This is a huge release changelog that we have updated today. Being the result of three years development, it won't fit here, so please follow the external link below. I broke Steam, when I attempted to upload it as it is.
We marked new/delayed/cancelled features accordingly to give you a full transparency of the release version.
As Steam Next Fest approaches and the release date draws near (Caribbean Legend becomes available on February 15th), we have some exciting updates to share:
ːjollyrː We've made significant improvements to the demo, addressing all major stability issues identified so far, and we've raised the level cap to 10. This means you can enjoy at least eight hours of gameplay!
Please note that while the demo doesn't feature updated textures (which is a significant update), the story mode, or a substantial portion of the full release content, it still provides the ultimate pirate freeplay experience!
ːjollyrː We'll be discontinuing the demo permanently on February 12th, making way for Caribbean Legend: Sandbox – a free version of the game with no level cap whatsoever.
ːjollyrː To celebrate, we've organized a Steam key giveaway for the full version of the game! Participating is easy – simply download the demo, play the game, capture a screenshot, share it on Twitter using the hashtags #caribbeanlegend and #SteamNextFest, and don't forget to tag @ValkyrieInitia1.
Once Steam Next Fest concludes, we'll select three lucky participants who will receive a complimentary Steam key! This is the second and the last free giveaway we are doing for Caribbean Legend.
ːjollyrː 10 days until the release! Caribbean Legend sets sail on February 15th, with a $24.99 price tag after the release discount. Normally, we would offer a 10% or 15% discount for a week, but we're giving all Sea Dogs and Open World RPG fans a chance to snag the best deal possible – a 25% discount for two whole weeks!
ːjollyrː We will also be adjusting prices for different regions of the world, ensuring fair pricing according to local spending power.
ːjollyrː Important reminder: Exclusive Edition owners will enjoy pre-release access on February 8th. This edition boasts a ton of unique content, and your last chance to acquire it will be from the 8th to the 17th of February. Hop aboard our Discord to ensure you don't miss the ship on this final opportunity!
Good hunting, pirates. ːauthorityː
Demo is go!
Ahoy!
Gun crews - at the ready! Board the Steam page of Caribbean Legend and download the demo now!
This is a slice of the full game, still in development, therefore it might not display the target release quality. New textures, a 200-hour storyline, and most of the new content will be available closer to February 8th for owners of the Exclusive Pre-Order. The global release is set for February 15th!
Have a great sail and please share any feedback either here, on Steam, or on our official Discord server. Good hunting! ːjollyrː
P.S. The next batch of Exclusive Edition Steam keys will be available for purchase from February 8th to February 17th.
Caribbean Legend: Sandbox - Free Sea Dogs Game
Ahoy!
We're thrilled to bring you our most significant update yet! As the release approaches, let's adhere to the Navy code (if there is one) and keep this announcement brief.
ːjollyrːWe will release two big titles in February. ːjollyrːCaribbean Legend: Sandbox is a free game featuring the Sandbox mode (aka Freeplay) with no limitations.
See ye'all and let the gun crews do their godly work on February 13th and February 15th! ːjollyrː
Sold Out
I think we overdid it a bit and sold all the keys out in a day! Contrary to popular belief, Sea Dogs are officially back. Thank you, pirates, traders, privateers and Navy officers.
Couple of important notes:
1. The owners of the Early Access Edition are already enjoying Caribbean Legend.
2. The owners of the Exclusive Edition will be able to play it one week earlier the official Steam release - on Feb 8th. Please be ye warned, that it won't be an automatic process and each will be granted an access manually. My fault really, I should have thought about the process more thoroughly. Now we have over 300 people in the waitlist, so you can imagine my dread. With all that in mind, please keep an eye out for updates on our official Discord server.
If Discord isn't your preferred platform, you can also find updates on Patreon and Steam,
3. The next batch of Exclusive Edition keys, complete with all its perks and content, will become available on Feb 8th. Please understand that our intention isn't to appear greedy; it was simply a less-than-optimal way I personally chose to organize this.
4. Next big thing is scheduled for Jan 15th, so stay tuned.
See y'all at the sea very soon!
Pre-order, Rewards, Early Access and Freeplay
Ahoy, Sea Dogs fans!
We're thrilled to share some exciting updates with you as we approach the game's release in just a little over a month. This year is shaping up to be an incredible one for the Sea Dogs series!
ːjollyrː We've just received another batch of pre-order Steam keys, with over 60 keys available for our Exclusive and Early Access Editions. And they are almost sold out again. ːjollyrːWe added the Freeplay mode in the game, allowing you to choose characters to play and free roam the Caribbean. ːjollyrːSteam Deck is most likely to be fully supported. ːjollyrːThe game is available to play right now.
Next big thing is in a week, Jan 15th! See you soon, pirates! ːauthorityː
Pre-oder, Rewards, Early Access and Freeplay
Ahoy, Sea Dogs fans!
We're thrilled to share some exciting updates with you as we approach the game's release in just a little over a month. This year is shaping up to be an incredible one for the Sea Dogs series!
ːjollyrː We've just received another batch of pre-order Steam keys, with over 60 keys available for our Exclusive and Early Access Editions. And they are almost sold out again. ːjollyrːWe added the Freeplay mode in the game, allowing you to choose characters to play and free roam the Caribbean. ːjollyrːSteam Deck is most likely to be fully supported. ːjollyrːThe game is available to play right now.
Next big thing is in a week, Jan 15th! See you soon, pirates! ːauthorityː
Dev Diary II
Ahoy!
… and a Happy New Year! It has been a super productive couple of months for us. If we double the same amount of effort for a couple of months more - the release is going to be something to remember.
This dev diary will be focused on the progress we have made recently, and even though we can’t show you the best part just yet, you are in for a treat!
But first, let’s go through the master schedule again:
Jan 15th: Release for the owners of the Early Access Edition.
Jan 15th: The third and the final pre-order push - last chance to purchase Exclusive Edition/Early Access.
Jan 15th: Steam page release for an unannounced title.
Jan 22d: ???
Feb 8th: Release for the owners of the Exclusive Edition.
Feb 12th: ???
Feb 15th: Caribbean Legend Release Day.
Notable Items:
UI fixes
The original game was quite notorious for obscuring important mechanics and stats. Well, that’s not the case anymore. No matter what perks you choose, what attributes you buff or what equipment you wear, you will immediately see the changes in stats of your build.
Two more experience bars added to allow better progress tracking. Skill Points never had their own bars, even though they are more valuable than level ups. One look at the character window and you will see everything you need.
Stealth System
Stealth was never the most fun and well thought feature of the series. We added a few adjustments to make it less reliable on save/load. First, check out the eye indicator on the character’s portrait at the top left. The closer you get to a hostile guard, the more intense it gets.
You still have options if they catch you. Stealth is now heavily dependent on: Stealth skill, character’s notoriety, clothes, amulets and social perks. Early game, when your character’s mug is not very well known, you can get by with amulets. But it will take either an expensive trading license or a much better prep in the late game though. The game will always tell you of your chances to pass a stealth dialogue check.
New Items
Originally we promised 9 new items to you. Welp, we got 29 , armament mostly . Some of which will be available only to the owners of First Wave or Exclusive Editions. We found a place for each in the balance, often introducing new and fun way to play the game.
Basse-Terre Expanded
As an experiment we increased the location size of the capital of Guadeloupe. After the release we will do the same to other cities in the game, thus giving you a better sense of townspace and colony life.
New jungle locations are a different story though. We managed to produce two of them, but they will require a significant improvement before we allow them into the release build. Maybe later?
Achievements
The game will have 98 achievements in total, and I guess we will need to add two more to make it a nice round number. Below are the 25 new ones - try to guess what lies behind each title, but rest assured that you will need at least two full playthroughs to get them all!
Dating Sim
My Soulmate
Very
****** funny!
My temple, my rules!
Vile Lil' God
Clean Hands
Caribbean Legend
Hi, dad
Pension and Benefits
Deadman
Hogar, dulce hogar
All your base are belong to us
El Comercio
Point Blank
First of many
No Regrets
So it begins!
Money do buy happiness
Live By the Sword
The Most Notorious Pirate
Lootbox Hunter
A*!
Honoring the Classics
Caribbean Virgin
Three's Crowd
Main Character’s Visuals
We promised you new skins for the main character, and now it’s time to deliver. Added a second tier of the French Navy Uniform along with a new quest to make it.
Currently we are making a new model for the leather armor. The screenshot below is a WIP, but it represents the idea of having headwear for top-tier armor in the game, like helmets or hats, allowing a better feel of progression.
Old models will get an update as well, for example we plan to add leg armor to a heavy chestplate.
Animations
Thanks to super talented Antix we have more diverse animations now. At this moment, we focus on the combat animations and musket handling. Big one, really, something that was never intended to be included in the game, but the most welcome addition to be sure!
https://youtu.be/y-J7b28U8og WIP. Will probably consider other variants of this one.
https://youtu.be/PUxO5xt8J28 New heavy strike. Musket handling should be more lively now.
https://youtu.be/H_zQL4m6Gto WIP. Something to consider post-release, the game is super stubborn when it comes to real-time musket equipping.
https://youtu.be/bXJ3Y2w2zvo The left one is the new dodging move.The one at the right is the old.
https://youtu.be/--ryIA5S0p8 More dodging. Feels more natural now!
We have all kinds of crazy plans for the animation department. Next ones in our to-do list are street musicians, gamblers and fishermen to spice up the colony life.
Uplifted Textures
Same as with animations, this was not planned, but thanks to our community we have a way to improve the oldest and the ugliest textures that had been with us for almost 20 years! Thank you so much, КА!
It is tedious work, but the effect should be noticeable in the release build.
As bonus, we have also uplifted textures of the sails. Sea scenery is already looking fantastic and now it is even better. New sails complement the new sea, improved weather, updated sky so well!
Ship Gameplay
Now, what is the way to make the old naval combat formula a second life? How to make it more tactical and fun? Right, change some numbers!
The Caleuche (Ghost Ship) now requires 100 Navigation Skill. She is the strongest ship in the game.
You can’t hire Navigators with more than 75 Navigation Skill in taverns.
Helen McArthur and Longway are the best Navigators in the game now.
Ships get x2 to hull HP. Unique ships get x3.
Ships get x0.75 to max crew. Unique ships get x0.85..
Grapeshot loses all efficiency after depleting more than 50% of the target’s crew. Bombs don’t.
Bombs cost much more and you can buy or loot much less of them in game.
The game takes in account the rank of the player’s flagship and adjusts quest naval battles to it.
The heaviest warships in the game now cost a fortune to command.
1 and 2 rank warships can be encountered in the open world only after the player reaches level 30.
Therefore, the game encourages you to command lighter vessels until the mid-game. It makes naval combat more tactical, forgiving and more welcome to experiments. You don’t have to reload a game after a bad volley or grind from the start to get yourself a warship before the midgame. But if you do get a warship early, it wont auto level your enemies accordingly or punish you. You will have a fun time ruining everyones day as long as you can afford to operate such a monster.
OST
The OST is complete - over an hour of new music, making almost two hours in total. Fits the 200 hours of content we have. Check out the new national themes - playing for French, English, Dutch and Spanish towns!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53hIPEf5rL4
And… That’s all for today, folks! See you all soon on January 15th! ːauthorityː Happy New Year
Dev Diary
Ahoy!
With only a few months remaining until the release, it's the perfect time to resurrect our Dev Diary series. After a much-needed one-week vacation following our previous crowdfunding campaign, we're back in full swing, ready to tackle the challenges ahead.
We've sent the build to Valve for their final approval.
I did a complete playthrough of Cyberpunk 2027.
We've conducted interviews with several talented 2D artists to update our key art and in-game portraits.
Questwriting is underway. That’s a lot of text and documentation.
Adding new nextgen visual features to the engine.
Adding more items like weapons and loot.
New music tracks incoming!
Looks like we have one more 3D modeler now. Good opportunity to make new land levels.
While we can't reveal everything we've accomplished over the past couple of weeks, we're excited to share a few enticing sneak peeks.
Music
Our composer has been diligently working on completing the OST. Only six tracks remain to be composed, which will encompass national themes and music for Justice Island, also known as the City of Abandoned Ships.
Here's a work-in-progress French theme, offering a glimpse of what we're aiming for: https://youtu.be/bRyuz-SA5o0 New music track (WIP): French Americas
Originally, we had planned to remix the legendary themes from the first Sea Dogs game, invoking a sense of warm nostalgia. However, we are now considering the possibility of creating entirely new compositions.
We have another track to share with you today, one of the new tavern themes. There's no better place for gambling, drinking, seduction, and shady activities than a tavern!
https://youtu.be/M1pU1y7gWvw New music track: Party Like 1660
Levels
As mentioned previously, we faced challenges in our 3D department. However, the situation has improved, and we're excited to announce the addition of more land locations to the game. We've already added two new ones in the past two weeks. The video below showcases one of these locations, which will serve as an office for a smuggler specializing in heavy ship armaments.
https://youtu.be/dyaaLjUonTI Wait a sec, how did he get those inside?
But that's not all. We really want to expand our jungle locations. The original set felt limited and somewhat repetitive, so we're considering not only adding more locations but also making them distinct and introducing additional gameplay mechanics.
New weapons
This serves as a testament to how crowdfunding enhances game development. Initially, we only had a couple of new items planned for release, but now we've expanded our arsenal to include over ten unique weapons. Our goal is to make each new weapon stand out, providing players with fresh and exciting experiences. Some of these new weapons are downright unconventional but undeniably enjoyable.
Consider the customizable barrel musket: if muskets aren't your preference, simply remove the long barrel and stock to transform it into a stylish pistol.
True high-tech.
The Sclopetta grenade launcher is effective but requires both hands to operate. If you prefer wearing heavy armor and swinging a big axe or broadsword, this compact weapon might come in handy.
You are gonna need a lot of crafting materials for that special ammo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRWqzfbW7pw And please, don’t forget to equip a powder tester!
Lastly, behold the sexiest pirate cutlass in the Caribbean.
That wraps up today's update. The next diary is scheduled in two weeks. Join our Discord community; tonight, we're hosting a stream and a podcast!
JOIN DISCORD
Final Changelog
Ahoy!
This is a huge release changelog that we have announced some time ago. Being the result of three years development, it won't fit here, so please follow the external link below. I broke Steam, when I attempted to upload it as it is,
