We've been working on adding co-op functionality to the world of Salt alongside regular updates for quite some time. We feel it is finally to a point to where it is ready for some external testing to help us find bugs and get feedback on features that need polishing.

If you have friends that play, we would love your help testing the new multiplayer features. Keep in mind bugs and possible disconnects are likely in this testing phase. As you find problems, please use the in-game bug report feature to let us know about them. Instructions on how to access the Steam branch containing this update can be found at the bottom of this section.

Note that if you switch to this beta branch, you can switch back to the default branch at any time. However, if you obtain any newly added items that do not exist yet on the default branch, those items will be lost. To avoid this, you can remain on this new branch until the changes have been pushed to the default branch.

In order to start a co-op session, select the Multiplayer option either in the main menu or in the escape menu in-game. You can create a lobby and invite your Steam friends from a list. If they are in the game, they will receive an invite notification they can accept.

You can invite up to 5 other friends to play with you. You can alternate between single player and multiplayer on the same save, so no need to create a new game for this. You and your friends can play together as long as both saves use the same world seed. It is recommended that players be a similar level as the world difficulty scales with the host. 

Multiplayer sessions are hosted by the party leader--there are no dedicated servers. Party members are required to stay relatively close to each other. If someone gets too far, they will automatically teleport to the leader after a short time. This prevents the host from having to spawn and simulate too many islands at once.

You can teleport to other party members at any time. To do so, open your inventory and click on the health frame of the player that you wish to teleport to.

Although we may support damaging other players in the future, that is not yet implemented. You can currently only attack NPCs within the world.

You can chat with them in game by pressing Enter. Note that the chat is currently unavailable in the main menu, but this will be fixed in the future.

To avoid breaking quest progression, some quest areas require all party members to meet the entry requirements. If a player hasn't reached a required quest stage, they must progress before entering.

This update is currently only on the multiplayer_beta branch. To access it:

1. Right-click Salt 2 in your Steam library and select "Properties".

2. In the window that pops up, select the Betas tab on the right.

3. Under the private betas section, there is an input field. Enter the code doubletrouble and press the Check Code button.

4. Press the button that appears asking you if you wish to opt into the beta.

In addition to co-op, some new content, features, and fixes are also included in this update.

A few new hand crafted islands have been added, each with unique backstories and loot to discover.

Some seasonal merchants have been added to the world. They only show up at certain times of the year and sell some unique items. A Lunar Calendar can be purchased from a Stargazer NPC to track the seasons.

An optional on-screen combat log can be enabled in the settings. It displays recent incoming and outgoing damage numbers.

• Added Co-op.

• Added seasonal merchants, which only appear at certain times of the year.

• Added new weapons and armor.

• Added some new unique islands.

• Added an emote wheel that you can access from the item wheel.

• Added an option to enable a combat log, which will show recent damage numbers.

• You can now see your passive armor effects and duration effects on the stats screen.

• Added a talent to the armor talent pool that increases your damage with spears.

• Added controls option to main menu and added background to it.

• Added flare gun item.

• Updated the appearance of some UI windows.

• Bears can now attack other wildlife.

• Updated some sound effects to higher quality versions.

• Disabled buy quantity input if you can't afford to buy more than one of an item.

• Reduced the cost of some pickaxe recipes.

• Adjusted some merchant recipe loot drop rates.

• Fixed unlocked doors re-locking after dying and respawning in a dungeon.

• Sound effects in caves and dungeons now have a slight reverb effect.

• Infused elixir no longer says it replaces the current potion effect.

• Fixed talent effects not applying or removing when changed on an equipped item.

• Added subtle smoke poof when destroying mining rocks and breakable cave walls.

• Increased the amount of moonrock that can spawn on marshland islands.

• Fixed getting stuck if you replace your boat while using the ladder.

• Increased the chance to get more meal recipe drops early on.

• Increased the difficulty of various bosses.

• Improved stats on a number of unique weapons.

• Bombs no longer say they are a dexterity weapon.

• Fixed some handheld items receiving decals.

• The unburied state of buried treasure is now saved.

• Fixed some translation issues.

• Fixed portcullis at Redwood Island POI being too short and causing tall pirates to bonk their heads.

• You can now hear enemy footsteps from further away.

• You can now sell Ignis weapons.

• Fixed Moonrock Sword showing its attack bonus description twice.

• Fixed an issue with some item talent effects not stacking properly.

• Fixed a number of cave ambiance sounds that didn't respect volume settings.

• Fixed particles in Astrologers Cave not rendering sometimes.