• New Horizons on Maelstrom
    Maelstrom New Horizons


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Mod Release PotC: New Horizons - Build 14 Beta 2.3 Released!

Pieter Boelen

Navigation Officer
Administrator
Storm Modder
Hearts of Oak Donator
Just when you thought the Age of Piracy was coming to an end, here comes another update for New Horizons. It contains plenty of booty to all those old salts in need of a good, healthy dose of swashbuckling!
While we at PiratesAhoy! have started to move ahead into the future with the development of our own, fully new game Hearts of Oak: Conquest of the Seas, that does not mean that we forgot about the past. There is still a lot we can do with that good old Pirates of the Caribbean modpack of ours!​
As such, Build 14 Beta 2.3 is now available as a Light version to be installed on top of the original Build 14 Beta 2.1 Full. It offers vastly enhanced game stability, amazing new ship models, improved sail selection and much, much more! Read on for an overview of the main new additions.​
Frigate "Rossiya", 1728
aka. Hearts of Oak: Conquest of the Seas preview model
Our historical research has uncovered that the unmodified game's Frigate model was based on a real-life ship, namely the Russian "Rossiya" from 1728.​
Not satisfied with the lack of detail and accuracy on the original version, Armada has undertaken a massive project to make a completely new replacement for her. See here the result!​
This new frigate is now officially the most historically accurate model in the game and has a lot of special details, including an accessible and detailed Captain's Cabin and Cannons Deck.​
She comes in several paint schemes, including the original game's livery, but also French, Dutch and Pirate versions.​
This ship showcases the level of detail and accuracy that we're intending to accomplish with our new game as well. Don't forget: We're always looking to welcome more people willing to join our efforts!​
Additional Model Work
PiratesAhoy! wouldn't be PiratesAhoy! if we hadn't ensured a whole lot more content for you to enjoy! And our latest release sure does deliver on that account too. For all those from the United States, here is the one and only USS Constitution with further improved detail and accuracy.​
New_Constitution1.jpg
And more has been added, such as the oft-requested Trinity 2nd Rate vessel.​
Trinity1.jpg
And two more of Captain's Armstrong's ships have also been included, namely the French Heavy Sloop of War 'Volage' in several national texture variants and the USS Essex.​
po_volage-jpg.9400
essexropes-jpg.9473
And as a nod to the original game's name, we have also been able to include the notorious Blackbeard from Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.​
Blackbeard.jpg
Further Content
PortSoldiers.jpg
Additional work has been done on period-correct Portuguese soldier models, as well as an improved and simpler "Ship Tier" system to replace the old "Class" system. And the Sails code has been cleaned up, fixed and modified to ensure enhanced historical accuracy, as well as improved support for emblems. And of course there is more! Refer to "Build Info.txt" included in the modpack download.​
PASails.jpg
Improved Stability and Intel GFX Card Compatibility
Random crashes have been plaguing our game for quite some time, but the chance of those occurring has been massively decreased as per Build 14 Beta 2.3! We have this time ensured that all international game versions result in the same installed files. Additionally, complex work has been done by Amplificar on the DLL files to fix a Heap Corruption bug that caused the game to become more unstable as it progressed. In other words: This should work a whooole lot better!​
PotC_Intel_Fix.jpg
Additionally, a new fix for Intel Graphics Card compatibility has been developed by Amplificar, which is now part of the main installer program. While the old SwiftShader fix caused very bad performance making the game almost unplayable, the new version maintains good performance at the expense of the sea not looking quite as good. But that is a small price to pay.​
 

Attachments

  • Rossiya.jpg
    Rossiya.jpg
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That's the old black-and-white PirateAhoy! logo, by the way... would be nice to use the newer one. :wp

Shame the PA skull emblem is inverted in-game. I completely forgot about that.
 
Replaced! Do you have any further comments on the article, or does it look good?
 
It looks very good to me. Seems to cover all the main content quite well. :onya
I would have said there was no need to make such a fuss about the Rossiya, but that's just me being modest. I'm glad it made the release, anyhow.
 
I would have said there was no need to make such a fuss about the Rossiya, but that's just me being modest. I'm glad it made the release, anyhow.
I did that because of the Stock PotC vs. Modpack + HoO aspects of it, hoping that it'd serve several purposes. :cheeky
 
Build 14 Beta 2.3 is now also available from the ModDB, with the above article posted on the main page there.
So again, we've done pretty much all we can here, haven't we?
 
Nice writeup! It covers most points. I do not see Amplificar mentioned though. The work he is doing has breathed new life into POTC, which will never be "finished".
 
True, that. I added his name in there now. :doff

Of course many more people did work for this update, but unfortunately I don't think I can cover them all in the write-up.
Full credits are in "Build Info.txt", of course.
 
I apologize if its already posted and I missed it, but does this build require starting over or do old saves still work?

Smorri
 
I apologize if its already posted and I missed it, but does this build require starting over or do old saves still work?
To prevent potential issues, starting a new game has been enforced.

However, you could try to use your old savegamed like this:
1. Open PROGRAM\globals.c and set #define IS_SGV to 14.874 near the bottom of the file
2. Load your savegame and press F11 to Reinitialize

Most of the new content should now be working correctly, but I cannot guarantee that everything will work as well as on a new game.
Still, you can always try. :doff
 
I actually did not do that, but tried my old savegames nonetheless.

They work, but to me it seems the game runs less stable with them. Less stable than with Beta 2.2. this means.

Haven't yet tested how stable a new game will run.
 
Hmm ... just tried out Pieters suggestion.

Now my old savegames are shown as incompatible. Maybe perhaps it is really best, to just start new carreers ;-)
 
Yes, it is best to start over again with each new patch. You will probably have 6 months before the next patch with your new career.
 
Probably. Though my next contract is scheduled to be fairly short, so that means the next update might come a bit sooner as well.
Provided we'll have content to add, of course. But it'll be a good 4 months at the least.
 
CAN'T Download it! It says the it is not avaible in mirror links. Someone plz send me a link?
 
Drat, we usually have a back up on the FTP, but this time we've been unable to upload one there.
Apparently there's a problem with the ModDB servers that affects certain regions, so some people can't get it straight from there.
Does this link to Game Front work? http://www.gamefront.com/files/files/22676936/b14_beta2-3_light.exe
If it doesn't, I don't think we have any other options available at this time, unless one of us uploads the files to a different cloud service.
 
hey, after so many hours of waiting i have completed downloading POTC build 14 2.1
I run the game then i get NSIS error. it says i have to redownload. what should i do captain?
 
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