Caribbean Legend News

Ahead of you lies eight full pages of the future 1.5 changelog. Let’s get straight to it — we wouldn’t want you dozing off halfway through.

By combining:

• The results of our recent survey,
  
• Feedback we've collected over the past six months,
  
• A fresh perspective from our new game designer,
  
• My own vision and conclusions from playtests...
  

...we’ve crafted an absolutely monstrous list of changes and re-evaluated our plans. Unlike previous patches, when we had to work at a breakneck pace, this time we’re ready to tease the planned content for patch 1.5 well in advance.

For now, it’s just a dry list of changes. Over the coming months, our new super talent, Kirill (Game Designer), will write several dev diaries detailing the most significant updates, complete with pretty pictures and maybe even some graphs — exactly how we all like it.

[hr][/hr]

[h2]Our Plans:[/h2]

• Autumn Steam Sale - here we come!
  
• Patch 1.5 will launch in spring 2025.
  
• The patch will definitely require a new game start.
  
• Approximately a month before the release, we’ll open public beta testing.
  
• New controls and camera features might arrive earlier in a separate patch.
  
• A truly major DLC will be released alongside 1.5.
  

[hr][/hr]

[h2]Fixing the "Tank Controls"[/h2]
The reigning champion of refunds and the primary reason for negative reviews — especially from players previously unfamiliar with the Sea Dogs series. Without a modern control scheme, there can be no new combat mechanics, proper gamepad support, or console releases.

We spent months searching for talent, finalizing technical specifications, and creating prototypes. Looking at the first results, I can confidently say — it was worth it. Even something seemingly ordinary, like sprinting, dramatically modernizes the game and finally eliminates the need for the horrific and immersion-breaking time acceleration. In short, tank controls will be history.

• A new character control scheme inspired by Bannerlord.
  
• A modern camera with smooth movement and tracking.
  
• Sprinting.
  
• Movement while blocking (this might not make it in time, nor will climbing in sieges or boarding).
  
• Aiming firearms.
  
• Shoving and pushing through enemies in combat.
  

Work in progress:
https://youtu.be/PEraXdkwRxk
https://youtu.be/YZll_6HPrO0
https://youtu.be/FDQQuzPEmpQ
[hr][/hr]

[h2]Content[/h2]
We continue expanding the game world with new activities while phasing out outdated location and ship models. One more year of work, and the Caribbean will be unrecognizable.

• 20 random events — short stories about ordinary people, unrelated to the main plot, offering a glimpse into the Caribbean through the eyes of its many inhabitants.
  
• Hats — a new category of loot and decoration, displayed on all heroes and officers.
  
• New model for the galleon.
  
• New model for the polacre.
  
• New model for the "Cazador" — a ship of this caliber deserves better.
  
• New models for both versions of the "Flying Heart", the players’ top choice.
  
• Boarding decks:
  
  
  
  • Rate 4: schooner vs. flute.
    
  • Rate 3: corvette vs. polacre.
    
  • Rate 3: corvette vs. galleon.
    
• A new Port Royal — thanks to the mega-talent Nikk.
  
• Redone voice lines for ordinary NPCs and new lines for Tommy Irons.
  
• More music.
  
• Visible Leather Jacket armor.
  
• New look for the League Suit armor.
  
• New ship models on the global map.
  
• New achievements.
  
• Steam statuses — now your friends will always know what you're up to, even in the brothel (optional).
  

[hr][/hr]

[h2]Quality of Life[/h2]
This one never ends. Any improvement to first impressions, better tutorials, time-saving, or overall gaming comfort — the more, the better.

• Complete overhaul of Martinique tutorial. We aim to get players out to sea faster, cutting down on endless dialogues on land.
  
• Fast travel between settlements — look for guides at the gates.
  
• Ship speed (global map, exploration, combat) now has minimum thresholds. This prevents struggles against unfavorable wind, which only leads to frustrations and reloads.
  
• Indicators for promising caravans and dangerous enemies on the global map.
  
• News feed in the launcher. It won’t replace our official Discord, though, so subscribe to stay connected!
  
• More informative journal entries — less filler, more precise instructions to minimize the use of game guides.
  
• Statues and teleporters now display hotkey hints for activation.
  
• Mini-map scaling is set to maximum by default to ease locating targets in the open sea.
  
• Justice Island map is shown first in the atlas when you are visiting the place.
  
• Doubloons stored in chests, officers’ inventories, and the player’s stash are now counted in a unified display in the character menu.
  
• Payments can now always be made using doubloons from your cabin chests.
  
• Boarders now appear first in the character roster in looting windows.
  
• Revamped dialogue UI: the protagonist’s lines are more visible, and responses can be selected using number keys.
  
• SFW mode to mute intimate sound effects — no need for emergency alt-tabs.
  
• Officers' roles are now highlighted in dialogues, so you no longer need to remember all your boatswains, gunners, and carpenters.
  
• Officers can be dismissed via a button in the character window (for those who feel too guilty to do it face-to-face).
  
• Improved gambling interface: turn transitions and active button states are now clearer.
  
• Prisoners are removed from the roster in the character menu — likely to get their own tab.
  
• Updated control settings to meet modern standards — key remapping now highlights conflicts without auto-swapping.
  
• Additional tutorial windows.
  
• Health potion effects are now visible on health bars.
  
• Global map controls can be mapped to arrow keys for left-handed players.
  
• New “Archive” button to hide unnecessary entries for radiant quests and events.
  
• Added a fast travel option to Gaspar the Goldtooth on Tortuga.
  
• Early access to fast travel on Isla Mona.
  
• Target ships from governors’ quests allow fast travel to them — currently, they spawn too far, making these quests impractical.
  
• Trading skill effectiveness is now highlighted in shop and merchant windows.
  
• Crew hiring windows now list all bonuses and penalties affecting available recruits. The hiring formula is being revamped to increase its utility.
  

[hr][/hr]

[h2]Story[/h2]
This section contains spoilers for Flying the Jolly Roger and other story content!

Yes, the survey results favored freeplay. However, Charles de Maure’s storyline still has some gaps that need to be addressed before diving into exciting features like boarding companies, the new economy, faction systems, or revamped combat. The primary focus is on fixing the much-maligned Flying the Jolly Roger.

• A new quest for Mary Casper: 250 pages of high-quality content are already written.
  
• Tichingitu is now recruitable in sandbox mode, with unique quests for every character.
  
• Added missing journal entries for The Regatta, Tichingitu, Deluc, and Durand.
  
• (FTJR) The player can earn the “Charlie Prince” title, displayed in the character window.
  
• (FTJR) Marcus will now wait indefinitely before starting any of his quests.
  
• (Amber Rush) Fast travel to amber barques is now available.
  
• (Amber Rush) A tutorial window explains how to collect amber from barques.
  
• (Amber Rush) The journal entry for collecting all amber now appears earlier.
  
• (Silk Road) The Flying Fish spawns immediately at Negril Point.
  
• (Silk Road) Marcus now accepts silk without requiring a location reload.
  
• (Pirate Trading for Dummies) Auto-teleport to Gonaïves after speaking with Jean at the gates post-Marcus robbery.
  
• (Hot Sun of Maracaibo) A profitable option to ransom Picard from the plantation is now available for characters with advanced trade skills.
  
• (Hot Sun of Maracaibo) Additional ways to gather goods, infiltrate the plantation, and find weapons have been added.
  
• (Stones of Blood and Forest) More options to deal with the Indian guide.
  
• (Stones of Blood and Forest) Enhanced scene and combat design in Mérida, marking a moral turning point for the hero.
  
• (Stones of Blood and Forest) You can refuse to work for Marcus immediately after Mérida.
  
• (Corrida) The Torero appears on the global map even if the player doesn’t pursue it immediately.
  
• (Corrida) You can leave your second ship in port after capturing the Torero and even repair the Torero herself.
  
• (Corrida) In the boss battle against the Torero, its crew is at an optimal level only.
  
• (Nemesis) No more searching for flint to blow up barrels.
  
• (Nemesis) A logical explanation is provided for why Charles enters the dungeon alone.
  
• (Nemesis) An alternative ending is now available for those with Tonzag in their crew.
  
• (Nemesis) The standard storyline ending has been expanded.
  
• (Nemesis) Some geysers in corridors are removed, except on the highest difficulty.
  
• (Caleuche) Dialogue and quest journal reflect when the player never sold the skull.
  
• (Saga) Sancho pays a bonus for collecting 25 crab pincers.
  
• (Saga) Jessica’s grave has been added, with unique reactions from Mary and Helen.
  
• (Saga) Fast travel to Bald Maggie and the executioner’s barque is now available.
  
• (Saga) Donovan is now a tougher opponent.
  
• (Saga) Increased difficulty for the Centurion and its captain, Cyclops, and Chad.
  
• (Saga) Clan and pirate guards no longer delay Charles after resolving the story crisis by any means.
  
• (Saga) Teleport back to the ship after the mine assault is now automatic.
  
• (Saga) Daniel offers to spend quality time with a girl. You can now accept it. Maroon Town feels like home already!
  
• (Saga) Journal entries and dialogues with Jan now reflect the actual cost of lawyer services.
  
• (Saga) After returning from the island and teleporting to Dominica, the character now automatically drinks a special potion.
  
• (Rumba) Charles’s dream sequence has been revamped.
  
• (A Long Road to the Gallows) The doctor now approaches you on the first floor of Gino’s house himself.
  
• (A Long Road to the Gallows) After Gino says to return the next day to check on the patient, you can actually return the next day. Time skipping is now allowed.
  
• (A Long Road to the Gallows) Smoother progression of land battle difficulty.
  
• (False Trail) The hero no longer goes to Rainer’s stash alone.
  
• (False Trail) You can now safely loot the galleon’s cabin after dueling her captain.
  
• (Price of Discretion) The ambush on Pinnette now starts automatically.
  
• (Isla Mona) Removed references to the non-existent stockade in dialogues.
  
• (Hero of the Nation) Conflict with the More than Gold quest is resolved.
  
• (A Long Road to the Gallows) If you leave the Portuguese in prison in the final quest stage, the quest now closes properly after a month.
  
• (The Dead Man) Notifications now appear during boarding if your officers start dying.
  
• (The Dead Man) Mercenary commander boss fight is now more dangerous.
  
• (The Dead Man) Cabin dialogue scenes are improved.
  
• (The Dead Man) The massacre in the church has been improved.
  
• (Prison Break) In addition to a unique license, the Dutch now reward you with silk.
  
• (Black Mark) You can now exit the global map after capturing the Principio without waiting for the music to finish.
  
• (Indian Chief) The Principio can now attack Spanish ships.
  
• (Indian Chief) Restored battle with two schooners on difficulty levels 3–5.
  
• (City of Blood Harvest) The reward in pesos for raiding Cartagena has doubled.
  

[hr][/hr]

[h2]Balance[/h2]
This section is why a new game start will be necessary — but it will be worth it. We can no longer delay addressing obvious balance issues, and while the results will ultimately depend on playtesting, the game is guaranteed to feel more engaging!

• Complete ship rebalance: new specializations, traits, and the chance of capturing ordinary ships comparable to quest ships. Details in a separate dev diary.
  
• New energy system: energy is no longer required for striking but influences damage. This eliminates the "block standoff" issue where players and enemies just stand around.
  
• Health potions are now limited to officers and bosses, reducing low-level fight drag while keeping difficulty balanced.
  
• Revamped crew recruitment: smoother progression based on rank, charisma skill, nation relations, and a touch of randomness. More details in a separate article.
  
• Enhanced multi-step infiltration into hostile settlements. Failing a stealth check doesn’t immediately trigger hostility from the fort but complicates dialogue checks with guards on land. Even a total failure allows for bribery, significant stealth skill leveling, and improved chances in future attempts.
  
• Bulk purchases of strategic goods from suppliers are now possible for high-trade-skill players willing to invest.
  
• High-level characters and officers can shoot accurately, avoiding allies and neutrals.
  
• The Ritual Knife from the Slave Trader questline now acts as a ward and provides a 10% boost to melee weapon damage.
  
• The Son of a Jaguar talisman now adds an additional 3% critical hit chance for firearms.
  
• The Siege Master perk reduces the minimum crew required for land assaults.
  
• Governors now pay double rewards for their quests.
  
• The Taíno Ward increases carry weight not only for the main character but also for officers.
  
• The Adelina now has average stats and loses all upgrade bonuses except for its cargo capacity.
  
• Other protagonists’ starting ships in freeplay lose all upgrade bonuses.
  
• Helen’s starting ship is no longer damaged at the start.
  
• Sandbox heroes now lose all bonus amulets, talismans, and trade licenses. We believe the game is now user-friendly enough to make early gameplay more challenging while making progression more rewarding.
  
• Antidotes have been added to the mixture recipe.
  
• The lute has been added to the recipe for the Minstrel talisman.
  
• The Isla Mona trading post now produces twice as much ironwood. Additionally, rum and wine can now be collected directly from the cabin.
  
• Gypsy merchants will always sell arsenic if the Trustworthy perk is unlocked.
  
• Random pirates have returned to the global map, and their numbers grow as the hero’s rank increases.
  
• Pirates no longer attack military ships and no longer form barque fleets in late-game.
  
• The navigation skill for the bonus officer in Deluc’s mini-quest has been reduced.
  
• Parade cuirasses are no longer guaranteed to be available for sale at bankers.
  
• The value of treasures is now determined by the Luck skill and the total number of treasures found, rather than the player’s rank. The more treasures you find, the higher the chance of valuable rewards.
  
• Ship speed decreases less dramatically at low and medium sail damage levels.
  
• Players can no longer find tens of thousands of goods, such as weapons, in trade ships.
  
• Putting money in Panama’s bank is now only accepted under specific conditions.
  
• Reduced the speed of characters carrying muskets. Heavily armed characters now move slower than those equipped with swords.
  

[hr][/hr]

[h2]Refactoring[/h2]
This is where we’ve reassembled core mechanics and resolved systemic issues that caused bugs and broke the gameplay experience in almost every playthrough. It’s a challenging task, but thanks to the recent survey, we’ve narrowed our focus on cleaning up ancient code.

• The random number generator has been reworked — merchant inventories and radiant quests will no longer “freeze,” making the gameplay experience more diverse.
  
• Optimized Willemstad and Isla Mona locations.
  
• NPCs no longer spawn underwater or follow the hero across the world.
  
• NPCs no longer randomly attack each other outside of combat.
  
• Fixed issues with priests’ trading inventories resetting to zero.
  
• Removed inaccessible locations from radiant quests and rumors, resolving missing location and country names in the quest log.
  
• Captains from radiant quests no longer endlessly respawn in cities.
  
• Water behavior reworked — it no longer floods ships and interiors.
  
• Fixed camera locking onto other NPCs.
  
• Resolved the random disabling of fast travel.
  
• Improved the interruption system. The primary cause of many bugs was NPCs intercepting the player, sometimes simultaneously, thus breaking scripts. Experienced players know how to avoid this, but it’s far from an enjoyable experience.
  
• Bounty hunters no longer attack in cities. This is a temporary fix; a new bounty system will be implemented later.
  
• Townsfolk no longer initiate conversations with the player.
  
• Quest givers now wait for the player to start their quests and don’t disappear from locations if missed.
  
• Romantic partners no longer suggest intimate activities where it would be inappropriate.
  
• Officers now interact via a separate events window instead of harassing the player in taverns.
  

[hr][/hr]

[h2]Fixes[/h2]
Small issues that needed addressing. Most were identified by participants in the recent survey. The list isn’t exhaustive, as new tasks are added to this category daily.

• Saves and ship naming — resolved the issue where text input would disappear.
  
• Resolved the issue of lunge attack changing to slash attack due to the lack of space.
  
• Fixed inconsistent inventory and balance for Gaspar the Goldtooth.
  
• Fixed over 10 exploits (because we’re feeling mischievous).
  
• Corrected glowing textures in certain locations.
  
• Charles no longer writes letters in mid-air during the Gambit questline.
  
• Zikomo no longer levitates.
  
• Shipyard and port managers no longer levitate either.
  
• Bounty hunters and procedural quest NPCs no longer interfere with major storyline scenes.
  
• Tavern music on Isla Mona no longer conflicts with the main location music.
  
• Alexus no longer repairs hulls by accepting one piece of goods at a time.
  
• Resolved misaligned text in the stats for several ships.
  
• Fixed several achievements that were not functioning properly.
  
• The Kidnapper quest no longer conflicts with the disappearance of Barbazon at the end of Happily Ever After.
  
• Corrected inverted display of buy and sell prices in the cash book.
  
• The governor of Willemstad can now properly accept the postal delivery quest.
  
• Resolved issues restoring relations with smugglers via Loxley.
  
• Fixed strange doors in cities that led to other islands.
  
• In the Barbazon’s Temptation quest, corrected the issue where silk amounts in the hold were overwritten if the player already had their own silk.
  
• In the Guardian of Truth questline, fixed the bug ruining stealth boarding scenes.
  
• In the Place Under the Sun quest, the interception point for targets is now always clearly marked.
  
• Stolen ships in port authority quests can now be boarded without issue, even if they’re friendly.
  
• Enabled tutorial windows no longer break dialogues.
  
• The Slave Trader quest no longer breaks the pirate armada’s behavior during the Tortuga raid.
  

[hr][/hr]

[h2]DLC[/h2]
What can we say? Stay tuned for the grand announcement!

• A major storyline comparable in size to Flying the Jolly Roger.
  
• Available in both sandbox and story modes.
  
• A new romantic interest.
  
• Two ships, several locations, characters, music, voiceovers, and entirely new mechanics.
  

Não são os visuais finais! Apenas um rascunho do nível e um trabalho em progresso!
[hr][/hr]

That’s all for now! Keep in mind that we still have months of development ahead, and the list above may change. Some things may be cut, others added. If needed, we’ll delay to ensure everything is top-notch.

Thank you for the fantastic survey responses, your feedback, and the spirited discussions in Discord, Steam, and my DMs.

Our next dev diary will dive deeper into one of the new mechanics for 1.5. In the meantime, enjoy the game and, if you feel like it, leave reviews as blue as the Caribbean Sea — it matters.

Good hunting!
ːjollyrː

[h2]Ahoy![/h2]

A quick update from the team:

ːjollyrː Patch 1.3.2 is out! Alongside numerous bug fixes, it includes a smoother and more polished transition between musket and melee combat modes.
ːjollyrː The next Dev Diary is just a couple of weeks away. We've got a lot to share, so stay tuned!
ːjollyrː A talented game designer has joined the team, which is perfect timing given the results of the recent survey and our new priorities for uplifting freeplay features.


Work in progress.

[h2]Ahoy![/h2]

In short:

• Our first survey is complete! Results are below.
  
• The team, as usual, is hard at work on tech support and has already released 6 mini-fixes.
  
• Patch 1.4 is in the works — updated controls with strafing, camera improvements, stability, and yes, new content! ːcharles_happyː
  

[h2]Survey Results[/h2]

With over 1,100 players participating, we've got plenty of data to make informed decisions. For those who enjoy diving into the numbers or ːrofl_pirateː don’t fully trust us, here are the full results for both the Russian and English surveys.

Contest winners are highlighted in the table. In the next couple of weeks, we’ll be sending out keys for an exclusive DLC to the emails provided in the survey. Thanks for all your fantastic responses and your love for the game! ːrespect_soldierː

Is it even good?



This one’s straightforward — almost 90% of players rated the game positively, though the Russian survey showed a slightly higher score. There were no restrictions, and everyone could vote, so the takeaway is simple: we’re thrilled you’re enjoying the game — and we’re committed to making it even better.

Freeplay or Story?

Freeplay took the win.
Does this mean Charles de Maure's storyline is complete and that next year will be all about core mechanics?

Not quite. The preference split isn’t wide enough to make such a dramatic call. So, version 1.5 will definitely include Mary and Tichingitu’s quests, and if we can manage it, we’ll rework "Happily Ever After" into a true epilogue. Beyond that, we’ll leave the storyline as is and focus on expanding the key features that make this genre so engaging. Piracy, trading, career, ownership and leadership.

Instead of an epilogue... ːrofl_pirateː



We still have some processing to do with the survey results, but here are the key takeaways so far:

• Crashes affect only a small portion of players, but as long as it's over 1%, it’s still a problem.
  
• Players love the game for its roleplay, freedom and large-scale battles, leading their own crew.
  
• Common criticisms include pacing and limited activities beyond the main story — especially noticeable in the later game. That’s likely why there’s a big demand for colony management.
  
• Few major bugs or recurring issues exist, but conflicts between NPCs spawns (in taverns, at piers, or coves) break the game very often.
  
• The most of quest timers complaints may be caused by how the wind on the global map works.
  
• Controls have faced plenty of criticism — and deservedly so. Our top priority from now on.
  
• None of these issues are unfixable.
  
• And everything you already love about the game can still be improved.
  

Beyond this, we received lots of kind words and well-wishes. It means a lot to us — especially in these challenging times. ːsteamthumbsupː

That’s all for now — see you next month!
ːjollyrː

[h2]Ahoy![/h2]

• Patch 1.3.1 is live! This update includes everything we couldn’t fit into 1.3.
  
• New game is not required. Save crashes due to adding new ships are no longer an issue.
  
• The game and all the DLCs are on sale now!
  
• Over 900 players have completed our survey so far, and the initial results are… curious. Once we hit 1,000 responses, we’ll share the full report. Remember, the best answers will be rewarded with a free DLC!
  

[h3]What’s New[/h3]

• New Corvette model.
  
• Improved Lugger model.
  
• New longboat model.
  
• Numerous adjustments to all new ships based on player feedback.
  
• Three new boarding scenes: two for Rank 5 and one for Rank 4.
  
• Muskets can now be worn on your back and equipped at any time with the hotkey “2.”
  
• Updated models for Diego and William, and any armor is visible on them too.
  
• Added a new jump animation, also allowing you to leap with your weapon drawn.
  
• Improved night visuals - should be not so dark now.
  
• Improved textures of Justice Island.
  
• Improved textures of ship rigging.
  
• Lighthouses now have their own icon in the sea fast-travel menu.
  
• Assigning an officer is no longer required for storing a ship at harbor master's.
  
• Adjustable camera sensitivity, currently available only on land. Makes controls much smoother.
  
• Armor and muskets can now be equipped or removed in any order (except Helen).
  
• Tommy can only fire a single shot during the lighthouse battle.
  
• The Pink Principio now has a max crew capacity of 65 (pre-upgrade).
  
• New portraits for Tommy Irons—thanks to Konstrush.!
  
• Added new dialogue lines for Tommy at the end of the storyline.
  
• Tommy now responds appropriately to the player’s rank, recognizing their status.
  
• Longway and Helen have new notifications, showing changes in their attitude towards a hero.
  
• Revised hiring dialogues for Longway in the "The Dutch Gambit" quest.
  
• Adjustments to the opening storyline to enhance the experience for new players.
  
• Added a “Take All” button when looting chests.
  
• The “Bottleneck commodity" quest is now limited to character starting towns.
  
• Claude Durand will no longer become immortal at the end of the “The Last Lesson” quest.
  
• Text and bug fixes.
  

ːjollyrː

[h2]Ahoy![/h2]

This dev diary won’t feature any sales pitches, sneak peeks, or triumphant reports. Put away your maps, cutlasses, and pistols — we’re having a serious conversation today. It’s your turn to speak and share your thoughts. ːseawolvesː

[h3]Today's Items:[/h3]

• Patch 1.4
  
• Plans for the future
  
• The Big Question
  
• FAQ
  

[h3]Patch 1.4[/h3]
Eight months ago, we launched the game. Back in February, we decided to focus on two key things: lowering the entry barrier for new players (tutorials, notifications) and rapidly filling the game with as much content as possible — animations, quests, locations, ships, and more — for veteran players.

This focus allowed us to triple the size of our team, streamline our processes, and discover what we do best. However, it also created a significant amount of technical debt and exposed the game’s biggest problem — outdated controls and camera mechanics. Bugs frustrate veteran players, and the controls confuse new ones.

That’s why I decided not to rush straight into patch 1.5, but instead, release an intermediate patch — 1.4. In this patch, we’ll focus on fixing bugs and creating a new control and camera system.

The bugs are straightforward to fix, but the camera and control issues are more nuanced. The problem is that most new players rely solely on WASD, without actively using the mouse. This results in "tank controls". As for the the camera is too close to the player, doesn’t respond to character movement, spins sharply, and often keeps enemies out of view.

In other words, the game doesn’t fully support gamepads, which leads to a lot of frustration for new players who want to enjoy the game but can't. It took us some time and R&D to fully understand the root of the problem because, after so many years of development, our vision of certain things had become a bit blurred.

Without fixing this technical debt and addressing the controls, there’s no point in moving forward.

• Hire new team members.
  
• Quickly add new content to the game.
  
• Lower the entry barrier for new players.
  
• Begin research to improve graphics, the engine, and controls.
  
• Understand what we do best.
  [You are here]
• Understand what players want most.
  
• Resolve the technical debt.
  
• Fix tank controls and janky camera.
  
• Write the design document for version 1.5.
  
• Make a significant leap forward with version 1.5.
  
• Resolve technical debt again.
  
• Release version 2.0 and [redacted].
  
• Resolve the technical debt one last time.
  
• [redacted]
  
• Caribbean Legend 2
  

New boarding scenes and muskets as proper secondary weapons

[h3]The Future[/h3]
While the technical part of the team will be suffering from stabilizing the game and fixing the controls, the creative side will be enjoying themselves with quests and designing version 1.5.

If the first stage of development (1.0–1.4) was about exploring the game, the dev team, and the players, then the second (patch 1.5) and third (patch 2.0) milestones will mark significant changes and leaps forward. The future of Sea Dogs series and all that.

Caribbean Legend is a massive game with over 200 hours of gameplay, countless mechanics, and hundreds of content pieces. Games like Sea Dogs, Mount & Blade, and Kenshi are rare. But no matter how strong the ideas from the 2000s may be, the game needs to evolve; otherwise, it’ll become stale and sink into the oblivion. We can’t rely on old gameplay forever. If we want to preserve this genre, which still has no real competition in terms of depth, we must keep moving forward — like how Mound & Blade: Warband transitioned to Bannerlord.

And no, it’s not just about aimlessly adding new quests, perks, ships, or updating graphics and throwing in mechanics for the sake of numbers. We need to make ship plundering and trading fun again. Rebuild the combat system. Recapture the sense of novelty and exploration that makes great new games so captivating.

Port Royal in its glory

Patch 1.5 will be the first step in that direction. Right now, we’re gathering data to prioritize correctly. Prioritize incorrectly, and we risk breaking the entire project. We already have player metrics, feedback notes, our own vision, and a well-established development process. We're also working on the design document for version 1.3 — dissecting the current game to fully understand how it works now.

Almost everything is ready, but to start writing the design document for 1.5, we need just one thing — your opinion. Every one of you has your own vision of what the game should be, and it’s up to you to answer the Big Question.

[h3]Freeplay or Story?[/h3]
No, this isn’t about choosing a game mode from the main menu. This is about what you want to spend most of your game time. It’s about what truly matters to you and what you consider fun.

If you choose freeplay, we’ll focus on things like trade, high seas piracy, colony raids, career progression, wealth accumulation, and restoring that sense of novelty and exploration. The benefit of freeplay is that it also enhances the story mode. The downside? Lots of unknowns, because game design is pure alchemy and randomness.

Possible Freeplay features:

• Boarding parties and their upgrades.
  
• Weapon mods and sharpening.
  
• Personal pirate treasures, more physical appearance of money and loot.
  
• Plantations and factories.
  
• Reactive world: live factions and new bounty hunters system.
  

If you choose story, we’ll focus on the epilogue and adding more quests. The plus side? Our tasks are clear, and we already have hundreds of pages of content ready to code. The downside? Story is subjective — some are already tired of Charles de Maure, while others may never have cared about his story in the first place. And, of course, any story can be written either poorly or well. That’s a bit of alchemy too, I suppose.

Possible Story features:

• Epilogue.
  
• Rework of the "Happily Ever After" questline.
  
• A proper pirate path and a career of Charlie Prince.
  
• Targeted improvements to quests and cutscenes.
  

Personally, I lean toward Freeplay. Raiding ships and hoarding doubloons — isn’t that why we play this game? And based on current stats, only 10% of players will ever see the epilogue. Maybe we should focus on increasing that percentage first?

[h3]Survey[/h3]
We’ve prepared a survey that will be open for a week. It’s short, and the best responses will receive a unique DLC with three in-game items.

Beyond the epic showdown between "freeplay vs story", there’s another important point in the survey. Patch 1.4 will include a refactoring — we need to go through the code and fix long-standing issues that have been bothering the community (WHEN WILL YOU FINALLY FIX THIS?!).

We really need a list of these issues. Without it, we’ll have to go through the entire code line by line, which is highly inefficient. If you’ve been playing for a while, you probably have a list of these kinds of issues. Please share them with us. ːrespect_soldierː

This won’t be the last survey, but after this one, we’ll be able to start writing the design document for patch 1.5 with confidence. And patch 1.4, with fixes and new controls, will likely be released in December.

To sum up:

• Together, we’ll make the strategical choice between freeplay and story.
  
• We’ll stabilize the game and introduce modern controls — for both veteran and new players.
  
• We’ll focus on what matters most and take the game to the next level with patch 1.5.
  

Visible armor for everyone

[h3]FAQ[/h3]
For fun, try loading the Russian version of this blog post. ːrofl_pirateː The FAQ is 10 times bigger, and the reason for that is explained in the first item below.

What's up with all the negative Russian reviews? Simply put, the game has a long history and deep ties with the Russian modding community. While this community was, and still is, crucial to the existence of the genre, it also brings a fair amount of toxicity. Plus, I’m not the best community manager.

Tank controls. When will you fix them? Hopefully in Patch 1.4. The game was originally designed with extensive mouse camera control in mind. Everything is built around it, including combat and level design. Not to mention the several hundred animations we’ll need to create to make the switch.

In short, our goal is to create controls that can fully support a gamepad with a reactive camera. This involves more movement axes, animation blending, etc.

Pressing A or D will make the character strafe. W/A or W/D will make the character run in circles until the player stops pressing A/D, at which point the locomotion will continue in the chosen direction. If the player turns the character far enough, the camera will gradually and smoothly match the direction. That’s the gist of it.

I hate the wind on the Global Map. Is it rigged to ruin my day? It’s random. The trouble with randomness is that we tend to only remember when it works against us. We plan to adjust this in Patch 1.4, making wind much less of a factor in Global Map travel.

Sailing is too slow. Any plans to fix that? Aye, we’ll make sailing super fast and easy in non-combat mode to eliminate this unnecessary drag.
The energy system is boring. It drags down land combat and makes it less fun. What about that? Oh yes, the energy war. Eventually, we’re going to scrap this relic entirely, but that will require us to overhaul the entire RPG system. For now, how about a compromise? We could turn off energy consumption for basic attacks while increasing it for special, heavy, and group attacks. This could be interesting and would definitely speed things up.

Will you ever fix the crashes? According to our automatic crash reporting system, only 1% of players experience crashes. The most recent spike in crashes was caused by patch 1.3, which introduced a lot of new ships, preventing older sea-based saves from loading. That’s on us — we should have made it clearer by adding in-game notifications. Most of the other crash causes are hardware-related. The game still doesn’t get along well with AMD, and we’re working hard to fix that.

When will proper modding become available? As soon as the game no longer requires regular tech support, and once we finish active development. Ideally, we’ll also implement a proper module system for modding.

Will you add support for more languages? I believe that German and Spanish localizations are almost done at this point. French should be in progress too. They all need centralized dev support and coordination. Stay tuned for future updates.

How is the state of the English localization at the moment? It’s improving with every patch. I might be overly optimistic, but I think we’ve finally fixed most of the major issues. Big thanks to all the players who posted English bugs and errors in the dedicated Discord channel.

Anything I can do to help? Filling out the survey would be a massive help, really. Also, if you know any senior C++ devs who would be interested in a paid job working through 20 years of legacy code — please DM me. Especially if they have experience with custom game engines and DirectX rendering. Lastly, if you think the game deserves it, please leave a blue review. I know it’s lame to ask for reviews, but seeing those 500+ hour red reviews with “devs are bad” is surprisingly demotivating.

That’s all for today, folks. Brace yourselves for 1.3.1 and 1.4. Things are about to get very interesting, very soon.

Good hunting.
ːjollyrː