1.6: Before the Wind
Hello, it's been a while, but I'm happy to formally release the 1.6.0 update to Sail Forth, which I'm calling Before the Wind! This update contains a wide variety of features and improvements that are focused around both responding to community feedback and better integrating the recently added open world design with the rest of the game.
The key new features are a combined and improved map screen, a new spyglass item, persistent NPC ships which inhabit the world, and an expanded world map + new bosses for the Maelstrom DLC.
World Map
The world map has been changed and improved significantly. The old Area Map and World Map items on the Radial Menu have been combined into a single Map which can be zoomed in and out of. You can fast travel when zoomed out in the map, and view nearby islands or points of interest when zoomed in. Map markers can now be viewed and placed regardless of the zoom level.
The map now also displays a global wind field representing the wind direction at that location. I read feedback that some players experienced the wind suddenly changing directions unexpectedly as they traveled, which I discovered the source of and fixed. The wind is now a smooth field across the entire world map which shifts slowly over time and with weather conditions, and there should be no sharp changes in direction. This should make planning a sailing route to a destination a lot easier!
With the new map features and further improvements to the open world which I'll get into below, it also made sense to prevent fast travel to locations until they have been visited at least once. Locations that have not been explored yet are now labeled on the map, and the fog of war visuals have been improved to display exactly where you've explored anywhere in the Deepblue.
Spyglass
The spyglass is a brand new key item which is given to the player during the opening tutorial. Saves that have already completed the opening will simply have the spyglass added to their inventory.
It occupies a conveniently freed up spot on the Radial Menu and can be used to spot distant locations and ships. Spotted locations are marked on the map as an Unrevealed Location. This is a big new way to explore and find locations around you while sailing in the ocean.
Spotting distant ships is a handy way to identify hostile ships before they engage you, so you can decide whether to try to avoid them or attack. Some ships now have special names, which will be displayed if they have one, which brings us to the next feature!
Persistent Entities
All of the generated enemy and friendly ships are now persistent entities in the world which have their own agendas. Both enemy and friendly ships will sail between locations and can be encountered while out in the Deepblue. This should greatly increase the amount of stuff going on when sailing between locations, as previously these ships could only be encountered within a location.
Entities traveling around the world map in the editor view
The old merchant fleets which sometimes spawned at Shipshape Shop locations have been updated with this system, and now travel between all the different shops. Following them is handy way to discover new areas!
Friendly ships also now better track player reputation, which means that pirating merchant fleets should be a bit more of a dangerous career.
There is also a new entity type, which is a Skull fleet. These are difficult enemies that should be avoided unless you are well armed.
New Ships
I've also added two new ships to the game. The first is the Swift, a lighter Brigantine rig which is fast but still decently armed. It's a great pick for exploring dangerous areas!
The next is the Proa, a Polynesian-influenced outrigger which is quite nimble and also very lightly armed. Great for quick travel but skilled sailors can also completely out maneuver opponents.
Maelstrom
Finally, the Maelstrom DLC has been massively expanded upon, increasing the size of its world map and added 4 new bosses to encounter within it.
The world under the Maelstroms, the Underside, is now its own full map which connects to the above world at each of the Maelstrom locations. These can be sailed between just like in the above world.
There are also 4 new bosses to defeat within the Underside, which are unlocked as the main story is progressed. These bosses drop new powerful upgrades for your fleet and can be fought multiple times.
The Arcane Shop has two new weapons available, the Light Bringer and the Sun Lance. The Sun Lance is the first beam weapon that can be equipped to ships, and is a lot of fun to use.
Bug Fixes
There are a bunch of bug fixes and smaller improvements as well, too many to enumerate. Some key things to mention though are a fix to Xbox which could cause saves to lose their DLC items, a totally rewritten final boss based on player feedback, and some fixes to a few fish which were not spawning under the conditions they were intended to.
Thank you
Thank you once again for your continued support and patience, this update would honestly not exist without your support! I want to give special thanks to all the members of the Discord who gave detailed feedback and tested early versions of this update. I'd encourage everyone to join the Discord if you're interested in getting the most up to date news on the game's development, news about beta versions, and eventually future projects beyond Sail Forth!
I'd also say that if you've been lurking and waiting to try the game, now would be a great time to try it out! I think this update puts it in a really good place and it's the closest it's ever been to what I imagined.
Good luck, and Gorbspeed!