PixelMonsters Windrose

Ahoy, captains!Time flies, and we’re back with another look at what’s coming in Ashlands. If you’re new here, welcome aboard! And if you’ve been following Windrose for a while, welcome back!This is the second entry in our series about how ships are changing as part of Ashlands, our next major update. If you missed the first part, you can read it here — we covered our general approach to ships in the update, as well as the changes coming to interior customization.This time, we’re heading outside.As mentioned previously, exterior customization will become broader and more flexible. Some visual options that were previously tied to faction-specific ships will become part of a wider customization system, alongside new elements we’re planning to add. The idea is to give you more freedom to shape your ship’s appearance and make it feel more distinctly yours.So if the “S” in your ship stands for style, you might like what comes next.Surf the waves in styleThe updated system will give you more control over individual parts of your ship’s exterior, with more customization slots, more elements that can be selected independently, and greater control over color. In practice, this translates into several changes to how you’ll be able to shape your ship’s appearance. Firstly, there will be more individual customization slots. These include the figurehead, hull decor, stern, and helm — elements that were previously tied to faction-specific ship designs. With Ashlands, these parts will be separated from those predefined combinations, allowing you to choose them individually and build a look that better fits your own ship.Instead of selecting a faction ship and inheriting its complete visual identity, you’ll have more freedom to borrow the elements you like and combine them with parts from elsewhere in the customization system.Secondly, as before, you’ll be able to choose your sails and flags independently. These already play a major role in defining a ship’s silhouette and identity at a glance, so keeping them separate remains an important part of the system.After all, what kind of captain can’t choose the flag they sail under? ’Tis hardly a captain at all.Thirdly, you’ll be able to choose different color schemes for the aforementioned elements. This adds another layer of control on top of the individual parts themselves: two ships using similar structural elements can still end up looking quite different depending on the colors you choose for them.Fourthly, these changes will be accompanied by interface updates designed to support the expanded customization system. With more slots, more visual options, and more combinations available, the UI also needs to make those choices clear and easy to navigate.We’re therefore adjusting the customization interface so that the additional options remain readable and manageable rather than simply adding more choices to the existing layout.Finally, we’re introducing a dedicated customization camera. Previously, ship customization relied on static preview images, which made it harder to get a proper sense of how individual elements would look on the ship itself. With the new camera, you’ll be able to view your ship directly in-game while making changes, move around it, and get a much clearer look at the details you’re adjusting.With more individual elements to customize, we felt it was important to give you a better way to see those choices come together before committing to them.And, of course, everything you see here is still a work in progress. We’ll keep polishing and expanding on these systems as development continues, and your feedback, comments, and impressions will remain an important part of that process. As always, we’re looking forward to seeing what you think once you get your hands on it.In Flying ColorsTaken together, these changes are intended to make ship customization considerably less restrictive without losing the visual character of the ships already in Windrose. Faction designs will still provide a strong source of identity and inspiration, but individual elements will no longer have to remain locked together simply because they originally belonged to the same ship.Ultimately, we want your vessel to feel increasingly like your vessel — not only in terms of what you build and keep aboard it, but also in how it looks when you see it waiting at the dock or approaching on the horizon.And we’re not done talking about ships just yet. We’ll have more to share about the broader ship rework as we get closer to Ashlands. Until then, start thinking about how you’d like to balance style, character, and just the right amount of intimidation. Yours in style, — Kraken Express

Auto-posted from the developer's official Steam announcement.

Ahoy, captains!As you may have noticed, we just revealed the release window for our next update, Ashlands, in the trailer that premiered during the Triple-i Initiative. If you missed it, you can watch it below:And while we’re sure you have plenty of questions (especially about that last part) all in good time! From here on out, we want to regularly share more about what’s coming in Ashlands. This is our first major update, and after reading through your feedback and ideas, doing a lot of prototyping and experimenting, and figuring out what works best, the overall scope of the update is now more or less defined. And while we’re still working on many of its features, we already have plenty we can share with you.So, it’s high time we started revealing them, and talking a little about the thinking behind our decisions. As always, your feedback, comments, and opinions are more than welcome, so let us know what you think.Our first stop: ships. More specifically, ship customization. Naval gameplay has consistently been one of the most discussed — and most requested — parts of Windrose, so we wanted to give you more ways to make your ship truly your own.Making the ship your ownBut first, a little about our approach to ships.As you’ve probably noticed, ship customization was still in its infancy when Windrose launched into Early Access. We always intended to expand it, but once we started working on that expansion, we ran into a few problems with the current implementation.At the moment, faction-specific versions of ships are available for two of our factions: the Brethren of the Coast and Blackbeard’s Crew. On paper, this gives each faction a distinct identity. In practice, however, the system turned out to be much more restrictive than we wanted:For one, the room for customization was limited. Faction-specific hulls and sails already accounted for a large part of the visual variation available to each ship, leaving less room for you to make the vessel your own.There were also conflicts between customization options. Some exterior elements were as well tied to specific faction variants, so changing the overall look of your ship often meant switching to a different faction version altogether.And, of course, Windrose has far more than two factions. Each has its own visual identity and character, but creating a separate version of every ship for every faction would mean multiplying the number of hulls, visual variants, balance cases, and combinations we need to develop and support. The further we expanded the system, the harder it would become to maintain, while still giving you surprisingly little actual freedom.Simply put, the system was too restrictive and too cumbersome to expand properly. So, with your feedback in mind, we decided to rework it from the ground up. Our new direction is to move away from predefined faction ships and make ship customization broader and more flexible, both visually and mechanically. In practice, this means several major changes to how ship customization works: We’re moving away from predefined faction-specific ship variants. Instead of choosing between a stock ship and separate Brethren of the Coast or Blackbeard’s Crew versions, you’ll simply choose the ship class you want and customize it from there. If you build a Ketch, for example, you’ll have access to the full pool of customization options available for the Ketch — there will no longer be separate faction versions of that ship.Exterior customization will become broader and more flexible. Some of the visual options that were previously tied to faction-specific ships will become part of a wider customization system, alongside new elements we’re planning to add. The idea is to give you more freedom to mix and match different visual elements instead of locking them into predefined combinations.Interior customization is getting a major expansion as well. You’ll be able to customize the ship’s hold with functional and decorative elements, turning it into a space that can support the way you want to play rather than simply remaining an empty part of the vessel. That’s the part we’ll be focusing on in today’s article.We’re also working on new gameplay systems tied to the ship itself. This includes, for example, exploring ways to make the crew feel more involved in your ship setup and naval gameplay, as well as expanding the ways you can use your cannons and interact with other ship systems. These ideas still need a little more time in the oven before we’re ready to share more, so we’ll get into the details once they’re further along.As mentioned above, one consequence of this new direction is that the existing faction-specific ship variants will be removed. We know that immediately raises questions about what happens to the ships you already own, so we’ll explain the migration process separately once those details are finalized. But don’t worry, you won’t lose your progress. Any resources from dismantled ships will be fully refunded.For today, though, we’re heading below deck.At sea, your ship is your homeOne thing we’ve heard from you consistently is that you want more ways to make your ship truly your own.So while the broader customization rework extends to the entire vessel, today we want to focus on one part of it in particular: the ship’s hold. We want to bring some of the functionality of your land base aboard your vessel, especially for players who enjoy spending more time at sea. After all, when you’re crossing the Archipelago, your ship is your base of operations. Your shelter. Your home away from home.That means being able to install certain useful structures below deck, such as a workbench and a cooking fire. That’s the list for now, but if there are other facilities you’d like to see aboard your ship, let us know in the comments.We’re also looking into allowing additional storage containers aboard ships alongside the regular cargo hold. They wouldn’t necessarily work exactly like your ship inventory — for example, you might not be able to access them remotely through the Flagship tab — but they could give you considerably more room to store and transport supplies.Over time, the system may expand further with additional crafting and utility options. And, of course, not everything has to serve a practical purpose. We also want to give you decorative options, so the space below deck can feel less like an empty compartment you occasionally walk through and more like a part of the ship that actually belongs to you.Some of the modules you install may also affect the ship itself, giving you another way to shape it around what you want to do. You might prepare your vessel for an expedition into the new biome, devote more space to cargo for a profitable trading run, or outfit it to better support you before picking a fight with your rivals at sea. The choice is yours.There is, however, one important limitation: unlike on land, where you can build freely, ships will have a limited number of designated building spots.That’s a deliberate decision.Ships are among the most technically complex entities in Windrose, bringing together dozens of interconnected gameplay and visual systems. They’re also demanding from a performance and optimization standpoint. Adding a fully free-form building system on top of all that could have a significant impact on performance, and that’s not a compromise we’re willing to make. We also want to preserve the look and feel of a proper sailing vessel, while keeping movement through its already fairly tight spaces clear and comfortable for players and crew alike. We’ll still do our best to give you as much freedom to customize your ship as we reasonably can, and we’ve heard your requests for more options loud and clear. But for now, fully free-form building aboard ships isn’t something we’re planning to pursue.Ultimately, we want your vessel to become more than something that simply gets you from one island to another. For those who enjoy spending time at sea, it should increasingly become a place to prepare, organize, craft, store supplies, and shape around the kind of journey you’re planning. We pour a lot of heart and soul into our ships. They play a huge role in the fantasy of Windrose, and we want this part of the game to feel as meaningful to you as it does to us. And if naval gameplay simply isn’t your cup of tea, that’s fine too. You’ll still be able to use ships much as you do now, or set them up in a way that supports the parts of the game you enjoy most.As always, it’s your ship, your journey through the Archipelago, and your way of playing. Our job is to give you more choices, and make those choices worthwhile.Thanks for reading!This dev snippet is part of our ongoing effort to bring you up to speed on what’s coming in Ashlands, our next major update. Expect to hear more from us soon, and in the meantime, let us know what you think in the comments.And there’s still plenty of cargo in the hold we haven’t shown you yet — so stay tuned! With plenty more still in the hold, — Kraken Express

Auto-posted from the developer's official Steam announcement.

Get your collection shelves ready! We’re happy to announce our collaboration with Youtooz on the first-ever Windrose collectibles!Our first thematic drop features three things every Archipelago captain knows all too well: the Dodo plushie, the Boar plushie, and the Coin pin.Interested? Here’s how it works:Voting is open for 7 days starting now. Your votes will decide whether each concept gets made, with at least 200 votes required for it to move forward.Voting schedule: September 25 – October 2, 3PM EDT / 12PM PDT / 9PM CESTEveryone who votes will receive an additional $2.99 discount off the final price if the item goes into production.If a concept reaches its voting goal, Youtooz will also hold a giveaway: 5 items from each successful concept will be given away among those who participated in the voting.Like what you see? Share it with your friends and fellow captains to help your favorite concept reach the goal!Rules apply (Terms of Use, Shipping Policy). To vote and learn more, please visit:https://youtooz.com/products/truffle-the-combat-boar-plush-9-inchhttps://youtooz.com/products/dodo-plush-9-inchhttps://youtooz.com/products/pirate-coin-pinHurry — this treasure map won’t be around for long.And a huge thanks to our friends at Youtooz for making this possible!

Auto-posted from the developer's official Steam announcement.

Ahoy, mateys!The Triple-i Initiative is back on October 8th, and Windrose is setting sail for the show once again! If you haven’t caught one before, Triple-i is basically one big, action-packed barrage of game trailers, just game after game after game. And yep, we’ve got a little something of our own stashed in the cargo hold.The show will be streamed live on YouTube and Twitch, so grab your crew, get comfortable, and come see what we’ve been cooking.You can watch the announcement trailer here:Or head over to https://iii-initiative.com/ for more info! That’s all from us for now. We’re really excited to show you more of what we’ve been working on. Hope to see you aboard! – Kraken Express

Auto-posted from the developer's official Steam announcement.

Hey, captains!The end of summer is drawing near, and while it’s a little sad to see it go, we’re putting more and more effort into our next update, Ashlands.We decided to share a few small work-in-progress snippets from development to cheer you up a bit. The team sends its warmest regards and can’t wait to show you more of what we’ve been working on!Starting off with a colorful new armor set for one of our NPCs. It should be pretty obvious who this is, right? Some love for the Halberds and Greatswords — existing weapons deserve it, too! Some faction clothing sets — to better reflect their character. Can you guess which set belongs to which faction?And to top it all off, here’s a look at a Brethren of the Coast Galleon variant, along with a little preview of our ship damage FX!The Galleon and other ships are still very much a work in progress, so the final lineup may change as development continues — but we’re excited to give you this little glimpse of what’s taking shape!And while we’re here, we’d also like to share that we’re taking part in Steam PvE Survival Crafting Fest 2026, running from August 31 to September 7!Our 10% discount is already live and will remain available until the end of the Fest, so now’s a great time to jump aboard!Until next time, crew!

Auto-posted from the developer's official Steam announcement.

Patch Notes, version: 0.10.0.9Cannonballs now correctly deal damage when hitting a ship’s stern.Cannonballs now correctly deal damage when hitting a ship’s sails or hull.

Auto-posted from the developer's official Steam announcement.

Ahoy, captains!Here’s a small patch with a few improvements. We’re also very grateful for all your feedback and comments on the latest devblog post.One known issue remains in this build, but we’re already looking into it and plan to fix it in a future update.Thank you for staying with us, and stay tuned for more news.Patch Notes, version: 0.10.0.8Fixed an issue where projectiles could pass through ships without registering hits at long distances.Improved Japanese localization.Known issue: A random bug may cause volleys fired from the front cannons to deal no damage, even when cannonballs clearly hit the ship’s hull. This will be fixed in a future update.

Auto-posted from the developer's official Steam announcement.

DISCLAIMER: We’re talking about plans, and plans may change. We tend to experiment a lot. If something does not work well for the game, we discard it. Prototyping a great idea can drastically change how it feels once we actually playtest it. Simply put, if something isn’t great, we tend to pivot it into something a lot better. That’s the nature of development, and it applies to the plans described below. In the end, these are general thoughts we’ll continue expanding on as development progresses.Ahoy, captains! It’s been a while since the Early Access release, thank you for making it incredible!Now that most of the post-release tasks have been addressed, we’re hard at work on Windrose’s first major content update, currently titled “Ashlands.” While development is still in its early stages, we wanted to share our general plans and give you an idea of what we’re aiming for. As always, the exact scope of the update may change as development progresses.As for our longer-term plans, those are still taking shape. Truth be told, we don’t have them fully locked in yet. While delivering Early Access, we spared no effort to make and patch the game as well as we could, and it took a real toll on us. As a result, this part had to be pushed aside for a while. Now that the game is live, feedback has poured in, and we are better equipped with your ideas and a clearer understanding of what Windrose could become in the future.In that sense, Windrose is shaped not only by our own ideas, but also by your feedback and experiences. Our goal is to first deliver Ashlands at the level of quality we expect from ourselves, learn from your impressions, and then build on that foundation with a clearer understanding of what comes next.Now, let’s discuss Ashlands.The story continuesWe have always wanted Windrose to be a survival adventure with a strong narrative layer, making the journey through its vast biomes feel meaningful.In Ashlands, you can expect both the main story and side quests to grow significantly in scope.This is where new factions enter the fray, and you’ll have to carve your way through their ambitions and schemes to continue your journey. Your hunt for the Obols continues, with the next fragment hidden somewhere among the ruins of a long-forgotten Spanish colony. The Obol’s power has twisted lands already ravaged by volcanic eruptions, making them more dangerous than ever. And let’s just say you’re not the only one searching for the artifact.As we stated before, we’re working hard to make sure you’ll be able to continue your adventure and keep all the progress you’ve already achieved.Buccaneers, refreshed — WIP Updated costume concepts for the Buccaneer faction. Other factions are getting attention as well.New armor on the horizon — WIP A first look at concept work for possible character armor sets. New biome: AshlandsWe are going to introduce a complete fourth biome: Ashlands. As the name suggests, it suffered from volcanic eruptions long ago, leaving its mark on the settlers who lived here, and on those who came after.Uncover relics and secrets of the past, preserved under volcanic ash, but be prepared for those who may still guard these treasures. You can expect a variety of new islands with new enemies, items, resources, recipes, points of interest, and, of course, a new challenging boss. Brand-new factions will enter the stage, too, and you’ll be able to expand your collection with new armor and weapon variants.We want every biome to feel and play differently, so on top of all the new content, we’re also looking into new biome mechanics to experiment with.Building and basesWe were stunned by the number of amazingly creative builds you showcased, and we’ll happily expand this aspect of the game in Ashlands. We plan to introduce a plethora of new decorations, expand the existing building sets with useful new pieces, and work on a couple of QoL improvements.Speaking of which, don’t forget to visit our community ideas page to vote for various requests and submit your own: https://windrose.support/ideasWe’re also happy to see that our camp NPCs were well received, so we’ll be looking to expand this system as well.ShipsWe feel that our ship gameplay has a lot of room for expansion, and we also have tons of your ideas and requests to draw from. It won’t be possible to tuck everything we’d like into one update, but we’ll surely experiment with and implement a few additions to this part of Windrose. Here are a few things we’re looking into:Enriching and deepening ship gameplay in ways inspired by both your feedback and our own plansMore ship classes, with at least one being added in Ashlands, plus more faction ship variantsGiving combat gameplay more care and attentionAI improvements, such as NPC ships behaving more naturally, sailing in formations, and so onWe are also aware of the popular request to add wind influence on sailing to the game. We’ll definitely be exploring this idea as well, and we originally intended to. But let us be crystal clear: we want it to be fun and simple. Windrose aims to be an adventure, without some of the more hardcore simulation aspects.And, of course, expect more shanties! We were deeply touched by how well these were received. We don’t want to spoil everything, but your collection will be significantly expanded.More ships for the seas — WIP We're currently working on the Brigantine, Fluyt, and Galleon. While plans may change, we expect at least one of these ships to make its way into Ashlands.ConclusionThat’s the general direction we’re taking with Ashlands. If you have any questions about the update, let us know in the comments. We’ll do our best to answer them in a future Q&A edition.As always, we’ll be sharing more details, including an estimated release window, as development progresses. Thank you for your incredible support, and we’ll see you soon on the seas!Kraken Express

Auto-posted from the developer's official Steam announcement.