POOP DECK Playtest · published
## New
- **Fourth Rate warship** — a hulking 50-gun two-decker joins the fleet, purchasable
for 1000 gold in both Trade and Deathmatch modes. It hits harder than anything else
on the water, with a full broadside on each deck.
- **Frigate visual refresh** — the frigate has been rebuilt from scratch with a
hand-modeled hull, real cut gunports lined with run-out cannons on both sides, a
reinforced bulwark, and a full eleven-sail suit (square sails fore and main, a
mizzen topsail and topgallant, a spanker, and twin headsails up front) for a much
richer silhouette under way, and she sits a touch larger on the water now too. Sink
one and it now breaks apart into solid, properly shaped wreckage instead of the old
placeholder debris.
- **Custom Ensign Workshop** — design your own flag from the main menu. Pick a field
color, a pattern, and an emblem from a curated palette, save up to 8 named designs,
and fly your own colors into battle instead of picking from the catalog.
- **Dev Sandbox** — a free-play testing ground in the lobby, clearly labeled "(dev
testing)". No match clock, no win condition, every ship and upgrade is free, and you
can spawn practice enemies to fight or flee from.
## Changes & Balance
- **Fourth Rate polish pass** — added topgallant sails fore and aft, retuned the sail
shapes for a fuller look, filled both decks out with 50 visible cannons, gave her a
proper wooden finish on the hull, deck, and spars, pulled the chase camera back
further to suit her size, and reworked her handling so she turns with the weight of
a real two-decker — noticeably less nimble than the Galleon, as a ship this size
should be.
- **Half sail turns as well as full sail** — reefing down to half sail no longer costs
you turning ability. Ships now turn just as tightly at half sail as full sail
(often a touch tighter), instead of being penalized for slowing down.
## Fixes
- Cannonballs fly smoother and battles with a lot of them in the air generate less
network lag.
- Big multi-ship battles with heavy cannon fire (like a Fourth Rate's full broadside)
no longer thin out or drop cannon-fire effects.
- Fixed ships occasionally getting stuck or shaking in place near certain coastlines
and islands.
- Wreckage from sunken ships now drifts with the correct orientation for every ship
type.