Windward Horizon News

[h3]2025-06-27.0[/h3]
- Added Steam Workshop / modding support.
- Made the /extract command extract actual game's files rather than the current data (which may include modded values).
- Added a new /newmod command that creates a blank mod without any data.
- The game now makes a backup of the player's save file before mods are enabled.
- Fixed the grog's projectile barrel not having the proper color the way explosive barrel projectile did.
- Choosing a different language now enables the legible text option by default.
- Language selection is now correctly persistent when re-launching the game.
- Added a way to replace entire config nodes, not just append to them.
- Increased the movement speed of the virutal cursor when the controller stick's direction is maxed out.
- The ship config file can now specify a default (starting) ship rather it being hard-coded to be the sloop.
- Changed how and when the world config gets reset/updated in order to make it work better with mods.
- Mods that include textures are now marked as having game assets, and mods only tie to player if they modify the relevant configuration or alter conversation files. Mods with assets or textures don't force the player to be marked as modded.
- Fixed player showing up under their old name in chat after choosing a new character on a public server.
- Fixed the mod manager not calculating the mod hashes correctly.
- The starting location is now more randomized, and is no longer in the middle of the world.

[h3]2025-06-19.0[/h3]
- Added an /extract command to extract all of the game's config, conversation and localization data into a brand-new mod. Use this to see how the game works. Change anything you want, or use it as a guide for your own mods. Guide coming soon (next week).
- Non-artifact items will now gain XP twice as quickly.
- Fixed the message of the day not showing up upon joining the server.
- Added a mod selection dialog window that shows up if you have mods available.
- Skills that apply buffs can now be used even if the buff is already active (which will refresh its duration and/or increase the number of stacks)

[h3]2025-06-17.0[/h3]
- Added the option to replace the handwritten-looking fancy font with a clear, legible one.
- Added a way to set message-of-the-day with the /motd command available to server admins.
- Slightly improved SotL and Frigate's base turning rate.
- Added a more obvious way of editing existing campaign settings.
- Some more tweaks to /rename to make it work better.
- Your ship will now automatically anchor while fishing, diving, in a conversation or interacting with a town.

[h2]🌴 Summer Sale Ahoy! Windward Horizon 10% Off Until July 10[/h2][p]Windward Horizon is part of the Steam Summer Sale![/p][p]From now through July 10, the game is available at 10% off. [/p][p]If you’ve been waiting to jump in or want to bring a friend aboard, now’s the time to set sail.[/p][p]⛵ Get it here
[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][h2]🎵 Original Soundtrack Now Available[/h2][p]The Windward Horizon Original Soundtrack is now live on Steam!
Over an hour of music from the game, ranging from calm exploration tracks to high-tension naval battles. [/p][p]Composed by Finn MK, it is available on all major music platforms. [/p][p]Featuring 20 tracks, including bonus exclusive ones! Take the Windward journey with you everywhere you go! [/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][hr][/hr][h2]⚔️ A Storm is brewing...[/h2][p][/p][p]More to come soon... Can you guess what's on the horizon?[/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][p]Thank you all for your support thus far.[/p]

This week will be dry on patch notes as I'm going to be working on Steam Workshop/modding support. This means a good chunk of my time will be spent creating a modding guide, and there is a lot to cover... But in the meantime, here are the patch notes from the past few days:

[h3]2025-06-16.0[/h3]
- Fixed ship type not being tied to the region's position properly in co-op type instances with level scaling disabled.
- Removed bosses from co-op missions on lower tier difficulties in Solo mode.
- Added a slider to world options that controls the speed at which provinces will grow their population, letting you raise it up to 10x the base speed.
- Boss tier NPCs will no longer have the ability to repair themselves out of combat.
- Fixed a bug in the networking code that was causing oddities, and was potentially the cause of the strange tower issues. (server admins should update their server executable)
- Made the /rename command work in multiplayer as well.

[h3]2025-06-14.0[/h3]
- The SotL unlock story is now in.
- Provinces under a trade embargo may now offer a quest to lift it.

[h3]2025-06-13.0[/h3]
- If the player is awarded loot with full inventory, it will now drop in the ocean next to the player's ship.
- Projectiles that explode near the ship can now be reflected by Giant Net as well.
- Instances will no longer show up for anyone until the owner has finished creating the region.
- Instances will no longer show up for anyone not on the same version as the host.
- Fixed the shipyard price not reflecting the ship's actual cost properly.
- Cleaned up the Alvana/Rowdy/Silvano story flags, simplifying them. If your progress is stuck, use /resetAlvana to restart it.
- Fixed one option in Alvana's story (be better than your father) that was causing the story to reset to a much earlier state.
- All ships will now be removed at the end of coups.

[h3]2025-06-10.1[/h3]
- Fixed a long-standing bug that was messing up world map pathfinding and many other things (which was just the most obvious symptom of the bug).
- Greatly improved performance of the world map.
- Stratospheric clouds will now properly fade out in foggy conditions.
- You can now turn off error sound on use for your skills by right-clicking any skill.
- Server's admin can now rename provinces and towns at will.
- Dropped the quick-leave timer from 60 sec to 20.
- Items gifted to other players then passed back to the owner will now restore their vendor price value.
- Using /rename command no longer creates a different profile and will now keep your reputation, unlocks and story progress.
- Another fix for AI fog usage.

[h3]2025-06-08.2[/h3]
- Halved the amount XP needed to level up higher tier non-artifact items.
- Opening a UI window while in port will no longer anchor you if there is an active conflict in the region.
- While trying to settle a province, world map will now show actual resource icons rather than just (?) marks.
- The navigation dialog now has the option to remain in the region, and will also always show your home province as one of the choices.
- Added separate icons for different lumber types.
- Fixed the establish new province quest failing upon establishing a province if the limit is set to 1 province.
- Added a way to voluntarily reset your own stories for romance-able characters, in case you want to try different choices: /resetSonya, /resetAlvana and /resetLani.
- Reduced story progression wait timers down to 10 minutes at most.
- Fixed the dye mixer not working with click-and-move approach to moving items (it only worked with drag and drop).
- Tweaked Alvana's conversation a bit to make it more obvious that you're making the wrong choice and screwing up her romance.
- Reduced the amount of wrecks you need to salvage in order to get freebie late game ships.
- Limited AI to use fog only once every 30 seconds regardless of cooldowns.
- The game will now backup player ship saves every 30 minutes. Just in case.
- Battle progress timer should not advance while the game is paused.
- Reduced the snare effect on crit from offense spec talents.
- Added accuracy to being hit for basic Useful Debris.

- Guard towers and lighthouses can now be placed anywhere within a certain radius of towns, and no longer require being placed on top of pre-determined building spots.
- Added the ability to mix dyes together to create new combinations.
- Upkeep resource consumption is now randomized, so provinces will consume a variety of goods now instead of the same ones over and over.
- Fixed Summon Allies skill always being unusable after the world reset.
- World map being open will no longer force the virtual cursor to be on if there is a dialog or a conversation window open.
- Fixed flying ships by adding a work-around. Turns out my matter density code used in buoyancy calculations was all kinds of wrong. Fixing it completely altered the game's established physics-based behaviour, so it's not something that should be undertaken at this point. A work-around will do.
- Added an option to turn off ship debris in order to save on performance.
- Some tweaks to talents. Venom now stacks to 30, and that talent also gets an additional debuff with Commanding Presence talented.
- Proc events can now specify which talents must be unlocked for them to appear. Currently not visualized if not unlocked, however.
- Regional challenge level is now set when the region is created, and is only temporarily altered by coups.
- Instance challenge is now always defaulted to single player, unless it's from multiplayer (co-op) missions, in which case it'll use the multiplayer version. If the world is set to single player, both are the same regardless.
- Combat instances with their challenge threshold far exceeding the player's current will no longer be visible to players.
- Town inventory and dropped items are now correctly capped by the region's level when level scaling is turned off.