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Hearts of Oak Weekly Update 8 Find out how to donate to our project in this week's article, and take a look at how we're progressing in the Unity engine! Welcome to another edition of our Hearts of Oak progress articles! Each week*, 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. Following the recent announcement of our switch to the Unity engine, we have some details to share regarding donations, as well as the latest information on our development progress. Fundraising Due to the Unity Pro licensing and many available add-ons, we have started to accept donations to reduce the costs for our developers. Even a single Unity Pro license that we need for improved functionality and graphics costs USD1500. We have already raised the first 1500 dollars through an internal round of donations within in our own team, but that's only the beginning. If you would like to contribute as well, you can do so through Paypal using the Donate button onHeartsOfOakGame.com. We are publicly listing the latest status, including proper credit to those who donated, here on our forum. We are currently looking into the feasibility of added perks for those who donate. These may range from having your name used in the game to receiving a "Hearts of Oak" t-shirt. Anything that we decide on will be retroactively provided to everyone who donated before to ensure that nobody is missing out. All releases of the game will remain completely free as this is and always will be a fully non-commercial project. None of our developers get any of this money for personal use as 100% will be used to further the development itself. In other words, these donations are completely voluntary and nobody is required to make any unless they want to. However, all contributions will be much appreciated and we promise to put them to the best use that we possibly can! Engine Development - Ship proxies This video explains how a ship's collision detection is handled, and how that affects the character's movement on board. - Ship buoyancy Here we show how the ships react to the waves, and how different mass values affect this movement. - Ship firing points The 'firing points' are our solution to gun placement on ships. They provide an intelligent system for determining the maximum gun size a ship can accept at each gunport, eventually allowing the player to create custom batteries, even within the same decks. These points also work with the gunport lids, so guns can be run out or stowed with the lids opening and closing accordingly. Top Contributors Below are the latest members of our development team to be recognised with our Top Contributor award in recent weeks: RobinPC - For his continued contributions to our project, especially to terrain development, and his willingness to learn and improve. Dario - For his dedication to laying the foundation on the quest writing effort and his willingness to do whatever needs to be done to help move this forward. Mask - For his valuable work on establishing the formatting of the quests, as well as developing methods for working together on writing multi-branched stories. Their contributions have been invaluable to the game's development, and we hope to give out more of these awards soon! 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 while we're aiming to post a new article each week, we can't always manage this, but we will post articles as regularly as we can! http://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674766SeaLeftEnd42px.pnghttp://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674766PA_Icon42pxSea.pnghttp://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674767HoO_Icon42pxSea.pnghttp://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674767Twitter_Icon42pxSea.pnghttp://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674767FB_Icon42pxSea.pnghttp://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674768YT_Icon42pxSea.pnghttp://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674768SeaRightEnd42px.png

Hearts of Oak Important Update We've been busy making some crucial decisions about how to move Hearts of Oak forward. Read on for all the details... Ahoy everyone, This week's article is slightly different than usual, as we'll be focusing on an important announcement. A few weeks back, you'll remember us announcing our upgrade from the free CryEngine SDK to the 'Engine-as-a-Service' (EaaS), a paid subscription to the latest version of CryEngine. You may also have heard that this upgrade came with a few setbacks, which at the time were somewhat frustrating, but we were confident that we would eventually overcome them. Now, though, the reality of the situation is very different. A number of severe engine bugs have shown up, breaking hundreds of hours' worth of hard work, and there was (and remains) little sign of proper fixes from Crytek any time soon. These setbacks managed to halt our progress to such an extent that, unfortunately, we had to find a more viable alternative than CryEngine. This brings us to the following announcement: We have now chosen to use the Unity engine to develop Hearts of Oak. http://media.indiedb.com/images/articles/1/166/165860/auto/Unity_300x125.png We understand that this decision may leave you with a lot of questions, so please watch the video below and read the following FAQ for more information behind the engine change. Here are some of the points covered in the video, detailing what's being worked on now and what will be done in the near future: Current progress: - Functioning ship with opening/closing gunports, basic buoyancy and detailed physical proxies - Simple ocean waves with deformed mesh in foreground, texture based waves in background - Simple ocean shader with transparency based on terrain - Short camera controller for character navigating the ship in first person - Time scaling, also affects physical interactions - Very basic quest and dialogue systems To do: - Write a less expensive cloth renderer for sails, and to receive shadows - Import functioning guns - Create ship movement which responds to wind object - Dynamic weather system - Implement segmented terrain system - Dynamically render islands from heightmaps Engine Change FAQ Why are you abandoning CryEngine? Unfortunately, it's mostly down to the quantity of bugs that made it very difficult to progress with development, and the disappointing lack of support from Crytek to fix these bugs. Switching to the EaaS set us back by several months' worth of work because of the bugs and undocumented changes it introduced, which needless to say, did not go down too well with our developers who were paying for the subscription. Why did you choose Unity in its place? Initially, we chose Unity as a temporary solution to the CryEngine's progress-halting bugs. The plan was to flesh out as many game mechanics as we could, and transfer the code back to CryEngine once the bugs had been fixed. However, the more we used Unity, the more we noticed its potential. It soon became clear that the content pipeline to get assets into the engine was vastly quicker and more efficient in Unity, and that our programmers had much more freedom to implement the exact features we wanted. We also liked the modular nature of the engine, with a wide variety of addons available to help speed up development. In a space of a couple of weeks, we were able to replicate a few months' worth of CryEngine work in Unity, and by that point it was clear that we could make this game happen in a fraction of the time by switching to Unity outright. I thought you said you were committed to CryEngine? We were committed to it, but it seems CryEngine wasn't committed to us, if you will. If the EaaS hadn't set us so far back in development, and if the bugs were fixed and new features properly documented, we probably would have stuck with it. Are you sure this is the best choice? Rest assured that we're making the right decision for the good of Hearts of Oak. Our developers are now more enthusiastic than ever, with the enhanced flexibility and workflow of Unity giving us great confidence that this engine will help us make Hearts of Oak a reality. But CryEngine looks so GOOD! Can Unity replicate those visuals? Yes, CryEngine looks better than Unity out of the box, but with very little work we're already well on our way to making a test level that looks quite close to CryEngine. We're confident that we'll have something just as good later in development. Don't you need Unity Pro for fancy graphics? Technically, yes we do. It's quite expensive, but we do plan to raise funds to help pay for the licenses. More details on that below. I thought you weren't going to raise money for Hearts of Oak? There are a number of things that forced us to reconsider. Firstly, apart from the Pro license, there are numerous paid addons that would aid the game's development significantly. Secondly, we have received offers of donations from some people over the past few months, so we decided that accepting donations to cover the aforementioned costs would be a sensible idea. To be clear, we will only ask for voluntary donations, and we plan to use this money to pay for licenses, addons and other development costs. As we remain a non-profit team of volunteers, we won't pay individuals to contribute to the game. We will, however, keep strict control on how the funds are allocated. We will only provide funds for software licenses to team members who have earned our trust, and only if they need that software. We'll also be sparing with the engine addons we purchase, so no matter who donates or how much they give, the money will be put to good use. How can I make a donation to the project? We'll have more details on how you can donate soon. That's all for this week. We know it's a lot to swallow, so don't hesitate to contact us on our forums if you have further questions. We'll return to the usual update articles very soon, so keep checking back for the latest development news! http://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674766SeaLeftEnd42px.pnghttp://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674766PA_Icon42pxSea.pnghttp://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674767HoO_Icon42pxSea.pnghttp://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674767Twitter_Icon42pxSea.pnghttp://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674767FB_Icon42pxSea.pnghttp://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674768YT_Icon42pxSea.pnghttp://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674768SeaRightEnd42px.png

Hearts of Oak Weekly Update 7 Part 2 Scenery and Props - Cart and buckets; Wedori More props with which to decorate the game world, both made to a high quality. http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/Cart1.jpg http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/Buckets1.jpg - Shipping crates; SuperChango This is a selection of containers of different types. From left to right: a wood-reinforced box, an iron-reinforced box, and a flush box. http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/ShippingCrates1.jpg Below is a group of logos, or Merchant's marks, that will be randomly applied to these boxes in the game. http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/MerchantMarks1.jpg Environment Here we'll show how the game world is coming together, with content demonstrating lighting effects, time-of-day transitions and environmental design. - Tavern interior lighting; RobinPC This tavern, built by SinKing, is being brought to life by RobinPC who is applying realistic lighting effects in the engine. http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/TavernInt1.jpg http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/TavernInt2.jpg - Test Island progress; RobinPC This is one of the latest attempts to create a realistic Caribbean environment, from the lighting effects to the colour of the sea. http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/TestIslandSea1.jpg 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 time, we're taking a look at a piece many of you have probably heard already: "Hearts of Oak", a theme song composed for the game by Flannery. As always, you can listen to the piece via the link below, and read some comments from the composer about how he came up with the track. Hearts of Oak - Final Mixdown.mp3 Flannery wrote: This was actually the first piece I made for Hearts of Oak, and the sketch for it was initially a test to show my worth to come on board the HoO team. To brake the piece down as simple as possible: I wanted the piece to depict different notions about being at sea - different weather, different daily chores on and below the deck, the thrill of the chase, and of course the battle. The initial melody is the scout, watching the horizon for easy prey and dangers. Then the strings come in depicting the heartbeat and the adrenaline rising. Then we have the cello which introduces the main underlying melody, which is copied by other instruments through out the whole piece. This is meant to be the rolling of the waves. The initial dramatic drums depict the sailors getting the ship ready for battle or the chase. The other themes and melodies throughout the piece depict everything from boarding a surrendered ship, sailing through storms, washing the decks, dividing loot, taking prisoners and so on. Also a funny fact - one if my ideas was to really forward the feeling of rolling waves, hence why the theme has this underlying melody that keeps going up and down throughout most of the piece. But also, when you look at all the notesheets for it all, almost every instrument creates a wavelike notion with the notes, so the notesheet itself looks like a sea of waves. 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! Vacancies We still have a few high-priority vacancies that need to be filled to help us make further progress on the game. As a reminder, all of these developer roles are NON-PAID positions. Current priorities are as follows: - Character Modellers - Other 3D Artists - User Interface Developers - Texture/Shader Artists - Engine Programmers/Scripters For role descriptions and how to join the team, click 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 while we're aiming to post a new article each week, we can't always manage this, but we will post articles as regularly as we can!

Hearts of Oak Weekly Update 7 Sorry about the late update I've been dealing with computer problems If you're a fan of the astonishing 3D artwork and unforgettable music our team members produce, you're in for a treat... Welcome to another edition of our Hearts of Oak progress articles! Each week*, 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 a wide range of impressive models, engine screenshots and music to share... 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. Architecture - WIP Chapel; Wedori A high-detail period chapel, featuring full interior. The interior itself isn't complete, but the building is otherwise perfect for many in-game towns. http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/Chapel1.jpg http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/Chapel2.jpg http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/Chapel3.jpg Weapons - Sabre Concept Art; SuperDurnius Continuing his latest trend, SuperDurnius has produced another great piece of concept art, this time on the subject of sabres. http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/Concept_Saber.jpg - WIP Rapiers and Daggers; SuperDurnius Here's another work-in-progress shot of some rapiers with different hand guards. You'll also notice some daggers, which borrow parts from the rapier models. http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/WIP_Rapiers_Daggers.jpg

Whenever I try to upload a file to the nexus my memory usage get really high and the computer start freezing, I'm not sure why I have 8gb of ram and I'm trying to upload a large file 3gb

Well I'm excited for the game' and when witcher 2 came out it really pushed pcs, Im sure this one will be no different.

Hearts of Oak Weekly Update 6 Part 2 Ships - HMS Southampton progress; Captain Armstrong This ship is drawing ever-closer to completion with the addition of chainplates, shrouds and deadeyes, which form part of the masts' climbable rigging. Other new details added include the capstan, stove, gratings, wheel, and pinrails. http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/Southampton1.JPG http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/Southampton2.JPG Weapons - WIP Axe render; SuperDurnius This is a render of the axe model we showcased last week, which shows off the range of materials used on both the axe and its holster. http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/Axe_Galva02-Rankena02.JPG - Rapier concept art and models; SuperDurnius As with last week's axe concept art, SuperDurnius has now drawn up some concepts of rapiers for the game: http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/Concept_Rapier.jpg Below are some work-in-progress rapier models, demonstrating how some of the concepts are being brought to life. http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/Rapier1.JPG http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/Rapier2.JPG Scenery - Market Stall; Chas Here's a simple market stall in its early modelling stages. You'll probably see variations of the completed model scattered throughout the game's islands. http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/MarketStall1.png Vacancies We still have a few high-priority vacancies that need to be filled to help us make further progress on the game. Since several of these roles remain largely empty or in need of more hands on deck, we're now including more details about each role and how it fits into the big picture. As a reminder, all of these developer roles are NON-PAID positions. Character Modellers We need people capable of modelling and animating character models for use in the latest CryEngine build. Currently we have no dedicated artists in this role, yet it's probably the most crucial one to fill at this point. You will be expected to carry out the engine export process yourself, or to learn how to do it yourself. Familiarity with the engine is desirable, but not necessary if you're willing to learn your way around it. You will not be expected to produce concept art for these characters, but you are welcome to do so. If you're not a character modeller but know someone who is, please do tell them about our project! Other 3D Artists As well as the above, we need artists capable of creating a wide range of other assets for the game. Such assets include, but are not limited to: - Ships (these are highly complex models that require skill and dedication to make) - Buildings (including full interior) - Weapons (such as melee weapons, pistols, and cannons) - Scenery props (smaller assets that are easier to make and will help populate the game world) You will be expected to produce the 3D models and UV maps only, and use textures provided by the team. If relevant textures do not exist, you may make them yourself or ask a 2D artist to do it for you. It is highly desirable for you to handle the export process yourself, or to learn how to do it yourself. We can offer help and advice concerning your chosen asset(s), as well as written tutorials on proper model set-up for engine export. User Interface Developers We need artists willing to help design and produce a working GUI and HUD for the game. You will be expected to know how to design a working interface with a suitable program, and it is desirable for you to be capable of importing it into the engine. You will not be expected to produce concept art for the interfaces, but you are welcome to do so. Texture/Shader Artists We need artists willing to support our 3D modellers by producing high-quality textures and/or materials for their assets. You will be expected to know what kinds of textures to produce (including diffuse, specular, normal map etc.) and/or how to create realistic materials in the engine. You will not be expected to produce UV maps for the 3D assets, as they should be provided by the modeller (unless you choose to make them in cooperation with a modeller). Engine Programmers/Scripters We need people capable of working with our development team to help produce core game systems. You will be expected to have a knowledge of the relevant programming languages, and preferably an understanding of how to work with the engine. If you are unfamiliar with the engine, you must be willing to learn how to work with it yourself. You will not be expected to design the game systems yourself. We will provide details of what needs doing and when it needs doing. To apply to join the team, please head over to our Recruitment Forum and introduce yourself. No formal qualifications are needed; you just need some free time and enthusiasm, though experience is desirable. If you know someone else that might be able to help, please point them in our direction! In Other News... T-shirts Do you wish you had an awesome Hearts of Oak t-shirt? Of course you do! http://media.indiedb.com/images/articles/1/163/162451/auto/08ATtpd.jpg Unfortunately, this shirt designed by Thagarr is currently a one-off, so you can't have one. It is, however, extremely cool. If you happen to see Thagarr wearing this shirt out in the wild, be sure to give him a high-five! - Happy Independence Day to our American devs and fans! 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 while we're aiming to post a new article each week, we can't always manage this, but we will post articles as regularly as we can!

Hearts of Oak Weekly Update 6 In this week's article we have a multitude of new buildings, ships, weapons and more... including a t-shirt! Welcome to another edition of our Hearts of Oak progress articles! Each week*, 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. We have a shipload of new content to share with you today (be careful how you say that), including more fantastic models of all varieties. Engine Development - Launcher App; Captain Murphy This is a sneak preview of the interface that will greet you in our upcoming playable tech demo. We hope to share more details about the tech demo very soon, but in the meantime, here's what Captain Murphy said about this launcher: Captain wrote:It will work hand-in-hand with the coming features of the packager to be able to adjust the startup settings of the game by adjusting the *.cfg files before it fires the executable. This gives us a nice clean startup appearance without making people click the sdk launcher icon. http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/LauncherPreview1.png 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. Architecture - New Buildings; Wedori Here are two new high-detail buildings, both will full interiors and interactive doors. Blacksmith's house: http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/Blacksmith1.jpg http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/Blacksmith2.jpg http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/Blacksmith3.jpg Farmhouse: http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/Farmhouse1.jpg http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/Farmhouse2.jpg Terrain - Test Island progress; RobinPC Here's a new shot of the test island, showing a natural barrier that will keep the player from straying too far from the main playable areas. Each rock you see has been carefully placed by hand to make the formation look organic and non-repetitive. http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/TestIsland1.1.jpg If you're worried that barriers like this will restrict your freedom to explore the game's islands, rest assured that there will still be huge, interesting areas of land to traverse! Robin has even hinted at the inclusion of Easter eggs on this island, so curious players will be rewarded...

Hearts of Oak Weekly Update 5 Part 2 Weapons - Axe concept art and models; SuperDurnius This is a fantastic piece of concept art for various types of axes for the game: http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/Concept_WorkingAxe.jpg And here's a work-in-progress model, featuring different handles and a holster: http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/Capture.JPG 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 have a folk song produced by J. Cava, which could be played in taverns in the game. Below is a link to the track, along with some comments from the composer. Pirate Tavern J.Cava wrote: I began to think about pirates in the tavern drinking rum, playing, betting, fighting. Explaining cursed treasure stories and music playing underneath. I also looked for some pictures in Google to inspire. I'm a musician who likes adventure stories, sword fights and the music of other eras. I like to collect instruments and use them in my recordings.So in this piece I mix traditional/folk instruments and their corresponding midi. Such as mandolin, guitar, whistle, tabor, spoons(and drunken pirates chanting "Hey!!"). Stay tuned for more original music soon! Vacancies We still have a few high-priority vacancies that need to be filled to help us make further progress on the game: - Character modellers (we still don't have any!) - Other 3D artists - User Interface artists - Texture/shader artists - Engine programmers/scripters To apply to join the team, please head over to our Recruitment Forum and introduce yourself. No formal qualifications are needed; you just need some free time and enthusiasm, though experience is helpful. Please note: this project is non-commercial and so we are not offering payment to team members. If you know someone else that might be able to help, please point them in our direction! Remember, we're a volunteer community and we can't make this game happen without your help! 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 while we're aiming to post a new article each week, we can't always manage this, but we will post articles as regularly as we can! http://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674766SeaLeftEnd42px.pnghttp://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674766PA_Icon42pxSea.pnghttp://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674767HoO_Icon42pxSea.pnghttp://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674767Cry_Icon42pxSea.pnghttp://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674767Twitter_Icon42pxSea.pnghttp://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674767FB_Icon42pxSea.pnghttp://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674768YT_Icon42pxSea.pnghttp://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674768SeaRightEnd42px.png

Hearts of Oak Weekly Update 5 See new models, hear more music and find out why we're one step closer to the first playable release in this week's article... Welcome to another edition of our Hearts of Oak progress articles! Each week*, 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. It's back to 3D modelling news this week, with more music and some great progress towards the first playable release... Engine Development - CryEngine Packager; Captain Murphy No in-game footage in this video, but Captain Murphy explains the details of his new utility that will allow us to easily package the game files for release. This brings us one step closer to the first public tech demo release, of which you'll hear more details soon! 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. Terrain - Test Island; RobinPC Here are some new shots of a test island that RobinPC is working on, and some comments to explain them: RobinPC wrote: So I'm expanding the test island from Wedori and making the shores look a lot more realistic... http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/TestIsland1.jpg RobinPC wrote: But I also wanted to include a very thick scary jungle pathway all across the island for the player to explore in. In the picture you can see a part of that stuff happening... So it's basically a work in progress jungle. http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/TestIsland2.jpg Ships - HMS Shannon progress; Alex Connor Alex has rebuilt this ship from the ground up, vastly increasing the amount of detail. http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/Leda14.jpg http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/Leda16.jpg

Thor Glad to see your interest. We are trying to advertise on a lot of sites actually though it's a completely free game we still want people to know about it, I am taking charge of advertising on this site because I was the one familiar with it, though I just edit these updates to better fit on Nexus forum someone else is writing them in our community the originals can be found: http://www.indiedb.com/games/hearts-of-oak/news I think their is plans to try to do steam green light when the game is more progressed

Hearts of Oak Weekly Update 4 This week we've got some new music for you to enjoy, along with a glimpse at our new-look website! Welcome to another edition of our Hearts of Oak progress articles! Each week*, 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. Today we're mainly focusing on music, but we've also got news on both engine and website development. Engine Development - Wwise non-commercial sound license Following the upgrade to the CryEngine Engine-as-a-Service (EaaS), it's now necessary for us to use the Wwise sound system for the game. The free version bundled with the engine has a limit of only 200 sounds, which would quickly become a problem for our game due to the scope we're aiming for. Therefore, Captain Murphy has been in talks with Audiokinetic to negotiate a non-commercial license for Wwise, which will lift the 200 sound limit and allow us to pursue our non-profit goals for the game. We are pleased to report that they have now granted us this license, so the main drawback with the EaaS has been addressed! Website Development Brand new look for HoO site In case you weren't aware, we have an official site for the game over at Heartsofoakgame.com which is constantly updated with the latest news, videos, images and more. This site is meant as a companion for the PiratesAhoy! forums, and presents all the Hearts of Oak news and media in one place. Some of you may have already visited the site, but until now it has only had a temporary design. That has now changed as we're redesigning it to look more professional and easier on the eyes. The design is meant to be consistent with the minimalist aesthetic that we're planning to use for the game's interfaces, and which is already represented in the logo itself. Below you can see a design concept by Ashinokami, upon which the new website is based, which demonstrates this aesthetic very well: http://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/162/161122/auto/Website_test3.jpgpsid1 The website design is still a work in progress, so please do visit the site and let us know what you think! 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 from Flannery called "The Tale of the Gall-Gaidhel", which is a rough sketch at this stage. You can listen to it below, and then check out his comments on the track: The Tale of the Gall-Gaidhel sketch.mp3 Flannery wrote: The piece is a very Gaelic inspired piece, with some elements of Norse folk music - which is intentional - hence why it is called "The Tale of the Gall-Gaidhel". The Vikings who settled down in Dublin (and western Scotland & the Isle of Man) - and who embraced the Gaelic language and culture - essentially became known as the "Gall-Gaidhel". Translated it means Norse-Gaels or Foreign-Gaels (but only used on Gaelic speaking Norsemen). These people (as so many others) are seafaring ancestors to many a soul who sought fortune in the Caribbean later on. Also, much of the more common music in America (folk music) from the colonial era has its origins in medieval Celtic music (Irish/Scottish/French). (Not talking about the classical music here, as this was reserved only for the rich and privileged.) There will be a "tavern" version of this as well later on, without the orchestral parts in the background. 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! Vacancies We still have a few high-priority vacancies that need to be filled to help us make further progress on the game: - Character modellers (we still don't have any!) - Other 3D artists - User Interface artists - Texture/shader artists - Engine programmers/scripters To apply to join the team, please head over to our Recruitment Forum and introduce yourself. No formal qualifications are needed; you just need some free time and enthusiasm, though experience is helpful. Please note: this project is non-commercial and so we are not offering payment to team members. If you know someone else that might be able to help, please point them in our direction! Remember, we're a volunteer community and we can't make this game happen without your help! 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 while we're aiming to post a new article each week, we can't always manage this, but we will post articles as regularly as we can! http://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674766SeaLeftEnd42px.pnghttp://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674766PA_Icon42pxSea.pnghttp://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674767HoO_Icon42pxSea.pnghttp://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674767Cry_Icon42pxSea.pnghttp://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674767Twitter_Icon42pxSea.pnghttp://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674767FB_Icon42pxSea.pnghttp://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674768YT_Icon42pxSea.pnghttp://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674768SeaRightEnd42px.png

Thor I agree it really is a beautiful engine and yes we are using the dev kit on steam the top video on our most recent update talks about it and some text under it why we are using it and what that means.

Vindekarr We are planning to make the entire Caribbean open world this is very early stuff here, just so you can sorta get an idea of the look of the game we won't be using Crysis game map, but I'm glad you mentioned that I never thought about that confusing people I don't want to give the wrong impression so I changed some images on the topic post and added the statement: Early Images Nothing Final.

Hey Thor that is exactly what it is going to be like its going to be what Bethesda's Pirates of the Caribbean should have been with better graphics more realistic and tons of features. We are always happy to get a new fan and you can check out our main forum if you want to see more stuff http://www.piratesahoy.net/categories/hearts-of-oak-conquest-of-the-seas.131/