Practice mission(s) in OW, something comparable to Admiralty missions.

[Jacob van Heemskerck]

I would like to suggest a selectable practice mission, or different selectable practice missions like Admiralty missions.

The reason for this is;

- whe can practice what a new bought/crafted/modified ship can do (speed, rate of turn etc. etc.)
- see wat diffrent calibres medium/long/carronades gun's can do and how they perform on different gun decks.
- practice Naval tactics with a group of player's (Line of battle)
- we can practice without taking damage from enemy fire
- new players

I would suggest that with different practice missions, how many practice targets would appear in the practice mission and in wich formation.
the practice targets could be;

- raft(s) with sails (idea from Master and Commander, gun practice scene with a raft)
- old battered ship(s)
- static crew with hay puppets? wich would diminished with grape shot

The practice target could drift with the wind to simulate movement or anchored to lay stil. with more targets formed in ''formation'' they would by tied together to stay in ''formation'', and tied ships can be seperated form formation during heavy shooting (ropes would go loose)

Damage to the captain's own ships could only be done to friendly fire or ramming other objects.

And this makes it a pretty handy practice mission imo.

Edited April 12, 2016 by BungeeLemming

[Konali89]

If the current missions against AI stays in after EA, you basically have your practise missions already , simply because you can choose to run if it gets to hot:)

[Nathaniel]

Just get generic events back with no XP at all, free team creation and no durabilities loss. It will help to practice fights enormously.

[Jacob van Heemskerck]

If the current missions against AI stays in after EA, you basically have your practise missions already , simply because you can choose to run if it gets to hot:)

agree, it's not much pressure from the current missions, even when reached rank captain in verenigde provincien. but it takes time to learn people your groups naval tactics, and this is imo a ideal environment to practice!

 

Just get generic events back with no XP at all, free team creation and no durabilities loss. It will help to practice fights enormously.

I'm from the latest batch of players, i didn't experienced the generic events before? but if there is no loss of durabilty and gain in xp it's all good, and maybe a better practice?!

Still i'm hoping to see this in OW as stated above, you can practice naval tactics without any pressure of an enemy.

Edited January 10, 2016 by Jacob van Heemskerck

[Macjimm]

Is is possible to receive a mission that is not fighting? Seems that they are all search and destroy.

[Toothless Jack]

Good idea Macjimm.

At the moment you can not test sailing , damage boarding etc without going to ow and getting involved into some battle where you can actually lose ship.

Testing ship should be in some sort of instance/mission where you can be alone against AI oe even other player and you don't need to pay for repairs and you can not lose ship.

Brilliant idea. Another task for dev's? )

[la Touche-Treville]

Good idea Macjimm.

At the moment you can not test sailing , damage boarding etc without going to ow and getting involved into some battle where you can actually lose ship.

Testing ship should be in some sort of instance/mission where you can be alone against AI oe even other player and you don't need to pay for repairs and you can not lose ship.

Brilliant idea. Another task for dev's? )

This isn't true.

When I first moved from my Yacht to a Snow, I attacked lone smugglers (not escorted), enter battle, they flee and you can practice all you want jibbing and tacking with different speeds and sails without worrying the least about taking fire.

[TheBritishGent]

Is is possible to receive a mission that is not fighting? Seems that they are all search and destroy.

Yes, it would be nice if there were something different to spice it up. Right now if feels as if I have to do a lot of grinding to get to a Constitution or Victory.

[TheBritishGent]

Good idea Macjimm.

At the moment you can not test sailing , damage boarding etc without going to ow and getting involved into some battle where you can actually lose ship.

Testing ship should be in some sort of instance/mission where you can be alone against AI oe even other player and you don't need to pay for repairs and you can not lose ship.

Brilliant idea. Another task for dev's? )

I don't know about the sailing part, but I would like to see a practice battle, like they have in the Navy, where they set this old ship out on the water, and you need to sink it(preferably from far away). Helps with aiming for when you get into a real fight

 

And I still think there should be some sort of insurance program in the game, they had it back in the Age of Sail, and would help for those fights where you can lose a ship.

[Aussie Pastor]

I feel that an agreed "Skirmish" should be allowed between Captains up to 4v4 or 6v6.

But NO exp or gold and no loss of anything after the battle, only time if it is not used well.

Only can be done while in the same "Port" and then it is locked, just like "Small and Large Battles".

This will help players by taking their friends through their paces and also let them have fun together if they want.

[jodgi]

I'd use this sooo much for speed testing.

[Jacob van Heemskerck]

I'd use this sooo much for speed testing.

Yes, i would like see what specific kinds of modifications wil do to speed, rate of turn and rigging and sails. Before i head into battle

Edited January 20, 2016 by Jacob van Heemskerck

[Excelsior718]

I agree that we need a safe place to test out the capabilities of new ships.   

 

An instance with a few floating targets to aim at would be great.  

 

I'm just moving up to square rigged ships, and I really would like to be able to practice sailing, tacking, shooting, etc. before I go into battle.  

[Ruthless4u]

 

I'm just moving up to square rigged ships, and I really would like to be able to practice sailing, tacking, shooting, etc. before I go into battle.

In the same boat, don't want to spend a ton of money just to lose a ship that I have no experience in. Makes me hesistent to buy a new ship.

[Macjimm]

I'm just moving up to square rigged ships, and I really would like to be able to practice sailing, tacking, shooting, etc. before I go into battle.

 

In the same boat, don't want to spend a ton of money just to lose a ship that I have no experience in. Makes me hesistent to buy a new ship.

Wow. The opportunity for cooperation presents itself.

If you could find a couple mates to help you could go pick a fight and have the helpers distract the target ship. Be sure to spawn into the instance with the weather gauge. I would choose help that have very fast ships that can out run the enemy. If you choose a trader ship (as the target), that way you may not even need the help from some mates.

I'm not sure if this would work entirely but it would be exciting to try.

Edited February 7, 2016 by Macjimm

[Marcomies]

I like the OP's suggestion. In addition to practice missions I think the game could really benefit from actual tutorial mission: Doing your very first mission in the game can be pretty tough and intimidating as you don't really have any advantages over the AI at that point. You may end up fighting a better ship with more powerful or equal weapons and will have to learn sailing, controls, shooting and all that on the go. I'd imagine that currently quite a few players have no idea what the game is supposed to be and what to do and end up using the steam refund before they really even give the game a chance.

 

I think the game should start by offering the new player a tutorial mission where you receive some detailed instruction on how to get repair kits, get the mission, set sail and find your way to the mission in the open world with the map. The mission itself could start with a help overlay with all the important controls and GUI elements explained then have you sail to and sinking a dummy target, like lynx that won't move or shoot, at least before it has taken a few hits. After that I think the tutorial should continue by showing the player how to purchase carronades for the cutter (which will make getting into the game by doing missions a lot easier).

Edited April 11, 2016 by Marcomies