Boat Crew News

Hello Captain!

The focus of v1.7.0 is crew and characters. This experimental build aims to improve the foundation of crew mechanics. Later builds in this experimental cycle will explore aspects of characters, expand customization, and add to the management of crew. Your feedback about the current state of things, suggestions, and reminders are always appreciated. Have fun!

[h2]v1.7.0.0 Experimental[/h2]
- Player PT Boats can now support up to 14 crew members by progression.
- Squadron management mode basic implementation.
- Crew AI full rewrite.
- Crew can now run. Running is automatically triggered by conditions on the boat and environment, it can also be triggered by double clicking a point on the deck or hotkeying roles.
- New models for ammo box and repair kit.
- New crew animations for loading ammo, revival, and grabbing items.
- New dynamic battle OSTs based on U.S. Navy Band music. Tracks made unique to day, night, and storm conditions.

Greetings Captain,

It's been almost two months since our last Developer's Diary and we are back with another reboot of the series, talking about the next Big Update. The long awaited Crew Rework is the main object of this Big Update, but we also have many other things to talk about, so let's get right down to it!



The crew system has been rewritten from the ground up to be more responsive and fluid. One particular thing you might notice is that the same point can be serviced by multiple crew members at the same time, and they should also move to positions assigned by their roles more quickly.

We also added a "haste" system that makes the crew run in times of emergency, addressing an observation made by our Captains that crew would often walk at the pace of a leisurely stroll as their boat is falling apart around them. This is a temporary ability on a quick cooldown, and will activate on its own using our AI logic, but you can also prompt a sprint to station by right clicking twice with a crew member selected if it's not on cooldown at the time.

Aside from the haste mechanic and the updated models for the supply boxes, most of the improvements here are under the hood. The best way to communicate the significance of these changes will be to show you, as you will be able to see for yourselves on the next Experimental Branch starting on Friday, tomorrow.



Another thing Captains have often lamented the lack of is berthing for additional crew. We're happy to say we are finally adding upgrades for your boats, starting with Additional Crew Space upgrades. These upgrades will be obtained directly from our new unlock tree, giving you a permanent increase in crew capacity per level. You will be able to have up to 14 crew on PT boats, or up to 18 on the eventual playable version of the PC-461 Submarine Chaser.

Purchasable upgrades are not bought with RP. Instead, we are introducing the Captain Rank system, which acts as a global progress and upgrade system tracking your overall Campaign progress. Combat score, RP earned and VP earned all generate xp for you, and each level of Captain Rank will require an increasing amount of xp.



Each Captain Rank allows you to purchase a permanent global upgrade in one of four categories: Armament, Leadership, Survivability and Resourcefulness. You must go down these upgrade trees in sequence, but you are free to pick which tree to invest in with the only restriction being that your highest level in a category can't exceed the level in the category you have invested the least in by more than 2. So before you can get 3 levels in armament, you must have at least a point of investment in every other tree. This limitation will be disabled during the Experimental branch though so you won't have to worry about that for now.

We are hoping the global upgrade system will be a good balance of flexibility and structured progress, allowing you to prioritize to your preferences. In the first Experimental version, only the Leadership tree will be available, but you will be able to keep gaining Captain Rank for future unlocks as we add the other trees.



Last but not least, we are also including basic Squadron commands as the first part of a broader Squadron Rework. Using a new, convenient interface, you will be able to give Hold Position, Follow Me, and Retreat orders.

Hold Position allows you to designate a place, similar to how you might call Artillery, to be defended by your squadron boats. Your squadron will move to target position and patrol around it.

The Follow Me order cancels other orders, making the boats start following you. This will remain their default behaviour.

Finally, Retreat will order all Squadron boats to move out of bounds of the combat zone, for when you want to get them in out of harm's way for whatever reason.

We're hoping these additions will be welcome, particularly for those of you who have been asking for improved Squadron functionality. We'll have more on that later.



That about sums up what you might expect to see on the Experimental Branch, starting tomorrow. We are excited to start another cycle with you, and are looking forward to hearing your comments and feedback on our work so far.

That's all for now,
Captain,
T.T.

Greetings Captain,

We are at the tail end of yet another Experimental cycle, coming to you with the new Stable update, v1.6.2 Stable Battlespace Control! Despite not being numbered as a major update due to the limited additions to the Campaign, we felt the update was significant enough to warrant a name.

Almost all of this Experimental cycle was focused on the Level Editor, but not without the additions of the Atlanta and Furutaka into the fight. As it so happens, we've also found the time to sneak in another little thing.



Say hello to the Gun Buoys! A late war Japanese innovation, presumably borne out of desperation, these manned submersible gun platforms were created for coastal defense against landing assaults.

In the game, they come in two variants, basic and Heavy, sporting autocannons and a small caliber gun respectively, and can be occasionally found guarding bases with Moderate Base Defenses and above. We decided against adding the historical mortar-armed variant as they would be too far forward to live to do much against the player.

This was another player suggestion that we previously did not know about. Upon seeing it, we thought it was a fun unit concept that fit the theme of Boat Crew very well, and ended up deciding to add it to the game. We hope you'll find them enjoyable to fight.



Towards the end of the Experimental Branch, we wanted to get some early adopters together to create scenarios in anticipation of the Stable Release, but unfortunately, we weren't able to get anything on the Workshop in that time.

Regardless of if it was due to the limited adoption of the Experimental Branch or simply because there hasn't been enough time yet, the Workshop, as of the time of this release, is empty aside from the one test mission made by us. This also meant that unfortunately, we couldn't get much feedback during this experimental cycle on the Level Editor itself, as well as the learning assistance we have tried to provide for it.



We're hoping that will change with the release on the Stable Branch, and we are really eager to see your feedback on the tool. In addition to the in-game guide, we have also been posting tutorial videos on our YouTube channel, so check those out and also feel free to reach out to us if you're struggling with the Level Editor and have questions to ask or feedback to give.

As usual, thanks to all of you who have participated in the Experimental Branch. If you want know more about the update, you can read the detailed changelog at the bottom of this post.



Boat Crew has always been about the little guy and about the unsung heroes of the Mosquito Fleet; It's about the small and the tactical, and their impact on the big picture. Today, we'd like to give a shoutout to a project that approaches the Pacific War on the opposite end, looking at the grand and the strategic.

Task Force Admiral, an ambitious game being developed by our pals over at Drydock Dreams Games, seeks to put you at the helm of an entire Task Force, putting you in the shoes of an Admiral charged with both fleet manoeuvres and flight operations. You got to experience fighting alongside these ships as a PT Boat Captain, and in Task Force Admiral, you'll get to be the man on the bridge, overseeing it all.



Boat Crew's connection with Task Force Admiral goes back to even before our collaboration with MicroProse; in fact, it was them who introduced us to our publisher. They have believed in our project from the start, and so we have in theirs. We have grown to see Task Force Admiral as a more serious and methodical sister in contrast to Boat Crew's chaotic whimsy.

If you're interested in the Pacific War as we know you are, and if you've been craving another perspective, go check Task Force Admiral out. They've been killing it at their Kickstarter campaign, shooting far past their original goals, and they have a demo out that is constantly being updated. We can't wait to see the game at release!



Enjoy the update!
Captain,
T.T.

Links:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1281220/Task_Force_Admiral__Vol1_American_Carrier_Battles
Task Force Admiral Kickstarter Campaign Developer's Diary G1 - Laying the Keel Developer's Diary G2 - Armored Superiority

[h2]v1.6.2 Full Changelog[/h2]

- Added Level Editor and User Level support through Steam Workshop.
- Added Furutaka-class cruiser.
- Added Atlanta-class cruiser.
- Added in engagement UI scaling feature in graphics settings tab.
- Added submersible gun platforms to base defenses.

[h3]v1.6.2.3 Stable[/h3]
- F4U Corsair minor model and texture updates.
- Increased aircraft activity range that limits all to fly within range around the player, so that call-ins in the campaign have an easier time engaging and using their payloads for distant targets.
- Fixed AP bomb drop issue for call-in Dauntless.
- Fixed an issue preventing aircraft rocket pods from being fired properly.
- Army flag corrections for certain light Japanese units.

[h2]1.6.2.2 Experimental[/h2]

- Added in engagement UI scaling feature in graphics settings tab.
- Added Boatuary descriptions for cruisers.
- Fixed new Atlanta-class cruiser being unwired from campaign.

[h3]Level Editor[/h3]
- Added the "Structure Node" which allows placement of docks.
- Added new category to spawners that allow placement of torpedo nets, supply drops, and ground defences.
- Spawner nodes will now immediately be activated and triggered if they do not have any connections set to trigger them.

Hello Captain,

We are now beginning to test the workshop integration for custom levels. To gain access to the workshop beta, you will have to request access to join A Temporary Steam Group. You may begin uploading and subscribing to levels once you are in.

[h2]1.6.2.1 Experimental[/h2]

Additions
- Added Furutaka-class cruiser.
- Added Atlanta-class cruiser.

Level Editor
- Workshop integration testing. Current implementation requires membership to a special Steam group.
- Level editor now supports listing of multiple levels.
- User levels should now have unlimited unit caps.
- Enabled contour renderings for user level minimaps.
- Fixes for bad orientations during play for spawner and teleporter nodes.
- Spawn nodes will now be created in non-critical state.
- Elco 80' and Higgins 78' AI boats should now be spawnable in level editor.