Brigand

I intended this as Chustler assumed. I would like this to be a feature that is more or less automated: order the marines to 'fire at will' and hope they make a difference. Training your marines should result in higher probability of taking out some of the enemy men. However, no avatars, no individual commanding of crew or giving individual orders, just a general method of thinning the crowd on the enemy ship before boarding action begins. It would add some interesting option into the mix, very good if you would like the enemy to surrender without damaging the ship they sail too much. It was a really common practice to shoot at enemy personal with muskets. Some commanders really thought it a too bloody affair and did not allow it, but the common attitude towards it was that it was too effective to ignore. David Cordingly in his book Pirate hunter of the Caribbean: the adventurous life of Captain Woodes Rogers (a good read, better than the title suggest by a large margin) even describes the taking of a Spanish Galleon laying at anchor by a group of daring pirates in small rowed boats using muskets and a whole lot of courage. Cheers, Brigand.

One of the things I would really love to see is wind shadow. Because of an island or -far more interesting- because of another ship... ~Brigand

Could you add some argumentation to this statement? ~Brigand

Could be nice to add several mediterranean / arab ships to the game as some future expansion maybe. But for now, I think we could have a really nice game without them. ~Brigand

Naval action should publish a book, describing the ships in-game, their stats, dimensions sail plan, deck plans, draughts and what sources where used to put the stuff together. Should be enough people interested in that ~Brigand

A quote from another thread: The Spanish Armada sailed against England in 1588. So, while I personally think those times where interesting enough, they would be considered too early for this game. ~Brigand

I'm not sure about the shot weight; I took pictures of two them. The first one is a bit smaller than the second one, but both where definitely land (fort/castle) based cannons. I would not be surprised if they where 18 pounders or more, judging from the sheer mass of the things. I think (speculation) they where Venetian inspired designs, but I may be completely wrong on that. I did not have anything with me to put in the picture for size comparison unfortunately. If I spot some more, I'll see if I can snap some more pictures. ~Brigand. Edit: nice progress on the models.

I'm not sure if it is of any help to anyone, but I snapped some pictures of some cannons laying around here: The whole batch can be download as a zip (42 MB). I cannot give you any more details on them, just the pictures. ~Brigand

I'm wondering this as well. In the Netherlands, 'armed yachts' where used for 'spiegelgevechten' which would translate as 'Transom fights', referring to the ornately decorated transom of these gentelmen's yachts. These 'fights' where a mere show, gentlemens play. Only blanks where fired and it was considered a very entertaining day out and a beautifull opportunety to impress the ladies. On deck, there is room for five of the six gunports to accomodate a gun (the front ones are blocked by a deck). However, the avarage height from the top of the deck to the center of the bore of the gun is about 33 cm (roughly 1 foot). This would only leave room for a very small gun, I'm guessing half-pounders. The other option was that the armament was not carriage guns, but swiffel guns instead. You could still call it an Armed Yacht offcourse, and it could definately cause a lot of damage with those to enemy sailors. I don't own a copy of Chapman's Architectura Navalis Mercatoria, does it give any descriptions on those plans? ~Brigand

I remember reading an article on the wreck analysis of a great lakes schooner (18th century), compared to a coastal (marblehead) schooner. The conclusions where that the schooner build for the lakes was less sturdy build. The planking was thinner but most importantly, the hull timbers where not all cross-connected by deck timbers. This article concluded by mentioning that this study confirmed earlier hypothesis that the great lake's schooners where cheaper to build, but would, at least at the time of their building, not be considered ocean worthy vessels. I will see if I can dig up the article online, but it was published quite a while ago, so I'm not sure it is available. ~Brigand

I'm working on a deck design, it's comming along nicely.

The development team is based in the Ukraine. Ukrainian passport holder require a visa to enter the U.S. Obtaining a visa is a royal pain in the ass, if it is granted at all. Going over to the U.S. on anything that may resemble work (visiting events that may be related to doing research for your job in your home country for example) requires a work visa (even harder to obtain). As a result, my guess is, that any events/reenactments taking place in the U.S. are probably not very accessible (if at all) as first hand experience for the dev-team. Regards, Brigand

Nice article on copper sheeting, the benefits and the problems. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/copper-sheathing.htm

there is an actual sailing replica of a yacht with standing gaff rig, the Statenjacht Utrecht, although I believe it is a different vessel type (intended for shallow waters) and it was unarmed. (Interior view on bottom of page) ~Brigand edit: extra links: drawings, interior

On sailing a square rigger (real world experience): Board the Tack! Trimming and Steering More Sail Manoeuvres Sails and Running Rigging How to Work Sails and Running Rigging Running Rigging needed to work the sails Sails in detail Navigation Stability of big sailing vessels

Flag through the ages: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/40113/40113-h/40113-h.htm

While is like the idea of walking around the ship and being able to enter the captains cabin, I also think that it would pull away development resources from areas of the game where they could make more of a difference. A compromise that would suite me just fine is a 2D captains cabin (some static images). It would save development resources and still offer some immersion. ~Brigand

Funny enough, I came across a reference to ladies on board of fishing vessel in the article on the herring bus on wikipedia. Just scroll down a bit to the contemporary quote from 1614.

Quiberon Bay looks like smugglers paradise to me

Congrats!

The big question is, what version of this ship would be stuffed in game? The Santísima Trinidad started its service as a 112-gun ship in 1769, which was increased in 1795–96 to 130 guns by closing in the spar deck between the quarterdeck and forecastle. It reached it final 140-gun loadout in 1802. By this time, it was nicknamed 'El Ponderoso' because she sailed very poorly due to the weight of the additional guns, so high above her waterline. It was even suggested that she should be restricted to defending the Bay of Cádiz. So, do you guys really want a 140-gun colossus that sails so poorly she could be outmanoeuvred by a cow? Just a thought Brigand

Ok, let's my game of choice to this list: Transcendence (review) An indie, free-download, top-down 2D rogue-like space adventure with enourmous moddability options, a very large selection of mods and an active and supportive community. It has been in development for the past 10 years and is not finished yet. But, don't dispair; there is more than enough content to drown you. Your goal: reach the galactic core survive. Brigand

For the first edition of the game, the one focussing on good naval combat, I would really like to see small vessels having their place in the game. The optimal would be if player would choose to sail brigs over 2-rate ships in certain scenarios, because it would be optimally suitd for the job. In certain other scenarios, large fleet engagements for example, a first rate ship of the line would be the most desirable choice. ~Brigand

Wow, those flags sure look nice!

So far, vessels ranging from 1720 (HMS Greyhound) up to 1820 (HMS Beagle, Brig Mercury) have made it into the Ships you want to see in-game list. There where earlier and later ships in suggested in the above mentioned thread, but they are not available as a choice in the poll. Not a very precise time frame, but so far the best we have. ~Brigand