Comments - Armada_

We'll probably set up a new IndieDB page for it at some point. In the meantime, you can check our Issues page to see how development is progressing between releases: Gitlab.com

We're using the New Horizons name to avoid copyright issues.

We're currently using locations and character models from the PotC game as placeholders to get things started. Our intention is to eventually replace the old assets with new ones for the full game. We're already using community-made ships and music in the demo, for instance.

Hi everyone, I'd just like to confirm that this project is still alive, though progress has been partially halted due to several departures from the team. Real life always comes first, and there's not much we can do about that, unfortunately. We are still producing assets for the game, but there have been no new builds since June. We've got some ideas for getting the project moving again, but they may involve some significant changes to make things more feasible. We'll update you as soon as we've settled on the best path forward. Thank you for your patience, and please know that your support is still highly valued!

Hi all, sorry for the lack of updates! The project isn't actually dead, but our lead programmer was unable to continue for personal reasons, so progress has partially halted for now. We are still developing assets for the game and may post an update showing some images soon. We have some ideas for how we can make progress again, and we'll share the details as soon as we can.

Which storyline are you playing?

Quick note: this article refers to Build 14 Beta 4.1 as the latest release, when in fact Beta 4.0 is the most recent one in our Downloads section.

All features mentioned apply to both releases, but Beta 4.1 has additional fixes and improvements. If you want to try that release while it's still a work-in-progress, please visit our forums: Piratesahoy.net

The plan is to have different calibres for each deck, represented by different cannon models, so there will be a visual change too.

We are still developing the game, but the rate of progress has slowed recently. A lot of team members are away or busy for the summer, unfortunately.

Aside from what you've seen here, we've tested some more recent internal builds for specific features, and plan to merge these into a single build for public release. We'll try to give you more information once we're closer to releasing it.

We decided against doing a Kickstarter because we felt it wasn't necessary for a non-commercial volunteer project. We did raise funds to buy Unity licenses and assets at one point, but we stopped doing that once we had purchased everything we needed.

We don't currently plan to allow the player to choose specific materials for their ships, but we do want to implement an upgrade system to give ships various improvements.

We've been working on a couple of internal builds recently, and we hope to have something ready for public release again soon. We'll post another article once we have more news to share. ;)

Thanks for the kind words! The water and lighting do look quite nice, but in future we'll add proper sky textures and clouds to improve it further, as well as time of day and weather effects.

The engine change is old news, but you can read our reasoning behind it in this article: Indiedb.com

Please see our FAQ: Piratesahoy.net

The latest release (Pre-Alpha 1.8) is now up in the Downloads section!

Highlights of this version include a rewritten physics and buoyancy system that lets you walk around on deck, along with updated materials and AI.

We will have a full article listing all the new features and known issues soon.

Please note that this release displays the WRONG build number in the main menu, so don't worry if you see that. You can tell that you have the new build by the ship's updated red interior, and the ability to walk around on deck.

As always, please let us know what you think!

Quick update: We're currently testing a new build internally with our QA team, and we'll make it available here soon!

As Thagarr said, we do indeed plan to let the player walk around on deck. We hope to have AI crew walking around deck fairly soon, and we may be able to put the player on deck some time after that.

I'm with you on including little details for the sake of immersion, so don't worry about that being neglected! You will, of course, see the core gameplay mechanics being developed more at this stage, though we have lots more planned that we haven't yet talked about.

We also need to carefully consider how to implement new features. For example, by letting the player walk around on deck, we will need to provide different controls for sailing and commanding the ship than you would use in third person ship view. PotC does this in a manner that would seem weird in a modern game, so we'd like to improve on that for HoO.

Thanks again for your feedback, it's very helpful to the team.

Do you experience the same problem in the October demo? The ocean shader has changed now, but we have still seen pink water being reported. What are your PC specs?

We do want to look into Linux and Mac releases later on, but for now we're working on Windows builds only. We will let you know as soon as a Linux build is available!

Thanks for your feedback, we do appreciate it. That's a weird issue you're having with the water. What are your PC specs?

Regarding character control, the camera is something we're looking to improve. It's something of a temporary solution for now, as the main focus has been on sailing and ship combat.

The October release is now available from the Downloads section!

New features in this build include better sailing physics, ship damage systems and AI, improved water and more. We'll have a full news article detailing the changes soon.

As always, please post your feedback, both good and bad, to help us refine the game for the next release.

Quick update: We will not be releasing two builds this month, due to time constrains for some of our developers. We do still intend to have another release done by the end of October, though.

In the meantime, please do keep your feedback coming! The next build will have more features and refinement, particularly sailing mechanics.

Thanks for your support! We do intend to add weathering effects to the ships at some point. Bump mapping should be there already, but we may need to tweak the materials a bit more to improve the effect.

Hi folks, the second September demo is now available. We did actually release this internally earlier in the week, but I was too busy to post it here before October. The first official October demo will follow in the coming weeks!

This release includes a simple tutorial level to walk you through the ship controls, and it also lets you destroy targets to earn points towards an overall score.

For the next release, we're focusing on improving the sailing mechanics and damage effects, among other things. As always, we welcome your comments on the current build, so please feel free to post them here or in our Feedback forum: Piratesahoy.net

Thanks for your support! In answer to your questions...

1) We took donations for a while some time ago, mostly to purchase Unity Pro licenses, add-ons and other software. We stopped the donations after we ran out of useful things to put the money towards. In future, we may take donations again if the need arises, but not for the moment.

2) We do plan to incorporate full crew combat in boarding parties, ideally without switching to a separate deck scene. This probably won't be included for a couple of months at least, but we may be able to get a simple 1v1 test working sooner than that.

3) Our combat system hasn't been completely defined yet, but I can tell you that we want it to be fun, immersive, and more engaging than the combat in the Storm Engine games.

I'm sorry to hear that. Like all games, Hearts of Oak will take a long time to finish. I know it may not look like much now, but it will start to look more like a game in the coming weeks, rather than a tech demo.

Keep checking this page every now and then, and perhaps one of our future releases will get you interested again. ;)

That is planned for future releases. One step at a time. ;)

We've now posted the August tech demo - slightly late, we know. ;)

This version includes the St Albans model and improves sailing physics and commands, while fixing a few bugs and improving performance.

We'll post an article with the full details soon.