Poyraz

Couldn't agree more!

Looking through the threads in forums, I saw that devs are not so keen on implementing a functional map in to the game. However, based on my experiences in PotBS, I would suggest a user friendly and functional map to make the game play more fun and the communication easier. Strategic Map/Tactic Board: As tactic board/map, I was thinking an interactive map, which can be used not only for navigation and path finding issues, but as well as for communicating through the group and synchronising/defining maneveurs to each other within the group. When pressing "m" you can get this map tab, where the friendly as well as enemy ships are marked. Other than orientation, this map could be used by group leader for giving orders, defining routes, explaining sailing lines or standing still formations, calling targets and other relevant info during the battle. While at port battles in PotBS, we used to have an external source for that matter which is a free meeting program called twiddla. www.twiddla.com Group fights and fleet fights: Lets say the maximum size of one group is 5 captains. All members in the group can see this map, but only the group leader can draw/sketch lines and tactics on it. In a port battle or huge fleet fight like 25v25, after assigning a fleet commander, every member of the fleet can see the orders from the fleet commander. But each group member can also see the orders of his group leader, too. Since communication is the key, this tool might increase the the succes and fun factors in the game.

As for the height change over waterline: Using x,y,z coordinates; x showing sail direction, y horizontal and z height and assumig the ship dimensions are uniform in all x, y and z directions like in the picture below.(which is not in reality for HMS Victory) A mass reduction of 7% percent will lead to a draught change of 7% for this geometry. And assuming that HMS Victory has a draught of 9 meters under water, dropping guns will lead to a raise of 0,63 meters in z direction over the loaded waterline. For a more precise result, the integral of the hull under waterline has to be calculated though.

Looking to the details in the finely meshed areas, I feel it is more beatiful than I expect from a game. Hope the computers running it wont burn

I used to toy with Unit3D some time ago and as far as I remember, you can define the movement of the objects with defined forces or transform position and defined speeds. Using the forces on the objects results in more realistic behaviour and Naval Action looks like using those forces. I have no idea on the coded mechanics of the game but in overall the concept looks like the "sum of applied forces" model. On vertical (z - axis) it is buoyancy and gravity On the horizontal (x - axis, ship's sailing direction) it is: FSails = Sum of all forces on sails and mast (vectoral) FDrag = Sum of all underwater drag forces FTotal= Total applied force on the ship FTotal = FSails - FDrag m = Total mass of the ship x" = Acceleration of the ship ρAir = Density of air ρWater =Density of water S = Sail surface A = Projection are under waterline C = Drag coefficient of the ship vWind = Wind speed (assuming it is relative bigger than ship speed) vShip = Ship speed m . x" = (1/2 . ρAir . S . v2Wind ) - (1/2 . ρWater . C . A . v2Ship) FTotal FSails FDrag When the ship is at her maximum speed FSails is equal to FDrag so, that the total force on the ships is zero which leads the ship sailing at constant speed. v2Ship = ( ρAir . S . v2Wind ) / ( ρWater . C . A ) ___ According to this equation, we can see that ship speed is proportional to √1/A and given that the 7% mass reduction leads to 7% less area underwater we will end up having a speed increase of 3,7%.

Just playing with numbers here, According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Victory: - Total displacement of the ship is 3.500 tonnes. - Total gun weight is around 240 tonnes. So, the guns without ammuniton are 7% of the ships total mass which actually looks like way less than I expected. With basic assumption that the force taken from the wind via the masts is F = m x a and it is constant since nothing changes but the mass. Therefore, we will end up having a 8% increased acceleration for a 7% drop in ship's mass. The maximum limit velocity on the other hand won't be affected due to increased acceleration in my opinion. The limiting parameter here would be the ships' volume/area under the waterline which changes the drag/friction coefficent for the ship. Regarding the ships volume under the waterline, it will decrease proportional to 7% change in displacement volume. But, here is more dimensions of the ship size at the waterline needed.

I think there should be an adjustable rudder ingame to fine tune the course of the ship. This can be achieved by manual controling the Masts/sails right now but it is not enough. The turn rate/speed could be adjustable on a bar like in potbs or on a circle like a Real wheel. Sailing a victory, one might not feel the need for adjustable turning. However if you sail a frigate with a turn rate greater than 2 rad/sec, there would be the need for fine tune the maneveur much more.

Salvaging supplies are available without giving a single penny if you know what you are doing

Glad to see so many PotBS players here from the old days. I hope this game will be a good example of age of sail mmos. The screenshots I have seen so far looked like PotBS engine but with much better textures. So be the gameplay hopefully.