Verhoeven

Well, instead of the game, I watched an episode of Hornblower again. :-)

Nah, these guys never sleep :-)

Guess there is a little server issue

With all due respect dear Admin. You asked your potential customers to come up with ideas and suggestions. Well they put the effort into it bringing tons of ideas. Be glad with any involvement! Maybe some do not fit in your strategy or the game you have in mind. That is fine. You have to be able to deal with some criticism here. You can not doubt the good intentions all forum members have. And so far I have not seen any forum member behave absurd or disrespectful. But to be honest, I find some of your responsess not very respectful, even some are probably meant in a sarcastic way.

I did not like the game. The interface however could be fully customized. The guy who used this set up was probably intoxicated by the music he was playing. I always used a minum of information. The little thumbs you see on the left and bottom left are all the magic spells that came with that game. You could pin them on your screen. Still, a customizable screen interface would be great for Naval action.

S! Martin, Though they got to earn some money,I don't think this team is developing a money trap like the typcial mmo or dlc driven big companies. Actually I think it would be an quite accomplishment if they make it to publishing. And I hope they will. You really can't tell at this moment. Historical realism just depends on the setting and context. So in a sandbox the host can set up what he wants. Actually I can imagine to play a bit with history. The What If's.... It's like an add on the game. It is so easy to set up a game without the Constitution, even if players can choose it from a list in the game lobby: just agree on it nobody chooses it. I play a lot of M & B Warband Napoleonic (a fps napoleonic game). I used to be part of the 1st East Prussians. This clan was reenacting in the game. We developed how to manoeuvre, etc etc. We always fought in two ranks and kept as close to history as the game could offer. In the weekly line battles (125 vs 125) other regiments slowly began to copy our way of playing. Than the event organisers eventually came up with the rules how to behave in the event. So they adopted our formations as a rule and all agreed. So no lone wolfing, you have to fight in formation. No 'blob' formations. Double ranking was obligatory as long as you had enough men to do it. But also, not everybody could go skirmishers or arty. The event manager would decide how many could skirmish, how many canon, how many grenadier regiments, how many cav regiments, etc, etc.... Though 2 admins were controlling the battlefield to see the rules were obeyed, they hardly had to intervene. Commanders would either make sure their men respected the rules, and most people loved line battles that much they were willing to respect the game (if you want to see how it looks like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apk9dmiatYQ though it is played on a new dlc of warband now) What I want to say is. If you organise events with a sandbox environment (maybe even on your own dedicated server) you can make the rules. Now in the open world, after a while, you would always see players end up with end of the era technology. That is a matter of time and progress. It depends on how long the span of the era covered will be. The only real thing you do to prevent seeying Constitutions and or some other behemoth everywhere, is to limit the numbers severely and to make it extremely difficult and expensive to capitalize on that technology or to build that ship. Bottom line, in an open world like this you really can't have historical accuracy. It may be so at the start, but it will get out of sync quickly. Also, I think there is a lot of discussion about the mmo aspects of the game while the devs, at this point, are not busy with the mmo. They are working on the battle and sail engine. MMO is for later (which I am not going to play). I guess for them Constitution or not, is not the essence. It is more can they make the game or not.

In a sandbox environment it would not be a big deal to have the Constitution. The host decides it. It would add another dimension if you play "what if....". If it is in the open world superships like this should be rare and hard to get.

For the sandbox it should exactly be like you said. Player hosts decides on the settings. So map, goals, time, shiptypes, crew rating, weather, time of day, number of players. Maybe even ship allocation, though that will be a lot of hassle. Players or fleets should be able to choose their ship in the game lobby. Maybe only be able to choose certain type of ships according to the settings, country, era, maximum ship types per side, etc. By the way. The Dutch Carribean. Easy to find. Just follow all the islands, its at the end of the string :-). Curacao...excellent!. I go there once/twice a year, and than hop over to lovely Bonaire which is next to it. Visiting my parents who live there. It is my second home.

S! Adair. Another great (true) story of a small vessel fighting a much larger vessel is ofcourse Cochranes Speedy (a 14 gun Brig with only a crew of 50) against the Spanish frigate Gamo (with more than 300 men). Cochrane used a cunning list (using a false flag and raising the British flag at the very last moment) to gain precioius time to position himself. He evaded several broadsides and eventually came that close that the Spaniards guns could not aim that low. Cochrane than repulsed several Spanish boarding attempts before sending his entire crew to capture the enemy ship. Cochrane eventually become too overconfident and made a huge mistake when he tought to see 3 Spanish Gallions on the horizon. They appeared to be three French ships of the line. After a chase of 3 hours. When he concluded he could not outrun them, he actually tried to outmanouevre them. Thus bringing his ship even closer to the enemies. At last with his mast and rigging heavily damaged he struck the colours and surrendered. Still it remains a accomplishement with no equal that he and the Speedy managed to survive that chase. I really love Thomas Cochrane!

S! I agree that a frigate master is more impulsive and should make quicker/faster decisions. I would not name it a reflex though. :-). When a captain acts on reflexes he would also be ultimate prey, and predictable. :-) I love to compare the frigate as a predator. It does not have the stamina for long lasting battles, but don't give it opportunities or it catch you and will finish you off. (the Japanese underestimated the danger of destroyers and frigates many times in WW2). Also when the prey is not weak enough or too strong, it can avoid the action and fight another day. Still a frigate is a big ship. And as his ship is more manouvrable a frigate man should be able to make fast decisions, or his opponent will do it. It's more like quick chess. But the pace should still be much slower than you actually want it to be. Imagine how sluggish a 1st rate would be. That is not a problem as a 1st rate would rarely fight a 1 vs 1 battle. It would have its spot in the line, or have a frigate to cover its flanks.

I think things like the randomness of wind chance would a nice factor. Though it should happen conservatively. Weather direction usually does not change 3 times in half an hour. It would be nice to see preludes of weather change. Or a message. If it is just a matter of seconds to see the wind change 180 degrees it would be rather silly. Instead of wind direction I would rather see changes in wind strength. That could change pretty rapidly, and greatly influence the outcome of any battle.

S! Adair. Good read. I think crew rating is very important indeed. It should be such that it makes a difference, but still gives a skilled captain chances. In other words, even a skilled captain can make a victory with a lesser crew. If his tactics and decisions are superior he could do it. And a captain with the finest crew should get in trouble if he makes an awful mistake. Though a ship with high level crews should be able to deal better with these mistakes than a ship with a lesser crew. In the stand alone battles of the game this could all be set in the game options by the game host. So you should have the option to have a 1 (4th rate A crew) vs 2 (3rd rate C crew) game. In the open world getting a better crew should be based on time and battle experience. Another thing is morale. In battle a ship that is surrounded by enemies or cut off from the main body of its fleet should take a morale effect. A highly experienced crew would better withstand setbacks than a lesser experienced crew. Maybe it is possible to build in the configuration of your crew. So x amount of gunners, x amount of officers, x amount of marines etc. Killing a captain could seriously infuence morale. If all senior officers are killed you can expect a ship to be out of command. A ship with a highly experienced captain the morale of the crew should automatically increase. In the open world. Let's say a ship has been out of port for months, or even weeks. Or locked up for months in a blockaded port. Would this influence morale? Ofcourse. It would be an idea to build in a system where morale declines over time, and can be restored over time (in port, in a fleet, etc). Leadership, morale and experience/skill are inextricable. And a must in the game. Verhoeven

I agree. Even from a gamers perspective. Actually over the last years there has been an absolute trend in gaming that being hit is end of game. You will see it in FPS shooters, and if it is not in the game very popular mods will quickly be made with more realistic damage models. The motto is: "don't get shot". Dying in most cases is not good for the team and the chances for victory. The risk of being out of the game quickly (just as friendly fire will kill your teammate) is a game changer. It will filter out the fools. Now, I don't think one broadside would be an instant killer. But a crucial mistake against a skilled or even average player should highly decrease any chances of victory, or of getting away with it. (In real life even the best flying aces could be killed by a rookie pilot. It actually often happened). I love to play games like Mount & Blad Napoleonic. They have great line battles (100 vs 100). Imagine standing in the ranks exposed just waiting for orders, and than a bullit just kills you and not the guy next to you. And you're out of the round. On the other hand charging the opposite line alone is totally useless and suicidal. That is simulation! (actually in Line battle events, lone wolfing is forbidden as it tends to be a game breaker if everybody does it). Same goes for faster games like Word of Warplanes. If you make a mistake, it takes a few seconds and you're out. In that game I remember being the last plane alive against 4 other opponents though. I had height and a fast climbing 109. So I used the zoom & boom tactic. They kept chasing me as I climbed and everytime they stalled, it was time for me to dive on them, I could pick them off one by one, while my dead teammates were cheering in chat. So basically I could use the game physics of height and gravity, and a plane that was suited for that job. If I had opted for a game of turning I would have been killed quickly. So I think it is not a game breaker, it's a game maker. S! Verhoeven

True, combat was the most appealing part of PotBS, but its engine was not good. Too arcadish. Apart from the magic and spells (which are luckily not incorporated in Naval Action). It never gave me the realistic feel (even though true realism is not possible). Even the engine of East India Company (Paradox) was better. The thing is, the game should combine certain factors and simplify them in such a way one player can deal with it. There is no other option. Its not flight simulator (which also always remains just a simulator). On a warship with sails there are so many factors, you simply can not handle them all in a simulator dashboard (and you also got to do the fighting). So you need to automate them to a certain extend. Maybe in such a way you can influence the settings (such as the number of crew you assign to do certain tasks). Most important is that you get the right feel of simulation. An order to raise or lower sails would take some time to be executed. It could cost you precious time, make you miss opportunities or mess up a formation. Just like changing course or the changing of speed. A large ship should feel really sluggish and a nimble fast ship should give you the feel you are on the edge of capsizing your ship when seeking the ultimate limits. A simulation in the Age of Sail should not be too fast paced, actually it should be much slower than you really want it to happen. Just like the reloading of your guns. Actually it should be that slow that you really have to be careful if and when to perform the action. If someone decides to fire his broadside he should know his opponent has enough time to strike back before your guns are loaded again. Or if you strike at the right precious moment, you could prevent the other from doing such thing. The same goes for handling the wind. (I would love to see ships almost come to a stand still when going through the wind. A ship should really loose all its momentum then.) Wind should not be forgiving. Its both your enemy or your friend. Wind is the most important role in this game, otherwise we could as well add another 100 years to it and go for steamed ironclads or even dreadnoughts. :-) I think it would be wise for the devs to go and play games like Virtual Skipper (if they haven't already) . Just to get the feel.

Dutch sailors have a good track record, also on tall ships. This crew was higly experienced and had been sailing on the ship for the last 10 years. There was a large group of young trainees on board though but that would not make the difference here. When it tried tor reach the harbour near Kinsdale it's engines failed. The sails were clearly struck. A ship this close to the coast in such treacherous waters, with that weather is destined to hit the rocks. They stoot no chance. Though it remains to be investigated if the captain made errors. It is amazing that luckily no lives were lost. I think the captain made the right evacuation decisions when he acknowledged all was lost. The most famous present day Dutch Tall ship: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stad_Amsterdam ( I loved the doc "In Darwin's wake"). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpjCq_RrIxU