Seeing Enemy Crew and Crew Positions (Damage)

[Reginulfr]

This post will suggest two possible game mechanics:

1. The idea of "Visible Crew" as opposed to just a total crew number see on the enemy's health bar
2. The Concept of crew positioning or "Focuses" (Sailing, Gunnery, Survival) determining how exposed they are to damage from raking fire

(EDIT!!! What I mean by "Visible Crew" is not physically rendered people on your deck, but the Crew number you see on the health/armor bar when you look at an enemy!)

 

So I was talking with a fellow player, Psychocow, and we were talking about crew damage and boarding parties.  One of our questions was whether you should be able to visibly see the number of the enemy crew, or just be able to see the crew on their top deck?  

 

If you were able to effectively "hide" your crew numbers, then you could potentially trick someone into trying to board you and then counter board with a larger crew than your enemy anticipated.  Now there would have to be disadvantages for this.  If you had more of your crew "hiding below deck," then they would be more vulnerable to raking fire as they would be crowded together below deck.

 

Now this gets me thinking about another mechanic.  We know that in Damage Model 4.0 that there is an intention to compartmentalize where your crew (and other functions) are physically on the ship, so that when you fire at certain points your damage is directly correlated on where you hit.  Now what if your "focuses" (Sailing, Gunnery, Survival) would physically move where your men were on the ship in Damage Model 4.0. 

 

For example, if I put my men on "Sailing" focus, then I would imagine more of the men would physically be in the rigging or on my top deck.  This would mean that if I was Raked I would potentially lower my risk of losing crew as they wouldn't be in the areas being shot at (they would be on deck or in the rigging, rather than on my gun decks where I am being shot).  Similarly, if my men were set to "Gunnery" focus then they would suffer higher damage to raking fire, as they would be more packed together.  I am not sure yet what "Survival" mode would entail, but with the crew being closer to the water line, it would mean that they would suffer if the shit was hit there.  

 

This mechanic could allow for interesting player tactics, such as in a duel or a brawl, you would strategically place your crew in specific locations over the course of the battle, to minimize the risk of losing them from raking fire, rather than always having them on "Gunnery." (as it is now, if someone has a good raking position at the start of the fight, and can keep it, they are most likely to win).  If this was done effectively, and if the suggestion of only being able to know the enemy crew that was on deck was implemented, then you could possibly fool your enemy into boarding you when you actually had the advantage.  

 

From a programming point of view, I think these mechanics are possible once Damage 4.0 is in place.  The devs would have to tweak how many men would be in each position, as a ratio of your total crew available, and adjust the formula depending on what "Focus" the player has chosen.  Also, the number of "Visible Crew" on the enemy ship can be determined by the number of crew in the set positions based on the formula.  You can decide which "locations" are visible and which are not.  I'm not sure how much coding that would take, but at least the infrastructure would be there, meaning that this mechanic could be implemented at a later stage

 

Thanks for reading, let me know what you guys think.

Edited February 27, 2015 by Reginulfr

[maturin]

Excellent idea with the focuses. In sailing focus, crew should be lined up on deck to man the braces and clewlines.

[Crankey]

I believe the Devs said that this would be actionable once the software had undergone optimisation. Whilst currently it would overstress the system.

[Sir_Wiener_Von_Snitzel]

The napoleon total where game did a great job at making crew on their ships.

And jump across and fighting when boarding. very cool.

 

If they make alot of crew, (witch i think they will do) i would really like to see them going into ragdoll as they die, 

maybe bounch of the ship if they where hit close too by a cannon ball.

 

[Reginulfr]

I believe the Devs said that this would be actionable once the software had undergone optimisation. Whilst currently it would overstress the system.

 

 

Wait, I want to specify that what I mean by visible, isn't physically rendered people, but what you see as their crew numbers on their health tab.

[Reginulfr]

The napoleon total where game did a great job at making crew on their ships.

And jump across and fighting when boarding. very cool.

 

If they make alot of crew, (witch i think they will do) i would really like to see them going into ragdoll as they die, 

maybe bounch of the ship if they where hit close too by a cannon ball.

 

 

 

Sorry, I edited the post.  What I meant by visible crew wasn't rendering, it was more the number you see in the top right that shows their surviving crew.