PotC: New Horizons - Build 14 Beta 3 Released!
More pirates! More Caribbean! More history! And more seafaring!
With all game-breaking bugs fixed, existing content finished and several long-awaited features added in, this is easily the most playable and enjoyable version of the famous Pirates of the Caribbean Build Mod ever released!
Build 14 Beta 3 is now available as a Full Version to be installed on top of the unmodded game or any of the prior modpack versions.
This includes fixes for some massively annoying problems that have plagued previous releases, such as "quests randomly not executing" and "lost profile on saving". Additionally, a lot of work was done to make this release much more polished than previous ones.
Improved Interfaces and Customization Options
While Build 13 allowed character and ship selection on a new game, we lost that feature when the Storylines were introduced into the modpack. This functionality has now made a full and improved comeback. And instead of picking from a limited set of choices, you now have the choice out of ALL the content in the game! Various selection filters can help you on your way.
It is even possible to select your own personal and pirate flag from all the flags in the game. Both before starting a new game, but also during the game using the completely revamped Nations Relations interface.
In addition to the below, just about all the interfaces have been improved to look better than before, with much of the graphical content being updated and corrected to match up properly throughout the game.
For a complete overview of all the improvements made to the game interfaces over the past ten years, refer to the PotC Build Mod: A History in Interfaces article on our official PiratesAhoy! website. This features a complete side-by-side comparison of the old and the new, starting with the stock game ones all the way to the Build 14 versions.
Geographically and Historically Accurate Caribbean
One of the coolest elements introduced with this release is the completely redone worldmap. The unmodded game took place in a complete fictional archipelago and earlier modpack versions made the world vaguely resemble the Caribbean. Well, you can scratch "vaguely" this time!
All islands are in their proper spots and even the Central American coastline has been added. Additionally, all worldmap flags have been updated to be both period-correct and add the missing ones for the United States of America. This helps a great deal in making the game feel much more real. And the Map Interface also has some new functionality!
Additionally, nearly all islands in the game have been improved. At the very least, they have lighting errors solved, but Saint Martin, Antigua and Curacao have had their towns and forts updated to match with the shore models too. Not to mention that you can sail along the Central American coast using DirectSail too.
As part of this, the city of Cartagena that was alluded to in previous releases has now been added into the game as a fully functional town. And as icing on the cake, the town's fort is the actual San Felipe fortress that you can also find at the real Cartagena in present-day Colombia.
All the ship encounter code has been revised and corrected as well, which results in much greater variety in the encounters while remaining period-correct. Even better, there are now Spanish Treasure Fleets consisting of several heavy-loaded galleons with heavy escort, just waiting for you to make your move!
One of the coolest elements introduced with this release is the completely redone worldmap. The unmodded game took place in a complete fictional archipelago and earlier modpack versions made the world vaguely resemble the Caribbean. Well, you can scratch "vaguely" this time!
All islands are in their proper spots and even the Central American coastline has been added. Additionally, all worldmap flags have been updated to be both period-correct and add the missing ones for the United States of America. This helps a great deal in making the game feel much more real. And the Map Interface also has some new functionality!
Additionally, nearly all islands in the game have been improved. At the very least, they have lighting errors solved, but Saint Martin, Antigua and Curacao have had their towns and forts updated to match with the shore models too. Not to mention that you can sail along the Central American coast using DirectSail too.
As part of this, the city of Cartagena that was alluded to in previous releases has now been added into the game as a fully functional town. And as icing on the cake, the town's fort is the actual San Felipe fortress that you can also find at the real Cartagena in present-day Colombia.
All the ship encounter code has been revised and corrected as well, which results in much greater variety in the encounters while remaining period-correct. Even better, there are now Spanish Treasure Fleets consisting of several heavy-loaded galleons with heavy escort, just waiting for you to make your move!
Conquer the Caribbean!
Getting your crew to follow you where you lead them should be your first step towards world domination. After all, an unhappy crew is a mutinous one! This means that you should make good use of the Double Rum Rations and Divide the Plunder options. And be careful who you assign as captain on your companion ships. If they don't agree with your philosophies on what is right and wrong, you might find yourself with some unexpected enemies!
If your capers turn out successful, you may find yourself with several enemy captains as prisoners in your cargo hold. This can also be quite profitable as you can ransom them in ports and get some extra doubloons that way. But will you hoist a false flag and sail into a port of their own nation for the full ransom or would you settle for less a profitable but also less risky visit to a more friendly town?
And when you're using false flags, be careful where you swap them out! If you do it close to unsuspecting ships, it will be considered treason and you may be recognized for doing so when you wander around in ports later on.
But the best part comes when you decide that attacking ships at sea just is not enough. So prepare a battle fleet of huge ships and assault the towns' forts. After you have decimated the town garrison, the governor will be quickly convinced to see things your way. And then it is up to you: sack the town, give it to another nation or have them pronounce you as absolute ruler!
Thousand Curses (OK, perhaps not quite that many)
Every seafarer worth his salt knows that it is bad luck to kill an Albatross. But what about an Albatross that is already dead? Turns out those are even worse! If you encounter these at random, getting rid of them will not be easy. After all, everybody ELSE in the Caribbean knows about this as well and they don't want to bring it upon themselves.
So will YOU be able to track down the one person who can help you out?
But insatiable greed can bring an even worse curse onto yourself. There is an island that cannot be found, except by those who already know where it is. And on that island is a chest. And in that chest are 882 gold coins. But the heathen gods laid upon the gold a terrible curse for all that would take but a single coin from that chest.
So what happens if you take all 882, then? After all, turning into a super-strong skeleton at night-time could have its uses. Especially if your crew joins in on the fun! After a while, your ship will get a cursed appearance as well, which looks especially fearsome when you have a whole fleet of them. Imagine installing those super-canons on a gunboat. That could make for an interesting challenge!
Fun Stuff
Several guns, such as the musket, Jack Sparrow's pistol and Clint Eastwood's "magical" one now allow you to manually aim at your enemies in true First Person Shooter style. Just draw your blade, press Tab and wreak havoc on whoever you feel like placing on the receiving end of some nice lead balls!
This feature doesn't photograph well; much more fun in the game!
And for those who enjoy to blow their enemies to kingdom come, captain Hendrick Vanderdecken, seller of one-of-a-kind ships, now has a new and improved deal. He does not care about the minimum calibre of cannons to be installed on your ship and he's got some massive guns available indeed!
Heaving Anchor
The above is, of course, but a very brief and incomplete overview. For full details, refer to the "Build Info.txt" file in your main game folder.
Every seafarer worth his salt knows that it is bad luck to kill an Albatross. But what about an Albatross that is already dead? Turns out those are even worse! If you encounter these at random, getting rid of them will not be easy. After all, everybody ELSE in the Caribbean knows about this as well and they don't want to bring it upon themselves.
So will YOU be able to track down the one person who can help you out?
But insatiable greed can bring an even worse curse onto yourself. There is an island that cannot be found, except by those who already know where it is. And on that island is a chest. And in that chest are 882 gold coins. But the heathen gods laid upon the gold a terrible curse for all that would take but a single coin from that chest.
So what happens if you take all 882, then? After all, turning into a super-strong skeleton at night-time could have its uses. Especially if your crew joins in on the fun! After a while, your ship will get a cursed appearance as well, which looks especially fearsome when you have a whole fleet of them. Imagine installing those super-canons on a gunboat. That could make for an interesting challenge!
Fun Stuff
Several guns, such as the musket, Jack Sparrow's pistol and Clint Eastwood's "magical" one now allow you to manually aim at your enemies in true First Person Shooter style. Just draw your blade, press Tab and wreak havoc on whoever you feel like placing on the receiving end of some nice lead balls!
This feature doesn't photograph well; much more fun in the game!
And for those who enjoy to blow their enemies to kingdom come, captain Hendrick Vanderdecken, seller of one-of-a-kind ships, now has a new and improved deal. He does not care about the minimum calibre of cannons to be installed on your ship and he's got some massive guns available indeed!
Heaving Anchor
The above is, of course, but a very brief and incomplete overview. For full details, refer to the "Build Info.txt" file in your main game folder.
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Is it enough to say that I play POTC for hours most every day and it has recently gotten much better? 
