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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/

I don't think they have a conference in E3 so unlikely

Hearts of Oak Weekly Update 3 This week we've got some exciting engine news to share, along with some more high-quality 3D models! 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 slightly shorter update this time, but we still have some big news to cover. Engine Development - Switching to Engine-as-a-Service With Crytek's recent release of their CryEngine Engine-as-a-Service (EaaS), we have decided to move over to this service to take advantage of the new features it offers. In the video above, Captain Murphy explains what's new in the EaaS, what we've managed to move to it so far, and what this means for future development. This change is bound to spark a lot of questions, so here's a short FAQ that should cover the main points: Briefly, what is the EaaS? It's a paid subscription service from Crytek which is available through Steam for 9.90EUR/USD per month. It grants full access to the latest version of CryEngine, the same used to power the Xbox One title Ryse: Son of Rome. What new features does it have? The most important feature for us is the ability to release the game as a standalone application that does NOT require the Free SDK to launch. This means we can keep the game free without the hassle of requiring every player to download the SDK to play it. As for other features, this version introduces Physically Based Shading and the Wwise sound system, along with various other improvements. Does this mean everyone on your team needs to pay this subscription? No. Only the developers responsible for compiling the code into a release will need to pay the subscription. Other developers and artists can continue to use the Free SDK to import their assets and test them in-engine. Do I need to be a subscriber to play the game? No. Any version of the game we release, including demos, betas and the final version, will not require the subscription to play. Have the minimum system requirements changed? Yes. Here are the latest requirements for the End User (player): - Operating System: Windows Vista SP1, Windows 7, Windows 8 - CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 2GHz, AMD Athlon 64 X2 2GHz or better (multi-core processor is strongly recommended) - Memory: 2 GB RAM (4 GB recommended) - Video Card: NVIDIA series 400, Radeon HD 6000 Series or better (DirectX 11 minimum) Developer requirements for using the SDK are mostly the same, except the need for a 64-bit system with 4GB RAM minimum. If you still have any unanswered questions about us switching to the EaaS, please let us know in the comments. 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 - Various buildings; Triglav Here are some buildings produced by Triglav that are based on photos of real ones on Caribbean islands: http://media.indiedb.com/images/articles/1/161/160243/auto/oSzAnS9.jpg http://media.indiedb.com/images/articles/1/161/160243/auto/IaOE4E6.jpg Terrain - Island concept; PianoPolish CryDev user PianoPolish recently created his own fictional Caribbean island of Margaret, inspired by Pirates of the Caribbean. We were very impressed by this and have now asked him to join our development team as a level artist. Below you can see a few screenshots of this island with the St Albans in the background: http://media.indiedb.com/images/articles/1/161/160243/auto/screenshot0011cljob.jpg http://abload.de/img/screenshot0013dej2m.jpg http://media.indiedb.com/images/articles/1/161/160243/auto/screenshot0014fluo1.jpg You can view the original island here (Warning: image intensive!). Ships - HMS Southampton 1757; Bava and Captain Armstrong Captain Armstrong has been working on completing Bava's HMS Southampton model for Hearts of Oak, which was begun a long time ago for the Storm engine. The ship was one of two classes of the first British built frigates armed with 12pdrs, rather than 9pdrs. Being launched in 1757 at the start of the Seven Years War, it was built to counter French 12pdr armed frigates that had been in the French navy for a decade already. http://media.indiedb.com/images/articles/1/161/160243/auto/6.JPG http://media.indiedb.com/images/articles/1/161/160243/auto/7.JPG http://media.indiedb.com/images/articles/1/161/160243/auto/8.JPG - HMB Endeavour; ODemuth ODemuth has made more progress on the cabin of the Endeavour recently: http://abload.de/img/065uyjyu.png http://abload.de/img/066ffkp3.png 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 literally 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!

Hearts of Oak Weekly Update 2 part 2 Terrain - Beach textures; Wedori Using some clever material settings and textures, Wedori has been busy working on some realistic beach textures that bring the landscape to life. These create the illusion of depth and immense detail without wasting polygons, to make a flat surface seem rough and weathered.I think you'll agree the results speak for themselves: http://media.indiedb.com/images/articles/1/160/159362/auto/screenshot0007efsz4.jpg http://media.indiedb.com/images/articles/1/160/159362/auto/screenshot0003ogsyz.jpg Ships - Endeavour progress; ODemuth ODemuth has been doing a lot of work on the interior of his Endeavour recently, and below you can see a cut-away section of the ship that shows off the details he's managed to include so far.The captain's cabin in particular has been given a beautiful floor! http://abload.de/img/06234jbj.png http://abload.de/img/061s1s79.png Scenery - Coins; Wedori Gold! Yes, these are accurate 3D models of gold coins; Spanish escudos, to be precise.Below is an image from a modelling program showing several eight-escudo coins: http://media.indiedb.com/images/articles/1/160/159362/auto/screenzpay7.jpg For a larger image showing half, 1, 2, 4 and 8-escudo coins in the engine, click here.And did you know: the term "doubloon" comes from the Spanish "doblón" (double), referring to a two-escudo coin. Music To give you a taste of what's to come, we're showcasing an original track in each article, produced by one of our talented composers.Last time, we showcased "Post Captain's Lullaby" by Flannery, and this week we've got a little more about what inspired the track and how it was made. This YouTube clip of a performance by "The Itinerant Band" was discovered by Post Captain, and shows the original tune: Flannery recently contacted the band to find out what the tune was called, and here's an extract from their response: Quote:The tune being played is called "Childgrove." It is an old English country dance tune, dating from around 1701. It was originally published as part of an ongoing collection of dance tune books published by John Playford and his descendants titled "The English Dancing Master." The Youtube video rendition was an adaptation of an arrangement that we recorded on our CD "The Road Out of Town" and you can hear a clip of the full recording on our distributor's site here: Cdbaby.com Below are Flannery's thoughts of this piece of music, and how he composed his own unique version of it: Flannery wrote: I immediately fell in love with the theme of it, and the whole dramatic and theatrical aspect of it grew instantly to the idea you have heard so far. I plan to make it a little longer, and I have a few other themes that will intertwine with what is there now - but that's how it all came to be. I had no original name for the piece though - as the YouTube clip never mentions this, and Post Captain himself did not know. But I kind of like the name I gave it. Even though it bears Post Captain's name, and it felt like a way to give him credit - it also has a more deep, and creative meaning to it I guess... I just pictured a lone ship sailing - a small naval ship - where its captain (or Post Captain) feels safe in his quarters, and is about to go to bed - blowing out the candle lights... This is the intro part with only the dulcimer alone. Kind of merry and light on its feet. But as the lights go out... a dark shadow is barely visible in the wake of the unsuspecting ship... a pirate ship glides out of the mist - closing in on the naval ship. This is the dramatic tone of the cellos and bassoons - and from this point on the music kind of speaks for itself - it's the chase, being caught, boarded and defeated. Hence there is a kind of ironic and sarcastic tone in the name "Post Captain's Lullaby". At least that's how the music comes to me in pictures while I compose. It's writing a story with tones and emotions. Stay tuned for more original music next week! 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 (and other 3D artists) - User Interface artists - Texture/shader artists - Engine programmers/scripters Remember, we're a volunteer community and we can't make this game happen without your help! Do YOU have the skills and the enthusiasm to fill one of these roles? Head on over to our recruitment forum and introduce yourself! Do you know someone else that might be able to help? If so, please point them in our direction! Please note: this project is NON-COMMERCIAL and so we are not offering payment to team members. In Other News... - New Horizons Build 14 Beta 3.2 released! In case you missed it, fans of our popular mod for Pirates of the Caribbean will be pleased to hear that we have a new update now available.You can download the mod right here: Moddb.com To read more about the new version and its content, take a look at the release article here. - GOG campaign for PotC and CoAS Have you always wanted to play one of our excellent mods, but never been able to get hold of the games needed to make them work? Well, this might be our best chance at making legitimate digital versions of PotC and CoAS available online. All you have to do to support us is vote for these games over on GOG. If either game gets enough votes, it might be considered for digital distribution on the site! To vote for PotC (the game needed to play our New Horizons mod), click here. To vote for CoAS (the game needed to play the Gentlemen of Fortune mods), click here. For more information, check out our more detailed article. 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 2 World Map concepts, Spanish gold, a behind the scenes look at a musical composition and more await you in our latest 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.We've got a couple of new items to share this week, along with a few more from recent months that we couldn't fit in the previous article. Engine Development - World Map prototype; Captain Murphy and Armada This is a basic concept for a functioning world map for the game, which could be used to travel quickly between islands.Using a high-resolution image of a contemporary Caribbean map, we were able to create a scene much like a chart table in a cabin... just a bit bigger! In this video, we show off some placeholder 'tokens' which could be used to represent the player's ship and other ships on the map, as well as a fort model.The idea is to change the ship model depending on the type and size of ship it represents, and the token bases will have different colours to represent the nationality. 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 - Fort tower; Wedori Here's an excellent stone tower perched on the end of a harbour pier, complete with a spiral staircase. http://media.indiedb.com/images/articles/1/160/159362/auto/screenshot0001pcrzr.jpg http://media.indiedb.com/images/articles/1/160/159362/auto/screenshot000364pky.jpg - Warehouse; Wedori Alongside the tower above, here is a highly detailed warehouse featuring a full interior. That's a lot of barrels inside... http://media.indiedb.com/images/articles/1/160/159362/auto/screenshot0004n8o7g.jpg http://media.indiedb.com/images/articles/1/160/159362/auto/screenshot00028uq9a.jpg http://media.indiedb.com/images/articles/1/160/159362/auto/screenshot0007g2qez.jpg

I feel like HL3 has been so hyped up over the years that no matter how good it is, I'll still be disappointed.

Hearts of Oak Weekly Update 1 For whatever reason some of the the picture didn't work properly and two videos so click links to view them A lot has been done on our historical seafaring game Hearts of Oak over the past few months. And it is now time to start sharing our recent progress. Look forward to a new article each week! Welcome to the first edition of our new Hearts of Oak weekly 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.As this is the first general update in several months, there's too much progress to cover in one article, so this week we'll stick to some of the highlights of recent development. Engine Development An impressive amount of progress has been made in the engine itself over the past few months, and lead developer Captain Murphy has been steadily producing some excellent video logs to illustrate this work.Today we'll focus on three videos in particular (all footage is pre-alpha): - Battle damage and sinking This video demonstrates a simple damage system that causes ships to list and eventually sink when taking damage from cannon balls. At the moment, a ship will tilt in a random direction when taking enough damage, but eventually we plan to make this dependent on where the ship would be taking on water when its hull is breached. - Gun sound effects and ballistics Here you can see the latest sound effects applied to cannon fire and damage, thanks to a generous donation of sound files. The video also touches on improved sinking effects and shot ballistics. You'll need to take the wind direction into account when firing! - Animating gunport lids Here's something you don't see in many seafaring games: opening and closing gunport lids! Each lid is hand-placed, hinged and animated by the modeller, and this information is fed into the engine to create the awesome effect you see in the video. 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 - Twilight of the Sun King models; (credit to original modellers) Moddb.com Thanks to a very generous donation, negotiated by Radetzky, we have acquired a large selection of buildings and other models that were originally intended for the cancelled Mount and Blade mod "Twilight of the Sun King". These are good quality models that will be incredibly useful for populating the game world early on, and we are very grateful to the modders involved in this donation! Here's a small sample of the many buildings they have allowed us to use: http://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674754havre1-3491738.jpg http://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674755mb15.jpg http://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/1399674755mb30f.jpg - Tavern; SinKing & Giony A highly-detailed tavern including full interior, modelled by SinKing, with further work done by Giony. Check out this video which shows a walkthrough of the building! - Small hut; SinKing A simple hut with a thatched roof. http://www.piratesahoy.net/attachments/cabana_alpha-jpg.15202/ - Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Guadeloupe (WIP); Ashinokami A beautiful French cathedral from 1736. http://www.piratesahoy.net/attachments/untitled-jpg.14059/ Islands - Jamaica height map detailing (WIP); RobinPC RobinPC has recently been bringing our height map of Jamaica to life, starting to cover it in foliage and dense jungle areas that will all be explorable in the game. http://media.indiedb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/155p2dl.jpg.png http://media.moddb.com/images/articles/1/159/158286/auto/301heea.jpg.png Expect to see more scenery added to this island soon, especially once we start getting a proper harbour set up! Ships - HM Bark Endeavour (WIP); ODemuth Hearts of Oak team 3D artist ODemuth has been building a highly detailed model of Captain Cook's bark Endeavour. The ship was built as the collier Earl of Pembroke in 1764, and was purchased into the Royal Navy and underwent alterations for his voyage in 1768. Her feats of exploration under Cook's command have made her famous, and as a result plans of her have been reproduced in high detail. She makes an excellent representative merchant vessel of the Seven Years' War era. WIP images: http://abload.de/img/035rfk6g.png http://abload.de/img/040aybkf.png http://abload.de/img/0425fb87.png http://abload.de/img/052k5jkw.png Here's a great video showing a test for the rudder animation: We're still investigating the best way to run animations like these in-engine, so this might end up looking slightly different in the game. - HMS Superb and unnamed Indiaman (WIP); Alex Connor Two fairly similar looking ships on the surface... http://www.piratesahoy.net/attachments/princessroyal02-jpg.16370/ ... but below is a great image showing the difference between the boxy hull profile of an Indiaman (left) and the more rounded profile of a warship (right). http://www.piratesahoy.net/attachments/princessroyal03-jpg.16383/ This difference in hull shape will have interesting effects on a merchant ship's handling compared to a warship in the game. - Nuestra Senora de la Santisima Trinidad (WIP); ZarethPL That's quite a name to get your head round! The famous Santisima Trinidad fought at Trafalgar, and was the Spanish flagship for many years. This version is how she would have looked when launched in 1769, and although not bearing her record-breaking armament of 140 guns until 1802, she's still a fearsome warship! http://www.piratesahoy.net/attachments/stern-jpeg.14804/ http://www.piratesahoy.net/attachments/stern2-jpeg.14805/ Weapons - 10ft brass sea-service 32pdr; Killick This is an English gun, built to 1719 regulations, and cast in 1723. It was designed by the former Danish Artillery officer Borgard, who had affected widespread changes in the British artillery system. http://www.piratesahoy.net/attachments/render11-png.16597/ http://www.piratesahoy.net/attachments/render12-png.16598/ - English 4pdr for HMB Endeavour; ODemuth A beautiful gun that was carried aboard Captain Cook's Endeavour. http://www.piratesahoy.net/attachments/4pdr_1-png.14718/ It even has the crest of King George III on the gun barrel: http://www.piratesahoy.net/attachments/4pdr_4b-png.14744/ Music To give you a taste of what's to come, we'll showcase an original track each week, produced by one of our talented composers. This week, we present "Post Captain's Lullaby", composed by Flannery. Ever wondered what the Hearts of Oak development video intro and outro music is? It's a theme based on a period piece of music and reimagined in Flannery's own style. The name is a working title, but you can listen to the full song (not final quality) here: Post Captain's Lullaby (MP3) Flannery has composed a significant number of tracks for the game, and although many are still sketches and not final quality, they're still worth showing off as a sample of the kind of style and atmosphere of music that we're aiming for in the game. 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 next week! Top Contributors Back in January, we started a new reward scheme to recognise the most devoted, hard-working members of our development team. I felt it would be appropriate to list those that have received the Top Contributor award so far, and what they've done to deserve it: Wedori - For providing multiple extremely-high-quality models for tests within CryEngine. Flannery - For writing professional, varied music and making the original Hearts of Oak Development Trailer Their contributions have been invaluable to the game's development, and we hope to give out more of these awards in the coming weeks! Vacancies We currently have a few high-priority vacancies that need to be filled, to help us make further progress on the game: - Character modellers (and other 3D artists) - User Interface artists - Texture/shader artists - Engine programmers/scripters Remember, we're a volunteer community and we can't make this game happen without your help! Do YOU have the skills and the enthusiasm to fill one of these roles? Head on over to our recruitment forum and introduce yourself! Do you know someone else that might be able to help? If so, please point them in our direction! That's it for this week's progress; be sure to join us again next week for more updates! 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!

Ok I got this up http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/1693438-hearts-of-oak-conquest-of-the-seas/?p=14583173

Hearts of Oak: Conquest of the Seas is a non-commercial PC game that is to become the historical seafaring game to end them all! Check Back for updates we try to do them weekly Fun, realistic gameplay on land and at sea, set during the Age of Sail, will provide extensive free play, exciting scripted storylines and intense multiplayer scenarios. Our goal is to allow anyone interested in the era to be able to live their dream! The gameplay will be similar in style to Akella's 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 boarding enemy ships and capturing forts a fast paced, hectic experience. Whether you want to enlist in a navy, lead an honest merchant life, or resort to piracy, Hearts of Oak will offer many hours of gameplay. Using the power of CryEngine, and the knowledge and talent of our artists, the game will deliver stunning visuals worthy of tomorrow's PC hardware. You'll be able to explore a vast open world filled with highly detailed locations, ships and characters. Weekly Updates We will be trying to make weekly updates to show you what we have been up too. I do not writes these updates just help them work well on this site so some of the images and video links don't work right on this site and some updates are in multiple parts do too image limits, so you can click on the links to view them or you can see them in their original form at: http://www.indiedb.com/games/hearts-of-oak/news Update 1-3 page 1 Update 4-6 page 2 Update 7 page 3 Help Wanted! At this time, we are looking for more volunteers who could fulfil any of the following roles: - Character modellers (we still don't have any!) - Other 3D artists - User Interface artists - Texture/shader artists - Engine programmers/scripters If you're interested in joining our team, please visit our recruitment forum and introduce yourself: Piratesahoy.net If you are unable to join our team, you can still help by spreading the word! If you know anyone with the skills we need, please do point them in our direction. Check out our official game sitefor more videos and pictures:http://heartsofoakgame.com/ Early Images Nothing Final http://media.moddb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/Editor_2014-01-15_15-32-50-44.jpg http://media.moddb.com/images/games/1/20/19616/screenshot0013dej2m.jpg

I was was wondering if the Nexus has a certain place where you can discuss games in development so that we can get some exposure and find some aid in creating it. The game will be free to play and made by the community. If your curious here a description of it Hearts of Oak: Conquest of the Seas is a non-commercial PC game that is to become the historical seafaring game to end them all! Fun, realistic gameplay on land and at sea, set during the Age of Sail, will provide extensive free play, exciting scripted storylines and intense multiplayer scenarios. Our goal is to allow anyone interested in the era to be able to live their dream!

sorry wrong article