Hi everyone, I've been working on a pretty large update to the game which includes quite a bit of stuff, and I think it's about time to make it available in the experimental branch for testing. It still has a ways to go so I expect it to remain in the preview branch for a while longer while I bug fix and finish additional content not yet enabled in this release.

The biggest changes so far are combining the world/local map into 1 radial menu item, the addition of the spyglass, and the world entity system. The map now shows a wind field to help plan your sailing routes better, this will shift over the course of in-game days! The spyglass is obtained during the tutorial and is used to spot distant locations and ships. The entity system allows for fully persistent AI boats that travel around the world in the same way you do, and can be encountered out in the Deepblue or within locations. This completely replaces the old system of simply spawning a few NPCs randomly at each location.

This is compatible with old saves, but as usual your save will not be portable back to the old version of the game (see below for instructions on recovering your original save file).

If you have the game on Steam and would like to opt-in to the beta, you can do so by right-clicking the game in your Library, selecting Properties > Betas, and choosing `public_preview` from the dropdown. You'll see `1.6.0` at the bottom right of the in-game options screen if you're on the beta.

It is very important to note that if you do this your save file will become incompatible with the old version! The game will automatically create a backup of your original save on load, which can be found on Windows at `%appdata%\..\LocalLow\Festive Vector\Sail Forth\boat-game-old.save`

If you want to return to playing the old version before the update is released, replace `boat-game.save` with `boat-game-{previous version}.save` Otherwise you can continue playing your save in the public preview branch until the update is fully released. The previous version should be `1.5.8` if you were playing on an up to date build of the game.

Unlike previous betas I've done, this one is going to be longer, and I expect a lot of changes to be coming into the preview branch as there is still at least one major feature I intend to add. This means things will probably be less stable than usual, so please be ready to experience *bugs*. For instance, the Free Sail mode is likely broken at the moment due to the new entity system, which will of course be fixed but is just a low priority right now in terms of getting the update ready.

If you find a bug you can now report it directly from the game, using the 'Feedback' option found in the pause menu. This is helpful for me as it includes a copy of your save file, the log, and a screenshot which makes it much easier for me to find and fix the bug.

• Area Map and World Map are combined into a single item on the Radial Menu
  
• Map marker can be viewed and placed from the zoomed out world map mode
  
• Map identifies unexplored locations
  
• Unexplored locations cannot be fast traveled to
  
• Map now shows the global wind field in the background
  
• Wind is now a continuous field across the entire world, shifting over time
  
• World Entity system: Enemy and friendly boat NPCs are now persistent entities in the world
  
• NPC boats have their own agenda and travel around the world freely
  
• Players can now encounter these boats out in the Deepblue
  
• Added new Enemy Fleet entity type, lead by a large pirate flagship
  
• Added Croaker Subs as a potential NPC type, which will patrol Autumn Isles and engage pirates/tekk clan
  
• Some NPC boats have custom names, visible in Spyglass view
  
• Added new Spyglass key item
  
• Acquired in tutorial instead of first map fragment
  
• Used from Radial Menu to spot distant locations and ships
  
• Can place map marker directly from Spyglass when looking at a Point of Interest
  
• Will be retroactively added to existing saves that have completed the tutorial
  
• New large class ship: The Swift, a light brigantine rigged ship
  
• Revised final boss battle to hopefully be less tedious and more fun
  
• AI ships will try to tack against the wind to reach their destination faster
  
• Skull ships will use cosmetics to express themselves
  
• (PC Only): Custom sail decals can now be loaded from the game’s save folder
  
• New art assets for birds
  
• Better preview when customizing boat sails and colors
  
• Moontide weapon fx are less blindingly bright
  
• Player reputation is better tracked by civilians and merchant ships, engaging in piracy should have more consequences now
  
• General perf improvements to rendering
  
• Bugfix: Fix some cases where some encounters like the Shell Shop might fail to spawn in the location they are said to be in
  
• Bugfix: Xbox should properly recognize DLC on launch, fixing issue that could result in DLC items being stripped from save file
  
• Bugfix: Final boss should no longer get stuck in first phase
  
• Bugfix: Shell Shop no longer sells first item for free
  
• Bugfix: Potential error in fast travel route planning causing the route to be longer than necessary
  
• Bugfix: Potential error in Moontide rescue animals encounter
  
• Bugfix: The ‘Glubsugnite’ fish now spawns in the biome it is said to spawn in
  
• Bugfix: Moontide intro should occur properly when entering Pine Peaks for the first time
  
• Bugfix: Skull Summoning Circle is properly shown in the map legend
  
• Bugfix: Escorts should not target boats the player is currently boarding
  
• More to come...

• Improvement: New weapon, the Arcane Sun Lance
  
• More to come...