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Are ship speeds just a bit too fast?


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I was a little to late to buy into the Alpha Release before the PayPal issue, so I've had to make do with jealously gazing at other people's videos instead, which is not a bad exercise as it turns out. Some of this is bound to have been covered, but I'm wondering if anyone else is under the impression that ship speeds seem to be a bit on the fast side too much of the time. From my reading, late 18th/early 19th C Ships-of-the-line spent most of their time at 3-5 knots and never more than 8-9 from (HMS Victory figures). I know smaller boats were much more manoeverable and probably a tad faster but there seem to be a lot of ships moving around at 14 knots a lot of the time. I understand the invention of sharp-ended clippers in the 19th C for trade allowed more like 15-20 knots top speed (and to out-run threatening naval vessels).

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Books claim speeds up to 16 knots for certain frigs.

If you have not played you won't be able to judge.

Game looks faster on videos than feels in game. Higher speed perception is also caused by outside view that is making things smaller.

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Fair enough then, I guess. I'm sure the research was lengthy on this. There do seem to be general references to frigates achieving speeds up to 14 knots. I tried to find out what kind of speed the reproduction French frigate Hermione can achieve but either she hasn't been sufficiently at sea yet or it's just not reported anywhere. I know she was a bit of a bathtub, but Cook's Endeavour averaged about 3 knots. The Endeavour Replica averages 2.5 knots under sail and 5.0 under motor. Fastest speed ever recorded by the Cutty Sark (possibly the fastest tea clipper built) 17.5 knots.

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Just to qualify - I was basing the observed speeds on the speed gauge/sail compass gadget at the bottom left of screens (unless that's meant to be wind speed?), rather than the appraent speed which obviously looks quite fast. Presumably Captains of frigates liked to brag about top speeds which may well have been achievable under ideal condtions but probably not most of the time.

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I do think the SOL's sail way to fast. I'm thinking they should be about 1/3 to 1/2 slower. Right now they are as fast as a frigate. (at least IMO)

Most SOL's had so much weed growing they barely moved.

There's plenty of examples of 3rd rates outright chasing down and catching frigates, and if anything frigates are more likely to be spending long periods on patrol and be covered in weed...

 

The 1st rates are maybe slightly too fast though relative to the other ships.

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lol fights already take 30-50 mins, and thats with both sides actually wanting to sink each other vs chasing some1 who only wants to escape once open world is in.

 

I know IRL ships could chase each other for 5 hrs before catching up but uhm.........

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Trincomalee, S. Trinidad and the light vessels are definitely faster than they would be in reality. The others just sail at their maximum recorded speed 100% of the time.

In reality, a frigate capable of reaching 12 knots required very favorable conditions to achieve this speed. Even a fast ship would spend most of its time poking around at a fraction of that speed, which is ultimately just a personal record. Olympic sprinters don't travel 20 mph when they walk out to get the mail.

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Yes hull condition could cause speed to be less if a hull was fouled with weed, but unless the end game has portside facilities and degenerating hull conditions that need putting right its a none starter. (I hope they do - I'd love the detail and it would add to the ecomony side of the game plus give captains cause to maintain their ships)

 

So assume all hulls are 'clean' at least for the alpha test.

 

Acceleration of different ship classes was perhaps as noticable as their difference in top speeds.

 

A SOL's huge suit of sails could indeed provide enough speed to chase down and catch any ship if it was sailing with a favoured wind strength and direction.

 

Which ship class, wind strength, sea state, ships attitude to the wind and current sail setting, losing leeway, 'current' and 'tidal flow' effected ship speeds. Condition of sails and style of sails, how many were in good condition, did you have studding sails available, is the wind strength suitable for studding sails to be deployed. 

 

Ships and sail setup gave speed bonuses or rather smaller speed reductions depending on wind strength and attitude to the ship.

 

Deeper hulls did better in heavy swells as they shoulder through rather than ride over sea state, lighter ships do better on calmer seas. Heavier ships needed strong winds to achieve their best. A small cutter for instance would still have steerage way when a SOL was becalmed, but would have to reef sails earlier than a SOL.

 

It all depends on what the developers are going to introduce and what they are going to exclude as part of their sailing model. Without knowing which we have no reference other than historical recorded log speeds. For instance some 3rd rates were known to be 'good sailors' while others were known to be 'bad sailors' so we would hope each class/design of ship will be individually rated. 

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I get that many gamers just want to be able to fight a pitched battle in half an hour then leave, but surely it would be simple enough to have an adjustment setting to allow those who want either "full" or "quick game" levels of realism (for multi-player game invitations this is just stipulated for any who want to participate). I think the point is also well made that it's not a simple given that small boats were fast and big ships slow - very dependant on sea conditions. In heavy weather, a small boat is probably travelling several times the straight-line distance of a bigger boat since it tends to go over the waves more than a larger boat that will cut through. A good example of this is the Sydney-Hobart Yacht race. That is essentially a race between the "super-maxi" (super-large) yachts, while smaller boats cannot win outright but may be awarded a win based on handi-cap. For the purpose of this game, it may be good enough that frigates are significantly faster under strong winds but relatively smooth seas while SOTL are similar/marginally faster under heavier seas & winds.

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