A new update should roll out later today, containing some bug fixes. I’ve regis
tered that people are having some issues with recruiting + distributing plunder; this patch will probably not fix that issue entirely, but I’m working on tracking down the issue and getting it fixed. I also plan to rework the fleet promotion mechanism, so that it will no longer be tied to the player’s rank. I’m not 100% decided on what will replace it yet, but my thought at the moment is to permit free promotion, with the limitation that the loyalty of your crews will be poor (leading to defections) if you do not have a high enough reputation. I just need to make sure that the game provides you sufficient feedback for this, so that people don’t become surprised when their subordinate ships take off.
I’m also working on the land combat engine in parallel with this. Had some work to do in rebuilding the old game engine for the latest version of Android, but things are progressing now. Hope to have a first version working before the end of the month.
The image shows an early screenshot of the battle system. Combat will allow for a number of different kind of units: pirates (in two varieties, warband and shot – depending on how you equip them), buccaneers (elite shot), pikemen (regular and militia variants), musketeers (regulars and militia variants), horse, and artillery. There will also be unique units for natives and cimmaroons, who will once again return as potential allies.
The combat will be classic turn-based. I’ll be trying the very difficult balancing act of keeping it simple, historically reasonable, but still containing some tactical depth. That will – I suspect – be very difficult.