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How To Navigate The Open Seas


Voi_Ta

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Navigation in open world seems to be a challenge for new players and few of them are complaining about it. For me it is a part of game play that i enjoy and find very unique. So i decided to compose this guide for everybody so that they can enjoy the navigation as i do (hopefully).

 

The situation is clear. There is no pointer in the game that would tell you your position and it can be hard for somebody to navigate.

 

1) Attitude

I think most important is how do you approach the fact there is no pointer in map and travel is not super easy.

a) It is a challenge, it is not so hard and you will learn how to do it. Difficult things make games fun and learning new things is fun. And this is not so difficult, there are no currents, the wind has constant speed etc.

B) Getting from point A to point B it is an achievement. Be proud of yourself. You are sailor now. Not some kid playing MMO with **** arrow on ground navigating to another quest. You are better.

c) Navigation for historical sailors was important and it wasn't without problems. It is immersive. You can feel like real sailor.

d) Enjoy that you get lost. It is an adventure. You will get into unpredictable situations. It is fun. It is experience. It is unique. You will have stories to tell. Once i wanted to travel to Philipsburg but I ended in from of Gustavia, the capital of Swedes, our enemies. They attacked me before i could even approach the port to see its name. I was faster and i managed to escape. Then they attacked me when i wanted to get away. Four ships against my noob cutter. I realized i am not in the trading whip i wanted anyway and i wasted 10 minutes of sailing (lol moment) so i gave them their battle. I damaged two of them very hard and scored 2x my hp of damage before they sunk me. Got very nice xp afterwards. I would never experience it with GPS navigation.

 

 

2) How to do it

a) Keep attention to your surroundings. Always compare what you see with the map and always  try to determine your current position. Try to guess the isle you can see by the looks of the shoreline. The map is accurate and represents it correctly. Also you will look at Caribbean. It is beautiful.

B) There are navigation points on map everywhere - ports on every mile of the coast. When you see a city name, you know exactly where on map you are.

c) When leaving port, look at map and decide where you want to go. Look at the direction (north, west etc.) and plan your path. You should always see navigation points, shore and ports on your way.

d) There is a compass and it is your best friend. Use it.

e) Before entering battle, remember your position and also how the shores around you look etc. It will come handy when you go out of battle and feel disoriented.

f) Don't go to open see unless you feel really comfortable with navigation.

g) When you need to go west for example and the wind blows in opposite direction, go NW and then switch to SW for the same time period. This way you don't deviate from general west direction.

h) Print a map of Caribbean or the are you sail in and put it on your desk. You can make notes on it etc. Maybe I will put the map here in future or some helpful developer share it with us...

 

 

I am a bit tired after week of work, also English is not my mother language so pleas feel free to point out any misspelling, factual error or bring your ideas, you are welcomed.

 

Also if you make/made guide for new players and find information in this one helpful, please link it in your guide or feel free to copy the text. The downside of copying text is that you wont have updates if i make them.

 

Edit: Changed "sees" to "seas" in topic :-D

Edited by Voi_Ta
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agreed. Especially attitude. I am a 50% navigator... sometimes I arrive at my destination, other times I arrive somewhere completely different.... 

 

But yes, getting lost is an adventure and it allows me to explore new areas too....

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Excellent post! I want to add that every tick mark on the compass represents 15 degrees of rotation. Knowing the exact heading of a far port can be very beneficial, as a tiny margin of error can account for a large distance between your target and where you actually end up.

Personally, I screenshot the map and bring it into photoshop, then use the Line tool to draw a course from my location to my target. Before you let go of left click on the Line tool, it tells you the exact degree offset from 0 (directly east) that your heading should be.

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Well you are right!! If there is a thing that I like the most of the game is navigation. It really makes you feel you are discovering a new world. The satisfaction in the end is to be right were you wanted to be (or close by at least lol). If there is one thing missing, is the possibility to use binoculars in OW... that will make me really happy. So, please, dear developers... can we have it? 

Edited by Antonio_Pigafetta
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  • 2 weeks later...

 I wish we had some navigation tools in game similar to Silent Hunter or better.

 

 Meanwhile you can use this online OpenSeaMap to help get your courses worked out.

 

 I understand that due to the scale being smaller that they can't use lon & lat lines. Maybe they could however use a different grid system such as the keypad grid?

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  • 2 years later...

Voi Ta

I agree that navigating is fun and enjoyable. Thanks for the OP.

In addition;

1) make a course plan before sailing and determine your heading at each waypoint and the time it will take for each leg of the journey.  Then set a timer and begin.  This way you can use the protection of the open ocean and focus on scanning for enemy.

2) If you are not allergic to meta-gaming, the trader tool on the map can provide enough information to obtain your position by triangulation.  F11 and a map with coordinates is quicker and allows more attention to scanning for enemy.

I disagree that there is much difficulty.  Navigation with precision co-ordinates, distances to ports (trader tool), and the lack of wind or current drift, is simple and very easy.  If a GPS map icon was added the game would be arcadey .

l5EUZnP.jpg

 

Edited by Macjimm
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