Storms belong to the caribbean!

[Navalus Magnus]

Even if it sounds crazy i think storms should be part of the game!

 

Option 1: Stoms could appear in the OW and pull everyone who gets to close into it - like getting tagged. --> That would of course be bad for afk sailors!

Option 2: Just dynamicaly match the weather in battles with the weather in OW - this way that the weather could change gradually in the middst of a battle.

 

Both options should have:

A "storm sails" mode, the possibility to close gunports (one key for one deck - maybe the keys now used for locking certain decks could close the ports in a storm) and the necessity to cut high tides in an right angle!

- one could start with the % sett of sails from OW (in case of option 1) and would need to get them changed into storm sails in a certain time to avoid masts breaking

- if enemys get pulled into the storm aswell (option 1) one could decide which decks should open gunports and which not. Depending on the decision there would be more or less firepower available and more or less water getting into the ship (than at least pumps would make any sense).

- if waves hit the ship at the side it should do some damage

- Portbattles should be excluded from such heavy storms (they need too much organisation to be interrupted by such things - and who would be so dumb to sail a big fleet into such a massive fight when strong squalls are raging!?)

 

Please offer feedback and propose better ideas of implementation!

[maturin]

'Storm Sails' mode could just be Battle Sails or Dead Slow, with Slow possible if you want to push your luck.

Apply a multiplier to all the sail forces so you can sail almost as fast as you can in good weather, with less canvas. And more heel for everyone.

[Slim McSauce]

With the upcoming addition of leeway and capsizing, it'd be pretty awesome to weather a storm to reach some fancy prize.

Finally have an exploration side of the game

[maturin]

That's the other thing: tons of leeway in storms.

[Navalus Magnus]

@admin @Ink You at least had stormy weather in the game don‘t you?

Why did you cut that again?

Edited December 15, 2017 by Navalus Magnus

[Macjimm]

A great many of us would love to have storms and the potential damage that an angry sea can throw at helpless ships.  Great sailing ships are synonymous with storms at sea.  I imagine that sailors were far more afraid of the sea that they were were of the enemy's cannon.

But other players are here only to fight.  Nasty weather interferes with combat.  Aiming is more difficult and any damage from powerful waves can meddle with the balance of competitive fairness of PvP.  When we had damage free storms previously some players hated them.

I had hoped that we might restrict the risk of storms to specific areas, where foul weather might pull us into an instance.  Fighting against the elements would be a huge enhancement to those of us that enjoy sailing and immersion.  Other areas could be free of storms to allow players to avoid the high winds.

But I understand that storms with damage are too difficult for the NA engine and they will never be implemented. 

 

Edited December 15, 2017 by Macjimm

[Navalus Magnus]

36 minutes ago, Macjimm said:

Aiming is more difficult and any damage from powerful waves can meddle with the balance of competitive fairness of PvP.

But everyone would face these problems!

Imo the immersion gained by storms would be much higher than the annoyance if you miss a shot because of a wave tilting your ship.

36 minutes ago, Macjimm said:

But I understand that storms with damage are too difficult for the NA engine and they will never be implemented. 

 

@admin @Ink Would it really be impossible to implement storms wrecking havoc to the ship?

Edited December 16, 2017 by Navalus Magnus

[Navalus Magnus]

35 minutes ago, Macjimm said:

I had hoped that we might restrict the risk of storms to specific areas, where foul weather might pull us into an instance. 

Also a good idea!

[Barbancourt]

Wouldn't you just drop most of your sails except minor steering capability and just try to keep the ship oriented a certain direction while riding it out?  If so, it just sounds like an annoyance.  Presumably you'd go back into OW at a randomly offset location and then have to spend extra time trying to get back on course.  The game is already time consuming. 

Maybe we need some sea monsters to battle. 

 

Edited December 16, 2017 by Barbancourt (rownd)

[Navalus Magnus]

@Barbancourt (rownd) Not intended to be time consuming (might be a reason to dismiss option 1, heh!?) but to boost immersion in battle instances!

Like this:

- You would need to be able to sail with less sails but - because of the increased power of wind - not necessarily much slower than normal!

- If storms could do damage you would have to mind your sails, the course through the waves and your gunports

—> don‘t set more than „storm sails“ for too long a time if you want to avoid masts breaking

—> don‘t let your ship get damaged by waves hitting the sides of the ship

—> don‘t open gunports which could leak water inside the ship for too long

This way storms would add to challenges in battles and increase the immersion / fun!

Of course they should be rare events inside a battle!

Edited December 16, 2017 by Navalus Magnus

[EdWatchmaker]

Yes, by all means PLEASE give us storms with all the associated havoc that comes with them. With the advent of "Naval Action Legends" anyone that wants to fight without that fuss and bother can do it there. At the very least it should be implemented on the PVE server as a test to see if it can be done well. The ability to shorten sail and reef sails is an integral part of seamanship. A ship being damaged or lost at sea was nothing unusual, just part of life at sea, and there was more than just mast, rigging and sail damage, there were things like hatches blown off and seams opening up and flooding the ship. When I was on the USCGC Iris the gasket on the main hold hatch failed in a heavy storm. We were burying our bow in the oncoming waves, flooding our buoy deck before the water could run out the scuppers and coming close to dipping our bridge wings in the oncoming waves. You should have seen all the water pouring in. The damage control team had to work like hell to stop the flooding. It was an all hands on deck experience. The Iris was a 180 ft buoy tender so about the size of one of our ships in game. WWII vintage. Stationed out of Galveston Texas so this was in the Gulf of Mexico. Storm in the Gulf = BAD mistress. All my time in the Coast Guard was sea duty and in the Gulf of Mexico, so yes I have seen the best and the worst that the sea can dish out. God bless those who go down to the sea in ships.     

[Navalus Magnus]

On 16.12.2017 at 7:59 PM, EdWatchmaker said:

Yes, by all means PLEASE give us storms with all the associated havoc that comes with them. With the advent of "Naval Action Legends" anyone that wants to fight without that fuss and bother can do it there.

 

On 16.12.2017 at 7:59 PM, EdWatchmaker said:

The ability to shorten sail and reef sails is an integral part of seamanship. A ship being damaged or lost at sea was nothing unusual, just part of life at sea

I couldn't agree more!

 

@admin and @Ink So devs, what do you say!?

Edited December 17, 2017 by Navalus Magnus

[TommyShelby]

On 12/16/2017 at 12:44 AM, Macjimm said:

A great many of us would love to have storms and the potential damage that an angry sea can throw at helpless ships.  Great sailing ships are synonymous with storms at sea.  I imagine that sailors were far more afraid of the sea that they were were of the enemy's cannon.

But other players are here only to fight.  Nasty weather interferes with combat.  Aiming is more difficult and any damage from powerful waves can meddle with the balance of competitive fairness of PvP.  When we had damage free storms previously some players hated them.

I had hoped that we might restrict the risk of storms to specific areas, where foul weather might pull us into an instance.  Fighting against the elements would be a huge enhancement to those of us that enjoy sailing and immersion.  Other areas could be free of storms to allow players to avoid the high winds.

But I understand that storms with damage are too difficult for the NA engine and they will never be implemented. 

 

The problem i remember from Sea Trials, regarding storm battles, was that it was just played too much. It felt like 50% storm battles, 50% calm sea battles. Too much of something good will make it bad usually.

[Navalus Magnus]

14 minutes ago, TommyShelby said:

The problem i remember from Sea Trials, regarding storm battles, was that it was just played too much. It felt like 50% storm battles, 50% calm sea battles. Too much of something good will make it bad usually.

But that should be possible to fix, isn't it (e.g. 5-10% stroms and 95-90% good weather battles)?

[Capn Rocko]

Even if they added large waves into stormy battles, its very rare to find pvp inside heavy storms due to 200m visibility 

[maturin]

49 minutes ago, Capn Rocko said:

Even if they added large waves into stormy battles, its very rare to find pvp inside heavy storms due to 200m visibility 

Which makes it a good time to run blockades (like the French battlefleets IRL) or snatch traders outside the capital.

[Macjimm]

1 hour ago, Capn Rocko said:

Even if they added large waves into stormy battles, its very rare to find pvp inside heavy storms due to 200m visibility 

 

3 hours ago, TommyShelby said:

The problem i remember from Sea Trials, regarding storm battles, was that it was just played too much. It felt like 50% storm battles, 50% calm sea battles. Too much of something good will make it bad usually.

I think there were lots of people that didn't like storms at all.  And there were others that liked them just a wee bit.  Some people prefer when the weather is almost always sunny.  Everyone is different.   I like to allow everyone their own preference.

I had imagined some areas where storms were predominant and the rest of the world completely storm free:  Players who liked sunny weather could stay away from the storm zones.  Most of the Caribbean would be blue skies, starry nights, and fair winds.   But sometimes it might be worth the risk, for a shorter trip,  to cut through a zone notorious for wrecking ships.  Would depend on your skill at sailing in heavy seas; and perhaps who was chasing you.

It's okay to enjoy a game packed with the excitement of; the mighty ocean, the hazards of huge waves and the threat of a rocky shore.  To some it would be more thrilling than combat. The optional danger of big weather would enhance this game.  Sea monsters and wizards would trivialize it.

But a storm zone is merely the stuff of imagination, as the Devs have said ... storms are not possible. 

[Capn Rocko]

1 hour ago, maturin said:

Which makes it a good time to run blockades (like the French battlefleets IRL) or snatch traders outside the capital.

I'm not against the idea at all. I would love stormy battles. Was just pointing out that it would be a rare occurrence so I don't see why there are people talking about 50% storm battles lol

[maturin]

46 minutes ago, Capn Rocko said:

I'm not against the idea at all. I would love stormy battles. Was just pointing out that it would be a rare occurrence so I don't see why there are people talking about 50% storm battles lol

Oh definitely. Everyone starts hyperventilating because they think the storms will be constant. But we've had OW storms for years now.

And the darn devs think that everyone hates storms because they tortured the Sea Trials folks with constant storms. It should be a rare treat.

[Navalus Magnus]

13 hours ago, Macjimm said:

Devs have said ... storms are not possible. 

They might be able to change thier mind because they obviously like to simulate things very detailed!?

And tbh, with that kind of mindset: Would you produce an age of sail game in the caribbean and completely ignore storms in gameplay!?

Imo sailing and heavy weather is linked unseperably and one of the reasons why the age of sail is such a fascinating topic: Men battling the elements in wooden vessels - awesome, exciting and yet disturbing!

@admin and @Ink ???

Edited December 18, 2017 by Navalus Magnus

[Seraphic Radiance]

I don't think this game engine or server is capable of handling OS storms , gunports etc.. I think it was mentioned somewhere. 

[Macjimm]

1 hour ago, Seraphic Radiance said:

I don't think this game engine or server is capable of handling OS storms , gunports etc.. I think it was mentioned somewhere. 

Yes.  I've searched and can't find the thread:  I too remember that the Devs said that the mechanics can't allow storms in instances.  Wish I could find that post.  Seems to me that we can't have land and storms in the same instance, the system will have too much to process.

The good news is; players who hate storms, and those who like them just a little bit, can rest easy.

[maturin]

Storm instances went away because it requires the devs to maintain additional instances running on the server. They just see it an an inefficient use of resources.

[Seraphic Radiance]

15 minutes ago, maturin said:

Storm instances went away because it requires the devs to maintain additional instances running on the server. They just see it an an inefficient use of resources.

Well they could at least draw storm in the distance and let it rain when you get close. 

[Navalus Magnus]

57 minutes ago, maturin said:

Storm instances went away because it requires the devs to maintain additional instances running on the server. They just see it an an inefficient use of resources.

@admin Is it that way? Couldn't that be programmed in a better way - now with unity 5?

I mean storms in a certain way were possible (although it seems to have required great effort):

 

It would already help to have these back in game (happening in a very low percentage of battles or - as mentioned - in some areas)!

It would be a plus to have some kind of damage done by storms (open gunports, damage by wind to sails and masts or by water to the hull, or just capsizing ...).

Edited December 18, 2017 by Navalus Magnus