Objectives Update

We’re really excited to introduce Paper Pirates 2.0!

Headline features include fast mode, the Captain’s Log, and perhaps most excitingly, a whole new game mode with an entirely new way to play Paper Pirates! Without further ado, let’s get into the patch notes....

[h2]New Game Mode: Scored Games![/h2]
Our new game mode completely changes the way that you sail on the seven seas! Paper Pirates is team-based, it’s true, but in a Scored Game, each pirate earns coins depending on how well they play. To unlock scored games, just play one game of Paper Pirates, and then the Scored Game and Custom Game buttons will be available to you in the main menu!


[h2]What do points make? Coins![/h2]
In a Scored Game, pirates earn coins depending on how well they play. Vote to throw a ghost overboard as a human? Coins for you! Achieve your victory condition? Coins for you! The more coins you have, the better you’ll rank at the end of the game. Coin totals are hidden until the end of the game, so you never know quite who’s in the lead until the dramatic finale.

[h2]Secret Objectives[/h2]
In a Scored Game, each pirate also has their very own secret objective, earning coins for meeting their objective as they progress through the game. Secret objectives are unique to you, and only displayed on your device, so don’t be sharin’ them with yer crew! Objectives range from trying to finish the game as the captain, to gaining bonus coins every time you throw a targeted pirate overboard, so they’re sure to mix up your usual style. But watch out! One player might be demotivated, earning a bumper crop of coins if they finish the game as the stowaway…




There are fifteen different objectives, and once you’ve unlocked scored games you can read all about them in the brand-new Captain’s Log. Once you know what they are, you’ll need to look out for any pirates who are behaving suspiciously… Try to achieve your secret objective, but don’t let anyone else get theirs to stay ahead of your crewmates!
[h2]Fast Mode[/h2]
We’ve heard your requests for a fast mode, for those of you who are seasoned sailors. If you’re looking for a speedier game of Paper Pirates, head over to the options screen and enable ‘Fast Mode’. In Fast Mode, fewer dialogue boxes will be displayed, and there’s less time spent waiting for animations. Don’t panic, we’ll still share important information, like when events are happening, so don’t feel like you need to know Paper Pirates inside out before you try it out. You can even turn it on in the middle of a game using the options menu!
[h2]Captain’s Log[/h2]
Lookin’ for info on all the secret workings of Paper Pirates voyages? The new Captain’s Log is for you! It holds the secrets of all the objectives, events, hats and bots in the game. Events won’t show up until you’ve seen them in a game, and hats won’t show up until you’ve unlocked them, so hunt them all down to reveal them in the log!



[h2]Emotes[/h2]
Brimming over with piratey feelings? Your pirates have learnt a whole new way to communicate! When you pop open the chat box, you’ll now see four new emote buttons that will prompt your pirate to express their feelings through the medium of animation. Feeling joyful? Your pirate can cheer with a heart! Feeling surprised? Your pirate can show an exclamation! Why not use emotes in combination with emoji to really show how you’re feeling when your crewmates have turned against you and are all voting to throw you overboard!
[h2]Bot Improvements[/h2]
For those of you who play solo or like to throw in a bot or two for a bigger game, we’ve made improvements to our bots to make them more seaworthy.
[h2]Bot AI Improvements[/h2]
We’ve tweaked our bot AI so that they’re a little smarter. They should now have a better understanding of event outcomes, and identify their vote targets a little more keenly, and may even send a chat message if they find out some secret information! Does that mean it’s a little bit harder to win against the bots? Maybe! Good luck out there pirates, you’ll need it.



[h2]Bot Identities[/h2]
Each of the bots now has their very own fixed appearance and personality, so you can spend a little bit of time getting to know them. There are eleven bots for you to know and love, and we hope that over time, you’ll welcome them into your games with a hearty yo ho ho! Have a favourite bot? Why not let us know in the comments!
[h2]Player Templates[/h2]
Finding that you’re spending ages in the pirate customiser, setting up the perfect pirate look every time you play? We’re introducing pirate templates! When you customise a pirate, it’ll be bookmarked using your pirate’s name. Next time you join a game hosted by the same person on the same PC with the same name, you’ll default to the same appearance! Don’t worry, you can still edit it and it'll update the template, so you’re never stuck with the same hat for too long.
[h2]Expanded Custom Game Options[/h2]
When starting a custom game, there are some new options to keep your games fresh. You can choose to play either Paper Pirates Classic, or the brand-new Scored Mode, and all customisation options are available to you whichever you choose. You can now also choose whether to fill your missing spaces with bots or not, perfect if you’re not sure how many pirates are coming aboard! Finally, you can now break the ghost slider apart, and choose a minimum and maximum number of ghosts - that means you’ll get a random number of ghosts in your game! In a random ghosts game, you don’t find out how many ghosts there are at the start, for that added layer of deductive difficulty.
[h2]Balance Updates[/h2]
To keep things fun and fair, and to always meet the pirate code, the following balance changes have been made to events:

• In the Election event, the stowaway is no longer eligible to vote and cannot be elected captain. The captain, on the other hand, is now able to vote!
  

[h2]A Few Other Things[/h2]

• A small number of new options have been added to the pirate customiser
  
• Idle on the title screen for long enough, and you might see some of the bots dropping in for a surprise visit!
  
• The appearance of the aura, indicating how many times a player has played into rounds successfully or unsuccessfully, has been improved
  
• The distance track has been revamped to more clearly indicate your progress
  

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

• The Stowaway event outcome now displays correctly in the Round History.
  
• Clicking in the Round History no longer accidentally mutes pirates hiding behind the history window.
  

Finally, don’t forget, you can join us every Saturday at 8pm BST on Twitch for our weekly dev stream. We love when the audience joins in, so please feel free to swing by and play a few games with us!