Ice Ocean Updates and YPP Announcements

[Garibaldi]

Ice Release Aug 31


2009-08-31
• New hat: Buccaneer Hat. Similar but distinct from the savvy hat.
• Small adjustment to cursed isles chest distribution to gunners and fighters.
• Combine all of the shoppe/vessel commodity management interfaces onto one tabbed interface to make it easier to switch between them.
• Fix somewackiness with typing prices into some of the commodity interfaces.
• Use a smaller icon for furniture on the product pricing interface to fit more at a time.
• Put shoppe recipes on its very own panel, accessible to everyone. Shopkeepers can find it on the shop management radial menu, others will find it where the management radial would be.
• Orders may now be placed on behalf of your shoppe with any appropriate shoppe on the island (ones that make commodities or the same shoppe type) - the cost will be paid from the shoppe's coffers. These orders will be deliverable by any manager at your shoppe from the Manage Orders interface. On doubloon ocean, any doubloon delivery fee will still need to be paid by the delivering pirate.
• Managers must now pay full price even at their own shoppe - they should generally use the Order for yer Shoppe mechanism to pay straight out of the shoppe coffers.
• New fighting dummies (Swordfighting & Rumble versions) - you can associate these with a particular pirate and then fight against a dummy dressed and armed like yer hearty.
• Cutters now have in-scene bowsprits to match their icon. (Yes, this seems random - I promise there is method to our madness)
• Fix bug with wrapping of certain item names (e.g. Poniard) on the Completed Orders panel.
• Fix a bug where Ice didn't allow promotion of non-subscribers when that pirate was offline.

[Garibaldi]

2009-09-04

Increase the reward for defeating the Atlantis Citadel

Log to the building records when someone works at a shoppe either on reserve labor or on anything else not covered by escrow.

Some behind-the-scenes excitement with sloop & warbrig bowsprits that if we did right, you won't notice.

Adjust fighting dummy difficulty and add better logging so we can see how well that's working.

Fix bug with choosing what players are booted in over-full skelly/zombie fights.

[Garibaldi]

Sept 8, 2009 11:43:57 GMT -8 Garibaldi said:

Some behind-the-scenes excitement with sloop & warbrig bowsprits that if we did right, you won't notice.

Then why bother?

[Garibaldi]

2009-09-10

*New figurehead: Sea Serpent.
*Fix icons for figureheads.
*Fix issue causing two stalls on ice to break.
*Fix bug causing higher level zombie trophies to be handed out erroneously.
*Adjust the gold requirements for making dive helms.
*Combine shoppe records for employee pay.
*Combine foraging log records.

2009-09-09

*New furniture for manufacture: Mermaid Figurehead, Gryphon Figurehead, Gilded Cannons, and Gilded Helm. These can be used to replace existing cannons/prows/helms.
*Adjust how offline labor is handled on subscription oceans: if one pirate on an account can't make use of the hour, try using it on the other pirates.
*Make dummies match the target pirate's injuries.

[Garibaldi]

2009-10-02

Pirates, Crews, and Flags now have 4 types of "Reputation", viewable via the pirate, crew, and flag pages.

Each category of reputation may be earned through various in-game activities. Different activities earn different amounts of reputation. Additionally, activities performed more recently are worth more reputation than past activities.

Conqueror - Earned by fighting brigand kings, defeating skellies and zombies, fighting (and sinking) other players' ships, blockading, and attacking flotillas.

Explorer - Earned by visiting the Atlantis Citadel, visiting the Cursed Isles, completing expeditions, and travelling around the ocean.

Patron - Earned by hosting tournaments and event blockades, as well as participating in tournaments and bakeoffs.

Magnate - Earned by purchasing items and earning loot from sea monsters.

New shoppe portrait background - Weavery

New limited edition portrait - Greylady's Tailor

[eminent]

The reputation sounds interesting. Although a bit "grindy", but I guess it's hard not to have a game like this without some grind behind it.

[Garibaldi]

2009-11-12

Fix bug with ships attacking Imperial outposts not generating moves, etc.

Split Able into Able and Proficient.

Split Aspiring into Aspiring and Obscure.

Color banners and flags on Imperial outposts to match the unit's colors.

Fix issue with CI/Atlantis maps displaying the wrong icon. Unfortunately, existing ones may still be booched, but new ones will be correct.

Fix some missing translations.


2009-11-11

New bronze cannons and helm

New figurehead for large vessels

New experience levels beyond sublime



And then, the Explorers' Hall, which sells charts to expeditions to attack Imperial Outposts. See here for more high-level information.

Explorers' Halls have been placed on Shatterstone and Eieio.

Some comments on the current state of this:




In the Explorers' Hall, you can purchase a chart for 1k. It will give you a chart to a random location, scaled for a sloop. This price is not final, nor is the interface. A drastic overhaul to this will be coming very shortly: at any given time, a particular hall will have a variety of maps available for purchase.

When placed on a ship, the chart will add the appropriate expedition. Right now, when it is NOT placed on a vessel, there is no good indicator of the outpost's location, but it will.

Removing the chart from the ship will take away the expedition. The chart itself is consumed when you defeat the imperial forces at the outpost. While you are in the expedition, you cannot remove the chart.

Currently, you can board shop by popping in and out of the expedition. This will be fixed.

Current payouts are not at all representative of what they will be

The bright green X for these expeditions is placeholder art

Imperial soldier positioning and other cosmetic scene details are not final.


For more about Expeditions and Esplorer's Hall see the bottom of this thread.
forums.puzzlepirates.com/community/mvnforum/viewthread?thread=141318

[Garibaldi]

2009-11-14

• Correctly scale imperial outposts based on what the maps intend
• Don't regenerate the board every time you attack an outpost
• Fix timing of soldiers leaving the barracks

2009-11-13

• Overhaul the UI for purchasing expeditions: they have a selection that refills over time when they are purchased
• Charts to outposts now give indication of their size and whether they are sinking encounters
• Different outposts of the same size range in difficulty as indicated by the ranking of their owners
• Ease up a little on how well the ships guarding outposts can repair damage
• Explorers' Halls now spawn maps near the island the hall is on if at all possible
• Add coffer access object to Explorers' Halls so owners have someplace to pay the rent
• New icon for Imperial Outpost expeditions on the map
• New art for the Imperial Outposts on the water
• Play imperial music when you land at the outpost
• Convince shipwreck expeditions to draw where they used to
• Imperial soldiers have been practicing their drillwork
• Fix issue with /vwho on ships attacking outposts
• Count "Learning" as poor, not fine when calculating blockade pay
• Update various text

[Garibaldi]

Here are the notes on yesterday's update.

From the Release Notes:

Allow players to recolor and rename familiars for the normal fees and with the normal restrictions without filing a petition to involve an OM.

Allow ship hulls to be painted just like railings and sideboards.

Improve performance of scene rendering in certain situations, especially scrolling.

Add a button on the Vessel tab to allow officers to request all hands (or some subset) to come aboard their vessel. (This is cool)

Adjust the rate random dragoons board from the water in Atlantis.

Reduce the number of dragoons boarding from Gorgonyxes and Archelons in Atlantis.

Adjust monster spawn rates in Atlantis.

Added new prizes for both Atlantis and CI: New trinkets and (rare) Atlantean and Indigo Chromas.

Reduced the price of Imperial Outpost maps. (Yay!)

Adjust recipes for several products.

Add new style of gift wrap in the palace shoppe.

Add new holiday trinkets in the palace shoppe.

Add new holiday portrait backgrounds: Ariastess's Candyland Inn, Damayi's Tropical Christmas, Dexla's Candied New Year, Greylady's Holiday Welcome, Molasses's Cozy Maiden.

Bring back the Candy Cane trinket.

Fixed a bug related to using up labor hours.

Fixed a bug where Explorers' Halls would still sell maps after they've gone dark.

[Garibaldi]

2009-12-17

If there are no job postings, say as much on the voyage board

Update the job notice if the OIC leaves the ship

Fix booch with brigand difficulty description almost always being "Very hard"

If nobody has the helm when someone becomes the OIC, give it to them

Don't allow carriage returns in job statements since they aren't displayed anyways

Fix issues with job statement text area resizing badly

If the statement hasn't changed, disable the button to update it

Move the ship itself to the leftmost column on job postings

Fix issue with blank tooltips on the job board

Add tooltips to the checkboxes to apply for all jobs showing how many people are interested in such a thing

Use an appropriate chart icon on sea monster job postings

When sorting sea monster job notices by the spot, sort on type then name

Add job notice information (if it exists) to job offers

Include "pieces of eight" in the tooltip for job info involving money

Better size columns on the job board by default

When someone chooses to apply to all jobs of a given type, automatically apply to those already on the board


2009-12-16

New sortable table-based job board to replace the wall of text

New menu item on helm/navigation table to "manage jobbers" allowing you to set a statement about your voyage to show on the job board

Move the all-hands button onto this new manage jobbers panel

Add a button to hire swabbies without posting a real job notice on this new manage jobbers panel

From the voyage board, you can mark voyage types you're interested in, and this will automatically send applications for you when jobs are posted for such voyages

Make the color range on the voyage configuration difficulty slider more accurate

Show the max crew, not just the count of pirates aboard, on /vwho results

Fix some recipes listing their labor requirements sorted inconsistently

[Garibaldi]

Posted on the YPP forum by Hermes:

A Business Proposition

The second floor of the Explorers' Hall had emptied for the night, its denizens having already left for their estates, or for the poker tables. Only two figures remained on the sofa, dimly illuminated by candles. One of them, a large man with a turban that had somehow migrated from his head to his lap during the course of the evening, had his attention locked rather intently on what remained of a large glass of liquor. The other, a smaller man whose glass appeared to be filled with fruit juice, cleared his throat quietly.

"So I take it that the Halls are a success, Commodore?"

The larger man was unmoved. "You might say that."

The smaller man stared at his fruit juice, swirling it idly. "Really giving those Imperials a run? Selling all sorts of intelligence?"

The Commodore chuckled dryly. "Some. I didn't commission the Halls' design for the money, though, Marco."

The smaller man laughed nervously. "No, no, of course not, Commodore."

The Commodore shook his head. "No, money has little use for me here. Most of the things I desire are not easily acquired in these parts." He nodded his head meaningfully toward his snifter of liquor. "It's amazing, really, the effect location can have on value. This stuff..." The Commodore raised his glass and peered through it in disgust. "...on the mainland, it's no better than swill. But here? It's worth far more than its weight in Kraken's blood." He took a sip, cringing as he swallowed.

Marco nodded politely and took a sip of his fruit juice. The Commodore paid him little notice.

"It goes further than that, as well. The archipelagos are lousy with artifacts and trinkets of nominal value. There're more remnants of ancient civilizations and heathen cults here than you can shake a falchion at. But on the mainland? Those items have amazing value. Private collectors, museums, educational institutions... They'd all give their left arm for, say, just one Carcarias coin, or a sacred skull, or what have you." He turned to Marco and waved his finger. "You mark my words, lad. Someone's going to realize this eventually and make a fortune."

Marco shifted awkwardly on his half of the sofa. "Erm, why not you, Commodore?"

The Commodore was taken aback. He furrowed his brow and took a long, thoughtful draught of his liquor.

"Why not me, indeed?"


Hear ye, hear ye!

It is my pleasure to inform ye of the imminent arrival in our oceans of traders from foreign climes! They will be housed in only the finest Trading Posts, the design of which was recently commissioned from some of the ocean's finest architects and artists, including the noble Master Greenbones himself!

Eager to obtain artifacts for trade and sale back in their homelands, these traders are more than willing to share with you the products of their mastery of alchemistry and other skills! Flags that construct a Trading Post on their island will give pirates the opportunity to trade in previously earned Atlantis and Cursed Isle trinkets for Atlantean and Indigo chromas. This will also require a nominal fee.

Keep your ears open in the coming days for more info on the final building design, its size and the commodities required for its construction! Note, however, that it will count as an Island Attraction for the purposes of building limits and that its rent will be along the lines of that of the Explorers' Hall; the wheels of commerce have to be greased somehow, after all! Additionally, we hope to come up with a related bonus benefit for a ruling flag who have constructed a Post of their own; more info on that coming soon!

Personal comment:
There's also going to be a new class of grand frigate soon.

[Garibaldi]

Hear ye, hear ye!

The ocean's finest architects have finished their design for the Trading Post! We hope both the archipelagos' residents and their new trading partners approve!

As mentioned previously, the Trading Post will allow pirates to trade the trinkets they've earned from the Cursed Isles or Atlantis for fun prizes. For starters, these trinkets will be able to be traded for chromas of appropriate colors, as well as a few other miscellaneous items. In the future, we'd like to make additional prizes available, such as...
• Imperial clothing and furniture, in exchange for Imperial trinkets, which will eventually drop from Outposts
• Explorer-themed furniture, in exchange for a variety of expedition and sea monster trinkets
The exchange rate between trinkets and prize items will be dynamically determined based on the number of trinkets that have recently been traded in. Each prize item, like the chromas, will have a base PoE cost attached to it that can be 'bartered' down by offering the Post trinkets of the appropriate type. Before you get too excited about purchasing these new prizes outright, please note that each reward will require a certain number of trinkets before the staff at the Trading Post are willing to let it go for PoE.

The building will also have a second benefit. Any island that has a Trading Post built will appear more attractive to the ocean's Merchant brigands, making it more likely that they will grace that island's shores with goods for trade with its inhabitants.

Some additional information for flags looking to construct a Trading Post...
• It can go on any medium or large island and will take up a 6x5 sized plot.
• As an Attraction, it is still subject to the island Attraction building cap. Large islands can have two Attractions built, but as medium islands can only have one, they will have to choose between building either an Explorers' Hall or a Trading Post.
• The base weekly rent for this building will be 20,000 PoE.
• The Post will also require the following commodities/labor for construction... 500 Wood, 2,000 Stone, 80 Iron, 300 Basic Labor, 200 Skilled Labor and 100 Expert Labor.
Players having any additional questions or comments about the Trading Post are encouraged to join in the discussion on the Game Design forum, here forums.puzzlepirates.com/community/mvnforum/viewthread?p=2083717!

Hermes
Secretary of Diplomacy

[Garibaldi]

Ice Release January 14

2010-01-15

• Fix missing translation for Trading Post construction sites
• Add a button that attempts to fill in the required trinkets for a type from unequipped trinkets in your inventory
• Merchants more accurately estimate the cost to ship to different islands
• Trading Posts now sell Brigand King eggs in exchange for complete sets of trinkets for each king
• Excise the weaving puzzle stubs
• Fix bug with trading in conch shells
• Fix bug with trinket value system not adjusting
• Fix bug with purchases failing if the total trinket value exceeded the base item cost

2010-01-14

• New Attraction building: Trading Post

o Players can trade in trinkets + PoE for special items
o Trinkets are given a PoE value that counts towards the price of the item. This price adjusts dynamically based on the types of trinkets recently traded in.
o Merchants prefer islands with Trading Posts

• Newly delivered LE ships have custom adjectives
• Fix non-exit rowboats on vessels (newly delivered ones will have this correct, old ones remain the same)
• Pirates cashing out of a poker table with more than their buyin value go into the victory pose (this does not consider rebuys)
• Provide swabbies to replace abandoning humans in all types of skirmishes except blockades instead of just in battles
• Take appropriate cuts for swabbies from other skirmish payout types (e.g. PoE hauled)
• Allow the shelves below decks on war brigs to be dusted
• Players at low to mid performance levels dutying now contribute more to the ship's functionality
• Swabbie skills and performance has been lowered so their contribution is the same as before

[Garibaldi]

Coming soon to a Trading Post near you: Designs!

Designs are a new item type that function as an additional required component for ordering an item from a shop. Much like getting a portrait framed requires you to drag a portrait to the purchasing interface to place your order, certain special items will require that you possess a design of the appropriate type before you can order them. The design is used up in the process.

The next update will bring the Trading Post several new recipes that can be used to produce designs for ordering Imperial Navy items from the Furnisher and Tailor. These designs will require trinkets that will begin dropping from the Imperial Outposts in short order. These trinkets will be earned very similarly to Brigand King trinkets. After successfully completing an outpost, a number of Imperial trinkets determined by the size of the outpost are equally divided amongst all 'experienced hands' aboard the ship (subscribers or players with a Pirate Badge or above). These trinkets can be collected like any other trinket, or traded in for the aforementioned reward items.

In addition to all this, a few extra 'standard' recipes will be added to the Trading Post that will allow players to trade a variety of trinkets for furniture items that were previously only available as props in the Explorers' Hall!

For discussion on this and other aspects of the Trading Post, head over to on the Game Design forum, already in progress.

Hermes
Secretary of Diplomacy

[Garibaldi]

2010-02-16

• Imperial Outposts now award trinkets to "dedicated hands" (subscribers & pirate badge holders) similarly to the Brigand King trinkets.
• New type of item: "Design" - Some items can be made at normal shoppes but require the orderer to supply a an appropriate Design item.
• New items at the trading post: Shako Hat Design, Cockade Hat Design, Imperial Banner Design, Explorers' Banner, Brass Telescope
• Removed the move counter from Alchemistry.
• Fixed formatting for some cash numbers in poker.
• Some internal cleanup of crafting puzzles.
• Some internal changes to swordfighting, carpentry, and sailing to improve randomness.
• Due to above change, note that swordfighters will no longer all see identical sequences of pieces.
• Fix a bug where Pirate News Page slowness would lock the entire client.
• Fix a bug related to deluxe labor badges (Obviously, won't notice this on ice)
• Fix a bug in labor calculation related to exceptionally large amounts of reserve labor
• Fix the plurality of some labor messages
• Internal changes related to managing portrait backgrounds.
• Longer introductory tutorial.
• Fix a bug where if you left the ship too quickly after setting sail on a swabbie transport voyage, the swabbies wouldn't correctly take their stations

The blue stuff: This is interesting. There's a lot of discussion about these changes in the Ice thread in the YPP forum. Especially the randomness thing and especially as it relates to swordfightng. Click the link below if you'd like to read about them.

forums.puzzlepirates.com/community/mvnforum/viewthread?thread=149474