Notice Build 14 Beta 4 Release Article (WIP)

[Pieter Boelen]

This thread is where I am writing the release article I've been hinting at for the past week.
I'll be messing around with the contents for a fair bit, so I am keeping this CLOSED so that it can only be me messing around in here.

If anyone has any comments or suggestions on what goes on here, please post them here:
Discussion - New Horizons Promotion | PiratesAhoy!

 

[Pieter Boelen]

PotC: New Horizons - Build 14 Beta 4.0 Released!

Pirates and Privateers. Merchants and Naval Officers. Free Play and Storylines. This latest update truly has it all. That, and much, much more....

Build 14 Beta 4.0 was released very recently and is easily the biggest update we have posted in a good many years.
The following trailer shows a small selection of the cool new content added since our last major update from 2013:

Yet there is so much more! In fact, doing it all justice in a single article is near-impossible, but let us try anyway....


First Things First
There has been some very promising progress on our non-commercial "built-from scratch" game Hearts of Oak: Conquest of the Seas (HoO) over the past year.
Most importantly, we have started releasing periodical playable "Proof Of Concept" demo's, most of which are available for download from our IndieDB page.

So why are we still working on this old game when we also have a new one in the works? Is that not a waste of time and efforts? Well, as far we're concerned, no it's not!
After all, HoO is still in early development stages and it isn't ready yet to try out advanced game concepts. Therefore we are "testing those waters" with PotC instead.

Many of the new features in this update are specifically meant to gain feedback that will be put to good use in HoO.
In other words: You can help HoO development by playing PotC and letting us know what you think of our approach to these new gameplay elements!


[... other stuff goes here ...]


Game Availability
After our exciting descriptions here, of course you will want to try out this modpack update as well!
But what if you don't have access to the original 2003 Pirates of the Caribbean game by Akella?

Well, the original 2000 Sea Dogs game by Akella and one of its sequels, renamed Sea Dogs: Caribbean Tales, are now available from GOG.com and so is the remake of Sid Meier's Pirates!
We consider this quite promising news and have high hopes that PotC will join their ranks very soon.
To help make that happen, be sure to vote for it on the GOG.com wishlist! The more votes it gets, the higher the chance this will happen.

Other options to get the game are described in our Frequently Asked Questions.
And of course you can always join our forum and see if anyone is able to help you there.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Storylines
A truly staggering amount of work has been done on the various storylines, for which the biggest updates are described in their own sections below.

But in addition to that, the Jack Sparrow storyline has also been improved.
Now with more piratey business, especially when dealing with the Pirate Lords.
There are improved dialogs and more of the film characters have gotten appropriate character models.

And the game's Standard storyline, as well as the Assassin and Bartolomeu o Portugues ones, now make use of an improved Letter of Marque system.


Free Play
When comparing the latest update with the previous one, at first impression it may seem that several storylines have been removed. However, nothing could be further from the truth.
These storylines, such as the Horatio Nelson, Jack Aubrey and Jean Lafitte ones only has an opening and continued into Free Play afterwards.

These ones have now been joined into a single Free Play storyline. And as all sidequests are now available in all storylines, there is far more free play to be had!
Part of the La Croix opening has even been repurposed as a new sidequests available for all players.

There are now 27 pre-defined characters available to choose from, some famous historical ones, with others well-know from fiction.
Each one of them offers something special, be it a ship, a flag or a reward somewhere later during the game.

You can start the game as cursed Davy Jones, unable to set foot ashore. Or Barbossa, working hard to lift his curse.
And all the various navy officers, including James Norrington, John Paul Jones and Michiel de Ruyter, will receive their appropriate commands upon promotion.

But you can always freely customize your starting choices and are not bound by the pre-defined suggestions.
Different background professions offer different starting scenarios, some easier and some hard. If you truly welcome a challenge, try starting as a "Castaway"!

For more details, refer to our dedicated Wiki page that tells you even more.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

The Gold-Bug
We have teased you about this brand new storyline for two years now and it is finally here!
Based on a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, the storyline of The Gold-Bug was created in much the same style as the Woodes Rogers one.
So that means plenty of very special locations, brand new interactive items and puzzles. Plenty of puzzles!

The year is 1830 and the location is in the surroundings of Charleston, South Carolina.
William Legrand has built himself a hut in the jungle on Sullivan's Island near the town.
His quiet life comes to an abrupt end when he gets bitten by.... a gold-coloured bug.

What follows is the unravelling of a mystery, the pursuit of treasure and the main character bordering on the edge of insanity.
One of Poe's great interests were ciphers and a special one features as an integral part of this story.
But you may also expect swamps, blues, run-away slaves and all sorts of characters.
Some from Poe's stories, some familiar from elsewhere and there will be some scary ones too....

In other words, plenty of things that you have never seen like this in PotC before.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

The Chronicles of Horatio Hornblower
While very exciting for those who enjoy playing as a naval officer, the Hornblower storyline has always seemed a bit rough around the edges.
That is now officially a thing of the past! The entire main quest has been polished up and extended to tie up all loose story threads.
And there are plenty of familiar faces along the way....

But that is not all. For greater variety, the entire Napoleonic time period has been improved, with greater variety in ships available for both France and Spain.
Behold a new Napoleonic French fleet, showing off the new hull colour, proper tricolour flags, and the tricolour-based pennant.

And while the original version ended with Hornblower's proposal of marriage being accepted, now our heroic main character has his day in church.
Once the knot has been tied, Hornblower is given command of a brand new ship.

Combined with the "Naval Officer" gameplay that has been introduced with this update,
it is then up to the player to see Hornblower through his career, all the way up to the respectable rank of Admiral.
But wait... Why are Hornblower, Sharpe and Harper fighting against British soldiers? Find out by playing the extended "Hornblower" story!


Ardent
Time to put the 'gold' and 'piracy' into the Golden Age of Piracy! Kidnap, burglary and outright piracy - Charles Ardent does it all!
Though there are those that say Ardent was actually a woman, Helen.

This is a brand new storyline with a brand new concept and brand new characters invented by a new quest writer.
Will you play as a man or a woman? And will you be good or evil?
With maximum creative freedom for developing the plot, you can expect plenty of surprises along the way.

From an exciting few opening scenes, to deals with the Indians of Isla Mona and a blatant act of piracy involving a payroll ship, right under the nose of a fort!
There's also the possibility of a kidnap - how you carry it out is up to you, and what will you do with the abductee afterwards?
There is plenty to enjoy in this storyline, with more to come later.

 

[Robert Nutter]

Will add pics soon once I've done nation relations. also let me know if this isn't enough or anything needs changing/adding. I'm just trying to keep it reasonably short!
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All-new styles of play

[Pic]

Career choices just became far more immersive! We've been working hard to give you a more definitive choice of careers in-game, and the new Player Types system does just that! Needless to say your character's skills and traits will fit accordingly. You can check your 'career' in the bottom right hand of Character screen.

Here is but a small selection of available careers:

[Pic]

Selecting 'Naval Officer' career at the beginning of the game ensures you a well paid, lucrative job in your regent's very own Navy! This is a highly polished corner of gameplay, in which you can not only be promoted, get given powerful ships and hire free crew as you progress, but also get given land and titles! Be careful though; breaking the rules or firing on friendly ships may have strong consequences....

[Pic]

Fed up with those governors and all their rules? Or maybe you dream of nothing but bloated cargo vessels, ripe for the taking? Well now you can actively seek such a living! With our improved pirate gameplay, you can explicitly choose the life of a Pirate; and benefit greatly from corsair ship designs, brilliant blacksmiths and high resell prices on all captured vessels! You can now also gain ranks from within the pirating community. All you need to do is break any allegiance you have with the great nations of the game, and pirates will welcome you among their bretheren!

[Pic]

Perhaps, though, you have slightly different dreams; dreams of bloated cargo vessels, en-route to financial freedom? Pick up a merchant license (by selecting the 'Merchant' career at game start) and start watching the gold flood in! Say goodbye to hardship!

Ok, maybe it's not quite that easy. Afterall, you still have the will of the great West and East India Companies to appease and the constant threat of piracy; not to mention the very real risk of losing your license should you be caught involved in any illicit activites...

[Pic]


Let's assume, though that you're not interested in following orders, pirating or trading. What then?

Welcome to the life of a privateer!

As a non-commissioned servant of your chosen nation/s, you'll still benefit from promotions and ranks within that nation's forces, whilst at the same time being free to pursue your own desires. So long as they don't include piracy, the horizon really is yours! Simply visit any governor with whom you have zero relation count, and ask for a Letter of Marque.

[Pic]

 

[Robert Nutter]

Again, let me know Opinions! I left this one fairly short as I think relations is something the player really needs to discover for himself. But I'm willing to expand it if need be.
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Nation Relations


Always a flagship feature of the Build Mod, we have further enhanced the relations mechanic! You'll notice a much more robust punitive/reward system than seen in previous releases, as well as a deeper integration with the Letter of Marque. Just make sure you select your chosen nation before starting the game, else you may have some reparations to do!


[Pic]


However, even for the best of us it can be confusing at times to quite know who's on your side and who isn't. That's why we've implemented a Relations tutorial into every game start, intended to get you familiar with how to make or break relations in the game. This will take you on a micro-quest, by the end of which you should be ready to dabble in international affairs!


[Pic]


A very brief overview can be found below. However, if you wish to find out more about this, once again the Build Info text included in the game directory is a good place to be!


- Actively betraying your served nation will give you a serious relation hit with them and their allies.


- Unrespectable acts, such as attacking without a legal reason (ie, if your nation is at peace with them) or flying a false flag around friends (you can now change flags mid battle), may also lower your reputation among nations.


- While you can have multiple Letters of Marque, this will have the effect of spreading your reputation points. So for example, killing a pirate ship will evenly distribute any points you get among your various allegiances; thus reducing overall progression.


- You can ONLY gain points with a LoM. Otherwise, you'll be at zero or lower with friendly nations.


- Pirates use a slightly different set of rules to other 'factions', and this is reflected in how their relations system works. Just do the opposite of what you're meant to do when serving a nation, and you'll soon enough find the pirates loving you...


- Your character can be recognised as being pirates by citizens; making shore parties mandatory for Horrors of the High Seas!

 

[Pieter Boelen]

@Armada: If you feel inspired to post this, by all means, PLEASE DO!

If it is of any use, this is an archive containing a whole bunch of Beta 4 related screenshots I've accumulated:
http://piratesahoy.bowengames.com/potc/Pieter Boelen/beta3-4_screenshots.zip

 

[Armada]

Thanks for the screenshots! I'll see what I can do, using this and the rest of @Robert Nutter's text and images from the New Horizons Promotion thread.