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Fun for night battles


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They weren't illuminating, though. Not much white phosphorus or parachutes kicking around 18th century ships for analogues of modern illumination artillery rounds.

 

If it was too dark to see the enemy, you just shouldn't be fighting. I guess you could make the enemy shin blue for a few seconds if you aim the flare right, but it won't help you much, except to read the name on the stern. Flares were for signalling.

 

Sudden stabs of light in the dark tend to look best in games anyways. Most "nighttime" maps in games and movies are lit up so garishly that it's more like late afternoon in Vegas. When you're crawling through a pitch-black forest in ArmA and an automatic grenade launcher starts raining down on you, now that's drama. And something more like what we can expect with hundreds of muzzle flashes in this game.

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Good idea. They had blue flares, it's not our fault Hornblower and Aubrey weren't smart enough to use them to illuminate the enemy in battle. Boris is a visionary battle tactition.

Oh no. I'm gonna have to hear this quote on TS for weeks. :P

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Yeah just to put in my two cents, I wouldn't want a scenario where everything was pitch black and I'd need to be throwing out flares to see what's going on. Day/Night I think is good, but nighttime should be at the very least moon-lit so people have an idea of whats going on and where ships are. It'll be harder to identify them, meaning you'll have to get a lot closer to see what ship you're coming up against or who it belongs to, but you should still be able to duel it without visual difficulty once you get to a certain distance. 

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Well I don't think their would be any night battles that were pitch dark but I think night battles are a must have. The optics in a game this pretty is reason enough for it. So, only one or two fleet actions happened at night. Who cares? Its not like the game has to create every other battle as a night fight.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 8 months later...

I was wondering about this subject and did a quick search.  I didn't see anything discussed in detail so I thought I would resurrect this, unless someone could link me to a discussion I missed.  

 

Night Actions.

 

After all, half a day is night time...  The possibilities are intriguing.  Running blockades, escaping from a chase, smuggling and more.   

 

When I started alpha test here I got inspired to read a book I had been saving for the right time : Cochrane : The Fighting Captain. by Robert Harvey.  I was awed by his night time actions.  Also, he eluded enemies chasing him at night by placing a lantern on a floating barrel while running his ship dark to escape.  I realize most of his night actions involved rowing in to take out shore batteries, or using fire or explosion ships to take out ships protected in bays, etc.  However, I'm not sure how rowing in at night to board ships could be handled.  Since NA seems focused on sailing... landing some marines to take out shore batteries or forts doesn't seem to fit into the original vision for the game at such an early stage.

 

So I guess I'll end with a question.  Are there any plans to incorporate night actions into the open world? Or will we be sailing in perpetual daylight ?

 

MC.

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A very nice idea!

 

Regarding a future open world/sandbox mode, even without knowing how the devs will implement day and night cycles, its was quite normal that ships travelled during the night, especially at long distances (e.g. from Dover to the Carribean etc)

 

Different lighting could add some tactical possibilities: Players could break through a blockade at dark night, or image some smaller pirate ships ambushing a large cargo vessel out of nowhere in the dark? I agree with some voices, saying that large battles were never fought in the dark, however to fight in dusk or dawn lighting would be phantastic :)

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If nothing else the open world should include the cycles: limited visiblity, stealth approaches or docking, etc.

 

However sighting lanterns in the distance seems to not work with the stated method of encounter:

 

 

1)  The stated encounter as I understand it yields a ship and possible number of escorts.  

2)  At night you should be able to count the number of lights and make a guess...but that differs from their stated method of open sea encounter.  

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I believe some battles that started in daylight did carry on by the light of the fires of dying ships. Not possible here as they all sink! ;)

I would have to research it to make sure I was remembering correctly though.

 

Edit: Cape St Vincent would be a good example of how a night battle was fought.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cape_St._Vincent_%281780%29

 

"The chase continued into the dark and squally night, leading it to later become known as the "Moonlight Battle", since it was uncommon at the time for naval battles to continue after sunset.[21] At 7:30 pm,HMS Defence came upon Lángara's flagship Fenix, engaging her in a battle lasting over an hour. She was broadsided in passing by HMS Montagu and HMS Prince George, and Lángara was wounded in the battle. Fenix finally surrendered to HMS Bienfaisant, which arrived late in the battle and shot away her mainmast.[19] Fenix '​s takeover was complicated by an outbreak of smallpox aboard Bienfaisant. Captain John MacBride, rather than sending over a possibly infected prize crew, apprised Lángara of the situation and put him and his crew on parole.[22]

170px-George_Bridges_Rodney%2C_1st_Baron
 
Admiral Sir George Rodney, portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds (date unknown)

At 9:15 the Montagu engaged the Diligente, which struck after her maintopmast was shot away. Around 11:00 pm San Eugenio surrendered after having all of her masts shot away by HMS Cumberland, but the difficult seas made it impossible to board a prize crew until morning. That duel was passed by HMS Culloden and Prince George, which engaged San Julián and compelled her to surrender around 1:00 am.[19] The last ship to surrender was Monarca. She nearly escaped, shooting away HMS Alcide's topmast, but was engaged in a running battle with the frigate HMS ApolloApollo managed to keep up the unequal engagement until about the time that Rodney's flagship Sandwich came upon the scene around 2:00 am. Sandwich fired a broadside, unaware that Monarca had already hauled down her flag.[23]"

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Signal rockets were used at Trafalgar by the frigates ahead of the fleet, but there were no long burning illumination rounds.

Expédition d'Irlande 1796

"Morard de Galles had spent most of 16 December preparing for passage through the Raz de Sein, situating temporary lightships in the channel to warn of hazards and giving instructions on the use of signal rockets during the passage. The fleet was so delayed in this work that darkness began to fall before preparations were complete and he abandoned the plan at approximately 16:00 and signalled for the fleet to leave via the main channel from the port, leading the way in his flagship, the frigate Fraternité. It was so dark by the time the signal was made that most ships failed to see it, Fraternité and the corvette Atalante attempting to notify them by rocket signal. These signals were confusing and many ships failed to understand, sailing for the Raz de Sein rather than the main channel. Pellew added to the problem by weaving ahead of the fleet shining blue lights and firing rockets, further confusing the French captains as to their location."

"One ship had been lost:, the 74-gun ship of the line Séduisanthad driven onto the Grand Stevenent rock during the night and sank with the loss of 680 lives. She too had fired numerous rockets and signal guns in an effort to attract attention, succeeding only in compounding the confusion in the fleet."

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For night battles the only thing I would ask is that the night time is more dangerous than the day, yes your hidden but that doesn't mean you can't be found. I would like the night to hold a range of possibilities that can threaten any player, no matter how experienced they may be. 

 

In the day, you see any enemy coming, you can prepare and fight back with at least some degree of knowledge, or choose to run. But in the dead of night, not to mention fog and the likes, your a sitting duck. If your spotted by lets say a player. They might be able choose to dispense any light sources that might give away their position and possibly make you aware, creeping up on a lit target is by far an easier task than you'd think if they are not aware of you. Having the deck crew go silent cuts out any noise issues, and before they're aware that their is a ship on their ass or side they've eaten the first of many broadsides.

 

Not to mention navigational issues, no knowledge of certain areas can cause major issues for a captain with not idea if he's heading into shallow waters, not to mention if they happen to end up facing an unholy storm. Shit happens at sea people. 

 

But there is one thing that I would like about night time game play, and that's the crew and ship. I'd like to see small lanterns at the stern of the ship, and maybe a crewmen pacing the deck with a hand held lantern, maybe the captains quarters are faintly lit as he works to manage his crew and chart his map? All these little things are what make a game.

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I love the ideas. This game has huge promise as far as graphics and I hope they use the gift of graphics for night battles.It would be the most beautiful game out if they did night battles and having starburst.

It would look good, but starburst is so far from real world and it would in effect make night fights just the same as day fights but with different colours. 

I don't really see the point.

Moonlight yes, gun flashes yes, phosphorescence in the water - but no flares 

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  • 1 month later...

would it be possible to introduce flares and/or rockets to ships equipment as a means of reestablishing contact with your fellow players on maps like the storm map?

 

a recent experience in a PVE where I was sailing around looking for my teammates has me wondering about this.

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