Dev Update: Recent and Upcoming Changes
It's been a fun few weeks at Lavaboots recently. We've made a lot of new changes to the game and we're still chugging along multiplayer implementation and making some great progress in that regard. As you probably know we recently released Update 1.9.1 which added a lot of new content including new characters with quests and items, and some major changes to the island distribution system. If you haven't read up on that update yet, you can do so here.
Today I want talk about some additional changes we've pushed recently since the 1.9.1 update, and some things coming up in the future.
New Map Items
One of my favorite changes we've made recently is the introduction of new map items. You can now find maps in the world that give you coordinates to a certain island type or place. These maps can be found on various NPC's as well as in chests. One of the big reasons we made a change to the island distribution system in patch 1.9.1, was to help players find more varied islands. This is a further step in that direction. This also adds a fun sense of objective and discovery to the world.
Tier 2 Island Visual Changes
Another change we've made recently is further changing the visuals of tier 2 pirate islands. We wanted to make them easier to spot and to differentiate them more from other pirate islands. The islands now have a more orange look to them, both in the grass and the ground texture.
New Item Highlighting
Another small but important change we've made is new item highlighting in your inventory. Now, when you pick up a new item, it will be highlighted in your inventory indicating which item is new. This helps players more in the beginning and adds a degree of intuitiveness to the game.
Misc Changes
In this recent update we've also made some minor changes such as bug fixes and increasing the size of the item description window. We had some issues where, unless you right clicked an item, you couldn't see its full description and effects. We've also made some lighting changes to the merchants, inns, and hunting shacks to be less intense, particularly with merchants during the day.
Upcoming Changes
We have some fun new ideas planned for our next update, which we'll be talking about in more detail in the coming weeks. In short, this update will include another new character known as the Sea Hunter, NPC graves, and new music. The Sea Hunter will be much like the recent Sea Scholar and Sea Fisher. He will have a set of quests that allow you to rank up, purchasing new items. Once you hit max rank, you'll be able to do a repeatable quest for nice loot drops.
In addition to the Sea Hunter we will be adding in NPC graves that can be found throughout the world. Most tombstones you find will have a tombstone text on it, indicating how the person died, and there will possibly be a lockbox buried with them. You will have a chance at finding bronze, gold, silver, and ceremonial lockboxes with unique loot inside them.
In the next update we also plan on adding in new island music. Our goal is to include a few new songs that can occur on large natural islands during the day and night. These will be unobtrusive and only occur occasionally, but will hopefully add to the experience of exploration when on the large natural islands.
Thanks for reading and as always we'd love to hear your feedback!
Loving 1.9.1. Great Job! Where are the fortress islands gone though??!! I've mapped about 200 islands in the last 3 days and can't find a single one.. which is frustrating when I now have a relevant quest. Surely I can't be that unlucky that I've just been missing them all?
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