus for a time.
• Corpses of night-only creatures will no longer despawn at daybreak.
• Fixed particle effects looping when destroying one of the portals in the Draegan fight.
• Summoning Draegan now consumes one of the items, at random, required to summon him.

[ 2017-10-16 19:09:53 CET ] [ Original post ]

Ahoy! You can now download Update 1.9.6 on the Steam testing branch. If you aren't opted into the testing branch and would like to help us find any last minute bugs before pushing to the official branch, here are instructions on how to join. This update contains a lot of new changes including weather, a new NPC known as The Blacksmith, jungle island challenge chests, ship cannons, and many other changes! We are very excited about this update and can't wait for you all to try it.

Patch Notes

- Added weather and associated content. - Added a window where you can see your character's appearance in the inventory UI. - Added a new NPC to be found on islands. - Added cannons that you can find and place on your ships. - Adjusted the stats on some items. - Implemented jungle island challenge chests - Adjusted the number of pirates that spawn on some islands. - Fixed a bug where some fish were not able to be caught when they were supposed to. - A single stat (concealment) now affects how well and far away enemies can see you. - The stealth stat affects how well an enemy can hear you. - Torches now reduce your concealment. - What journal you can find in a particular hunting shacks and abandoned camp sites will now be consistent for all players on a given world seed. - How many enemies remain on an island is now saved when you quit the game and come back. - Fixed moonrock not glowing properly. - Many enemies now leave footprints. - You can now occasionally find cannons to take at pirate villages. - Arrows now inherit your velocity. - Pirates no longer collide with each other, keeping them from stacking, but allowing them to occupy the same position sometimes. - Weight now reduces your sprint speed by 1 m/s per 5 weight. - Fixed trees spawning inside some abandoned camp sites. - Removed extra hitbox from player that caused double-hits in some instances - Changed the visual effects of bomb explosions.

[ 2017-10-05 15:07:36 CET ] [ Original post ]

Ahoy! You can now download Update 1.9.6 on the Steam testing branch. If you aren't opted into the testing branch and would like to help us find any last minute bugs before pushing to the official branch, here are instructions on how to join. This update contains a lot of new changes including weather, a new NPC known as The Blacksmith, jungle island challenge chests, ship cannons, and many other changes! We are very excited about this update and can't wait for you all to try it.

Patch Notes

- Added weather and associated content. - Added a window where you can see your character's appearance in the inventory UI. - Added a new NPC to be found on islands. - Added cannons that you can find and place on your ships. - Adjusted the stats on some items. - Implemented jungle island challenge chests - Adjusted the number of pirates that spawn on some islands. - Fixed a bug where some fish were not able to be caught when they were supposed to. - A single stat (concealment) now affects how well and far away enemies can see you. - The stealth stat affects how well an enemy can hear you. - Torches now reduce your concealment. - What journal you can find in a particular hunting shacks and abandoned camp sites will now be consistent for all players on a given world seed. - How many enemies remain on an island is now saved when you quit the game and come back. - Fixed moonrock not glowing properly. - Many enemies now leave footprints. - You can now occasionally find cannons to take at pirate villages. - Arrows now inherit your velocity. - Pirates no longer collide with each other, keeping them from stacking, but allowing them to occupy the same position sometimes. - Weight now reduces your sprint speed by 1 m/s per 5 weight. - Fixed trees spawning inside some abandoned camp sites. - Removed extra hitbox from player that caused double-hits in some instances - Changed the visual effects of bomb explosions.

[ 2017-10-05 15:06:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! Today we wanted to give you an update on what's been going on with multiplayer and what we still have left to do. We are closer than ever to getting the multiplayer update finished and we are so excited. Recently we've been doing some internal testing and it really adds a new feel to the game. There's just something fun about exploring islands and taking on pirates with your friends. At any rate, let's dive in! Here's a look at what's been done so far.

Core Multiplayer Engine

One of the biggest tasks was getting the core multiplayer engine working correctly. We needed systems to be able to sync and handle everything in the game for multiple players, handle saving, etc. With a game like Salt, there are a lot of items and things in the game that has to be taken into account. So it was very important we got a nice system in for handling these sorts of things. And not just getting the system in, but getting it working in the most efficient way possible.

Syncing the World

While there are still some things left to sync up, we've got most everything working. At this point, the majority of enemies, boats, resources, animations, day/night cycle, loot, and armor visuals sync up. Getting this done was a huge step forward as we wanted to make sure players could see the same things in the world. This means if you see a rock in a certain place, then it needed to be there for the other player as well. This also goes for enemies. And speaking of enemies, we've also got enemy aggro working, though we are still making some tweaks to it. As it is currently, an enemy will change their target if they are taking enough damage from someone else.

Joining Friends and Text Based Chat

Another system we've got in and working is the ability to join your friends on Steam. So when you are in the game, your friends will show up as an icon on the screen and you will be able to click that and join their game. We've also added in a text based chat box so that you can chat with other people in the world!

Player Inspection and Trading

Another major feature we just wrapped up is the ability to inspect and trade with other players. Now, you'll be able to interact with another player and see what gear they have on. In addition to that, you'll be able to initiate a trade with them and trade various items. This can be a particularly useful way to speed up progression when playing together or help encourage different playstyles. So if you're going for a more stealth based light armor character and you come across a big piece of heavy armor, you might want to consider giving them to your friend to help them out!

What's Left To Do?

While we've got the vast majority of major features in and implemented, we've still got some other areas we need to finish up. Here's a list of some things we still need to do:

• Full support for three or more players. (We've got this basically in and working but it needs to be ironed out and expanded)
• Enemy power scaling (We will be adjusting enemy stats based on how many players are in the proximity)
• Syncing boss battles
• Syncing player-placed ship content
• Syncing handheld item visuals
• Server options (enable/disable pvp, etc.)
• Wave and point emotes
• Final testing and bug fixes Overall, multiplayer is coming along great! We are getting very close and can't wait for the community to be able to play together. As always, we'd love to hear your feedback and thanks for reading!
  
  [ 2017-09-15 15:09:21 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! Today we wanted to give you an update on what's been going on with multiplayer and what we still have left to do. We are closer than ever to getting the multiplayer update finished and we are so excited. Recently we've been doing some internal testing and it really adds a new feel to the game. There's just something fun about exploring islands and taking on pirates with your friends. At any rate, let's dive in! Here's a look at what's been done so far.

Core Multiplayer Engine

One of the biggest tasks was getting the core multiplayer engine working correctly. We needed systems to be able to sync and handle everything in the game for multiple players, handle saving, etc. With a game like Salt, there are a lot of items and things in the game that has to be taken into account. So it was very important we got a nice system in for handling these sorts of things. And not just getting the system in, but getting it working in the most efficient way possible.

Syncing the World

While there are still some things left to sync up, we've got most everything working. At this point, the majority of enemies, boats, resources, animations, day/night cycle, loot, and armor visuals sync up. Getting this done was a huge step forward as we wanted to make sure players could see the same things in the world. This means if you see a rock in a certain place, then it needed to be there for the other player as well. This also goes for enemies. And speaking of enemies, we've also got enemy aggro working, though we are still making some tweaks to it. As it is currently, an enemy will change their target if they are taking enough damage from someone else.

Joining Friends and Text Based Chat

Another system we've got in and working is the ability to join your friends on Steam. So when you are in the game, your friends will show up as an icon on the screen and you will be able to click that and join their game. We've also added in a text based chat box so that you can chat with other people in the world!

Player Inspection and Trading

Another major feature we just wrapped up is the ability to inspect and trade with other players. Now, you'll be able to interact with another player and see what gear they have on. In addition to that, you'll be able to initiate a trade with them and trade various items. This can be a particularly useful way to speed up progression when playing together or help encourage different playstyles. So if you're going for a more stealth based light armor character and you come across a big piece of heavy armor, you might want to consider giving them to your friend to help them out!

What's Left To Do?

While we've got the vast majority of major features in and implemented, we've still got some other areas we need to finish up. Here's a list of some things we still need to do:

• Full support for three or more players. (We've got this basically in and working but it needs to be ironed out and expanded)
• Enemy power scaling (We will be adjusting enemy stats based on how many players are in the proximity)
• Syncing boss battles
• Syncing player-placed ship content
• Syncing handheld item visuals
• Server options (enable/disable pvp, etc.)
• Wave and point emotes
• Final testing and bug fixes Overall, multiplayer is coming along great! We are getting very close and can't wait for the community to be able to play together. As always, we'd love to hear your feedback and thanks for reading!
  
  [ 2017-09-15 15:09:21 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! We've been hard at work at a lot of different areas in Salt recently, particularly multiplayer. However, we do have another content update coming out soon before multiplayer and we wanted to give you an idea of what you can expect from that update! Here's a look at some of the content coming soon:

Weather

One change that we are incredibly excited about is weather! This is something that has been requested for a long time and we are finally happy to have it near completion. Weather is going to dramatically affect the overall atmosphere and aesthetics of the game. Not only will you get lightning, clouds, and rain, but we've also included changes to the fog and lighting based on the weather. This creates a much more dynamic feel to the world of Salt.

Ship Cannons

Another new change we are very excited about are ship cannons! Now in the world you'll be able to find cannons and cannonballs at pirate camps. You can them place these on your ship and take out pirates from a distance. Plus, once multiplayer is out, you'll be able to shoot other players and feel like a true pirate!

The Blacksmith

In this update we've also added a new NPC known as The Blacksmith. Upon finding The Blacksmith, he will give you a quest that will reward you with a new pickaxe. With this new pickaxe you'll be able to occasionally mine obsidian ore from various rocks. You can then turn this obsidian in to The Blacksmith for unique rewards. In addition to that, he will also sell salvage tools that will allow you to salvage certain weapons for resources. We think Update 1.9.6 is going to be a great addition to Salt and we can't wait to get it out! We will give another update soon on when you can expect that update to hit Steam. Also, we just want you to let you know that multiplayer is coming along great. We've got a lot of great functionalities in and working. We will post a blog in the next week or two showcasing what we've got working so far and what's left to go. As always, we appreciate your support and would love to hear your feedback!

[ 2017-08-25 18:09:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! You can now download Update 1.9.5 - Birds of Paradise! This a huge update we've been working on for a while and are very excited to finally have it out. Just as a reminder we are still working hard on multiplayer and will be updating you on that progress soon! Here's a look at what you can expect in Update 1.9.5.

Birds

A major change in this update is the introduction of new wildlife. Now when you are exploring islands you will see various birds flying above the trees. Though it's quite a challenge, these birds can be shot down and you can use their feathers to make items and trade for good gear. Overall we feel birds add not only new content but a new sense of atmosphere to the game.

Sea Treasure

You've been asking for more ocean content for quite some time and we are finally happy to take a step in that direction! Now out in the ocean you can find little glowing rings that indicate sea treasure. Once you have a treasure grabber (you can get one from a new NPC) you'll be able to dig up sunken treasure! There's different tiers of treasure with increasingly rare loot as well.

Challenge Chests

Now on pirate and natural islands you will be able to find challenge chests! We are really excited about these chests as they give a repeatable challenge with nice loot. Basically the way these work is you have to kill either all the pirates or all the deer on an island for them to unlock. The pirate challenge chests also increase in rarity for higher tiered pirate islands and as such drop better loot.

Abandoned Campsites

As a new piece of island content we have added abandoned campsites. You can find various trade-able items, lore books, and even rum! Look for these camps on natural islands.

New NPCs

We've introduced multiple new NPCs in this update including the Sea Treasure Hunter and the Sea Collector. The Sea Treasure Hunter mainly goes along with treasure hunting and the Sea Collector acts as a trading NPC for various items you find in the world.

Combat Improvements

With this update we wanted to also take a step toward improving combat. To do this, we added a parry mechanic. Now if you time a block at just the right moment you can stun the opponent and get a guaranteed critical hit upon your next attack. Adding just this one new mechanic has really opened up combat as parrying also uses stamina. This means you'll have to decide between attacking, power attacking, blocking, parrying, and dodging for how you want to spend your stamina in battle.

New Death Screen and In-Game Options

In this update we also added a new death screen as well as in-game options. Now when you die you will be greeted with sad music and a new death screen. You can also now change audio, gameplay, and graphics settings live in the game.

New sounds

We've also added new music and sounds in this update. We've tried to improve the sound design and give a greater sense of immersion. Now there will be subtle sounds that play when the game transitions from to day to night and also when you discover content on islands.

Additional Changes

We've made a ton of additional changes including new lighting, new main menu background, tons of new items, new boats, new waves system, and a lot of bug fixes. You can read the full patch notes below. As always we'd love to hear your feedback!

Patch Notes:

• Added birds.
• Added sea treasure
• Added new content to find on islands.
• Added new challenge chests that unlock when you defeat all of a certain type of enemy on an island.
• Added new NPCs, quests, and items.
• Added some new recipes.
• Added new music.
• Added new discovery sounds and day/night transition sounds.
• Added new boats
• Added a new parry mechanic. Blocking at the right time while fighting pirates will open them up for a powerful hit.
• Slightly changed the content on the starting island.
• Adjusted the stats on some items.
• Improved the death screen.
• Added in
• game options, which includes some new options such as motion blur and antialiasing.
• Updated background in the main menu.
• Some NPCs now spawn with nearby light sources, making them a little easier to spot.
• Some NPCs now have slightly happier expressions.
• Increased the amount of weight of all items by a factor of 10 and changed the functionality of weight to match the new bloated values. This means that an item that used to have a weight of 0.2 will now have a weight of 2.
• Re
• balanced lighting and visuals.
• Increased base stamina and stamina regeneration speed.
• Re
• textured various items to be more cohesive with the world's visuals.
• Implemented some new NPC greeting sounds.
• Changed the clothes of various NPCs to be more unique.
• Recipes that craft multiple of the same item (such as arrows) will now indicate so by a number in the bottom right of its icon in the crafting window.
• Reduced the amount of memory the game uses during play.
• Added boat sounds to the White Narwhal.
• Extended the sound of the Plunderer's Ring and increased its distance slightly.
• Trees are now less likely to spawn around the stone with the skull.
• Adjusted the contents of the starting island.
• The crafting window recipe scroll area now defaults to the top when the crafting window is opened.
• Increased sail speed bonus of the windy sail slightly when sailing in the direction of the wind.
• Upgraded Unity version.
• The UI for the player chest inventory now reflects the maximum number of items it can contain.
• Change the appearance of the cursor.
• Added sounds that mark the transition between day and night.
• Changed some of the default gamepad controls.
• Added DirectX11 support.
• Fixed an issue where the quest journal wasn't updating when you got the cleansed skull.
• Fixed an issue where you were unable to loot an immaculate deer hide from scent lured deer.
• Fixed some typos.
• Fixed an issue where night time ambience sounds were missing from some islands.
• Fixed a bug that caused islands to occasionally not fully spawn.
• Fixed a bug where an island would occasionally generate its contents in different places upon returning.
• Fixed NPC dialogue options to no longer clip through the bottom of their rectangles.
• Items that use the short sword model no longer cast a shadow.
• Fixed the reported food value in your character window not taking into account special foods.
• Fixed boats being stuck in the air after coming back from far away.
• Fixed bug with the white deer set bonus.
• Fixed loading screen appearing quickly without a center image when starting the game in an area with no islands.
• Slowed down the deer death animation.

[ 2017-06-20 15:06:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! Update 1.9.5 is now available on the testing branch! Please consider opting into the testing branch and helping us find any last minute issues before we push to the official branch. If you're not already on the testing branch and would like to be, follow the instructions below: How to Access Testing Branch We are very excited about this update as it introduces a lot of new content and general improvements to the game. With this update we've added birds to islands, new challenge chests, sea treasure, new NPCs and quests, new sounds and music, and a lot more. Here's a list of the current patch notes:

Update 1.9.5 Patch Notes

CHANGES - Added birds. - Added sea treasure - Added new content to find on islands. - Added new challenge chests that unlock when you defeat all of a certain type of enemy on an island. - Added new NPCs, quests, and items. - Added some new recipes. - Added new music. - Added new discovery sounds and day/night transition sounds. - Added new boats - Added a new parry mechanic. Blocking at the right time while fighting pirates will open them up for a powerful hit. - Slightly changed the content on the starting island. - Adjusted the stats on some items. - Improved the death screen. - Added in-game options, which includes some new options such as motion blur and antialiasing. - Updated background in the main menu. - Some NPCs now spawn with nearby light sources, making them a little easier to spot. - Some NPCs now have slightly happier expressions. - Increased the amount of weight of all items by a factor of 10 and changed the functionality of weight to match the new bloated values. This means that an item that used to have a weight of 0.2 will now have a weight of 2. - Re-balanced lighting and visuals. - Increased base stamina and stamina regeneration speed. - Re-textured various items to be more cohesive with the world's visuals. - Implemented some new NPC greeting sounds. - Changed the clothes of various NPCs to be more unique. - Recipes that craft multiple of the same item (such as arrows) will now indicate so by a number in the bottom right of its icon in the crafting window. - Reduced the amount of memory the game uses during play. - Added boat sounds to the White Narwhal. - Extended the sound of the Plunderer's Ring and increased its distance slightly. - Trees are now less likely to spawn around the stone with the skull. - Adjusted the contents of the starting island. - The crafting window recipe scroll area now defaults to the top when the crafting window is opened. - Increased sail speed bonus of the windy sail slightly when sailing in the direction of the wind. - Upgraded Unity version. - The UI for the player chest inventory now reflects the maximum number of items it can contain. - Change the appearance of the cursor. - Added sounds that mark the transition between day and night. - Changed some of the default gamepad controls. - Added DirectX11 support. FIXES - Fixed an issue where the quest journal wasn't updating when you got the cleansed skull. - Fixed an issue where you were unable to loot an immaculate deer hide from scent lured deer. - Fixed some typos. - Fixed an issue where night time ambience sounds were missing from some islands. - Fixed a bug that caused islands to occasionally not fully spawn. - Fixed a bug where an island would occasionally generate its contents in different places upon returning. - Fixed NPC dialogue options to no longer clip through the bottom of their rectangles. - Items that use the short sword model no longer cast a shadow. - Fixed the reported food value in your character window not taking into account special foods. - Fixed boats being stuck in the air after coming back from far away. - Fixed bug with the white deer set bonus. - Fixed loading screen appearing quickly without a center image when starting the game in an area with no islands. - Slowed down the deer death animation.

[ 2017-06-08 19:46:55 CET ] [ Original post ]

Ahoy mateys! Today we wanted to give you a look at the next patch coming out, Update 1.9.5 - Treasures in the Sea. This is a pretty big update as far as content goes and we're still working hard on getting everything implemented and polished. We are also still working on multiplayer implementation and are making some great progress with that. Let's dive into some of the content coming in the next update!

Sea Treasure

You've been requesting more content at sea for quite some time, and so we've started implementing some new ocean content we are calling Sea Treasure. Sea Treasure will spawn randomly out in the ocean and you'll have to find it and pull it up via a boat upgrade item known as the Treasure Grabber. In order to get the treasure though, you'll have to rank up with a new NPC known as the Sea Treasure Hunter. He'll require special coins that can only be found in Sea Treasure to rank up with him. As you rank you up, he'll get give you better treasure hunting items to find more rare treasure. And of course, the rarer the treasure, the harder it'll be to find. We are working on some neat puzzle mechanics for finding rare, epic, and legendary sea treasure.

Abandoned Campsites

With this update we are adding a new discoverable place on natural islands: abandoned campsites. These campsites will contain various resources, quest items, lore books, and finally, rum! What's a pirate game without rum anyways?

Sea Collector NPC

Many of the items you find at abandoned campsites will be collectible quest items that you can turn in to a new NPC known as the Sea Collector. He will mainly be a trade NPC that will have very unique and rare items, some of which are quest items leading to legendary weapons that he will give you in exchange for the collectibles you find throughout the world.

New Ocean Waves

In this next update we are increasing the deep ocean wave sizes and adding a chance for rare, huge waves. This new wave system will make navigating the deep waters a lot more fun and challenging!

Main Menu Changes

We've also made some subtle changes to the main menu, adding a randomly generated island in the background, some new graphical effects, and the ability to slightly move the camera, giving it a more immersive feel.

Additional Changes

In addition to lots of new items, weapons, quests, and lore, we've also made performance improvements, made some changes to NPC's such as giving them the ability to turn towards you when talking, and a bunch of audio changes such as new greeting sounds and sound effect improvements. We've also re-textured various weapons in the game to improve their look. Overall this update is coming along well and we expect it to be out soon! As always, we'd love to hear your feedback!

[ 2017-04-13 16:02:43 CET ] [ Original post ]

Introducing Update 1.9.4 - Songs of the Seas. This update includes a new NPC, musical instruments, Steam achievements, new quests, items, bug fixes, and more! Let's go over some of the content you can expect in this update.

Musical Instruments and The Composer NPC

Hanging out at the Inn you'll be able to find a new NPC known as The Composer. This NPC features an entirely new quest line that will allow you to unlock and earn musical instruments that you can play throughout your journey. These instruments also give you buffs in addition to a nice melody for your adventure! With the new Composer NPC you can also earn new gear. And we may have added some secrets as well...

Steam Achievements

We have now added Steam Achievements for Salt! We are very excited about this and we tried to design some fun and challenging achievements for you to work toward.

Audio Changes

With this update we've also added a slew of audio changes and improvements. One such change is new boat sounds. Now when you are sailing in your big ship you can hear creaks, sail flaps, and things of that nature. We've also added new footstep sounds, and a new save sound.

1.9.4 Patch Notes

• Added steam achievements.
• Added a new NPC known as The Composer.
• Added new musical instrument items.
• Added new quests and item rewards.
• Added music for the first time you use the raft.
• Added new loading screens.
• Added new secrets.
• Added new boat sounds.
• Added new footstep sounds and increased the variety of sounds that can play.
• Added a new save sound.
• Fixed white deer set bonus not applying properly.
• Updated short sword model.
• Fixed a bug that would have you receive multiple "Blood Jungle" items when completing the quest.
• The Sea Scholar will no longer charge gold for books you have sold to him.
• Fixed an error that would cause sound to sometimes not work properly after a death.

Progress on Multiplayer

We know many of you are awaiting the Multiplayer update, and we want to thank you for your continued patience. It is a large undertaking, but it will definitely be worth the time investment. More and more progress is made daily. We do not yet have an ETA on its completion.

[ 2017-03-07 20:19:23 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! As you know we've been working hard on multiplayer implementation and so we wanted to give you an update as to where we are in that regard and what some of the next steps are going to look like!

In-Game Chat System

One of the first aspects of multiplayer we implemented was an in-game chat system. We felt important to be able to communicate with other players so we've added a nice little chatbox. It even gives you your own unique text color!

Friends List and Inviting

Of course, to chat with friends you're going to want to invite them. So we've implemented the ability to see your friends list and invite players to your game.

Other Players

Say hello to the ghost pirate. Don't worry, we're just using him as a fun placeholder to test other player's characters in the world. You will have a fully formed pirate body when it's all said and done! Currently we have it to where you can see other players moving around in the world. You can also see other player's boats and ride them. This was a big milestone for us to hit and while we've still got a lot of kinks to work out, it's coming along well.

An Overview of the Networking System

Salt is making use Steam’s API in order to provide networking functionality. This make it easy to connect and play together with your Steam friends. Steam’s API provides the ability to send simple messages between two Steam clients. We have to write systems within Salt to use this messaging ability in an organized and efficient way that will result in a multiplayer experience within the game. We have now got a lot of these systems written and mostly working. Bug fixes and efficiency tweaks with them are still common at this point in the development. After these systems are written and in place, the next step is to write code to use these systems to sync the worlds of players playing together. The goal is to provide a seamless multiplayer experience while sending as little data between computers as possible. Everything that syncs across the network must be told when and how to do so. This includes things like the positions of players and boats, what animation to play for a character, the health of an enemy, time of day, ocean waves, etc. Salt is going to use a server/client model. The player who invites other players into their group is the server host. All players must wait on them to join a game. Once the host joins a game, all other players can then choose any of their created games play as long as it uses the same world seed as the game that the host just entered. You can also choose to create a new game with the correct world seed if you want. All player’s progress is stored locally and not on the host’s computer. This means that you can play single player or multiplayer interchangeably as you desire in any of your games. It will still be a bit before these changes are put out there for testing, but we will keeping you updated throughout the process. The next steps are more polishes and bug fixes on the networking systems, and work on syncing more and more things in the world such as enemies, items, and player animations. Also any multiplayer related UIs will need to be created or polished.

[ 2017-01-27 19:27:45 CET ] [ Original post ]

Saving Changes

Salt now takes advantage of the Steam Cloud for storing save data files. Steam will automatically handle uploading and downloading your latest save file data between computers. Along with this, when the game saves data has been altered slightly. Your inventory and other certain game states are no longer saved constantly. Instead, the state of the game will save both when you manually save, and periodically as an auto-save. By default, loading a game will load the most recent save, but you can chose to load the last manual or last autosave by clicking on the gear icon next to the save slot in the Load menu. A side effect of the save changes is that the game now requires Steam to be running. However, this does not mean it requires an internet connection as it will work just fine when Steam is in offline mode. Your current save files will automatically be converted to use the steam cloud. No action is required on your part.

Changes

• Integrated saving with the Steam Cloud.
• Improved appearance of informational popup messages.
• Added new battle music for pirate captains, named captains, and commanders
• Replaced some ambient sounds with smoother looping versions.
• Added a new armor set to hunting shacks.
• Added a new armor set to ancient chests.
• Added new items to bronze and silver pirate chests.
• Added new lore books to hunting shacks.
• Added a new quest line with new items and lore.
• Increased the drop rate of ceremonial keys from cultists from 8 to 10%.
• Fixed some items having the Armor stat instead of Physical Armor.
• Fixed some recipe descriptions.
• Fixed missing texture on augmented moonrock sword.
• Fixed poacher’s lure. It can now be equipped as bait.
• White ink no longer requires a red flower to craft.
• Made bamboo on jungle islands consistent with other islands.

[ 2017-01-13 16:14:29 CET ] [ Original post ]

Echoes of the Past update adds some new content to the game as well as a number of bug fixes and improvements. Let's dive into some of the content you can expect to see in this update.

Sea Hunter

This update introduces a new quest giver in the world known as the Sea Hunter. Like the recent introduction of the Sea Scholar and Sea Fisher, the Sea Hunter will feature five quests that unlocks vendor items as you progress. Once those are completed, you'll be able to do a repeatable quest for a random rare loot drop.

Pirate Graves

Salt is all about exploration and discovery, and so with this update we wanted to add in another new piece of content for you to discover: pirate graves. Throughout your adventures you will now find tombstones occasionally on islands with grave text and often times, buried treasure. The graves will have a chance to either have bronze, silver, gold, or a ceremonial lock box. These lock boxes can be opened with a key of the corresponding color and will contain a piece of loot. You probably already have some bronze, silver, or gold keys laying around, but with this update we've also introduced ceremonial keys. These keys will be used exclusively to open ceremonial lock boxes, which will contain a rare item. You can obtain these keys from various places throughout the world so stay on the lookout!

Inventory and Crafting Changes

In addition to new content in the world, we've also made some adjustments to the inventory UI and the crafting system. For the inventory, we've added the ability to drag and drop items and the ability to sort your inventory by a few different filters. For the crafting system, we've now adjusted it to where when you craft multiple items, it will craft each item individually, gradually increasing the speed as it goes. We've also completely revamped the crafting discovery window to show you any and all recipes that can be made with the item in the crafting window. This will show you recipes you could potentially make but don't have all the required items for yet. This adds an almost quest-like element to the crafting discovery system that sends you out on the hunt for various items in order to craft something new.

New Island Music

With this update you will now occasionally hear music while you are exploring islands. This music will only occur on large natural islands, so as not to interfere with combat and things of that nature. Our goal with this music is to be unobtrusive but add to the feeling of exploration and wonder when exploring islands. There will be new exclusive music for daytime island adventuring and for nighttime.

Change Log

• Added a new NPC to be found in the world.
• Added pirate graves.
• You can now drag and drop items within the inventory. This allows you to sort it as you please. Each inventory section can be sorted individually.
• Added a button to auto-sort your inventory.
• New music can occasionally play while exploring some islands.
• Added new recipe discovery features. When adding one or more crafting items to the crafting window, all recipes which require those items appear in the recipes window. Recipes that need more components than what is in the components window will be greyed-out (but still selectable). This allows players to discover recipes that they may not have the required items for yet. Note that although most recipes can be previewed, some "hidden" recipes will not appear at all in the crafting interface until all components have been added. Only a very small number of recipes are hidden.
• The recipe list is now scrollable.
• Crafting multiple items will no longer happen all at once. Instead, each item will auto-craft individually, with each subsequent craft being faster.
• Changed method of acquiring bamboo poles. Players must now manually pick up rare, slightly greener bamboo stalks that spawn in normal bamboo clusters. Running through them no longer has any effect.
• When you press a hotkey with multiple items bound to it, it will now only switch to the next item bound to it if you had previously just pressed the same hotkey.
• Help menu items are now marked as seen as soon as its corresponding notification appears.
• Smoothed out transition between when the loading screen is done and play begins.
• Improved performance of some trees and foliage.
• Bamboo and palm trees are now affected by wind.
• Changed the way sea scholar final repeatable quest works.
• Increased thickness of bamboo mat.
• X on the controller no longer loots all items from a container or loot window.
• Lenvell will now spawn upon the transition of night to day or day to night if you are on the correct part of the quest.
• Updated some old loading screen tips and images.

Fixes

• The keyboard hotkeys UI is now drawn behind the item description window so that it will no longer block it when playing on certain resolutions.
• Changed "Armor" stats on some pieces of equipment to "Physical Armor".
• Some NPCS who would spawn too close to the water and be submerged by tides have been moved up the beach a bit.
• The Old Pirate Hat can no longer be looted multiple times.
• Fixed a bug that would allow for multiple applications of set bonus effects after death.
• Fixed an error that would occur when trying to place a boat into a chest.
• Fixed a number of map items saying that they were useless.
• Fixed an uncommon error where pirate forts would be placed at the wrong location on an island.
• Fixed some deer hide recipes incorrectly stating the number of deer pelts required.
• Fixed the description on the White Deer Hide Cloak to properly convey what it does.
• Fixed bug where multiple Sea Scholar NPCs would sometimes appear on the same island.
• Fixed description on Red Spotted Mushroom to indicate what it does when eaten.
• Fixed a graphical error that would cause leaves to be too bright when in the line-of-sight of the sun.
• Fixed icon of Signet of the Alchemist.
• Journal text involving locations where you talked to NPCs other than merchants no longer refer to the NPC as a merchant.
• Sea fisher quest entries in the journal are no longer under the sea scholar section.
• The tip about resting through the night will now only appear once.
• You can no longer use a poacher's herb bag if your food bar is too low.

Progress Update on Multiplayer

We are still working hard on the addition of multiplayer to the game. We do not have an ETA, but have made some good progress. While we continue to work on multiplayer, you can expect more content and polish updates such as this one. Those of you who are waiting for multiplayer, we appreciate your patience and will continue to keep you updated.

[ 2016-12-15 15:21:51 CET ] [ Original post ]

We are in the process of finalizing the content for the 1.9.2 Update and plan on pushing to the testing branch within the next week or two. Today we want to go over what you can expect in this update, as well as some other things we've been working on!

Update 1.9.2 - What to Expect

This update will be another one of our content updates while we are implementing multiplayer. If you've been following us for a bit, you'll know that since multiplayer implementation is a long endeavor, we wanted to release small updates during that process so that you would still have fun content to experience while you wait on multiplayer. With our next update we are introducing three major new changes. These changes will include a brand new new NPC and quest giver known as the Sea Hunter, pirate and NPC graves that can be discovered throughout the world, and the introduction of island music to some large natural islands.

Sea Hunter

The Sea Hunter NPC will be much like the Sea Scholar and Fisher, where you will able to complete a number of quests, rank up to earn new vendor items, and eventually do a repeatable quest for a chance at a nice loot drop. Each of these new npc's are meant to tailor to a certain playstyle. In Salt, we've always wanted players to feel like they can play the game the way they want and still be rewarded for it. The Sea Scholar rewards players for exploring and finding lore books, the Sea Fisher rewards players for fishing, and the Sea Hunter will reward players for fighting and hunting down particular enemies.

NPC Graves

Salt at its core is an exploration game about discovering new content, and as such we try to constantly introduce new places and things for the player to discover. With this update we'll be adding in a new piece of discoverable content that we are calling NPC Graves. These will basically be tombstones that you'll find scattered throughout the world, and if you have a shovel on you, you'll be able to occasionally dig up a lockbox and get some nice loot. The graves will feature four different lockboxes: bronze, silver, gold, and ceremonial. Each one of these will require a key of one of those types. The ceremonial lockboxes will contain very nice high end items and will only be able to be opened with a ceremonial key. These keys will be introduced in this update and will be found in various places.

New Music

We are also introducing brand new island music in this update. This music will only occur occasionally on large natural islands so as not to negate the feeling of combat or intensity on other islands. The goal for this music is to add to the relaxation and exploration aspect of the game while roaming around some calmer islands. To begin with, there will be three daytime island songs that can play and three night time island songs that can play. We will likely add more in the future.

What Else Have We Been Working On?

In addition to the 1.9.2 Update, we've also been making some good strides in other areas. Robert has been working hard on designing a new recipe discovery system and overhauling the current crafting system to be more intuitive and streamlined. We will talk more about this in a future update. John has also been working very hard on the multiplayer update and we are making some great progress there. We still have a ways to go but we will be sharing some more info on that soon as well. Thanks for reading and as always we would love to hear your feedback!

[ 2016-11-17 17:02:51 CET ] [ Original post ]

Update 1.9.1 - Sailor's Delight

The distribution of islands and the content that they contain has changed. This is an optional upgrade for current saved games. With the addition of new content and island types throughout development, the distribution of islands and content has been something we want to re-balance. For example, some island types have become rarer than intended, while others too common. Also, it is often the case during play that you run into many islands in a row with very little content of interest then run across a single island with tons of content. All of this combined would occasionally cause unlucky players to play for long periods of time without the chance to experience exciting content. It is for this reason that we wanted to do some re-balancing. These world changes are not automatically applied to existing saves. You can manually upgrade these saves by pressing the upgrade button next to each existing save file in the "Load" menu. If you have spent time mapping the world, note that this will render your map inaccurate as the placement of islands will change. However, if you have had the Cartographer NPC check your map, the game will offer to automatically populate a portion of your map for you based on how much and accurately you filled out your previous map. ISLAND DISTRIBUTION

• The chance for each island type to appear has been adjusted.
• How far away from the origin certain island types can appear has also been adjusted.
• Removed the too-vast expanses of ocean that could appear past 50 units away from the origin.

ISLAND CONTENT Spread out the content among islands so that you are now less likely to encounter many islands in a row without special content. NEW HELP INTERFACE Replaced the old help book with a new help interface to make it easier to reference the topic you are looking for. Additionally, added pop-up notifications to direct new players towards particular help sections as they encounter related content. NEW NPCS Added two new friendly characters to find in the world. Each offers a number of new quest and items to obtain. OTHER CHANGES

• Nearby dead enemies will no longer block you from saving the game.
• Changed the way campfires and flags save their positions internally to reduce bloat in the registry.
• Made question mark on merchant interfaces pulse to make it more noticeable.
• Added close button to NPC dialog window
• Fixed a bug where money would be given to the player when an NPC's wares would update due to a quest completion while the wares were visible.
• Fixed money count in player equipment window not always updating properly when selling items.
• Merchant inventories now start out scrolled to the top.
• Increased the chance of named king challengers to appear.
• Slightly improved map performance.
• The whole number portion of the precise sextant's location now matches the normal sextant.

Notes For those of you waiting on multiplayer, don't worry. It is under development. This is one of a few smaller updates to be released during the multiplayer development period.

[ 2016-09-21 20:54:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! You can now download and play Update 1.9.1 - Sailor's Delight on the Steam testing branch. If you aren't already on the testing branch and would like to help us test the new update before an official push, you can follow the instructions here: Steam Testing Branch Instructions This update comes with a lot of new changes. Let me go over briefly some of what you can expect to see!

Island Distribution Changed

With this update we have changed the distribution of islands in the world. The new system better spreads out content and discoveries so that you'll be less likely to find multiple islands back to back with nothing on them. We've still got some content gated beyond a certain point and things of that nature to keep a sense of progression, but we wanted to decrease the lull a little bit and make it easier to find some of the unique content we've put into the game. These changes will take effect to any new games you create and are an optional upgrade for previous save games.

New NPCs, Quests, and Items

Along with the new island distribution system, we've also implemented two brand new friendly characters with quests and rewards. These new characters are known as the Sea Fisher and the Sea Scholar. Each NPC will have five quests and as you complete the quests, you'll unlock access to rank 1 through 5 of their vendor gear. Once you hit rank 5, you'll be able to do a repeatable quest for a random loot drop. The random loot drop is guaranteed to be a rare item, but also has a chance to be an epic or even a legendary. With these new NPC's we've introduced over 50 new weapons, armor, and items into the game to give you lots of new loot to work toward.

New Help Interface

This update also includes a new help interface intended to make it easier for new players to learn the mechanics of the game. The new interface is more intuitive to use and will direct players to a portion of the help journal as they encounter related content in the game. In addition to all this we've also made some other changes. We've fixed a bug on the merchant window where the inventory would sometimes start out scrolled at the bottom. We've also made the question mark on the merchant interface pulse slightly to better indicate his available quest. We plan on pushing this update out officially soon but can use your help on the testing branch in the mean time. Thanks for reading and as always we'd love to hear your feedback!

[ 2016-09-14 15:07:42 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! We've got some fun stuff coming up for Salt and wanted to share some of that with you today. First, let me give you guys an update on our multiplayer progress.

Update on Multiplayer

As you may know, we are currently working on adding multiplayer into Salt. Right now we have been mainly working on getting the technical foundation of multiplayer implemented. This means getting the basic systems designed, written, and debugged. This largely consists of getting multiple player's games to talk to each other in an organized and efficient way. We've also been working on integration with Steam friends so that you can easily invite your friends on Steam to join you in Salt. You will be able to invite your friends from the main menu, and select a current save to play on, or start a new game. Your friends will also be able to select a save file to play, as long as the world seed matches the seed of the world you choose. This allows players to progress their game either by themselves or with other people, whichever they are in the mood for at the time.

The Sea Scholar and Sea Fisher

In addition to working on multiplayer implementation, we have also been working on adding two new NPC's into the game. These new characters will be known as the Sea Scholar and the Sea Fisher. They will feature multiple quests that allow you to rank up with their guild. As you rank up, you'll be able to unlock and buy armor, weapons, and other unique items from these vendors. Once you reach max rank, you'll be able to do a repeatable quest for a rare random loot drop. We've got some other big changes we are working on that we will talk more about soon. As always we'd love to hear your feedback and thanks for reading! - Will Sterling (Sound Lead and Game Design)

[ 2016-08-26 15:42:39 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! It's been a fun ride at Lavaboots so far. We've made a ton of changes to Salt from when we first released on early access. We've revamped graphics such as the grass, water texture, GUI, pirate models, ship models, and even added stars. We've added merchant quests, a main story line, tons of lore, new NPC's, new island types, and a whole bunch of armor, weapons, and new items. We've also added new functionalities such as in-game cartographer, a quest and player journal, controller support, and a bunch of bug fixes and polishes along the way. We finally feel like Salt is at a good state as far as a single player game. This was always our goal before we moved on to multiplayer implementation. Now, that time has finally come.

Implementing Multiplayer

Over the past couple weeks we've begun the process of multiplayer implementation. This is going to be a lot longer than the average update since it's going to require a whole lot of foundation work. There's a lot of technical work that has to be done to get something like multiplayer up and running, as well as a lot of game design choices to be made. We don't have an exact time frame for how long this will take currently, so our goal to keep you up to date as best as possible along the way. As we progress in the multiplayer implementation process, we'll be updating you and getting your feedback along the way. We are very excited about multiplayer and we think it's going to add an entirely new element to Salt for those that want to play with others.

Updates During Multiplayer

Since the multiplayer implementation is going to take some time, we want to release small updates during the process so that you'll still have some new content to experience. We've got some neat ideas for these updates and are excited to share them with you. One thing we are going to be adding is a set of new NPC's that have quests and ranks for completing their quests. As you rank up, you'll get access to higher level merchant gear through that NPC. If you get through all the ranks, you'll then be able to do a repeatable quest for a random loot drop from a really nice set of items, potentially legendary and epic items. Along with these smaller updates we also plan on doing bug fixes and polishes. Keep an eye on our dev blog for more updates regarding multiplayer and the patches to release during the multiplayer implementation.

[ 2016-07-29 14:02:17 CET ] [ Original post ]

Delve further into Salt's main quest line in update 1.9 "The Summoning". Along with this update comes more quests, a new boss, bug fixes, and lots of new legendary items. Are you tough enough to face the evils which lie hidden in the darkest corners of Salt?

Changes

• The remainder of the main quest line is now available.
• The legendary version of the northern scepter will now drop instead of the epic version.
• Reset quarters sailed value on breezy scepter of northern wind.
• Upgraded engine to Unity 5.3.5.
• Added stamina regeneration effect to breezy scepter of northern wind.
• Fixed health and stamina bars showing incorrect percentage when unequipping an item that boosts max health or stamina.
• Fixed a bug where using the revert to manual save option would load the game world of the default seed even if you were playing on a custom seed.
• Effects that change player speed now show duration left in the description.
• Fixed the sun in the main menu using the wrong bloom effect.
• Fixed the island painting giving you the wrong painting back when picked up.
• Fixed poachers not attacking you on sight.
• Innkeeper now has a dialogue option to search for tier 2 pirate islands once the player reaches the "hat for hat" quest.
• Fixed regular spider debuff damage. It is now properly tagged as poison damage.

[ 2016-07-19 11:01:32 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everybody! We are really excited about the next update which will introduce the last remaining main story quests and most importantly, the final boss. Today we just wanted to share with you a few glimpses of the boss battle. We have put more effort into this boss battle than any other to make it more fun, interesting, and engaging, and we can't wait to share it with you all!


This update will be coming out soon so stay on the lookout for more information in the coming weeks!

[ 2016-07-01 15:05:55 CET ] [ Original post ]

Update 1.8 brings tier 3 pirate islands to the world of Salt! These islands are swarming with some of the hardest pirates seen yet, and with some of the best treasure. With the update comes new enemies, fish, lore, quests, and items, including game's first legendary quality items.

Change Log

• Added tier 3 pirate islands. Note that the new pirate islands will appear where some other island used to be in the world.
• Added some new quests.
• Added new fish.
• Added new lore books.
• Added new items including some legendary items.
• Adjusted world lighting and bloom.
• Added new recipes.
• Added new collectable resources.
• Ironite boulders now look slightly different. Their blue cracks have been replaced by silvery ones.
• Added new "Throne" map mark.
• Fixed bug where arrows would get stuck in jungle vines.
• Fixed a bug where you were able to interfere with boat physics while jumping. This would occasionally cause you or the boat to go flying.
• Plunderer's beacon is now sellable.
• Fixed night vigor flowers sometimes failing to spawn correctly.

[ 2016-05-24 14:37:57 CET ] [ Original post ]

If you haven't already, you can read about our recent Cartography Update below! We've also added Patch 1.7.1 to include some additional bug fixes and improvements. Update 1.7 - Cartographer's Journal Patch Notes Update 1.7 introduces a number of new major features that will aid you in your quest to explore the world of Salt. This update also provides some bug fixes, performance improvements, and new content.

Journal

You now have at your disposal an in-game journal, which works both as a quest journal and a place to make your own notes. Open the journal by pressing ‘j’. It is divided into three sections. The first section, the “Main” section, is for you to add your own notes as you please. You have unlimited pages to make as many entries as you want. As well as normal entries, you can also make links to subsections within the journal, allowing you to keep things organized. The second section section, the “Quest” section, is not editable. Instead, quest entries will automatically appear here as you find new quests, and complete quest tasks. The third section, the “Map” section, can be edited as you please, but it also closely integrated with the map (see below). From your map, you can add notes the correspond to certain locations in the world. This section will store those notes.

Map

The map has arrived to the world. Open it up by pressing ‘x’ or ‘m’. Keeping with the raw do-it-yourself style of Salt, this map starts out completely blank. It is up to you to fill out out as you travel. Mark location of islands as well as add icons that indicate what you find on those islands. As you explore and map the world, find ways to unlock new features and handy shortcuts within the map interface. As mentioned above, the map is also integrated with the journal to make it easy to make notes in your own words about what you find on the islands that you explore.

Button Changes

Be prepared to be thrown off kilter. Some controls have been changed. Most notably, the functions of left and right mouse clicks have been reversed. Left click is now performs the main interaction on items, while right click opens up the item details window. Also, the way you pick up placed items, such as those placed on your boats, has changed. You now press-and-hold the interact button (E by default).

More Lore

As well as adding some more lore books to the game, we have also flagged many of them as unique. This means that if you already own a particular lore book, it will no longer drop or be found in chests. This will both keep you from finding duplicates as well as making it more likely that you find a variety of lore books during your travels.

Revert To Last Manual Save Option

Some aspects of the game are saved when you manually save the game, but many things items, quest progress, and object on your boat are constantly saved. You now have the ability to revert the entire game back to how it was when you last saved the game manually. There is a checkbox to do so within the Load interface in Salt’s main menu.

Change Log

Added Journal.

Added a map.

Added a new NPC to be found in the world.

Most journals are now flagged as unique.

You now press and hold the normal interact button to retrieve placed objects.

Reduced the density of some cosmetic foliage on jungle islands to improve performance.

You can no longer save the game while dead.

Added option in main menu load interface to load the game as it was when you last manually saved it. This will revert all inventory changes back to that point.

Made saving system more robust (less error prone).

Some performance improvements.

Swapped left and right click functions when interacting with items in your inventory. Left clicking now equips/activates the item while right clicking now brings up the item details window.

Increased the resolution of some item icons.

Added new lore books.

Added a new quest.

Ancient guardian rocks will once again deal damage. Update 1.7.1 Notes This patch includes some bug fixes and improvments.

Changes

• Inventory sections and the loot window now be scrolled all the way up when switching to them.
• Added graphics option for VSync.
• Added a sound when you loot items.
• Added color difference to the journal button in the map when you have an entry in the journal for that location.
• Made some changes to improve game CPU performance.
• Fixed a bug where silver chests would sometimes not contain a quest hat when they were supposed to.
• Fixed a bug that would sometimes cause the "loot all" hotkey to not work if you looted an enemy during its death animation.

[ 2016-04-06 20:29:02 CET ] [ Original post ]

Update 1.7 introduces a number of new major features that will aid you in your quest to explore the world of Salt. This update also provides some bug fixes, performance improvements, and new content.

Journal

You now have at your disposal an in-game journal, which works both as a quest journal and a place to make your own notes. Open the journal by pressing ‘j’. It is divided into three sections. The first section, the “Main” section, is for you to add your own notes as you please. You have unlimited pages to make as many entries as you want. As well as normal entries, you can also make links to subsections within the journal, allowing you to keep things organized. The second section section, the “Quest” section, is not editable. Instead, quest entries will automatically appear here as you find new quests, and complete quest tasks. The third section, the “Map” section, can be edited as you please, but it also closely integrated with the map (see below). From your map, you can add notes the correspond to certain locations in the world. This section will store those notes.

Map

The map has arrived to the world. Open it up by pressing ‘x’ or ‘m’. Keeping with the raw do-it-yourself style of Salt, this map starts out completely blank. It is up to you to fill out out as you travel. Mark location of islands as well as add icons that indicate what you find on those islands. As you explore and map the world, find ways to unlock new features and handy shortcuts within the map interface. As mentioned above, the map is also integrated with the journal to make it easy to make notes in your own words about what you find on the islands that you explore.

Button Changes

Be prepared to be thrown off kilter. Some controls have been changed. Most notably, the functions of left and right mouse clicks have been reversed. Left click is now performs the main interaction on items, while right click opens up the item details window. Also, the way you pick up placed items, such as those placed on your boats, has changed. You now press-and-hold the interact button (E by default).

More Lore

As well as adding some more lore books to the game, we have also flagged many of them as unique. This means that if you already own a particular lore book, it will no longer drop or be found in chests. This will both keep you from finding duplicates as well as making it more likely that you find a variety of lore books during your travels.

Revert To Last Manual Save Option

Some aspects of the game are saved when you manually save the game, but many things items, quest progress, and object on your boat are constantly saved. You now have the ability to revert the entire game back to how it was when you last saved the game manually. There is a checkbox to do so within the Load interface in Salt’s main menu.

Change Log

Added Journal.

Added a map.

Added a new NPC to be found in the world.

Most journals are now flagged as unique.

You now press and hold the normal interact button to retrieve placed objects.

Reduced the density of some cosmetic foliage on jungle islands to improve performance.

You can no longer save the game while dead.

Added option in main menu load interface to load the game as it was when you last manually saved it. This will revert all inventory changes back to that point.

Made saving system more robust (less error prone).

Some performance improvements.

Swapped left and right click functions when interacting with items in your inventory. Left clicking now equips/activates the item while right clicking now brings up the item details window.

Increased the resolution of some item icons.

Added new lore books.

Added a new quest.

Ancient guardian rocks will once again deal damage.

[ 2016-03-28 20:56:55 CET ] [ Original post ]

Update 1.7 introduces a number of new major features that will aid you in your quest to explore the world of Salt. This update also provides some bug fixes, performance improvements, and new content.

Journal

You now have at your disposal an in-game journal, which works both as a quest journal and a place to make your own notes. Open the journal by pressing ‘j’. It is divided into three sections. The first section, the “Main” section, is for you to add your own notes as you please. You have unlimited pages to make as many entries as you want. As well as normal entries, you can also make links to subsections within the journal, allowing you to keep things organized. The second section section, the “Quest” section, is not editable. Instead, quest entries will automatically appear here as you find new quests, and complete quest tasks. The third section, the “Map” section, can be edited as you please, but it also closely integrated with the map (see below). From your map, you can add notes the correspond to certain locations in the world. This section will store those notes.

Map

The map has arrived to the world. Open it up by pressing ‘x’ or ‘m’. Keeping with the raw do-it-yourself style of Salt, this map starts out completely blank. It is up to you to fill out out as you travel. Mark location of islands as well as add icons that indicate what you find on those islands. As you explore and map the world, find ways to unlock new features and handy shortcuts within the map interface. As mentioned above, the map is also integrated with the journal to make it easy to make notes in your own words about what you find on the islands that you explore.

Button Changes

Be prepared to be thrown off kilter. Some controls have been changed. Most notably, the functions of left and right mouse clicks have been reversed. Left click is now performs the main interaction on items, while right click opens up the item details window. Also, the way you pick up placed items, such as those placed on your boats, has changed. You now press-and-hold the interact button (E by default).

More Lore

As well as adding some more lore books to the game, we have also flagged many of them as unique. This means that if you already own a particular lore book, it will no longer drop or be found in chests. This will both keep you from finding duplicates as well as making it more likely that you find a variety of lore books during your travels.

Revert To Last Manual Save Option

Some aspects of the game are saved when you manually save the game, but many things items, quest progress, and object on your boat are constantly saved. You now have the ability to revert the entire game back to how it was when you last saved the game manually. There is a checkbox to do so within the Load interface in Salt’s main menu.

Change Log

Added Journal.

Added a map.

Added a new NPC to be found in the world.

Most journals are now flagged as unique.

You now press and hold the normal interact button to retrieve placed objects.

Reduced the density of some cosmetic foliage on jungle islands to improve performance.

You can no longer save the game while dead.

Added option in main menu load interface to load the game as it was when you last manually saved it. This will revert all inventory changes back to that point.

Made saving system more robust (less error prone).

Some performance improvements.

Swapped left and right click functions when interacting with items in your inventory. Left clicking now equips/activates the item while right clicking now brings up the item details window.

Increased the resolution of some item icons.

Added new lore books.

Added a new quest.

Ancient guardian rocks will once again deal damage.

[ 2016-03-28 20:53:37 CET ] [ Original post ]

Update 1.7 introduces a number of new major features that will aid you in your quest to explore the world of Salt. This update also provides some bug fixes, performance improvements, and new content.

Journal

You now have at your disposal an in-game journal, which works both as a quest journal and a place to make your own notes. Open the journal by pressing ‘j’. It is divided into three sections. The first section, the “Main” section, is for you to add your own notes as you please. You have unlimited pages to make as many entries as you want. As well as normal entries, you can also make links to subsections within the journal, allowing you to keep things organized. The second section section, the “Quest” section, is not editable. Instead, quest entries will automatically appear here as you find new quests, and complete quest tasks. The third section, the “Map” section, can be edited as you please, but it also closely integrated with the map (see below). From your map, you can add notes the correspond to certain locations in the world. This section will store those notes.

Map

The map has arrived to the world. Open it up by pressing ‘x’ or ‘m’. Keeping with the raw do-it-yourself style of Salt, this map starts out completely blank. It is up to you to fill out out as you travel. Mark location of islands as well as add icons that indicate what you find on those islands. As you explore and map the world, find ways to unlock new features and handy shortcuts within the map interface. As mentioned above, the map is also integrated with the journal to make it easy to make notes in your own words about what you find on the islands that you explore.

Button Changes

Be prepared to be thrown off kilter. Some controls have been changed. Most notably, the functions of left and right mouse clicks have been reversed. Left click is now performs the main interaction on items, while right click opens up the item details window. Also, the way you pick up placed items, such as those placed on your boats, has changed. You now press-and-hold the interact button (E by default).

More Lore

As well as adding some more lore books to the game, we have also flagged many of them as unique. This means that if you already own a particular lore book, it will no longer drop or be found in chests. This will both keep you from finding duplicates as well as making it more likely that you find a variety of lore books during your travels.

Revert To Last Manual Save Option

Some aspects of the game are saved when you manually save the game, but many things items, quest progress, and object on your boat are constantly saved. You now have the ability to revert the entire game back to how it was when you last saved the game manually. There is a checkbox to do so within the Load interface in Salt’s main menu.

Change Log

Added Journal.

Added a map.

Added a new NPC to be found in the world.

Most journals are now flagged as unique.

You now press and hold the normal interact button to retrieve placed objects.

Reduced the density of some cosmetic foliage on jungle islands to improve performance.

You can no longer save the game while dead.

Added option in main menu load interface to load the game as it was when you last manually saved it. This will revert all inventory changes back to that point.

Made saving system more robust (less error prone).

Some performance improvements.

Swapped left and right click functions when interacting with items in your inventory. Left clicking now equips/activates the item while right clicking now brings up the item details window.

Increased the resolution of some item icons.

Added new lore books.

Added a new quest.

Ancient guardian rocks will once again deal damage.

[ 2016-03-28 20:52:38 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! The Cartography Update is now live on the testing branch. To access the testing branch, follow the instructions here. We are very excited for you to finally be able to chart your world as you explore! Please help us knock out any bugs by testing out the map and letting us know your thoughts. Change Log: - Added a player journal. - Added a map. The map starts out blank, so you will have to fill it out manually while you explore. You can open it by pressing ‘x’ or ‘m’. Note that this means that ‘x’ no longer works as an alternate button for ‘escape’. - Added a new NPC to be found in the world. - Most journals are now flagged as unique. This means that if you already have a particular journal item, then it no longer has a chance to drop. - You now press and hold the normal interact button to retrieve placed objects. - Reduced the density of some cosmetic foliage on jungle islands to improve performance. - You can no longer save the game while dead. - Added option in main menu load interface to load the game as it was when you last manually saved it. This will revert all inventory changes back to that point. - Made saving system more robust (less error prone). - Minor performance improvements. - Swapped left and right click functions when interacting with items in your inventory. Left clicking now equips/activates the item while right clicking now brings up the item details window. Increased the resolution of some item icons.

[ 2016-03-18 23:48:51 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! We just wanted to give you guys an update on our Cartography patch and let you know some of the features it will contain upon release. We plan on releasing this patch to the testing branch next week and we want to thank you all so much for your patience during this update! Salt has needed a good in-game mapping system for quite sometime and we're happy to finally have one.

Cartography Features

So as you can see the map will act as a sort of chart with a grid that you can open up and use whenever. You'll then be able to add islands to that char of various sizes. Once you've added the islands, you'll be able to choose various icons from the right side of the map and add them to the islands. You can even change icon colors by using various inks you find the in the game. Cartography is going to make exploring a lot more fun and add a better sense of navigation to the world.

Journal Integration

If you don't know already, we recently released the player/quest journal onto the testing branch as part of this update. This journal allows you to create your own entries and sections in the game, and it also acts as a quest journal that has automatic entry updates for certain quests. In addition to this, we've added a journal icon on the map interface that you can click on and add entries and information specific to that island. We've still got a few tiny things to add but we expect this update to come to testing this coming week. As always, we would leave to hear your feedback!

[ 2016-03-12 14:44:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! We've updated the testing branch to include the new player/quest journal. We are still finishing up the cartography patch but we expect it to be ready for player testing soon as well. With the new player journal you can add in your own entries and sections, noting information you find or whatever you want to write down. This journal also has a quest section that will update its entries when you talk to quest givers and get new quests. To open your quest journal, you can press "J" or press "Esc" and click on the journal section. Please let us know any bugs you can find so we can get this update ready for public release! You can read more about this update here: http://saltthegameblog.blogspot.com/2016/02/player-and-quest-journal-available-on.html Also if you aren't on the testing branch but want to be, follow the instructions here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/327860/discussions/0/626329821058202322/

[ 2016-02-23 19:23:08 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! In this blog post we talk about our progress on the upcoming Cartography update, as well as some features that will be coming to Salt in 2016. Cartography is coming along nicely. This update will add in a chart and grid type system where you will be able to mark islands on a coordinate square, and then add icons and information to those islands. We are currently working on visuals and the ability to click and drag the map, as well as zoom in and out. For 2016, our main focus is going to be finishing the cartography update, adding a player journal and the remainder of the main quest line, and then moving on to multiplayer implementation. For more details, you can read the blog post here: Cartography and Plans for 2016

[ 2016-01-15 16:33:12 CET ] [ Original post ]

Update 1.6.1 - Starry Night

This update introduces stars, new boat models, and number of fixes/changes.

Stars

Keep a weather eye to the sky at night. You may see something out there spotting the other big ol’ blue. Stars have been added to the world of Salt. They are most brilliant during a new moon, when the moon is on the sun-side of the world at night.

New Boat Models

Hoist your sails, jump into the waves, and watch as your old ship model sails into the sunset. Unless you have already updated, of course. If so, you have missed your chance for a tear-filled poetic goodbye to the ship models of the Old Pirate Ship, The Maiden, and The Pardon Pusher. They have now been replace by new, arguably, better looking models. If you placed any objects on these boats previously, it is likely that the objects are floating in the air or hidden below deck. To retrieve all of the items placed on your boat (including items in chests, mounting plates, etc.) inspect the boat item in your inventory and choose the option to remove the upgrades. In addition to changing the models of some of the previous boats, we have also added some new color-variant versions of the new boat models, and ways to obtain them.

Updated Tree Models

Most of the old tree models in the game have been replaced. These new tree models attempt to look very similar to the old models, except with improved wind and level of detail visuals. This means that trees will look better from a distance, and less abruptly switch to high-quality models when you get close.

High Resolution Item Icons

In the earliest version of the inventory UI, item icons were very small. When we upgraded the UI to its current version, we increased the visual size of the inventory slots. This meant that the old item icons were stretched to fit the new slot size, making them appear pixelated. For this update, we went back through each item icon and increased their resolution to a more appropriate size.

Changes

• Updated boat models.
• Added color variation versions of the new boat models, and ways to obtain them.
• Added stars.
• Added new sailing music.
• Updated icon resolutions.
• Updated models of many of the old trees, improving level of detail, and wind visuals.
• Pressing the forward or backward buttons while interacting with a boat wheel will now quickly return it to center.
• Added new lore books.
• Added option to force gamepad hotbar to always be active, allowing for better Steam Controller gameplay.
• Changed beacon glow effect to fix them being too bright on some computers.
• Tree wind effects are now dynamic.
• Made ocean waves scale with wind power.
• Tweaked wind properties so that wind speed changes more slowly over time.
• Increased your ability to climb slopes while on a boat. This will help stair climbing while the boat is sloshing around.
• Added some dynamic wind sounds.
• Added new boss music.
• Fixed a bug that allowed you to interact with boats while on them.
• Tigers are now less likely to spawn inside trees.
• Enemies should now better avoid getting stuck on the altar of ritual sites.
• Updated Unity version. This should fix the game sometimes being off-center when playing in non-native resolutions.

[ 2015-11-24 20:18:50 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! We've pushed Update 1.6.1 to the testing branch which brings some brand new boat models, stars, new wind features, and some other changes. For information how to access the testing branch, click this link: https://steamcommunity.com/app/327860/discussions/0/626329821058202322/ Patch Notes:

• Updated boat models.
• Added color variation versions of the new boat models, and ways to obtain them.
• Added stars.
• Added new sailing music.
• Updated icon resolutions.
• Updated models of many of the old trees.
• Pressing the forward or backward buttons while interacting with a boat wheel will now quickly return it to center.
• Added new lore books.
• Added option to force gamepad hotbar to always be active, allowing for better Steam Controller gameplay.
• Changed beacon glow effect to fix them being too bright on some computers.
• Tree wind effects are now dynamic.
• Made ocean waves scale with wind power.
• Tweaked wind properties so that wind speed changes more slowly over time.
• Increased your ability to climb slopes while on a boat. This will help stair climbing while the boat is sloshing around.
• Added some dynamic wind sounds.
• Added new boss music.
• Fixed a bug that allowed you to interact with boats while on them.

[ 2015-11-18 18:33:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

Update 1.6 - Blood Jungle

This update introduces a brand new type of island into the world. It is the first island that is exclusive to the far oceans. That is, they can only appear outside the initial radius of guaranteed island density in which you begin the game. Along with these new islands comes new NPCs, quests, and items to acquire, including more epic (purple) items than in any other update. But be on your guard. You never know what dangers are lurking in the under-brush.

Changes

• Added a new island type, containing lots of brand new content.
• Added new quest lines
• Added new trader npc's
• Added multiple new enemies and wildlife
• Added new fish
• Added new weapons, armor, and resources
• Some characters now have the ability to trade using currencies other than gold.
• Changed the visuals when your eyes go below water.
• Added a number of new lore books.
• Added sound when opening books.
• Added inventory open sound.
• The starting sword can now be found on a dead pirate instead of in the chest on starting island.
• Made some changes to fish rarities. Small mouth sea bass are now about half as common as they used to be.
• Bandages now have a chance to remove bleed effects.
• Arrow retrieval chance is now taken into account when the arrow hits an enemy.
• Reduced the armor value on ancient gauntlets.
• Reduced the damage on some arrows.
• Upgraded engine version to Unity 5.2. This comes with some minor performance improvements.

Fixes

• Fixed center redicle sometimes becoming a white box.
• Item Buffbeard's Orders now saves properly.
• You can no longer drag the merchant interface horizontally.
• Fixed orange garabaldi fish's time of day rarity modifier.
• Fixed a bug that would cause other items of the same type to sometimes be destroyed when destroying an item.
• Some set bonus effects will now show effect icons.
• Fixed the recipe for deer hide armor notated in the starting crafting journal.
• Fixed spyglass being too shiny.

[ 2015-10-31 14:06:18 CET ] [ Original post ]

Our latest update (Update 1.6 - Blood Jungle) is now available on the Steam testing branch. If you'd like to help us squash any last minute bugs, you can opt into the testing branch and get the latest update. Here's how you can access the testing branch: http://steamcommunity.com/app/327860/discussions/0/626329821058202322/ This update adds a brand new island top among many other changes. The new jungle islands include many new enemies, wildlife, npcs, quests, items, and mysteries to discover! Keep in mind that jungles can only be found in the deep ocean once you get around the 50 degree mark, so set sail and prepare your voyage into the jungle!

[ 2015-10-17 12:28:15 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! We are currently finishing up testing and balancing of the new jungle island content on our end, which means it will be pushed to the testing branch by the end of next week. We will need your help testing so if you are up for, opt into the testing branch and help us find any glaring issues/imbalances before we push to public! In today's blog post I go over the new content coming in the jungle island and share screenshots of said content. We are adding tigers, new friendly npcs, new quests, and more! Read the post here: http://saltthegameblog.blogspot.com/2015/10/jungle-island-coming-to-testing-branch.html

[ 2015-10-09 16:30:42 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! We are finishing up the next big update and adding the final touches in the coming weeks. In this post I wanted to give you a brief overview of some of the content you can expect in the next update! You can read the post here: http://saltthegameblog.blogspot.com/2015/09/friday-dev-update-closing-in-on-jungle.html

[ 2015-09-25 15:17:03 CET ] [ Original post ]