IrishJohnGames, the solo developer behind the upcoming pirate simulator Rise of Piracy, has updated fans on the development progress of the simulator as the Early Access release gets closer.
Throughout December, development was focused on the following areas:
- Player Progression
- Reworking the Mission System
- Improving the Trade System
- General Balancing
- Quality-of-Life Improvements
These areas are all on time for the Early Access release. In fact, while there’s not a set date for the Early Access release date for Rise of Piracy, IrishJohnGames said there’s “very little left to do” for the Early Access version of the simulator.
Player progression is now put in motion at the start. A super successful early game sets players up well for the later areas of the game, and players can bounce back from rough starts a bit easier at the beginning.
For missions, there are now difficulties that help players level up faster. There are five new mission types here, and leveling up quicker helps that sense of early-game player scaling.
The trade system is a bit more intuitive, with quality-of-life changes made to show players where resources and goods are found.
Additionally, there were several placeholder texts removed throughout the month’s development. Now, there aren’t many left to remove before Rise of Piracy enters Early Access.
Players can check out a full list of items that have been changed here in the official development update.
As for upcoming work, most of the development time will be spent on polishing what’s already there, specifically the UI and audio design. IrishJohnGames uses feedback from fans in Discord, streams, and playtests to find new things to fix and work on.
However, there are no plans to add many more new features to the game before its Early Access release, a sign that the release is getting closer.
As this release gets closer, IrishJohnGames plans to update fans more quickly, as well.
Rise of Piracy is a simulator that gives players a bit of money and a ship before letting them set sail and grow their naval empire. Between diplomacy, combat, and the potential for piracy, players will be able to make their own stories when it’s released in Early Access on PC.
For more news on similar simulators, check out Ships at Sea and Seafarer: The Ship Sim.