Sail Forth News

Hey everyone! With the influx of new players from Epic in conjunction with the new updates there have been *a bunch* of new feedback and bug reports so I’m doing everything I can to address things as quickly as possible. These early patches are intended to address the issues with the biggest impact and other items will be looked at soon after.

This patch actually contains two new versions, detailed below.

[h3]1.5.4[/h3]

• Fix potential soft lock in Croaker recruitment arc when searching for Teknowreckage
  
• Fix intermittent errors when aiming cannons
  
• Fixes to crew boarding logic, fixes some cases where boarding sequence would fail to complete
  

[h3]1.5.3[/h3]

• Fix cases where the achievement for catching all fish was unlocked early on game load
  
• Fix Aurora Lantern cosmetic displaying as a different lantern when equipped
  

Thanks to everyone for playing and providing positive feedback about the game, it’s incredibly motivating! If you’ve submitted feedback in-game and haven’t seen it addressed here, don’t worry, I’ve definitely seen it and am working on it!

[h3]1.5.1[/h3]

Hello and welcome to the Maelstrom update! This adds support for the Maelstrom DLC in addition to a host of new features, content and fixes to the base game. The biggest new feature is the addition of the ship cosmetic system, which allows you to equip special cosmetic items to specific slots on your boat to further customize its appearance.

Cosmetic System
- Add cosmetic slots to all boats
- Boat helms are now cosmetic items
- Boat flags are now cosmetic items
- Add cosmetic items to Shipshape Shop and loot tables

World Map
- Improve the UX of the combined local and world map
- Can zoom into local map or out to world map
- Can pan freely in local map without restrictions
- Better rendering in local map of nearby locations
- Can fast travel back to the location you’re currently in

New Encounter
- Skull Clan Summoning Circle: For those seeking additional challenge. Look for a big skull atop a rock surrounded by torches!

New Items
- Add several new types of flags to equip in boat cosmetic slots
- Add several boat helms to equip in boat cosmetic slots
- Add many other cosmetic items such as lanterns and figureheads

New Timepiece Key Item
- Allows fast forwarding to sunset or sunrise and seeing the current time
- Talk to the Lightkeepers after doing some of their quests

Misc Features/Fixes
- Toot and Goose can now be retrieved in the end-game from their camping spot
- Perf improvements to inventory screen with many items
- Ship outfit screen has better camera movement for viewing current slot
- Fix boat repairs being getting stuck if fast travel is triggered mid repair
- Items acquired from Shell Shop show proper prices at other shops
- The Manage Docked Boats screen now shows stats of the selected boat
- Fix boats sometimes showing up in the wrong section of the sell boats screen
- Fix case where Marga might not spawn after getting the Harpoon until player fast traveled
- Fire arbalest variants are now linked to the correct visuals
- Fix a case where dialog would fail to progress when rescuing some Moontiders from the Tekk Clan
- Fix a case where capturing a Tekk Clan ship could result in some broken crew members on your ship which would then cause all sorts of other issues like getting stuck on the fishing screen
- Fix another case where an already sinking sailor could be picked up and then get into a broken state
- Increased hit box for Tekk Clan Tower panels
- Weather properly returns to normal after destroying Tekk Clan Towers
- Fix case where boats could get stuck repairing when fast traveling mid repair
- Fix case where boat physics could get broken if the oar shove off sequence was interrupted
- Fix potential soft lock in Lightkeeper Recruitment arc where players could end up unable to deliver the Spectral Oil to Bello
- Fix missing string when asking Lightkeepers for directions
- Fix missing strings for Tekk Speedboat name and description
- Fix a rare case where turning in an old photo to Snapps could result in a soft lock
- Fix some cases where teleporting the player boat to safety could mistakenly put the boat inside an island

[h3]Maelstrom DLC[/h3]

New Items
- Add Maelstrom-themed cosmetic items
- Add Maelstrom-themed weapons
- Add Maelstrom-themed loot and pearls

New Sailable Boat
- Added the Wormkin Warship, a giant hollowed-out worm carcass with lateen sails

New Enemies
- Lesser Worms: small 1-shot enemies that try to collide with your ship
- Greater Worms: large monsters that circle your ship and attempt to ram it
- Wormkin Ships: powerful warships crewed by worm-infested sailors
- Wormkin Towers: cannon-equipped towers used by the Wormkin

New Biome
- The Underworld: A dangerous new area beneath the Maelstrom and home to the Wormkin. It seems to be in a constant state of change, reshaping itself daily.

New Encounters
- The Maelstrom: A large whirlpool that transports the player to and from the Underworld, found in several locations throughout the world
- Arcane Lightkeeper: A mysterious NPC who is willing to sell ancient items in exchange for valuable loot found in the Underworld
- Wormkin Nest: These glowing nest pods contain valuable items, but disturb them at your own risk
- Wormkin Fort: The Wormkin often take lost sailors captive, and hold them in cages here

[h3]Open Seas Update[/h3]

Ahoy! The next big update to the game is called Open Seas and it is available right now! This update dramatically expands the exploration and sailing aspects of the game with a fully open world, there are no longer any boundaries between locations or loading screens. This also includes a big redesign to world map generation to further improve the exploration experience. If you’re returning to an old save, your progress will be retained but expect the map to look significantly different!

[h3]Sail Forth: Maelstrom Expansion[/h3]



Additionally, we’re excited to announce the upcoming release of the expansion Sail Forth: Maelstrom! This is a paid expansion that adds new areas to explore, new enemies, exclusive Maelstrom cosmetics, and a new NPC + associated shop. This will be paired with another free update that adds the ship cosmetic system, a new Skull Clan encounter, and many other changes and fixes. Sail Forth: Maelstrom is targeted for release on January 11.

🌪️ Sail Forth: Maelstrom - Brave the Vortexes!
Dive headfirst into the heart of the storm with the Sail Forth Maelstrom expansion! A tempest has swept across the Deepblue, bringing forth colossal vortexes that promise unparalleled challenges and untold treasures. Are you ready to face the Maelstrom?

🌌Meet the Arcane Order
The Maelstrom is watched over by mysterious guardians who offer strange new rewards to sailors willing to risk charting the depths of the Underworld. In exchange for much-coveted Maelstrom Pearls, the Arcane Order is willing to offer everything from ancient weaponry to custom cosmetics.

⚔️ Beware the Wormkin
The Maelstrom introduces a host of menacing adversaries that will test your sailing prowess and combat skills. The Underworld does not easily tolerate interlopers. Do not linger, or the Wormkin may claim your fleet.

🎨 Expanded Vessel Customization
Express yourself with the brand new ship cosmetic system, adding dozens of decorative items that can be fitted to the vessels in your fleet.

⚓ Sail Forth into the Unknown
Continue your nautical adventure with Maelstrom, where the call of the vortexes beckons you to uncharted waters. Will you return to the light, or be swallowed by the abyss?

[h3]1.4.4 Changelog[/h3]
Open World Exploration:
- Loading screens between areas are removed
- Can sail seamlessly between areas
- Added ‘Deepblue’ ocean biome between areas with its own soundtrack
- Island generation has been reworked a bit to give locations a bit more personality

World Map Rework:
- World Map generation has been redesigned with an open world in mind
- Can now freely explore the biomes in any order after Sandy Shores
- Difficulty is now scaled based on your overall progression in the game, rather than by which location you are in
- Depending on where you explore, you may still encounter some high-challenge enemies
- Player exact position is now saved instead of just current location

Content Updates:
- New boat: Kestrel, a mid sized schooner balancing armament and maneuverability
- Clams: New digging/surfacing behavior to make finding them more interesting
- Clams: New types of pearls are dropped by clams
- Clams: Moontide Shop uses Moon Pearls instead of normal pearls
- Ship Shape Shop: Shops now have intermittent sales depending on the calendar day, look for flashing lights!
- Ship Shape Shop: Can now sell boats that are stored in your dock without undocking them first

UI Updates:
- New combined Area Map + World Map with better visuals for nearby locations
- New design for wind indicator in the steering/compass display
- World Map shows real player position instead of anchoring to nearest location
- Label ‘key’ items in inventory

Misc:
- Crates and other small targets now always take 1 shot
- Perf improvements when many boats are visible
- Time passes during eclipse so you aren’t stuck on the same day forever
- Improved sinking physics for destroyed boats
- Improved sorting of crew inventory and cargo

Bug Fixes:
- Photo hunt encounter now properly progresses through the various ‘giant’ photo subjects, fixing cases where players were unable to complete their photo collection
- Boat AI now uses oars properly when necessary
- Fix case where player escorts might stop following player for no reason
- Fix cases where the wrong fleet boat could be selected after exiting the outfit or crew manage screen
- Fix many cases where NPCs could be covered by trees or rocks
- Adjust ice target course to be less insanely difficult
- Many fixes throughout the game to quest logic and cutscenes

A big thank you to everyone for continuing to play and support the game! This update was a huge endeavor and I'm looking forward to expanding on it further with the upcoming Maelstrom update. I'd also like to give a big thank you to everyone in the Discord who participated in the Open Beta and submitted feedback, it was incredibly helpful in making this update as smooth as possible!

Hi everyone, Update 2/the Open Seas update is close to complete, and like with Update 1, this is a pretty big set of changes and I'd like to make a beta available for a couple weeks before the update goes out.

[h2]** Joining the beta **[/h2]
If you have the game on Steam and would like to opt-in to the beta, you can do so by right-clicking the game in your Library, selecting Properties > Betas, and choosing `public_preview` from the dropdown. You'll see `1.4.0` at the bottom right of the options screen if you're on the beta.

[h2]** Before you play **[/h2]
It is very important to note that if you do this your save file will become incompatible with the old version! The game will automatically create a backup of your original save on load, which can be found on Windows at `%appdata%\..\LocalLow\Festive Vector\Sail Forth\boat-game-old.save`

If you want to return to playing the old version before the update is released, replace `boat-game.save` with `boat-game-{previous version}.save` Otherwise you can continue playing your save in the public preview branch until the update is fully released. The previous version should be `1.3.4` if you were playing on an up to date build of the game.

[h2]** Bug reporting **[/h2]
If you find a bug you can now report it directly from the game, using the 'Feedback' option found in the pause menu. This is helpful for me as it includes a copy of your save file, the log, and a screenshot which makes it much easier for me to find and fix the bug.

[h2]** Other Notes **[/h2]
This is a big update that pretty dramatically changes the campaign map. If you play with an existing save your progress will be retained but expect locations to move around significantly!

As a fair warning, with how large of a change this is there will almost certainly be bugs I haven't found yet!

[h2]Update 2: Open Seas Beta Changelog[/h2]

Open World Exploration
- Loading screens between areas are removed
- Can sail seamlessly between locations
- Added ‘Deepblue’ ocean biome between areas with its own soundtrack
- Island generation has been reworked a bit to give locations a bit more personality

World Map Rework
- World Map generation has been redesigned with an open world in mind
- Can now freely explore the biomes in any order after Sandy Shores
- Difficulty is now scaled based on your overall progression in the game, rather than by which location you are in
- Depending on where you explore, you may still encounter some high-challenge enemies
- Player exact position is now saved instead of just current location

Feature Updates
- New Boat: Kestrel, a mid sized schooner balancing armament and maneuverability
- Clams: New digging/surfacing behavior to make finding them more interesting
- Clams: New types of pearls are dropped by clams
- Clams: Moontide Shop uses Moon Pearls instead of normal pearls
- Ship Shape Shop: Shops now have intermittent sales depending on the calendar day, look for flashing lights!
- Ship Shape Shop: Can now sell boats that are stored in your dock without undocking them first

UI updates
- Reworked Area Map to better show nearby locations
- New design for wind indicator in the steering/compass display
- World Map shows real player position instead of anchoring to nearest location
- Label ‘key’ items in inventory

Misc Updates
- Crates and other small targets now always take 1 shot
- Perf improvements when many boats are visible
- Time passes during eclipse so you aren’t stuck on the same day forever
- Improved sinking physics for destroyed boats

Bug Fixes
- Photo hunt encounter now properly progresses through the various ‘giant’ photo subjects, fixing cases where players were unable to complete their photo collection
- Boat AI now uses oars properly when necessary
- Fix case where player escorts might stop following player for no reason
- Fix many cases where NPCs could be covered by trees or rocks
- Adjust ice target course to be less insanely difficult
- Many fixes throughout the game to quest logic and cutscenes

Hi everyone, I'm still working on Update 2, but in the meantime here are just a couple small fixes to issues brought up by members of the Discord (thanks!)

It turns out the Glubbgill was bugged and had no way of ever spawning, which is now fixed for those of you trying to complete your fish collection.


- Fish fixes: Fix glubbgill erroneously spawning as a dravenscale, making them uncatchable
- HUD fix: Options for hiding the speed/sail trim UIs are working again

Also, here is a little peek at something I've been working on in Update 2 land: