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Multiple Players Crewing The Same Ship? and other ramblings....


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Hi all, 

I'm not sure if this has been raised already, but I think it is worth mentioning.

I personally have played a fair few Age of Sail games, and am still currently on PotBS, but I have also signed up for Star
Citizen.

Now you may be asking why that is relevant, so let me explain.

Space games, like their naval counterparts, so very rarely convey the scale and size of that mega-end-game vessel you ground to get to, and when you do, the interior serves little purpose (like Star trek Online for example).

Furthermore, and one of the main reasons I signed up for SC, was the fact that, in these giant ships, is it not reasonable to assume that more than one player can assist in the operation of said ships?

Now apply that to the Age of Sail, in PotBs, I have my fairly large 3rd Rate, which only I can use at any given time, and I can only see up close in battle, and cannot ever walk the decks of.

I can walk around islands, and ports, but not my ship, in a sailing game. See the problem?

Star Citizen captured my imagination and excitement because it promises interaction of multiple players that can enhance the operation of a SINGLE player ship, as well as allow those same players to travel and play together in their own SEPARATE ships.

I want to be able to climb atop my masts for a better view aboard ship, or walk to the forecastle with my spyglass and take a look out over the horizon, or take the wheel and steer. Perhaps even to look through one of my gunports as I line up for a devastating broadside.

Also, multiple players crewing a ship could also make boarding a far more enjoyable proposition than it currently is in other games.

So, my question is; Do you think any of this will be possible in Naval Action?

Will we finally have a believable level of freedom to roam OUR OWN SHIPS?

Will boarding become more in-your-face and visceral?

Will Naval Action bring to life the danger and cinema of battles at sea in the age of sail?

Will this be the one game to rule them all, as Britannia once ruled the waves?

Oh, and will I have to waste half an hour travelling, to enjoy fleeting with my friends for 15 minutes before they have to get back to real life. (or will there be a way to get into some quick action with friends that have limited time to play?)

Anyway, I think this is quite long enough for my debut post here.

I wish you all the best of luck, and look forward to seeing you all out atop the ocean.

Regards, 

Krayzeebyker a.k.a. Adam.

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Well the admin has said that movable avatars are a distant future concern so I doubt that it would be developed anytime soon. I think it would be neat to do all those things but not overly necessary in my opinion. Now, I think it could be a fun group mission if every member had to take on a role in the ship. You could have missions that would involve small vessels like a schooner with only a few needed in the group to large rate missions that may need upward of 24 people to man the boat. This would make a nice "Epic" mission.

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  • 8 months later...

My suggestion comes from Battlefield game idea;) where one vehicle can be controled by one or few players, ..more players in one vechicle, more advantures in fight.

 

The biger ship of the line could have place for few player officers and capitan, ..one control for sailing, another players on spoting (give accuracy bunus), shooting (1st, 2nd, 3rd deck), another one for repairs.  Player still can run ship only himself and changing between all this option, what will be more hard ofcourse and takin more time but still posibble;)  ..controling ship with your friends will make u stronger at sea;)

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Well maybe this is good idea, but not in Naval Action imo. By the way imagine game where HMS Victory sailing with 821 sailors and officers (real players) and try work as team:P lol

Ofcourse no 821 players one ship;) , ..lets say 3-4, ...if im not wrong (from what can be seen on youtube) in this game accuracy wont be automatic calculation (as it is in Potbs) so bfor shoot u need aim yourself (higher, lower, left or right), ..if u decide control big lineship yourself you need either shoot all decks on same spot, or aim all batteries diferent what make u waste more time, ..if u have cooperation one player can focus to destroy sails aiming more high, other can shooting the hull , other one focus for crew,  ...its jst the basic idea thou, ..who played Battlefield than he know that most dadly is whan chooper gunner cooperate with the pilot;)

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I don't think there is enough to do to have more than one person.

The devs seem to be steering away from things that make it hard for one player.

What is the point of making it harder for two players just so the second player has something to do.

 

In addition to this there would be no advantage.

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I don't see how this could work in NA at this point since there are no avatars, but I do feel this is an often neglected element that these games beg for.

The ability to sail with a real player crew is something that i've only seen in a few games such as Pirates of the Caribbean Online, ArcheAge, and now Blackwake in the future.

 

It's a very unique element and to me seems perfect for this type of game. It encourages teamwork and makes you work as a crew to survive and prevail. For instance, instead of hitting a button to repair, the repair work would have to be completed by players patching holes and pumping water. Also, like in Blackwake, those players can manually load and fire cannons. Then once the enemy is disabled you could board the enemy ship as a crew to try and capture it.

 

Obviously, you could never require a full crew of real players to run a ship as it would be impossible in anything larger than a Cutter due to the amount of crew required. You could however allow 10-20 spots for real players and designate that only the top deck can be fired by the crew, otherwise they would sit dormant. The remainder of the decks would still be controlled by the captain as it is now. The bonus of the crew then being that without them the amount of firing guns is reduced and you can't repair your ship.

You wouldn't want to attack a ship while solo only to get boarded and face a full player crew by yourself. This natural dependency of captain and crew would get people working together and make for some very interesting gameplay.

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This idea sounds good on paper, but will not be implemented in NA unless there are huge benefits for the overall state of the game. 

 

People like to fight more and lose less. 

But having this system you will lose more and play less. First of all everyone will want to man the guns. Second problem is good player availability, if your good trained friend is not online, your win will depend on some random bad player; you will prefer to not sail with the random bad player - limiting your access to fun. It also limits battles for everyone else, emptying the sea. 

 

Adding complexity to individual roles will also raise the bar requirement on the team members. And finally who would want to be the repairman and sit inside the hull seeing nothing during the whole battle as your goal is to plug leaks.

 

+ it simplifies bots ..

 

Maybe we are missing something.

 

ps  blackwake  mentioned here is going to have a very hard time unfortunately (though we fully support every age of sail developer and we like what they are doing ). The problems is with sword combat - if it does not look good or works well it is better to not have it at all. It is extremely hard to make a good looking sword combat in the multiplayer environment.

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I understand what you are saying. However, this exact system was pretty effective on pirates online. It was probably the thing that kept that game alive for as long as it did. Granted that game had very arcade sailing physics and combat, but many people played the game just to PvP with fellow crews or attack npc fleets. Several ships were full with gunners and people on repair or running back and forth to do both.

 

I agree that for this to be effective the avcom and sword fighting would have to be as good as the sailing. It can't be an after thought as it was in potbs. Hopefully blackwake can fill this roll and further their development to do so.

 

Lastly, I think Naval Action is fine as it is. The sailing and gunnery system is unique to this game. I've always been a bit of a solo captain and this allows me to be in control of every aspect. The gunnery system is by far my favorite part of the game.

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  • 1 month later...

We had a thread on this already.  It's not much fun to be clicking a ship part over and over to repair it, nor to man a single cannon and have to wait for the order to fire, nor to be a lookout with nothing to do for an entire battle.  I'd rather have 10 ships fighting with me than 10 people manning my ship.

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