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The Caribbean Sail
Asid:
Fantasy Toggle - Development Progress Update
Tue, 7 January 2020
Another year, another particle effect filled update!
This progress update marks the third year since development first began.
It's been a long journey and the end is finally in sight.
If the words "Fantasy Toggle" mean nothing to you, then click here! https://steamcommunity.com/games/TCS/announcements/detail/1768130575204688104
Particles... Ah...
I've been hard at work throughout the holiday season while hiding beneath a pile of oilskins to ward off influenza. Now it's time for a mid voyage progress report!
What's done?
- All the new locations
- All the new unlockable ships and professions
- Nearly all of the new mechanics and systems
- Some of the new particle effects
What's left?
- The new events
- The new opportunities
- The new items
- The new storyline
- The rest of the new particle effects
That's the short version.
Much like the furnace above, this development cycle has burned up time quickly.
I said this in the last progress report and I'll say it again. Creating Fantasy Toggle has been comparable to creating a new game inside of an old game. Implementing new systems while maintaining old mechanics is like trying to sail a clipper ship against the wind- it's slow progress and things keep breaking.
Throw in the new Mac update demanding 64-bit binaries when GM:S 1.4 can only handle 32 and I've got a shark sized problem on my hands to bring the entirety of The Caribbean Sail into GameMaker 2 at some point. The engine upgrade shouldn't take too long but becoming a verified app developer? New waters for this young rogue.
Like the lasers fired from the Cybership above, sometimes we miss our target.
What does this all mean?
The opening of beta has been moved to April 30th.
The participants have all been hand-picked which means if you'd like to test out Fantasy Toggle when the time comes? You should climb aboard the official Discord!
After Fantasy Toggle is complete, The Caribbean Sail will be twice the game it is now!
This also means that I'll be increasing the price once again to reflect the new value.
There are more plans after Fantasy though! A soundtrack, merch, potentially a physical edition?! Time will tell but until then, I'll be at the helm of development!
- Your Captain, Evan.
Asid:
Fantasy Toggle - Beta Beginning
Fri, 1 May 2020
Belay being bored because beta begins!
It's been over a year since development began on the Fantasy Toggle expansion and it's finally time to start testing.
This megalodon can't wait to sink his teeth into your ship.
What's happening?
As of today, the final preparations to release Fantasy Toggle are underway!
The game has become so internally complex that I've already got a list of known bugs to start fixing. Rather than making the beta public and wasting time responding to forum threads and bug reports, the beta will be done in stages.
I'm having my friends take the first trick at the helm so I can watch how they play in person and see what does and doesn't make sense to them. After the bugs they found are flogged to death and the necessary improvements have been made, I'll have a few specifically chosen lads help improve the grammar and playtest on multiple platforms.
After every problem we could find has been addressed, I'll be porting TCS from GameMaker: Studio to GameMaker 2 and The Caribbean Sailors crew of beta testers will be brought aboard to make suggestions, hunt for bugs, give feedback and give me my much needed ego petting.
If Fantasy Toggle can survive all of that then I'll know she's ready for the sea.
That's probably not what you expected but it's better than watching her sink after the bottle christens her.
Remember when this big boi sneaked into the game on launch day? His time to shine will come soon.
What's left to do?
All of the content for Fantasy mode is nearly complete, but there's some polishing left to do.
New feature tutorials, gameplay balancing, achievements, fringe case scenarios that can leave you stuck or aimless, and other assorted little tasks to complete. Like adding more particle effects.
If you want to follow the progress, I'd recommend the official Victorian Clambake Discord Server or Twitter.
WHEN WILL IT BE DONE???
By the end of the month hopefully.
There's a lot to take into consideration that I can't estimate.
How many bugs will be found?
How hard will it be to port TCS through Game Maker 2?
How long will it take for Apple to approve the 64-bit Mac version?
What does Jenkins do with all the empty turtle shells we catch?
What I can say for sure is that I'm working hard to make the best game I can, which means taking the time to get it right. That's what the giant mollusk running Victorian Clambake mandated.
Captain! A fire breathing ship is trying to ram us!
What other words are you going to make me read in this long post?
These ones, and the next ones; Over the weekend you'll be able to plunder yourself a copy of The Caribbean Sail for $2.99 which you won't see again for a long time. After the sale I'm raising the price to $14.99 to reflect the new value. It will literally be two games in one.
After Fantasy Toggle, I'll have to "Gold Master" The Caribbean Sail and end development. Then I can release the soundtrack, make some merch, and see what else can be done with what I've created! It's been a long voyage but port is finally in sight.
Now it's time to head into the beta development storm.
- Your Captain, Evan.
Asid:
Fantasy Toggle - Setting Sail on the 16th
Sun, 7 June 2020
This is it lads! The final stretch! Nearly a year and a half of work on one giant expansion that triples the amount of content released to you free of charge!
For those of you who were invited to the Beta and are in the appropriate group, you may have missed an announcement there to access the Beta- Go join and start hunting bugs! We've already fixed a ton of issues and I'm confident that Fantasy Mode will be ready for release on the 16th.
Mac 64-bit may take a little longer to have completed, but I'll keep you all informed in the next post.
There's more planned to come afterwards. I know a lot of you have been begging me for years to put out the official soundtrack. It's coming.
Sometime soon after I'd also like to create some fabulous merchandise.
What would you lads like? Apart from the pirate Captain reclining on a T-Shirt.
Let me know in the abyss below!
The Caribbean Sail started as a simple nautical themed Oregon Trail and it's become a procedurally generated open world roguelike rags-to-riches pirate RPG with a branching narrative!
This project was massive. Much like the sailors pressed into service, I never could have imagined working on this for three years but here we are. My scope was definitely too large but I still managed to make a nautical game with everything you could want in it.
It's going to be strange moving away from this black, white, and cyan world I've been living in for three years but after you've all had time to play and give feedback I'll finally release the gold-mastered version and development will be 100% over. I plan on doing a few special things to celebrate that so keep your eyes fixed on the Victorian Clambake horizon for some more Caribbean Sail high jinks.
Fair winds be with you lads!
- Your fatigued Captain
Asid:
FANTASY TOGGLE IS COMPLETE!
Wed, June 17, 2020
The gargantuan Fantasy Toggle expansion is finally complete and has been added for FREE
Alright lads, it may have taken me half a year longer than I expected, but nobody could have predicted the calamity maelstrom that has been 2020.
Unlike half the world, I passed my sanity check today, which means Fantasy Toggle is officially complete!
Short Changelog
Here's the short rundown of what I was able to implement in a year and a half: An optional Fantasy mode, four new locations, seven new professions, nine new ships, four new storylines, seven new shanties, eleven new achievements, a boatload of new events, a whole host of new encounters, new opportunities, an ammunition system, treasure hunting, walking the plank, airships, megalodons, the kraken, and more particle effects than you can shake a harpoon at!
* full changelog
+ Fantasy Mode Toggle added
+ Profile mode indicators added
+ Discord shortcut added to main menu
+ Difficulty choice added
+ Landlubber difficulty added
+ Crew recruitment added to Landlubber difficulty
+ Helpful tips guide updated
+ Names automatically carry over after death
+ Game Over screen added
+ 2890 user written bottle messages moderated and manually implemented
+ Crew soul system added
+ Seven new professions added
+ Nine very unique ships added
+ Steamship type added
+ Boiler and fueling mechanics added
+ New introduction borders added
+ New fantasy mode storyline added
+ Three new fantasy side storylines added
+ New opportunities added
+ Opportunities won’t repeat themselves if declined except for careening
+ Bribe opportunity price randomized
+ Treasure hunting added
+ Tarot reading added
+ Fate added
+ Luck added
+ Curses added
+ Boomacle barnacle added
+ Ammunition system added
+ Grapeshot ammo type added
+ Chainshot ammo type added
+ Smokepot ammo type added
+ Firework ammo type added
+ Laser ammo type added
+ “Massie’s Melody” shanty added
+ “The Trooper and the Maid” shanty added
+ “Bound for South Australia” shanty added
+ “Eddystone Light" shanty added
+ “Whiskey in the Jar” shanty added
+ “Where am I to go?” shanty added
+ “Blow ye winds” shanty added
+ Treasure map item added
+ Plank item added
+ Leeches item added
+ Ship’s cat item added
+ Wind salts item added
+ Whale vomit item added
+ Viricium item added
+ Magical teapot item added
+ Iron box item added
+ Puzzle box item added
+ Logbook item added
+ Astrolabe item added
+ Conch item added
+ Youth water item added
+ Devil’s pipes item added
+ Eyeless idol item added
+ Making crew walk the plank option added
+ Crew revival is now possible
+ Magical defense shield power added
+ Fog weather type added
+ Starlight weather type added
+ Abyssal weather type added
+ Ship encounter information screen adjusted
+ Unique flee messages for new ship types added
+ Combat firing arc can now be adjusted using the mouse wheel
+ Airship enemy type added
+ New lucky and unlucky events
+ Visible fish combo meter added to fantasy mode
+ Flying fish added
+ Crystal fish added
+ Kraken added
+ Physics enabled kraken and tentacles added
+ Two unique boss fight songs added
+ Foggy fishing weather added
+ Megalodon enemy added
+ Meat reward physics object added
+ Four unique new ports added
+ Three new port songs added
+ New conversationalists added in new and old ports
+ Skill tree now always accessible by pressing the “P” key
+ Reef crossing speed is now based on the “Navigation” perk
+ Mermaid encounter added
+ Floating chest encounter added
+ Albatross encounter added
+ Flying Dutchman encounter added
+ Walrus event added
+ Mutiny artwork updated
+ The eighth sea added
+ [Mystery] events added
+ [Mystery] system added
+ [Mystery] destination added
+ [Mystery] hint added
+ Eleven new achievements added
+ More particle effects added absolutely everywhere I could fit them
- Countless bugs removed
- Online bottle message functionality removed [AND THE GAME CRASHING BUG CAUSED BY IT]
- Whaling difficulty reduced
- Previous achievement triggers adjusted
[Note] This log was written by memory and looking at checklists while playtesting.
Many small changes were not mentioned and some additions may not be in the log.
Biggest Changes
No matter how many times I said "No" to crew recruitment, you lads kept taking it as a "Yes, but no themed" so I added a Landlubber difficulty setting that will allow you to keep your save file when you die and find a crew recruitment opportunity in any pub. You'll be doing it at the cost of your ability to earn achievements though so HAH! THERE! WHO GOT THE FINAL WORD IN?
Bottles out for Globalstats.io lads. I've taken the bottle message system offline because the functionality was woefully limited and continually caused a rare crash that was unable to be fixed from my side, but, with the help of two jolly tars I was able to save, moderate, and manually implement 2890 user written bottle messages making your chances of seeing the same two messages as low as recovering from the plague. You can also still write new messages that will be added to your local pool.
How to enable Fantasy Mode
Start a new save file and turn the lantern green by clicking on it!
I wanted to maintain the realism of Purist Mode while allowing the madness of Fantasy Mode so that you can play the nautical experience you prefer! Development was like building a game inside of another game which has been a playtesting nightmare. I think I'll do something easier next time, like developing a game using only my nose while upside-down and blindfolded.
What's next?
First, fixing any and all bugs you can find. After that I'm going to work on getting a 64-bit Mac version running and I'll also try to get a more optimized version for everyone. I'll also be updating the screenshots and working on a new trailer.
If you haven't already, leaving an honest review on the store page or updating an old one would be really helpful since so much has changed. Once you've had some time to play, you'll realize it's not the game it used to be at all.
I hope that I was able to bring the joy of exploration and mystery back into the world I created for you.
Fair winds to you all!
- Captain and Developer, Evan.
Asid:
The Caribbean Sail - V1.7.1
Tue, 21 July 2020
Only bug fixes and pitch patches.
Short patch poetry time!
The lads noticed some oversights dumb,
So I whipped up the fixes for some,
Bugs were solved with insight,
And the screenshots fit right,
The soundtrack is next to come!
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