Buccaneers! Screenshots and Videos

[Armada]

There's definitely a hint of strategy game DNA in this design. The success chance was suggested by one of our devs who is a fan of Total War, and line-of-sight was just a cool effect I had wanted to add which also opens the door to other mechanics.

The island colours will change based on which faction owns that region, and for this effect I was actually inspired by contemporary maps, some of which are surprisingly colourful:

Spoiler: Example map

 

[Armada]

Here's a look at the level-up sequence and post-battle UI, which summarises the battle and has a few other functions.
I couldn't resist loading the enemy ship with some Easter-themed cargo...

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=533984324190981

In this example, the player unlocks Tier 2 ships when reaching Level 4, which lets them purchase the Heavy Sloop or capture one and add it to their fleet.
Before reaching this level, if you successfully captured a Tier 2 ship, you would have to send it to port to be sold for prize money (or sink it if you don't have enough crew).
We'll show off the post-boarding menu and its various options soon.

After looting enemy ships, you will be able to return to a friendly port and sell any precious goods for profit.
Currently, we're not planning to let you purchase these goods directly, as the focus is more on combat than merchant-based gameplay. If that's something you'd like to see in future, please let us know!

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I couldn't resist loading the enemy ship with some Easter-themed cargo...

That's brilliant!

 

[Armada]

In addition to our "small" and "large" towns, we now have a "medium" variant with a unique layout and a large fort overlooking it from the hillside.
Check it out in this quick walkthrough:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=832267233851035

The fort itself has a good vantage point to fend off attacks from land and sea, so it will be fairly tough to conquer.

The toughest one is yet to come though, as our current "large" town is due to be expanded with more walkable areas and an even larger fort, so watch this space!

 

[Armada]

Once you reach a higher level in Buccaneers!, larger ships and larger battles await. Here's a sample of what late-game fleet action looks like...

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=624064478324599

Another change worth mentioning (though you can't see it in this video as the UI is disabled) is that we now show a small hit marker when you damage an enemy with melee and ranged attacks.
This displays as a diagonal cross in the middle of the screen, similar to other first-person action games. It's the first step we've taken to improve the visual feedback you get when in melee combat, and we're looking into other possibilities as well.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Looking pretty exciting there, mate!

 

[Armada]

Fort battles are now more structured, with multiple objectives to complete on land. This video shows simple "kill enemies" objectives, but there will be more varied ones such as destroying a gate or defending an area in future.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=2531631367086818

With this update, the whole sequence of attacking a fort from sea, defeating the garrison on land and capturing the town for your faction is now fully functional.
When capturing a town, the map region that contains it will either become contested (if it has two or more towns with different owners) or be taken over by your faction if all the towns are now under your control. Currently you don't get any bonuses for controlling regions, but we're exploring some ideas to add more incentives/rewards for doing so.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

With this update, the whole sequence of attacking a fort from sea, defeating the garrison on land and capturing the town for your faction is now fully functional.

Congratulations!

Currently you don't get any bonuses for controlling regions, but we're exploring some ideas to add more incentives/rewards for doing so.

Take a leaf out of PotC's book: tax the people.
And have the highest tax exclusively affect the morale of the crew you can hire there.
(Aka: doesn't truly matter, so extort to your heart's content! )

 

[Armada]

This week we've been focusing on the tutorial sequence at the start of the game. As part of that, you'll visit a local blacksmith and learn how to use swords, pistols and more in a small training area. Here's a quick look at that in VR mode:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=362000814757076

You'll be able to return to a blacksmith throughout the game to try out and buy new weapons. As you unlock more weapon types and holsters (up to two on your hips, two on your chest and one on your back) you can experiment with different loadouts to see what suits your playstyle. You could go all-out melee with two swords, throwing daggers and a heavy axe, or do the opposite and have up to four pistols and a blunderbuss, or something in between.

Which weapons and loadouts would you most like to use?

 

[The Nameless Pirate]

A sword and one or more pistols most likely.

 

[Jack Rackham]

A blunderbuss, three pistols and a blade.

 

[Armada]

Here's another look at weapon loadouts, this time later in the game after you've unlocked more weapons and equipment slots.
(VR footage shown, but this also applies to non-VR.)

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=708684396626137

How does two swords, a pistol, a dagger and a musket sound?

 

[Pieter Boelen]

How does two swords, a pistol, a dagger and a musket sound?

At the same time?

 

[Jack Rackham]

@Armada, I have through the modding years collected a lot of (9402) sounds from various sources.
If you want I could upload my sound library for your project.

 

[Armada]

At the same time?

Yep! You can have up to two holsters on your hips (for small or medium weapons such as swords and pistols), two on your chest (for small weapons such as pistols and daggers) and one on your back (for a musket, blunderbuss or other heavy weapon). You'll start with the hip holsters, and the others will be unlockable as you progress.

@Armada, I have through the modding years collected a lot of (9402) sounds from various sources.
If you want I could upload my sound library for your project.

That's very kind of you to offer! It would depend on where you got the sounds and what their license is for commercial use. If it's stuff that you purchased, we would also need to purchase it, but if it's free and doesn't require royalties, that's fine.

 

[Jack Rackham]

Ok, it's stuff that I ... ehhh .... ehhh ... maybe it's not for commercial use then.

 

[Armada]

No worries. We've got a fair few sounds that we haven't implemented yet, so you'll hear some improvements in future videos anyway.

 

[Armada]

No new video this week, so instead we've got some samples from the game's photo mode.
You can pause the game at any time and move the camera anywhere in the scene to get the perfect shot. You can even change the time of day in this mode to get the lighting you want.

Spoiler: Show images

We're looking forward to seeing your photos once the beta goes live. Watch this space for an update on that soon!

 

[Armada]

Continuing the theme of photo mode, we now have a version that works in VR! Check it out.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=540571863517237

You can move the camera wherever you can walk in an environment and adjust its height, rotation and colour profile on the fly.
We also added a detachable stopwatch that lets you change time of day (this gets reset once you exit photo mode).

Unlike the non-VR equivalent, this mode does not pause the game, so you can't use it during combat (unless you fancy beating your foes to death with a camera ).

The camera and tripod are inspired by a mid-19th century Daguerreotype, an early form of photography that was publicly available.
So while it didn't exist yet in our game's late-18th century setting, we felt it was too cool not to have.

 

[Jack Rackham]

Very impressive!