We've been hard at work at a lot of different areas in Salt recently, particularly multiplayer. However, we do have another content update coming out soon before multiplayer and we wanted to give you an idea of what you can expect from that update! 

Here's a look at some of the content coming soon: 

One change that we are incredibly excited about is weather! This is something that has been requested for a long time and we are finally happy to have it near completion. Weather is going to dramatically affect the overall atmosphere and aesthetics of the game. Not only will you get lightning, clouds, and rain, but we've also included changes to the fog and lighting based on the weather. This creates a much more dynamic feel to the world of Salt. 

Another new change we are very excited about are ship cannons! Now in the world you'll be able to find cannons and cannonballs at pirate camps. You can them place these on your ship and take out pirates from a distance. Plus, once multiplayer is out, you'll be able to shoot other players and feel like a true pirate! 

In this update we've also added a new NPC known as The Blacksmith. Upon finding The Blacksmith, he will give you a quest that will reward you with a new pickaxe. With this new pickaxe you'll be able to occasionally mine obsidian ore from various rocks. You can then turn this obsidian in to The Blacksmith for unique rewards. In addition to that, he will also sell salvage tools that will allow you to salvage certain weapons for resources. 

We think Update 1.9.6 is going to be a great addition to Salt and we can't wait to get it out! We will give another update soon on when you can expect that update to hit Steam. Also, we just want you to let you know that multiplayer is coming along great. We've got a lot of great functionalities in and working. We will post a blog in the next week or two showcasing what we've got working so far and what's left to go. 

As always, we appreciate your support and would love to hear your feedback! 

We wanted to give you a quick update as to what we've been doing at Lavaboots. First and foremost we've been working on multiplayer. We are making some great progress in that regard and it's getting closer than ever. Expect a blog post with more details on that in the coming weeks. 

While working on multiplayer we've also added in some other content. Here's a look at some of the new content you can expect soon! 

Pretty soon you'll be able to put cannons on your ships and shoot pirates from afar! We made this specifically in mind for multiplayer, however. The cannons do an area of effect damage so when you see other players sailing at sea you can let loose a bombardment of cannons on them. Or befriend them. Whatever works right?

We're also adding some unique cannonballs that are basically fireworks. These are meant strictly for visuals but add a fun little side element to the game. 

We have also been working on clouds and some other weather aspects. We are pretty proud of clouds and feel that they add even more to the atmosphere of Salt. We will share more details as to the other weather aspects soon!

In the next update you can expect to find a new NPC known as The Blacksmith. From him you'll be able to get a special pickaxe that allows you to mine obsidian ore. You can then use this ore to trade to The Blacksmith for unique items! 

In addition to the above, we've fixed a bunch of bugs recently and pushed a nice little update to the testing branch: footprint tracks. Now, in the world you can find tracks from deer and pirates. This will actually likely go in as a hotfix to the most recent update as it is meant to be primarily an improvement to the difficulty of challenge chests on larger islands. Keep an eye on that to be on the main branch soon. 

As always we'd love to hear your feedback and thanks for reading!