Hello fellow admirals,

We are glad to announce that the next major update is available for you to play in its first Beta version! The update offers a rich amount of new ships and interesting new mechanics that make gameplay more interesting and realistic.

The first beta content is not finished. Auto-Design may be not optimized yet in time management, not all hulls are added (although the majority is available, with 42 new hulls), and there may be things that need addressing.

Please read below what the new update includes up to now:

***WARNING***
*Old campaign saves and old ship designs are incompatible. The game automatically cleanups campaign saves, custom battleship designs, mission ship designs. It is mandatory to clean up shared designs manually.*

*BETA Major Update v1.4*

*87+ NEW HULLS*

• German “Hybrid Battleship” which can resemble the Scharnhorst-class with more accuracy. It is a hull available from 1935 and has a displacement between 38,000 and 55,500 tons.
• British “Large Light Cruiser”' which resembles the Courageous-class. It can be found in the battlecruiser hulls from 1916 to 1929 and has a displacement between 18,250 and 21,000 tons.
• British “Command Cruiser”, a hull with exceptional characteristics and ship parts, suitable for creating ships with superior accuracy. It is found in the heavy cruiser hulls after 1939 and has a displacement between 14,750 and 17,500 tons.
• British “Experimental Heavy Cruiser”, a hull that aims to build cruisers of high firepower and survivability but not particularly fast. It is available for Britain from 1939 and has a displacement between 17,500 and 19,750 tons.
• Austro-Hungarian “Heavy Scout Cruiser” is a hull that can create durable and fast heavy cruisers, strong for medium distance fights. It is available in the heavy cruiser hulls after 1935 and has a displacement between 10,900 and 16,550 tons.
• German “Modern Heavy Cruiser III”, a hull that can replicate the Admiral-Hipper class more closely. It is available after 1933 and has a displacement between 10,900 and 16,550 tons.
• British “Modern Heavy Cruiser I”, a cost-effective new heavy cruiser which resembles British historical cruisers of the time. It is available from 1926 and has a displacement between 9,000 and 13,500 tons.
• British “Compact Heavy Cruiser”, another cost-effective heavy cruiser available from 1926 with a displacement between 8,000 and 10,500 tons.
• US “Heavy Cruiser II”, a hull quite similar to the Northampton-class. It is available from 1922 and has a displacement between 13,300 and 15,000 tons.
• French “Heavy Cruiser I” a speculative French cruiser of the interwar period, which is available from 1917 and has a displacement between 11,900 and 14,300 tons.
• Austro-Hungarian “Experimental Heavy Cruiser” a speculative, rather bulky, cruiser of the interwar period, which is available from 1917 and has a displacement between 11,500 and 14,250 tons.
• Russian “Experimental Heavy Cruiser” a speculative cruiser of the interwar period, quite durable but slow, which is available from 1917 and has a displacement between 11,800 and 14,850 tons.
• Japanese “Experimental Heavy Cruiser” a speculative cruiser of the interwar period, an agile and versatile ship, which is available from 1917 and has a displacement between 7,400 and 12,000 tons.
• Chinese “Experimental Heavy Cruiser” a speculative cruiser of the interwar period, which is rather small for its role but also cost-effective. It is available from 1917 and has a displacement between 7,500 and 9,500 tons.
• Spanish “Experimental Heavy Cruiser” a speculative cruiser of the interwar period, which can make useful cruisers for overseas patrol duty. It is available from 1917 and has a displacement between 7,300 and 11,200 tons.
• German “Heavy Cruiser” a speculative cruiser of the interwar period, which could be a bigger version of the historical German Light Cruisers of the time. It is available from 1917 and has a displacement between 9,000 and 11,250 tons.
• British “Heavy Cruiser II” a speculative cruiser of the interwar period, which resembles the County-class. It is available from 1922 and has a displacement between 11,250 and 13,500 tons.
• British “Heavy Cruiser I” a speculative cruiser of the interwar period, which resembles the Hawkins-class. It is available from 1917 to 1928 and has a displacement between 10,250 and 12,500 tons.
• Compact “Heavy Cruiser” for Spain and China is a cruiser of small size that can host large guns, useful for nations with a small budget. It is available from 1922 and has a displacement between 8,500 and 9,500 tons.
• Italian “Experimental Heavy Cruiser” tis an advanced hull for its time, offering very fast and stealthy cruisers which, however are not well armored. This cruiser which is based on the early Condottieri-class cruisers is available from 1917 and has a displacement between 8,900 and 12,000 tons.
• French “Armored Cruiser V” the culmination of French heavily armored cruisers. It is available from 1917 to 1925 and has a displacement between 7,500 and 13,700 tons.
• Russian “Large Armored Cruiser II” a large hull able to produce cruisers similar to the second Rurik-class. It is available from 1909 to 1925 and has a displacement between 14,500 and 17,800 tons.
• German “Armored Cruiser III” a clear upgrade to the previous version and with capabilities similar to SMS Scharnhorst. It is available from 1900 to 1917 and has a displacement between 11,700 and 14,500 tons.
• British “Advanced Escort Cruiser I” replacing the hull which had the same name which got upgraded on a higher titer, it can offer robust cruiser designs for all purposes. It is available from 1935 and has a displacement between 12,500 and 14,500 tons.
• German “Modern Light Cruiser II”is a hull that can offer designs similar to the Nurnberg-class but more powerful. It is available from 1935 and has a displacement between 11,200 and 13,950 tons.
• British “Modern Light Cruiser II” is a hull that can offer designs similar to the Town-class. It is available from 1925 and has a displacement between 8,550 and 13,500 tons.
• British “Advanced Scout Cruiser” is a hull which can recreate the Dido-class with much detail. It is available from 1935 and has a displacement between 6,950 and 7,980 tons.
• British “Light Cruiser VI” is a hull which offers designs similar to the British Cruisers of the C-Class and its larger variants. It is available from 1917 and has a displacement between 6,900 and 11,500 tons.
• British “Light Cruiser V” is a hull which offers designs similar to the British Cruisers of the first Arethusa-Class and its larger variants. It is available from 1917 to 1925 and has a displacement between 6,100 and 10,500 tons.
• Spanish “Light Cruiser IV” offers speculative cost-effective cruiser designs that can last for many years. It is available from 1917 and has a displacement between 5,300 and 9,200 tons.
• Chinese “Light Cruiser V” offers speculative cost-effective cruiser designs that can serve for many years. It is available from 1917 and has a displacement between 5,500 and 7,500 tons.
• Italian “Experimental Light Cruiser” is a special, very advanced hull for its time, which can offer designs similar to the early Condottieri-class. It is available from 1917 and has a displacement between 7,200 and 10,000 tons.
• Russian “Light Cruiser V” is a hull quite similar to the Admiral Nakhimov-class. It is available from 1917 and has a displacement between 6,500 and 9,200 tons.
• German “Light Cruiser V” is a hull fairly similar to the post war Emden-class. It is available from 1917 to 1935 and has a displacement between 7,000 and 9,250 tons.
• French “Light Cruiser V” is a hull based on the La Motte-Picquet-class and Duguay-Trouin-class designs. It is available from 1917 and has a displacement between 8,500 and 9,500 tons.
• Japanese “Light Cruiser IV” is a hull based on the Kuma-class and Nagara-class designs. It is available from 1917 and has a displacement between 5,400 and 10,000 tons.
• German “Scout Cruiser” is a speculative hull that can offer fast and robust light cruisers. It is available from 1917 and has a displacement between 4,500 and 7,250 tons.
• US “Large Scout Cruiser” is a hull quite similar to the Omaha-class. It is available from 1917 and has a displacement between 9,700 and 13,500 tons.
• British “Scout Cruiser” is a hull looking similar to the various British scout cruiser designs of the first World War. It is available from 1910 to 1925 and has a displacement between 4,500 and 8,500 tons.
• Russian “Semi-Armored Cruiser V” is a speculative hull that offers large, well protected but slow light cruisers. It is available from 1915 to 1925 and has a displacement between 5,500 and 11,500 tons.
• “Semi-Armored Cruiser IV” for China and Spain is a speculative hull that offers large, well protected but slow light cruisers. It is available from 1915 to 1925 and has a displacement between 5,000 and 11,000 tons.
• Austro-Hungarian “Semi-Armored Cruiser III” is a speculative hull that offers large, well protected but slow light cruisers. It is available from 1915 to 1925 and has a displacement between 6,900 and 12,900 tons.
• French “Semi-Armored Cruiser V” is a speculative hull that offers large, well protected but slow light cruisers. It is available from 1915 to 1925 and has a displacement between 6,000 and 12,200 tons.
• “Small Scout Cruiser” for Austria-Hungary, China and Spain offers stealthy and very small light cruisers. It is available from 1915 to 1925 and has a displacement between 3,000 and 5,800 tons.
• “Russian Experimental Scout Cruiser” is a unique hull which offers very fast cruisers for its tech time. It is, available from 1894 to 1905 and has a displacement between 3,200 and 4,200 tons.
• “US 3-Mast Armored Cruiser” is an early technology hull resembling outdated cruisers of the time which, though, had extreme firepower. It is, available from 1890 to 1905 and has a displacement between 3,700 and 7,200 tons.
• “Russian 3-Mast Armored Cruiser” an aged but robust hull design, similar to the one used in various Russian cruisers of the time. It is, available from 1890 to 1907 and has a displacement between 3,750 and 13,200 tons.
• “Experimental 3-Mast Cruiser” for Russia is a cost-effective early cruiser, available from 1890 to 1902 and has a displacement between 2,000 and 3,500 tons.
• “Experimental 3-Mast Cruiser” for China and Spain is a cost-effective early cruiser, available from 1890 to 1902 and has a displacement between 1,800 and 3,300 tons.
• “Experimental 3-Mast Cruiser” for France is a cost-effective early cruiser, available from 1890 to 1902 and has a displacement between 2,100 and 3,600 tons.
• “Standard 3-Mast Cruiser” for USA resembling the various outdated 3-mast cruisers used by the USA in the late 19th century and early 20th century. It is available from 1890 to 1902 and has a displacement between 1,750 and 5,200 tons.
• “Standard 3-Mast Cruiser” for Russia, France, Spain, China an aged but practical hull design resembling the various 3-mast cruisers used by many nations in the late 19th century and early 20th century. It is available from 1890 to 1902 and has a displacement between 2,750 and 6,700 tons.
• Italian “Armored Cruiser III”* a cruiser quite similar with the “Giuseppe Garibaldi-class”. It is available from 1890 to 1905 and has a displacement between 6,000 and 7,500 tons.
• “Small Armored Cruiser” for Japan and Spain is a smaller variant similar to “Giuseppe Garibaldi-class”. It is available from 1890 to 1905 and has a displacement between 6,200 and 7,700 tons.
• “Small Armored Cruiser” for Japan and Spain is a smaller variant similar to “Giuseppe Garibaldi-class”. It is available from 1890 to 1905 and has a displacement between 6,200 and 7,700 tons.
• Japanese “Hybrid Light Cruiser” offers a unique type of cruiser which has the size of an early light cruiser but can carry huge guns in relation to its size, like the Naniwa-class and its variants. It is available from 1890 to 1905 and has a displacement between 2,900 and 4,100 tons.
• “Hybrid Light Cruiser” for Austria-Hungary and China is a type of cruiser which has the size of an early light cruiser but can carry huge guns in relation to its size, similar to some early Austro-Hungarian cruisers. It is available from 1890 to 1905 and has a displacement between 2,950 and 4,250 tons.
• Japanese “Belted 3-Mast Cruiser” is an especially durable hull for a light cruiser that can host many small guns, quite similar with the Chiyoda class. It is available from 1890 to 1905 and has a displacement between 2,250 and 5,000 tons.
• Austro-Hungarian “Belted Cruiser” is a durable cruiser hull that can be something between an armored cruiser and a light cruiser. It is available from 1890 to 1915 and has a displacement between 2,750 and 5,500 tons.
• Austro-Hungarian “Heavy Torpedo Cruiser” is a rather small hull but is very durable and can make small and effective ships. It is available from 1890 to 1908 and has a displacement between 1,750 and 2,850 tons.
• Italian “Experimental Battleship” a bulky and large battleship for its era but with poor ship handling characteristics, similar to the Italian “Re Umberto-class”. It is available from 1890 to 1905 and has a displacement between 12,500 and 14,200 tons.
• Italian “Small Battleship” resembling the first small pre-dreadnought battleships of Italy. It is available from 1890 to 1905 and has a displacement between 9,000 and 10,500 tons.
• Austro-Hungarian “Battleship II” a speculative hull with a potentially powerful casemate battery. It is available from 1895 to 1905 and has a displacement between 10,500 and 13,900 tons.
• British “Dreadnought V” offering a hull similar to the Orion-class with centerline guns and adjusting the total seven British Dreadnought classes in a more historical technology distribution than before. It is available from 1912 to 1927 and has a displacement between 22,700 and 31,500 tons.
• Russian “Battleship VI” can offer pre-dreadnoughts of extreme firepower similar to the Peresvet-class but due to the size of the hull and the potential secondary guns it can carry, it is hard to armor it fully. It is available from 1895 to 1905 and has a displacement between 14,500 and 18,500 tons.
• Italian “Battleship II” can make ships quite similar to the Regina Margherita class, ships fairly fast and durable for their time. It is available from 1895 to 1905 and has a displacement between 12,500 and 15,500 tons.
• USA “Small Battleship” making hulls which resemble the early US battleships such as the Indiana-class. It is available from 1890 to 1905 and has a displacement between 8,050 and 10,700 tons.
• Italian “Fast Semi-Dreadnought” is a speculative hull design which can bring improved versions of the Regina Elena class. It is available from 1899 to 1907 and has a displacement between 14,500 and 16,750 tons.
• Italian “Fast Dreadnought” is a speculative hull design which can serve as a variant of an oversized Regina-Elena design, making an agile and cost effective battleship. It is available from 1905 to 1916 and has a displacement between 16,950 and 19,750 tons.
• Italian “Fast Armored Cruiser” is a speculative hull offering cruisers with a gun layout somewhat similar to the Pisa-class. It is available from 1907 to 1917 and has a displacement between 9,800 and 11,900 tons.
• Austro-Hungarian “Armored Cruiser IV” is a speculative armored cruiser design which is compact but is a strong hull and can host many guns of small to medium caliber. It is available from 1895 to 1917 and has a displacement between 6,200 and 8,500 tons.
• German “Large Torpedo Boat II” covers a previous technology gap for Germany in small destroyers It is available from 1901 to 1918 and has a displacement between 800 and 1,100 tons.
• Austro-Hungarian “Large Torpedo Boat II” covers a previous technology gap for Austria-Hungary in small destroyers It is available from 1902 to 1918 and has a displacement between 950 and 1,150 tons.
• US “Flush-Deck Destroyer” a special and very durable destroyer hull available only for the USA. It is available from 1918 to 1935 and has a displacement between 1,400 and 2,060 tons.
• Spanish “Modified Barbette Ship” an antiquated hull similar to the Palayo class. It is available from 1890 to 1899 and has a displacement between 8,000 and 10,000 tons.
• US “Experimental Battleship I” is another battleship variant which can fairly simulate early pre-dreadnoughts of the USA such as the USS Iowa. It is available from 1893 to 1905 and has a displacement between 8,000 and 10,000 tons.
• US “Experimental Battleship II” is another battleship variant which can fairly simulate early pre-dreadnoughts of the USA such as the Kearsarge-class. It is available from 1895 to 1905 and has a displacement between 11,000 and 13,500 tons.
• US “Experimental Battleship III” is another battleship variant which can fairly simulate early pre-dreadnoughts of the USA such as the Maine-class. It is available from 1899 to 1905 and has a displacement between 13,000 and 14,500 tons.
• US “Experimental Battleship IV” is another battleship variant which can fairly simulate early pre-dreadnoughts of the USA such as the Virginia-class. It is available from 1899 to 1905 and has a displacement between 13,000 and 14,500 tons.
• US “Battleship III” is a speculative hull variant which aims to offer reliable and powerful US pre-dreadnoughts before the transition to the Dreadnought era. It is available from 1899 to 1905 and has a displacement between 14,500 and 17,500 tons.
• US “Semi-Armored Cruiser IV” is another light cruiser variant for the USA which focuses more on sea keeping capabilities and is similar to the St. Louis class and its variants. It is available from 1903 to 1925 and has a displacement between 8,000 and 12,500 tons.
• US “Armored Cruiser V” produces hulls similar to the Pennsylvania-class and its variants. It is available from 1900 to 1922 and has a displacement between 12,500 and 15,500 tons.
• US “Large Armored Cruiser” produces hulls with a goal similar to the Tennessee-class, to host powerful guns. It is available from 1905 to 1922 and has a displacement between 14,500 and 17,500 tons.
• Austro-Hungarian “Modern Light Cruiser II”, a speculative hull offering large light cruisers. It is available from 1935 and has a displacement between 11,900 and 13,550 tons.
• Russian “Mini Advanced Cruiser”, a hull of small size offering light cruisers of great capabilities but rather expensive. It is available from 1935 and has a displacement between 8,700 and 9,650 tons.
• Russian “Large Advanced Cruiser”, is an expensive hull that can offer very fast and powerful light cruisers similar to the Chapayev class. It is available from 1935 and has a displacement between 11,900 and 13,950 tons.
• Chinese “Command Battleship”, is a very expensive and special hull that offers speculative warships with exceptional fire control and survivability but with questionable maneuverability. It is available from 1935 and has a displacement between 69,000 and 78,500 tons.
• Improvements on previous hulls: Various new towers and part models for new and older ships.

NEW GUNS

• New quad guns for all techs, all calibers and all nations.
• New British gun models for calibers up to 6-inch guns and for Mark 3, 4 techs
• New French gun models for large caliber guns of 17-inch and higher for Mark 1,2, techs.
• New French 4-inch gun models for Mark 4, 5 techs.
• Various fixes, scale repairs, improvements in all previous gun models.

OPTIMIZATIONS AND UI

• Faster Campaign Loading: We refactored and optimized the loading and saving processes of the campaign resulting in a noticeable improvement of waiting time when switching from one state of the game to the next. For example, the time to exit the refit design window can now be 10x times faster.
• Better combat performance: We optimized battle map processes and now you will have a smoother fps during combat. The optimized processes include aiming which is now more consistent and dynamic, affecting the ship accuracy positively.
• Tooltips no longer obstruct: Tooltips will no longer obstruct the interface as there is a short time delay before they are triggered.
• New Armor penetration data tool: We added a new setting which configures the armor quality in the gun penetration data. You will be able to set it from default 0% up to 200% in order to help you understand the applied penetration of your guns in the game. You can set up this tool in the “General” settings at any time during gameplay.
• Ship visuals enhanced: Auto decor of ships (boats, gun doors, deck objects etc.) are now rendered more effectively and make the ships look better visually.

BALANCES & OTHER

• Ship Design Flexibility: Fixes and improvements of the ship design system, allowing more flexibility especially on side barbettes. Those fixes will also affect the auto-design which will become faster and even more effective, resulting in faster loading of campaign turns.
• Campaign AI update: We improved the campaign AI in multiple aspects. The campaign AI will manage the economy more efficiently, and will send land armies in major offensives more logically, evaluating in more detail the strength of the enemy in the target provinces. The campaign AI will also manage the fuel state of its ships and will no longer send them in suicidal missions with low fuel, making them very weak in a potential combat.
• Hull types have different limits of armor: A new statistic ‘Maximum Armor’ now works for each hull type determining the maximum allowed armor for the hull sections. With this new setting, the hulls will be designed with more realistic constraints. Early destroyers will not be able to support much armor. Some light cruisers will be easier to armor while others can only be lightly armored and depend mostly on speed for their protection. Overall, this new mechanic corrects the potential inflated armor values that the player and AI could load on their ships, making them unrealistically durable against shell shots.
• Ship weights balance overhaul: Due to the new hull statistic, which was needed not only for realism purposes but also to make the new hulls more distinct, ship weights had to be balanced accordingly. Old designs will have to be remade, by using the new system.
• Ship cost balance overhaul: Ships costs have been rebalanced to evaluate more accurately the combat value of a ship. This change is very important as it affects campaign economy (which was further balanced) and the battle AI decisioning. A battleship will now cost significantly more than a destroyer, for example.
• Improved torpedo detonation mechanics: Now when a torpedo launcher explodes, only its own ammo is affected. Previously, depending on the explosion magnitude, the whole torpedo ammunition could become destroyed.
• Penetration adjustments: Gun penetration increased about +25% so that the penetration are, on average, closer to historical data.
• Shell Ballistics adjustments: Muzzle velocity and fire rate of guns balanced closer to historical data according to gun technology level.
• The mission generation system of the campaign got further improvements and the port strike missions were improved to show the auto-resolved transport losses.
• The campaign can now be prolonged up to 1965.
• Custom battles can now be set to a date up to 1950.
• The Battle AI has been improved to keep more effective firing distances and keep its main formation closer to the enemy.
• Barbette types have a new stat that improves Flash fire protection.
• Various minor bug fixes that were reported.

NAVAL ACADEMY MISSIONS

• All-purpose Light Cruisers: Germany entered the British waters with a powerful battlecruiser and four cruisers. You, as the British, can use only your light cruisers to deal with the threat. According to their design, the modern light cruisers may combine speed, maneuverability and large firepower but can become rather expensive. Utilizing effectively the available technology and money can provide the necessary means for victory.
• Italy vs Austria-Hungary: An Austro-Hungarian fleet consisting of two new dreadnoughts, a few pre-dreadnoughts and several cruisers is seeking to fight our Italian fleet. We possess some old pre-dreadnoughts, cruisers and destroyers. The rest of the fleet that will consist of the main attack force will be what you choose to design and build. You can focus on building expensive dreadnoughts or numerous ships of smaller displacement.
• "What if" against Spain: The year is 1904 and war broke out, eventually, between the USA and the Spanish Empire. The naval technology evolves rapidly and both nations can form fleets including large pre-dreadnoughts and fast cruisers. A large Spanish armada seeks to fight your US fleet. You have at your disposal cruisers, torpedo boats, destroyers which you can supplement with a specific ship type that will consist of the main force. Your funds are not endless, so there is the dilemma, to build large battleships or more but smaller ships?
• Cruiser fleet: After World War I, Russia is suffering financially and is unable to construct expensive battleships. The USA threatens the Far East region by sending a fleet including powerful battleships that are, theoretically, too strong for your own fleet. You possess an old armored cruiser, some destroyers and extra cruisers of your design. Your mission is to sink at least two battleships without losing most of your own fleet.
• Rule them all!: A gigantic super battleship escorted by exemplary ships taken among the best of each major nation must be defeated. You can choose to fight them with one of your own super battleships or smaller and very expensive ships of your design. Your task is to design the best ship type that can create an attack group within the fund limits and destroy the elite enemies.

*==============================*

We think you are really going to enjoy this update! We express our gratitude to all players who have helped us with their sincere, kind and very helpful feedback. The game has evolved greatly not only to please you but... thanks to YOU.

Your continuous feedback will be much appreciated in order to fix or improve anything more that is needed:
- Steam Forum
- Official Forum

The Game-Labs Team
*==============================*

Important Note:
The v1.4 major update has a lot of new content and features which make older saves incompatible. For this reason all saves have been automatically reset, except the "Shared Designs". The Shared Designs may have techs mix up, they will surely have weight or fire arc issues or they can be completely broken due to 3d model replacements (For guns or hulls). Therefore it is advised to delete them manually or repair them separately.
You can use this internal tool to clean up your shared designs easily:


Please read how you can clean up all saves yourself:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1069660/discussions/2/3832043983170771555/