Blackreef Pirates!

[Thagarr]

I received a message yesterday from Indie Italian developer Subvert Games, they are working on a 3D pirate RPG called Blackreef Pirates! The game is based on the Unity engine, which seems to have become a very popular development platform recently. That means that the game is playable in your browser, and is currently being developed for PC, Mac, iPad and Android platforms.

According to their Facebook page, Blackreef Pirates is is a single-player adventure RPG set in a unique fantasy world full of treasure maps, wild beasts... and rum! I have spent the past few hours digging through the Dev Blog trying to find out as much about the game as I can. This is definitely not the type of game, or game play, that we are used to with POTC or CoAS.

The game is currently in Alpha, and there is a playable version over on the official Blackreef Pirates web page! The demo goes through the basics of combat and the basic controls currently in the game, and gives you a good idea of exactly what the developer is aiming for. Here is the latest video that subvert released on their blog :

The game has been in development for over a year, and there are a lot of Dev videos available on Subverts Youtube channel. Currently, the combat is all land based, but it wont end there, naval battles are definitely on the drawing board as well! the developer is looking for feedback, and what better place to get it than from a bunch of gamers who love pirates! At the moment there is no release date that I could find, but Subvert is curently trying to get the game on Steam's Greenlight!

Current features

• Unique and memorable non player characters that remember you and your actions.
• Complex yet immediate dialogue and interaction system.
• Fight alone or with your entire party for more tactical combat with a combination of melee, ranged and vodoo attacks.
• Optional combat AI: select a combat style for your companions or give them direct orders...you choose.
• Plenty of loot to use or equip.
• Extensive ability tree
• Arena mini-game with duels and tournaments.
• Cloud savegames: play from desktop or mobile

Planned features

• Trade
• Resource harvesting
• Craft
• Naval battles

If you like what you have seen so far, Subvert also has a forum setup, so head on over and and sign up and give them some feedback! You can find out more about the game, and find their forums HERE, you can also follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

 

[Walter Kennedy]

This looks very promising, Subverts are doing a good job on the fort. At first I was thinking this game would be a bit like Sid Meiers but this is different, I might just visit Subvert's forums later in the day.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

I could easily be wrong but methinks the Unity engine does not do realistic water.

 

[Thagarr]

I haven't found a Subvert video with water other than the fountain in the fort, but I think Unity can do some pretty decent water. I am really curious to see just what they plan on doing with ships!

I did a quick Youtube search, and these two videos should give you an idea of just what is possible with Unity.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Those are pretty videos but they do not show anything actually floating on the water. Hammie already has a floating ship in UDK.

 

[Thagarr]

Aye mate, Hammie is doing an excellent job! I was just posting the videos for reference for what was possible for Blackfreef Pirates, I was not suggesting that we change engines for our game development.