Ahoy, matey, from lead designer Markku Pitkänen and myself Brendon Neuwerth, once Pirate, now producer for Pirates of Black Cove! We’ve got together to share with ye how this little piece of Pirate Loot came to be.
If ye know Nitro Games, then ye’ll know from our previous titles that we, “Arr, have a hearty liking,” for anything Piratical. In fact, we are one and all likely descendants of bastard sons of sailors, Sons of Biscuit Eaters, as they say.
So what do ye think the outcome was when we put it to the team and asked ’em what they wanted to do next? Aye, ye guessed it spot on. Pirates ahoy! But this time we wanted to throw historical accuracy to the wind. So we all got loaded to the gunwales and started brainstorming how we could achieve this goal. Aye, it was concluded that by taking typical RTS elements, some pieces of eight town management, some fantasy and adventure, and finally a special mix of top down RPG – well, we might just pull it off!
By this point most of the gunwales effect had passed, and we actually needed to start fleshing this Pirate doubloon out. The thing to note is when ye are essentially creating a hybrid of 2 or more genres, it doesn’t always make sense to have a rigid design that ye follow. By the powers, we typically follow the agile method o’ design, which allows us to not only foresee needed changes in direction, but actually change direction when needed.
So we cracked out the agile design, and the next step was to get this to the art director, who in turn worked with the artists to create the visual pallet for the design, which was particularly useful because it put all the Jacks on the same furner (a ship which be yer own, not one ye steal an’ plunder).
Shiver me timbers! Now that we have hit alpha and the design and development is coming together as planned, we can start talking more about the premise of Pirates of Black Cove:
At the start o’ the game, and after ye have selected yer character of choice, we toss ye into the Caribbean with a fistful of information on the whereabouts of each factions’ stronghold. We have four main factions, three of these live by the pirate code – pirates, buccaneers and corsairs, each with their own unique units and ships – and the fourth faction, the bad to the bone Pirates of Black Cove. These baddies are not for the Lily-livered! They live by no mortal code, and in fact it is rumored that they may be descendants of the man himself.
There are three main goals to be achieved, lest ye walk the plank and end up at fiddlers green: champion each of the three factions, unite them, and ultimately use yer new-found strength to place the black spot on the Black Covians, and become “king of all pirates”.
The three pirate code factions are:
Corsairs: fast and light Jacks, good at Hit and Run tactics, though they cannot take much punishment
Buccaneers: excellent in ranged combat, as they have the best firearm Jacks
Pirates: good all-around faction with especially strong melee combat skills
In each of the three factions, ye’ll be findin faction quests as well as side quests to gain the reputation needed to champion each faction, and storyline missions that advance the story.
Ye’ll be able to choose from three playable characters, two Jacks and a Jill, each with their own unique skills and abilities. This means ye can choose yer character based on how ye typically approach this type of game. As yer character and heroes gain levels, ye can select new skills to further aid yer character and their troops in battle.
The world is focused and manageable. Ye can go were ye like, but it doesn’t take forever to get thar.
At sea ye’ll find rival nations engaged in battle, and it is up to ye to join in with some of the wacky weapons ye have, or just leave them battle it out on their own. Keep a sharp eye, for ye may encounter some mermaids or even the odd Kraken sighting.
Land battles are fought in colonial settlements and in various special locations. Controls are the basic RTS-type for fast skirmish type gameplay. Yer unit amount available in each battle is tied to the amount o’ heroes ye have. Each hero increases the amount of Jacks ye can control in each battle by three. To gain access to better Jacks, ye need enough reputation to construct the Jack building and hire that Jack type.
Aye, Jacks and wenches o’ fortune, that’s a wrap for the inaugural dev diary for Pirates of Black Cove! Markku and I have enjoyed sharing some of the insights in this little piece of Pirate Loot, and look forward to sharing more from the rest of team in the weeks leading up to the release. Don’t be walkin’ the plank in the meantime!
