Not that I'm complaining mind you. It's one of the things that drew me to the game.
From the Steam Store:
Quote
"We do not believe in the various modern hand-holding markers, thus player position is not shown on the map: you will have to navigate yourself using compass, sun or landmarks."
I thought this was great, and imagined that it would be representative of the philosophy of the game. So you can imagine my surprise to discover that it was literally the only concession made to the situational awareness limitations of the 18th century, in an otherwise entirely 21st century information-age arcade.
Where am I going?: It is called a compass in the game, but that is actually a misnomer. It is actually a heading indicator. Not even one of the gyros of the 20th century that you had to reset periodically due to precession, but a full on 21st century digital heading indicator that would look right at home on a G-1000. It comes complete with a wind indicator built into the heading indicator and a digital readout of your speed below.
Part of the fun and challenge of 18th century seamanship is using an old fashioned compass set in a binnacle. The fickle thing with magnetic variation, deviation, and magnetic dip. The kind that you have to undershoot when turning from the north and overshoot when turning from the south. The kind that bounces around like the dickens, making it almost unreadable when the seas get rough.
Which way does the wind blow?: If the spirit of the game is to reproduce the charms and challenges of the Age of Sail, it seems like reading the masthead fly, looking for how the other boats heel, searching the coast for signs of smoke or fluttering banners, would be a perfect challenge to bring in some of the flavor of the days before electronic wind meters.
How fast am I going?: If the external visual indications of speeding up and slowing down are not enough, why not have the quartermaster yell the results from the chip log over the din of battle periodically?
What is the exact percentage of enemy sails remaining?: This feature seems like it would be great in a futuristic space opera game. As far as I know, precise readouts of percentages of enemy vessels hull integrity, resources, and systems is a technology not even available yet today. I can see the holes I create in the enemy sail very well. Why isn't that gauge enough?
Conclusion: I can understand the desire to cater to folks who want fast-paced, seat-of-the-pants, instant gratification, point-and-shoot gameplay. I imagine that a dynamic minimap that shows your position and the position of your enemies would greatly enhance the gaming experience for such people.
If, on the other hand, your target audience is folks like myself who are looking for a sense of authenticity, away from the aforementioned handholding, and to get a glimpse at what the challenges of 18th century life at sea were like outside of our Patrick O'Brian and C.S. Forester books, I think the sleek 21st century glass-cockpit style HUD detracts from the experience, and removes much of the gameplay challenge that we were hoping to find.
Why doesn't the map show where I am?
in Current Feature Improvement Suggestions
Posted
Not that I'm complaining mind you. It's one of the things that drew me to the game.
From the Steam Store:
I thought this was great, and imagined that it would be representative of the philosophy of the game. So you can imagine my surprise to discover that it was literally the only concession made to the situational awareness limitations of the 18th century, in an otherwise entirely 21st century information-age arcade.
Where am I going?: It is called a compass in the game, but that is actually a misnomer. It is actually a heading indicator. Not even one of the gyros of the 20th century that you had to reset periodically due to precession, but a full on 21st century digital heading indicator that would look right at home on a G-1000. It comes complete with a wind indicator built into the heading indicator and a digital readout of your speed below.
Part of the fun and challenge of 18th century seamanship is using an old fashioned compass set in a binnacle. The fickle thing with magnetic variation, deviation, and magnetic dip. The kind that you have to undershoot when turning from the north and overshoot when turning from the south. The kind that bounces around like the dickens, making it almost unreadable when the seas get rough.
Which way does the wind blow?: If the spirit of the game is to reproduce the charms and challenges of the Age of Sail, it seems like reading the masthead fly, looking for how the other boats heel, searching the coast for signs of smoke or fluttering banners, would be a perfect challenge to bring in some of the flavor of the days before electronic wind meters.
How fast am I going?: If the external visual indications of speeding up and slowing down are not enough, why not have the quartermaster yell the results from the chip log over the din of battle periodically?
What is the exact percentage of enemy sails remaining?: This feature seems like it would be great in a futuristic space opera game. As far as I know, precise readouts of percentages of enemy vessels hull integrity, resources, and systems is a technology not even available yet today. I can see the holes I create in the enemy sail very well. Why isn't that gauge enough?
Conclusion: I can understand the desire to cater to folks who want fast-paced, seat-of-the-pants, instant gratification, point-and-shoot gameplay. I imagine that a dynamic minimap that shows your position and the position of your enemies would greatly enhance the gaming experience for such people.
If, on the other hand, your target audience is folks like myself who are looking for a sense of authenticity, away from the aforementioned handholding, and to get a glimpse at what the challenges of 18th century life at sea were like outside of our Patrick O'Brian and C.S. Forester books, I think the sleek 21st century glass-cockpit style HUD detracts from the experience, and removes much of the gameplay challenge that we were hoping to find.