Salt 2 News

Ahoy mateys!

We hope you all had a good holiday season and are enjoying the new year. We're currently making great progress on the next update and we wanted to go over what you can expect in the next patch and when you can expect it.

[h2]Main Quest - Act 3[/h2]



One of the major features of the next patch will be the third and final act of the main story. This act will conclude the story of the Silvervale Sanctuary and their battle against the Hand of Chaos. This act will also introduce a handful of new quests, brand new and unique points of interests, and new weapons and loot.

[h2]Crafting Improvements[/h2]



Another focus of this update has been to improve the crafting experience. As part of this goal, we've added the ability to salvage weapons and armor. Now, almost all weapons and armor can be salvaged into crafting materials. The higher the rarity of the item, the better chance at rare materials. In addition to this, we've reduced the number of craftable weapons and armor. We realized it was a way too bloated and most of the gear you could craft wasn't all that interesting compared to gear you could just loot. So to remedy this, we reduced the pool of craftable weapons/armor, but added something called a "Crafting Bonus" to craftable gear. This means that crafted weapons and armor will essentially have a guaranteed talent of some kind in addition to their normal talent rolls, making them a bit more appealing to craft.

We've also made some improvements to the crafting user interface. Now you can click on an ingredient in a recipe, say a copper ingot for example, and it'll immediately take you to the recipe for that ingredient, provided it's at the crafting station you are working on.

[h2]Combat Improvements[/h2]



In the next patch we are including some improvements to ragdoll physics, a new attack animation for enemies, and improvements to parrying. Parrying difficulty will now be tied to your combat difficulty setting and we've added a parry indicator that pops up the moment at which the parry window starts. This should help the learning curve and make it easier to predict when to parry an enemy. This indicator can be turned off in the settings as well.

[h2]Quest Locations In Your Journal[/h2]



One feature we've seen requested a lot is the ability to see the location of quest coordinates in your actual quest journal instead of having to find the relevant map in your inventory. We're happy to say this will be a feature in the next update and in addition to seeing the coordinates for the quest, you'll also be able to click on a button in your quest log that will open up the map and put a waypoint at the quest location, provided you have the relevant map in your inventory or at least in your ship storage.

[h2]Steam Achievements[/h2]



The next patch will also include Steam achievements. We've added over 30 new achievements to for you to unlock, some of which will be part of your normal adventure, but others will require you to explore every nook and cranny.

[h2]Performance Improvements and Steam Deck Compatibility[/h2]



We've also been working hard at improving performance in this update, particularly at certain points of interest. In addition to that, we've been improving performance and compatibility on the Steam Deck and hope to be fully verified soon.

[h2]Multiplayer Progress[/h2]



We are also still consistently working on multiplayer and that progress is coming along great. Right now we are working on syncing up dungeons and caves and making sure scene transitions work correctly. So far we've got ships, weather, enemies, loot, animations, the ocean, and the day/night cycle syncing up so it's starting to be very playable.

We still don't have an exact timeline on when you can expect multiplayer to be available but we do feel like we're getting close.


We expect this update to hit the beta branch within the next 4-6 weeks. As always thanks for reading and we'd love to hear your feedback!

In this release, we've introduced some new content and features, as well as addressed various bugs. Your feedback is incredibly important in helping us improve the game, so do keep it coming.


A new island type can be found. Here you can find some new caves, challenges, and treasure.


A new ranged weapon is now available: The flintlock pistol. While a little slower than the bow, it can pack a punch at range with the right stats and talents. A number of different varieties can be found scattered throughout the world. Use them to work up your Marksman skill and unlock new talents.


Along with the new accessible content, we are continuing to work behind-the-scenes on implementing co-op multiplayer where you can adventure across the world of Salt with your friends. It will still be quite a while before it is ready, and we don't have an ETA. However, good progress is being made.

A new game does not have to be created to experience the new content in this update.

[h2]Changes[/h2]

• Flintlock pistols have been added as well as a new talent tree for them.
  
• New volcano island type has been included.
  
• New dungeons have been built.
  
• Some new quests have been introduced.
  
• Improved compatibility with Steam Deck.
  
• Some areas requiring lockpicks to enter now have better loot.
  
• Reticle is now hidden when holding a book.
  
• The Astrologer's Caves now have an increased spawn rate.
  
• The maps that are exclusive to quest locations have been differentiated with a unique rarity color.
  
• A new interaction sound has been added for the cooking station.
  
• New lore books have been added.
  
• Some of the earlier dungeons have been updated to match the standard of the newer ones.
  
• Fixed clipping issues with wooden watchtowers.
  
• Addressed the glitch where players could crouch and clip through some decks at seaports.
  
• Corrected the Crimson Voyager Ship Recipe that displayed an incorrect sailing speed.
  
• Fixed the wrong scale of some chests.
  
• The quest "Let There Be Light" will now only guide players to normal-sized islands.
  
• Fixed the issue of controls locking when the input field of bug report UI was selected using a controller.
  
• Looted item indicators now correctly fit different resolutions.
  
• Corrected the press any key button scaling for different resolutions.
  
• Fixed gamepad bumpers not working to select sections in the settings interface.
  
• Resolved the issue of rain visual effects appearing underwater during a storm.
  
• Fixed a bug which caused the character to shake after fast traveling long distances.
  
• Fixed some cave exploits related to out-of-bounds clipping.
  
• Fixed some typos.
  
• Fixed an exploit where players were able to trap some bosses in unreachable areas.
  
• Steady as a Rock talent now functions as intended.
  
• A rare fall damage bug related to ship wheel use has been corrected.
  
• Improved hold wheel animation to eliminate visual popping when interacting with a wheel.
  
• Fixed the issue of arrows colliding with invisible colliders in some places.
  
• Animals are now more resistant to bludgeoning damage but slightly weaker to piercing damage
  
• Increased the amount of woodworking experience you get from crafting.
  
• Increased the amount of resources sold by prospector and lumberjack merchants.
  
• You can now buy some wood items from herbalist merchants.
  
• Improved performance at some points of interest.
  
• Changed sail interaction text from Raise/Lower to Extend/Retract to make it more clear what is happening.
  

Thank you for your continued support!

Our latest update is now on the beta branch. You can find information on how to join the beta branch here. This update includes a new weapon type: flintlock pistols along with a new skill tree. We've also added a new volcanic island type, new dungeons, quests, and more.


[h2]Patch Notes[/h2]

• Flintlock pistols have been added as well as a new talent tree for them.
  
• Added new volcanic island type.
  
• Added new dungeons.
  
• Some new quests has been introduced.
  
• Improved compatibility with Steam Deck.
  
• Some areas requiring lockpicks to enter now have better loot.
  
• Reticle is now hidden when holding a book.
  
• The Astrologer's Caves now have an increased spawn rate.
  
• The maps that are exclusive to quest locations have been differentiated with a unique rarity color.
  
• A new interaction sound has been added for the cooking station.
  
• New lore books have been added.
  
• Some of the earlier dungeons have been updated to match the visual standards of the newer ones.
  
• Fixed clipping issues with wooden watch towers.
  
• Addressed the glitch where players could crouch and clip through some decks at seaports.
  
• Corrected the Crimson Voyager Ship Recipe that displayed an incorrect sailing speed.
  
• Fixed the wrong scale of some chests.
  
• The quest "Let There Be Light" will now only guide players to normal-sized islands.
  
• Fixed the issue of controls locking when the input field of bug report UI was selected using a controller.
  
• Looted item indicators now correctly fit different resolutions.
  
• Corrected the press any key button scaling for different resolutions.
  
• Fixed gamepad bumpers not working to select sections in the settings interface.
  
• Resolved the issue of rain visual effects appearing underwater during a storm.
  
• Eliminated a bug which caused the character to shake after fast traveling long distances.
  
• Fixed some cave exploits related to out-of-bounds clipping.
  
• Fixed some typos.
  
• Fixed an exploit where players were able to trap some bosses in unreachable areas.
  
• Steady as a Rock talent now functions as intended.
  
• A rare fall damage bug related to ship wheel use has been corrected.
  
• Improved hold wheel animation to eliminate visual popping when interacting with a wheel.
  
• Fixed the issue of arrows colliding with invisible colliders in some places.
  
• Animals are now more resistant to bludgeoning damage but slightly weaker to piercing damage
  
• Increased the amount of woodworking experience you get from crafting
  
• Increased the amount of resources sold by prospector and lumberjack merchants
  
• You can now buy some wood items from herbalist merchants
  
• Improved performance at some POIs
  

Today we wanted to go over some of the content coming in the next update, when you can expect that update, and update you on our progress with multiplayer development. Let's dive in!

[h2]Volcano Islands[/h2]


In the next update we're adding a brand new island type: Volcano Islands. You'll have to venture far out into the sea to discover these dangerous new places. The volcano islands will include unique content such as new undead enemies called Ash Walkers, brand new caves with scolding lava flowing through the cavern floors, an excavation cave that's great for finding ore and minerals, and some unique loot to go along with it.



[h2]Flintlock Pistols[/h2]


We're also happy to announce that this update will include a brand new weapon type: flintlock pistols. To start with there will be ten different flintlock variations you can find with unique effects. Some of these can be found in chests scattered throughout the world, while others will require you to complete quests or kill a unique enemy. To go along with the new weapon type, we've included a new skill tree: Marksman. Unlocking talents in this skill tree will give you unique benefits when using your new flintlock pistols.

[h2]Multiplayer Progress[/h2]

In addition to working on content for updates like this one, we've also been making progress on CO-OP development. We've got a lot of the world syncing and working: enemies, difficulty scaling, the ocean, weather, doors/lock states, etc. Currently we are working on getting all the features of ships synced up. This includes all the visuals like the sails, the helm, and the ship upgrades to behave correctly from host to clients. You can currently join games, fight enemies, sail around and explore.

We've still got a ways to go but overall the development of multiplayer is coming along great. We don't have a definitive time for release yet, but we hope to get to an early public testing stage soon.

[h2]When To Expect The Next Update[/h2]

The next update with volcano islands and flintlock pistols should be hitting the beta branch within the next couple weeks. We're still finalizing and testing some new content, as well as doing an initial balancing pass on the new flintlock weapons. This update will also include bug fixes and balancing changes.


Thanks for reading and we'll have more news soon!

[h3]Changes[/h3]

• Fixed colliders and icons overlapping in merchant, equip, and crafting interfaces.