Beleen
Howdy heroes and hello September! Another week and another peek behind the curtains at what the team has been working on. There’s a lot happening right now, from shiny new systems and inventory improvements to some very piratey progress that we’re hoping to get into your hands soon. So let’s set sail for adventure, shall we?
First up, HUGE shoutout to Pixel Pete, who has been bravely venturing into the wilds of our older assets and giving them some serious TLC. I’m talking cleanup, polish, shine AND sparkle, taking some of those dusty old assets out of the attic and making them look brand new. Both him and Tunik have been making major cleanup passes, particularly on graphics and our atlas work. (Nope, no idea what atlas is, my best guess is map stuff but I’m probably wrong so I suppose we’ll all soon see for ourselves, huh)
Tutulio has screenshot functionality working!
Spider has been busy building out some major systems, including:
And if you’re wondering what all these systems will eventually mean for your adventures… well, you’ll have to stay tuned! And I’m not just saying that because I ~want~ y’all to come back weekly… it’s also because I don’t know either 😂
Immortal Joe has been hard at work on the Pirate Class, and things are coming along nicely. Nulgath is working on animations, the skills are shaping up beautifully, and we’re hoping to have the Pirate Class ready to set sail around Talk Like a Pirate Day! Which is coming up VERY SOON.
We’ve also got 4 different Alpha Pirate art versions thanks to Aranx, and we’re having a lot of fun figuring out where these swashbuckling looks will take us. But that's not all! We’re also brainstorming new ways to unlock these upgradable Class Skin looks.
The first armor is FREE. Because the first one’s always free, right? 😏
Buuuut after that, you’ll need to complete farming quests to unlock the upgradeable versions. Which obviously brings us to the important question on every pirate’s mind:
Would this essentially be a… BOOTY CALL?!
I mean… c’mon now. You complete the quest —> you get the booty —> you upgrade your Pirate Class Skin —> repeat.
The evidence is a bit overwhelming. Booty Call kinda fits perfectly. I think we accidentally plundered the PERFECT quest name.
The new inventory UI is coming together and it looks soooooo good! We’ve been making some big improvements to how your items are displayed and organized, and the new UI is already looking ✨significantly cleaner✨ and easier on the eyes AND the fingers.
Because if there’s 1 thing heroes love, it’s loot. And if there’s 1 thing heroes love slightly less, it’s spending approximately 25 minutes looking for the loot they already have.
And because apparently the team has decided that having only 42 things in development at once isn't enough, here are some of the other goodies currently cooking:
🐔 Chicken Chaser
🐴 Push Horse, Receive Bacon (wait… no, that's not right. It’s actually Pet Horse, Receive Totally Appropriate Sayings)
🏰 Guild Halls
💎 Gem Traits
🔄 Item Conversion
🗺️ World Map UI
Lots of pieces are moving behind the scenes, and we’re excited to keep showing you more as they become ready and as soon as Artix says I can actually legitimately show you all. Because apparently “I saw it on Discord Dev Chat and it looked super cool” is NOT considered an acceptable reason to share something publicly 👀
And finally, we have to talk about the Swordhaven Saga. Things are coming along nicely! Ghost is currently building and animating cutscenes, and I got a little peek at one of the snippets this week… and it is, without exaggeration, SOOOOO GOOOOOOOD. Even though it features the Baddie Daddy we all know and love (aaaand maybe even fangirl over). Tehehehehehe!!!! As you can see, I am remaining completely professional about all of this.
Also, mad props to Jongaar, who has been creating some absolutely awesome sound effects for the saga. The combination of the animation, visuals, and sound is already making these scenes feel incredibly alive even with all the Undead around. Which is technically impressive, because they are like, very much NOT alive.
That’s a wrap! As you can see, there’s a lot happening right now, and while some of the work may be invisible to you today, these cleanup passes, systems, UI improvements, Classes, quests, horse-petting sayings, and story content are ~all~ helping build what comes next.
And of course, thank you for continuing to adventure with us, giving us feedback, cheering us on, sending us awesome screenshots, and being part of this wonderfully weird little world we’ve been building together for nearly 18 years!
Now if you’ll excuse me… I have a BOOTY CALL I need to make 🤭🏴☠️⛵️
Battle on!
