Pirates and Traders version 2.0.0 has finally been released.
It took a lot longer than I had expected. Two issues troubled the development. Firstly, I decided to rebuild the RPG module in the game, and that required ripping up a lot of the old gameplay code before putting it together again. And then there was the playing and balancing act afterwards. I started out with 16 skills, increased it to 20, before scaling it back again to 16 and 12. Hopefully, the 12 skills I settled on will feel balanced – all useful for some purpose and playing style (and they will all be a lot more interesting once I start adding in the new story snippets).
The other issue that troubled is the art. It simply didn’t get ready in time, and there is still a deal of it that is not ready. I finally decided to simply go ahead and release it as is – I hope that you agree with my decision.
This version adds a lot to the game, but a lot of it is still under the hood. This is on purpose – the changes with v2.0.0 are so massive that I expect a lot of bugs to turn up once it gets into the hands of a couple of 1000s, rather than the handful who have been slaving away at the interface for the past weeks. Rather than add a lot of new content which would undoubtedly include even more bugs, I will wait until the major bugs have been ironed out before I start adding. And there is a lot to add – in addition to fixing up the artwork as I get new deliveries, there is an entirely new major quest waiting to be added into the game in addition to many, many small ones, the personal dueling module, all of the new in-game items, many new traits, and so on. If you enjoy the RPG aspect, I believe and hope that you have something to look forward to.
Summarizing all of the changes in version 2.0.0 is not doable, but briefly and incompletely, here are the main changes:
- All new RPG system based on 4 Aptitudes (Physical, Intellectual, Spiritual, Social) and 12 skills. Also with (in this release) 8 traits to specialize your character.
- New and improved graphics for the game map and new ship portraits for all 20 ships.
- Changed ship improvement system; ships now have a size factor, and adding cannons and ship improvements reduce cargo capacity. More than 20 ship improvements.
- Revamped map structure (ports and sea zones). Ship movement now allowed for more than 1 zone at a time.
- Ship combat has been revamped. Boarding combat now has a morale aspect involved.
- Financial district replaces treasure. Loans are now global.
- Rebuild the shipyard. Now offers more than one ship improvement or ship hull at a time.
- Missions can now be gotten in two places: jobs and trouble. A third location (socializing with the governor) will shortly be added.
- The port attack algorithm has been completely rewritten. Ports are now also defended by their militia.
I hope you enjoy it and the changes arriving in the coming versions.
Special thanks to ronalddame and jakal323 on the forums for finding a lot of different bugs. Any bugs still left in there are all my fault.