A new update for Sail Forth has been announced. Titled “The Fleet Update”, it aims to address community feedback on game progression and management, and includes a variety of changes and fixes to gameplay mechanics and systems to allow for smoother and more flexible progression. Additional changes have also been implemented to support future content-focused updates. No release date for the update has been announced, but the full patch notes can be found below:
Fleet management: the dock
The goal here is to allow for more playstyles and allow you to stack new ships in a satisfying way. Don’t want to do business with a fleet? Keep all extra boats on your dock and use them as extra lives. Do you have your own boat for specialized use? Take it out of the docking station when you want to use it.
Ships can be stored in a dock, accessible from the fleet management menu when not in combat.
Unlimited ships can be stored on the dock with their crew and cargo
If your entire fleet is sinking but you have docked ships, you can undock them to continue the fight.
Previously where you could acquire a ship (encounters, boarding) you might have to scrap it due to lack of space in the fleet, now it can be stored directly on the dock
Fleet management: orders and AI
Some of the most common comments about the game so far have been that the fleet AI doesn’t do a great job of avoiding collisions. I spent a lot of time revamping the way the AI sees the world around it and expanding its ability to control them.
Much improved navigation AI – your fleet (and other AI ships) should be much better at avoiding collisions
The “set order” feature from previous demos has been restored and updated
Ships in the fleet can be tasked with escorting, holding position, or maintaining fire.
You can also issue one of these commands to the entire fleet at once.
Your fleet will attempt to escape the fight and return to your flagship if you are not there.
progress balance
Another common comment from the community was that the progression was a little weird. Having great ships available in the first shop you found meant that some players would get away with it right away and not feel the need to upgrade for the rest of the game. With that in mind, the pool of available ships was edited to more evenly distribute progress across game chapters. Special thanks to Neizod from the community for a great Steam forum post on this issue!
Based on feedback, the balance of many ships in the game have been tweaked, along with a revised unlock progression.
Each new Shipshape shop found will unlock a new ship of that chapter’s tier.
Larger ships are now unlocked later in the game and their prices have been updated to reflect this.
Removed boat selection from the tutorial sequence to select a more cohesive intro experience
content updates
It’s not a content-focused update, but I found time to add a few things. The new Tekk Speedboat should make Tekk Clan fleets a bit more interesting to fight, and Croaker rewards have been overhauled to present a greater challenge. Many people have been asking for more ability to customize your crew members, and this update takes a first step in that direction, giving you the ability to set their colors separately from the ship/sail colors.
The way enemies are placed in the world has been overhauled, allowing for new types of content in the future.
For now, the main difference is that hostile locations, like forts, have a chance to spawn new enemies every day.
Updated Croaker Bounty encounters that now scale in size and difficulty
Introducing the Tekk Clan Powerboat – a fast, lightly armed powerboat
Tekk Submarines are now implemented as true “ships” in terms of gameplay, giving them better physics and AI.
Tekk Destroyer weapon slots increased to 4
Updated visuals for Lightkeeper Flagship – Based on feedback, the ship design has been overhauled with better looking and more realistic sail rig.
Crew Color Customization – Your crew color scheme is now chosen separately from sail colors
Other fixes and changes
Updated Tutorial System – The old tutorial system felt a bit cumbersome, frequently interrupting the game and forcing you to do something you already knew how to do.
Tutorials now use a “checklist” system that never breaks the game and is far less intrusive.
Added new tutorial for camera zoom controls.
“Feedback” option is now available in the pause menu to report bugs directly from the game
Improved Capsize Logic – If your ship capsizes, your crew is temporarily thrown overboard and must spend crucial time flipping the ship upside down, which can be devastating in a battle. Watch out for those candles!
Many smaller bugfixes and tweaks, too many to list here
Sail Forth is now available digitally on Switch via the eShop.