Davy Jones Deckhand News

[p]Ahoy mateys, welcome Below Deck![/p][p][/p][h2]We're off to Gamescom 🛫[/h2][p][/p][p]We have exciting news to share this month. Cass Bay Games have received another grant from CODE NZ, this time it’s to fund a trip to Cologne, Germany to pitch Davy Jones’ Deckhand at Gamescom, the biggest games event in the world! [/p][p]Ben and Tepene will be flying over in August with a pitch deck and a dream. We’ll be attending the business area from Wednesday to Friday, hanging out in the CODE pavilion and meeting publishers.[/p][p]
NZ CODE pavilion in Gamescom 2024 business area[/p][p][/p][h2]What are we working on?[/h2][p][/p][p]Following our April playtest, we have been getting to work on our next set of updates. We’ve been making general bug fixes and some juicy improvements like additional sprites for our counter-attack animations. Plus the art team is now focusing on our first cut scene, which will be the opening of the game - at least for our first public Steam demo! Here is a sneak peek at our private pre-vis animation, voiced by our very own game director Ben! 🤣[/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][p]And we’ve started to build out a major new feature: voyage selection! In the full game, players will have the freedom to explore an open world map by completing voyages. The voyages are procedurally generated based on factors like distance from your current location, and the biomes you travel through along the way.[/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][h2]Join the crew! 🏴‍☠️
[/h2][p]Don’t forget to wishlist the game on Steam, blackmail your friends and family to do the same, and help us market our pirate game![/p][p][/p][p]If you'd like more regular updates and to chat with the team then please join our public Discord server, we'd love to have you join our growing community. You can also follow us on social media at the links below.[/p][p]
Discord invite: https://t.co/sBqCnmZi9T[/p][p]Playtester sign ups: Fill out this form to access the playtest [/p][p][/p][h3]Wishlist now: [dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/h3][h3]Find us on social media[/h3][p]🔗 Instagram 🔗 TikTok 🔗 X/Twitter 🔗 YouTube 🔗 Bsky 🔗[/p][p]
Until next time me hearties, yo ho![/p]

We've got an exciting playtest coming up this weekend. The big news is that we're migrating over to Steam. This Friday afternoon (New Zealand time) we'll be emailing out individual Steam access keys to everyone who has signed up, so keep an eye out for that! If you haven't signed up yet, you can do so here: Playtesting sign-up form


[h2]What's new this time around?[/h2]

✅ 8+ new artefacts: Blue Candle, Green Candle, Flotsam, Jetsam, Coral Encrusted Broach, Scurvy Tonic, Stokers Blade

✅ New enemies: Mermaid, Rich Boy, Greedy Octopus, Wōkòu

✅ Quality of life updates: Black Spot in hand warnings, clearer (juicier) hit numbers, updated settings menu with access from any scene

✅ Smarter enemy systems with more bespoke move sets

✅ Steam achievements

✅ Improved save system



[h2]Watch us play![/h2]

Once again, you'll find the development team live in the 🍺tavern voice channel in our Discord server. Come hang out, ask us anything and watch us get destroyed by our own game!


[h3]Stream times - Friday 30th May[/h3]

NZT - 8pm-10pm

BST - 9am-11am

EDT - 4am-6am


See you this weekend!

Ben and the CBG team
[email protected]

Ahoy mateys, welcome Below Deck!

This month we’re chatting to an important member of the small Cass Bay Games team, character artist Nik Scarr! We’re excited to share a bit more about Nik and his awesome contribution to the game.

Nik has not only been responsible for the rendering of character sprites, but also the concepts and designs of many of the weird and wonderful characters in the game. He’s injecting so much personality Davy Jones’ Deckhand, and we’re blessed at Cass Bay Games to be constantly surprised by Nik’s inventiveness.



[h2]The interview[/h2]

[h3]What’s one interesting fact about you from outside of game development/art?[/h3]

I originally trained and worked as a structural engineer, which was a safe financial decision but was ultimately unsatisfying. I changed course and studied art and animation which so far has been a lot more creatively fulfilling.

[h3]What drives you as an artist?[/h3]

I am always looking to improve my skills as an artist. There are a lot of very talented artists out there, and when I see the incredible work they are producing, it motivates me to work harder. I am a visual thinker and am inspired by all kinds of visual media including comics, anime, games, movies and TV shows. I plan on improving my skills to the point where I am able to produce my own games and animations to a very high standard, and anything that gets me closer to that reality is a step in the right direction.

[h3]What is some of the work you are most proud of?[/h3]

My most recent personal project was a new 2D animation reel featuring a strange combination of characters including Waluigi, and Ellie from The Last of Us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM4L1IcnTPE

Another project I am very proud of is my 2D platform browser game “The Captain”, a project I made as an animation student in 2019.

Link to the itch page: https://nws92.itch.io/the-captain

[h3]What’s your ideal environment/conditions for doing your best work?[/h3]

I am a serious introvert. I work from home on a desktop PC with a drawing tablet and two monitors. I like to listen to podcasts or music while working.

[h3]What drew you to Davy Jones’ Deckhand?[/h3]

The art style that Ben and Tepene wanted to utilise for Davy Jones’ Deckhand was very much within my skillset, that is, 2D digital art in a cartoonish classic comic book style, with black outlines and simple colours. I also am a big fan of the pirate genre. I had been looking for opportunities to break into video game art, and this project felt like the perfect fit. It’s exciting to think about my art being featured in a great game that will be played by a lot of people.

[h3]What’s been your favorite work on Davy Jones’ Deckhand so far?[/h3]

I have really enjoyed designing the enemies for DJD. I have been given a lot of creative freedom during this process which has been fantastic. I get to design characters of all different shapes and sizes, taking inspiration from all over the place. The Biologist and the Strongman are a couple of my personal favourites.



[h3]How did you get into doing art for games?[/h3]

While studying animation we had a class that required us to make a simple browser game. I made a pixel art style platform game about an undead pirate called “The Captain”. This was unexpectedly one of my favourite student projects to work on, and it really stoked my interest in working on art for games.

[h3]What’s your advice for aspiring artists?[/h3]

Anyone can do this. If you want to develop art skills you just have to put in the practice hours. For me, the most effective way to practise is by working on long projects that have a clear end goal, so that every time I work on them, I am practising the skills I want to improve, just by default. I stay motivated by picturing the finished product. For example, as a hobby I really enjoy drawing comics, which can take weeks or months to complete, but the only way to finish them is by doing hundreds of drawings.
Pick a project that interests you, and then just do your best to finish it to the best of your abilities. Ideas are cheap, what matters is execution. There is tremendous value in finishing a project, even if no one sees it. This will train your brain to believe that you can get anything done if you put the time in. Also, the more projects you finish, the more likely it is that you will produce a body of work that will be seen and enjoyed by prospective clients and employers.

[h2]A sneak peek at our first cinematic cutscene[/h2]

To just stay on the Nik train a little while longer, we’re going to give you a sneak peek at our first cinematic cut scene. Nik has been storyboarding the game’s introductory scene that sees our carefree protagonist's naval ambitions dashed by a brutal pirate attack—launching players straight into the tutorial, armed with nothing but a mop!



[h2]Another playtest on the horizon?![/h2]

We are working towards yet another playtest very soon! This time we’ll be running it through Steam and even include Steam achievements. If you’ve already signed up for playtesting you’ll get an email with a Steam key once we are ready. If you haven’t signed up yet and would like to, you can do so here: Playtest sign up form

The new playtest will include achievements, new status effects, several new artefacts and enemies, and some lovely polish and quality of life improvements.

[h2]Join the crew! [/h2]

If you'd like more regular updates and to chat with the team then please join our public Discord server, we'd love to have you join our growing community. You can also follow us on social media at the links below.

Discord invite: https://t.co/sBqCnmZi9T

Previous editions of 'Below Deck' can be found on our Itch Devlog.

Playtester sign ups: Fill out this form to access the playtest

Until next time me hearties, yo ho!

Wishlist now: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3544900/Davy_Jones_Deckhand/

Ahoy mateys,

We’re just slipping through in time for an April edition of ‘Below Deck’. What a month it has been! We ran our second public playtest and it has been amazing to see so many players truly enjoying our pre-alpha build. In this newsletter we’ll share a few cool insights and content from the playtest, and give you an idea of what’s next for Davy Jones’ Deckhand.


[h2]Some of our favorite playtest streams and videos[/h2]

[h3]The Geek Cupboard[/h3]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Penge from The Geek Cupboard was an gentleman and shared his first playthrough with his massive following. We were especially excited to read comments like:

“I absolutely LOVE the counter-attack/stances mechanic. I've never seen ANY game where stances made sense like this!”


[h3]DeepSpaceMatt[/h3]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
We were super impressed by how fast DeepSpaceMatt “clicked” with our game’s unique counter-attack/stance mechanics.


[h3]Dead3y3[/h3]
Dead3y3 was back for his second (and third) live stream of the game, having taken part in our first playtest in January. It was awesome to see his response to what was a massive improvement on the earlier version.


[h2]Gameplay insights and analytics[/h2]

We put together a detailed overview after the first week of playtesting which you can read on our itch devlog.

We had a total of 30 unique playtesters check it out, and saw some impressive mean playtimes, some brutal crab kills, and revealing stats about favorite cards and artefacts!



[h2]What’s next?[/h2]

Our next few sprints are focused around new merchant encounters, which will offer players the opportunity to purchase cards and artefacts mid-voyage. This will give players more agency over their build, and help them to mitigate RNG by providing a greater and more curated selection of loot. Eventually players will also be able to access a workshop which will let them remove and upgrade cards, and to customise their stances by adding counter-attack modifiers like “PIERCING” and “STEADY”, and moving the NATURAL tag to a different stance card in their deck.



Tep has been developing a layout for the new merchant encounters.

We’ve also started working on new status effects, new artefacts, and new enemy systems that will allow for more varied and interesting enemy moves. There will be a lot to look forward to in our playtest 3.0!


[h2]Join the crew! [/h2]

If you'd like more regular updates and to chat with the team then please join our public Discord server, we'd love to have you join our growing community. You can also follow us on social media at the links below.

Discord invite: https://t.co/sBqCnmZi9T


Previous editions of 'Below Deck' can be found on our Itch Devlog.

Playtester sign ups: Fill out this form to access the playtest

Until next time me hearties, yo ho!

Wishlist now: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3544900/Davy_Jones_Deckhand/

Hey crew,

It has been so exciting to share our newest build with you all. The team and I are extremely grateful for all the feedback, bug reports, gameplay clips and tavern banter so far.

If you haven’t managed to play yet, don’t worry! The build will stay live and available to you until our next playtest. After several patches, the most recent and stable build is version 0.78.12.

My sincere apologies to those who lost their precious artefacts when updating from previous versions! But hey… it’s a pirate game. We steal your booty every now and then. Yaarrr.

Below I’m going to share a few interesting stats from the playtest, but before I do, please let me remind you that we are now on Steam and you can support us by wishlisting the game today.

May your plunder be bountiful and your grog be strong,

Ben and the CBG team




[h2] 🏆Congratulations to Kris for getting the first win! 🏆[/h2]

We ran a competition in the Cass Bay Games Discord server. The first person to beat the playtest boss got a hand-drawn Avatar/profile picture by our character artist, Nik, in the style of the game!

Huge congrats to Kris who won the race, and on her second voyage no less!


[h2]Alright, let’s take a look at the results…[/h2]

[h3]Voyage outcomes[/h3]
More than 200 voyages! And your win ratio kept improving….



[h3]Cards[/h3]
The top 5 cards in your winning decks: Advance, Reposition, Annihilate, Rum, Secret Plan



The top 5 cards in your losing decks: Focus, Parry Machine, Sacrificial Sweep, Advance, Double Guard



Top 10 chosen cards. The 4 cards at the end of the tutorial section were removed from the results as these are always the same 4 options and were chosen a disproportionate amount. The top ten: Advance, Parry Machine, Shadow Slash, All Power, Wet Rag, Quick Guard, Extra Max, Sloppy Joe, Follow Up, Prepare



[h3]Enemies[/h3]
Your collective K/D was about 6:1



These were the most brutal enemies and killed you nearly 200 times: Massive Crab, Double Biologists, Double Khaki Pirate, Double Navy Snob, Cook and his Dish



Over the week you’ve dealt 72000 points of damage…



And murdered a lot of crabs (You monsters!)



[h3]Artefacts[/h3]

Your favorite artefacts taken as cargo: Peg Leg, Lantern, Broken Glasses, Strange Trinket, Miracle Elixir



The top ten artefacts in your winning decks: Lantern, Ring of Return, Sharpening Stone, Peg Leg, Bad Knot, Broken Glasses, Broken Mirror, Compass, Scurvy Cure, Strange Trinket



Top ten most utilised artefacts: Ring of Return, Lantern, Peg Leg, Broken Glasses, Tentacle, Miracle Elixir, Broken Jar, Strange Trinket, Compass, Broken Blade



[h3]Playtime[/h3]

You spent a fair few hours on the game, especially over the weekend! Thanks for enjoying our game.



[h2]Join the crew!
[/h2]

If you'd like more regular updates and to chat with the team then please join our public Discord server, we'd love to have you join our growing community. You can also follow us on social media at the links below.

Discord invite: https://t.co/sBqCnmZi9T


All editions of the 'Below Deck' newsletter can be found on our Itch Devlog.

Playtester sign ups: Fill out this form to access the playtest


Steam wishlist: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3544900/Davy_Jones_Deckhand/


Until next time me hearties, yo ho!