Pirates of the Black Cove

[lightsleeper]

Hi there,

Nitro Games is making this new pirate themed 'oldschool-ish' game called Pirates of the Black Cove.

You can follow them on Facebook and Twitter

Paradox site with the description and some art:
http://www.paradoxplaza.com/games/pirates-of-black-cove

Here's the teaser trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AHITtCTD_c

Here's a video interview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NorlpzQKR2I

Earlier gameplay material


and some GDC material:
Pirates of Black Cove Impressions - First Look

So what's it about,

Description

Eventually you will be able to join infamous pirate strongholds like Port Royal, Tortuga and others. Getting promotions within the pirate brotherhood requires force, daring, guile and even deceit. But be careful because other pirates will be competing for promotions too. However, bribery, favors and outright assassinations will assure you climb the ranks faster. As you are promoted to higher ranks, you will own, manage and develop parts of the stronghold and entice other captains to join your fleet. After building your fleet destroy the other two pirate strongholds to become the King of All Pirates.Combining elements from fast-paced naval action to light town management, Conquest of the Caribbean is a game no pirate fan should miss.

Features:

* Roam the open World with your Pirate crew and pick up missions as you sail the seas.
* Notoriety and fame brings you closer to your ultimate goal: the King of All Pirates
* Battle it out with rival pirates and nations on both land and sea
* Experience life as a pirate through three campaigns and eras
* Gather famous pirates to your crew, but be sure to keep them supplied with rum or they’ll side with your rivals
* Select your character from several different Pirate Captains, each with their own unique skills and features!

Nitro Games has already released some art about the factions and units there'll be in the game:

Corsair faction has these units available:

Sabre swingers
Basic unit of Corsair faction

A basic corsair unit. Dual wielding sabres. Fast and agile in combat, low health.

Duh Clubbers
Advanced unit of Corsair faction

Even though a Corsair, a fairly slow unit. Armed with a large hammer that makes him deadly in close combat.

Stink bombers
Special unit of Corsair faction

Fastest special unit there is. Carrying a bag of stink bombs, that can disable enemy units from combat for a time.

Buccaneers:

Pistoliers
Basic unit of Buccaneer faction

A Basic Buccaneer unit, armed with two pistols.

Marksmans
Advanced unit of Buccaneer faction

Buccaneer sniper. Long range, good damage. Weak in close combat.

Rocketeer
Special unit of Buccaneer faction

Slowest firing unit. Fires rockets at designated area. Area damage.

So what do you think?

 

[Keith]

G'day mate.

I hope have high expectations for this. I don't like the theme they have used but the video of the ship v ship battle looked fun.

IN saying fun, I meant Pirates! fun and not woody 2 legs circle strafe fun.

I'd like to get my hands on a demo first though as it may have potential.

 

[lightsleeper]

Yarr Keith!

IN saying fun, I meant Pirates! fun and not woody 2 legs circle strafe fun.

Yeah, with a quick eyeing on the videos one might think it's woody on steroids, but it is going to be really more in the Pirates! theme. If I may quote a chat with paradox's CEO Fredrik Wester :

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/03/16/right-a-chat-with-paradoxs-fred-wester/

Wester: Oh absolutely, we have a great variety of games coming out, and we showed a number of titles at GDC. Pirates Of The Black Cove is looking particularly interesting, because it’s a blend of the old East India company games and something with a little more RPG action. You’ve seen that, of course. Fans of the old Pirates! franchise – and I am one of those – will get a kick out of this game, I am sure.

I'd like to get my hands on a demo first though as it may have potential.

Some day!

 

[lightsleeper]

Thanks Keith or Thagarr!

I was about to post about the dev diary and closed beta, but you've noticed them already

I'll post the signup page here :
http://beta.paradoxplaza.com/

and official site is also up:
http://blackcovegame.com/

 

[Thagarr]

Thanks for the info lightsleeper! We can use all the help we can get, and your posts are very much appreciated!

I have been out of the loop for a while, so I have been a bit slow with the news lately, I got a bit lucky with catching the closed beta press release.

 

[lightsleeper]

No biggies

There's also new faction art released @facebook

Pirates

Facebook link

Scallywags
Basic pirate unit

Scallywags are rough-and-tumble brawlers, and handy with a blade.

Scoundrels
Advanced pirate unit

Scoundrels favor fighting from a distance, so their weapon of choice is a flintlock pistol.

Crazy Cannoneers
Special pirate unit

These beefcakes carry cannons into battle under their arms, and handle cannonballs like candy. They are truly a terrible force to be reckoned with.

 

[DJ1]

Could be the best thing that have happened for Piratesgaming since Sid Meiers Pirates PC.

Alphavideo looks fun and really promising
http://www.viddler.com/explore/rockpapershot/videos/71/

I wish I was a betatester.

 

[Stallion]

That actually doesn't look too bad. Methinks I'll wait awhile before buying it when it comes out, though. Made that mistake twice already with Nitro's games. They're decent, but in my view not worth full price.

 

[Stallion]

New interview with the producer of the game: http://www.examiner.com/pc-game-in-national/interview-pirates-of-black-cove-s-brendon-neuwerth

 

[Thagarr]

Nice find Stallion!

.... It would look much better on the front page though!

 

[lightsleeper]

Been a bit busy lately, sorry, I'll post some stacked materials, asap!

 

[Stallion]

I think he was talking to me. :

 

[Thagarr]

Stallion ... you think??

lightsleeper, no worries mate, we do really appreciate all the information you have passed our way! We are pretty good at finding stuff ourselves, sometimes we are just a bit slow on getting around to posting it though.

 

[Stallion]

It's now on the main page.

 

[Thagarr]

See now? that wasn't so difficult was it?? :nk

Thanks mate!

 

[Jori Virtanen]

Hey all y'all,

We here at Nitro Games thought we could share something with you, namely some sources of inspiration. In this case, old pirate movies.

As we all know, people draw inspiration from various sources. Consider zombies, for example: those flesh hungering ne'er-do-wells are popular as puppies these days, but this couldn't have happened without the groundbreaking work of other people, like George A. Romero, whose living dead movies laid a great basis for exploring the dark side of human psyche in times of constant distress.

We, the creators of Pirates of Black Cove, have our sources of inspiration as well. The Pirates of the Caribbean is an obvious fountain of inspiration, as is the Monkey Island adventure game series. However, there are other sources. Older sources. Sources with heroic swordfights, fusillades of cannonfire, splintering wood and damsels in distress! We are, of course, talking about the classic pirate movies made in the early half of 20th century.

Every Friday, I'll present you with clips from various pirate movies that have made an impression on us. We highly recommend you try to seek these ageless classics out, not only because we owe a big thanks to each and every one of them, but because, let's face it, epic heroism and daredevil adventures never get old.


The first in line is The Sea Hawk (1940). Directed by masterful Michael Curtiz, the man behind such movies as Casablanca, and starring Errol Flynn, the epitome of swashbuckling rogues, the movie displays how Flynn must rally together a ragtag bunch of lawless pirates in order to foil the plans of an evil Spanish ambassador while trying to win the heart of the Ambassador's daughter!
Talk about classic material right there!

Embedding The Sea Hawk's trailer is disabled, but follow this link to YouTube. It's well worth watching.

 

[Thagarr]

Ahoy Nitro Games CM, welcome aboard mate!

The Sea Hawk is one of my favorite movies, I have seen it many times! Errol Flynn gives his usual epic swashbuckling performance, trying to balance his desire to raid the Spanish Main and his duty to Queen and country. This movie brought together quite a lot of talent, including Alan Hale, Claude Rains, Brenda Marshall, and Donald Crisp and it sure played well on screen! A classic indeed!

 

[Stallion]

The biggest bonus with a lot of these old pirate movies is they're now in the public domain, too, so you can grab them for free. Me likes free stuff. :

 

[Jori Virtanen]

Hey again! Thanks for making me feel welcome

Yeah, the old pirate movies are pure gold. I remember watching them as a boy quite a bit, and never has the fire even dimmed. I remember vividly seeing The Black Pirate, especially when Douglas Fairbanks descends from the highest mast by cutting a billowing sail in two. Awesome, simply awesome. I'm talking about this iconic scene. (Sorry, couldn't find a YouTube clip for it.)

The Black Pirate is a superb pirate movie in more ways than one. Consider this: the sword play scenes, of which there are many, are shot in one go. That means no fast cuts and clips, where wavy haired heroes weave between blades like it's nothing. No. In silent movies, you plant the camera, and you shoot the entire fight scene.. That means the fighters actually need to know how to wield a sword, and man, in The Black Pirate, it shows. If nothing else, check the swordsmanship from the movie link below: it starts at 19 minutes. Two men, each man dual wielding. How is this not awesome?

Add to this the entire palette of drama, courage, heroism, good vs. evil, and you got one of the epitomes of a pirate movie right there.

The best part is, the entirety of The Black Pirate is on YouTube, courtesy of OpenFlix, so I can embed it here. Enjoy, my brethren!

 

[Jori Virtanen]

Right,

Posted five new screenshots on Facebook. This linky here leads you to the collection.
Since I'm such a nice guy, I'll post them all here as well.