The Black Ship is now playable: battle pirates on the Tessick-Varn Frontier

Hi everyone,

I've got something new for you: The Black Ship is now a free game you can play in your browser. I did this before, but now I've upgraded it.

🎮 Play here: https://theblackshipgame.com/

There's nothing to download or install, and it works on a computer or on your phone held sideways.

Two missions to play

Prologue: The Tessick-Varn Frontier. Before Wyatt was hauling waste in the Lingering systems, he was battling pirates in his Seagull on the Tessick-Varn Frontier.

Play as Patrol Pilot Wyatt Staples as he flies a mission to the Tessick-3 relay in his battered Seagull fighter, with Harren on his wing.

• Battle the pirate fighters with your coil-gun and wing missiles.

• Then stop them getting away with the cargo shuttle, and the 11 captured personnel inside, before they're taken away to a life of slavery.

• Shoot the engines, not the hull. There are people in there.

Chapter 1: Lingering Systems. Now a Warrant Officer hauling bio-waste in the Lingering Systems, Wyatt stumbles onto a royal yacht running from a House Cayston warship. His guns can't scratch it, but a tonne of compacted bio-waste might.

What's new:

- 🎙️ Voiced radio chatter. Harren, Caldwell, Wyatt and the Seagull's targeting computer now talk to you over the comms, with proper radio crackle.
- 🚀 Missile lock-on. Hold your nose on a pirate until it shows LOCK, then fire.
- ✈️ Free flight mode. Just want to explore the Tessick-Varn Frontier with Harren on your wing? Pick Free Flight on the title screen.
- 🕹️ Easier controls. Move the mouse and your ship follows the circle. There's a short tutorial at the start of each mission, and on-screen prompts tell you what to do next.

• Quick controls:
  
  mouse to steer
  Space or left-click to fire
  F for missiles (once you get a lock)
  X for your ship's special
  H shows every control.

I'd love your help. Play a mission or two and tell me in the comments:

- What rating did you get? (Can anyone get an S?)
- Anything confusing, too hard or too easy?
- Any bugs, and what device you were playing on?
- Which moment from the books would you want to play next?

This is a Vox9 Studios production, and your support on here is what makes projects like this possible. Thank you, truly.

Fly safe. And don't shoot the hull!
— Scifistories1977