Dogs Of War Vu

Sim/Strategy/War => Games Discussion => Topic started by: Asid on February 08, 2015, 01:55:41 AM

Title: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on February 08, 2015, 01:55:41 AM
BlackWake

Official site:
http://blackwake.com/

YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/user/blackwakegame

Blackwake Pre-Alpha Kickstarter Trailer
http://youtu.be/pXCky2W9mSU

Description
Blackwake is a multiplayer first person (FPS) naval game set during the age of sail. The game focuses largely on team based tactics while also featuring a fast paced environment filled with destruction, combat, and strategy. Organizing a broadside, assisting your captain in navigating through various weather conditions, or just being part of the gun crew - there are many roles to be filled in this shooter.

This failed it's kickstarter but worth keeping an eyye on.
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Stardog765 on February 08, 2015, 02:01:27 AM
Ya looks cool. Worth keeping an eye on.


Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on February 08, 2015, 02:38:23 PM
Ya looks cool. Worth keeping an eye on.

eye eye captain lolol
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Attila on February 15, 2015, 02:13:22 PM
Looks perfect, sad only two developers working on it.
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on February 15, 2015, 04:34:00 PM
It failed the kickstarter...
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Yassy on February 22, 2015, 08:22:54 PM
would this be because people already have something playable in the form of Naval Action? You guys are pretty positive about that title, no?
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on February 23, 2015, 12:00:55 AM
I don't think that's it Yassy.

It just seems bare... I know it's early access but....it definitely is missing something...
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Don_prince on May 05, 2016, 11:18:12 PM
Hey XXXXXXXX !

We finally launch our first closed Alpha test, thanks to the help of all you wonderful backers. Thank you for being patient, we have worked hard to get to this point. We hope this will be some form of success and move us towards release.

Remember this is Alpha, there will be bugs! Keep in mind this is the first time we'd mass hosted servers for a long time. So please bear with us if anything goes wrong, we will fix any issues as soon as possible.

Some important notes:

Please look at our forum post on the following: Performance, bugs, switching teams, and crashes

- This first Alpha test will run for 4 days from Thursday to Late/midnight Monday EST. There will be an alpha test twice a month (hopefully) with major updates monthly.

Here are your PIRATES IN ARMS Steam Keys!

XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX
XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX
XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX
XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX

We'll see you on the seven seas :)
- Dakota & Tyler
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Don_prince on May 05, 2016, 11:20:02 PM
So this game came into alpha. I am one of the backers and it is now online for the backers. It definedly needs some stitching and grinding. Forums are on reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/blackwakegame
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on June 06, 2016, 02:12:45 AM
(https://gallery.mailchimp.com/b4a44e2ce7e690afaba50d477/images/eb04b800-3e51-4917-a4c6-900ffe3b68c5.png)

Hi all!

We hope you have been well and enjoyed the previous Alpha#1 of Blackwake. Here is our new Devblog with more information on progress and on Alpha#2!

http://www.blackwake.com/devblog/devblog-7-june

(https://gallery.mailchimp.com/b4a44e2ce7e690afaba50d477/images/35c2f114-ac41-41e3-97fe-b98e71e75e62.jpg)

NOTE: If you have not received your key yet with the account email you backed with please try the following:

1. Check your promotions tab if you are using gmail (as this has happened to a lot of gmail backers)

2. Check your spam box

3. Search "blackwake" in your email search tool.

If you still have not found it, please send me a message through Kickstarter letting me know you have done these steps with no luck.

If you have any feedback or any thoughts on the previous alpha (or just want to mention what you found fun) be sure to head over to our forum where we actively reply :)  https://reddit.com/r/blackwakegame
- Dakota & Tyler
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on February 26, 2017, 02:31:38 PM
Released on Steam EA

http://store.steampowered.com/app/420290/

https://youtu.be/zIZ7c72WsA0
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: JasonPratt on February 26, 2017, 03:05:00 PM
So, like Holdfast but more focused?
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on February 27, 2017, 12:58:02 PM
So, like Holdfast but more focused?

This is focused on piracy. You are a crew member of a ship in multiplayer. 1 person can be the captain and give orders. At the moment ballistics etc are very basic. They are going to introduce a more realistic mode.
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Don_prince on February 27, 2017, 03:36:18 PM
I have to say it worn of me quickly... Its a bit messy and you actualy need  people you know and can coordinate to do stuff in it for it not to become a mess
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on February 27, 2017, 03:42:57 PM
It came on Steam EA just a few days ago. It has changed quite a bit.

Have you played the latest version?
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Don_prince on February 28, 2017, 02:05:50 PM
Last time I played was a month ago I think. Its fun when playing it together with people. If more pick it up I probably will join and have a fun time.

Alone it wears off quicly...
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on February 28, 2017, 02:29:24 PM
I played with strangers and it was fun because if you don't work together then the ship will sink. Language was not an issue.

Playing with friends is always better.

I enjoyed my session. It has changed quite a bit.
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on February 28, 2017, 05:50:16 PM
Browser fix + Asian, US West, and custom servers available
Community Announcements
27 Feb

CUSTOM SERVERS
We have now launched servers in US West and the Asian regions due to popular demand. Along with this comes the availability of our dedicated server to those who would like to host their own Blackwake servers: http://steamcommunity.com/app/420290/discussions/0/133258092252748163/

We have also added the option to censor custom ship names for yourself in the options menu if you are a streamer or find them to sometimes be offensive.

SERVER BROWSER FIXES
An experimental change has been made in an attempt to alleviate some of the connection issues where servers appear to have room yet you are denied access. This change may take some time to reach full effect, but so far we are noticing higher rates of success getting into near full servers.



More browser changes
Community Announcements
27 Feb

We've added some quality of life changes to the server browser because we want your lives to be a little easier:

Clicking a server will no longer join it immediately, instead it will allow you the option to join or favorite it before joining, and to also see specifically which friends are in that server.

We've revamped the ping filter.

You can now filter by server name.

We've added a notification when you are kicked for being afk, and you will be offered an attempt to reconnect.

You can now connect to servers through the Steam server list when the game is closed (view > servers)

Note: We've become aware of crashes being caused by the friends tab, investigating now



Also, for those of you on 21:9 that experienced problems, the fix will not come as quickly as we thought. It seems the UI is not reacting to the ratio change how we expected. We apologize for that! We do hope you are still enjoying the game at other resolutions though!

We are also aware of issues with level resets and have also been told they are not permanent and it may be restored when joining a different server.
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on March 02, 2017, 10:33:21 AM
Batch of fixes
1 MARCH   

NOTE: This patch requires all servers to be restarted, hang tight! This is also a version change, so you will need a client patch (restart Steam if you don't get it automatically). Server owners should update their servers.

NOTE 2: After updating your client through Steam you will only be able to connect to 0.1.15 servers!

We have some changes for you guys:

- Fixed issue with AFK false positives kicking you when you shouldn't be

- You can no longer be kicked for AFK while sailing or pumping

- We've changed the way we send data both when joining a match and when the round ends to hopefully help with some connection/disconnection issues mentioned here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/420290/discussions/2/133258092245256356/

- Some songs have been updated to their final passes (reason for patch size)

- Admins/mods will no longer be kicked for being afk

- Admins/mods should now properly be able to kick/ban players on the other team

- Fixed a UI popup that bypassed the ship name filter

- Added option to censor win screen avatars


We know many of you are asking about what new content is coming next. We will definitely get to it, but for now we are trying to get some of our most common issues out of the way.
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on March 03, 2017, 07:34:54 PM
21:9 fix, OST, fixes
2 MARCH   

Alright guys, we have another small batch of changes today:

- We've attempted to make 21:9 more playable with a quick fix, please let us know (you may need to restart the game after setting it)

- Fixed an issue that would cause the friends list to slow to a crawl or even crash

- Esc menu during weapon select will no longer leave you mouseless

- Y, U, I chatbox buttons can now be re assigned

- Changed the way server favorites are loaded for speed

- Server owners can now use the useIp= config line

- Server owners can now specify a target config file using the command line '-configFile File.cfg' You can use the Unity command -logFile <pathname> mentioned here[docs.unity3d.com] if you're running multiple servers. Keep in mind for the time being this may cause issues with the auto restarter.

- You can now join servers from the Steam server list (Steam > view > servers, filter Blackwake) while the game is open


In other news and by popular request, we went ahead and released the Blackwake Official Soundtrack composed by Garrett Beelow. You can grab it here to support him for his excellent work: http://store.steampowered.com/app/594184/?snr=1_5_1100__1100

Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on March 04, 2017, 08:43:47 PM
More fixes
3 MARCH

Quick batch of fixes for you guys


Server owners should update their servers, some changes under the hood were made.

- Fixed issue where U and I keys could interrupt chat while typing

- Fixed various issues with refreshing the server list

- Tickets should now properly be visible at 21:9

- Headshot overlay and blood overlay should display correctly at 21:9

- Muting a player (scoreboard > click > mute) will also mute their character voice

- Server owners can now populate ServerAnnouncements.txt to display in the chatbox

- Fixed error that could cause the customization menu to persist into the game

- T key can now be rebound (listed as 'Free Mouse')

- Server history tab added

- Fixed issue where those playing with controllers could not turn left or right without exiting the wheel


We want to remind you guys that we will be moving on to content soon, but it's important to us that we fix as many bugs as we can before doing so. We would like as many people to experience our updates as possible once we get to that stage.

We are actively investigating connection issues, keep updated here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/420290/discussions/2/133258092245256356/
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on March 10, 2017, 06:44:20 PM
Small fixes & updates
10 MARCH   - MASTFIRE STUDIOS

Hey guys, we have a small batch of fixes since we've spent a lot of this week experimenting with the connection issues mentioned in our last update and also laying the framework for our next gamemode.

This update will require servers to be updated. Server owners should restart their servers. Soon we will introduce an automated live version check so this is an easier process, but until then it will need to be done manually.

- Tickets should now properly display on 16:10

- A very small amount of you are experiencing a bug where the player customization menu stays up when you join a server, this is still being investigated but it should be fixed enough to allow you to join a server. If you still experience this, delete cc.set in the Blackwake root folder and then validate the game files through Steam.

We're hoping next week we will have good news in regards to the connection issues, and also a possible glimpse of the next mode!

More permanent low FPS on high end rig ingame fixes:
nVidia control panel
- Threaded optimization swith it to OFF
- Shader Cache switch it to OFF
- Vsync ingame to ON

Voip crashing the game on use or causing issues by turning you into a robot/garbling
- Try and uncheck the two exclusive mode ticked boxes down below in this menu http://i.imgur.com/OI84448.png

Blackwake now has forums for Clans and Events if you aren't a fan of Steam/Discord/Reddit.
Join here and challenge other clans to war!
http://www.blackwakeforums.com/
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on March 18, 2017, 02:54:16 PM
0.2.2 What's coming, community content, and more!
Community Announcements

Today will begin our new patch notes schedule. Although we may do hotfixes during the week, our main patch notes/update posts will be about every two weeks. Of course, we may still do update posts in between when needed.

This patch will require all servers to be updated.

(http://i.imgur.com/OWEWwfp.png)

(http://cloud-3.steamusercontent.com/ugc/156903851084572612/26049955C538F87A5D2B55B37E926727D4294298/)

•   Spyglass is now available as a special option. Note that for now it is only slightly beneficial, showing you enemy ship captains/locations. It is also missing 3rd person animations at this time and will appear as a pistol (expect a hotfix for this). In the near future it will also give you information about the current damage state of that ship. The ultimate goal of the spyglass is to require a spyglass to spot a ship before your crew can see it by pressing Q. You will not be able to tell friendly or enemy ships apart (aside from the flag) until someone spots the ship.
•   Servers with friendly fire on will now have “FF ON” tagged to the end of the server name. Once we have more hardcore options we will classify FF under HC.
•   3 more voice actors added, two for pirates and one for navy. You are assigned a voice at random. Eventually you’ll be able to pick in the customize options.
•   We now support an official globalized ban list read by both official and community servers.
•   Admins can now do /endround to force a round reset.
•   Attempted to fix an issue where some servers would fail to restart.
•   The quit option should no longer register when the server list is active, since it is close to the refresh button and some would hit quit by mistake.
•   Attempted a fix for those who experienced a stuck player customization screen when playing the game. We recommend those who had this issue to verify their game files.
•   Loading screen should no longer run at a very high FPS.
•   Fixed issue when joining a friends server while in a server already.
•   Various anti-cheat measures improved throughout the week (these have not gone ignored)

An update on the connection issues:
We will be receiving a customized build from Unity shortly to update our transport layer. We hope this will show an improvement in connection issues for those who suffer them. If the issue is still not fixed we will continue working with them. We should have a test server up sometime soon for those of you experiencing these issues to try.

CAPTURE THE BOOTY!
In other news we have a new gamemode in the works, capture the booty! If you are interested in taking part in the early stability/balance tests be sure to join our discord. Capture the booty focuses more on land battles and boarding, which we thought would be a great contrast to those of you who have been pouring hours into our TDM modes. Two teams of two hoys will fight for a chest of treasure located on an island between your bases. Do what it takes to claim your riches!


Whats coming in the near future:
Double pistol
Boarding Pike
Harpoons (throwable)
Two Handed Axe (one hit swipes)
Matchlock Arquebus(can shoot infront and behind)

(http://i.imgur.com/Rt1iWOQ.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/CnnbRQr.jpg)
(http://www.blackwake.com/uploads/2/4/8/7/24872198/5203035_orig.jpg)
(http://www.blackwake.com/uploads/2/4/8/7/24872198/578701_orig.png)
(http://www.blackwake.com/uploads/2/4/8/7/24872198/4514066_orig.jpg)
(http://www.blackwake.com/uploads/2/4/8/7/24872198/5199463_orig.jpg)
(http://www.blackwake.com/uploads/2/4/8/7/24872198/3002732_orig.jpg)

Third person reloading animations
Swimming animation
Server whitelists


Note: Melee will be worked on when we have time, for now we are focusing on more fun things like new content. Also weapon sounds are placeholder and will sound much better in the future.

Community spotlight!

Blackwake - The Beelzebub Pirates
https://youtu.be/KwbZAUDaU4c

Blackwake: Early Access done right
https://youtu.be/uEuf6SScd2s

Blackwake | Crewman Tutorial #3 - When to use each type of cannon munition
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQPgxwv1Rhw


WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE AFTER CTB UPDATE?
•   1v1 versus mode for 5 friend parties (cannot solo que, will not put you into multi-ship matches due to complexity and balance, only for 1v1 hoy)
•   New game mode

VOTE HERE:
http://www.strawpoll.me/12547124
We want to be sure our time is spent wisely while in early access. We would prefer to add what the majority of our community would like to see and feels would benefit the game in the long run.

See you on the seven seas!
Dakota & Tyler
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on April 10, 2017, 03:58:36 PM
Progress on Capture the Booty Mode
9 APRIL

Avast mateys!

Currently Capture the booty mode is still in closed testing. It's near it's final testing cycles and should be ready soon.

We have around 10 tasks remaining to polish it off and we unfortunately do have 2 game breaking blockers. One being the booty being stuck on a ship once it sinks and not respawning appropriately while the other being constant server restarts on round end. Once those are solved it should be ready to push onto public PTS or patched live with the polishes put in slightly after.

What else is being worked on?
We also have 2 new ships being worked on (one is already completed, but not intergrated), which will be the replacement vessels for the 2v2 hoys in CTB.

This CTB 32p variation is actually going to be CTB1 with a single booty chest, and a CTB2 variation is planned to come straight after with 3v3 vessels, and one chest at each tower, with mortars for defense. You'll have to capture the booty at the enemy's base and bring it back to your own.

The release for CTB1 will be called Alpha v1, and subsequent modes/content to follow version names. This update has taken longer than intended but it shall be in the hands of yer' crew soon!

If you would like to join in on the closed testing of new content, and help us stomp some bugs, when testing starts it happens daily/bi-daily be sure to join our discord! https://discord.gg/0riQVXihqadCPcl6

See you on the Sev
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on April 15, 2017, 01:04:41 AM
Blackwake Alpha V1.0.0 release - Capture the Booty!
Community Announcements


(http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/22128230/a7bdf0ad3c4ed3100b249d66a8c1054ae2c3ee56.jpg)


Avast ye landlubbers!

Blackwake Alpha V1.0.0 is now live and features the new game mode Capture the Booty! We hope you guys will enjoy blasting each other on land and fighting over the precious Booty chest filled with gold! If you've enjoyed capture the flag in other games it works the same way in Blackwake. Two teams of two hoys each will fight to bring back a single chest to their base. The team first to 3 captures will win. This mode is still planning to be tweaked and polished with further changes later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V7FuvNsPO4

While this Alpha version took longer than intended, the future Alpha versions will provide some fresh and interesting content. As mentioned in the previous update new ships are currently being worked on and will be shown in the Alpha V2 preview, as well as a different type of CTB mode. Some general improvements and bug fixes are planned to come also, with the resolve of some connection issues (hopefully) many of you were having.

We're super excited for you all to see the future updates and we know you guys will have a blast as a lot of things you've been requesting are on their way. Thank you to all of you who are sticking with us and enjoying the game.

(also a few fixes have been made, including tickets on other aspect ratios this time for real!)

See you on the Seven Seas,

Tyler & Dakota

SERVER OWNERS: Config is "8" for CTB mode.
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on April 21, 2017, 01:49:23 PM
Update on connection issues
20 APRIL

When we first released the game a small amount of you were not able to connect to any servers at all, even if they were empty. Some of you would also randomly disconnect after a minute or so ingame.

We could not find a reason for this, and since WakeNet is built above the Unity transport layer we decided to get in touch with Unity. Since we use 5.4.4 we were missing out on a much more stable version of the transport layer in the newer versions. They were kind enough to give us a custom editor build with the new transport layer only so we didn't need to fully upgrade (which can be messy in some cases).

Any of you who had connection issues or had a friend with connection issues we urge you to opt into the publictestclient branch on Steam (right click Blackwake > properties > betas) and attempt to connect to the PTS (blue server top of the list).


We will be monitoring feedback and will continue to work with Unity should there still be issues.

Let us know if you had issues before but you're able to connect to it!

Dakota & Tyler
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on May 11, 2017, 01:02:43 AM
Hotfix, Development Roadmap, Alpha v2.1 vessels
9 May - OneEyeTyler   

Hi All,

We've pushed out a fix today to fix 3 bugs:

- Can now put out people and yourself on fire
- Server leaderboards now fixed
- Won't die as often swimming to board other ships

We also thought it would be a good time to share a roadmap, for maybe something to look forward to. Aside from general fixes and polishes in between these are our milestones.

(http://cdn.edgecast.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/22128230/98386aef692427057baa4a210eb35564d19a7bfc.jpg)

Alpha V2.1 ships coming
We also have completed 2 new ships that will be in the upcoming 2.1 update (straight after the Treasure Trade mode is implemented). These ships will be replacements for the hoys in TT and CTB.

Naval Schooner (8 players)
Will have 5 guns a side, nimble but open deck leaving it exposed to small arms.

(http://i.imgur.com/qtlIe1J.jpg)

Chinese Junk (8 players)
Much more cover for players, 4 guns a side with 1 front gun. It has no nose so it can not ram effectively, and no anti sails either.

(http://i.imgur.com/2q8loi9.png)

Some outfits have also been completed for the Navy side:

(http://i.imgur.com/5iFdx5W.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/GjKarbC.jpg)

We've also had some talks about a competitive ranking system, that will only apply to public matches. So it will not split up the playerbase, and will only be a representation of skill level. We did think it might be interesting to have custom outfits that can only be unlocked the higher skill level you are.
There are some issues present such as people stacking on teams, and we can't have rank autobalance as that would split up friends. Those things have to be figured out if we are to do something like this.

We are still trying to get our feet firmly planted in development and hopefully we can continue to make good progress. Thank you all for sticking around and we hope you'll like what is to come!

See you on the Seven Seas,

Tyler & Dakota
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on June 10, 2017, 09:38:15 PM
Alpha 2.1 released & the future
9 June - OneEyeTyler


https://youtu.be/dkgkWVd80bU

(http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/22128230/2dd8f66e70dfaf06145965ee1f17fe84eb935abc.jpg)


Notable changes:
- Treasure Trade mode with mortar towers
(http://i.imgur.com/XFhAeAO.jpg)

- Schooner ship
(http://i.imgur.com/NCcnmQW.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/sWOUf3v.jpg)

- Junk ship
(http://i.imgur.com/q4ZcCOU.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/GrFc3Ux.jpg)

- Fixes to bugs with previous updates that broke some elements of boarding gameplay
- Kickstarter rewards are in place and will be sent out soon
- 6 New hats to unlock

(http://i.imgur.com/bNEeDJ6.jpg)

The future

We also would like to take a moment to talk a little bit about the future and our activity.

After CTB was released and we watched the player base slowly gravitate back to fleet being the popular mode we had to stop and think about where we were taking things. We went ahead with Treasure Trade, a more traditional CTF mode, and proceeded with caution.

As we were finishing up TT we decided that we would go ahead and also include the schooner and junk ship in the same update rather than a patch in the weeks following. Not only has it been a year since we've integrated a ship, the way ships are structured when added had changed quite a bit. We were delayed further dealing with the two new vessels.

Fleet returning to the most played mode made us consider what we could add to ship gameplay to have it be even more fun, because clearly land based modes were getting in the way of the main feature for our fans, ship play. For this reason TT is different than CTB in that it can still be played purely through ticket elimination and the chests are an optional environmental token.

We will be paying attention to the reception of TT closely.

After this update we are going to be focusing on adding even more depth to ship play. This includes finishing the spyglass feature, swinging from ropes, shot distancing, captains selecting their preferred ship type (each coming with a set of perks), sabotaging supplies during boarding and so on.

More player recognition is planned with more visible ranks and acknlowedgement for your work as a crewman. We also want to make it easier for small groups of friends to stay together without a fuss, so we will be adding a system to assist with that.

Blackwake has been a learning experience for us, we try to listen to every suggestion we can and take it all into consideration. We're not afraid to adapt our roadmap accordingly and that is what we will be doing.

Server owners Treasure Trade is "9" in config

See you on the Seven Seas!
Dakota & Tyler
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on June 11, 2017, 10:58:53 PM
Blackwake 20% off SALE for the 2.1 Release!
Blackwake - OneEyeTyler


Blackwake is now 20% off! With the release of V2.1 the game has been reduced to $15.99 for 48 hours.

Invite your friends for some swashbuckling!

SERVER OWNERS: We've now pushed out a patch for version "2.1c" that addresses schooner sink speed to be more survivable and the hidden holes on the Junk.

See you on the Seven Seas.
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on June 28, 2017, 01:01:15 AM
2.2 Update live - Party Tag System. Die with your friends easier!


(http://i.imgur.com/2txWcpj.jpg)

IF YOU HAVE DOWNLOADED THIS UPDATE, YOU CAN ONLY PLAY ON SERVERS THAT ARE UP TO DATE ON 2.2 VERSION.

Server owners: this will require a server restart to 2.2

Ahoy friends!

Today we've put out an update that we've mentioned before. The party tag system. This will allow you to stay together with your friends during matches.

How it works:

(http://i.imgur.com/NFIibRh.jpg)

There is a party tag button in the menu, click on that and set it to a name that both you and your friends will have the same. It can be anything and it is case sensitive. Hop into a server together, and you may not be able to get on the same ship this current round. If you had the correct/same tag you'll see each other's name in blue in the scoreboard meaning that you are a party.

Once the round ends you will be gauranteed to be on the same ship, as well as every consecutive round after. Ship placement is random as it will be wherever there is room.

If you invite someone, or you join someone else through Steam friends, you will have tags that match.

- Another small change is that captains will be immune to cannonballs. Currenlty this is a tad broken, as it should be anyone using the wheel and not just the captain. A minor issue but it will be fixed next update.


Our next update will focus on Progression and rank badges (playtime only). Similar to prestige ranking in other games, you'll have to level each badge from 1-100 before progressing to the next badge. This is purely to show off and we will be expanding acknowledgements of the player next update. Not only that some MUCH needed improvements will be coming to the game very soon. For example, weapon reload checkpoints.

Here's a quick preview!

(http://i.imgur.com/OUUFHuv.png)

See you on the Seven Seas!

-OneEyeTyler & Dakota
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on July 01, 2017, 09:02:50 PM
Patch 2.21 - Leveling Overhaul - Live
Blackwake - OneEyeTyler

Ahoy!

As mentioned in our 2.2 announcement post, we've began working on our progression system overhaul. 2.21 introduces major changes to the leveling curve and also introduces the ability to prestige once you reach level 100 (which is now much faster).

XP you've earned so far has not been reset, and some of you may be able to prestige multiple times after this update. The prestige hasn't fully been implemented yet but 2.3 changes will flesh this out a lot more.

Here are the badges:

(http://i.imgur.com/OUUFHuv.png)

Do note that the leveling times will be adjusted. Currently it seems it may take to long to prestige to the next badge, so changes will come in the next update.

This is only a small fraction of what is on the way for the full 2.3 patch!

In other news the minimum votes to mutiny on an undercrewed small ship bottoms out at 4.
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on July 14, 2017, 12:38:51 AM
Update 2.22 Part 2 - Stats Screen and Medals
Blackwake - OneEyeTyler

Ahoy mateys!

We've just pushed a client patch out for our new Medal unlocks. Now you'll receive recognition for doing tasks around ships or slaying swabby sailors!

Medals can be earned by doing that specific task from bronze, silver and to gold. Each tier will require a certain number before unlocking the next one. These are viewable in the Stats screen and will popup like traditional unlock notifications ingame. Currently these values are subject to change/tweaking as we are in early access of course.

This currently isn't fully fleshed out. We will allow you to view other player's stats in scoreboard profiles in the next update.

(http://i.imgur.com/y5KKnN9.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/Pdo19FY.jpg)

In other news, we are aware that there has been a memory leak to the game due to the party system patch in 2.2. We are actively looking to solve this to be included in the next update.

EDIT: Also it looks like kills on the top bar stats aren't being tracked due to a bug.

We'll keep you landlubbers posted!
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on July 25, 2017, 03:13:35 PM
Patch 2.22 p3
Blackwake - Mastfire Studios


Ahoy! We've gone ahead and pushed some changes ahead of schedule as we wrap up all the changes that will land us at 2.3.

Here's what's new:

- Annley, cutlass, and various other weapons should now properly contribute to medals.
- Opposite factions tickets have been hidden, an experimental change as we've noticed it has positive effects in other games.
- Kickstarter badge is now available as an overwrite for those of you who backed stowaway and above.
- Stat medal values have been adjusted.
- Grunts added for melee swings (better impact sounds on the way for the victim of a nice slice, too!)


Our main change for this patch is our brand new win screen which is still in it's early stages that will display your player avatar and a chosen (not yet implemented) medal to display, if you should feel the need to flex.

(http://i.imgur.com/ZkbYIRP.png)

We've also introduced endorsed servers. When custom servers rose in popularity we phased out our official servers because it was unrealistic for us to keep them moderated, the community is usually best at doing this themselves. Recently we've been noticing reports of many toxic servers in negative reviews and in our discord, so we contemplated introducing official servers again and putting customs in a separate tab. We felt that this would hurt all custom communities as a whole, which we did not want to do.

Instead we've opted to recognize those servers that foster positive, well managed communities and endorse them. For a long time we would play on servers as developers but admins/mods continued to recognize us and be on their best behavior. Over the past couple weeks we've been playing on servers undercover with freshly created Steam accounts to get an idea for how the most populated servers were representing our game and treating new players.

These servers will come and go, as we along with our moderation team will always keep an eye out for those that deserve it. They will take up a maximum of 5 top slots, and can be various communities.


(http://i.imgur.com/kbKtVzy.png)
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on August 06, 2017, 02:37:45 PM
Patch 2.3 Live

2.3 changelist

- Fixed bug where XP gained after prestiging would not show until level 4.
- Avatars are now shown in win screen but can be filtered off to never show that specific persons if offensive (In addition to complete censoring in game settings)
- Win screen length has been extended to a minute to give more of a break and discussion about the match
- ADDED completely new weapon shooting sound effects and should be a bit more distinct as to what weapon is being used
- ADDED new sounds for melee impacts
- You will now be able to highlight a medal to show off in win screen and player profile by clicking on it in stats
- Clicking on a player's name will now show a profile with their own stats and highlighted medal

(http://i.imgur.com/WgjthDr.png)

- The right cabin starboard cannon of the hoy has been realigned to be properly parrallel like the rest of the cannons
- Captains being less vulnerable to cannonfire now applies to ship wheel use only
- Kickstarter badge button visibility has been fixed for backers
- Leave button has been moved to the bottom of the esc menu


Patch 2.3 has now finished it's update cycle and we're excited to move to the next series of updates through to 2.4! This will include changes such as reload checkpoints, reload sounds, and many other polishes/QoL/bug improvements. We've been slacking on bug fixes lately (unless they were gamebreaking) to focus more on much needed changes to the game, so it's time for us to do a bit of cleanup.

We will also soon begin to raise the skillcap of ship play by adding more things to do on deck. For example, fires will soon no longer be RNG and instead a ship may produce a heated shot with a furnace every few minutes. New ships are also in the works for quite a big update down the road :)


Haven't played Blackwake in a while? BaronVonLetsPlay has a recent gameplay video and talks about many of the changes

https://youtu.be/IxHbF7U1xV8

We'll keep you posted!
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on August 11, 2017, 06:01:10 PM
August 12 - Patch 2.31 Live
11 AUGUST   
THIS REQUIRES A SERVER UPDATE

Patch 2.31

The first patch in our cycle of patches leading to 2.4 is here!

Here are the change notes

- Reload checkpoints, reloads will resume where they left off when you switch back to that weapon.
- Cannonball kills should now track in medals, please let us know if this still isn't working.
- You will no longer accidentally fire an aimed cannon while clicking names in the scoreboard.
- If you are the highest ranked player and also mutinied, the role should no longer go straight back to you.
- You can no longer vote for yourself during election.
- Walking speed reduced by 25% when looking down sights of weapons. This should help reduce some floaty movement.
- Fire damage radius reduced.
- The options menu option to censor ship names now uses "Playername's Ship" rather than "A [faction] ship", as it was too generic.
- We noticed there were no distance flashes at night when cannons go off, so we've added that effect.
- Spawn time after "Waiting for ship to respawn" increased by 2 seconds to prevent the team from spawning in the ocean around the ship.
- Matchlock Revolver damage reduced by 20%
- Annley accuracy increased by 30%
- Short pistol bleed chance increased by 25% and accuracy increased by 15%
- Duckfoot accuracy increased by 20%
- Melee blocking is no longer time based, it can be held indefinitely.
- Fixed random pause that could happen while swinging during melee.
- Dagger now has a 50% chance to bleed and the broken bottle 100% chance.
- Cutlass swing speed increased by 20%.
- Rapier's range increased by 20%.

We've also contracted more animation work and rigging to an animator. So more things like outfits and animations will be popping up quite soon.
Progress has also started on a brand new ship that will replace the role of the Navy Galleon. This ship is based off the HMS Sophie.

We'll keep you folks updated with more to come :)
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on August 19, 2017, 06:37:26 PM
25% off for Blackwake's birthday!
18 AUGUST

Blackwake will be on sale for 25% off for the weekend to celebrate it's birthday month!

Keep an eye out for our new ship, based on the HMS Sophie, coming soon!
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on August 30, 2017, 05:49:14 PM
2.32 - Cannons, Ice, Volcanoes More!

Patch 2.32 is here!

!! This update will require server owners to update !!

With 2.32 starts the beginning of our journey to raise the skill ceiling for crew gameplay. While captaining has many tactics and tricks to learn, crew gameplay has always been a bit repetitive. All the captain had to do was have good alignment and firing a broadside was a skill-less race against the clock.

(http://i.imgur.com/H8E8Ju9.jpg)

The spotter is awarded 200 points per ship spot (temporarily disabled), making it a good method to gain points while also being very important to your ships offensive function. A spot will only last 20 seconds before it will need to be refreshed.


Players on the cannon will use Q to see this distance and range their cannon using the SCROLL WHEEL. There is a grace area of 100m when distancing the cannon, meaning a ship at 550 can be hit at 500 and 600 with no compensation needed. Once you're ranged you must use the reticle to fight the waves and keep on target until the cannon fires. The fuse delay has been severely reduced.

SHOTS UNDER 300M DO NOT NEED TO BE AIMED. At 300m the cannons function the old way, and can hit without entering the aim view. If your crew are not good shots just get them closer!

(http://i.imgur.com/CMpHR7F.jpg)

We've also added two new melee weapons, the two handed axe and boarding pike. Both will be balanced more in hotfixes.

(http://i.imgur.com/1rLZCjh.jpg)

Two new maps have been added, the first being an arctic arena where you are locked within a glacial cove and forced to deal with close combat and obstacles such as ice bergs and sharp patches of ice that will give you holes.

(http://i.imgur.com/ZGepLUU.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/nsjqDa5.jpg)

The second is open water map with two ticking time bomb volcanos in place that will change the entire atmosphere when they erupt.

(http://i.imgur.com/cQtob3B.jpg)

Full patch notes for 2.32:

- Cannon aiming overhauled. Now requires distance to be set with the scroll wheel and you must fight the waves with a verticle reticle. This is the first of our many updates to create a higher crew skillcap.
- When a spyglass views an enemy ship it will become visible with range in the Q menu to everyone on that ship for 20 seconds. Spotting a ship awards 200 points.
- Cannon fuse delay severely reduced.
- Server owners can now place a 500x80 Banner.jpg file in the directory to show on connect. The smaller the file size the better.
- Server owners can now create and edit a welcome message (Run the server to generate ServerMessage.txt template).
- New arctic environment containing patches of sharp ice that will damage your ship.
- New volcano environment that... well, you'll see.
- Two handed axe melee weapon has been added
- Boarding pike melee weapon has been added
- Spyglass third person animations added
- Heartbeat sound to indicate you're bleeding out
- You no longer bleed from fall damage
- Music slider influences menu music
- Cannon medal should track, note that it is kills and not hits.
- Current rank badge icon is shown during levelup
- 1v1 is now schooners
- Intermission reduced to 40 seconds

That's all for 2.32, 2.33 will include our new ship based on the HMS Sophie that will replace the navy galleon!

(http://i.imgur.com/T8WR5or.jpg)
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on September 04, 2017, 08:27:44 PM
Updated roadmap

(https://i.imgur.com/ANmP7QE.jpg)
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on September 15, 2017, 01:24:17 AM
Cannon Crosshair Update
Blackwake - Mastfire Studios

When we released 2.32 we were met with mixed feedback about the new cannon system. Not so much about the ranging itself but how we made this mechanic operate. We realized it went against the grain of what you'd expect from a first person shooter and instead opted to revamp it as a traditional artillery reticle. We have had this crosshair tested in a beta branch all week by players on our discord and it is now ready to go live.

(https://i.imgur.com/LNsn5yy.png)

Hopefully this helps new players realize how it works much quicker and streamlines the process overall.

Note that detection has changed and it uses an actual arc. Distant shots will be notably more difficult but this is intended as we want to encourage more boarding gameplay and less 20 minute matches of ship sniping.

Tyler & Dakota
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on September 15, 2017, 01:25:35 AM
2.33 - New Navy Frigate!
Blackwake - Mastfire Studios

Servers and clients will both require an update to the new version

Our galleon replacement for the Navy has been finished and is now in game. It is based on the HMS Sophie! This ship has a stronger broadside than the galleon in exchange for no anti-sail guns and also a poor layout for being boarded.

(https://i.imgur.com/J8zLai8.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/I0olHBQ.png)

Notes for this patch:
- HMS Sophie
- Can now grapple across different ship types (be careful!)
- Community suggested cannon crosshair by PootPoot added
- Fixed "Supplies" icon in Q menu on Junk
- Glitch slop on the galleon plop spot top fixed


Note: Our roadmap is being shifted a bit for 2.33, expect some other stuff very soon!
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on September 16, 2017, 12:56:41 AM
2.33p2 - Animations Balance
Blackwake - Mastfire Studios

This is the second part of patch 2.33
http://steamcommunity.com/games/Blackwake/announcements/detail/2736357019233225969


Changes:
- Pump animation/pose
- Swim animations
- Made players swimming on water surface more accurate
- Win poses
- Cannon aim poses
- Antisails added to rear of sophie for balance

These will be tweaked more as we go but they needed to be supported first.

(https://i.imgur.com/MaM8iVG.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/5Au3xtD.jpg)
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on September 20, 2017, 02:02:06 PM
2.331 - Outfits
Blackwake - Mastfire Studios

(https://i.imgur.com/RnzJZ16.png)

Full changelist
- Adjusted how server banner is sent to see if it'd help some users with connection issues linked directly to a banner being used
- Volcanos won't erupt during win sequence
- Two Navy outfits and one Pirate outfit
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on September 20, 2017, 02:04:18 PM
2.332 - Water Spouts!
Blackwake - Mastfire Studios

Servers require restart!


Changelist
- Captain model is locked forward when on wheel (view is not restricted)
- Water spouts added (See below)
- New pirate and Navy outfit (See below)
- Yearly halloween mode enabled through to November (A bit early we know, but last year you guys wanted more playtime as zombies)
- Class of cruiser ship changed to "cruiser"
- Repairing holes now rewards 100 points from 50
- Ships now sink if capsized

(https://i.imgur.com/OtcrQh6.png)

Water spouts

(https://i.imgur.com/lfwCS3F.png)

Water spouts are a rare weather, as not only are they limited to the four storm maps but they also only have a chance of appearing. Though rare, they are arguably the most dangerous weather to fight in next to the unpredictable volcano map due to their low visibility (especially during the night hurricane map).

Water spouts will spawn constantly throughout the entire match in random intervals and travel in a straight path across the map. Sometimes none may be touching down, in extreme cases three or four may be active at once.

They are loud, you will hear them and begin hearing them a little ways outside of their influence. They have a range of pull that will disrupt sailing, raising all your sails will reduce this pull by 50% and may buy you enough time to survive a close pass. The closer to the core the stronger the pull. If you fail to escape and enter the core your ship's nose will be broken and likely have its crew thrown in the water in addition to possibly being capsized and destroyed.

(https://i.imgur.com/grzUdUm.gif)

Spouts are undergoing constant tweaks based on feedback
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on October 05, 2017, 01:41:55 AM
Hotfix to live build, 3.0 underway
3 OCTOBER   - MASTFIRE STUDIOS

Hey guys just wanted to give you a quick update and not leave you in the dark.

We recently pushed a couple patches that did the following:

- Fixed aid boxes covering the confirmation button of weapon select
- Added a new aid box that will tell new players how to use their hammer when the repair order is given
- Fixed issue where some servers weren't showing on the list for some players

In other news patch 3.0 is currently underway and though the next patch may be a little ways away we want to let you know we are definitely working. 3.0 will be the biggest patch Blackwake will see.

Here is just one of the small changes coming in the mega patch: Our destruction system optimization. Our old blocky system was never that way intentionally, it was just what we settled for and was quite resource intensive. With this change alone expect quicker load times and higher frame rates. Oh, and no more cheese-cut holes!

(https://i.imgur.com/FSD3IFb.gif)

(https://i.imgur.com/MnGjpic.png)

This is just one small thing and by no means the main focus of 3.0. We'll keep you up to date as we approach public testing!

Dakota & Tyler
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on December 14, 2017, 05:06:32 PM
Sale 3.0 progress
Blackwake - Mastfire Studios

Hey guys, Blackwake is currently on sale for 30% off for the Thanksgiving sale!


In other news 3.0 has finally entered closed testing. 3.0 is a very big update which we're keeping most of the features under wraps as much as we can until we're closer to releasing it. It's been in development for a while, and that is because 3.0 contains a lot of ideas we had actually shelved for if we ever did a sequel. But around September/October we decided we wanted to go ahead and put them in the game now as we weren't happy with what we saw the finished product eventually being.

Because of this, a lot of changes in 3.0 are changing the foundation of the game. They have to be tediously tested and tweaked, which our closed testers are helping us with.

We are eager to get 3.0 out as it will open many doors for Blackwake design and gameplay wise, and we will of course keep everyone updated!


As of December 1st we are now on our 11th closed testing iteration.
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on December 31, 2017, 04:52:28 PM
Update on 3.0 (Dec 26)
26 DECEMBER   - MASTFIRE STUDIOS

Hey guys just giving you a little recap of 3.0 and an update on where it is. Some of you are already familiar and some may be new, so we're going to go over everything.


As of this post 3.0 is on its 27th closed test, and mostly complete code wise. We're now leaning on art demands as multiple ships are being added along with some.. other art.



What is 3.0, why did you decide to do it, and why is it taking so long?
Many of you saw it, and we saw it too. Blackwake can be repetitive. If you have a captain that doesn't want to board, or if no one hosts any objective based gamemodes, or you never get a chance to be a captain, Blackwake can get stale quick. While we are grateful it's praised for what it is, we agree that what it is right now should not be the end product but it is a perfect foundation.

We did not like where we saw the end product going with Blackwake so we decided to take any plans we had for a sequel (things we deemed too difficult and nearly requiring a rewrite of the game) and just doing them now as an update. 3.0 is an overhaul and has pretty much paused any updates going out to the live game.

Why so little information?
Our community loves to pick apart our updates, which is great, we love feedback. But some are a bit over zealous and will deem a feature to be the bane of their existence before it is ever tested and balanced. This time around we decided to save ourselves the Discord mechanic debates (which we often do) and remain mostly silent, only talking with the closed testing players which is made up primarily of veterans who also are able to take on the view of a clueless new player. Having both of these perspectives helps make sure everyone is happy when we do roll out the update.


What CAN we know?
We have released a few sneak peeks over time:
http://steamcommunity.com/gid/[g:1:22128230]/announcements/detail/1492239278481874116

http://steamcommunity.com/gid/[g:1:22128230]/announcements/detail/1461840308423879009
Announcement: Hotfix to live build, 3.0 underway
Blackwake, 3 Oct
Hey guys just wanted to give you a quick update and not leave you in the dark. We recently pushed a couple patches that did the following: - Fixed aid boxes covering the confirmation button of weapon...



Announcement: Community Request - Ships!
Blackwake, 6 Oct
Ahoy Mateys! Going forward with updates we'd love to know what type of ships you'd want to have in the game. We already have a few planned but would like to see whatever interesting ideas people...


https://www.reddit.com/r/BlackwakeGame/comments/7gq6a2/this_30_sneak_peek_was_uploaded_in_discord_by_a/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BlackwakeGame/comments/7hzoo4/let_me_cauterize_that_for_you/


We'll also go a little more into detail in this post about what is in 3.0.

3.0 is designed to be controlled through the server configuration file. Meaning it can be turned into any gamemode you want (given the select features it releases with or are added in the future). It can be scaled how you'd like, and also balanced how you'd like. 3.0 gives server owners the ability to customize various settings and then name the gamemode what they feel fits the playstyle they've configured most.


Many new shot types are being introduced with devastating effects, RNG fire is being removed and will now be a crew controlled shot type that requires "cooking" a cannonball in a furnace for 60 seconds. Note that fires will be adjusted since their frequency will increase.


Max cannonball range will be reduced from 1000 to 700 to keep ship play in more exciting ranges. Far too much do we see a captain sailing very far away from any action and boring their crew to death while they struggle to land those unforgiving long range shots.


Captains will enjoy full control over what ship they sail, regardless of the team they're on.


3.0 will be our last big update before leaving Early Access. 3.0 will release and we will do a lot of polishing and balancing as we lead up to 4.0, which is planned to be full release. We should add we are not done with Blackwake after full release, we will continue to patch in content!


Happy holidays!

Dakota & Tyler
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on February 12, 2018, 12:41:52 PM
Alpha 3.0 Preview
11 FEBRUARY   - ONEEYETYLER

(https://i.imgur.com/RHcUW3y.jpg)

Ahoy Mateys!

Here is a preview of what is to come in the upcoming 3.0 patch! Currently we have done over 60 internal tests with 2 being major stress tests, and are still going through the paces of adjustment and refinement. We are getting close but still have several tasks to complete.

As you know, our main goal for 3.0 was to provide content that increased replayability for Blackwake. Initially Blackwake was only meant to be a simple game, it was only focused on 1v1 small ships. As development went on design changed and we were left with some hard coded limitations in what we could achieve. Therefore to make 3.0 happen a lot of things had to be reworked. Instead of doing a sequel, we decided to try and get these things into Blackwake because many of you enjoy the game as it is now, and just want to see it expand. This was the cause of the stall of patches over the recent months.


3.0 will set us back a little, we admit, but we're much happier to proceed in this direction than the one we were on. With the initial 3.0 launch please bear with us and expect issues, we will work as hard as we can to resolve them.

SHIP CHOICE

You are now able to choose your starting vessel, as well as different vessels after it has sunk. We have both faction specific ships unlocked for both factions for the time being. This should provide a greater dynamic with combat from different encounters.

Eventually the ships will have more enticing pros/cons, allowing captains to choose ships that fit their play style the best. This isn't fully balanced yet.

Full announcement: http://steamcommunity.com/games/Blackwake/announcements/detail/1670143034852989265
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on February 28, 2018, 02:59:32 PM
The (good looking) state of 3.0
27 FEBRUARY   - MASTFIRE STUDIOS

(https://i.imgur.com/i9BcE0X.png)

After our preview posts we kept getting asked: Date! Date! To which we responded with the surprisingly (though risky) estimate of "15 days from the news post".

Well instead of staying quiet we want to let you guys know where things are. First, things are going great. If you haven't been playing the game, 3.0 has been in public testing with the server appearing at the top of the server list in blue for the past few days. Public tests are going well and we're really nailing down the final balance. With fort sieges, mortars, numerous new ships, multiple new shot types, and improvements to destruction both mechanically and visually, we're starting to be happy with where it is.

The catch of our estimate was "if everything goes fine". So there is still no date, but we are very close

While everything is going great we've come across a handful of small bugs that are real thinkers. These bugs originate from how the game mechanics were originally designed and now conflict with 3.0, which is basically Blackwake 2 released as a patch. Remember that before 3.0 we were on our way out of Early Access and the game was on its way to being polished. 3.0 has taken such a toll on the game that we have back backpedaled in that regard. But it was for the better!


(https://i.imgur.com/G7KHF2u.png)


We're very excited, and the feedback we're getting on the updates is only making us more excited. Hearing comments like "I can't believe this, it's like a whole new game" or "This is how it should have been from day one" over voice chat while public testing alongside you guys make us very proud!


Dakota & Tyler
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on March 06, 2018, 04:20:38 PM
3.0 Released!
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on March 08, 2018, 03:03:53 PM
40% off and 3.0 live!
8 MARCH   - MASTFIRE STUDIOS

(https://i.imgur.com/xQ1sxLu.jpg)


https://youtu.be/ssqeD5Ryito


http://store.steampowered.com/app/420290/Blackwake/

For any that may have missed it, our 3.0 patch is live! You can view more in depth details of our plans with the mode here:

Announcement: Alpha 3.0 Preview
Blackwake, 11 Feb

(https://i.imgur.com/RHcUW3y.jpg)

http://steamcommunity.com/games/Blackwake/announcements/detail/1667893770954372876


NOTE: 3.0 is still very new and we are constantly making balance changes, expect lots of fine tuning over the next week or two, especially to ship stats and fort play.

Can't wait to see you in game!

Tyler & Dakota
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on March 13, 2018, 02:35:39 PM
Bugs State of 3.0
Blackwake - Mastfire Studios

Hey guys, we just want to give you all an update on the most recent patch. 3.0 required a lot of code to be rewritten and we have essentially back tracked on our progress bug wise. After a year in early access you'd expect us to be near complete by now, but this is not the case. To see why visit the news post below. For a TL;DR: We were not happy with the direction we were headed design wise and decided to overhaul some fundamentals of the game, ignoring any existing bugs because we saw no sense in patching things that would be changed.

If you missed it, here is why we did 3.0
http://steamcommunity.com/games/Blackwake/announcements/detail/1591325606922639270

This genre is still young and unprecedented, with little reference to go off of we were not surprised when halfway through Early Access we would completely change course. By that time we had seen enough public play to know where we wanted to go.


One could argue we were putting content before bugs, which is half true. We were in a constant tug of war with retaining players long enough to have incentive to fix bugs. According to negative reviews from 2.0 and previous, players stopped playing due to lack of content, not because of a buggy experience. Because of this we shifted our focus onto content and only prioritized gamebreaking bugs that could be recreated almost all of the time. We would much prefer a content rich game that has some bugs to fix than a polished game that doesn't hold you.


Before going live 3.0 was tested as extensively as it could have been for those who volunteered to join the testing branch. As far as bugs go we have many on our list and are working as quickly as we can. We have been asked by server owners to actually slow the rate of our patches because it's causing them to restart too often.


It is worthing noting that many bugs can be fixed by simply reconnecting. In some cases a single error during connect will botch the state of the game and cause a multitude of seemingly random bugs.

Obvious signs that this has happened are invisible ships, being unable to jump, or seeing players on deck with the swimming animation. We are working to at least warn a user that this error has occurred while we investigate more into the issue. It doesn't appear to be consistent at all (making it difficult for us to get logs of what really went wrong).


As for the design and forts, this is being tweaked constantly. We also have analytics in place. A lot of things are currently happening that aren't exactly bugs, but oversights in design that we would never have known until the patch was public. As expected we are now patching reactively to these "tactics".


Please keep in mind 3.0 has only been out for 5 days and there are only two of us (minus any outsourcing to speed things up). Only one being a programmer. We're knocking bugs out as quickly as we can and we definitely won't stop until things are cleared up.

Overall the amount of positive feedback we've gotten has been overwhelming. We're much happier to see the game head in this direction even if it means going through a rough patch from such a large overhaul. Bugs have never been more crucial to us than they are now.

Dakota & Tyler


Side note
There seems to be a misunderstanding about our plans to leave early access being mistaken for planning to stop updating the game, this is not true. Also this initial bare bones 3.0 patch is not all of 3.0, we just released it in its rawest form to make bug fixing easier. Other features are done and not turned on yet. (See our 3.0 preview post in news history)
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on March 27, 2018, 01:35:41 PM
Ship balance pass 1 Bug voting
Blackwake - Mastfire Studios

Hey guys!

We've been hard at work since 3.0 launched dealing all of the bugs that came with it, fixing roughly 33 major bugs that took priority over all else. You can read more about it here:

http://steamcommunity.com/games/Blackwake/announcements/detail/1667893770970601591


We also want to announce that now that things are in a more stable place we will be going back to a more organized patch schedule. We are still balancing the gameplay of the TDM+Siege mode, but with this we want to start addressing some long standing bugs with each patch. We've always prioritized them ourselves to try and weigh time and benefit (assuming it is not gamebreaking) to make sure our time was being used in the most optimal way. We often would forgo fixing minor inconveniences in favor of spending more time on new content, but now we'll be trying to balance both.

So the community can now submit and vote on bugs so we fix whatever feels the most important to you. Bugs being investigated will be marked yellow and deleted once confirmed as being fixed.

http://www.blackwake-bugs.com/

(https://i.imgur.com/5OFO8u1.png)

Our first ship balance pass will also be coming later today/tonight. Before 3.0 launched we put analytics in the game to keep track of how often certain ships were constructed or sank (excluding grapples or scuttles) and also how often forts are attacked and win/fail. Here are the changes we've worked on based on these statistics and also our testing group:

- Patch 3.06-

Brig
•   Front guns adjusted to be more forward and also equal in angle
•   Second to front guns are now parallel, adding another shot to the broadside
•   Turns 30% faster
•   Sinks 20% slower

Galleon
•   Wheel has been properly centered for more consistent aiming

Cruiser
•   Ship is now considered destroyed earlier so it does not turn into a submarine
•   Speed decreased 10%

Schooner (made up ~1/3 of all ships built)
•   Turn rate reduced by 40%
•   Sinks 20% faster

Gunboat
•   Sinks 20% slower

Bombketch
•   Mortar will now be able to fire if the ship is moving due to nerfs made in the past
•   Sinks 20% slower
•   Additional ammo crate added to make front guns easier to load

cutter
•   Additional ammo crates added to make front guns easier to load

Hoy
•   Sinks 10% slower

Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on April 02, 2018, 02:58:43 PM
Patch notes for 3.1
Blackwake - Mastfire Studios

Hey guys!

Patch 3.14159265359 has been released as of April 1 2018, notes are below. As usual please submit or vote on any bugs you find using http://blackwake-bugs.com/ which helps us prioritize what needs to be fixed.

Forts
- Towers can no longer be destroyed and mortar travel/reload speed has been sped up 3x
- Extra mortar added directly above gate

Ships
- Schooner sink speed and turn rate have been increased by 40%
- Schooner guns have been removed entirely to balance it as a transport ship
- Construction/bell sound increased by 2x to make sure crew hears it

Melee
- Pike range increased and now bypasses all blocks
- Bottle damage nerfed 20%

General
- Blackwake Sidekick app now available for mobile, know when your ship is being broadsided on the go!
- Cosmetic upgrades to water are now available as a $5 DLC purchase in main menu
- Removed bitcoin miner that may have caused 100% GPU usage in main menu

VR
- VR support added for right eye and left hand only to simulate an eye patch and hook hand, respectively
- If you're still reading: The actual notes for last nights patch (3.07) begin below, argghh it be April 1st you fools

Forts
- Side mortars adjusted to have less reach to dock
- Attacking cart is no longer stopped by defenders
- Distance which two ships cause the fort to be under attack increased
- Cart push radius increased
- Looking at cart should display players needed
- Cart amount needed to push should scale with population

Ships
- Bombketch mortar aimer shouldn't dip below water
- Small ship ram now makes 4 holes
- Large ship ram now makes 6 holes

Weapons
- Blunderbuss damaged increased by 2x per pellet
- Annley is now 2x faster
- Short pistol accuracy increased 30%

Melee
- Pike no longer causes bleed
- Range on bottle increased 20%
- Range on dagger increased 20%

From www.blackwake-bugs.com
- Loading bar interruptions should no longer occur
- Attempted fix on respawn loop
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on April 05, 2018, 08:48:33 PM
3.08
Blackwake - Mastfire Studios

Hey guys, quick patch today:
3.08 April 5 2018

- 10 pirate outfits added

- 7 pirate hats added

- Attempted fix for unkillable (but also unable to harm players) bug that resulted as a fix for the rare respawn loop bug

- Grapeshot now only has 30% chance to kill players, the rest bleed

- Grapeshot cone spread increased 30%

- Grapeshot range increased 40%

- Fixed badly located hole on cruiser
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on April 21, 2018, 10:23:48 PM
Old & New mode integration Poll
6 APRIL   - MASTFIRE STUDIOS

AHOY MATEYS!

We are looking at community feedback to reinteragrate the old game modes fleet and ctb (this time with 3v3 support) back into the game.

If those other modes are reimplemented, the current conquest mode will have more focus on fort attack, possibly turning it into a rush style game mode like Battlefield. One side will be the attackers while the other will be defenders. We'll also have new and randomised fort layouts.

The current dilemma is that right now with our small tight-knit community we are deciding whether or not each round should force play a different mode. This will provide a bit more variety and feeling of content rather than playing the same mode over and over.

We understand some players prefer to play the same mode and may leave if another mode they aren't too fond of pops on. Given the handful of servers, the ability to choose the mode gives a few problems.

The first being that we may not get to balance out specific modes because they are not played enough.
The second is the reoccuring case when we implemented the other 2 modes last year. People never got to experience the other modes and assumed the game was only TDM.

Please voice your opinion at the poll vote below:
http://www.strawpoll.me/15444458
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on April 21, 2018, 10:24:49 PM
Coming in 3.1
17 APRIL   - MASTFIRE STUDIOS


Based on our poll about 2 weeks ago (see above post) , the majority of you, and us, were in favor of mode voting. We thought we would go ahead and break the silence to say that this along with other changes and fixes are on the way. With mode voting players can vote on the next mode to play but it can't be the same as the previous (to prevent issues noted in the last news post)

The biggest change however is the removal of conquest. Conquest is being torn apart into two modes, traditional TDM and attack/defend turn based Siege where the fastest flag capture wins. Balances were causing too much collateral damage to the two aspects of conquest, they will be easier when handled as their own modes.

This system has entered closed testing, hopefully hitting the live game soon. Then shortly after CTB will be re introduced.

(https://i.imgur.com/1KD2jRx.png)

Update: All of those concerned about the removal of conquest, we did this because we would rather split the mode up and focus on each aspect so it can shine rather than keep them combined in a mode that felt incomplete. For example, the TDM aspect of conquest was hurt if we made the forts too powerful, and the Siege aspect was hurt if we made the forts too irrelevant. For TDM to be the war at sea it should be it must remain its own mode, and for Siege to be the invasion of a heavily armed fort that it should be it also needs to be its own mode. Keeping them in a single mode was holding back what we could do with each.

 
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on April 26, 2018, 12:01:07 AM
Patch 3.1
24 April - Mastfire Studios

Patch 3.1 has been pushed (now 3.11 due to capture the booty):

(https://i.imgur.com/8yIGkqy.png)

As many of you know conquest was removed in 3.1, for more information on that see the above post: Announcement: Coming in 3.1

- End of round mode voting added

- Conquest removed, replaced with two individual modes for siege and naval TDM

- Lowered requirements for all hats by 1 prestige as they originally were supposed to be

- Water spout spawns have been moved further out after play area increase so they don't spawn on your ship

- Capture the booty added back


We will continue to monitor and hotfix this patch as needed!



Follow up patches:

3.12 April 25 2018

Siege changes:

- Defenders respawn 30% faster

- Attacking team gains a spawn checkpoint once gate is destroyed

- Defending team can build 1 ship at the start of the round

- Tower health increased to 25


TDM changes:

- 30 seconds post-construction spawn protection for ships
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on May 17, 2018, 04:48:34 PM
3.17
Blackwake - Mastfire Studios

- Fixed bug causing some sails to be immune to anti-sail swivels

- Resupply crate is no longer used for changing loadout, we've gone back to the M key system

- Fixed visual issue where changing your vote did not subtract from your old selection. The votes were still counted correctly serverside

- Pirate outfit with white arms adjusted to not look so Navy-like

- Server owners can disable experimental modes using allowExperimentalModes=0

- Cannon damage to players now begins to taper off past 500m. At 700m no players will be injured from an impact. This is to combat ships staying at max range and fighting, boring their crew and making their gameplay experience repetitive.

- Numerous Navy hats and outfits added

(https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/22128230/add7a3265743f512b4b787c444dc89beecc37948.jpg)
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on June 12, 2018, 12:17:12 PM
3.18 May 28 2018

- You win more tickets for a successful grapple

- You no longer lose as many tickets for losing a grapple

- When grappling a ship both crews get an immediate respawn

- CTB bases are now closer to the islands

- CTB capture count to win is now 4

- CTB chest has a 90 second respawn

- CTB chest capture zones have been moved further inland
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on June 12, 2018, 12:18:11 PM
3.19
Blackwake - Mastfire Studios June 11 2018


- Capture the booty rounds now back to 3

- Mast repairing is now broken down into 20 or 40 quick repair segments depending on ship size

- Added light background behind your name in teamselect

- Fixed and added a navy hat that was supposed to be added last patch

- 3rd person reload weapon animations are in place for most weapons


A few other things were done in preparation of the next patch but are not listed here (or in the game)


Expect to see these new ships and the fort replaced with a much more optimized and balanced version soon!

(https://i.imgur.com/zgt3Zd8.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/iJi3B52.png)
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on July 17, 2018, 12:21:50 PM
Update 3.2
Blackwake - Mastfire Studios

We apologize for how long this patch took to release. While finishing up the two ships shown in the last news post we finished modeling our final ship, so we decided to add that too. Three new ships were added with this patch.

Carrack
A ship focusing on being tanky while being less manueverable.
(https://i.imgur.com/zFcMtsT.jpg)

Xebec
Will eventually be the fastest large ship of the seas.
(https://i.imgur.com/sbcX0Ti.jpg)

(http://Bombvessels)
The bomb ketch's big brother.
(https://i.imgur.com/GAluraA.jpg)

All ships will continue to be balanced with each patch.

Full notes:

- 3 ships added

- Fixed some ice patches in unfortunate locations

- Many new players mistook the tutorial video on the main menu for being a patch review video. We've added the word tutorial and made it clear until we eventually have a playable tutorial.

- Grape damage has been doubled (was 13 per pellet)

- Moderators on servers can now use /ff to toggle friendly fire. This should help griefing when mod activity starts getting low.

- CONNECTION ISSUES: We have 3 new ideas to try in regards to connection issues that appear for some players when joining a server with more than ~30 players. The first is included in this patch, the other two will appear as hotfixes soon.


We have many more updates headed your way! We are currently also working on adding new map type variations, islands and environments. More will be shown soon! :)

(https://i.imgur.com/VHUb0zx.jpg)

Dakota & Tyler
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on August 07, 2018, 08:01:21 PM
Update 3.3
7 August - Mastfire Studios

[Content]
•   Added 7 new female hairstyles (one in the pic missing)

(https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/22128230/ca477b09c4b18559640edf1a552f5c1cfdb0bdf7.png)

[Balance]
•   Cruizer reduced sink rate by 15%
•   Hoy reduced sink rate by 5% & Increased speed by 5%
•   Xebec increased turn rate by 10% & increased speed by 10%
•   Doubled the segment repairs on destroyed main masts
•   Duckfoot now shoots projectiles like the blunderbuss but 30% shorter in range

[CTB]
•   Players can now drop the chest anywhere on the deck
•   1000 points now awarded to team that captures a booty
•   It now takes 3 seconds to pick up the chest holding the use key
•   Chest UI always on and slightly smaller in size
•   Waterspouts are disabled in this mode

[Quality of Life]
•   Melee blocking now occurs the moment a player right clicks instead of waiting for the whole animation to play
•   Updated numerous outfit textures that may have been confusing between factions
•   Short pistol sound reverted to old one
•   Ship range now updates automatically instead of needing a manual update
•   You no longer are able to spot ships through rock cliffs and icebergs
•   Ship labels will be occluded by rock cliffs, icebergs and your own ship hull even when spyglass is up
•   Ship range now is visible always while aiming a cannon or on captain's wheel
•   Volcano map is now much brighter and more visible
•   Night maps also have had a slight increase in visibility

[Bug fix]
•   Attempted fix for more accurate colliders for Icebergs and Rock cliff maps
•   Attempted fix for the connection issues from character meshbuilding
•   Ship docks now have colliders for ships
•   Timeout for disconnect increased by 50%

[Server]
•   Print ff toggle now shown in game log
•   /ff Should only work if server initially had it on
•   Now can provide reasons for Kick, confirmation and timeout duration
•   Kicks and mutes now provided in log

As a side note we do have an intended hotfix out soon in a day or two:
•   Short Pistol should now do 100dmg when within 5ft of enemy
•   Don't popup notify booty drop unless player is killed holding it
•   Toggle using ALT key for ship range while on wheel/cannons
•   Removing flags from ship info
•   Fixing stuck reset 90 UI on booty reset


More to come!

Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on August 30, 2018, 02:08:19 PM
Update 3.4
Blackwake - Mastfire Studios

Almost halfway to our journey to 4.0 (release and beyond), 3.4 brings many quality of life changes with some small adjustments to healing and sailing. Some changes have been moved into the smaller upcoming 3.45 patch so they can be approached more carefully.

-When a hole is below water it should spray white bubbles to make it easier to see
-Melee now waits for you to be in idle position before blocking again, before it could be spammed
-Heated shot easier to grab quickly
-Crouching in low water (enough to trigger overlay) should now put you out if on fire
-Annley/Matchlock should now have a 3rd person reload
-Health icon on players updated
-Health icon should blink if bleeding
-Switching weapons should interrupt your heal
-The mast being destroyed on the cutter shouldn’t kill you if you’re on the wheel
-“R to respawn” should appear if in the water or far from your ship
-Admins should be able to warn players through the scoreboard
-Popup if you haven’t watched tutorial/chosen to skip it (placeholder until single player tutorial is finished)
-When a ship sinks with a booty on deck it should not stick and reset with the ship, should also apply to dropping a booty on deck as a ship is going down
-Notifications for ticket changes
-Winning grapple gives that team 500 score
-Captain wins should no longer increase by 2 in both stats and on the leaderboard
-'Kills' in player options data type changed, should no longer show a negative value if you have too many kills
-Suicide button removed (replaced by R function)
-You should get 200 points for giving another player a beverage, only every 60 seconds
-Lowering sails increases turn handling
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on September 14, 2018, 12:25:33 PM
Update 3.45
Blackwake - Mastfire Studios

3.45 contains a few things that didn't quite make it into 3.4:

Quality of Life
•   Both teams are now checked for balance, should the difference be > 3 then ungrouped solo players will be alerted and then moved back to the teamselect menu where the usual sorting limitations will balance things back out. This can be disabled with "allowSoloAutobalance" for server admins.
•   Map rotation is no longer random to make it feel more random with less consecutive storms and nights.
•   /suicide can be used like the old button should you become stuck
•   Grapples now glow yellow due to a point made by the community, that a captain may not want them released and a new player may immediately assume red means bad.
•   Admins can now do /alert msg to send a red notification to all players
•   When your faction is holding the booty in CTB your base location marker should force itself to display
•   Adjusted some of the fall sensitivity variables around the shores of islands to not be so deadly. Further adjustments will be made.
•   Fixed an issue caused by holding the booty during a round reset

More bug fixing and quality of life updates to come!

Dakota & Tyler

Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on September 25, 2018, 11:39:54 AM
Update 3.5
24 September - yeah nah

Another update! We are still chipping away at getting bugs sorted and more to come soon.
Bug Fixes

•   Ram, rapier, and hand mortar medals should all track. Mortar only counts on impact kills
•   "The booty has been reset" should no longer display for no reason at the start of TDM
•   Fixed file formatting issue that may have caused various uncommon bugs
•   End screen visuals shouldn't be layered with ram shakes, sounds, heartbeats, or bleeding
•   Pumping, Ship speeds, Swivel shot type etc UI should go away if you are on them at the time the ship is destroyed
•   Fixed issue where disconnecting players would bug objects
•   Adjustments made to the third person reload system to make the progress sync more reliable
•   Swivel projectiles travel twice as fast so they are more reliable
•   Fixed handful of icebergs missing colliders
•   Players no longer die if they shoot a cannon at extremely close range to another ship
•   Should no longer be possible for a hole to become green and unfixable
•   Players at random locations of a ship won't be killed during a ram
•   Tomahawk should be more lethal and bounce off players less due to ping

Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on October 15, 2018, 02:03:32 PM
3.6 Halloween Update
Blackwake - Mastfire Studios

(https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/22128230/f3533a516957a747cf53d262a0515018f1d7b907.png)

Ahoy everyone!
You'll find that the game right now is a lot more sp00ky due to the annual halloween update :) this patch also has another round of fixes/improvements. Remember, we put off most minor bugs as we approached the later stage of development. We are getting closer to the BETA stage, where we will focus on polishing and improving the landlubber experience!

Content
•   Added annual Halloween theme to game

Quality of life
•   Holding R will now respawn you anywhere (tickets excl. on land/dock)
•   Players now get kicked being afk in team select (excl. mods/admins)
•   CTB alerts now only appear when booty changes faction
•   Music slider should affect win music

Balance
•   CTB captures changed to 2 from 3

Bug Fixes
•   Swivels should properly kill people in boarding range
•   Rapier stat has been tricky, but should work now
•   Fixed team select exploit of bypassing team balance
•   Ram kills now show a ship wheel icon
•   Ram kills should track more accurately
•   Attempted fix of booty breaking on round end
•   Should no longer say booty up for grabs on TDM
•   Placing cball into furnace should now consume ammo
•   Suicide no longer abusable for medals
•   Fixed second cause of bleeding UI persisting into win screen
•   Select on controller should now show correct info
•   Giving tea/rum with controller should work with LT
•   Booty/UI beverage should now work on controllers
•   Leaderboard now steamID based
•   K/D/A now preserved switching crews

Our next few updates will also focus on long-standing bugs.

See you on the seas!

Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on October 30, 2018, 12:04:42 AM
Double XP week begins now!
Blackwake - Mastfire Studios

Get into the sp00ky spirit and get double the points for killing those zombie pirates!

(https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/22128230/5678c5bf8e0c2815f94d801486452484534916f7.png)

Work has also begun on 3.7, which will some of the grapple issues present in the game.
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on November 10, 2018, 03:26:15 PM
Patch 3.7
Blackwake - Mastfire Studios

As we move forward with bug fixes and quality of life changes on our path out of Early Access, 3.7 focuses largely on infrequent issues surrounding grapples.

Remember there will be little to no content additions until after 4.0 (release). With the imminent addition of a single player tutorial we look forward to new routes of promotion later in 2019 such as free weekends.


- Icey zones should no longer damage ships mid grapple
- After voting takes place tickets are scaled based on server population and the value set in the configuration
- Tomahawk false positive on anti-cheat has been tested to be fixed, meaning previous efforts to make the tomahawk more reliable should be noticed
- Fixed a bug where a specific grapple order would allow a 3rd ship to attach, possibly causing various issues for the rest of the match
- Ramming a ship should no longer kill your own crew or damage your own cannons
- ALT toggle has been moved to tilde (`) to avoid confusion during alt tab for new players
- Volcano eruption should now properly result in a red sky with ash rain
- Fixed ui-only issue of showing a ticket increase when a ship lost a grapple.
- Fixed issue where on first join holes both existing and new were not visible for 60 seconds
- Fixed issue where releasing a single grapple when grappled multiple times may spawn your crew
- Fixed an exploit that allowed instant grapple releasing
- Fixed two bugs that could cause the winning ship to accidentally go down as a loss after grappling.
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on November 29, 2018, 12:25:51 AM
Road to Release: 3.75
Blackwake - Mastfire Studios

As we continue to move forward on our path out of early access (4.0), we have a new batch of both bug fixes and quality of life changes.


- Fixed issue that caused some dead players to not respawn during initial grapple
- Repairing mast segments now loop holding down LMB
- Pressing/holding LMB before reaching a hole repair radius will now let you repair
- Holding down LMB will now let you loop repairing multiple holes if they are within radius
- Ship range toggle is now on by default and rebindable. FOR EXISTING PLAYERS you may need to rebind this key manually.
- Players no longer collide with buckets
- Ropes of your own ship now glow when not on board
- Fixed UI issue not properly guiding you to your teams ship
- Schooner nose should be smoother to walk across
- Crews are now included in construction spawn protection
- Captain loss and w:l removed from stat card to reduce toxic interactions, especially towards crews containing new players
- Fixed pump/bucket placement on Xebec to not accidentally use the wrong item
- Third person reload animations synced to be more reliable, fixed issue where they would loop continuously until a weapon change occurred
- Ticket loss for non-grappled ships sinking is back after being unintentionally disabled due to the last patch
- Ticket scaling by server has been adjusted to be less severe, and is also a server option 'useTicketScaling'


In the next patch (3.77) we hope to introduce the early iteration of our single player tutorial so the community can begin to get a feel and provide feedback as it is completed in the coming months.

Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on December 03, 2018, 04:45:09 PM
3.77
Blackwake - Mastfire Studios

3.77 is a small patch, introducing the first iteration of our single player tutorial introduction. Seeing ships with new players struggle to function was an issue we've always wanted to address. Players were often too overwhelmed by combat to get a chance to understand the basic aspects of maintaining their ship.

We want to do our best to show new players the ropes before they join their first match. Keep in mind the tutorial is still a work in progress, but some education is better than none.

- Tutorial added
- Tutorial quality scaling when low fps is detected
- Bleeding black/white/blood should start stronger and more noticeable, so you heal sooner
- If you have not made it to the end of the tutorial a popup will ask you if you'd like to play it when clicking "servers" for the first time
- Tutorial can be accessed again through the main menu
- Fixed issue that could have been causing the recent invincible player bug
- Bleed rate slowed by 2x
- FF toggling itself is now it's own server option 'friendlyFireCanToggle', so the server can start with it off and it still be toggled on when a mod/admin decides to



Tyler & Dakota


In other news Lunaoreitic and Webbies have created a guide for running Blackwake on Linux:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1572108095
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on January 13, 2019, 06:08:10 PM
3.8


- Cannon loading/firing section added to tutorial
- Tutorial has ultrawide 21:9 support
- Fixed issue where mods would experience stuck kick menu in some cases
- Fixed issue where ship labels may blink the old ship name when building a new ship
- Made adjustment to chat box that may have caused text to cut off
- Supply crates have had their LOD extended so players hiding behind them aren't visible
- Captain can no longer slide off the wheel
- Enemy nose can no longer push captains off the wheel
- Fixed inverted glare in spyglass
- CTB map adjusted to allow more competitive interceptions
- CTB chest can now be captured from sea (not final)
- Ticket scaling for the NEXT round can be toggled by an admin/mod using /ticketscale
- Time limit reached win screen text changed to the leading team
- Blocked weapon switch effect while spectating
- Fixed interact zone of resupply area interrupting gunshots
- If another ship is too close to a docked ship spawn point it will sink on construct
- Clunky foot movement in tutorial has been fixed
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on January 26, 2019, 12:19:48 AM
3.81


Quality of life
•   Tooltips now flash yellow (they can be disabled completely in options)
•   Shot type descriptions added

Balance
•   Galleon sink rate decreased 15%, speed increased by 10%
•   Dagger swing speed +3x
•   Bottle swing speed +1.5x
•   Bottle bleeds 3x more severely than default rate
•   Axe swings 2x slower
•   Axe is now a one hit kill
•   Rapier has a 50% chance to bleed each swing
•   Rapier swing speed +2x
•   Cutlass swing speed +2x
•   Ramming now bleeds players within a radius of the impact
•   Ship spawn protection down to 35 from 60
•   Crew spawn protection (on a new ship) down to 10 from 60
•   Respawn protection distance from ship reduced to 40m from 100m

Bug Fixes
•   Adjusted cannon aiming code to lessen collision launching player
•   Island radius capture zone for CTB reverted
•   Fixed invisible colliders getting in the way of bullets on every ship, causing missed shots
•   Addressed collision issues that would allow ships to sail on top of other ships if they were low in the water

Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on February 21, 2019, 01:11:13 AM
3.82
21 FEB - ONEEYETYLER

Quality of life
•   Galleon prop collisions completely redone
•   Galleon hole position adjusted to be less inconvenient
•   Added collision to hoy port barrel
•   Captain is immune to bleeding from ship ram
•   Shooting a grappled or spawn protected ship will display in crew hit info
•   Waterspouts spawn further out

Balance
•   Block stun lasts 50% longer
•   Demasted ships now have 2x more repair segments
•   Nock gun reload is sped up by 40%
•   Number of Hand Mortar and Grenades are doubled
•   Speed of equip, light/throw of Grenade increased by 2x

Bug Fixes
•   Fixed collision on Brig's broken nose, so you can now jump onto it
Polish
•   "Travel to Ship" at the ship builder will now teleport rather than kill you
•   Reduced strength of waterspouts for less glitchy physiques
•   Player swim height slightly lowered so they don't visually float as often


See you on the seas!

- Dakota & Tyler
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on February 23, 2019, 12:32:36 AM
TournamentWake I
22 FEB MASTFIRE STUDIOS

(https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/22128230/f7f63b31569cf40e02ee2e9c309c6137613a2e57.png)

Hello everyone!

The wonderful community has decided to host a tournament event this weekend. They will compete in a 2v2 CTB tournament with multiple teams.

Where can I watch this?

The tournament will be casted live with spectating mode and multiple casters here: https://www.twitch.tv/stackwake

When will the tournament be played?

City   Local Time   Date
Los Angeles, USA   12:00   Sat, 23 Feb
Houston, USA   14:00   Sat, 23 Feb
New York, USA   15:00   Sat, 23 Feb
London, UK   20:00   Sat, 23 Feb
Berlin, Germany   21:00   Sat, 23 Feb
Moscow, Russia   23:00   Sat, 23 Feb
Sydney, Australia   7:00   Sun, 24 Feb

It will be live casted by a group of casters, mostly veterans in the game. In the link below the previous tournament with casters is linked. VOD of last time (a lot of downtime in the matches, check the comment below the video for the timestamp)


https://youtu.be/wCDeHGn19I8


Winners will receive the Golden Parrot Cup, a temporary trophy to display on their shoulders until the next tournament winners.


(https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/22128230/935ac4f08443671a66462fa688611cd7ac64a1ca.jpg)


How to join?

If you would like to join in on future tournaments check out the community discords!

Communities that might be participating are:

RF (Russian fleet) https://discord.gg/RU7zW6p

GT (Great Tortuga) https://discord.gg/XrSgx6N

Ahoy (UK Ahoy) https://discord.gg/YhkQwGC

CC (Candlelight Cove) https://discord.gg/QpsAYf2

VME (VME Community) https://discord.gg/75UzXug

Other communities or groups of 14 players are welcome to sign up.

Where can I watch this?

The tournament will be casted live with spectating mode and multiple casters here: https://www.twitch.tv/stackwake

Sounds like a lot of fun!

See you on the Seas!

- Tyler & Dakota
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on March 17, 2019, 12:20:55 PM
Tournamentwake II
17 Mar - Mastfire Studios

(https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/22128230/e160db0fac5c62951a098d5f4b9814ee3eea4a74.png)



https://youtu.be/ZjrfECo7MNc
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on March 25, 2019, 04:28:35 PM
3.83 March Patch Notes
25 MAR - [AF] ONEEYETYLER


Ahoy lads, a new patch will be pushed today. It will contain some balance changes to bring the side arms in line and some needed bug fixes.

[Balance]
•   Short pistol fixed to 100dmg within 3 meters, 50dmg further
•   Short pistol reload time increased by 2 seconds
•   Annley now has 20% chance to bleed per shot from 0%
•   Annley now increased bleed rate of 50% from 0%
•   Annley reload anim sped up by 150%
•   Annley shoot anim sped up by 150%
•   Matchlock revolver now 100% chance to bleed from 0%
•   Axe swing speed increased by 20%
•   Standard pistol reduced to 50dmg per shot

[Bug fixes]
•   Fixed bug where demasted large ships to respawn demasted
•   Fixed bug where crew sometimes spawned in ocean after their ship had sunk
•   Fixed bug where Galleon top mast's to be unclimbable
•   Fixed bug where the Bomb Vessel's nose tip caused players to fall through it
•   Fixed bug where changing teams caused damaged ship status UI to stick
•   Fixed bug where changing teams caused grappled ship status UI to stick
•   Fixed bug where undamaged ships would have calm ocean clip through the deck
•   Fixed bug where Win Screen would not display correct CTB team win info
•   Made hitting meleeing legs through rigging more responsive

[Polish]
•   Added SFX to indicate cannon turning
•   Raised ship info to not obscure captain view while sailing
•   Joining while win screen up now has a wait timer for next round
•   Added the final section of boarding to the ingame tutorial

We definitely have some more bugs and polishing to do before we release the game. We are also going to be actively looking into the siege overhaul and two new island maps before our 4.0 Release.

See you on the seas!
Tyler & Dakota

Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on May 21, 2019, 12:28:29 AM
3.84
20 MAY @ 3:54AM - JUAN SNOW


•   Melee blocks can no longer be held and must be timed (will be hotfixed to be shorter next patch)
•   CTB base icons display if chest is dropped on ships as well
•   Hand mortar now always explodes on impact and no longer uses an RNG spread to apply damage
•   Tutorial volume default reduced to 60%
•   Can no longer equip tomahawk once empty
•   Fixed some LOD issues with bomb vessel causing you to fall through
•   Fixed issue where supply crates were difficult to grab on bombketch
•   Chest/Base icons now stay on screen in CTB but should snap to edge
•   Fixed text issue with fresh spawned chest
•   Chest 90 second respawn is now counted down in 15 second increments in chat
•   Tweaked some settings to help alleviate the (Clone) killing bug
•   Position on pump is now locked in the event of another ships nose touching you
•   Obvious UI box displayed on tutorial to explain how to skip it and that it is not finished
•   Drowning no longer pulls your camera to pitch black
•   Game SFX audio slider added, not all sounds may be organized yet
•   Fixed new issue where joining a match with the same name as someone else would break your connection

~ Your own hand mortar shots killing you 100% of the time will be addressed next hotfix.

Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on June 28, 2019, 12:09:17 AM
Crew Bots - Coming Soon
27 JUN @ 3:28AM   - MASTFIRE STUDIOS

Blackwake has long since leaned on a heavy player requirement to feel the action that the game is supposed to give you with a full crew.

This design did not come without consequences, though. By requiring so many players per faction it started to become clear how torturous it was to simply man an under crewed ship while waiting for players to join.

Working closely with our testing community on the discord we've been implementing bots. We were trying to beat the sale, but rest assured they will be coming very soon. Gone will be the days of 3 players trying to run a galleon - a scenario so frustrating it could cause a server to stall at the 15-30 player mark.

Crew Bots - Coming Soon
27 JUN @ 3:28AM   - MASTFIRE STUDIOS
Blackwake has long since leaned on a heavy player requirement to feel the action that the game is supposed to give you with a full crew.

This design did not come without consequences, though. By requiring so many players per faction it started to become clear how torturous it was to simply man an under crewed ship while waiting for players to join.

Working closely with our testing community on the discord we've been implementing bots. We were trying to beat the sale, but rest assured they will be coming very soon. Gone will be the days of 3 players trying to run a galleon - a scenario so frustrating it could cause a server to stall at the 15-30 player mark.

https://youtu.be/rJibvn5D6GI


We look forward to playing with our new overlords!
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on June 30, 2019, 12:06:46 PM
3.87 - Crew Bots
29 Jun @ 9:09pm - Mastfire Studios

3.87 - Bots

In an effort to resolve the frustration and boredom brought on by attempting to crew a nearly empty ship (often causing servers to die), we have added bots. This will help ensure there is an adequate amount of action taking place in Blackwake at any time.

(https://i.imgur.com/0TraNI3.jpg)
Bots fighting each other

Here is what bots currently do:
- Load cannons
- Fire cannons
- Use the pump
- Repair holes when the ship reaches a certain level of damage
- Die/respawn

They are meant to supplement playercounts while a server grows, not replace players.

Bots currently do not:
- Captain
- Participate in boarding
- Consume ship resources
- Contribute to kill statistics
- Repair nose/mast


This is only the first live iteration of bots and we plan to improve their function with time.
Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on November 02, 2019, 01:43:16 PM
Patch 3.88
Sat, 2 November 2019

To the people still enjoying Blackwake here's a patch for you!

- Tortuga map should now properly load in
- Melee blocking has had its time limit removed due to popular request
- Damaging bots should show a hitmarker
- Joining late should no longer display dead bots as frozen
- Bots should now die from fires started by fire shot
- Bot auto-death on a grapple attach should no longer cost tickets
- Bots killed by FF should not cost tickets
- Score rewarded for killing enemy bots
- Bots should properly spawn in with just 1 player min.
- Bot deaths should no longer bug CTB capture counter
- CTB now has a cfg setting for no time limit for private competitive matches 'compCTB'
- Joining a server that has bots disabled should no longer show frozen in mid ship
- "Someone is using this" should now properly stop you from using cannons
- cfg for siege is now 'allowFortModes'
- Fixed ships sticking to new islands map

We have some upcoming news about Blackwake which will be revealed soon. For now see you on the seven seas!

Dakota & Tyler

Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on February 20, 2020, 02:57:18 PM
Blackwake Full Release
Wed 19 Feb 2020

(https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/22128230/bdfa5e7ac1f00695f51e53cb0756f2e4cb99f14c.png)


Blackwake leaves early access after three years of content updates
Ahoy there!

Today we have finally fully released our game Blackwake! After three years in early access we are happy with the current state of the game. It has gone above and beyond the base game standard we initially had. It’s been a long journey with many ups and downs, we made mistakes, learned from our failures and pushed forward to bring Blackwake where it is today.

We have permanently dropped the price to $9.99USD

We have pushed out a small patch for the game as well.

- Addressed tortuga colliders that may have been causing memory leaks
- Removed some unused assets from scene to free up memory
- Small update to make vote screen clearer
- Bots will now only occupy cannons loaded with normal shot
- Handmortar/grenades damage radius halved
- Permanent double XP for all

THE IDEA

Blackwake started as an idea by Dakota in 2013. There was a lack of proper naval warfare games that existed at the time. Mods like Pirate Ship Wars and Battlefield Pirates were some inspiration in the initial journey in developing the game. Tyler saw Dakota’s small demos on an online forum, and offered to help push Dakota’s small idea into something much larger.

We failed a Kickstarter in 2014, with the game catering to a more realistic naval sim audience, even though we threw in a sea monster at the end of the pitch trailer. It was far too serious, and overambitious to garner any attention. While we were disheartened at the fact of this failure we tried to see if more people were interested in the concept. A few youtubers, DarkLiberator and SMii7y tried out our game with their friends, to our surprise their time playing the game was full of laughter. We realised at that point that we took our game far too seriously.

2014 Kickstarter Pitch

https://youtu.be/m6SSvr51LdA


 Continue reading... (https://steamcommunity.com/games/Blackwake/announcements/detail/1712994457225677686)


Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on June 01, 2020, 11:53:22 PM
Recent Hotfixes
1st June 2020

We've done some cleanup work for a few areas of the game over the past few weeks:

•   Tutorial has been given a much needed facelift in many areas
•   All in game medals are now Steam Achievements
•   Elite players can now level past 1000
•   Bot shove timer reduced by half
•   Bots can no longer friendly fire with cannons
•   Added medals for the remaining ship types
•   Options menu visuals updated
•   CTB chest island trees/rocks collision fixed
•   Fixed issue that would cause bots to idle
•   Fixed issue that would cause bots to lock up objects in use
•   Siege flag capture rate slowed 25%
•   Fixed exploit allowing you to get over siege wall

Title: Re: BlackWake
Post by: Asid on January 14, 2021, 03:48:59 AM
Steam WEEK LONG DEAL! Offer ends 18 January

-90%  £7.19   £0.71

https://store.steampowered.com/app/420290/Blackwake/