Windward Horizon News

Ahoy, Captains!

A new update has arrived, bringing expanded province mechanics, faction customization options, and various quality-of-life improvements. Read on for the full details!

[h2]Province & Governance Updates
[/h2]

• Players can now designate one of the provinces they've established as their home province. Home provinces generate passive income based on tax collected from all transactions within them. They store up to 14 days’ worth of taxes, which players must visit to collect.
  
• Players can now install a governor of their choice at their home province. Governors placed this way can only be deposed through a successful coup or a pirate raid. You can only select governors with whom you have Rank 3 or higher reputation.
  
• Added the ability to finance pirate raids by bribing pirates that attempt to ambush you. This allows players to trigger a pirate raid at a province of their choice. Without player intervention, the province could be plundered, losing goods, prosperity, and its active governor.
  

[h2]Faction & Economy Changes[/h2]

• Players can now choose faction buffs from a faction other than their own, provided they have unlocked them (typically by joining that faction first). For example, you can now sail under the Exchange pennant while keeping a Sojourn faction buff. Buffs applied this way scale normally with your actual faction rank.
  
• Ships can now be sold anywhere and are no longer limited by a province’s available funds.
  
• Ships put into storage will now only value their items at 1/4th of their vendor price when selling the ship as a whole.
  

[h2]Bug Fixes & Quality of Life Improvements[/h2]

• Properly fixed the missing "leave" button while dead in an instance.
  
• Losing a Team Deathmatch should no longer cause players to keep spawning in pirate-controlled towns.
  
• Fixed a town creation quest bug introduced in the last update.
  
• Sped up the enter town animation and made the button appear almost instantly.
  
• Fixed the inability to switch ships with active quests. Previously, this only applied to buying new ships but not swapping ships.
  
• Quest town markers will no longer appear at all if the province cannot be settled in that location.
  

February was an exciting month for Windward Horizon, with Steam Next Fest, new patch updates, and an amazing community stepping up to help fellow sailors. Let’s dive into what’s been happening!

[h2]🚢 Steam Next Fest & Trailer[/h2]
Windward Horizon made waves during Steam Next Fest, bringing in thousands of new captains eager to set sail. Some key highlights from the event:

• We've sailed past 22,500 wishlists, up 7,000 in the past two weeks. 🎊
  
• Over 10,000 players claimed the demo
  
• Over 1,100 unique players connected to the demo server for online play.
  
• Over 1,200 daily active users over the past seven days.
  
• Steam reports an average of over 1,600 daily players during the event.
  

A huge thank you to everyone who played, shared feedback, and contributed to discussions! If you missed it, here are a few screenshots from one of the battles we fought during the demo:



[h2]⚓ Demo Week Patch Highlights[/h2]
Throughout the month, I've been refining the game with community-driven improvements and fixes. Here’s a breakdown of the biggest updates:

[h3]🛠️ Gameplay Improvements & Fixes[/h3]

• Volley can now be aimed manually like mortars (right-click to disable auto-targeting) and always does full damage if it hits.
  
• Accuracy and range mechanics were reworked, making sniper-like Offense builds more viable and removing the 150-yard range cap.
  
• Summoned ally damage, healing, and kills now count towards their summoner’s stats.
  

[h3]UI & Quality of Life Updates[/h3]

• New range and firing arc indicators for abilities and enemy ships.
  
• A UI scaling option was added for 1080p displays to fit more information on the screen.
  
• CTRL+Click on ships to auto-attack on sight, bypassing the conversation dialog.
  

[h3]World & Rewards Adjustments[/h3]

• Diving spots generate floating loot periodically, similar to Windward 1.
  
• Mini-game rewards improved, and "dud" pickups now grant XP.
  
• Provinces now have visible control regions that exert influence on nearby areas, affecting reputation gains. Check with /pressure in chat to see the impact.

[h2]🌟 Community Spotlight[/h2]
A huge shoutout to the players who have gone above and beyond in helping others and keeping the community engaged! This month, we want to recognize:
🏴‍☠️ Sapholin (Sir Pencil), Edwyndham, and Captain Jack – for their constant support in Steam and Discord discussions and answering community questions.
📜 LimDood – for sharing detailed mini-guides that help new captains navigate the game’s mechanics.

Your contributions make the Windward Horizon community a better place, and I appreciate everything you do!

[h2]🌊 On the Horizon[/h2]
As we move forward, the plan is to continue and fine-tune gameplay, add more content (like player factions!), and build towards 1.0 Release. If you have feedback or suggestions, be sure to join the discussions on Steam or our Discord server!

Thank you for sailing with us! More updates coming soon, and please wishlist the game if you haven't as it helps a lot! ⛵

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2665460/Windward_Horizon/

This Monday, join your friends in exploring the world of Windward Horizon, a solo dev project and a sequel to fan-favorite Windward! The Demo will be live exclusively during Steam Next Fest!

[h3]Explore a Vast, Open World[/h3]
You’ll begin as a young, unaffiliated captain in a vast procedurally generated world, where no two adventures will be the same, and you're free to do whatever your heart desires!
Trade, quest, fish, fight, or simply sail, there’s no wrong way to play.

[previewyoutube]https://youtu.be/i5LC8UBUyuM?si=lpEBTAXMi-xWlQpp[/previewyoutube]

[h3]Solo and Co-op are available from the get-go![/h3]
Navigating uncharted waters is almost always better with a friend by your side! Explore the map, trade in the provinces, heal your allies in battles (or when they accidentally ram their ship into the shore), fight off dreaded pirates, or split up and chart your courses.



[h3]Your Ship, Your Rules![/h3]
As you gain experience, unlock talents across Defense, Offense, or Support trees, or mix and match to create a perfect ship for your unique playstyle.

Speaking about 'Perfect Ships', the Demo will feature three ships, each of them fully customizable.
From the crew to the sail colors. Find or purchase new options as you travel the world to truly make the ship your own.



[h3]Your Actions Shape the World[/h3]
Supplying resources to towns can help them grow, and backing faction leaders can change the balance of power. Want to capture a province without firing a shot? Use diplomacy and trade to turn the tide.



[h3]Play the Demo During Steam Next Fest![/h3]
The free demo will be live only during the Steam Next Fest week of February 24th, so don't miss out!


Wishlist now!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2665460/Windward_Horizon/

- Aren

It's almost time for another playtest! If you own the original Windward, you can try Windward Horizon's latest beta this Friday, July 5th at 10 AM EST!

Join us to experience the multitude of changes since the May's playtest, including new storylines, rewards, an unlockable faction and ship, new larger procedurally generated worlds, and a many other changes added based on the players' feedback.

You can find instructions on how to join the playtest here: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/326410/view/4230650600729975641

Anyone that owns the original Windward game and doesn't mind running into a few bugs along the way can try the early preview build of Windward Horizon for free this Friday, May 17th, starting at 10 AM EST.

To opt-in, follow these simple steps on Friday:

1. Right-click Windward in your game library, and go to Properties.



2. Under Betas tab there is a Beta Participation option. Simply choose the "horizon" branch to opt in.



3. Launch Windward like normal and have fun!*

Note: this special branch will only become available once the event begins at 10 AM on May 17th, and although the game's release will feature Linux/OSX builds, this preview will only be available for Windows. The event will end on early morning of May 20th.

Since this early build of the game doesn't have a tutorial, a handy new player guide can be found here.

You are also welcome to stop by the Tasharen Community discord server to discuss your experience!

See you there!

-Aren

P.S. I will be looking to expand my closed tester team after the event ends. At the very least, I'd like to add two people to it: a Linux gamer as well as an experienced modder. You can apply by messaging me directly in discord.