I want to break down what we will be working on during the month of January, there is a LOT going on so bear with me!

Pixel Piracy;

In preparation for the Enhanced Edition, we want to put Mikko back on board for this month to work on some major under the hood stuff in preparation for the huge announcement we have later on. Basically I envision this as 4 major patches, each adressing a specific issue with the game.

Patch 1: Translations. As many of you are aware, the game is poorly translated or not at all. This is due to a series of hardcoded ID strings that we didn't think to soft-code prior to launch. Now it's time to go back and address these, which will allow us to change all text strings. It's not complicated, just time consuming, and Mikko will be able to plow through it in about a week to ten days. Once up, we'll be able to translate the game to all Latin Alphabet languages, with the prospect of Cyrillic and Arabic coming perhaps at a later date.

Patch 2: BALANCE. Many of the game's ID's and item bases are unbalanced, making early game too hard and late game too easy, with many of the prices being "wonky" and some of the stats not working as well as they should. Having taken MUCH of the community feedback into account, we will be balancing wherever we can wherever it doesn't change CORE gameplay too much. In a nutshell, we want to fix the wall, not tear it down and build a new one, so don't expect a revamped stat system or new ways to play, just a more tweaked and polished way of playing.

Patch 3: Map and Event content. The map is boring, so is sailing. We want to address this and make sailing have throwbacks to older versions where "stuff" happened. Like a pirate threatening to mutiny if you don't give him X gold. A random sailor drifting in the sea you can pick up, or a seastorm. Once again, nothing game changing or feature changing, but more of an AUGMENT than anything.

Patch 4: POSSIBLE AI workarounds. WE WILL NOT rework the AI, it's fiddly and prone to misbehaving, but Mikko and I have thought of a workaround. A simple On/Off switch for some of the features, like COOKING, CLEANING; etc. That way you can select a crew mate and say THIS guy will COOK but NOT clean, NO fighting, etc. It's the best we can do with the current system, I DO NOT want to touch the core gameplay because it might break.

FUTURE:

In the near future there will be a completely revamped UI, a new tutorial, and a host of new content to keep you guys more than happy. But this all has to do with that big announcement we can't reveal yet.

Pixel Game Number 2:

We will launch Early Access (softlaunch) at the end of the month, offering a deep discount to people who have already purchased pixel piracy. Using those funds and your feedback, we will add on to the game for as long as we feel neccesary until launch is feasable. No rushed launches here, we need this game to be a showstopper and it will be.

The info I will currently give about the game is that it is a Sci-Fi Squad Based Action/Rpg. If you want a clearer definition, think World Of Warcraft Raid simulator (without being online). More info dropping SOON

Alex Poysky