Playtest Update v0.4.0 — Spoils Worth Choosing

major update

Pirate Twist Playtest · build 24122471 · published

On SteamNotes only · this build shipped before we watched the app

Playtest Update v0.4.0


Six days to Early Access. This build is about what victory hands you — and about making every screen in the game feel like it came off the same shipwright's bench.

💰 Rewards, rebuilt

  • Every reward is now one painted card. Post-fight spoils, Lucky Treasure bargains — one anatomy everywhere: painted medallion, the number in warm gold, a rarity seal, and a category tint so you can read an offer at a glance.

  • The REWARDS screen got a full redesign — ENCOUNTER CLEARED header, cards that deal in one by one with a chime as each lands, and module drops that finally say what KIND of thing they are (CANNON, RAM PROW, HULL PLATING…).

  • Lucky Treasure got hero treatment — new hand-painted medallion icons for all three bargains, a cleaner rounded panel, and god-rays that stay in the painting where they belong.

⚔️ Combat feel

  • GUNS SILENCED / DEAD IN THE WATER — when your grape shot empties a deck or chain shot shreds the last sail, the battle log now calls the break state so you KNOW the ship is yours.

  • Chain and grape shot hit twice as hard and the sail-slow now lasts 8 seconds — specialist ammo is a real strategy, not a flavor pick. The ammo market explains what each shot type actually does before you buy.

  • Heavy Cannon reloads in 4s (was 6), Lookout crews scoop loot from much further out, and cannons no longer mount mirrored in Ship Maintenance.

🧭 One UI standard, every screen

  • The pause menu is brand new — rebuilt from scratch, with clean confirms and an Esc that finally behaves: overlays close first, then the menu, then the chart. Every time.

  • Every screen swept onto the brass-and-mahogany standard — Ship Maintenance, Captain Picker, Codex, Leaderboards, Credits, toasts, banners. Same cards, same buttons, same gold.

  • The tutorial is tighter — four stops (pirates → treasure hunt → lucky treasure → boss), a sandbox that keeps nothing and touches nothing, and hints on proper buttons.

⚖️ Balance & fixes

  • Deckhand difficulty is now genuinely easy — enemy stats ×0.60 and smaller rosters. Learn the ropes without losing your hull.

  • Captain skill points no longer vanish if you discard unsaved changes, the Daily Shipwright stopped offering dead stock, and wood drops trimmed so gold stays the treasure.

💬 Join the crew on Discord

Every patch this close to launch is steered by playtest reports — if something feels off, that's where it gets fixed first:👉 Join the Pirate Twist DiscordFair winds! ⚓