Pixel Piracy?

[FlowerChild]

This game has caught my attention on Steam and is on sale this weekend, so was wondering if anyone had played it and what their impressions are while I ponder a purchase :)

There doesn't seem to be all that much info floating around about it yet. On the other hand, it appears to be a novel take on voxel gameplay so I'm feeling quite intrigued by it.

[FlowerChild]

Well, after watching a couple of vids I caved and picked it up. Having fun so far, and will present my impressions once I have a bit more play time under my belt :)

[BinoAl]

I saw that and almost bought it, but decided against it. It does look really interesting, though, and I'll probably get it at some point.

[FlowerChild]

Well, I'm certainly having some fun with it. Spent the afternoon playing it, and don't feel like I've come close to exhausting it yet.

I'll be very interested in seeing how they handle some of the design challenges here. Like in particular, how (or if) they'll introduce design constraints to the ship building so everyone doesn't wind up with lame looking floating boxes. With the way the combat system works, it seems like that's probably the most efficient design, which is a shame, as for awhile there I had a pretty cool looking pirate ship going. The thing is, in this case, you aesthetic choices can really wind up hurting you given you're basically throwing your house into combat situations.

[MoRmEnGiL]

Yeah, this is something I hate in games in general. The rule of cool should apply to game design. If it looks cooler, it should be better not worse :P

EDIT: Of course it's a matter of taste, but never has a cheese tumour of a ship looked cooler than a fully rigged pirate galley :P

[FlowerChild]

Yeah, hence why I'm interested how they resolve it. It's an interesting design challenge to be sure.

[DaveYanakov]

I would jump on it save for the fact I jumped on Windforge earlier. It seems like this Pixel Piracy is sort of a Craft The World meets open world roaming with big satisfying explosions.Going to have to pick it up sometime.

[FlowerChild]

I would jump on it save for the fact I jumped on Windforge earlier. It seems like this Pixel Piracy is sort of a Craft The World meets open world roaming with big satisfying explosions.Going to have to pick it up sometime.

Hmmm...no, I wouldn't make the Craft The World analogy.

After sinking a number of hours into it, I'd describe it more as "Pirates! meets a subset of voxel gameplay with a little FTL thrown in".

The creative aspect is limited *strictly* to your ship. So basically, you have a floating house you can build within a limited area out of certain parts, and which is subject to the design constraints of it being combat worthy. It's basically a mobile base, that you voluntarily subject to attack in order to progress.

On the "Pirates!" front it is obviously not as rich (at least not at present). There's no trading aspect (money is gained almost exclusively through conquest of either ships or islands), there's no managing multiple vessels (as far as I can tell, you can only have one), there's no ship navigation in combat or actual "sailing" involved (your ship really amounts to a stationary base that can move from region to region) and there aren't any of the additional bells and whistles like courting a wife or any of that stuff.

The FTL analogy comes down to how basically RTS-crew management is your primary concern in battle. It's nowhere near as rich there, but moving your little dudes around is what most of the gameplay boils down to. I would guess that the game may be developed in such ways that strengthen the connection too, as I could easily see an aspect of your ship slowly filling with water being introduced, and you having to deal with that, as opposed to them just sinking outright when they have a leak, that would be somewhat analogous to the pressurization mechanics in FTL.

However, having said all that, I still find it very cool. The ship mechanic is a very interesting way of putting the player's base under periodic attack while making when and the degree to which that occurs voluntary and introducing interesting design constraints into the building process. The "Pirates!" aspects, while light, are also engaging enough to give a real sense of progression and to give it a "one more turn" addictive quality.

Also, while I don't normally mention such things, it's frankly cute as all hell. The cartoony ultraviolence and poop humor throughout constantly brought a smile to my face while playing. So, very simple graphically but it has a very strong style all its own.

It's also not an easy game, and management of your ship can easily get out of control for a range of reasons. I actually stripped down my more boxy ship last night into something more reasonable as I just couldn't clear the poop from the decks fast enough to prevent a tantrum spiral and had to perform a number of reloads to find a solution that wouldn't result in what was basically an unrecoverable situation. I wouldn't recommend playing it on "hardcore" at present though, as there are many times where death comes a little too randomly to call fair, and a reload is in order. Like, at a certain point in the game enemy ships have a tendency to hit themselves with cannon while you're boarding, sending the whole ship and all your sailors into the drink in scenarios that are way too "oh...come on!" to accept.

Anyways, I still want to sink more time into it, but I'm comfortable saying that I find it a rather impressive title with a strong direction that's worth checking out.

EDIT: Actually, thinking about it more, I could see trading aspects really helping with the design consideration of creating vessels. If "goods" were actual blocks, and you had to load/unload them in dock (which would force designing your hold with easy access in mind) and protect them from damage by keeping them in a safer part of your vessel, I could see it making things more interesting. It wouldn't surprise me if that gets included at some point as it would benefit the more strategic aspect of the game, the ship construction portion, and the in-battle portion all in one go.

[Wafflewaffle]

Great, now Steam is spying on me and sending me discount cupons based on my seach history... Who wants a 25% off Pixel Piracy?!

[logorouge]

Great, now Steam is spying on me and sending me discount coupons based on my search history... Who wants a 25% off Pixel Piracy?!

According to Pixel Piracy's dev, the coupons were sent to all who own Terraria. That might explain it.

[Ozziie]

Great, now Steam is spying on me and sending me discount coupons based on my search history... Who wants a 25% off Pixel Piracy?!

According to Pixel Piracy's dev, the coupons were sent to all who own Terraria. That might explain it.

That makes sense. I have Terraria and I also have a gift copy of Terraria in my inventory. I now have 2 coupons if anyone would like them?

[Pfilson]

I also have 2 coupons and already have the game... so If anyone wants to get in on it (and the people above are out) let me know.

I have only played a little bit a few months ago and died pretty quickly, usually before I had enough money to get additional crew.. From what I've read they have added a lot since then and it may be a lot more survivable now, I'll have to give it another go.

[FlowerChild]

Everybody has coupons guys, because you can be fairly certain most people on these forums have a copy of Terraria. I don't think it's worth going on about further.

If someone is in need of one, they can make a request. Otherwise, this thread is getting filled with noise real quick.

[MoRmEnGiL]

If anyone is interested, Husky just started a blind tryout of this game

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTWi-TfZJHc

He literally knows nothing, so it is an honest first impression.

[Gunnerman21]

looks good i guess, but with most games these days looking at a wiki wouldnt hurt...