This is it lads! The final stretch! Nearly a year and a half of work on one giant expansion that triples the amount of content released to you free of charge!
For those of you who were invited to the Beta and are in the appropriate group, you may have missed an announcement there to access the Beta- Go join and start hunting bugs! We've already fixed a ton of issues and I'm confident that Fantasy Mode will be ready for release on the 16th.
Mac 64-bit may take a little longer to have completed, but I'll keep you all informed in the next post.
There's more planned to come afterwards. I know a lot of you have been begging me for years to put out the official soundtrack. It's coming.
Sometime soon after I'd also like to create some fabulous merchandise. What would you lads like? Apart from the pirate Captain reclining on a T-Shirt. Let me know in the abyss below!
The Caribbean Sail started as a simple nautical themed Oregon Trail and it's become a procedurally generated open world roguelike rags-to-riches pirate RPG with a branching narrative!
This project was massive. Much like the sailors pressed into service, I never could have imagined working on this for three years but here we are. My scope was definitely too large but I still managed to make a nautical game with everything you could want in it.
It's going to be strange moving away from this black, white, and cyan world I've been living in for three years but after you've all had time to play and give feedback I'll finally release the gold-mastered version and development will be 100% over. I plan on doing a few special things to celebrate that so keep your eyes fixed on the Victorian Clambake horizon for some more Caribbean Sail high jinks.
Fair winds be with you lads! - Your fatigued Captain
Fantasy Toggle - Beta Beginning
Belay being bored because beta begins!
It's been over a year since development began on the Fantasy Toggle expansion and it's finally time to start testing.
This megalodon can't wait to sink his teeth into your ship.
What's happening?
As of today, the final preparations to release Fantasy Toggle are underway! The game has become so internally complex that I've already got a list of known bugs to start fixing. Rather than making the beta public and wasting time responding to forum threads and bug reports, the beta will be done in stages.
I'm having my friends take the first trick at the helm so I can watch how they play in person and see what does and doesn't make sense to them. After the bugs they found are flogged to death and the necessary improvements have been made, I'll have a few specifically chosen lads help improve the grammar and playtest on multiple platforms.
After every problem we could find has been addressed, I'll be porting TCS from GameMaker: Studio to GameMaker 2 and The Caribbean Sailors crew of beta testers will be brought aboard to make suggestions, hunt for bugs, give feedback and give me my much needed ego petting.
If Fantasy Toggle can survive all of that then I'll know she's ready for the sea.
That's probably not what you expected but it's better than watching her sink after the bottle christens her.
Remember when this big boi sneaked into the game on launch day? His time to shine will come soon.
What's left to do?
All of the content for Fantasy mode is nearly complete, but there's some polishing left to do. New feature tutorials, gameplay balancing, achievements, fringe case scenarios that can leave you stuck or aimless, and other assorted little tasks to complete. Like adding more particle effects.
If you want to follow the progress, I'd recommend the official Victorian Clambake Discord Server or Twitter.
WHEN WILL IT BE DONE???
By the end of the month hopefully. There's a lot to take into consideration that I can't estimate. How many bugs will be found? How hard will it be to port TCS through Game Maker 2? How long will it take for Apple to approve the 64-bit Mac version? What does Jenkins do with all the empty turtle shells we catch?
What I can say for sure is that I'm working hard to make the best game I can, which means taking the time to get it right. That's what the giant mollusk running Victorian Clambake mandated.
Captain! A fire breathing ship is trying to ram us!
What other words are you going to make me read in this long post?
These ones, and the next ones; Over the weekend you'll be able to plunder yourself a copy of The Caribbean Sail for $2.99 which you won't see again for a long time. After the sale I'm raising the price to $14.99 to reflect the new value. It will literally be two games in one.
After Fantasy Toggle, I'll have to "Gold Master" The Caribbean Sail and end development. Then I can release the soundtrack, make some merch, and see what else can be done with what I've created! It's been a long voyage but port is finally in sight.
Now it's time to head into the beta development storm. - Your Captain, Evan.
Recent 32-bit Mac crash resolved
The Mac users all got the same crash, and since I don't want to sell trash, I fixed up the game, It's mostly the same, but the bottle messages all turned to ash.
*Bottle messages were entirely removed from the Mac version for now to prevent a recent crash.
Fantasy Toggle - Development Progress Update
Another year, another particle effect filled update!
This progress update marks the third year since development first began. It's been a long journey and the end is finally in sight.
If the words "Fantasy Toggle" mean nothing to you, then click here!
Particles... Ah...
I've been hard at work throughout the holiday season while hiding beneath a pile of oilskins to ward off influenza. Now it's time for a mid voyage progress report!
What's done?
- All the new locations - All the new unlockable ships and professions - Nearly all of the new mechanics and systems - Some of the new particle effects
What's left?
- The new events - The new opportunities - The new items - The new storyline - The rest of the new particle effects
That's the short version.
Much like the furnace above, this development cycle has burned up time quickly.
I said this in the last progress report and I'll say it again. Creating Fantasy Toggle has been comparable to creating a new game inside of an old game. Implementing new systems while maintaining old mechanics is like trying to sail a clipper ship against the wind- it's slow progress and things keep breaking.
Throw in the new Mac update demanding 64-bit binaries when GM:S 1.4 can only handle 32 and I've got a shark sized problem on my hands to bring the entirety of The Caribbean Sail into GameMaker 2 at some point. The engine upgrade shouldn't take too long but becoming a verified app developer? New waters for this young rogue.
Like the lasers fired from the Cybership above, sometimes we miss our target.
What does this all mean?
The opening of beta has been moved to April 30th.
The participants have all been hand-picked which means if you'd like to test out Fantasy Toggle when the time comes? You should climb aboard the official Discord!
After Fantasy Toggle is complete, The Caribbean Sail will be twice the game it is now! This also means that I'll be increasing the price once again to reflect the new value.
There are more plans after Fantasy though! A soundtrack, merch, potentially a physical edition?! Time will tell but until then, I'll be at the helm of development!
- Your Captain, Evan.
Fantasy Toggle Expansion - Progress Update
We've come a long way but we've still got a long way to go.
If you're clueless about the Fantasy Toggle expansion, read this!
If you've been paying attention to development, you'll know this expansion is taking longer than I first estimated. That's because Fantasy Toggle isn't as big as Route Planning was... it's twice as big.
Feast your eyes on a few of the completed features!
Involuntary Diving!
Digging up other peoples retirement plans!
Stuff I haven't told you about! - and I'm not going to.
Twice as many new professions and vessels to unlock!
When will it be released?
January 31st - 2020 ...is when I want to open testing.
After two years of development, I have a high standard of quality for this final content update. The sheer amount of interconnected systems has made development particularly tricky. Making the entirety of Fantasy mode optional (hence the "Toggle") has been comparable to building a new game inside of a pre-existing game.
While a lot of progress has been made, my original estimate was simply unrealistic.
We learn, we move on.
Unfortunately the Jolly Riot demo won't be ready until at least mid 2020 because I'll be focused on finishing development of The Caribbean Sail. Progress is still being made and you should follow then wishlist Jolly Riot if you'd like to learn more about my next project!
Another patch to delay obsolescence.
I finally added the Discord rich presence. *
Three achievements are new.
Did some bug fixing too.
Enjoy the new features with much effervescence!
* There were bugs with the Linux and Mac builds I ported,
so for Discord rich presence, only Windows is supported.
:TCS_Tophat:
V1.6.8 - The Drunken Update
"Any fool can navigate the world sober. It takes a really good sailor to do it drunk." - Sir Francis Chichester
Here we are lads! These are the final touches before I begin work on the Fantasy Toggle expansion!
Normally I spice up the patch notes with humor or poetry but if I tried to do that with this update log, it would be a full novel. I wasn't expecting this patch to be the size of a bloated whale and take an Atlantic crossing's worth of time to complete.
These are the new features! + New voyage preparation screen
+ Tutorial reset button
+ Helpful starters guide with tips
+ Pub design overhaul
+ Pub shop to buy rum
+ Rum barrel item to improve morale
+ Drunken screen and music distortion effects
+ Nation relation
+ Button in pub to view your relations
+ Very good or very poor relations determine whether or not you'll be welcomed or attacked when approaching ships
+ Worst possible relations with the pirates will cause pirate ships with red flags to spawn
+ Red flag item
+ Opportunity button in pub
+ Three opportunities (for now) and a lot of "none available" fluff text
+ Barnacles
++ Wait barnacles?
+++ A WAY TO SCRAPE OFF BARNACLES THAT AREN'T ON YOUR SHIP!
+ Pray button for the Missionary
+ Compass item to avoid storms
+ Tool prompts while sailing for the sextant and compass
+ Ability to sell items in port from inventory tab
+ Unique captain sprites for each faction
+ Staying anchored while sailing eventually cures seasickness
+ Whaling is slightly easier and the dead whale spawn rate is lower
+ An immaculate flute song available on only one day of the year
+ Right clicking "FIRE" or pressing "B" in combat will fire all loaded cannons
+ Rain puts out fires started by greased shot
+ Drowsy Maggie shanty available in port. It might be my new favorite
+ Letter of marque description changed to clarify its purpose
+ Bug fixes. Many bug fixes.
+ Particle effects
+ Particle bubbles
+ Particle bubble popping
+ Popped bubble particle effects
+ Probably more that I can't even remember
Be on the lookout for bugs as you enjoy the new content and let me know if you encounter anything I need to make a silent V1.6.9 patch to resolve before I back everything up and begin creating Fantasy Toggle.
What's next? I'm going to (try to) bring TCS to Discord! It's an opportunity to spread the piratey gospel even further. We'll need a verified server which means building from scratch. If you want to know the deepest community lore then grab a potato and climb aboard the official Victorian Clambake Discord server.
On the first of April, I'll run a week long sale to celebrate our progress!
Be sure to leave a review if you haven't already! Can we achieve the "Overwhelmingly Positive" status?
As always, thank you for the support!
- Your Captain, Evan
Fantasy Toggle - Development Seamap
Freedom and fortune are fine for a time, but the devil awaits in the depths of the unknown.
This is the seamap for Fantasy Toggle
I've held back the most creative ideas in favor of maintaining an accurate 1700's sailing experience. That's about to change.
Fantasy Toggle is the final major content expansion to The Caribbean Sail. It will be mysterious, dangerous, fantastic, free, and entirely optional. It will bring that sense of wonder and possibility from nautical mythology to life in the game.
Here's the plan: A toggle will be presented to enable fantasy mode when you select an empty save slot. This will allow people who prefer the historically grounded setting to continue playing without any intrusions from the mythical.
Disclaimer: Like the legends of old, some features may change.
The Charted Features
Though much is planned, many of the events and encounters would be better experienced than explained. Where's the mystery when you already know what you'll find? Instead, here's an overview of the types of content I'll be creating.
New Ports
At least three new map locations that you'll have to discover before being able to set course for them.
Luck
It won't have much impact on the likelihood your crew will become sick and die, but many of the new features had to depend on something. It will reflect your relation with the sea itself and lead to some "interesting" scenarios.
Treasure Hunting
Why trust banks when the ground is a perfectly safe place to keep money? I bury every penny I make from this game behind my house and it hasn't been stolen yet. It is really hard to find a buried penny though...
Unlockables
There will be new professions and ships to unlock. You probably expected that, but what you didn't expect was the power of pistons! You'll be able to acquire a Steamship that isn't dependent on the wind... but you will have to pay for fuel.
Events
As for the new encounters; You'll find sea monsters, ghost pirates, curses, events based off traditional nautical mythology and a few of my own!
Story Structure
Though the current set year of the world will not change, it will be instantly apparent that things are different. Unlike the current main story, many opportunities will present themselves and allow you to decide your own investment in them.
More Shanties
Can you really ever have enough musical alternatives? I won't be satisfied until every inventory slot contains a shanty.
Particle Effects
Do you love particle effects? By George, I can't get enough of them. There will be new particle effects and they will be glorious.
Final Notes
I'm going to push one more patch before I dedicate to working on Fantasy Toggle. As with Route Planning, this will complicate the file too much to push in multiple patches so it all has to be completed as one massive update.
I'd like to complete Fantasy Toggle in four months or less but it's impossible to know how long something will take when you're a solo developer.
If you have any questions, the forums are always open. If you'd like to say "Ahoy!" then climb aboard the Community Discord. If you haven't already, do drop an honest review on the store page! They're encouraging and helpful as feedback. My gratitude!
- Your Captain, Evan.
V1.6.7 - I did Willy Whale today, thanks for asking.
Sometimes you get hooked on a passion project and can't stop yourself
You know that whale you always see? Yeah, that one. You can finally catch him.
Next time you see the whale flaunting his fluke and spewing his spume "Go Fishing" and you'll spot that beautiful blowhole bobbing in the bay.
After attaching your harpoon to him, a new mini-game will trigger. All you have to do is click when the white line is over the red line. If you mess up too many times you'll never see him or your precious harpoon again.
I intended to work on other things this week but once I got started I simply couldn't quit. Making a (comparatively) huge new animated asset, new song, and new mini-game, took quite awhile. Whaling has been requested frequently enough to hopefully make the effort worthwhile.
Apart from whaling, a game crashing bug was fixed... and oh so very many new glorious particle effects.
