Brigand

While the Wasa is a magnificent sight to behold in real life, the ship design is (as you mention) fatally flawed. So let's not put her into the game, as she would sink every time she sail out of the harbour in more than a dead calm. ~Brigand

In the Player selected ship 2015 - Suggestions-thread, @admin mentioned: 1600-1830 hard limit 1690-1790 preferred And many feel that 1830 is stretching it. The thing is, around 1820, naval architecture and warfare went through a rapid change, which very quickly made sailing ships of war obsolete. The more you push towards the end of the quoted period, the more you make the game Naval Action, and all the ship currently in it, obsolete as well. ~Brigand

Because the game is still in alpha testing mode, in-game name changes are at this moment not possible. So unfortunately, you will have to wait till the feature is added to the game. ~Brigand

Because the game is still in alpha testing mode, in-game name changes are at this moment not possible. So unfortunately, you will have to wait till the feature is added to the game. ~Brigand

I see I made an error in my previous post; the text in my previous post should have read: No sir, that is a bomb ketch, not a brig. (I've edited my previous post) Then, I'm aware that they choose to put a mortar brig in the game. I think (hope) this was done just for 'simplicity of development' a bomb/mortar vessel needs a lot of room between her masts to be able to fire the mortar. Because of this, the brig rig is not at all practical, with here two masts spaced quite evenly in the vessel. Far more practical (and the typical choice in history) is a vessel with her main mast set in the centre of the vessel and a mizzen set aft of that to balance the rig. This leaves a lot of room in the bow of the vessel, ideal to set up your mortar. Brig rigged vessels where attempted, but I don't think they where the most succesfull experiments. Also, since there is a book name "Anatomy of the Ship - the Bomb Vessel Granado (1742)" I think it somewhat logical that the developers choose to model her. But who knows, my crystal sphere is malfunctioning all the time . ~Brigand

merged the Beaufort Wind Scale topic into this one. ~Brigand

I hope they would choose to include smaller vessels. Most of what you describe in the topic linked are still ships. I personally would love to see some variation in the rig available in the game, such as: the Brigantine, the über-versatile hybrid between the square and fore-and-aft rigged vessels, a Lugger (maybe both a standing and a dipping lug edition?), the smuggler of choice for the French, a Sloop (similar to the cutter, but with only 1 head sail), the workhorse of the Caribbean, a Ketch, the preferred 'hands off' rig, used on both bomb and fishing vessel, a Lateen (from 1 to 3 masts), the Mediterranean rig of choice. Cheers, Brigand

No sir, that is a ketch, not a brig. She may be used to model the bomb vessel that we are told will be added to the game, but that is pure speculation on my part. ~Brigand

I would also like to see a more diverse line up of vessels, with more emphasis on the smaller ones. But the developmeers/admin have so far not given any indications that they are looking at things like ketches, bilanders, hoys or luggers. In the meantime, I just try to keep the list of ships and vessels in this thread up to date. Who knows what the future brings :-) ~Brigand

Your wish is served: Cheers, Brigand

Are you sure about that name? I would hazard a guess that it should be "Heemskerk"? ~Brigand

That would be Chapman's plate 39 vessel nr. 1 (link). Nice to see a model build of her, I didn't realise she was a ketch. ~Brigand

All the way to the bottom of your page, in the footer area, there is a link named: Mark Community Read. It should serve your purpose? ~Brigand

Chains where used to 'anchor' ships in crowded harbours. The chains where laid out in a grid and a ship could be anchored in one of the 'rectangles' by tying it to the chains on the bow and stern. I don't think these chains would be really useful for any tactical defence purpose, as they tie up you own ships. Chains across harbour entrances where not all that uncommon though, I don't see why they would not be implemented. Edit: found an illustration: Cheers, Brigand

Available as free download (pdf): King's Cutters and Smugglers 1700-1855 by E. Keble Chatterton, London 1912. A nice read for anyone interested in the cat and mouse game between revenue cruisers and the smugglers trying to evade them. Edit: The url doesn't want to work, so here it is unformatted. http://www.societaitalianastoriamilitare.org/libri%20in%20regalo/1912%20CHATTERTON%20King's%20Cutters%20and%20Smugglers%201700-1855.pdf ~Brigand

Nice how you can easily spot the direct relation to the Dutch shipbuilders! ~Brigand

I've never read any reference to any captain attempting such an operation during an engagement. It seems to have taken a fair stretch of good weather to even attempt it, without any enemy ships nearby. Replacing a top mast for example takes an awful lot of work: special hoisting ropes need to be put in place, rigging removed to make room for the spar to be taken from the spar deck and then to be manoeuvred around while being suspended by the other masts, then this tree sized piece of wood needed to be secured, all the yard made fast again, all the other rigging put in place, sails brought up etc, etc. During this entire time, your ship would hardly be able to manoeuvre at all, and most have just enough sails set to keep her stable. Now image doing all that while also having to man your gun decks and worry about incoming iron balls weighting 24 pounds a piece. Doesn't sound like a good idea to me. Cheers, Brigand

I do not believe in automatic filters. Filters are always flawed, but that is not the point. The real issue with filters is that they merely attempt to blanket the real issue. If you hide the burglar behind a curtain, the problem did not go away. I do believe in monitoring the actions of groups of humans and aggregate them into useful results. So, for example, give all players the option to flag all other players for use of profanity. If more than x flags are raised, automatically mute said person and mark him/her for review by a moderator. ~Brigand

List updated; The developers wild card for the Player-selected ships 2015, Le commerce de Marseille (Ocean Class) a 118-gun first rate ship of the line has been added. ~Brigand

Well, large ships definately can carry more supplies than smaller ships. However, it should also be noted that it takes a lot more time and effort to repair the main mast (or even the mizzen) of a ship of the line than it would on a brig. So, if you want things differentiated, then larger ships would require way more time to carry out their repairs. Sure, they can plug holes during battle, but they won't be able to do anything major until they find themselves the time to do so. ~Brigand

Aren't both galleons and fluyts from an earlier era than the preferred period for Naval Action? I'm not sure though. Maybe they where still around. ~Brigand

That should be copied straight into the code of conduct for Naval Action! :-) ~Brigand

Or it had to be on pirate ships. There are some references to pirates on trial saying that free access to rum and/or gin was more or less what made them join a pirate crew. source: The Liverpool Privateers by Gomer Williams (1897). ~Brigand

Well, let me put it blundly: this is not going to happen. In fact, I do not expect the development team to add any new features to the Sea Trials (arena battle mode) used for alpha testing the combat system anymore. Why? well, the Open World is their focus now. Once it is deemed stable enough, all testers will be transferred to the Open World testing. Once this happens, theSea Trials mode will be disbanded: ~Brigand

Nice write up, worth the read. I would like to add: using a log line measures your speed in relation to the water. Any reasonably strong current is a sure source of error and, if the current was noticable, navigators sometimes tried to make estimated corrections to their calculation, with various degrees of success. It may also be nice to note is that the log line is the actual source of the knots as an indication of sailing speed: the log line is a line with a small board on its end and knot tied in it at regular intervals. The navigator measured time with an hourglass and the man letting the line run would 'call the knots' as they passed through his hand. Some images: Now here is the big question: How should navigation be implemented in the game? Cheers, Brigand