Zakota
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Posts posted by Zakota
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I live right near there...tempting.
I dare say you might just make a venture of it sir
after all, t'would be a shame to miss it when tis so close -
Dear shipmates!You are most heartily invited to 'A Weekend in the World of Patrick O'Brian's Beloved Characters, Jack Aubrey & Stephen Maturin' - taking place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, October 16th-18th, at Historic Montgomery's Inn.The three-day event is a rendezvous for all enthusiasts of these marvellous novels, to share their love of the canon, whilst immersing themselves in the atmosphere and world of the series, through lectures, demonstrations, and hands-on workshops by several renowned historians, as well as food and drink featured in the novels (prepared over a hearth in the historic kitchen), a performance of music featured in the canon, a costume ball with live music, a reading of the Articles of War, discussion groups, a bad navy poetry reading, an historic merchants' and sutlers' market, and much more.Come be immersed in and learn more about the world of these fantastic novels. Experience the sights, sounds, smells and tastes all so familiar to the Napoleonic sailor with lectures led by distinguished historian Victor Suthren, Hon. Captain RCN, as well as talks by Ship’s Cook Gurth Pretty and Ship’s Purser Glendon Hovey - all in the atmosphere of Toronto's oldest historic inn, our very own 'Grapes' in the Liberties of the Savoy.Full details for the event, including the schedule, menus and registration form, can be found here: http://danceweavers.ca/janeausten.htmlFacebook event can be found here:
Pass the word through the fleet, if you'd be so obliged.Fair winds and following seas!
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This is beautiful marine art in and of itself, much-less for a computer game's loading screens!!
Highest compliments to whoever made them, you've outdone yourself… and practically any other in-game art out there
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I'm Canadian, with American, English, Irish, and Scottish heritage...
But I'm gonna damned well go with France because VIVE LA LIBERTE!!!!
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I third this post!
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I'm doing my undergrad in early 18th century maritime culture and I would like to remind everyone that historically, during the 'Golden age of Piracy' the period arguably from 1690-1730, pirates largely DID NOT DO THIS - as in attack each other on sight... some did, but on the whole it was an anathema. I would like to point everyone to a work done by one of the foremost authorities on pirates in the world today, the Republic of Pirates by Colin Woodard, which takes a detailed look at the lives and biographies of the most famous pirates of the golden age, how they worked together and who mentored them, truly an eye opener.
Now I'm not suggesting we have a pirate nation… all I'm saying is, there WAS more of a solidarity between them, a mentality of 'let's look out for each other because no one else is looking out for us' even if only out of self preservation or for personal gain. It was this cooperation, working together for mutual advantage, that allowed them to grow in force strong enough to occupy for a time the entire crown colony of the Bahama Islands and become so powerful that they were able to practically sever trade between Europe and her New World colonies.
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Here are some architectural views of various Caribbean cities taken from draughts made by eyewitnesses who visited the West Indian colonies in the 18th Century, which show, in intricate detail the various architectural styles in use in the colonies of the various nations at the time.
French Examples:
The inordinately detailed prints from Saint Remy's "Recueil de vues des lieux principaux de la colonie françoise de saint-domingue" show the various port towns of the colony of Saint Domingue (today Haiti), and their prominent architectural styles. Saint Domingue was France's biggest colony by the late 18th century, and a huge hub of trade.This view of Cap François is a perfect example of French colonial architecture of the day, it even shows the church!Cap François was the colony's cultural and mercantile capital, with a population of over 18,000 by the end of the century it was known as 'the Paris of Saint Domingue' and far out-shone the administrative capital of Port-Au-Prince, only founded in 1746, and still of less populace and importance as is evident in this series of prints.Martinique in the Late 18th Century, prints by Pierre Ozanne:View of Basse-Terre (with church) in Guadaloupe, again by Ozanne, late 18th century:Various views of Martinique, 17th & 18th centuries:Spanish Examples:
Havana, 1762, Dominic Serres:
The Cathedral of Havana, Serres, 1762:
Havana's Plaza de Armas, by Serres during the British Occupation 1762: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Dominic_Serres#/media/File:Dominic_Serres_the_Elder_-_The_Piazza_at_Havana.jpg
La Vera Cruz, Mexico, 1st half of the 19th century:
Dutch Examples:
A view of Saint Eustatius (Dutch) architecture, 1781 by Jacobsz Verhoeff
http://www.inter-antiquariaat.nl/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/St.-Eustatius-Bergmüller-1781.jpg
Another view of Saint Eustatius, made 1777
http://www.swaen.com/zoomV2.php?id=20125&referer=antique-map-of.php
British Examples:
Bridgetown, Barbados in a Highly detailed lithograph by Samuel Copen, 1695:
The other half:
Isaac Sailmaker's rather fanciful view of Barbados painted in the same year as above:
Bridgetown, early to mid 19th century:
http://images.cdn.bridgemanimages.com/api/1.0/image/600wm.CH.5778930.7055475/395596.jpg
Painting of Port Royal and Kingston, Jamaica, 1758 by Richard Paton:
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/13320.html
Nassau Town (New Providence) in the mid 18th-Century:
http://www.golden-age-of-piracy.com/images/locations/nassau.jpg
Saint Kitts, Brimstone Hill, late 18th-cent.
Taking of brimstone hill fortress, late 18th-cent. (sorry for low resolution):
Extant Architecture:George Washington house, Barbados, restored to c. 1751 appearance:A bit out of period, but for good measure, Bridgetown in 1890:Nelson's Dockyard, Antigua:There are many other wonderful pictures in high detail, do check them out.We seem to be getting a trend here in architectural styles, regardless of nation (perhaps with the exception of Spain) they seem to be all built as sturdy, functional forms of central building, slanted roofs, often with gables, dormers (occasionally) and shutters, with not a whole lot of ornamentation or what we could consider 'decorative', or unnecessary adornments (read not functional - that doesn't include 'shades' or porches) that seems to have come later in the scheme things. Of course this is just what I can deduce from what I've seen.-
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In my opinion, pirate towns should buy cheap and sell high. If you come in with a big cargo to sell, they're not going to be able to sell most of that locally, it'll have to be fenced or otherwise given proper stamps and false papers to be taken and sold in a "legitimate" port elsewhere (what are the locals going to do with a few tons of cotton, or whatnot???). So you should get rock bottom dollar when you sell, and have to pay extra for the same problems for goods that you purchase. Piracy and freeports, while they don't involve Crown Taxes, do involve paying off the local warlords and fences, as well as covering "protection" money, etc. to keep the local legitimate governments off of your back. It's not like everyone in the area won't know what and where a pirate port is - the key is in nobody legitimate in the area deciding to get a few SOLs and wiping it off of the map. To do that takes tons of bribes and other gratuities to keep the authorities looking the wrong direction.
This reduction in income and higher price structure will keep piracy a less attractive option, which it should be.
I'm going to have to differ with your point of conjecture here, respectfully.
When Captain Kidd brought his treasure from the Quedagh Merchant into Danish controlled St. Thomas (a free port, or pirate port as one would call it) he was able to sell all of it to the locals because they had a large enough market and a reputation for illicit trade, so that buyers would flock there from as far away as Curaçao, St. Domingue and Honduras, from all corners of the Indies in order to conduct their nefarious business, because the various navigation acts and customs laws of their home nations would prevent them from carrying on such things in their own ports. While the local government was in fact in on this, they received a cut of the deals that went on and were happy to carry it out in public - everyone here looked out for each other, because they understood their survival was dependant on mutual cooperation.
In fact, later that year, when a French dominican missionary named Pere Labat, famed for his memoires of life in the Islands among pirates, visited St. Thomas, he purchased as much 'fine Indian silks and chintzes' as he could, from the merchants there reselling them because they were so incredibly cheap - as much as a third to a fifth of the normal asking price.
Also, in terms of SOL's 'wiping them off the map' - Rear Admiral John Benbow arrived in late November in St. Thomas, commanding a squadron of SOL's, demanding that the Governor return all of the cargo seized by Kidd in a 'pyratical' manner. The Governor refused him, on the grounds that it couldn't be proven that the goods circulating in his colony were in fact taken by Kidd, illicitly or otherwise, moreover, he refused Benbow monitory compensation, and effectually sent his squadron packing back to Jamaica.
Just a little in depth historical perspective that I thought could go toward improving gameplay.
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Thank you all for your expeditious and informative replies earlier
I've recently been doing some research into French paint-schemes and I thought I'd share my results here
With a mind to help aid the Devs' clarity.It seems that the national paint-scheme (if we could call it that) favoured by French vessels for at least the first part of the 18th century was brighted sides (i.e. plain wood, varnished), with smalt blue upper-works (everything above her gunwale or sheer rails), with gilded carved-works (on stern and figurehead) and occasionally blacked lower wail and white undersides (before coppering became the norm).
All of this is deduced from its widespread use in the numerous and glorious paintings of French marine painter extraordinaire Claude Joseph Vernet, as well as numerous period descriptions and models.
As examples, several of Vernet's paintings:
http://www.insecula.com/PhotosNew/00/00/02/91/ME0000029163_3.JPG
http://www.allpaintings.org/d/106799-1/Claude-Joseph+Vernet+-+View+of+the+Gulf+of+Bandol_+tuna.jpg
This seems to have remained popular well into the 1770's, by which time the stately and simplified elegant paintwork of brighted or yellowed topsides with black lower-wales and gundecks that we associate with pre-Napoleonic French naval vessels came into vogue.
Examples: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Saint_Kitts#/media/File:Battle_of_Frigate_Bay.jpg
https://troisponts.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/commerce-de-marseille-2.jpg
After the Revolution, from what I gather, the common paint-scheme we associate with Napoleonic warships comes into vogue: red sides with punctuations of black – albeit there was variation, and it could be large, as exemplified by the description of vessels present at the Battle of the Nile, which has already been posted in this thread.
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Contrary to my avatar-icon… since this game will most likely be largely padded out with players being British...
I will always sail for Le Bleu, Blanc, et Rouge!!! VIVE LA LIBERTÉ, L'ÉGALITÉ ET LA FRATERNITÉ!! 'Allons enfants de la patrie-e…..'
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Curious as to what the devs think of this idea - Since the 'Q' and 'E' keys have no function aboard yachts and cutters, I think it would be a great feature if we were able to adjust the trim of our headsails (jibs) manually, by using them.
This would allow for when I'm caught in irons to sheet in the headsails to windward and drive my head off the wind and onto the other tack, and could offer some great battle manoeuvres like larger ships get with box-hauling & backing astern.
I was able to accomplish something similar to this when tacking the Lynx by backing the driver on the foremast, which it completed very quickly and paid me off onto the other tack to deliver a raking broadside (I was very pleased).
I just think this would be a great feature since the keys aren't being used for anything else anyway on fore-and-aft riggers, and at the same time it seems that single-masters are the only ones that would really benefit from it, as they have no way of backing any other sails to throw them off the wind (like the square riggers get with the ability to back their foresail), and there would be no need to assign new keys since they're already not in use on small vessels.
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This may be slightly pedantic, but as an avid naval historian and sailor I would LOVE to see the 32 points on a compass card in the UI, rather than the degreesº we have now.
Aside from just being purely aesthetic, it would help players accurately gauge how close to the wind their vessel can sail, accurately in determining any ship's sailing window, i.e. square-riggers can sail no closer than 6 points on the wind (roughly 68º), whereas fore-and-aft rigged vessels can sail up to four points to the wind.
For those unfamiliar with the historical practice: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Points_of_the_compassThere are 32 points round the compass card, with a point being roughly 11.25º, including the four cardinal points, N, S, E, W.
What do other players think?
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I would love to see Avatars in game at some point later on, perhaps not for combat necessarily, more for the functions mentioned above, but agree it should be restricted until we get the 'Naval' side of things down pat, which it looks like the devs are very well on their way to!
I'd really just love to see how my character looks in a dashing Commander's uniform
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One thing I would love to see is captain customizable ship-colour/paint-schemes.
I would love Naval Action to implement a feature, much in the way that PotBS did, and did well (barring the garish hues of hot-pink and lime green they allowed), where - selecting from a realistic colour palette - captains are able to customize the paint scheme of their ship's broadsides, gun-deck tiers, wales, undersides of hull and perhaps masts and fighting tops? (Perhaps this could be done for a small fee in game).
Geoff Hunt, marine illustrator-extraordinaire of Patrick O'Brian's books as well as many others, describes in detail what pigments were available aboard ships of the era and how they were made in his book on painting the HMS Surprise (which I have and would be more than willing to transcribe or scan for the devs if they are interested): black, browns, white and off-whites (to tan), red and yellow ochres (with of course orange in there), soft greens, and smalt blue (which, he said ranges from a dull ash to a rich royal blue, depending on the quality of the pigment).
It could be accessed from an interface in the captain's cabin (if this feature is implemented) as some players here have discussed before, I believe.
Were the devs considering implementing this at some point or at a later date?
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after all, t'would be a shame to miss it when tis so close 
Patrick O'Brian Fan Gathering - in Toronto, Canada.
in Tavern
Posted
For all those planning on attending, pre-registration is required so that we know how much food to prepare as well as how much space we have! Pre-registration guarantees you a spot and also gives a discount from the regular 'pay-as-you-attend' price! You also get a special discount for coming in historical/nautical garb! All details for registration are on our website here:http://danceweavers.ca/janeausten.html Thanks.