Long awaited and nicely timed for a Christmas release, almost two years after the previous full Beta. Easy installation and a lot of piratey goodness included makes this a treasure not to be missed by anyone who calls himself (or herself) a fan of swashbuckling or the historical Age of Sail.

The main advantage of Build 14 Beta 2 over prior releases is, of course, the fact that Beta 2 is a simple all-in-one installer, made to install correctly with a minimum of effort so there isn't much that can go wrong. However, PiratesAhoy! wouldn't be PiratesAhoy! if we hadn't managed to include a lot of worthwhile new content as well, including but not limited to improving the look of the sea itself! So read on to see how much of a Merry Pirate Christmas we've got in store for you. Or have a look at this trailer of epic proportions that shows quite a bit, but by no means all, that you can look forward to!

Woodes Rogers: Completely New Storyline

The first addition is the epic and completely new Woodes Rogers storyline. Carefully developed ever since before the release of Build 13 five years ago, it has now, for the first time ever, been included in an official modpack release. It offers many hours of an unique gameplay style that you will not encounter anywhere else in the game, inspired on such classic adventure games like Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis and the Monkey Island series.

For more information, see the full storyline feature.

New and Improved Ships

We're well aware how fond our fans are of new ship models and our modellers have been hard at work to make sure that as many new ships as possible have been included. There's a great variety of ships added in the game, such as the new British Royal navy ships "Raa Frigate" and "HMS Unicorn".

The Dutch navy has been expanded as well, with the German-built Derfflinger and Friedrich Wilhelm zu Perde being added to the fleet.

However, it isn't just large ships we're adding. There is also the large French tartane "La Dilligente" and the Lyon Hoy, a small trading vessel:

Fans of the Pirates of the Caribbean films need not fear that we have forgotten them though. Our Black Pearl model has been redone again, with more detail and more accuracy than ever before and some stunning texture work. The Wicked Wench, also known as the Black Pearl before she became the Black Pearl, has also been upgraded to the same standard.

Additional ships include re-skins for different nationalities, such as a new British third-rate warship based on the French "Le Superbe" as well as French and United States versions of the "HMS Bellona" third-rate model.

In addition to new models, a massive clean-up project of the ships in the game has been performed, ensuring a consistent high quality of all ships encountered in the game. A lot of the shared textures have been enhanced and many ships have had rigging updates as well. The Light Frigates even have received a completely new high-detailed hull that should go a long way to making them look much better than before.

Visit our Image Gallery for a lot more pictures of newly added ships.

Film Special Effects

There's a lot of new fun to be had by fans of the movies. Always people ask us if it is possible for the ships to do the crazy things they do in the films. As such, you will find that the cursed Black Pearl now trails fog wherever she goes and the Queen Anne's Revenge can set target ships aflame with the Greek Fire that has replaced her regular bow chasers.

And the Flying Dutchman has become especially fearsome as she has gained the ability to submerge beneath the water and take enemies by surprise. And as if a scary ship emerging right next to your foes isn't fun enough, just go ahead and set the Kraken on them too!

Gameplay Updates

Further adjustments have been made to the game economy, making the game more interesting than ever before. Additionally, the Period Weapons mod has been included at last, which will make the availability of weapons change depending on the time period. This will make each period even more distinct and hopefully adds another reason to replay the game with different time settings.

And as you can see above, muskets are now carried on characters' backs properly as well, which looks a lot better than what used to be the case.

Conclusion

Piracy never dies! There is too much fun to be had still. So join the ranks and blow your enemies right out of the water. Head over to the Downloads Section where the latest release is now waiting! And don't forget to have yourself a Merry Little Pirate Christmas!

In 1717 Rogers was appointed Royal Governor of the Bahamas where he helped suppress piracy in the Caribbean by offering caught pirates pardons. Many notorious pirates accepted this while others were hunted down and killed. The Golden Age of Piracy is about to end and Woodes Rogers, now retired, is living in Port Royale. The rumour has it that he is looking for adventurers. There is only one small problem with your crew...

Ever since before the release of Build 13, PiratesAhoy! Forum member Jack Rackham has been working hard on creating a completely new storyline. Now, five years after he started, he has completed his huge undertaking and his storyline is ready for people to play! Build 14 Beta 2 is due for release before the end of the year if all goes as planned and this storyline will be one of the main new features that you will be able to enjoy. However, until the release, we've got the following overview that will showcase the kind of fun you'll be able to expect.

Game Style:

The intention with this storyline is to add new things regarding locations, items, weapons, characters, secrets and stories. It is loaded with puzzles in the style of classic adventure games like Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis and the Monkey Island series, making this storyline a unique and involving experience that adds brilliantly to the set of other storylines we've already got.

Reworking a 3D role playing game into an old-school adventure game is no mean feat and this has required Jack Rackham to deal with more than a few game engine limitations. But he has succeeded admirably, allowing you to see things in the game that you have never seen before and seeing the old content in a completely new light.

Story:

You start as the marooned pirate Howard Pyle on an empty island. After escaping and being captured straight after, you are handed over to the retired governor Woodes Rogers. It turns out this is a stroke of good fortune, as rather than having you hanged as a pirate, he sends you to save his daughter Caroline, who has been kidnapped by a bunch of cut-throat pirates.

After saving the girl, Rogers wants to test you a little and gives six small missions to get the six-parted reward. Every one a little bit more difficult than the last. This requires you to explore Rogers' vast residence which is spread around the Port Royal tavern. Once you have achieve that, there will be a seventh task out on the governor's prize ships. It turns out that there is a story behind the reward items which may point to another quest. Rogers' officers and crew turn against their boss and kill him in their search for whatever this is. And they are after you as well!

When you run right into the famous pirate captain Charles Vane and his cohorts in their hideout in an old church ruin, Vane forces you to do a mission for them. However, this turns out to be not such a bad thing, as later on you will get help from Vane to defeat Rogers' crew. The story's finale takes place in Caroline's drawing room with all your loyal friends. The quest is over when the guy with the bad Swedish accent arrives.

Historical Notes:

Just for fun there are references to literature and to living persons. Some of the characters are real, others not. You decide. Among the real ones are these famous people from the end of the Golden Age of Piracy:

Woodes Rogers (1705-1732), English

Ships: Duke, Duchess, Marquis, Bachelor

Rogers commanded the Duke, with Thomas Dover as second captain. Steven Courtney and Edward Cook took charges of the slightly smaller Duchess. William Dampier was pilot and navigator. Rogers was appointed Royal Governor of the Bahamas where he helped suppress piracy in the Caribbean by offering caught pirates pardons if they changed their ways and helped him track down other pirates. Those who did not accept or who went back to their old ways were hanged. While on a privateering expedition around the world, he rescued a Scottish seaman named Alexander Selkirk from a Pacific island, which inspired Defoe's book Robinson Crusoe.

Charles Vane (July 1718 to November 1720), English

Ship: Ranger

Woodes Rogers had arrived at New Providence Island in August, offering a pardon to all. But Charles Vane, having just taken a French merchantman the night before, didn't accept the pardon as he wasn't wanting to lose his plunder. Vane set his prize on fire and sent it toward Rogers' fleet. When Rogers' ships pulled back to escape the inferno, Vane escaped, sailing away in a brigantine with most of his booty.

Benjamin Hornigold (1716-1717), English

Hornigold left New Providence Island in the Bahamas with Edward Teach (Blackbeard) among his crew. After capturing a sloop, Teach was given command of the prize. Toward the end of 1717, they seized a French ship loaded with gold, jewels and other items of value. The two parted company, Teach going to America, Hornigold to New Providence. When Woodes Rogers was appointed governor of the Bahamas, Hornigold asked for a pardon and received it. Rogers thought highly of Hornigold and commissioned him to hunt pirates.

After many years of hard work modding and tweaking, our very own Jack Rackham has finally finished his Woodes Rogers Mod! This mod is chalk full of authentic pirate goodness and includes many real life characters and ships from the Golden Age! There are also a lot of new weapons and armor, items, and even a few new locations. Oh yes, and the mod also features a completely different game play style from what you are used to with POTC and the Build Mod! Currently, there is still some tweaking going on before the Mod is officially added to New Horizons. But if you find yourself unable to wait, you can download the files from our FTP! This is a fairly good size mod, so be prepared to download close to 500 meg, but from what I have read about it, it is well worth it! Here are some screen shots :

Like pirates? Or the Age of Sail? Read on, for we have news for you!

News involving plunder and riches beyond imagination!

In our newest release, we have managed some massive improvements to game stability, but also made adjustments to the difficulty, balancing and economy, making the game more challenging and therefore much more interesting. It really was too easy in prior releases.

As usual, there's been a lot of work on our ships as well. Most work has gone into more detail and better rigging, but there's new ships too, including Blackbeard's Queen Anne's Revenge from Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides' fame. For the more historically inclined, there's also a set of new Elizabethan galleons that will replace our former low-detail versions. A small sample of the improved ships can be seen on these pictures:

However, a lot more can be found on our ModDB Profile's Images Page.

More work on ships has been performed behind-the-scenes, with full support of wind-independent propulsion now being added to the steamships we've added before. You can control the engine separately from the sails with the [ + ], [ - ] and [ * ] buttons on the keyboard.You can see this in action on the below image:

However, for those who are not interested in seeing such modernist affairs in their game, know that steamships are very rare and will only ever appear in the last two time periods. So if you do not play the Hornblower or Master & Commander storylines, you will not ever encounter them. Unless you buy your own from Captain Hendrick Vanderdecken, seller of mysterious ships.

Other improvement can be found in us introducing yet another character from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies into the game. Although she was already in the Hoist the Colours storyline, she never really looked the part. Now, she really does add a touch of the macabre:

An oft-requested feature has always been the ability to change your personal and pirate flags, such as the one that can be seen in this screenshot:

Now you can. Just talk with a crewmember on your ship's deck, and you'll be able to choose a flag that suits your own preference instead of the default one you get. Some of the available flags are the ones flown by famous pirates, so join their ranks!

For those of stout hart without any fear, be sure to pay a visit to the abandoned and haunted Maltese Knight Abbey that can be found in Bridgetown on Barbados.

This has recently been reinstated to full functionality, so all the bizarre effects that used to be there have finally returned. And not just fancy particles and scary enemies, but there's treasure to be found too!

Additionally to all the above, the Ship's Log interface has been finished and enabled at last and it certainly adds a lot to the game experience. For one, it keeps a record of your personal statistics, including the number of enemies you kill, ships you sink and successful boarding actions.

Additionally to that, it will keep a record of all sort of events, including your own actions, but also changing nation relations (this can be enabled in the recently cleaned up Advanced Options menu) and economy changes. And you can also write entries of your own.

So what are you waiting for? Head over to the Forum Post and get your dose of piratey, nautical and historical fun today!