Aye, let's get straight to the point. Patch 1.3 will be released on September 11th. On the same day, the second DLC, Black Mark Pack, will also be available.

https://gtm.you1.cn/storesteam/app/3162620/Caribbean_Legend/

If I still had any lingering doubts about the game’s prospects and development, the recent news has finally cleared them up. But let’s start from the beginning.

You know our plan:

• Version 1.3 — uplift the early game and adapt it for new players.
  
• Version 1.5 — complete the Story Mode and refine the Sandbox Mode.
  
• Version 2.0 — a major quantity/quality leap, setting the benchmark for a game on the Storm Engine, paving the way for a full-fledged sequel.

To make all of this a reality, the game needs commercial success. But how do you measure that success, and what does it even mean?

Fortunately, Steam has specific metrics: you need to reach a certain gross sales figure within the first six months after release.

Only 3% of all released games achieve this goal. If you’re among these three percent, Steam considers your game “successful” and starts actively promoting it. If not, the game dies, and usually, so does the team.

Even though we hit the required number not in six months, but in just the first month of sales, and Steam started promoting us long before the release, it was important for me to get official confirmation from Valve.

And a couple of weeks ago, I got it. On September 11th, we will return to the store’s main page!

The main business goal of the first post-release year is completed ahead of schedule, which means that all doubts are now gone. We’re working on version 1.5, then 2.0, and aiming to go from the top 3% to the top 1%.

This achievement is primarily yours. You are the best community in the world. Thank you. ːrespect_soldierː

Our policy on paid add-ons is very simple and, in my opinion, quite fair:

• A new DLC is released with each major patch.
  
• DLCs are developed last — after the main work on the free content is completed.
  
• 80% of new content is free, 20% is paid.
  
• DLC sales fund the studio’s work and create a financial safety net.

The Black Mark Pack DLC is essentially a developer support pack. Such packs are not uncommon: they usually cost as much as a full game and offer a bit of cosmetic content as a reward. I don’t like this approach, so our pack will be filled with treasures:

• Five new items, including new armor.
  
• A quest available in both story and freeplay modes.
  
• A unique officer — a musketeer.
  
• Three Steam achievements.
  
• Probably a new ship. Probably.

By purchasing this pack, you not only ensure the future development of the game, but you also get a ton of cool content that will really enrich the beginning of the game. Make sure to wishlist!

And now for the sad part. We planned to include a new ship in this DLC, and what a ship it is! A brilliant idea, really, thanks to our Lead Writer, Vagrant. And that’s why I’m genuinely upset that we’ve recently had problems with the ship production. More about this below.

Since we started talking about ships, let’s just continue. The planned list for 1.3 looked like this:

• the Meifeng
  
• the Valkyrie
  
• War Schooner
  
• Fluyt
  
• DLC Ship

And what do you think? There are two and a half weeks left before version 1.3 is released, and all we have ready is... the Valkyrie. ːrofl_pirateː

And an unfinished war schooner.

I won’t go into details about how this happened; I’ll just say that the problem with a small team and a unique engine is that if even one person drops out of the process, work stops abruptly in several areas at once. I haven’t figured out how to fix this vulnerability yet, but I can immediately say that in addition to ships, the new boarding scenes are now also at risk.

Again, according to the plan for version 1.3, everything looked very promising:

• Lugger vs. Barque.
  
• Lugger vs. Sloop.
  
• Military Schooner vs. Brigantine.
  
• Brigantine vs. Fluyt.

Do you see the idea? If we extend it to all other ship ranks and stick to the most popular ship choices, the boarding scenes will reflect the actual ships of the opponents most of the time. Looks very fresh and plays very fun too!

However, the delay with the ships means we have more or less finished only the first two scenes, the third is in question, and the fourth is not ready at all. There’s no one to blame here; c’est la vie as it is.

But I’m still optimistic, so in the worst case, the ships and boarded scenes will be released in version 1.3.1, as it always happens with the stuff that didn't make it into the big one.

Do you like our sword combat system? I don’t. It's really all about energy war and dealing tiny damage numbers. Sooner or later, we’ll have to make it completely new system, but for now, we have to use quick methods.

We added 7 new death and dying animations, giving them context — depending on the type of weapon or ammunition that dealt the fatal blow. It turned out great; sometimes, there are some very juicy and brutal scenes happening.

https://youtu.be/4S095x2z4Tk

As for town animations, new ones have been added for churchgoers and drunks on the streets. Slowly but surely, the cities are coming to life. If we have time, we’ll also update the animations of tavern visitors, including female ones.

In addition to town and combat animations, version 1.3 introduces a new direction — quest animations that are created exclusively for story cutscenes. This is an experiment, so whether we continue in this direction is up to you. Play the new Longway quest and let us know. Speaking of which...

The real star of version 1.3. The most expensive (production wise) and most variable storyline we have ever created. The first quest that directly changes the game’s plot since 1.0, offering an alternative way to eliminate François Levasseur and new scenes with Mary and Helen.

The rewards include a unique sword, a super useful ward, and accelerated leveling of Longway to suit any playstyle. By the way, our Chinese friend can now use a musket. So, if you become a proud owner of the Black Mark Pack DLC, you can assemble a squad of four musketeers. There is a Steam achievement for that now.

I don't want to spoil it — you’ll see everything yourself.

I suppose you’re already tired of my writing, so let’s wrap up this diary with a visual list of the most significant remaining changes of the upcoming patch 1.3.

The new notification system. Character's drunk? Overloaded? Failed skill check? Gained exp.? The game is properly interfacing with the player now and there are about a hundred cases for that.

Helen McArthur has been added to the list of playable captains for freeplay mode. Currently, more like an early access version, but we’ll polish her gameplay by 1.5.

More tutorial windows. They can now be disabled in the settings or directly when they appear.

A true next-gen feature — direction markers in certain situations. This will be useful for those who constantly got lost in the jungles of Martinique.

Indication of available skill points for officers. Useful if you have a ton of them.

And a whole lot of other cool stuff, half of which will traditionally be rolled over to version 1.3.1: unlimited key remapping, even more Steam achievements, improved locations and textures, interface tweaks, and bug and balance fixes.

That’s all for today. If you are wondering how you could help us and the game, add the Black Mark Pack to your wishlist and leave reviews as blue as the Caribbean Sea.

See you on September 11th.
ːjollyrː