Greetings Captain :) This is a really important beta branch, because it includes the content for our upcoming full release! It's another huge amount of cool new stuff, and we're very excited for you to try it. We'll dive into the details in just a second, but first some important information on how to gain access... The following link includes instructions on how to download the version of the game on the public beta branch: https://steamcommunity.com/app/551860/discussions/10/1698293255137774100/ Once you're synced up, the number in the bottom-right corner of the Main Menu should end in 13224 or later. To access this new content, you'll need to start a new game, and don't forget there are several quick-starts, including two at a point where the entire map is open to exploration.
Here's what we've added...

Rest of the Main Story

We've been asked pretty much since we first entered Early Access when more of the main story was coming, and we've really loved the speculation on where it's going to go. Now, you can find out!

Freeplay Mode

We've always planned a freeplay mode, because saving the world from a Lovecraftian tentacle beast can be hard work, and sometimes you just want to be a pirate. However we didn't feel like it should just be the game world with the main story removed. We wanted to add something unique to this mode, and that's where the pirate base comes in. Tucked away in a distant corner of a new region is an old pirate kingdom that was destroyed by the Empire. If you can get there, and invest enough money to restore the 10 islands, you can rebuild it and reap the benefits. Having your own pirate base not only gives you substantial discounts in your home port, but also has some effects across the rest of the world, such as scattering a bunch of floating outposts in new areas (these are in maps that you'll need a welcome respite), as well as taking over coastal defences and sea forts you clear, providing covering fire on your enemies if you fight within their radius.
You don't have to do any of this pirate base stuff - it is freeplay after all, but it's a worthy long-term target for any potential pirate king! The side-campaigns with their unique stories (and how they tie in with the main story) has been a really popular addition throughout Early Access, and Freeplay is no different. You play a Captain fed up with their lot in life and desperate to realise their youthful ambitions. This mode is set in the aftermath of the world-changing events in the main game, so while it's set in a period of great strife you should be mindful of the odd spoiler...

Island and Unique Event Bonanza

When we launched into Early Access, 4 of the 15 regions had been unlocked. Since then, each new region we've unveiled has lots of unique islands, events and gameplay modifiers. We've now circled back round and populated those initial 4 regions with the same treatment, so they're full of much greater variety and things to discover. The opening region in particular has a new mechanic in nearly every map you go into, as well as lots of cool islands and events to reveal.
In total, there are over a hundred maps in the game, and we've hit our target of each one having at least one unique island and event. As the only artist on the team, I'm not sure how Alex has managed it. She's certainly been an island-making-machine recently :)

The Final Region Unlocked

The Uncharted is our final region that we're opening up. It's full of weird and wonderful places and has a few interesting one-off map modifiers, such as the Lightning Storm, which hammers down lightning at an alarming rate, and stuns nearby crew if it hits their ship - which it will, a lot! You'll also find a map of shallow waters, which stop movement in combat while you're sailing through the rocky channels.

Achievements

If you head to the store page you might have seen that achievements have been added. You can only do these on this beta branch, and everyone else will get their chance when we launch the full release.
There's 84 of them to try and get, and we're very much looking forward to seeing what percentage of people get certain achievements...

Anything else?

There sure is... not only is there a lot of polishing, balancing and bug-fixes (which we'll detail in full on the final release patch notes), you may also be interested in the following:

• Lifeboat and Stranded Mode Revamp! You can now choose between various destinations that you can try and make your way to. It'll also show you how long you'll last and the chance of rescue in that spot. So now you can make some tough choices in this perilous situation - do you go for the closer rescue spot with a lower chance of rescue, or head to the distant port and it's guaranteed salvation? Events will happen along the way as usual - including random rescue chances. Where you lose your ship is also important - sink next to a port and you'll likely survive. Find yourself in the middle of nowhere and it'll be tougher going.
• New Ships! We've got seven new ship variants. Once you've captured them you can switch over to that variant in the Journal.
  
• Female Captain! The extremely talented Amelia Tyler (fans of Divinity may recognise her as the voice of Malady among many other game roles) has given life to our female captain. Just select the female option on the captain creation screen to hear her commanding "BRACE FOR IMPACT!"
• Tutorial Log! Okay, that's not really very exciting, but it is important, especially if you need a recap on useful information. You'll find that in the Journal.

You may be wondering what's still to do? Well, as usual for our beta branch updates, our translators are busy catching up on our text (which now totals 165k words...), and Alex is doing the last handful of monologue images - for those that try Freeplay, or do the full story you'll see some placeholder images there. Aside from that, it's bug-stomping and balancing - which is where you come in! We really need your help testing this to make sure it's solid for full release. The game is enormous, way too big for a 3-person team to test every permutation - and that's after several days worth of testing. Tell us your thoughts and any bugs. You can do that on the Steam forums or via our Discord: https://discord.gg/ZVuEe2a As for when we release? We're aiming for "some time this Autumn" and part of that is looking for dates that aren't too busy with other big game launches. The feedback we're getting on this beta branch will also impact that decision. On that note, we'd really love a Steam review if you haven't left one yet. Especially if you previously didn't like the game - this beta branch is the time to check it out again! And of course, full release is not the end - we'll continue supporting the game, and the more successful it is, the more cool content we'll keep adding :) Thanks for all the support, the game wouldn't be the same without you. Gary, Adam and Alex

[ 2019-10-04 21:47:48 CET ] [ Original post ]