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.
Cartography Update Now on Testing Branch!
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.
Dev Update: Cartography Patch and Feature List
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!
Player and Quest Journal Available on Testing Branch
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!
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:
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.
Update 1.6.1 Now On Testing Branch!
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:
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.
Update 1.6 - Blood Jungle
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.
Jungle Islands Available on Testing Branch!
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.
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!
Dev Update: Jungle Island Coming to Testing Branch Next Week
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
