Salt 2 News

Ahoy!

We are very excited about the next update and we wanted to go over what content and changes you can expect in the patch. We estimate this update is likely about 4-6 weeks out from going live on the beta branch.

Let's dive in!

[h2]Storms[/h2]



Storms have been a long requested feature and we are happy to finally implement them. Now occasionally while sailing the sea you'll see the sky turn dark, the rain and wind pick up, and most importantly, bigger waves.

[h2]New Sailing Mechanics[/h2]



Another feature you've been asking for is more sailing mechanics. In the next update we'll be taking a few steps towards that goal. For starters, we've added wind direction. You'll be able to look at a flag at the top of your ship and see which way the wind is blowing. If you choose to sail in the direction of the wind, you'll receive a speed boost making for more efficient sailing.

We've also added in the ability to adjust your sail length. Instead of before where the sail was either completely raised or completely lowered, you can now adjust it to your liking. This will also affect your speed, so if your sail is fully opened you'll be sailing at 100% speed but if it's only halfway open you'll be at 50% speed.

In addition to that you'll also be able to turn your ship while stationary without having to redeploy it or get out and push it. Also, there are now splash effects in the front of the ship for more realistic feedback when the front end crashes into a wave.

We've got more sailing mechanics in mind in the future but we think this a step in the right direction for now.

[h2]Main Quest - Act 2[/h2]



Our last update included the first part of the main quest and this one will include the second part of three total. In Act 2, you'll continue hunting down cult leaders and discover brand new points of interest and even a new village with a witch doctor.

[h2]Meal and Potion Overhaul[/h2]



One thing we noticed recently is that there were a ton of meals in the game and a lot of them were kind of boring, only adding to your common combat stats. We've reduced the number of meals in the game and added more interesting effects to the ones that are there. While there still will be potions and meals that increase your base stats, you'll now be able to find some that give interesting effects like increased headshot damage, extra damage against certain enemy types, increased attack speed, and more.

[h2]Other Changes[/h2]

This update will also include some new ship decoration items and even a spyglass. You'll be able to loot and craft a few different tiers of spyglasses with varying degrees of magnification. This patch also includes balancing changes and bug fixes.


[h2]Multiplayer Progress[/h2]

We also wanted to let you know that we are still working on multiplayer and it's coming along very well. We currently have it where you can join in with other players and run around the world and explore. We're still working on syncing up things like animations, enemy health/positions, ships, and quest states. We'll have more updates on multiplayer in the coming months.

[h3]Main Quest Act 1[/h3]
The first part of the primary quest line introduces a number of new locations and NPCs.

[h3]Fast Travel[/h3]
Certain locations in the world now contain beacon towers. Once activated, you will be able to travel back to that beacon at the cost of food from your hunger meter, if it's close enough and you have enough food. You may select a beacon to travel to by selecting its island on your map.

[h3]Difficulty Settings[/h3]
For those that prefer a more challenging or easier experience, combat difficulty settings are now available. When you start a new game, or at any time during play, you can set the combat difficulty setting to Easy, Normal, Hard, or Legendary. This adjusts the health and damage of enemies, and adds a very small experience bonus for harder difficulties. You can also choose to lock the difficulty setting when starting a new game if you wish.

[h3]Library Bookshelves[/h3]
A new type of bookshelf can be purchased from cartographers to be placed on your ship. These will fill up with books as you discover them throughout the world, allowing you to re-read them. Note that only books discovered after this update will be added to the library.

[h3]Outpost Islands[/h3]
A new type of tiny island can be occasionally found in the world. These contain a number of different small points of interest.

[h3]Changes[/h3]

• Added main quest act 1.
  
• You can now fast travel to certain locations that you have discovered.
  
• Added difficulty settings.
  
• Added library bookshelf ship decoration that can be used to re-read some books you discover. This item can be bought from a Cartographer Merchant.
  
• Recipe items now show a preview of the crafted item stats
  
• Added category dropdown to bug report window.
  
• Improved jumping mechanics.
  
• Added new loading screen images
  
• Added some new physics puzzles.
  
• Added new outpost island points of interest.
  
• Added new fishing lures to help with fishing quests.
  
• Fisherman merchants now sell more lures.
  
• Lumberjacks are now merchants and sell woodworking supplies.
  
• Prospectors are now merchants and sell blacksmithing supplies.
  
• Added new lore books.
  
• Added new side quests.
  
• Added maps to loot caves.
  
• Added sections to the settings window.
  
• Added unique caves that can be accessed by some wells.
  
• Added frogs.
  
• Added rock salt item that can be refined into salt for cooking
  
• Fixed divers mask items increasing breath instead of max breath.
  
• World reposition events no longer cause one frame where the player is not on the boat.
  
• Strong stamina potions are now uncommon quality.
  
• Fixed ship graphics often popping in the wrong spot for when frame when placing your ship.
  
• Fixed ship placement colliding with merchant ships.
  
• Ship placement depth is now closer to their normal float depth.
  
• Fixed load game UI not refreshing when a local backup was loaded.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused your controls to be locked if you died while steering a ship.
  
• Archers can no longer see through breakable cave rocks.
  
• Fishing commission selection now takes fishing skill level into account.
  
• Reduced the chance for spiders to apply poison effect.
  
• Changed Rigidbody interaction type on player character controller, reducing the chance he'll get flung back when jumping around on a moving boat.
  
• Fixed newly created bait items always being stack size of 1.
  
• Fishing bobbers bounce around less, making it more viable to fish while sailing.
  
• Added ammo and bait to the equipment inventory tab.
  
• Adjusted higher tier compass textures to make them more readable.
  
• Slightly adjusted appearance and size of weaving stations. Placeable weaving stations now pivot in the center instead of the side when rotating. Note that weaving stations already placed on ships will be shifted slightly.
  
• Marked some items without any use other than selling as junk so that they will show up in that inventory section.
  
• Fixed an issue where you could get a map to an underwater cave you couldn't actually go into
  
• Stamina potions can now be crafted at a workbench in addition to the cooking station
  
• Added lighthouse map stamp icon
  
• Boar and Deer are now a bit easier to kill
  
• Reduced ambient air particles
  
• The game now uses less memory when running.
  
• Improved initial load time after starting the game.
  
• Updated engine version.
  
• Fixed issue where enemies would sometimes run up to you but not attack.
  
• Increased drop rate of meal recipes.
  
• The Sea King's Trident is now more likely to roll better talents.
  
• Fixed a bug where crafting stations would cause hotkey indicators to appear briefly when they spawned.
  
• New players no longer start slightly above the ground.
  
• Fixed some points of interest spawning without modifying the terrain below them.
  
• Potions now ignore their cooldowns when you are not in combat.
  
• Updated some potion recipe requirements.
  
• Fixed some typos.
  
• Fixed enemies pathing through shipwrecks.
  
• Fixed some out of bound exploits in caves.
  
• Increased the parry window on axes and staves.
  
• Added potion of renewal to guild merchants.
  
• Fixed effective precision talent tier 2 having the same description text as tier 1.
  
• Grizzly Ribeye is now stackable.
  
• Reduced the rarity of light blue and purple ink items.
  
• You can no longer use health or stamina potions if you are full on those stats.
  
• Fixed map stamp and color buttons not scaling right with different resolutions.
  
• Parry stun effect is no longer removed by poison or bleed damage.
  
• Opening the inventory interface will no longer unhide the HUD if it's hidden.
  
• Fixed some chests having non-uniform scales.
  
• You can now see your current crafting skill level when crafting an item.
  
• Lowered the drop rate rate of map items.
  
• Lowered recipe requirements for some armor and weapons.
  
• Lowered the recipe requirements on some meal items.
  
• You can now get the Red Raider Temple Gate Key even after the related quest has been completed.
  
• Fixed an issue where the pirate king could drop duplicate items.
  
• Fixed an issue with marshland islands causing frame drops while approaching them.
  
• Game sounds and music are muted when in the escape menu.
  
• Fixed interaction outline not appearing on the weaving station.
  
• Fixed some spots you could get stuck in.
  
• Mining rocks can no longer activate the Momentum item talent.
  
• Bug reports of type bug and crash will now send a copy of your Player.log file to us automatically.
  
• Added messages in a bottle that can be found on some islands.
  
• Increased xp from higher level fish.
  
• Fixed an issue where arrows could pass through some parts of enemies.
  
• Fixed New Coat Of Paint quest having the wrong number in the description.
  
• Fixed typo in the guide NPC's dialogue.
  
• Fixed a rare case where clicking a save to load would not do anything.
  
• Fixed brown book ship decoration having normal world journal logic attached to it.
  
• Fixed an issue where the merchant ship would sometimes launch into the air.
  
• Increased visibility of the Mermaid's Blade Herb, making it easier to find.
  
• Fixed an issue with large ships not playing water splash sounds.
  

Ahoy mateys!

Our latest update is now available on the beta branch. If you want to help us test the update and find bugs before release, you can find instructions on how to join the beta here.

This update includes a ton of new changes so let's dive in and take a quick look.

[h2]Main Quest Act 1[/h2]
You'll now be able to start and complete Act 1 of the main quest line. You can start this quest by speaking to the Courier NPC at any seaport or the Seaport Cartographer. Note that you will have to have completed the New Beginnings quest you get at the start of the game for the main quest to be available.

[h2]Fast Travel[/h2]
This update also includes fast travel to certain locations. Places like seaports and guild headquarters will have a light tower you can interact with and unlock their fast travel point. You'll then be able to travel quickly back to these locations by opening your map and selecting the island you want to travel to. Keep in mind that traveling will cost food resources and you can only travel as far as your resources allow.

[h2]Difficulty Settings[/h2]

We've also implemented combat difficulty settings. You can now choose easy, normal, hard, or legendary depending on your desired challenge. If you're looking for a relaxing experience and aren't interested much in combat, then the easy setting is the way to go. If you're looking for a more challenging experience where you'll have to use the best gear and stay prepared with potions/meals, then hard or legendary might be your preference. Normal is a balanced setting and keeps the difficulty where it was before this update.

[h2]Library Bookshelf[/h2]

A new type of bookshelf can be purchased from cartographers to be placed on your ship. These will fill up with books as you discover them throughout the world, allowing you to re-read them. Note that only books discovered after this update will be added to the library.

[h2]Outpost Islands[/h2]

A new type of tiny island can be occasionally found in the world. These contain a number of different small points of interest.


[h2]Patch Notes[/h2]

• Added main quest act 1.
  
• You can now fast travel to certain locations that you have discovered.
  
• Added difficulty settings.
  
• Added library bookshelf ship decoration that can be used to re-read some books you discover. This item can be bought from a Cartographer Merchant.
  
• Recipe items now show a preview of the crafted item stats
  
• Added category dropdown to bug report window.
  
• Improved jumping mechanics.
  
• Added new loading screen images
  
• Added some new physics puzzles.
  
• Added new outpost island points of interest.
  
• Added new fishing lures to help with fishing quests.
  
• Fisherman merchants now sell more lures.
  
• Lumberjacks are now merchants and sell woodworking supplies.
  
• Prospectors are now merchants and sell blacksmithing supplies.
  
• Added new lore books.
  
• Added new side quests.
  
• Added maps to loot caves.
  
• Added sections to the settings window.
  
• Added unique caves that can be accessed by some wells.
  
• Added frogs.
  
• Added rock salt item that can be refined into salt for cooking
  
• Fixed divers mask items increasing breath instead of max breath.
  
• World reposition events no longer cause one frame where the player is not on the boat.
  
• Strong stamina potions are now uncommon quality.
  
• Fixed ship graphics often popping in the wrong spot for when frame when placing your ship.
  
• Fixed ship placement colliding with merchant ships.
  
• Ship placement depth is now closer to their normal float depth.
  
• Fixed load game UI not refreshing when a local backup was loaded.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused your controls to be locked if you died while steering a ship.
  
• Archers can no longer see through breakable cave rocks.
  
• Fishing commission selection now takes fishing skill level into account.
  
• Reduced the chance for spiders to apply poison effect.
  
• Changed Rigidbody interaction type on player character controller, reducing the chance he'll get flung back when jumping around on a moving boat.
  
• Fixed newly created bait items always being stack size of 1.
  
• Fishing bobbers bounce around less, making it more viable to fish while sailing.
  
• Added ammo and bait to the equipment inventory tab.
  
• Adjusted higher tier compass textures to make them more readable.
  
• Slightly adjusted appearance and size of weaving stations. Placeable weaving stations now pivot in the center instead of the side when rotating. Note that weaving stations already placed on ships will be shifted slightly.
  
• Marked some items without any use other than selling as junk so that they will show up in that inventory section.
  
• Fixed an issue where you could get a map to an underwater cave you couldn't actually go into
  
• Stamina potions can now be crafted at a workbench in addition to the cooking station
  
• Added lighthouse map stamp icon
  
• Boar and Deer are now a bit easier to kill
  
• Reduced ambient air particles
  
• The game now uses less memory when running.
  
• Improved initial load time after starting the game.
  
• Updated engine version.
  
• Fixed issue where enemies would sometimes run up to you but not attack.
  
• Increased drop rate of meal recipes.
  
• The Sea King's Trident is now more likely to roll better talents.
  
• Fixed a bug where crafting stations would cause hotkey indicators to appear briefly when they spawned.
  
• New players no longer start slightly above the ground.
  
• Fixed some points of interest spawning without modifying the terrain below them.
  
• Potions now ignore their cooldowns when you are not in combat.
  
• Updated some potion recipe requirements.
  
• Fixed some typos.
  
• Fixed enemies pathing through shipwrecks.
  
• Fixed some out of bound exploits in caves.
  
• Increased the parry window on axes and staves.
  
• Added potion of renewal to guild merchants.
  
• Fixed effective precision talent tier 2 having the same description text as tier 1.
  
• Grizzly Ribeye is now stackable.
  
• Reduced the rarity of light blue and purple ink items.
  
• You can no longer use health or stamina potions if you are full on those stats.
  
• Fixed map stamp and color buttons not scaling right with different resolutions.
  
• Parry stun effect is no longer removed by poison or bleed damage.
  
• Opening the inventory interface will no longer unhide the HUD if it's hidden.
  
• Fixed some chests having non-uniform scales.
  

Today we wanted to give a quick overview of some of the features coming in the next update and when that update can be expected. We also wanted to let you know that we are currently working on cooperative multiplayer and it's coming along well. Implementing multiplayer is a big feature and as a small team it will take some time for us to get it fully polished and ready, but we'll have more news soon on that front. Rest assured though, it is coming.

Let's dive into some of the upcoming changes.

[h3]Main Quest - Act 1[/h3]


One of the major features coming in the next update is the first part of the main quest line. We'll be implementing the main quest split into three different updates so we can get other features out and push out patches more frequently. Some of our goals with the main story quest line is to take you to some unique points of interests you won't find anywhere else and to uncover the lore and mystery of the world.

As part of these features we've implemented some brand new physics based puzzles we're excited for you to try and of course these quests will come with unique rewards.

[h3]Difficulty Settings[/h3]


Another feature coming in the next update are difficulty settings. It can be hard to balance a game for all types of players. Some want a more relaxing experience and others want a more challenging experience. We've implemented four difficulty settings: Easy, Normal, Hard, and Legendary. If you're interested in a more challenging experience where preparing for battle with potions/meals and using gear with the perfect talent rolls is required, then you'll want to pick Hard or Legendary difficulty. If you want a more relaxing experience where combat is a minimal focus, then Easy is a good choice. The Normal difficulty setting leaves the game as it is currently as a balance between challenge and a relaxing adventure. You'll also be able to change the difficulty setting at any time during the game.

[h3]New Outpost Islands and Caves[/h3]


As with most updates we try to include new points of interest and this update is no different. We've added more variety to outpost islands so you can discover small islands with caves, buried treasure, and even a unique tavern. We've also added some small caves you can get into by finding hidden wells on islands.

[h3]Additional Changes[/h3]

We've also included some other highly requested features in the next update. One such feature are maps to loot caves. Sometimes loot caves were a bit harder to find than they should be. Now you can find map items to them which will make that process a little easier. We've also reworked fishing commission quests to take into account your fishing level so you're more likely to get fishing quests you can actually complete. Along with the fishing quest changes, we've added more lure types to make it easier to catch specific fish needed for quests. In addition to that we've fixed a lot of bugs and implemented some performance improvements.


We expect this update to be out on the beta branch probably in the next 3-4 weeks. Thanks for reading and we look forward to getting this update out for you soon!

Slashing, Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Archery skills now have an associated talent tree. You gain one skill point every five skill levels to place into the tree. To access this, go to the skills tab in your inventory and click on one of those skills.


Some new content has been added including outpost islands, merchant ships, quests, and dagger weapons.

• Added talent trees to slashing, bludgeoning, piercing, and archery skills. These can be found in the skills section of the inventory interface.
  
• Added outpost islands and merchant ships. Note that this will change some islands that were there previously.
  
• Added some new quests.
  
• Added dagger weapons.
  
• Blocking now mitigates 100% damage with most weapons if you have enough stamina.
  
• You can now only close the dialogue window when the choice menu is visible in order to prevent premature closing right before dialogues complete.
  
• The loot window no longer blocks using hot-keyed items while using keyboard/mouse. This is still blocked when using a gamepad because the bindings are used to navigate the loot window.
  
• Set the camera update speed to always update with the frame rate. This could potentially fix the issue some players were seeing where the camera would be very jerky while sailing a ship.
  
• Added a sound to when you retrieve arrows.
  
• Fixed bug where displayed weight value wouldn't update after transferring partial stacks to the ship storage.
  
• Lessened the leeway for a fishing bobber to be considered in the water, making it less likely that you can catch a fish when the bobber is on land.
  
• Learning multiple recipes in quick succession will now show the recipe learned message for each one.
  
• Damaged enemy health bars no longer remain slightly visible indefinitely.
  
• Fixed names and health bars four legged creatures bouncing around a lot.
  
• Added sound when entering building doors.
  
• The loot window now shows the name of the looted enemy.
  
• The crafting interface now shows how many of the selected item that you already have.
  
• Updated Engine Version.
  
• Adjusted collider on bear models to reduce the chance that they will push the player under the terrain when attacking.
  
• Fixed a light being right on a fisherman in one of the seaports.
  
• Stealth attack damage numbers are now colored differently than critical hits.
  
• Increased the chance for natural caves to spawn on pirate islands.
  
• Added pirate assassin enemy type.
  
• Books now show their title when you are reading them.
  
• Added a different sound when you land a critical hit.
  
• Ships can now rock slightly side-to-side. This can be disabled in the options.
  
• You no longer gain armor skill experience. This skill has been removed as it was originally implemented with the intent of there being multiple different armor types and associated skills.
  
• Fixed a large number of typos.
  
• Player's stamina regeneration now has a different in-combat and out-of-combat regeneration rate.
  
• Opening loot containers in your inventory now shows the received items in a new interface to make it easier to see what you received.
  
• You can now inspect items from the equipment interface.
  
• Fixed an underwater cave not spawning quest loot.
  
• Added gramophone item that can be placed on your ship and used to control when music plays.
  
• Increased drop rate of staves from cultists.
  
• Adjusted some combat animations.
  
• Increased the drop rate of strong plant fibers.
  
• Added point lights near some readable tombstones to make them more obvious at night.
  
• Fixed an issue with the Deepwater Spinner Lure having the wrong description text.
  
• Fixed some areas of caves you could get stuck in.
  
• Ectoplasm is now filtered into the "Junk" tab of your inventory.
  
• Increased herbalism experience when looting rare wood and plants.
  
• Npcs now stand more on the ground instead of floating slightly above it.
  
• Fixed camera impact being delayed if you block right before taking a hit.
  
• Fixed bug that could occur if you unequip fishing bait while fishing.
  
• You now get knocked backwards slightly when blocking an attack.
  
• Enemies are less prone to plow into you when they are running at you.
  
• Added a message when you don't have enough stamina to block.
  
• Fixed King's Galleon recipe indicating that it creates a ship with the Waveskipper model instead of a Large Ship.
  
• Moved loot window hotkey indicators to reticle.
  
• If you are in a named area, it now shows that name at the top left of the screen.
  
• Updated info on sneak related help and tutorial text that wrongly indicated you needed to be crouched to deal stealth damage.
  
• Added more visual variety to some islands.
  
• Fixed map sometimes getting stuck scrolling.
  
• Added footstep sounds to animals.
  
• Fixed blood splatters looking strange on materials with smoothness.
  
• Fall damage is now more dangerous when falling from high places.
  
• Improved wave dampening around sunken islands.
  
• Adjusted bow damage to bring them more in line with other weapons.
  
• Fixed rare issue where a point of interest on an island would not modify the terrain around it.
  
• Improved animals' ability to orient to the slope of the terrain they are standing on properly.
  
• Fixed a ladder in a cave having no interaction collider at the top.
  
• Fixed issue where a Trading Company Quest item would sometimes not spawn.
  
• Updated some map item icons.
  
• Fixed an issue where certain points of interest could spawn on top of each other.
  
• Fixed an issue where some map items weren't working.
  
• Fixed crafting items not showing an item obtained indicator.
  
• Fixed an issue with crafting stations on islands showing how many ingredients you have. They were including ingredients in your ship storage where they weren't supposed to. This allowed instances where it wouldn't allow you to craft items even though it said you had enough ingredients.
  
• The game now pauses in the settings window.
  
• Now only cooked food can spoil. Ingredients to cooked food can no longer spoil, and are now stackable. These items that were already in your inventory will not be stacked. You can transfer them to and from your ship storage to stack them if you wish.
  
• When a cooked food item spoils, it now turns into a new stackable rotten food item. You will be notified by a popup when you open your inventory or ship storage if food has become spoiled.
  
• You can no longer have effects applied to you while dead.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused combat skills to level much too quickly.
  
• Adjusted some tier 1 loot drop chances.
  
• Increased the amount of health potions in the home island cave chests.
  
• Minor adjustments to tier 1 enemy health.