Hi Guys!

As the game development progresses on my Twitch (link on profile) with the new version, I am  aware this demo is still being downloaded quite a bit! This version is no longer being worked on, the updated screenshots attached show the current state of the game, and how it has evolved from this demo.

Unfortunately back in April last year, I became aware of a massive limitation with the framework that I was using for Multiplayer. As I have a very specific vision for the game, I decided to pull the plug on this version and begin anew with brand new mechanics and improvements.

I have switched from using Photon, to Mirror. The photon framework, although absolutely amazing for smaller games, does not integrate with the limitless CCU options you gain from using Steam. So Mirror was the way to go for me. I was unaware of this limitation until April. 100% My fault for not looking more closely when making massive decisions! A mistake I will not be making again! :D

I have used this as an opportunity, seeing the silver lining about the whole thing (after a full week of feeling awful about it :D). This version has removed most of the Mono behaviors from the scene, everything runs off pretty much one Mono, giving me way more control over certain aspects of the game that take the most performance. For example, its very easy for me to pause certain animations / remove certain heavy lifting if the player is engaged in other activities that don't require those things to happen. 

The graphics / water especially has been completely replaced. All ships are now playable, and all share the same code. Most of the code is exactly where I want it to be, with some of the multiplayer implementations still looking iffy. But its much easier workable. The flows and events systems I have written have been made to be efficient allowing thousands of units in the scene, rather than the old limits of 70 ish ships, couple hundred troops. 

One of the biggest pieces of information and feedback I had gotten from previous playtests and demo users has been that the controls have been awkward to learn especially the landing. So those systems have been completely re-imagined. 

An artist has joined me to help with the UI and I am very very happy about that. The work that Mels has done so far has been absolutely fantastic, and her upcoming updates are absolutely perfect.

The feedback I have gotten so far has been absolutely fantastic, and the support that you guys and the people in my discord / streams have been giving lately has been absolutely incredible.

To keep up to date with the development, you are of course welcome to join the discord, follow the twitter, insta or support the game on Patreon. All links are on my profile here on itch. Dev logs are hard for me to keep up with on top of everything else! A huge regret for me honestly.

So a big thank you, and a notification for the people who are following this project. It has not been abandoned, it has been restarted. I am nearing a year into the new version and the progress has been much much faster than the other version. We are nearing a Steam release with full steamworks integration. The graphics and performance is miles ahead of the version in the itch demo. 

I look forward to updating this and the steam release. Thank you all again so much for the support. Without you all, I don't know where this project would be! :D

Thanks so much for your interest in Rise of Piracy! I hope to bring you guys a solid & grand scale, pirate empire experience!

- John