Captiva

I have always liked the ui and info available to the player from Silent Hunter. I've posted in the past that some of their ideas would, in my opinion, fit very nicely into Naval Action. So, my initial opinion to this idea is, YES.

I like this idea! Prater, are in game missions immune to your idea (I'm thinking they are, but just want to clarify)? I kinda like their implementation and am hoping that exploration missions are added as well.

At this time the port is a contestable port. I wouldn't leave any ships docked in a contestable port with the intent of using the port as a base of operations. I already learned the hard way, shorty after the implementation of port battles and removal of teleporting, that I couldn't get to the remote outpost in time to remove my ships before the port was captured and thus had no access to remove them. I won't do that again. Parrot Cay is ideal for shallow water ships and deep water ships of any Nation, but especially shallow water ships. There are not many large shallow bodies of water like this in the game. Giving access for all players to one free town near this body of water would be good so that all players would have access to it for it's strategic value.

After reading the initial Tribunal thread, and this current thread, I believe that CommodoreWesleys' suggestion carries the most weight. Pointing fingers regarding foul play when there are no specific rules against the accused foul play, rings a little hollow to my ears. Tactics and strategy in the real world do not have rules. Unless it's a "written in stone", "no excuses" rules violation, or an out-and-out abuse of the game mechanics, then, all is fair in love and war. At this point I believe that enough information has been presented to the developers so that they can and will make the right call.

Agree 100% with Wind on the ability to hire Pirates by National. This idea has been around this forum for a long time now. Maybe it could be implemented, at the very least on a trial basis, to see if it can work

I would like to suggest to the developers to make Parrot Cay a free town in the next wipe. There are 8 free towns in close proximity to Nassau in which one can open an outpost. This area also has an abundance of shallow water, to the benefit of smaller ships. Behind Parrot Cay there is also a nice body of shallow water - from Parrot Cay to Blondel Cay. This area is also ideal to shallow water ships. But there are no free towns in which to open an outpost that a small ship sailor might use as a base of operations. Parrot Cay is also a deep water port, so it can accommodate ships of all classes, but primarily it would help the shallow water ship sailors who would benefit from the protection that the shallow waters offer.

Is it possible to have a pre-determined radius or zone of protection around Nation capitals in which a enemy player who makes the decision to attack a member of that Nation (within that Nations zone of protection), can only fight solo against that player but the Nation player automatically gets 2 to 3 ai bots to come to his defense? Plus any friendly who cares to join in the defense of the Nation player within this zone can do so. This might help in discouraging the subject of this thread.

I have a GeForce GTX 650 1gig and it works flawlessly. I hope this helps.

Prater and 'Sharpe are right on it. 1.Some form of in game tutorial explaining the mechanics of sailing and combat, and 2.reasons to sail all classes of ships throughout the life of the game. A tutorial of some form is so obvious that it is simply a must. Reasons to sail all ships of all classes throughout the life of the game is also important if the developers' aim is to increase the numbers all types of ships sailing in game. The events tab is a good start, albeit pertaining only to combat. Exploratory missions which takes the player to the remote areas of the map are another event that could be added. Simply sail to a far distant port and you get a reward. Deliver goods and you get another type of reward. Hunting smugglers, as Prater suggests is another type of event. And each of these events would require a specific class of ship in order to take on the mission. These ideas would give the player many diverse ways of earning XP and Gold beyond PVE or PVP, and make it less frustrating for the beginning player to earn them.

The simplest remedy to my mind, is to have a sea trials style - arena mode area that would be called something along the lines of - "Naval Action Training Academy". The new player can play here as long as he wants or as long as he needs, in order to learn battle skills and sailing skills. He should have the ability to sail two types of ships, a fore and aft rigged and a square rigged to learn the basics of sailing and firing. This seems like such a no-brainer in helping the new player learn the basics. Maybe it's in the works from the developers and just not implemented into the game at this time.

I'll triple this suggestion. All modules are built into the quality of the ship thus, go down with the ship. The only modules that could be purchased and able to swap out should be the boarding modules (Marines, Grog Rations, Handbooks...etc.)

Quote: "One major point here is to add variety, and not force all players into the same end game frigate or line-ship." I agree with SirThorne here. This, in my opinion, is one of the more important issues within the game i.e. keeping an interest and a need for sailing all classes of ships throughout the life of the game. If this can be accomplished by means of various rewards without the player feeling that they are being forced to do something they don't want to do, then I believe the game will ultimately be more open and more rewarding for the player in the long run.

I would like to expand on an idea that has been floating around this forum these past few months. As I understand it, the developers would like to encourage the sailing of various ships by all players in hopes that the game is not ultimately flooded with, say, predominately frigates and the higher ship classes. So how about this idea? All players are given a ship slot for each rated class of ship...not a slot for every ship within each class...but one slot, for one ship, for every class of ship. Every time the player levels up to the next class of ship, he retains the ship that he chose to sail from the previous level that he progressed up from. Then, periodically, the player is given mandatory missions for each class of ship that the player has in his possession. This would insure that all players would continue to sail all the classes of ships that they are currently leveled up to, for the life of the game. These missions could be molded for the strength of each class of ship. The smaller classes could be given scouting or exploration missions, medium classes of ships could be given escort duties or transporting of goods duties. The larger class of ships could be issued combat missions. I'd like to hear your thoughts and suggestions that could improve upon this idea or your thoughts as to why this would be a bad idea. Thanks!

The Spanish Main (1945) Maureen O'Hara, Paul Henreid

Thanks, Powderhorn. Unfortunately, better players are always going to have a gap between themselves and a lesser player no matter which system is employed. Right now, if a lesser player only plays a better player, then he stands more of a chance of losing his ship, while the better player will more times than not, retain his. But the losing player still earns some XP. I believe that if the idea is thought out correctly, then losing in battle doesn't necessarily mean that your crew will never get better, but that they will reach the next ability level at a slower pace than the winner. This puts the value of skill more in the players hands than by the simple act of "purchasing" a crew skill upgrade. The loss of crew level ability could be tied to what percentage of crew loss was suffered in battle. If it were say, over 50%, then the player would lose a certain percentage of crew tasks ability that would have to be made up in subsequent battles - and, of course, the player would have to chose his battles wisely, as he does now. So this affects the very good players as well. More than likely they will be battling players of roughly the same ability as themselves, so they too, run the risk of losing not only ship structure due to damage, but also loss of crew ability due to a percentage of crew loss in battle. Anyway, I appreciate your input and understand your concern regarding the ever present gap between experienced and inexperienced players. I'm just trying to expand on the idea of tying the leveling up of crew abilities, to the ability of the player, instead of the current static act of simply purchasing the upgrade. It just seems that this could be a more dynamic, realistic and ultimately more enjoyable aspect of the game.

Yes, planktonette, you are spot on regarding the inexperience of whatever percentage of crew that is replaced (due to losses in battle), having an overall affect on the skill level of the entire ships crew. The crew skill is then leveled up again by subsequent success in future battles, or further downgraded by losses in battle. Again, this would make game-play much more fluid and dynamic, as opposed to "purchasing" levels of crew upgrades that remain static for as long as you have the ship.

This is all very encouraging and exciting to hear. After reading the various ideas on the value of crew and captain experience, I am convinced that the current "purchasing" of crew ability upgrades is not the way to go in Naval Action. Upgrades to crew abilities be they; speed in raising, lowering, turning of sails; gunnery skills such as, accuracy, speed in reloading of cannon etc., should all be based on the players success in battle and not simply on the ability to purchase the upgrade. The degree to how much bonus is added to the players crew through success in battle could be best determined by the developers so that balance between experienced and non-experienced players is reasonably attained. This idea would add fluid and dynamic consequences to battle, i.e. the more successful the player is in battle, the higher his crew is upgraded in it's seamanship. If the player falls on hard luck in battle, then his crew is downgraded in it's seamanship abilities. But they are never in the upgraded or downgraded state permanently, rather, they have the everlasting ability to increase their skill rating or decrease it by the skill of the player in battle for the life of the ship they are sailing.

It seems to me that if you were awarded "upgrades" to various crew skills by your ability and success in battle, then that would be much more realistic than "purchasing" crew upgrades or "crafting" crew upgrades that remain a constant as long as you have the ship. To be clear, I'm talking about crew ability upgrades, not ship structure upgrades. For me, it would be more fluid and dynamic if besides taking ship damage during battle, your crew also was degraded, not just in numbers, but in their ability as to how fast they can raise or lower sails, or their speed and accuracy in gunnery skills. The more success the player has, then these abilities are increased. So there is this constant back and forth as to how good your crew is at performing various tasks based upon the players ability in battle. And I still like the idea of having the ability to press a keyboard button to bring up a cross-section of the tall ship you are currently sailing (as in the Silent Hunter example) showing the interior of the ship and compartments that represent the various crew and their percentage of losses from or during battle.

Before we dismiss this idea from the get-go, I believe that it should at least be thought over and discussed among the members of this forum. I'm all for improving the sense of alienation and sterility that I perceive within the game as it is now. Why not, after winning x number of battles, have the crew increase it's ability in raising and lowering sails due to their success in battles? Or, increase it's gun accuracy for the same reason? And what's so wrong with having a tree management page that shows the various crew (as in Silent Hunter, shown above) and their level of seamanship in whatever capacity they are assigned? If the player suffers x amount of damage during battle, then that is reflected in the tree by showing a loss of ability of the corresponding crew. These abilities are then again built up by future successes in battle. I believe this could add to the immersion aspect of the game, plus help the player identify with their crew on a more, perceived, personal level. This, I believe, is worthy of discussion on this forum.

Thanks, I'll look for the update.

Thanks, Prater! I use your map all the time. Do you have an updated map that includes the recent changes of certain nation towns to free towns, etc.?

Welcome to the forum, earlwarren! I believe that you will love Naval Action, and that is will be all that you imagine it to be. I too, played Sid Meier's Pirates. It was a great game for it's time. As you have seen from the video's, Naval Action is not "cartoonish" as was the case with Meier's Pirates. Naval Action strives for a more realistic sailing experience and the developers continualy improve the atmospherics of the game. I hope to return to England one day and see the HMS Victory, as you have. I've just seen photos of the Victory, but even in the photos she looks very impressive. On a trip to Australia, I had the good fortune to tour the replica of Captain Cook's ship, the Endeavour. My avatar photo to the left was taken below deck on that ship. It is the log, rope and sand glass used for measuring speed in knots. Well, I think you'll find Naval Action to be an almost perfect blend between realism and play-ability. This forum is a fantastic place with very helpful members who can guide you through the early stages of play. Welcome, I hope you enjoy the game!

I still like the idea of having to use specific classes of ships for specific duties. How to determine what duty would be assigned to which class of ship would have to be thought out by the developers. This would make the sailing of each class of ship within the game a necessity throughout the life of the game. You're not then forcing the player to sail all classes of ships just for the sake of forcing them to do so, rather, the player is sailing them out of necessity for particular monetary rewards, goods and materials, exploration, escort duties, or xp. Once again, this is just a fundamental idea on how to utilize all classes of ships for the players benefit, so that they would want and need to sail all classes of ships throughout the life of the game.

You all seem to have a handle on how to better obtain the recipe's. I was just trying to suggest an added method that would help alleviate the frustration of those who don't seem to have any luck in acquiring them. Maybe as Hairy Fishnuts suggested, having a rare spawn of this type of, "recipe bearing ship" (say,one out of one hundred) roaming all regions so that no one is left out of the opportunity of having an additional method of acquiring a recipe. Thanks!

Thanks, Hairy. Yes, I agree with you regarding escorts. At the end of my post I mentioned that for ships rated 3rd to 1st, that a larger escort on the order of a Snow would make it more of a challenge.