Corsairs Legacy News

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Today we will tell you about developing characters. At the outset of the game development, we found and bought sets of thematic characters that would fit the game well. This approach allows to speed up the development and reduce expenses for the game. Having 32 different models in the same style, we considered the issue with characters closed. However, while writing the game script, it became clear that we don’t have enough characters to represent all the main heroes and people on the island in the future game.

We standardized all models to be able to use the same animations for every character and then we started to look into creating new models. We also looked into 3D scanning real people in costumes as an alternative to modeled characters. In the process of exploring options for implementing the technology for customization, we started creating our first characters.



The more experience we gained, the more we started to spot things that could be improved in bought characters, especially in the model of the main hero that you’ve seen in all previous videos. But before we started working on the main hero, we decided to make models for British soldiers. In the vastness of digital markets with 3D models, we managed to find only this model. It has a very low level of detail and doesn’t fit the style of the rest of the characters.

In order to fully keep historical authenticity, we studied how soldier uniforms had changed in the 17-18 centuries and started with depictions of soldiers in 1690, which is when the game events take place. Our historical adviser emphasized that back then soldiers didn’t have facial hair, so we took this fact into account in the development. As a result, we created 10 different faces that are historically accurate and allow us to avoid showing multiple soldiers with the same face on a screen.



We are considering making models with facial hair for officers to differentiate them from soldiers not only by the quality of the blade but also by their appearance, therefore emphasizing their higher status.

To find out all the details about the character models for the game - watch the full devlog video :) Subscribe to our YouTube channels in order not to miss news about the Corsairs Legacy development!

Official Corsairs Legacy YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtvxcqkgrIC3fHpSpKSeMnA/
Official Russian YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/SaveThePirate/

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Hello everyone. In the new diary, you’ll see 33 answers to audience questions posted under the last few devlogs:

• When will the game come out? Will it be in Early Access?

We will announce the release date in the near future. For now, we plan to release the game in Early Access with 80% of quests, collect all feedback and during three to four months with the help of the audience carry it to the full release.

• How big are the towns?

The first town is much bigger than the towns in Sea Dogs. After the release, we’ll analyze audience reaction, watch players’ streams and start making the next towns based on the received feedback.

• Are you reworking the circular attack?

We’ll try to get it done before the release. We have plans for reworking the combat system, but more on that in a separate video.

• Will there be animals?

Yes, we already started adding the first animals to the game.

• Will there be any character customization? Breastplates? Costumes, hats?

We have that in our plans, but it’s unlikely to be in the first game. At the current stage, it’s easier to use ready-made character models, although we’re already working on customization.

• Are the dialogues text-only or fully voiced?

Dialogue mechanics will be text-only. However, there will be one surprise waiting for players; we’ll talk about that a bit later :)

• How many islands are you planning to have in total? How big will the archipelago be? Do you want to make three islands and fill them with life?

We want to make all the main islands of the archipelago. After developing technology for that, the speed of making new islands will increase. By how much – we'll see after the release. We plan to please players with new high-quality detailed locations regularly.

• Will there be a finishing move like in Assassin's Creed or The Witcher?

No, but we planned it for the future.

• You’re carefully studying everything and trying to make the game historically accurate. But won’t it make the pirate romance disappear? When you have to spend a ton of time destroying a fort in the game. This could quickly become boring.

Studying history provides two benefits at the same time:

1. Using historical information makes it much easier to create a context for the game, locations, weapons.
   
2. While keeping historical accuracy we allow players to gain actual knowledge about their favorite topic. We think that it’s a lot better than fictional worlds in this setting.
   

Sea Dogs has a great balance between game conditionality and historical accuracy. Sea battles are very simplified but you can’t call them casual. The same approach applies to the land part of the game. We make it similarly.

There were a few comments under the last devlog that the game could become more casual than Sea Dogs. Corsairs Legacy will have different difficulty levels. A key feature that will be optional is a marker that shows you where to go next in a quest. You won’t have to go to a forum, it will be as simple as selecting a hint button. On high difficulty, this button won’t show up. Additionally, there will be a hardcore mode for those who like Sea Dogs: To Each His Own.

• Will it be possible for the main character to have some shack in a jungle to store loot? And will cities have a real estate?

It’s an interesting thought, GTA: Vice City comes to mind. Not yet, but we’ll write it down for the future.

• Is there any progress on the sea part?

Yes, we have already started to develop a sea part.

• Will there be a quick teleportation system?

No, the layout of locations allows quickly getting to any point without a teleport. Level design makes a player enjoy staying in locations and there are interesting bonuses for observant travelers.

• Will the islands be a part of the open-world or will they be as a separate location with loading?

Sea and land are their own locations.

• Will there be a crafting system? If yes, what would be possible to make for yourself, so to speak?

We planned it and even made a few quests for it, but it’s unlikely to be in the first release.

• A parkour system. Will it be in the game or will the movement be linear like in Sea Dogs?

The movement will be linear. Far from Assassin Creed.

• Are you planning to launch pre-ordering on Steam in the next month or two? (I think it can help your project’s budget).

As soon as we know the exact release date and are ready to show a gameplay video – we plan to launch pre-ordering, it will really help us to expand the project.

• This old man (in a hat and a white jacket) runs and swings his arms nicely. It’s a great run animation, I want to play with it =).

In the “Open World” devlog we showed different stages of developing a location. At first, we were using the model of a man in a hat and default animations. Each month we replace a bunch of animations with our own.

• By the way, this is an interesting thing. Turns out developers are working with more progressive characters with a great animation inside the engine? Can’t he be used in the game? Is he some kind of a walking camera? Or is his animation too expensive? If anyone knows, please tell me.) I just like this character too much.

Here we have to ask the audience a question. Many of you drew attention to the man in a hat. Are you trolling or did you really like him?

• How about adding transport to the game, like horses, carts, and carriages to the game? That would make the gameplay more diverse.

It’s not about Corsairs Legacy. For now, we only plan to travel by ship and by foot.

• So the combat stays the same as in Sea Dogs?
  

We’ll tell you about the combat in one of the next devlogs.

• By the way, I’m interested in generated quests. What type will they be? Parts of a map to find treasure, a pirate offering a robbery… And merchants asking you to carry an item… That’s classic). Will that be in the game?

That’s all in the plans.

• Do you plan to add uninhabited islands that aren’t colonized? And also, will the game take place in the same archipelago as in Sea Dogs, or are you planning to expand territories? I’d like to see Cuba in the game, after all, it’s the most powerful island in the Caribbean.

Yes, we plan to design islands that aren’t colonized.

• Are you planning to add kids? In the City of Abandoned Ships, there were only adults on the streets… Kids in cities and cabin boys could liven up the city.

That’s a good idea. But it’s separate work. Currently, we’re working on animation for women and men, kids are a different specificity… In the future – yes, we plan to add kids.

• Will gunpowder in pistols and muskets get damp during rain and cause a misfire?

We haven’t planned such a mechanic yet.

• Are you planning to make the main character change over time, so that the wounds or signs of aging would appear and so on?

We planned it, but we’re not sure if we can implement it in time.

• Will there be the ability to build a ship or get one by capturing/buying an existing ship?

For now, it’s possible only by capturing/buying a ship, but it’s a cool idea.

• Will there be references to previous Sea Dog games?

We already left a couple of small references and we plan to add more tiny ones in the future.

• Will it be possible to start a Freeplay immediately after the first playthrough?
  

At first, there is a story opening, and then players can choose their own path. The opening will be there each time you start a new game.

• I asked this question under one of the previous videos – why is the camera placed a bit to the side while the character is running, like in Skyrim? Will it be possible to somehow change it in the game?

We did a few tests with the camera and concluded that this format looks the most comfortable in the game. Currently, we have two cameras – close and far from the character. The center of the screen is reserved for elements and characters the main character interacts with.

• Will there be any references borrowed from well-known books about pirates and the sea?

Oh, yes. The references are very explicit and close to fans of the genre.

• Are you familiar with Blood and Gold: Caribbean!? It’s a modification for Mount & Blade: Warband in the pirate world made by our compatriots. However, it’s not just a mod, it’s a full game that is sold on Steam. Currently, the developers are making a game about sailboats in their setting, similar to the world in the movie “Waterworld” (1995). It would be nice to see an interview with those guys, about their previous and current projects.

We noticed that our viewers like videos about Corsairs Legacy and Sea Dogs, that’s why we’re making this content. We know about that game but we haven’t contacted the developers. We had a full interview with the developer of Tempest from April that came out only last week on our official Russian-language channel. While we have more targeted content, we’ll be posting it with a higher priority.

• I demand a version for PS5! Who’s with me? Let’s vote guys

We will release the game only on Steam. We don’t want to spend time dealing with other platforms but we plan to get into nuances between console platforms in the near future.

• Will there be catacombs?

Yes.

Subscribe to our YouTube channels in order not to miss news about the Corsairs Legacy development!

Official Corsairs Legacy YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtvxcqkgrIC3fHpSpKSeMnA/
Official Russian YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/SaveThePirate/

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Today we will be answering your questions, and in today’s devlog you’ll get to know:

• How many people are developing “Corsairs Legacy”? Who are those people?
  
• Why are we developing the game in Unity and not in Unreal Engine?
  
• Do we contact people that were developing “Sea Dogs” (with the original team Seaward)?
  
• Why can’t our team unite with BlackMark Studio to achieve shared results?
  

Well, let’s start with the team. The project is currently being developed by a company called Mauris that was founded in 2013 and its current director is Volodymyr Bondarenko. Since 2013, Mauris has developed over 80 projects for companies like Bosch, Freedom Finance, Nomad Insurance, Hettich, Compendium, Bionorica, Teva, Sandoz, BI Group.

After talking to the art director of “Sea Dogs 4”, Yuri Rogach, we decided to make a pilot version of an RPG in 3D and understand the complexity of development. We decided that it’s entirely possible and Mauris started to search for specialists in a PC game dev field that would be responsible for developing the future game. We spent 4 months on market research, analyzing pirate projects, defining a movement vector, and forming a team. With the growth of the project, we started expanding our team, and here’s who works on the game today:

• three Unity programmers;
  
• level designer;
  
• lighting specialist;
  
• environment modeler;
  
• character modeler;
  
• editor;
  
• voiceover specialist;
  
• video editing specialist;
  
• designer;
  
• illustrator;
  
• two animators;
  
• back-end programmer;
  
• special effects specialist;
  
• translator.
  

Our team liaises with developers of the original “Sea Dogs”, but None of the Seaward members are contributing to the development of Corsairs Legacy at the moment.



Now, let’s talk about Unity and Unreal Engine. Mauris always emphasized high-quality development and the first 4 employees, including the director, are programmers. Having a lot of experience in development, we understand that it’s better to work with technologies that the team has competence in. Using those technologies makes it possible to make the best possible product. At the time of creating a project’s strategy, we were talking to the leading programmer of the “City of Abandoned Ships”, Eduard Zaitsev, who had long experience of developing in Unity. He thinks that to create a game similar to “Sea Dogs” it doesn’t matter whether to choose Unity or Unreal Engine. A good result can be achieved in both engines.



And lastly, we’ll answer why we can’t unite with BlackMark Studio to achieve the result. There are many reasons. The first one is – BlackMark team consists of modders, who develop a game on Storm Engine in their free time. Our team consists of Unity programmers who develop Corsairs Legacy full-time. As a result, we have different work inputs and specializations.

The second reason is that we make different games for different audiences. BlackMark Studio initially focuses on the audience of “Sea Dogs”, on people who know the game well and would like to see an interesting and complicated sequel. Our goal, on the other hand, is to attract many new audiences to Corsairs Legacy that would give a new life to the setting.

To find out all the details about the dev team of the game - watch the full devlog video :) Subscribe to our YouTube channels in order not to miss news about the Corsairs Legacy development!

Official Corsairs Legacy YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtvxcqkgrIC3fHpSpKSeMnA/
Official Russian YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/SaveThePirate/

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We’ve seen a few comments about flickering shadows and people asked how much are we planning to show the same part of the jungle? Today we’ll share our plans, show you the current result of working on locations, and let you know when you’ll see new locations.

In the game’s announcement, we told you that we’ll try to make the most of the purchased textures to speed up the development process and spend less money. However, with the growth of our team and level of expertise, we came to understand that hand-made buildings look more interesting and of better quality than off-the-shelf solutions. Currently, our team is in the process of creating unique buildings and locations that will be in the first game.

In Sea Dogs, the land gameplay consisted of space-limited locations with loading screens each 10-20 seconds while the character moves from point A to point B. If the character was outside the city, the player had no understanding of the island’s layout and they had to go on forums and search for maps of paths that look all the same. In fact, the island is a set of rooms that have no geographical relation to each other, and after the point of transition between locations is reached, the game teleports the character to another room with decorations that give the impression of a continuous path.

The solution chosen by developers at that moment was forward-looking, it allowed minimizing technical requirements of the game and reusing the same locations in multiple places.

In 2021, such an approach is obsolete and very undesirable. Due to this, we abandoned the concept of a set of locations and decided to design the island as a whole, making one location with a minimal number of loading screens. The task of creating a full-fledged open world has many complications, one of which is to ensure stable FPS and minimize the requirements necessary for the game to work. Shadow flickering seen in the game footage is due to the need for increasing shadow render distance, which leads to a high GPU load.



Currently, we’re concentrating on creating a single technologically efficient approach to making whole islands that would show good results for graphics and optimal use of PC resources. In the first game, Barbados will become our reference model. After the release of the game, we will collect player feedback, make additional changes to graphics optimization and after that, we’ll be able to use ready-made and well-proven technology to create new islands.

We use a dynamic sun that changes its location based on time of day and creates unique lighting. We also implemented dynamic weather that adds nice visual and sound effects to the gameplay. These features don’t allow to programmatically calculate the location and appearance of each object’s shadow on a map once, which leads to high GPU load. However, we think that those seemingly little things create an atmosphere for the player and increase engagement in the gameplay.

To find out all the details about the open world in the game - watch the full devlog video :) Subscribe to our YouTube channels in order not to miss news about the Corsairs Legacy development!

Official Corsairs Legacy YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtvxcqkgrIC3fHpSpKSeMnA/
Official Russian YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/SaveThePirate/

Since the announcement of the game in April 2021, our team has published development diaries, informing you about the progress. This year, teams from two more projects related to the pirate setting have joined the Corsairs Legacy project team. To date, 15 people are working on the project.

Mauris has invested additional funds in the project to improve the quality of the product. At the moment, ground gameplay and a dice game have already been implemented, and work is actively underway on a sailboat simulator.

We are trying to be as open as possible with players, for 48 hours a marathon will take place on the game's page on Steam, during which the project leader, Volodymyr Bondarenko, will present the current state of sea gameplay, Perudo mini-game, locations of the temple ruins in the jungle, and the port of Bridgetown.

The goal of the marathon is to tell players about the progress of development, draw the attention of Steam users to the product, and answer questions from the audience.

We will answer the questions, received during the marathon, in the new development video. Our team plans to continue to regularly inform you about the progress of development on Steam and on the YouTube channel of the project.

Our team asks everyone who wants to help the Corsairs Legacy game - keep the tab with the open game stream on Steam as long as possible so that the stream has a chance to be noticed by the Steam audience.