Marion van Ghent

Also, the Mayflower was a pinnace or small galleon -- not a fluyt Fluyts had a round stern, high length-to-beam ratio, and narrow deck on top of a broad hull. The last two characteristics were to reduce taxes (particularly the Sound tax levied by Denmark on ships passing through the Øresund) and created a surprisingly fast cargo ship.

Explorer 80% Socialiser 47% Achiever 40% Killer 27% Yarr! I've been places and found things you've ne'er e'en heard of -- outside o' me yakkin' 'bout it in the Tavern! But if ye try to steal me loot, I'm like as not to give you the slip rather than slit yer throat.

Of course, I'm going to point out that in the majority of cases port governors were appointed by regional governors/viceroys, etc. and not elected. This varied of course on a national basis; e.g. mayors were elected in England and the Netherlands, but appointed in royal France, Spain, and much of the rest of Europe. Not that this necessarily makes for great gameplay Modeling it realistically probably would entail having NPCs in such offices, with which individuals and guilds might be able to curry favour -- either from doing tasks for them or outright bribery. And while many players dream of "running a town" in-game, but there may be scores of lesser offices that could be filled by players with appropriate influence.

Just to play Devil's advocate... While it's a clear preference, the sample size is small. Admins and moderators might have a better sense of whether or not it is representative of the active members. (As is usually the case with pre-launch game forums, we have a fairly small number of very vocal members, and an unknown number of "active lurkers" who are reading but just not posting anything.)

One thing to remember with a day sail is that it all depends on the wind I lucked out when booking on the Lady Washington some years ago; at least when we started, cruising on Puget Sound, there was a good 20-22 knot breeze going. Lady loved it! ...but then an hour or so in, the wind died completely, so we had to slink back to dock under engines. But at least I got a taste of ideal conditions for a nimble little brig.

I play baroque flute and recorders (flûte à bec)... as well as other renaissance woodwinds when I can get my hands on them

These are all great images But two questions: 1) Can we -- as Mirones is requesting -- get some info/context/links to sources? 2) Should this be split off into its own thread, so this one stays about tacking?

Perhaps tomorrow I can poke around for links, but it's late and quiet time in the house now But I dare say Googling any of the above composers or searching for them on YouTube will likely turn up recordings; they just may or may not be historically informed performances (for which I am a stickler! Viola da gamba player here...).

All in all I like your plans for the damage model in Naval Action. I'm not even sure there's much to discuss thereupon. Where things get interesting -- and potentially complex -- are a) how it is indicated for the player (UI) and how and when a player can repair or mitigate damage. For example, as others have suggested, having heel and underwater damage interact is a potentially important gameplay element. Holes that are high and dry on one tack may flood when on the other. If this is implemented, a player needs this information and needs to be able to direct crew to repair the damage -- ideally before the holes become submerged. Compared to a simple hull damage and "repair hull" button, the complexity of the UI is increased dramatically. Similarly, if multiple fires can break out on a ship -- say one on the forecastle and one on the gun deck astern -- a player may need to know the severity thereof and direct crews to one or the other or both. On top of directed repairs and other crew factors -- say pulling men from the guns to make or reduce sail or cut away fallen rigging or repel boarders -- things can get very complex, very quickly! Personally I'm all for the complexity, but I also appreciate that it would be best practice to have AI handle these priorities sensibly if one is otherwise occupied (or still learning the game and getting used to it). No small task, so I'm wondering just how "deep" Game Labs intends to get here. On the one hand, depth increases player involvement and keeps interest in the game; on the other hand, it increases the steepness of the learning curve. ----- As for rigging damage and repair, I do hope that it will be impossible to do whilst under effective fire. I understand that's another tricky subject, though. Perhaps if "crew suppression" is a factor -- e.g. if exposed crew is "stunned" or otherwise less effective when actively taking heavy casualties -- it can be done well. I also hope that repairs will be limited -- i.e. you only have so many spare spars and masts, and none of them can be a full replacement for a lost lower mast. I'd love seeing a ship limp out of line, under cover of friendly ships, jury-rigging a spare main topmast to replace its lost foremast ----- Lastly, one quick note on fire control. It is my understanding (from Lavery and other sources) that the same pumps used to control flooding were used for fighting larger fires. This means that the number of functional pumps a ship has can be very important: if you're a small merchantman with only two pumps, a leaky hold, and a fire on deck, you'd damned well better hope neither pump gets shot away I do recall that sometime in the mid 18th century the pumping action was improved enough to allow spraying of the rigging; if I can find that information later (possibly tomorrow) I'll post it should no one beat me to the punch.

Dietrich Buxtehude, Christopher Simpson, J. F. Fasch, and lots of Telemann. (Not so much Nightwish, Lacuna Coil, Within Temptation, or Corvus Corax lately... or Josquin, Isaac, and Ockeghem, either. Or Orlando Gibbons or William Lawes for that matter.)

That's one reason why even into the 1730s or so ships would run under courses in bad weather, as opposed to under topsails. It took a while for captains to really embrace reefed topsails as the best canvas for a heavy blow.

Very nice post, Ryan. Did want to point out that the Kalmar Nyckel was used in the 2nd quarter of the 17th century (1625-1640ish), not the late 1600s. Similarly the Gotheborg isn't a "late 1600's ship," but, as you point out, based on mid-18th century practice. I know, details, details... still an excellent rundown of the difficulties in tacking ships prior to circa 1660.

Voted. Silly me, missing the poll for the discussion

Ya learn somethin' new every day... thanks Kala4!

That actually is a concern with non-anonymous post rating, but -- at least so far -- these fora appear to be rather civilised. That said I do miss the personal touch of knowing who agrees -- or disagrees -- with what I'm saying.