Buccaneers! News

[p]Fellow swashbucklers,
[/p][p]We’ve released a minor update containing a security fix for a vulnerability found in the Unity game engine. According to Unity, there is no evidence that this vulnerability has been exploited, but we strongly recommend installing this update to be safe. You can read more about the security fix here.
[/p][p]We have been working on more features and fixes, but these are not yet ready to release, so are not included in this patch. We do apologise for the long wait - development is very slow nowadays, but as soon as we have new features to ship, we’ll let you know!
[/p][h3]Buccaneers! Version 1.1.02[/h3][p][/p][p]Fixes[/p][p]- Patch for security vulnerability in the Unity engine.
[/p][p]Happy pirating! 🏴‍☠️[/p]

Fellow swashbucklers,

We’ve released a small patch addressing some high priority issues with loading save games as well as a handful of minor fixes.

Buccaneers! Version 1.1.01

Changes
- Increased the size of ship health UI elements to make ship names and crew numbers easier to read.
- Added an error message when a save fails to load. This should be less likely to happen now (see below).

Fixes
- Improved error checking when loading save files to fix some saves not loading at all.
- Fixed new autosaves not always overwriting the oldest autosave first.
- Fixed world map tutorial videos not playing on Steam Deck.
- Fixed controller navigation not working in the Mods menu.
- Fixed controller back button not working while changing a key binding.

Happy pirating! 🏴‍☠️

Fellow swashbucklers,

The Buccaneers! Original Soundtrack is now available as a DLC!

Now you can listen to 20 piratey themes directly through Steam, including bonus tracks not featured in the game. The soundtrack includes MP3 files and high-quality WAV files so you can use whichever you prefer on your own devices.

The DLC features over an hour of music composed by Christian Tornholm-Lehn, including cinematic ship battles, sailing ambience, shanties and more!

Check out the store page right here where you can get the soundtrack for a 20% discount for a limited time! If you already own the game, you can save even more with the Game + Soundtrack bundle.

Happy pirating, me hearteys! 🏴‍☠️

Fellow swashbucklers,

Modding support is finally here! After a long hiatus, we’re excited to give you new ways to customise your ships with cosmetic mods. This feature is currently in beta and may be updated and expanded based on your feedback, so please let us know what you think in the forums and our Discord!

Please note that Steam Workshop support is not included with this release, but we’re looking into adding this soon.

This release also brings several improvements and bug fixes, including a fix for some save files not loading properly. We apologise to those who were affected by this issue and hope this resolves it for you!

Check out the full patch notes below:

Buccaneers! Version 1.1.0

New Features
- Modding support [beta]: You can now create and install cosmetic mods to customise the appearance of your ships. A full modding guide can be found in the “BuccaneersData\Streaming Assets\Modding~” folder inside the game’s install directory. Mods can be installed in the “Documents\Buccaneers\Mods” folder and enabled or disabled via the in-game Mods menu.

Changes
- The “Sail Ho” pop-up now displays a success chance to indicate how difficult an encounter is before it begins.
- Removed the “Battle Plan” screen from the World Map UI. Selecting “Attack” in the “Sail Ho” pop-up now starts the encounter immediately, matching the behaviour in open-world sailing.
- You now have a 100% chance to evade certain quest encounters via the “Sail Ho” pop-up if they prevent you from fleeing once the battle starts. This allows you to prepare your fleet and return when you are ready.
- The ship customisation menu now uses a live preview of a model ship to show paint scheme and sail combinations instead of static images.
- Cabin paint schemes now also use a live preview of a small cabin mock-up instead of static images in the purchase and customisation menus.
- Added a field-of-view slider to Photo Mode to allow zooming in or out.

Fixes
- Fixed a bug that prevented some saves from loading if there were contested regions on the map.
- Fixed some areas in the large shipyard sometimes becoming inaccessible on foot.
- Fixed the fleet strength threshold for the optional fleet upgrade quest goal before the final boss fight in Act 3 (Retribution). This now only triggers when your fleet is slightly more powerful than the enemy (shown in the success chance in the “Sail Ho” pop-up).
- Fixed town music persisting when returning to the main menu.
- Fixed quest-specific battle music not playing when the encounter was triggered in open-world sailing mode.
- The following UI elements are no longer visible in Photo Mode: enemy captain health bars, AI boarding progress bars, encounter zone markers and interaction prompt text.
- Quest goals requiring you to own a ship of a specific tier will now be automatically completed if any ship in your fleet already meets the criteria, not just your flagship.

Happy pirating and modding! 🏴‍☠️

Fellow swashbucklers,

We’ve released a new update with many enhancements to make your life on the seas all the merrier! Open world sailing has been given major improvements including support for bounties and quest encounters, plus a new world map UI for quick reference. You’ll also notice some new music in a few places including battles, sailing and taverns, so we hope you’ll enjoy them! Check out the full patch notes below:

Buccaneers! Version 1.0.14

New Features
- You can now replace a captured ship’s faction upgrades with your faction’s upgrades in friendly shipyards. From the Fleet Management menu, select a ship and go to Upgrades > Refit to preview and confirm the changes.
- You can now view a condensed version of the World Map from your Captain’s Log while in open-world sailing. This allows you to see your current position, view information about each town (including imports and exports), and set a town as your destination.
- Bounties and other quest battles can now be encountered in open-world sailing without needing to use the World Map.
- You can now use the spyglass to mark a town as a destination or track a nearby quest encounter.

Changes
- Added some new music tracks and made improvements to several existing ones. Taverns now play some jaunty sailor’s tunes from time to time...
- Ship battle music is now split into two groups: one for smaller battles and one for larger battles (including forts).
- Encounters in open-world sailing now show the same “Sail Ho” pop-up as the World Map, giving you the same options to attack or evade. The outcome takes place after a fade-to-black which advances time slightly.
- Location and quest markers in open-world sailing now update when you change the tracked quest in your Quest Log.
- Quest encounters that happen in specific regions no longer randomise their position every time you enter your cabin. This now only happens after leaving a town or ending a battle.
- Treasure Fleet quests now include the name of the target ship in the title.
- You can no longer open the Captain’s Log while using the spyglass.
- Increased the minimum starting distance between friendly and enemy ships in ship battles.
- The accent colour on the ship’s wheel’s centre spoke no longer changes with your ship’s paint scheme, so it is now easy to see at all times. This is especially helpful for manually recentering the wheel in VR mode.
- Modified the design of ship health bars and VR boarding progress bars for better contrast and consistency with other UI elements.
- Added a bell to every fort which plays the ringing alarm sound during land battles.
- Added some new sketches to the World Map and moved some existing ones.
- Added an icon that displays when you manually save the game via the Pause Menu.
- [VR] The spyglass view is now slightly clearer and location marker text is larger and easier to read.
- [VR] Highlighted locations and quest markers now remain visible outside the spyglass view until you hold it near your face, instead of disappearing as soon as you grab it.

Performance
- Removed potential stutter when changing ships in a shipyard.
- Reduced framerate drops when boarding starts.
- Reduced occasional framerate drops while sailing in the open world.
- [VR] Improved performance while using the spyglass.

Fixes
- Location markers in open-world sailing no longer slide around unexpectedly.
- The delay between increases in fire severity on your ship now correctly scales with the Cannon Reload Speed setting (Options > Gameplay).
- Subtitles no longer get stuck on screen when the game is paused.
- Region buttons on the World Map now align more closely with the dotted boundary lines.

Happy pirating and have a spooktacular Halloween, me hearteys! 🏴‍☠️🎃