Greetings, Captains!
Following our recent transition to the new Godot engine, we have continued improving stability, restoring existing features, and refining the overall gameplay experience.
Today's update focuses on critical startup fixes, combat behavior, world map improvements, and interface polish.
Critical Fixes & Stability
- Windows Startup Crash Fixed: Resolved an issue where the game could silently close without an error message if the Windows username contained non-English characters, including Korean or Japanese.
- Automatic Language Detection: When no language preference has been saved, the game now starts in your operating system's language. Unsupported languages default to English.
- Character Name Localization: Fixed certain character names appearing in English or Korean instead of the selected language.
- Improved Crash Logging: Logs now retain the final recorded messages when the game unexpectedly closes, helping us investigate crashes.
Combat Improvements
Combat AI & Fleet Commands
- Premature Retreat Fixed: We corrected an issue where weaker fleets could retreat just 45 seconds after the battle started without firing a single shot. Fleets now only consider retreating due to a strength disadvantage after actual combat has occurred. This applies to both Career and Campaign battles.
- Fleet Movement Fixed: Fleets that automatically dropped anchor to maintain position will now raise anchor and proceed when given movement orders.
- Anchor Indicators Restored: Anchor icons are displayed beside ship medallions when a vessel is anchored, lowering its anchor, or raising it.
Visual Effects & Immersion
- Improved Cannonball Water Impacts: Cannonballs hitting the sea now produce more natural water columns that rise, spread, and collapse into the ocean.
- Cleaner Crew-Level Views: Ship selection rings and firing-range overlays are now hidden in first-person and third-person crew views to improve immersion.
Amphibious Landing Fixes
- Siege of Havana: Transport ships now correctly carry their intended 300 landing troops.
- Penobscot Expedition: Transport ships now correctly carry their intended 200 landing troops.
Career Mode Improvements
Navigation & World Map
- Improved Map Clouds: Replaced the previous clouds with more realistic visuals and removed the overlapping double-cloud effect.
- Navigation Arrows Fixed: Corrected route arrows pointing in the opposite direction of travel.
- Map Camera Controls: The camera can now be rotated by dragging with the middle mouse button. Camera movement is restricted to the map boundaries.
- Zoom-Out Adjustment: Limited excessive zooming out on the world map.
- Player Ship Visibility Fixed: Resolved an issue where the player's ship could disappear from the world map after departing a port.
Interface & Journals
- Assets & Supplies Buttons Fixed: Corrected buttons that remained permanently disabled.
- Docking & Departure Buttons: Replaced the previous controls with illustrated icons.
- Captain's Log: Updated its appearance to resemble handwritten ink on parchment.
- Voyage Journal: Restored the handwritten journal presentation for a more authentic historical atmosphere.
Campaign Mode Fixes
- Command Menu Restored: Fixed nonfunctional buttons in the bottom world-map command menu, including the Officer and Map sections.
- Research Technology Tree Fixed: Restored the missing technology tree in the Research window.
- View City Button Fixed: Restored the View City function in the Military Base window.
General UI Improvements
- Larger Command Icons: Increased the size of circular command icons for better readability and interaction.
- Larger System Controls: Settings, Help, and Game Speed buttons have been enlarged to at least their previous sizes.
- These changes apply to Career, Campaign, and Battle interfaces.
Crash Reports & Log Files
If the game crashes or closes unexpectedly, please include the relevant log file when reporting the issue.
Windows:
%APPDATA%\Godot\app_userdata\Ship of the Line\logs\godot.log
macOS:
~/Library/Application Support/Godot/app_userdata/Ship of the Line/logs/godot.log
Your logs and detailed bug reports are extremely helpful in identifying and resolving problems.
The recent engine transition was an important step toward improving performance, visual quality, and the long-term development of Ship of the Line.
Our priority now is to make sure existing content runs reliably on the new engine while continuing to improve gameplay and visual presentation.
Thank you to everyone who has supported this transition, reported issues, and shared feedback. Your involvement makes a real difference, especially for a solo developer.
There is still more work ahead, and we will continue improving the game with each update.
Fair winds and following seas, Captains!
— Ship of the Line Developer