Hethwill

I do not advocate the exchange of cargo space for guns right off the bat but I do hope to see the cargo weight to be modelled. That will make the difference. I can take my frigate to be a blockade runner, packing two full decks of cannon and full cargo bellow deck, but I expect the handling of her to be painful. Take it a bit earlier in time, spanish castle galleons were massively armed and still were the main choice for precious metal transportation. Cargo does not replace guns. Cargo messes up ship handling and response as the mass is too high if you have full cargo loads.

Cheers Ruffin and Vires. After 3 evening sessions, roughly 9 hours (?) I got my Brig. It is a dramatic change. While it is very streamlined and handles good down wind it presents itself with a new challenge. Managing the rig while up wind. The gun layout is pleasing. Given a lot of historical chronicles the Brig model was a highly regarded choice for many privateers, smugglers and the like. Would like the option to mount 2 more guns on either side on the castle deck.

Thanks. Will surely spend a few minutes reading things through. Seeing the "up to May 2015" roadmap it seems good enough. At least the possibility to see the limited open world should give a early hint to how things will work out.

Arlindo is correct. Portugal was the very first colonial power to abolish slavery as a institution, same with capital crime death penalty. But we are used to being overlooked in history books on all these "non important" matters, right ? It is the price of being the oldest "global village" But this is a game and as I see it, and given broken conventions, slavery in a colonial era game is like cannibalism in DayZ. It is subject of prolonged discussion and having Ivory trade or Slave snatching has the same moral issues. All is good as the Devs decide. Having this or that trade in game or not will not make it better or worse. It is "historical consultant" preference and producers decision regarding the markets. Pretty much like military symbols in other games.

Greetings captains, commodores and overall e-admirals. Apparently Game Labs struck the mark with me with two great products. Must say that one of them might be Naval Action of course ( Ultimate General is the other ). Karma has its ways and in the new world of digital order the exchange of "gifts" gives way to spreading word and financial possibility to participate in grand stand and watch good games being developed. So here I am. Financed to a key ( somewhere in time i financed a early access to a game to a buddy so I guess karma has its way! ) after watching, with more or less curiosity this project of yours. I am not, by all extents, a water fan. Lies ! I am not that moved towards the naval aspect of history except for the carrier based naval operations in the Pacific, but only because it involves the air part of it all. So, for me, and having played Wooden Ships & Iron Men pretty extensively in both tabletop and digital forms, Naval Action gives me another subject to research alongside a few hours of game play. So, in two sessions of game play the basics are already learnt and already started manual skipping the rig. Easier said than done of course but I like the learning curve. I would be a liar if I said I am in love with the game. I am not. I am impressed with the combat part. That is enough for now. What I look for more than any other thing is the open world game play, a kind of Frontier: Elite in the age of sail. Trading, piracy, smuggling goods through a blockade and who knows maybe live through the first steamers and exploring the big rivers in Africa and Asia and Americas with a river capable vessel. A yacht can do it up to a certain point. But I digress. After the first sea trials I am pleased with how the game plays. Performance is great and have nothing to point out regarding frames per second related nor any graphical problems. Everything worked out of the box. Not overly impressed mind you but pleased by the age depicted, the setting and the learning curve that might be possible. I have some gripes with the "realism" but overall at this stage a lot of hours of fun can be spent. The game, in its primitive arena form, is a time sinker already. Battle can last well over 45 minutes, being 30 - 45 the norm. So for a couple battles in the evening is perfect but I guess the unemployed and the school/college youngsters will definitely play more time. For me Naval Action, I hope, is not a game based on PvP arenas only, which is a major bonus. Apparently we will be able to sail the world map ??? ; engage in a multitude of activities in a open sandbox ruleset scenario. Trading should be possible. So I guess all the "movie like" pirating, blockade runners, and war admirals will be possible. All depends on what rules and mechanics are coded and to what point liberty of action without restrictions is put into the game, right ? My main questions remain; full multi player as in full population connected to a single game instance ? limited multi player, like in a world zone instanced server setup ? or simply a "matchmaker" instance based multiplayer ? Given the multitude of new techniques to address the open world multiplayer games nowadays this is an important factor of decision. Thank you all and hope to see you at the end of my guns or walking the plank. S!