Now that the post-launch waters have settled, Kraken Categorical is steering the ship in the direction of its first large Windrose replace. The pirate survival sport exploded onto the scene in April in fittingly dramatic trend – racking up greater than two million gross sales and even briefly outstripping the tempo of the mighty Rust on Steam. That is numerous adventurers prepared for his or her subsequent outing throughout the water, and the studio guarantees that our journey to the Windrose Ashlands will see “the primary story and facet quests develop considerably in scope.”
The Windrose developer makes clear up entrance that work on this subsequent replace “continues to be in its early levels,” and longer-term plans past that “are nonetheless taking form.” Nonetheless, it emphasizes, “We now have all the time wished Windrose to be a survival journey with a powerful narrative layer,” and with Ashlands that comes within the type of navigating the arrival of recent factions in your hunt for the subsequent of the Obols. “Hidden someplace among the many ruins of a long-forgotten Spanish colony, the Obol’s energy has twisted lands already ravaged by volcanic eruptions, making them extra harmful than ever,” it teases, “and let’s simply say you are not the one one trying to find the artifact.”
The Ashlands, unsurprisingly, are coated with volcanic ash, which preserves all method of relics and secrets and techniques beneath it. As with different areas, it can comprise a number of islands, taking part in residence to all of the usuals: new enemies, objects, sources, recipes, and an enormous boss showdown. “We would like each biome to really feel and play in another way,” Kraken notes, “so on prime of all the brand new content material, we’re additionally trying into new biome mechanics to experiment with.”
Alongside this map enlargement, the group believes that the core ship gameplay of Windrose “has numerous room for expansions,” and it is already pulled collectively an enormous listing of neighborhood concepts and requests. Whereas it does not count on to get to all of those for the Ashlands replace, it’s presently investigating “a minimum of one” extra ship class (the brigantine, fluyt, and galleon are all within the works proper now) together with faction-specific variants. It is cooking up enhancements to ship fight, and enhancements to the AI “reminiscent of NPC ships behaving extra naturally, crusing in formations, and so forth.”
What about wind? It is clearly a basic side of real-life crusing, and Kraken Categorical is “conscious” that it is a widespread request. “We’ll undoubtedly be exploring this concept as properly, and we initially supposed to. However allow us to be crystal clear: we wish it to be enjoyable and easy. Windrose goals to be an journey, with out a few of the extra hardcore simulation elements.” There’s additionally the promise of our sea shanty choice being “considerably expanded.” The developer thanks gamers for his or her enthusiastic response: “We had been deeply touched by how properly these had been acquired.”
Additionally on the playing cards for the replace is improved base constructing. Taking notes from the “amazingly artistic builds you showcased,” Kraken is engaged on “a plethora of recent decorations,” useful additions to present constructing units to assist handle gaps within the present lineup, and a few constructing quality-of-life enhancements. “We’re additionally joyful to see that our camp NPCs had been properly acquired,” it concludes, “so we’ll be trying to develop this method as properly.”
That is all nonetheless extra of a “normal route” in the interim, Kraken Categorical reiterates, though it is says it is joyful to take further recommendations and questions from the neighborhood as it really works on the Ashlands. “We’ll be sharing extra particulars, together with an estimated launch window, as growth progresses.”
