Hearts of Oak, an Age of Sail RPG

Greetings all,

I'm here on behalf of the PiratesAhoy! community to tell you about our Unity project, Hearts of Oak: Conquest of the Seas.

​

Hearts of Oak is our community's first venture into standalone game development, and is intended to become what we believe is the ultimate historical seafaring game, set in the Age of Sail.

What we're aiming for is a game with a vast open world, filled with historically accurate locales to explore and highly detailed ships to sail. There will be a variety of quests to experience, based on both history and popular fiction. The gameplay will be similar in style to the Storm Engine-based games that we are known for modifying, but we intend to take it further and offer more freedom, immersion and authenticity.

The player will assume the role of a captain and have full command of their crew, being able to delegate tasks and give orders in the heat of battle. Dynamic hand-to-hand combat will make land battles and boarding skirmishes a fast paced, hectic experience. An ever-changing economy will affect the game world and the decisions the player makes. The player may choose to enlist in a navy, lead an honest merchant life, or resort to piracy, with each career path being equally rewarding and engaging.


Despite a turbulent start to the project, we've now chosen Unity as our game engine and we're making great progress. Below is a selection of our most recent developer videos, narrated by our lead developer, which should give you an insight into the game as it stands in its very early stages.

We post regular news articles detailing our progress, so we'll be sharing those with you in the coming weeks.
We'd love to know what you think of the game, so feel free to post your comments below!

It's important to note that our project is NON-COMMERCIAL, as we're a dedicated community doing this as a hobby. We're currently accepting donations to help pay for software licensing fees (including Unity Pro licenses) and Unity assets for our developers, but we do not offer payment to individuals; we only accept volunteer help.

If you're interested in joining the team, please either visit our Recruitment Forum or send me a PM to introduce yourself. You do not need formal qualifications, but we do expect you to provide examples of your own work where applicable.

If you'd like to know more about Hearts of Oak and the PiratesAhoy! community, please follow the links below.

​

 

Looks promising. Good luck!

 

We have been making great progress in the past few weeks, especially by making use of the Asset Store for some of the code that we didn't want to write ourselves. We have also found some great shared assets among the community to make use of. We have to say that switching to Unity was a great decision by our project team.

Here are some progress pics of our latest ocean shader in conjunction with a modified community ocean system:

Spoiler: Hearts Of Oak modifed ocean shader

Reflections are looking good with the distortion. This is a Water4 effect that was integrated.




Lower angle shot to show the fresnel a bit


Shoreline and object foam using depth texture


Showing some of the specular effect. It matches the color of the sun light source.


With sea foam added back in.

 

Apologies for the wait; we finally have a progress article to share with you:

​

In each article*, we will bring you a summary of the latest development news, including work-in-progress screenshots and in-game footage, along with a more in-depth look at featured content.

After a long wait, we've got a huge amount of news to share with you regarding the exciting work in Unity and excellent models in production.

Vacancies
This week, we really want to highlight one particular role that we still need to fill:
- Character modellers
It is of the utmost importance that we find at least one dedicated character artist as soon as possible.
We only need one fully rigged character for the tech demo, but if at all possible we'd like to avoid low-detail placeholders (see screenshot of the weapon system below).
Therefore, we really need people to take on the roles of modelling characters and clothing, to give us good looking models for the tech demo and beyond.

We are still recruiting other 3D artists, and in particular we'd like to see more people willing to get their assets into Unity.

As a reminder, all of our developer roles are NON-PAID positions.
For role descriptions and how to join the team, click here.

Engine Development
- Cannon action system

In this video, Captain Murphy runs through the procedures the guns follow when ordered to fire, including swabbing, loading, running out and recoiling.

- Ocean System

An update on how the ocean renderer is working in the game, showing an improved wave system and realistic foam effects.

- Helm System

A quick demonstration of how the player can interact with the helm to turn the ship.
The video also shows how the wheel and tiller move simultaneously.

- Fencing System; Captain Murphy, Trunks518 and Foamy
We are now collaborating with third party developer Foamy to produce a fully dynamic fencing system for the game.
Although we haven't finished integrating it into Hearts of Oak yet, you can get a taste of the feature set by following this link to Foamy's website.

- Modular Weapon System; Trunks518 and superdurnius
To complement the swordfighting itself, we also have modular weapons now working in the engine.
Using model parts provided by SuperDurnius, the player can choose exactly what kind of sword they want by customising the grip, blade, guard and pummel.
Below is a screenshot of an early test showing how this works:



3D Models

Ships
- HMB Endeavour; ODemuth
This incredibly detailed ship now has its masts and some of its rigging in place, along with reserve spars upon which the boats would be stowed.





- Blandford class frigate; Timb
Based on a 20-gun sixth-rate originally built in 1720, the modeller is modernising this ship to be more suitable for the game's initial time period.
Below you'll see the model in two different paint schemes, the first of which being a concept render (not in-engine):





- HMS Bellona; Armada
The biggest ship in active development, she now has all gunports open and is close to being ready for basic testing in Unity.
Most of the finer details are being skipped for the initial tests.





Music
To give you a taste of what's to come, we're regularly showcasing an original track, produced by one of our talented composers.
This week, we've got a finished version of one of Flannery's pieces named Rum Bonfire.
Have a listen via the link below, and then read what the composer has to say:

Rum Bonfire.mp3

COPYRIGHTS
This music is the property of D'laymusic - Norway, and Christian "Flannery" Tornholm-Lehn. It is protected under copyright law, which if violated might lead to legal persecutions.

Stay tuned for more original music soon!

Top Contributors
Below is the latest member of our development team to be recognised with our Top Contributor award in recent weeks:

Trunks518 - For his tremendous contributions on the Unity Engine development; we would not have come as far in as short a time as we have without his help.

His contributions have been invaluable to the game's development, and we hope to give out more of these awards soon!

Fundraising
We are still accepting donations to help pay for engine add-ons, software licenses and more.
So far, we've managed to acquire a Unity Pro license for two of our developers, along with a selection of asset packs such as the Pirate Island to speed up our engine testing.

If you would like to donate to the project, you can do so through Paypal using the Donate button on http://www.heartsofoakgame.com .
We greatly appreciate every contribution!

You can keep up to date with how much we've raised and what we've used the funds for here.

That's it for this week's progress; we'll have more updates for you soon!
Don't know what the Hearts of Oak project is? Take a look at our Frequently Asked Questions for more information.
*Please note that we're aiming to post a new article at least once a fortnight. If there's a long gap between articles, it usually means we're very busy!

 

Wow I love what you have done with the community ocean, is this the same as the one you shared on BitBucket?
Look forward to this development, only prebooked a copy of Naval Action http://www.navalaction.com/, another Age of Sail sim in development also within Unity.
Good times ahead for fans of this Genre.
Bookmarked.

 

​

Welcome to another edition of our Hearts of Oak progress articles!

In each article*, we will bring you a summary of the latest development news, including work-in-progress screenshots and in-game footage, along with a more in-depth look at featured content.

This edition is very content-focused, with a large selection of 3D models to show off, including ships, guns, a new island and more.

Engine Development
- Internal Release Updates

This video shows some of the latest features of our internal test build, including a host of new assets imported into the engine.

3D Models
There are several sub-categories of 3D assets to cover here, so below we'll list various types of assets, what they're called and who made them.

Ships
- Swedish East Indiaman; philipjn
A large 30-gun merchant vessel in progress, with beautifully ornate features.

Spoiler: More images

- 'Mediator' Sloop; philipjn and SeaNorris
A small warship from 1741, with a strikingly sleek hull shape. The second picture shows a cutaway view of the cabin.

Spoiler: More images

- HMB Endeavour; ODemuth
This model has been imported into Unity as a test, and can be seen below alongside the St Albans.
Not all components have been imported yet, but the ship looks great in the engine already.



Behind the scenes, the deck beams have now been installed, showing a great amount of detail.



- Blandford class frigate; Timb
Further improvements have been made to this ship, including new details and high-quality textures.

Spoiler: More images

- HMS Bellona; Armada
Continuing to prepare this model for testing, the stern windows have been replaced and all decks have been installed down to the main gundeck.



The second image shows an experimental substance material being used for the hull planking.
This substance, made by Captain Murphy, can be dynamically modified in-engine to adjust the number of planks, weathering, dirt and more.



Weapons
- Borgard Pattern Bronze Guns; Wedori
Here are two updated cannon models, both with bronze barrels:
9-pounder gun


18-pounder gun


- Bronze Field Gun; Wedori
A fantastically detailed bronze gun, designed to be used on the battlefield.



Props
- Medical Cabinet; Cap. Alatriste
A small period accurate medical cabinet, containing various medicinal items.

- Water Pump; Sursmurfen
A simple water pump and trough.

Spoiler: View image

Environment
- Second Test Island; RobinPC
This is a unique island that reuses some of the assets from the Pirate Island pack, giving us two locations to travel between in our test build.

Spoiler: More images

Vacancies
We are still recruiting all types of 3D artists, and in particular we'd like to see more people willing to get their assets into Unity.
We will also accept help from programmers and 2D artists.

As a reminder, all of our developer roles are NON-PAID positions.
For role descriptions and how to join the team, click here.

Fundraising
We are still accepting donations to help pay for engine add-ons, software licenses and more.

If you would like to donate to the project, you can do so through Paypal using the Donate button on http://www.heartsofoakgame.com .
We greatly appreciate every contribution!

You can keep up to date with how much we've raised and what we've used the funds for here.

That's it for this week's progress; we'll have more updates for you soon!
Don't know what the Hearts of Oak project is? Take a look at our Frequently Asked Questions for more information.
*Please note that we're aiming to post a new article at least once a fortnight. If there's a long gap between articles, it usually means we're very busy!

 

Looks great so far. I'll be following your updates.

Have you considered using UMA for you characters? Another community project that I've been involved in, and it has continual ongoing improvements.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, which is funny because we recently just started evaluating UMA in testing. So far the animators have found it to be great to work with so we will move forward with the testing some more to make sure it will work for everything that we are planning. Hopefully it will work, so we can move forward with a solution and get some AI in the game to give it a bit more life.

 

​

Welcome to another edition of our Hearts of Oak progress articles!

In each article*, we will bring you a summary of the latest development news, including work-in-progress screenshots and in-game footage, along with a more in-depth look at featured content.

This week, we have some great development news to share regarding game mechanics, graphics and 3D artwork...

Engine Development
- Weather Tracking; Strannik
We're taking realistic weather simulation very seriously for Hearts of Oak, and below is a brief explanation by Srannik of some of our latest developments:

Weather is one of the most important aspects of living upon the seas. For this reason, we are redefining how we simulate weather from the ground up, with the purpose of having a realistic weather system that will greatly add to the sense of immersion and the feel of the Caribbean in Hearts of Oak.
Currently, we are working on the wind patterns that will fill your sails, break your masts, or becalm you in the middle of the ocean.

Instead of simply adding random weather and winds to the game, we have decided to use modern data to create a very realistic (even if perhaps not perfectly historically accurate) weather in game.
We can do this thanks to the fact that NASA has been measuring winds all over the world during the last 25 years, every six hours, and with a very high spatial resolution (compiled by the Discover project).

Winds in game will have two main components (calculated using NASA’s data). The first one is a global steady wind that gradually changes through the year (but which is essentially the trade winds).
In the following animation you can follow the evolution of this steady wind as it changes through the year. Arrow color indicates wind speed.



The second component corresponds to random weather systems that arise from changes in pressure and temperature through the Caribbean. This will be the component that makes in-game weather unpredictable and will contain all kinds of systems, (from drizzles to the enormous cyclones that appear in hurricane season).
In the following animation you can see how variable this component of the wind is. Now wind speed varies from white to black, while red and blue indicate high pressure and low pressure systems respectively:



- Fire spreading system; Trunks518
Realistic fire spreading has hardly ever been attempted in a sailing game, but we intend to change that.
Using some particle effects we purchased, and a script written by Trunks518 for spreading the fire, we've managed to create a truly amazing effect, as you'll see below:





This mechanic should have serious consequences during gameplay, requiring you to act fast if a fire starts aboard your vessel!

- Unity 5 Beta Test; Captain Murphy
For the past few weeks, we've mostly been showing you images and footage of Unity 4, which looks fairly good.
Now though, our developers have got hold of the Unity 5 beta, and with relatively few tweaks to camera effects, they've been able to produce a scene that far surpasses anything we've previously shown off from Unity 4.
Below is just a taste of how the Pirate Island content looks in Unity 5:

Spoiler: More images

It's important to note that we're starting from the basics right now; these initial tests have been done without our own assets in the scene, but later on we'll be adding back things like the St Albans to show how much better they look.
And remember, we're still in the pre-alpha stage, so what you see above is NOT final quality. The final game will look vastly different.

3D Models
There are several sub-categories of 3D assets to cover here, so below we'll list various types of assets, what they're called and who made them.

Ships
- Blandford class frigate; Timb
The hull of this model is now almost finished, featuring finely-crafted details both on the exterior and interior.
Have a look at the images below for an overview of the ship from the inside out.

Spoiler: More images

- HMB Endeavour; ODemuth
The hold is taking shape on the Endeavour, and it looks pretty spacious. That will soon change once it's finished and filled with cargo in the game!

Spoiler: More images

- Cruizer class sloop; SeaNorris and Philipjn
An English sloop built in 1752, typically armed with eight carriage guns and ten swivels.
This model is still in its early stages, and missing details such as gunports, but the hull shape is already very well defined.





- English East Indiaman; Philipjn
A 28-gun merchant vessel built some time before 1768. The hull has a very box-shaped profile, which, although arguably less attractive than a sleeker warship, allows it to carry a great deal of cargo.





Vacancies
We are still recruiting all types of 3D artists, and in particular we'd like to see more people willing to get their assets into Unity.
We will also accept help from programmers and 2D artists.

As a reminder, all of our developer roles are NON-PAID positions.
For role descriptions and how to join the team, click here.

Fundraising
We are still accepting donations to help pay for engine add-ons, software licenses and more.

If you would like to donate to the project, you can do so through Paypal using the Donate button on http://www.heartsofoakgame.com .
We greatly appreciate every contribution!

You can keep up to date with how much we've raised and what we've used the funds for here.

That's it for this week's progress; we'll have more updates for you soon!
Don't know what the Hearts of Oak project is? Take a look at our Frequently Asked Questions for more information.
*Please note that we're aiming to post a new article at least once a fortnight. If there's a long gap between articles, it usually means we're very busy!

 

This looks absolutely fantastic... would make one heck of a open world MMO.

 

​

Welcome to another edition of our Hearts of Oak progress articles!

In each article*, we will bring you a summary of the latest development news, including work-in-progress screenshots and in-game footage, along with a more in-depth look at featured content.

After a long wait, we've got some truly impressive content to show you this week, including magnificent models, materials, menus and music. Seriously!

Indie of the Year Voting
As you may be aware, voting for the IndieDB Indie of the Year Award 2014 is currently underway.
Due to the pre-alpha state of Hearts of Oak, and the lack of a public release so far, we felt it wasn't appropriate to ask everyone to vote for it, so we didn't.
And yet, thanks to people like you, Hearts of Oak has made it into the Top 100 anyway!


We are immensely humbled by your support for this game even in such an early stage of development, and we couldn't be happier with this achievement!
Now, we have the opportunity to see just how far the game can climb up the Top 100 in the second round of voting.
If you voted for us in the first round and you believe our game deserves even more recognition, then please do vote again in the second round!
You can find Hearts of Oak under Upcoming Games > Role Playing on the Top 100 page.
Please note that voting closes on 21st December.

Anything we can manage from here on is a bonus, but we continue to be blown away by your support and we're hugely grateful for it.

Engine Development
- Main Menu; Danidr
New member Danidr has taken on the task of designing a new main menu for the game, which suits the game's overall aesthetic.
Below is a concept of how the final menu could look, taking inspiration from the original concept art by Haereticus:



The background is a screenshot from the internal test build, and the menu box has several features worth noting.
The "Continue Adventure" button will allow the player to immediately pick up where they left off when they start the game; the example shown is a placeholder.
Below that we've got the pretty standard Load Game, Options and Exit Game, but there's also The Shipyard and a player profile example at the bottom.
We'll be explaining more about The Shipyard in the coming weeks.

The following image shows a working draft of the menu in Unity, which is only lacking a more detailed background:

Spoiler: Show image

- Substance Materials; Captain Murphy
We have been experimenting with Substances for several weeks now, as an alternative to more traditional textures.
In the videos below, Captain Murphy explains the process behind making a Substance, the key features they provide and why they're ideal for some of our needs.
Substance Overview - Part 1

Substance Overview - Part 2

- Shader Test Scene; Ashinokami
To help artists to easily see how their models will look in Unity, Ashinokami has developed a test scene specifically to showcase materials in the engine.
Below is an example featuring the Endeavour, using specially-designed materials to mimic the real properties of wood and metal:

Spoiler: Show image

And here's the HMS Sphynx in the same scene, but using Substances instead (as described above) and a depth-of-field camera effect:

Spoiler: Show image

3D Models
- HMS Bellona; Armada
This ship now has all the most basic details required to test her as a floating battery in-game, including all gunports, ladders between decks, and the rudder.
The model also has the railings installed along the upper sides of the hull.

Spoiler: Show image

Although she looks a bit empty at the moment and more components will be added eventually, we hope to give her a full set of guns in Unity soon.

- HMS Sphynx; Wedori
Ropes. Do you like ropes? I hope so, because this ship has more than you can count.
The devil is in the details as Wedori shows just how much can be achieved with a little time and perfectionism:

Spoiler: Show images

Environment
- Marie Galante; JohnV
This tiny island has been mapped from height data in 1:4 scale using World Machine, and trees have been added to populate the land.

Spoiler: Show image

This second image shows how the terrain textures blend naturally from rocks to grassland based on height:

Spoiler: Show image

Music
To give you a taste of what's to come, we're regularly showcasing an original track, produced by one of our talented composers.
This week, we've got a brand new track called "Man O War", composed by Dastroids.

"Man O War" on SoundCloud

The composer says it represents "a battle on a man o war":

Stay tuned for more original music soon!

Vacancies
We are still recruiting all types of 3D artists, and in particular we'd like to see more people willing to get their assets into Unity.
We will also accept help from programmers and 2D artists.

As a reminder, all of our developer roles are NON-PAID positions.
For role descriptions and how to join the team, click here.

Fundraising
We are still accepting donations to help pay for engine add-ons, software licenses and more.

If you would like to donate to the project, you can do so through Paypal using the Donate button on http://www.heartsofoakgame.com .
We greatly appreciate every contribution!

You can keep up to date with how much we've raised and what we've used the funds for here.

That's it for this week's progress; we'll have more updates for you soon!
Don't know what the Hearts of Oak project is? Take a look at our Frequently Asked Questions for more information.
*Please note that we're aiming to post a new article at least once a fortnight. If there's a long gap between articles, it usually means we're very busy!

 

​

This year has been truly special for the Hearts of Oak project, so to celebrate the end of 2014, we'd like to take a look back at everything we've achieved.

To start with, we have prepared a summary video that covers all of our main accomplishments of 2014 in less than five minutes. Enjoy!

The Switch to Unity

One of the biggest and most important events of the year was our decision to use Unity instead of CryEngine. Naturally, this sparked a lot of debate about whether it was the right choice. It was a huge risk after all, especially after we'd done so much in CryEngine.
Nevertheless, it was a risk that paid off, and then some. The progress we've made in Unity outshines all our previous attempts, and we're now closer than ever to having a playable public release.

Ongoing dialogue with other Unity developers has helped us gain a better understanding of the engine and the options it provides, and has saved our own developers weeks' worth of work in the process.
Advantages like this, which were previously unavailable to us, will continue to aid progress in the future, and we remain confident that this engine offers the best chance for us to realise our goals.

Taking Donations
In another surprise turn of events, we finally decided to accept donations towards the game's development.
We were humbled by the number of people offering to support us with their wallets, so when we agreed that we needed Unity Pro to take full advantage of its capabilities, we opened the gates to accept donations for it.
This soon gave us the ability to purchase assets from the Unity Store that helped to speed up development massively, which is crucial at this early stage.

To find out how much we've raised to date and what we've used the funds for, check out this post on our forum. Every penny is spent wisely and for the direct benefit of the game!

IndieDB Top 100

This one certainly caught us by surprise. In the space of just one year, Hearts of Oak has gained enough attention to earn a spot in the Top 100 Indie Games of 2014.
Last year the spotlight was on our New Horizons mod, which had been in development for over ten years by the time it was voted among the Top 100 Mods of 2013.
For Hearts of Oak to achieve the same honour in comparatively little time (and before any public releases!) was astounding, and a real testament to our fans' enthusiasm for the project.

Our hope is that we can produce a playable test level in 2015 that lives up to the hype surrounding the game, and from there we will build upon it to make it worthy of the recognition you gave us this year.

Oculus Rift Testing
Yes, you read that correctly. We've had several questions in the past about potentially including support for the Oculus Rift VR headset, and the switch to Unity did indeed open up that possibility.
Now though, that dream has started to become a reality. Our lead developer picked up perhaps the best Christmas present ever when he acquired the Rift DK2 in mid December, and he wasted no time in setting up Rift compatibility in our test scene.

Needless to say, the results were way beyond anyone's expectations.
If you've always wondered how it feels to walk around the deck of a virtual ship (or just want to hear Captain Murphy say "amazing" countless times), then you need to watch this video:

Eye-watering Screenshots
We've posted a huge amount of images in our regular news articles over the past few months, many of which are rather picturesque. From lush Caribbean landscapes to towering, majestic warships, there has been plenty of visual eye candy to behold.

Below is a small selection of the best screenshots taken throughout the year, and links to download the full-resolution versions as desktop wallpapers.

St Albans under full sail

Download full-res version
The beauty of this CryEngine screenshot can't be denied, particularly with the sails set and the bright blue sky as a backdrop.

St Albans in rough seas

Download full-res version
A deep pink sky and dramatic weather effects make this image stand out among regular daytime images.

Caribbean island scene

Download full-res version
This scene has bright greens and blues complemented by a range of little touches like coconuts and starfish, making it a visual treat.

Transom of HMS Sphynx

Download full-res version
This ship sits proud in the water with its colourful stern and fantastic shader effects, with a subtle depth-of-field effect to make the foreground stand out.

Below deck on HMS Sphynx

Download full-res version
The sunlight shining through gunports and gratings provides an interesting lighting effect here, and one can't help but marvel at the obsessive level of detail on display.

We hope you enjoy these magnificent screenshots, and there will be plenty more where they came from in the coming months!

How You Can Help
If you've been inspired by what we've managed so far and you want to lend a hand in developing the game, then please visit our forum to offer your assistance!
As a reminder, all of our developer roles are NON-PAID, volunteer positions. For role descriptions and how to join the team, click here.

However, if game development or art is not for you, then fear not. We are still accepting donations to help pay for engine add-ons, software licenses and more, and you're welcome to donate to the project through Paypal using the Donate button on www.heartsofoakgame.com.
We greatly appreciate every contribution!

Can't contribute to either of the above, but still want to help? You can do so by spreading the word!
If you know someone with the skills and dedication we need, who might be interested in Hearts of Oak, please tell them about the project. Every contributor makes a difference.
Alternatively, we could use some help with promoting the game on various websites so that our own developers don't need to spend time doing it themselves.
And don't forget to Like, Share and Subscribe to our social media profiles!


Closing Comments
Another year down, another incredible list of achievements to look back on.
We've made tough decisions, overcome tremendous challenges and had long, heated debates, but in the end it has all been worthwhile.
We're extremely proud of the advances we've made this year, and everyone involved should be commended for the countless hours they've put into bringing Hearts of Oak ever closer to its release.

We will remember 2014 as a successful and productive year, and we look forward to building on that legacy in 2015 to give you the Age of Sail experience you deserve.

From everyone at PiratesAhoy!, we wish you a happy New Year!

Any Questions?
Intrigued? Want to know more? Or maybe you still don't know what the Hearts of Oak project is?
Visit our Frequently Asked Questions to find out all you need to know!

 

Welcome to another new Hearts of Oak development blog!

It's been a particularly busy time of year for many of us on the development team, hence the long break since our last blog post. Now, though, things are starting to pick up again, and we finally have some more exciting news to share with you.

Development News
- Water and Sky Improvements
With the most recent updates to both the Suimono water system and Tenkoku sky system, the game's environment now looks far more impressive than previous builds. One of the most impressive enhancements is the water's interaction with the shoreline, generating waves and foam along beaches. Here's an example in action:



- Materials and Camera Effects
Some of the materials used by our models have been improved with new features. Most notable is the sub-surface scattering now being applied to the sails, which allows shadows to be cast onto them and remain visible on both sides.

In addition, new camera effects such as screen-space ambient occlusion and depth of field have been added to produce near-photorealistic visuals. The following screenshots demonstrate all of the above improvements working together:

Spoiler: Show more

- Chart View Prototype
Trunks518 has been hard at work creating the Chart View scene for our first game version. The chart currently has towns which randomly generate wares when the game starts up, and saves this information for the next time the game is loaded. In addition, each town will determine what it needs, based on its own resources, and will send out a ship to acquire it from another town.

The AI ships will move between towns, navigating around islands and other ships. Currently, hostile ships do not enter combat, and the scene does not yet transition to 3D when arriving at a town (as is the final goal), but these features are still being worked on.

Below is an early preview of the Chart View, showing placeholders for the ships and towns, as well as the boundary lines marking the landmasses. We must stress that this does NOT represent the final quality; it is just a glimpse into our current development.



Recruitment
To help us speed up development of the first playable game version, we need more hands on deck. Our current developers are working to capacity during what little free time they have, and as a result, it's taken us longer to reach this point than anticipated.

What we currently need includes:
- C#/Unity developers
If you're familiar with C# and/or working with scripts in Unity, you can help! If you're interested in working on the gameplay mechanics with our developers, and you have plenty of time to spare, don't hesitate to contact us through our recruitment forum.

- Artists of all kinds
We still need to produce an uncountable quantity of assets for the game, including character models, props, architecture and ships. If you're an able 3D artist, we always have something for you to do.

Additionally, we need artists to help fine-tune features such as materials, the ocean shader and lighting for different weather conditions and times of day. This will take some of the burden off our developers so they can focus on other things.

Remember, we're looking for volunteers only. If you want to join the team, please check our List of Development Roles for details.


Stay tuned for more updates soon!
Check out our Frequently Asked Questions for more information on Hearts of Oak.

If you missed our previous blog, which wasn't posted on this forum, you can read it here.

 

​

Welcome to another edition of our Hearts of Oak progress articles!

Yes, we're back, and it couldn't be a more exciting time for the project. Read on to find out what we've been up to and how you can help shape the future of the game.

Recent Developments
During this long, quiet spell, we have been hard at work reshuffling the team and refocusing on getting a playable tech demo built and ready as soon as possible.

And with that, we have a surprise for you: we are proud to announce that the first playable tech demo is now available!

Click here to download our July Tech Demo

It comes slightly earlier in this development stage than we had planned, but we felt that our latest internal build had enough features that we could share it with all of you.

This does, however, mean that what you're getting is a VERY early build that is rough around the edges and makes heavy use of placeholders. As such, we must stress that this build does NOT represent final quality and any shape or form. Below, we'll explain what's in this build, what's missing, and what we plan to include in future builds.

July Tech Demo Features
- UMA Character System
Using UMA (the Unity Multi-purpose Avatar system), we can now generate a vast range of character models on the fly, without needing to model each one individually. This also allows for deep customisation, which is opened up to the player in-game with the UMAzing asset from the Unity store.

When you select 'Create Character' in the main menu, you will be taken to a screen that lets you generate a random character and then customise them to your liking. At the moment, the choice of clothing is very limited, but in later builds, we will improve this by adding custom clothing items including hats, coats, trousers and shoes that suit the game world better.



Once you've saved your character, you can select them in the 'Play Game' menu, and choose the mode you want to play (Single-player recommended).



- Basic Sailing
Sailing will be one of the core mechanics of Hearts of Oak, and this build includes a very early system that lets you take command of a ship and use the W, A, S and D keys to steer and set the sails. Simply approach a nearby ship and click on it to take control.

At this stage, there are no animations for the sails or other parts of the ship, so keep an eye on the 'Sails' value in the bottom right corner to see what 'percentage' of sails are currently set.





In future builds, this system will be heavily modified to allow setting of individual sails, or cycling through a series of preset sail states, depending on your preferences. And, of course, expect to see sail animations and moving yards later on.

If you're wondering what happened to the St Albans model, fear not! The galleon in this build is just standing in while we work out a few issues with importing the St Albans and getting her working properly.

- Open World Environment
This build includes a sparsely detailed set of small islands to test the performance and feasibility of an open world environment. At present, objects are rendered within 2000m of the player's position, but this may change with further tests.

You can sail to any island you can see in the same scene, without loading screens. Depending on how the performance holds up when scaled to include full Caribbean islands, this is essentially what we're aiming to achieve for the final game.



- P2P Networking
As a test, we have included Unity 5's new UNET P2P networking system. This is mostly to allow developers to collaborate in a shared game world (hence the chat window), but eventually this can be expanded on to introduce full multiplayer modes.

We only recommend giving this a try if you are familiar with Unity already, but depending on the amount of interest, we might be able to provide some tutorials on how to use this at a later date.

- In-game Editor (experimental)
This is another tool aimed at making development easier, which should allow our artists to add and move assets to the game while in the game itself. Currently, this only works if you have Unity installed, but in future it should offer a streamlined way for artists to populate islands with props, buildings and scenery.

Monthly Release Schedule
We should also explain at this point that we have a new approach to when and how new builds will be released.

Our new lead developer, JohnSilver, is keen to release new builds on a monthly basis, which pushes the team to prioritise new content and features, and allows us to more rapidly prototype without getting bogged down on specific details.

What this means is that, from this point on, we are aiming to have a new build ready towards the end of each month, and a news article to go with it. Additional articles might be posted between releases, but that will depend on the time and resources we have.

We are currently working towards the full Proof-of-Concept Demo that we hinted at in the past, and although we can't be sure when it will be ready, we will still be releasing another build next month in whatever form it takes.

How You Can Help
As of now, there are two ways you can help with the development of the game: either through testing the new build, or contributing to future builds.

If you want to test the game, you can start right away by downloading the new tech demo. We need feedback from players to improve the game, and the things we want to hear about include:

• Performance - How well does the game run on your PC? What settings are you using (screen resolution etc.) and what are your PC specs?
• Gameplay - Is the game easy to play? Are the controls intuitive?
• Bugs and glitches - Have you experienced anything unusual while playing?
• Networking - Can you successfully set up a game with two or more players online? Does the game perform well during multiplayer?

All feedback, both positive and negative, is greatly appreciated. We remind you that this build uses placeholders though, so please bear that in mind when posting any comments about graphics or model quality.

If, on the other hand, you'd like to join our development team and help shape the game's future, then don't hesitate to contact us through our recruitment forum. As we rely entirely on volunteers, the more people we can get working on the game, the better.

What we currently need includes:
- C#/Unity developers
If you're familiar with C# and/or working with scripts in Unity, you can help! If you're interested in working on the gameplay mechanics with our developers, and you have plenty of time to spare, you might be exactly who we need!

- Artists of all kinds
We still need to produce an uncountable quantity of assets for the game, including props, architecture and ships. If you're an able 3D artist, we always have something for you to do.

With the integration of the UMA character system, we will also need people to produce custom clothing items for the base characters. This will have a very noticeable effect on the visual quality of the game, so this is a high priority role!

Remember, we're looking for volunteers only. If you want to join the team, please check our List of Development Roles for details.

That's it for this month's progress; we'll have more updates for you soon!
Don't know what the Hearts of Oak project is? Take a look at our Frequently Asked Questions for more information.

​