Bethesda Softworks showed Sea Dogs at E3 2000 - an epic roleplaying game at sea created by Akella. Featuring a highly detailed 3D world with unbounded gameplay in an openended adventure. Players will start with a simple ship and a small crew, and set out to capture islands - either for England, France, Spain, or just for themselves. You can maintain an alliance with a country or choose to change your allegiance at any time... Of course, you'll have to face the consequences.'We wanted to allow the player to experience the game any way they wanted,' said Dmitry Arkhipov, lead designer for Sea Dogs 'If you want to follow a more structured storyline, you can do that. But you can also sail off on your own and do whatever you want. We felt that was essential in creating the kind of 'pirate' game that people have wanted for so long.'Towns serve as valuable resources in the game. They allow you to repair, re-supply, upgrade your ship and pick up new crewmembers. You can also get commissions and hear the latest gossip on the islands.Sea Dogs allows you to decide how you want to play. You can sail the seas looking for ships to prey upon or you can amass your wealth through shrewd trading. A nice mix of battles and diplomacy, strategy and roleplaying should make Sea Dogs a fascinating game.
Sea Dogs is scheduled for release in the 3rd quarter of 2000.