BrutishVulgarian

I believe ships rarely sank due to battle damage in those days. Cannon fire could turn ships into battered useless hulks but winning side would have to burn them. I mean, either burn the ship or wait hours or days for it to sink. I think a realistic crews would scrag their Captain and surrender after taking enough casualties, depending on their loyalty and experience. There probably weren't that many explosions but I wouldn't mind seeing a lot of explosions, who doesn't love kerplosions? I'd like to see damaged masts going over the sides and acting as sea anchors, until they are cut away. I don't believe ships fired heated shot because it was suicide....... red hot shot, lit furnace, smoke filled, crowded, chaotic, bloody, rolling deck,... Forts fired heated shot, though.

I like the OP. That chart has a lot of visual clues to the strength of the wind and I do love to sail without the UI.

I think Uncharted Waters Online folks must have used the Horn scale model for their version of Amsterdam.

I think you can get the complete Aubrey/Maturin audio books from most local libraries at Overdrive.com. They just get better, the more you listen to them.

Thanks for western civilization and Herodotus and logic.

Where is the best place to sleep on a square rigger when it is on the ocean swells, fore or aft?

There's going to be merchantmen and starter ships, so I nominate the Lady Washington as one of them.

I think having to reverse the rudder right when you start making sternway would add a little skill element to tacking.

Crewmen hanging over the stern banging on the rudder with hammers and crowbars.

I want to do the Jack Aubrey trick, and make fake stern lamps on a raft and sail it off in another direction, while I escape into the darkness.

Good idea. They had blue flares, it's not our fault Hornblower and Aubrey weren't smart enough to use them to illuminate the enemy in battle. Boris is a visionary battle tactition.

Welcome sir. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

If you come to a stop you have better quality repairs. If an ally comes to a stop right next to you, you get even better repairs.

Jets of water being pumped out could indicate she's leaking badly. Maybe a good time to just let her sink slowly and move on to the next target.

This topic is dedicated to ideas for displaying enemy damage states without resorting to health bars. I'll start with, "blood running from the scuppers" which I think would be an excellent way of showing enemy crew casualties. It would be a good clue that a ship is ready to be boarded.

If a ship's wheel is shot away and relieving tackle is used to steer, the A and D keys no longer work and the player has to use two inconvenient keys, like T and P or something.

Alternate history flag for the Republic of Cascadia.

This probably isn't "little" but I would like to beam onto a friends ship and observe the battle. It would be nice to have a rifle, also, and take some potshots at the enemy's quarterdeck, just for sport.

Do all these modern square riggers tacking like crazy have modern materials in the sails, fittings, rigging and masts? Not that I have problem with quick tacking, just curious.

I always thought the weather gage just gave the windward ship the choice of fighting or running away, which would naturally give the ships with the weather gage a much better winning percentage. If i were the downwind ship, I would run downwind to get some headway then I would present my broadside to the charging ship at maximum range, all my gun ports to windward, thus pointing up high. He would have take a long range salvo because if he presented his broadside his gun ports would be pointing down, thus shortening his range. I see no problem with downwind fights being interesting as long as there is room to run, if there is some artificial "gamey" border then that would be the problem. Keep in mind, I'm just basing this on my imagination, since I haven't played any game yet.

Racing is a good benchmark for this game. If racing is not as interesting or more interesting than a shooting fight then that is an indication the sailing dynamics need to be improved.

Dang, they were all on sale on Steam and had to pick the wrong one. What mods do I need? Keep in mind, I don't want to do manual torpedo calculations.

I just downloaded SH 4, I like the crew management, I don't understand it, but I like it, with watches and damage control teams. Even if it didn't effect battles that much, it would be fun to monkey around with little crew player cards.

Battlefield Detectives: The War of 1812: The Chesapeake and the Shannon DVD http://shop.history.com/the-war-of-1812-the-chesapeake-and-the-shannon-dvd/detail.php?p=69921#tabs A quote from the above web page "In this dramatic clash of titans, the “kill rate” of ten men per minute far eclipsed the death toll of any previous naval battle. " Sadly, I can't find it on youtube and I wouldn't pay $18 for it. But a nice, relatively recent study of the Chesapeake-Shannon battle. If memory serves me the Chesapeake was not made with live oak or even hardwood, I can't remember what wood, but they shot it with a cannon and it made a crazy amount of splinters. The Chesapeake's hull is a roof on some building in England.