With full release rapidly incoming, we thought we'd post up the details of what new content you can expect:
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
There's 84 Achievements to try and get, and we're very much looking forward to seeing what percentage of people accomplish certain ones...
Anything else?
There sure is...
Polish! Bug-fixes! Balancing! A huge amount of all this can be found listed in our patch notes here.
Lifeboat and Stranded Mode Revamp! You can now choose between various destinations that you can try and make your way toward. 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.
Full release is not the end of the journey - we'll continue expanding 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
Get your name in the game!
Hello Captain,
With our full release just under a week away, we thought we'd remind everyone that you can get your name in the game as a randomly generated crew member.
If you'd like to be included, simply sign up to our newsletter on our website here:
If you'd like further information on how this works, we delve into the details in this post: https://steamcommunity.com/games/551860/announcements/detail/3025727250385485868 If you miss the cut-off (most likely late on the 18th October), fear not! We'll add and remove names as appropriate during future updates. Finally, I'm putting up a bunch of concept art from the archives onto the Community Artwork section on Steam and our various other social channels. I include a description of them, so you can get a glimpse of our process.
I'll keep putting them up until I run out, and you can find them here.
If you have any questions about them or the process, post them on the forums or ask on our Discord and I'll be happy to answer them :)
Thanks,
Gary
Full Release Incoming!
It's time to depart the shores of Early Access, Captain!
That's right, Abandon Ship is graduating into full release next week on Tuesday the 22nd October, around 17:00 BST / 09:00 PT :)
Going from Early Access to Full Release is a big, big step for any game to make but with the upcoming new content, which includes unlocking the 15th region, completed main story, new freeplay mode, populating over 100 maps with unique islands and events and lots more, we feel we're ready.
The more successful our full release, the more content we'll keep putting in beyond our launch, so please help us by spreading the word on the 22nd, and if you haven't left a Steam review yet - now is the time!
In case you need catching up on our Early Access journey thus far, here is a recap on all our previous Major Updates: https://steamcommunity.com/games/551860/announcements/detail/2704893329100702332 https://steamcommunity.com/games/551860/announcements/detail/1608261029763621814 https://steamcommunity.com/games/551860/announcements/detail/1735477647578453999 https://steamcommunity.com/games/551860/announcements/detail/1691558597331600976 https://steamcommunity.com/games/551860/announcements/detail/1691552256164152883 https://steamcommunity.com/games/551860/announcements/detail/3275682189139112231 And if you'd like to know what's coming for full release, you can get a sneak peek here: https://steamcommunity.com/games/551860/announcements/detail/1586880891230426727 Thanks for all the support, we couldn't have got this far without you!
The Abandon Ship Crew
Beta Branch Updated!
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:
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
New Language Added: French!
Bonjour!
We've updated the game to include French. If the version number in the bottom-right corner of the main menu reads "0.5.13007" or above, you have the correct version.
This joins our existing languages of Russian, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese and Turkish, and our translators are busy working away trying to get other languages ready for full release.
If you spot any issues with the translation, we'll get them fixed up - please report them on our translations sub-forum here:
We have a lot of words in the game (over 150,000) so it is a big effort for our translators, many of whom are community members doing this in their spare time. Right now, we're hopeful German will be completed in the next few weeks, but Chinese, Japanese, Dutch, Polish and Italian look like they'll be added after full release. If you wish to stay up to date on how our translations are progressing, you can do so on the post here:
Aside from the ones in the pipeline already, we're open to supporting more languages. This depends on many factors, such as the sales and wishlists from those countries, along with willing community members. If you're interested in helping out, please post on our translations sub-forum linked above. While we have your attention, a couple of things you may find interesting/useful...
You can get your name in the game as a randomly generated crew member! To do that, sign up to the newsletter here:
We're busy working away on our full release, and in the next couple of weeks we should be updating the Beta Branch with a sneak preview of this for people who can't wait to jump in. That'll be a great time to help give feedback on bugs and balancing, and all being well we'll release this Autumn!
If you like the game, don't forget to leave a review :)
Thanks,
The Abandon Ship Crew
Mac & Linux Available Now!
Ahoy Captains!
The Mac and Linux versions of Abandon Ship have been released!
Welcome to all our new players on those platforms :)
As we are a very small Indie team, we don't have access to a large selection of hardware/software to test on, so we really appreciate all of the assistance from the community in reporting their test results.
Linux players may be interested to know that while we've focused our testing on Unbuntu 18.04, we have had reports from people that have run the game perfectly on the following operating systems:
Linux Mint 19.1 Cinnamon
Linux Mint native Steam
Manjaro Linux KDE desktop, Steam Flatpak install
Of course, if you are experiencing any issues, we're here to help! You can post on the Steam forums, email us at support@firebladesoftware.com, or reach out to our Discord: https://discord.gg/abandonship
We hope you enjoy the game, and if you like it please leave a review as it massively helps us out.
We're still busy working on what will become our full release version which is due this Autumn. We've got some exciting plans for the final region unlock, the rest of the main story, a freeplay mode, a revamp of the first region to bring it in line with the other regions, and a whole lot more :)
We hope to get a Beta Branch update for those who wish to test it in advance.
Thanks for all your support,
The Abandon Ship Crew
Mac & Linux Beta Branch Testing
Hello Captains!
For those that are subscribed to our newsletter (If you haven't already, you should be! You get your name in the game and everything!), you'll be aware that Mac & Linux versions of the game are in progress.
We'd like to open testing to anyone that has a copy of the game and a PC running Linux or a Mac, so if you'd like to gain access, you'll need to set up a special beta branch. You can do that by following these steps:
Go to your Steam Library
Right-click on Abandon Ship and select "Properties"
Go to the tab marked "Betas"
There is a field that allows you to enter a code. Enter the one for your chosen platform shown below.
Depending on your platform of choice, choose either the osxtesting or linuxtesting branches from the drop-down list.
Wait for the game to finish updating, you should see the branch name listed after the game name.
If you wish to test the Mac version, the code you need is "ot82Gpa62h9Vq2d" (without quotes).
If you wish to test the Linux version, the code you need is "lt27Utrx5k618vS" (without quotes).
Being such a small indie team, we have very limited resources available for compatibility testing, so we'd really appreciate any feedback when you test it. We'd of course like to know of any issues, but we'd also like to know if it runs okay - this is so that we can get a clearer picture of what OS versions we can support.
If you find any issues, I've created two pinned threads here for platform specific issues:
Mac - https://steamcommunity.com/app/551860/discussions/2/1640919103672444879/
Linux - https://steamcommunity.com/app/551860/discussions/2/1640919103672446045/
If you test it and all is good, it'd be really helpful if you could post in the comments below telling us as such, and your spec/OS version.
If you'd rather do any of that in private, then you can email me at support@firebladesoftware.com :)
If all goes to plan, we'll officially release both versions in a few weeks time.
Thanks in advance for the help!
The Abandon Ship Crew
PS - although the content is the same, the version numbers are different from the recent Windows Major Update, but this is just a logistical thing for these first builds. When we next update the Beta Branch all platforms should be on the same version number.
Major Update Released: Sword of the Cult
Greetings Captain,
We've released our 6th Major Update, titled "Sword of the Cult".
If you'd like to watch a video of all the headline changes, you can do so here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWym0Sz_YSY
Before we go into detail on what's part of the new update, some important house-keeping: As we now support Steam Cloud Saves, and in order to gain access to the new content, your existing saves will not work in the latest version - Don't worry though, you can get a head-start by using one of the multiple quick-starts, the latter two have the option to customise your ship and crew so you can approximate where you were before.
If you are mid-playthrough on the previous version and wish to continue it, then you may switch over to this older version of the game via the Beta Branches system:
Go to your Steam Library
Right-click on Abandon Ship and select "Properties"
Go to the tab marked "Betas"
In the drop-down box, select the one called "0.5.12154 – The Spider Islands Version"
Wait for the game to finish updating, you should see the branch name listed after the game name.
If you’re up-to-date on the Beta Branch (i.e you already have the items listed below) then your saves will be unaffected.
Here's what we've added...
New Campaign
We already have the Main Story, the Combat Campaign and the Haunted Seas Campaign, and we've added a new one for you to enjoy: Sword of the Cult.
As I'm sure the name gives away, the focus of this is the Cthulhu-esque Cult themselves - but this time you'll be playing as them.
If you remember very early in the main story, The Severed One knocks out two bodyguards, thus allowing their escape. You take on the role of one of those bodyguards, utterly betrayed by one you idolised.
After this, suspicion and blame were rife. You were demoted and dismissed to some forgotten outpost.
You however, had not forgotten. The sting of betrayal was replaced by a smouldering desire for vengeance.
Thus begins a story of climbing back up through the ranks of the Cult, serving Fathers Will and furthering Cult ambitions, putting you in a position to hunt down your nemesis.
This campaign runs concurrently with the Main Story, so you'll see some interesting moments - such as how do the Cult react to the death of the first Kraken?
Not only that, but the events in the next part of the Main Story (more on that below) are a direct result of what occurs in Sword of the Cult.
Gameplay in Sword of the Cult
Things work slightly differently in the Cult. You can visit Cult Bases, where everything is available to you all the time. Access to weapons, upgrades and ships is determined by your Cult Rank.
You can gain promotions by establishing new bases, building shrines, destroying ports and eliminating factions.
Control the Kraken!
You'll also be able to recruit Haliphron on your vessel, and at certain points be able to call on the Kraken. By gaining enough "Father's Favour", you can take control of this huge monster, decimating enemy vessels.
You can trigger the full swathe of attacks (and we've added an up-close vomit to the repertoire) by pressing the buttons along the top of the screen.
Campaign Length, Saving, Difficulty
This campaign lasts around 3 hours, and as well as the usual auto-saves, you start with a Captain's Log, and can gain more. Father does not tolerate failure, so in this campaign, losing your ship means game over - no lifeboat or stranded modes to offer a reprieve. There's also a quick-start to miss the opening story segment and get you straight into the action.
The campaign takes place in one of the new regions (again, more on that below!) - one that has thus far done very well at resisting Cult incursions.
Because you can return to base at any point to repair/replenish your crew for free, this campaign has been balanced so that each individual battle is tougher than in the main story. So be warned, and adjust your tactics accordingly!
Three New Regions
Another update, another three regions unlocked! That makes nine regions in three updates I believe. Alex has been an island-making machine (as well as all the other art in the game of course)!
The regions we’ve unlocked are:
Land's End
The Wild Sea
Northern Remnants
Land's End
This is the region you conquer in the Sword of the Cult Campaign. The Redoubt is the capital of the region, a fearsome fortress protected by four islands with coastal defences.
By the time you reach this in the main story, the Cult have already achieved dominance - but you can get some payback by destroying the Shrines built in the area, and raiding the fortresses that were established. Land's End is now an extremely hostile place to visit, so be sure to enter it battle-ready, and be prepared to retreat to repair before venturing back in!
The Wild Sea
Located in the bottom-right of the world map, the Wild Sea is subjected to perpetual gales. When the winds reach their apex in combat, not only will this trigger a brace test, it'll also eat away at the health of your masts section - so if you like to control distance in battle, have crew on standby for emergency repair duty!
The furthest map houses a strange island that is only accessible through the deepest parts of the spider islands, or venturing through two other maps that have giant roaming waterspouts. These tornado's will damage your ship if you sail into them, so be sure to navigate around them!
Northern Remnants
This region was the only place post-Fall where the Empire continued to flourish. That was until a huge earthquake decimated the region, swallowing entire ports.
Now, the region is infested by Cult and Pirate factions.
For those familiar with the story in the Combat Campaign, the Northern Remnants contains one area where you can meet a familiar (if not-so-friendly) face from the Skin Merchants.
Main Story Extended
We've been asked many times when the main story would be extended, and as the Cult campaign sets in motion some world-changing events, we've brought the main story in line with this.
Now, when you flee back through the ice sheet, ensure you are prepared for a tough battle - I'm sure those who have sailed those waters can guess what it is :)
I'm renowned for blabbing all the story secrets, so I'll resist saying anything else!
Factions System
As you'll discover when exploring, there is a new factions system. When a faction occupies a map, it controls all of the Sea Forts and Coastal Defences in it, plus several guarding vessels which will move to attack should you stray into their territory.
Defeat all of those, and a boss ship (or beyond a certain point in the story a Kraken) will be dispatched. Eliminate that, and the faction is cleared.
Cloud Saves
We've added Steam Cloud support.
Because of this, and our work-in-progress Mac & Linux builds, the save format has progressed to the .abs3 format, and saves now appear in a sub-folder in the existing save locations. This shouldn't affect you unless you're specifically looking for the files.
You may find this link useful to track your Steam Cloud Saves:
Weapon spawning on the new ship layouts has been tweaked so that no more than two instances of a swivel gun or mortar will appear - so no Heavy Bombards with 6 hull crackers spawning! We've also weighted the spawn rates of these layouts, so cannon-based vessels should be seen more often. Please keep providing feedback on stuff like this to help us further tune it.
Crew Levels have been added for the enemy (they used to be all basic level). As the game gets harder, enemy crew will be more skilled, which gives late game battles with the AI an extra edge. You can hover over their crew discs in the top-left to view their skill levels and make decisions about who to target/avoid. We've also made player crew skill levels take longer to earn on the higher levels - the game has got quite big now, so we wanted to avoid situations where you'd maxed out your crew by the time you reached Landfall :)
Differing Weapon Reload times have been added (previously reloading was all the same) - their times are noted on their tooltips and in port. This takes the edge off some of the best weapons - unless you're savvy with assigning the correctly skilled crew to them of course...
We've streamlined the first section of the game, so it's faster to get through. We've also ensured a lot more variety in these opening maps by adding unique islands and events, as well as weighting things like weather generation so you'll be constantly encountering something new.
Supplies pickups are now scattered around the world
Despite adding tens of thousands more words, our translators have done an excellent job of keeping up - Russian, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese are all 100% translated with this update, and we can now add a new language to the roster: Turkish!
If you'd like to keep an eye on how other translations are coming along, check out the forum post here:
This is another gargantuan update, and we'd really appreciate any feedback - the best place to reach out to us is either on the Steam forums or our Discord:
https://discord.gg/ZVuEe2a
Major Update 6 will be our last before we go into full release some time this autumn. For those keen to play the latest, we plan on putting updates on the beta branch before then - and of course, hitting version 1.0 doesn't mean we'll stop improving the game either :)
On that note - we'll be having our biggest ever discount at 10am PST on the 30th July: 40% off. It'll last for 48 hours and is your last chance to get the game before we increase the price by $5. It won't be this cheap for a long time, so we wanted to give you a heads up. For all the details on that, check out this post:
https://steamcommunity.com/games/551860/announcements/detail/2704893329098885977
Thanks for the support,
The Abandon Ship Crew
Heads up: Incoming price changes
Hello fellow Captains,
For those that are familiar with the Early Access blurb in our store page, it has always been our intention to raise the price of the game as it moves close to Version 1.0.
We thought we'd hold a big blow-out sale before the price goes up, so we're going to be reducing the game for 48 hours to its deepest discount ever: 40%
This is due to go live at 10am PST on the 30th July - this is the cheapest the game will be for a very, very long time - so now really is the time to jump in if you haven't already!
After we release the Sword of the Cult update, we'll be working our way toward full release, so from 1st August we'll be increasing the price from $19.99 to $24.99 (for other currencies we'll go by the Steam recommendation).
The game has expanded massively since we launched into Early Access back in February 2018. Back then, we had 4 regions, part of the main story plus a combat campaign.
With the launch of Sword of the Cult, we'll have:
14 Regions
More main story
Haunted Seas Campaign
Sword of the Cult Campaign
Dozens of new weapons, upgrades and ships
Swathes of new systems that improve the game
Hundreds of balancing, polish, quality of life and bug fixing changes
And as we move toward full release in the Autumn, we'll unlock the final region, populate the original four areas with lots of island and quest content, add some more systems to expand gameplay, and add a new campaign based on a freeplay mode.
After release, development will not stop. We will continue to support the game with new content and improvements.
We'd like to extend our thanks to the entire community for their kind reviews, support and feedback throughout Early Access. We wouldn't have got this far without you!
Thanks for the support,
Gary, Adam and Alex
PS - If you're interested/catching up on progress here are all the original announcements (starting from most recent) that accompanied each Major Update:
Sword of the Cult: https://steamcommunity.com/games/551860/announcements/detail/2704893329100702332
The Spider Islands: https://steamcommunity.com/games/551860/announcements/detail/1608261029763621814
Shattered Empire: https://steamcommunity.com/games/551860/announcements/detail/1735477647578453999
The Haunted Seas: https://steamcommunity.com/games/551860/announcements/detail/1691558597331600976
The Perilous Bounty: https://steamcommunity.com/games/551860/announcements/detail/1691552256164152883
Treasures of the Deep: https://steamcommunity.com/games/551860/announcements/detail/3275682189139112231
Beta Branch Updated!
Greetings Captain, we hope the wind fills your sails :)
The Beta Branch has been updated with the upcoming Major Update, titled "Sword of the Cult".
To learn how to gain access to the Beta Branch, click on this link:
If the number in the bottom-right corner of the Main Menu ends in 12552 or later, you have the correct version.
To access this new content, you'll need to start a new game.
Here's what we've added...
New Campaign
We already have the Main Story, the Combat Campaign and the Haunted Seas Campaign, and we've added a new one for you to enjoy: Sword of the Cult.
As I'm sure the name gives away, the focus of this is the Cthulhu-esque Cult themselves - but this time you'll be playing as them.
If you remember very early in the main story, The Severed One knocks out two bodyguards, thus allowing their escape. You take on the role of one of those bodyguards, utterly betrayed by one you idolised.
After this, suspicion and blame were rife. You were demoted and dismissed to some forgotten outpost.
You however, had not forgotten. The sting of betrayal was replaced by a smouldering desire for vengeance.
Thus begins a story of climbing back up through the ranks of the Cult, serving Fathers Will and furthering Cult ambitions, putting you in a position to hunt down your nemesis.
This campaign runs concurrently with the Main Story, so you'll see some interesting moments - such as how do the Cult react to the death of the first Kraken?
Not only that, but the events in the next part of the Main Story (more on that below) are a direct result of what occurs in Sword of the Cult.
Gameplay in Sword of the Cult
Things work slightly differently in the Cult. You can visit Cult Bases, where everything is available to you all the time. Access to weapons, upgrades and ships is determined by your Cult Rank.
You can gain promotions by establishing new bases, building shrines, destroying ports and eliminating factions.
Control the Kraken!
You'll also be able to recruit Haliphron on your vessel, and at certain points be able to call on the Kraken. By gaining enough "Father's Favour", you can take control of this huge monster, decimating enemy vessels.
You can trigger the full swathe of attacks (and we've added an up-close vomit to the repertoire) by pressing the buttons along the top of the screen.
Campaign Length, Saving, Difficulty
This campaign lasts around 3 hours, and as well as the usual auto-saves, you start with a Captain's Log, and can gain more. Father does not tolerate failure, so in this campaign, losing your ship means game over - no lifeboat or stranded modes to offer a reprieve. There's also a quick-start to miss the opening story segment and get you straight into the action.
The campaign takes place in one of the new regions (again, more on that below!) - one that has thus far done very well at resisting Cult incursions.
Because you can return to base at any point to repair/replenish your crew for free, this campaign has been balanced so that each individual battle is tougher than in the main story. So be warned, and adjust your tactics accordingly!
Three New Regions
Another update, another three regions unlocked! That makes nine regions in three updates I believe. Alex has been an island-making machine (as well as all the other art in the game of course)!
The regions we’ve unlocked are:
Land's End
The Wild Sea
Northern Remnants
Land's End
This is the region you conquer in the Sword of the Cult Campaign. The Redoubt is the capital of the region, a fearsome fortress protected by four islands with coastal defences.
By the time you reach this in the main story, the Cult have already achieved dominance - but you can get some payback by destroying the Shrines built in the area, and raiding the fortresses that were established. Land's End is now an extremely hostile place to visit, so be sure to enter it battle-ready, and be prepared to retreat to repair before venturing back in!
The Wild Sea
Located in the bottom-right of the world map, the Wild Sea is subjected to perpetual gales. When the winds reach their apex in combat, not only will this trigger a brace test, it'll also eat away at the health of your masts section - so if you like to control distance in battle, have crew on standby for emergency repair duty!
The furthest map houses a strange island that is only accessible through the deepest parts of the spider islands, or venturing through two other maps that have giant roaming waterspouts. These tornado's will damage your ship if you sail into them, so be sure to navigate around them!
Northern Remnants
This region was the only place post-Fall where the Empire continued to flourish. That was until a huge earthquake decimated the region, swallowing entire ports.
Now, the region is infested by Cult and Pirate factions.
For those familiar with the story in the Combat Campaign, the Northern Remnants contains one area where you can meet a familiar (if not-so-friendly) face from the Skin Merchants.
Main Story Extended
We've been asked many times when the main story would be extended, and as the Cult campaign sets in motion some world-changing events, we've brought the main story in line with this.
Now, when you flee back through the ice sheet, ensure you are prepared for a tough battle - I'm sure those who have sailed those waters can guess what it is :)
I'm renowned for blabbing all the story secrets, so I'll resist saying anything else!
Factions System
As you'll discover when exploring, there is a new factions system. When a faction occupies a map, it controls all of the Sea Forts and Coastal Defences in it, plus several guarding vessels which will move to attack should you stray into their territory.
Defeat all of those, and a boss ship (or beyond a certain point in the story a Kraken) will be dispatched. Eliminate that, and the faction is cleared.
Cloud Saves
We've added Steam Cloud support. This is just on the beta branch for now, and will be available to all when we move this update onto the main release.
Because of this, and our work-in-progress Mac & Linux builds, the save format has progressed to the .abs3 format, and saves now appear in a sub-folder in the existing save locations. This shouldn't affect you unless you're specifically looking for the files.
You may find this link useful to track your Steam Cloud Saves:
If for whatever reason your local saves and those in the cloud mismatch, Steam will ask you whether you wish to sync to one or the other.
Other stuff
We've done loads of other polish, bug-fix and quality-of-life changes, and on the full release we'll detail all of them in patch notes. Some things worth calling to your attention are:
Weapon spawning on the new ship layouts has been tweaked so that no more than two instances of a swivel gun or mortar will appear - so no Heavy Bombards with 6 hull crackers spawning! We've also weighted the spawn rates of these layouts, so cannon-based vessels should be seen more often. Please keep providing feedback on stuff like this to help us further tune it.
Crew Levels have been added for the enemy (they used to be all basic level). As the game gets harder, enemy crew will be more skilled, which gives late game battles with the AI an extra edge. You can hover over their crew discs in the top-left to view their skill levels and make decisions about who to target/avoid. We've also made player crew skill levels take longer to earn on the higher levels - the game has got quite big now, so we wanted to avoid situations where you'd maxed out your crew by the time you reached Landfall :)
Differing Weapon Reload times have been added (previously reloading was all the same) - their times are noted on their tooltips and in port. This takes the edge off some of the best weapons - unless you're savvy with assigning the correctly skilled crew to them of course...
We've streamlined the first section of the game, so it's faster to get through. We've also ensured a lot more variety in these opening maps by adding unique islands and events, as well as weighting things like weather generation so you'll be constantly encountering something new.
Supplies pickups are now scattered around the world
As we've added several thousand more words, our translators are still catching up. These should hopefully make it for the full release of this update, and if all goes to plan, Turkish should be officially supported as well.
There's also a handful of monologue images that Alex is ploughing through. These will be patched in before this update is released to everyone.
This is another gargantuan update, and we'd really appreciate any feedback - even if it's just that you played through it - best place to reach out to us is either on the Steam forums or our Discord:
https://discord.gg/ZVuEe2a
Major Update 6 will be our last before we go into full release some time this autumn. For those keen to play the latest, we plan on putting updates on the beta branch before then - and of course, hitting version 1.0 doesn't mean we'll stop improving the game either :)
