So I thought I would wait to release this story until I was fairly certain it was true. It appears that POTEHO is being released in English. Yeay!
On Feb 18th one of the members of Blackmark Studio's DEV staff answered questions for us.
According to Joruba, “The game will be released in mid-spring, we likely won't be able to release it in March so you can count on April for sure. I will provide you with more details later.”
Joruba added that this is not simply a Russian mod like SOFS was to AOP:CT. This is a brand new Akella game in the series, but not being developed by all of the same players, hence the name change. He goes on to say: “POTEHO has dozens of quests, a solid plot, new ships, weapons, items, new trading, fencing, artillery and crafting systems. Every single element of the game was rebalanced or redone. There is a huge difference between POTEHO and COAS, you're gonna like it
I knew this had to be the case. If you simply look at the YouTube vids of the game, there is tons of new content. Dozens of new ships, characters, locations and items. It looks REALLY GOOD!
I was concerned that the program files wouldn't be released as part of the game build because the version I downloaded from STEAM only offered the RESOURCE files. In order to be able to mod the game in the future, it is essential that it have an open Program folder. Some Russian modders have complained about this in the past as well. Concerned I said:
“It is my opinion that Akella's other games such as COAS, - would never have enjoyed their continuing popularity and would never have been sold in the large quantities that they have (in the west) if it weren't for all the mods that this (Pirates Ahoy!) community has built into them.
Joruba answered: “I agree with you completely. The thing is that all rights belong to the publisher (Akella) and only they will make a final decision. We will do what we can but I am sure that there is nothing for you to worry about. I am 90% confident that English speakers will get a fine version of the game with unlocked PROGRAM folder. Just as usual. Feel free to use the game's resources.”
I'm glad he said this as the files are open source anyway in the STEAM release, but I have added a lot of their visual model and texture resource content to my soon to be released GOF: Eras mod.
Pieter Boelen added: “...we (Pirates Ahoy!) will do what we can to promote your work through all means that we have available for sure!
Joruba ended the dialogue with appreciation: “Your help will be most appreciated guys. It's my job to make English speakers familiar to POTEHO and I am really glad to get such a warm welcome here. Feel free to ask me any questions and expect more info in the nearest future.”
So if you want to find out more or see the current status or ask questions, go to the topic thread here: http://www.piratesahoy.net/threads/pirates-odyssey-to-each-his-own.19934/
We look forward to seeing this great new game very soon!
MK