[h3]Hi all![/h3] This quarter has seen a lot of improvement and rework. Some of the main focus points from the [b]Upcoming[/b] section of last quarters' update was achieved and I'm delighted to share the progress with you. The control and camera systems in Rise of Piracy had been in place since practically day one. They were relatively smooth to begin with, but after years of chopping and changing - they became clunky, had moments of jank and were prone to failure. The original system was completely ripped out, and a replacement was created. This was a huge chunk of work, but I'm very happy with the result. The movement of the various cameras, the transitions between them, and the overall control from the player perspective feels great now. Jumping between RTS controls of your landing parties, back to first-person Sailing to blast enemy vessels feels a lot more satisfying now. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/41557572/8a55bdb01d2fb3c67bfac1a6afb42017393ce06d.png[/img] Ship avoidance, and terrain avoidance was also reworked. I'm still not entirely happy with the decisions NPC's take from time to time, but it has definitely improved ten fold from where it was. The chances of your ships colliding and sinking one another was a pain point in previous iterations. The changes that I have added this patch have made the chances of an accident between friendly vessels much less likely. In the event of an upcoming collision, or a path intersection, the NPC's will now plot paths to avoid each other. Still not perfect, but definitely a lot better than previous iterations. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/41557572/835e59efe477ac30a8d2cbffc866baa35663f01a.png[/img] Some sandbox options for creating custom scenarios were also added this patch. As well as a lot of bug fixes and feedback actioned. Quality of life improvements, and inclusion of alot of new ships. New artwork has been added to the game also. You've probably met one of the new captains already from the update artwork. Around 30% of that artwork has already been included in Rise of Piracy, with many more selectable characters and NPC mayors, captains and people of interest appearing through your campaign. Voice lines! Some amazing voice lines were adding this patch. The land battles now really do feel a lot more like a pirate raid than any RTS battle. I plan to have more voices added, but the framework is there and the voices that have been added so far add a huge amount to the atmosphere of the game. [h3]Main Items[/h3] Here is a full list of the main items that were worked on during these past few months. There is a much more exhaustive list available on the discord for those interested - discord.gg/kBq6C2bBZh [list] [*] Massive refactor of all camera functions and states. [*] Large amount of test feedback and bugs fixed. [*] Sandbox improvements. [*] Custom Scenarios. [*] Campaign Minimap. [*] Collision avoidance and Terrain avoidance redone. [*] New Ship Models. [*] Inclusion of some new artwork. [/list] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/41557572/7f767281118eac7ff53af257676b4bfc5c9c74ad.png[/img] [h3]Upcoming[/h3] Alot of planning has gone into the items that were not actioned since last patch. The Captains Update is coming together. There has been alot of movement in terms of artwork and the data model behind them is pretty much there. I hope to begin to implement this at least partially in the coming months. Some of the tutorials are now a bit dated and require some updates. The privateering side of the game also needs alot of care. I'll be working closely on that aspect these coming months. Graphics wise I am still unhappy with a few aspects of the game. Having the reflections fixed up in the previous patch has hyped me up a bit for updating some other artifacts that could use some tidying. I intend to spend alot of time on the Audio side of things in the coming few months also. [h3]Thank you[/h3] Overall I feel like the state of the game is good currently. Still a ways to go yet until its stable enough to expand on the test effort, but progress this year has been mighty so far. Thank you all to the Testers who continue to provide valuable feedback & insight. I will be heading to TwitchCon EU this week and am very excited to meet fellow game developers there. Remember, you can follow along with the development live @8PM GMT daily @ twitch.tv/irishjohngames Thank you very much again for your continued support. - John