Bonden

I read on the SL website that prize money will be an aspect of the privateer's career, this sounds exciting ! In this regard, the SL website indicates, in the privateer career, that "Crew with boarding skill and experience is extremely important for the success of your ventures, but remember everyone gets the prize share (sometimes confirmed by written scrips or share certificates), so the less crew you have the bigger your profit would be." In a Navy officer's career at least (I didn't verify for privateers' career), the captain's share is a fixed amount of the total value of the captured ship's value (see above: 3/8 before 1808). This means that the captain's profit won't be influenced by the crew's size. Only between crew members will the number of seamen have an influence on their prize money.

Hi Admin I hope the project is still in the pipe 😉 Is the SL newsletter already functional ?

The low rate of pay of Navy officers was compensated by the possibility to get prize money. It would be nice in SL to simulate the possibility for a victorious captain who captured an enemy ship to sell her to the Admiralty and get his share of prize money, while his officers and crew get theirs. This was one of the main motivations for seamen and officers to take risks during battle. Some captains like Cochrane amassed a fortune thanks to this reward system, helping them to enhance their ship's equipment and their crew training with live shots (see P O'B). Here were the sharing rules (from (N. BLAKE and R. LAWRENCE, 1999. The Illustrated Companion to Nelson's Navy, Chatham Publishing, p. 193)

More precise info on rates of pay from another book (N. BLAKE and R. LAWRENCE, 1999. The Illustrated Companion to Nelson's Navy, Chatham Publishing, p. 192):

Hi Admin For later, if you plan a DLC on the Navy officer career, it would be nice to inspire from the real stages of the career – and pay – of a typical Nelson's Navy officer. It can be summarized as this (from a.o. : G. Fremont-Barnes, 2009. Nelson’s Officers and Midshipmen, Osprey, 64 p; Ph. Haythornthwaite, 1993/2005. Nelson’s Navy, Osprey, 64 p.): Rank Requirements Age (years) Ship’s command Pay (prize money not included) Comment -1st class Volunteer - or Captain’s servant No requirement (often ‘patronage’) 13 (before 1812, sometimes 11-12) / Before 1794: 0 £ After: 9£/y (-5£/y paid to the schoolmaster) Annual expense of a Volunteer: +/- 30-40 £/y ! à needs the family support Midshipman (Mdsp) (Master’s mate) 2y as Volunteer (or 2y in Naval Academy in Portsmouth) 15 (before 1812, sometimes 13-14) until promoted as lieutenant (sometimes never) / 2£/m (6th rate) to 2£15s (1st rate); paid after 1y and every 6m If not on service: no pay Annual expense of a Mdsp: +/- 70-100 £/y ! à needs the family support Lieutenant -Min. 19y old -6 y sea time min. (certificate), including 2y as Mdsp (or master’s mate) -Passing the lieutenant examination -Getting an Admiralty commission (à inscription on the Sea Officers List) +/- 20 until promoted (sometimes never) Unrated ship (or sometimes 6th rate) (when receives a command) If on service: 4 to 6s./d according to ship's rate Not on service: halfpay -Examination at the Navy Board (London) or before 3 senior captains (in a main port or in a station abroad) ; mainly on navigation and seamanship -Commission was not always received after examination (if no vacancy on the Sea Officers list nor patronage) -Command on merits or patronage Master and commander (after 1806: commander) -Being promoted by Admiralty (?) 6th rate On service: 10s/d (1806) Not on service: halfpay Promotion as M&C and command on merits or patronage, according to vacancies on the List Post-Captain -Being promoted by Admiralty +/- 28, sometimes never, sometimes sooner (Nelson: 20) 6-5th rate (or higher) After 10y, 4th or 3th rate to 1st rate (when receives a command) 10s/d (6th rate) to 24s/d (1st rate) Not on service: halfpay Promotion as Post-Captain and command on merits or patronage, according to vacancies on the List (Commodore) -Being appointed by Fleet Admiral / Squadron ? Temporary appointment as commander of a squadron for specific campaign Rear-Admiral of the Blue Order on the list +/- 40 or more Squadron or Fleet 1,18 £/d Not on service: halfpay If vacancy on the List (seniority) Rear-Admiral of the White Id Id Id Id Rear-Admiral of the Red Id Id Id Id Vice-Admiral of the Blue Id Id 2,56 £/d Id Id Vice-Admiral of the White Id Id Id Id Vice-Admiral of the Red Id Id Id Id Admiral of the Blue Id Id 3,17£/d Id Id Admiral of the White Id id Id Id Admiral of the Red Id Id Id id First (professional) Lord of the Admiralty Pension: 3000£/y ?

Impressionnant !! On voit bien que combattre lors d'une tempête devait être rare...

Thanks a lot ! I tried to board with a boat but how to make the boat's crew take possession of the ship ? A right click on the ship ? In my battle, if I can remember, it was bumping on the surrendered ship but did not board her. Or was the ship's wall too high ? And (last question, promised) how to know when a prize crew is enough to sail the surrendered ship ? Is there a risk that the surrendered crew revolts and tries to take again possession of the ship ?

Another question I couldn't answer to: what is the procedure to capture a ship once she has surrendered ? I tried to board it but it wans't possible anymore. And when a ship has struck her colours, if you don't capture her, she comes back ! I had this disagreable experience in my second battle…

Thanks a lot Navalus Magnus, it is much clearer now ! Then how to assess our needs in ships and troops for a mission ? I did probably an enormous mistake in selling my 4 smaller ships to buy a frigate (5th rate) as I thought it was a better choice in strictly "naval battle" missions (as I did not asked for land battles)… And now I only have one warship 😬 while for missions there are more than one circle…

And why reputation is lowering when the player buys ships to admiralty ?

Hi, I began to play the British Campaign and won the first two battles (easy mode of course). I still do not understand how exactly operates the user interface on the big mission map between battles. More precisely, what are the precise functions and meanings of the icons on the left of the screen (here the crossed Swords, but there are also papers, and other icons if my memories are good) ? Is it possible to choose between missions or do we have to follow a sequence (in a chronological order, visible on the icon below setting the date and indicating "next stage" ? And when we look at a mission, what do mean exactly the circles on the map ? The minimal number of ships we need ? What's the meaning of the different colors (as a clorblind, it is difficult to me to spot red dots against dark background, but this is another story) ? What's the meaning of the Numbers just above the circles (I guess something with minimal crew/gun requirements ?)

Hello Admin, I hope you are safe from covid-19. Some more questions: - How will be simulated the interaction between the captain, his officers and his crew ? - In Kingdom Come Deliverance (realistic medieval RPG), the player has to take many quite trivial/basic decisions (like eating and sleeping to keep strength) and fighting is like in a FPS : will this kind of detail simulated in S-L (I am not sure it is necessary in my opinion) ? - Will the career begin early in the life of the character (as a midshipman for example) or directly as a captain ? - What will be the common elements with Ultimate Admiral Age of Sail ? Best regards,

As I play the game I realized that the deepness mode gives a quite interesting representation of shallows in carribean waters. But there is no explanation of the deepness mode: does it simulate shallows when activated, (inexistant when desactivated) or is it intended to make them visible for the player to avoid them ? Moreover, in the tutorial on landing operations, the vegetation of the small island includes, if I am not mistaken, some palm trees : were they recently introduced or did I miss them before ?

It would be nice indeed thanks !

Hi Is there a webpage where we can understand all icons and stuff in the user interface ? I recently bought the game but I still have difficulties to understand all features. The Wiki helps much (thanks for that!) but it is quite general. It would be also nice to have the detail of all things that are simulated and to understand the rationale (history, limits of a game, fun,...) of the choices that are made by the developers. I read the UA AoS website and posts in the forum but it is a bit frustrating in this regard. That is why I also find that a "manual" would be nice. Thanks anyway for the job !

Hi Developers, As others already did, I would like to congratulate you for this excellent game, even if it is still in the alpha stage. What I like most as far as I can judge up to now, are: - As a solo player (maybe later a multi-player ?) game rather than a sandbox, it meets the expectations of very occasional players like me (who cannot spend hours in the open world of NA), - it includes beautiful user interface (I LOVE the paintings adapted from true paintings of Nicholas Pocock etc., it gives a true immersive feeling; I prefer them to the NA pictures ; I hope they will be also included in Sea-Legends), - its superb and quite intuitive gameplay, including sea and land operations, with very interesting and accurate historical features (some of them are missing in NA, like the impact of heel on gun range, which makes the weather gage a little less advantageous than usually said, as demonstrated by Sam Willis in his highly recommended Fighting at Sea in XVIIIth century) - the possibility to manage the career of the character, the possibility to choose officers and crew according to important skills of the period, etc. - the strategic/tactical dimensions of naval/amphibious warfare - the beautiful ships from NA 😉 Keep courage in this worrisome period !

Hi Developers Congratulations for the beautiful game ! A little suggestion as regards the representation of vegetation, river and shore features which could have impact on immersion and tactics. In the actual game, vegetation, rivers and shores are visually nice but not very specific. They might be improved to look more like the tropical vegetation and river mouths of Caribbean shores of Nicaragua/Costa Rica and on San Andres Island, where the British Campaign is located. Tropical trees in the San Juan river mouth region are (were, as there has been much deforestation since XVIIIth century, especially on coasts) taller and included conspicuous palm trees and undergrowth vegetation (in the game we feel more like in oak forests or town parks). I think also that landscapes in the San Juan River mouth were less open than as shown in the game outside the immediate surroundings of towns and villages. The San Juan river banks are not sandy (as it is represented in the game), but made of silt and often covered with thick vegetation (trees, grasslands or bush). The river water is brown due to sediment. The San Andres Island, on its eastern face, is surrounded by coral reefs and shallow lagoons, with clear waters. Trying to represent more closely the real local tropical vegetation and land-/seascapes could be interesting both for immersion and for tactical complexity (eg coral reefs and shallow lagoons prevented tall ships from approaching the coast ; thick vegetation on river banks makes it more difficult for marines and soldiers to land and to take position and for defenders to hide). Here are some pictures of San Juan river mouth and San Andrès Island eastern coast for comparison. Best regards PS : Coconut trees are not exactly native from the region but were introduced by Spaniards from XVIth century in the Carribean (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut#cite_note-Gunn2011-21); they were thus already present during the period In the game (british Campaign), landscape look like this In actual landscapes: San Juan River mouth El Castillo Village Nicaragua (where a XVIIth century Spanish fort is still visible) on the San Juan river (view from the fort) San Andrès Island

Hi, I bought this excellent game recently and I did not find the answer to my question neither in the wiki nor on YouTube : what do mean the 3 small icons which appear when boarding above the "HMS Pheonix" small icon above the tool bar (and their colors) ?

Indeed, water depth in coastal operations and naval battles close from the shore is crucial, thanks for the addition ! Are the depths in game based on real water dephts ? Is it possible to visualize the depths in game ? Or to get/use nautical charts or maps or to sound the water depth to prevent going aground ?

The Seven-Years War (1756-1763) is certainly an excellent suggestion, as it involved the great European powers of the time in two coalitions (France, Spain, (austrian-led) Holy Roman Empire, Russian Empire, Sweden vs GB, Portugal, Prussia and other german states) and as it spanned in the five continents (West and East Indies, South and North Americas (colonies), western Africa, Europe) (it is said to be the first 'world war'). Many naval battles with amphibious operations occured in this (very complicated) war. For example, the combined naval and land operations against the Morro Castel, Havana, on July 1st 1762 was epic, with 4 british ships of the line involved, in a context of yellow fever decimating troops on both sides (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Havana). Many campaigns could be simulated from this period !

Hi Admin As regard gunnery, it could be interesting to simulate the small time lag between the moment the gun captain decides either to pull the lanyard to fire the flintlock mechanism or to touch the touch-hole with his match (slow-burning fuse) and the moment the cartridge explodes, as this is of paramount importance for gun accuracy when the ship is rolling (taking into account the experience of the gunner, who could anticipate this time lag). In NA, when you touch the space bar or the pad, the gun is fired immediately. But it would more realistic to allow for a fraction of second between the moment the player touches the keybord and the moment the cannon is actually fired. As Roy Adkins writes in his masterful "Battle of Trafalgar, Biography of a Battle" (2005, Abacus, p. 104, very useful reading for developers, if not already used), "On a ship rolling with the motion of waves, a fraction of a second's difference between the gunner's judgement and the actual time taken for the cannon to fire often meant missing the target completely". It was one of the reasons why Nelson's and Collingwood's columns were able to break the line of the Combined Fleet without being completely unmanoeuvrable (other reasons were the lack of training of spanish and french crews and the fact that they aimed mainly at the rigging). The time lag between fire decision and cartridge explosion varied according to the mechanism used to fire the gun : it was much shorter when the flintlock was used, provided it effectively lighted the touch hole (sometimes it misfired or the gunflint broke). With matches, the time lag was longer and the accuracy lower in rolling conditions. This could be simulated in Sea Legends, taking into account the type of fire mechanism, the experience of the gunner (to anticipate the time lag), the fatigue of the crew and the possibility of misfire (then a match was used to light the touch-hole). These factors had all influence on the accuracy and rate of fire. As flintlock mechanisms were only generally introduced in the Royal Navy from 1755 (according to Ch Henry, 2004. Napoleonic Naval Armaments 1792-1815, Osprey, p. 20) - their use was widespread during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars -, developers should consider whether to allow players to use it (and buying them ?), according to the historical period of the game (developers talked about early XVIIIth century as far as I remember, when flintlocks were not in use). In French and Spanish navies, guns were mostly fired with matches even during Napoleonic wars. Flintlock mechanisms were not introduced in the French Navy, as far as I know, until 1786. In Boudriot, 1992 (La frégate. Marine de France, 1650-1850, Ancre, p. 260), the drawings show frigate cannons caliber "XXX" with a flintlock holder, indicating that this modification was introduced later than 1786. I am sure experts like Surcouf or LeBoiteux will be able to give more accurate information on this 😉. Keep safe from the coronavirus !

Hi Admin I have recently discovered Ultimate Admiral: Age of Sail (for sure I will buy it). Will SL borrow elements of gameplay from UA or be connected to it in any way (eg UI, narrative, officers characters, etc ?) ?

Source of inspiration 😉 ?

And: 1. in addition to waves, will there be swell, increasing roll (and thus inaccuracy of fire, like in Trafalgar) ? 2. aside ship's fame, will the captains gain fame from daring actions and victories, boosting morale and loyalty of their crew ? 3. will SL simulate the curvature of the earth ('sinking' the hull of distant ships) ?

Hum some more questions, if I may... 1. Wil be there functional boat / launch/pinnace, etc. in the game (eg for cutting out expeditions) ? 2. Uniforms (officers) /clothes (seamen) of the period (according to nation) ? 3. Will we see seamen climb on shrouds, pull on ropes, fire guns and muskets, etc. ? 4. Will SL include historical ports (Marseille, Portsmouth, Valetta, etc.) ? 5. Will missions be generated by a mission editor or ready to play ? Whatever the level of simu, SL sounds so exciting !