ObiQuiet

A simple, temporary "you hit a friendly ship" message near the reload indicators.

No, what was popular was keeping people from running and wasting everyone else's time. The visible white line was not popular. Dazed's proposal is a good one to fix a problem with the current logic.

... if the Unity engine allows it, so that there is more room without overlaying the game window. and... then show the chat channels as separate side by side columns, like a newspaper, as an option in addition to the tabbed view.

So that those of us (me) reading on a mobile device can give credit where it is due... Edit: I see it is the "check mark" icon. Nevermind.

Once you see it, you can't unsee it.

There were few, if any, lighthouses in the Caribbean at this time. Barbados got its first in the 1850's. A subtle glow from oil lamps near the harbor would be more appropriate. Moon brightness variations between full and new would be cool.

Fill the bath tub with an expoxy sea, and mount the model in it.

There could be a way for a blockading fleet to comunicate with those inside a port, and vice versa. A chat channel for those inside a port to talk to those outside in the approaches.... Challenges, promises of safe passage, deal making...

https://youtu.be/UUuaOLPRZ_Y?t=1178 Starts at 00:19:45 Aerial view of the frigate Göteborg, plus a bonus warship, a bonus tugboat, and a bonus RO/RO:

Masts have several sections. Replacing more than a topmast while away from a port would be several weeks while lying vulnerable in a bay. A fished mast would leave the rig weaker, too. In O'Brian, one of the books has such an episode, in the south Atlantic, IIRC.

I am also against adding voice acting to this game. Sound signals are better.

I'm not enamored of the current modules, either. Some thoughts: * Ships of the same class should have varying +/- capabilities for intrinsic ship handling: speed, ability to point, turning rate, and maybe propensity to roll. These are not things easily bought in the real world. These characteristics would be evident in the store (properly listed on the window sticker!). A ship I capture might be a pig, or it might an outstanding example of her class -- depends on luck. If I happen to get a good one, I'll try harder to keep it, or it should sell for more. (Admin once alluded to something like each individual ship having a mix of characteristics -- perhaps this was considered and abandoned already.) Then, in each category I suggest these: Armament - current system of buying guns seems OK to me. Damage and reload is a function of the gun choice. Sailing - consider: * Payment to either clean or recopper a ship's bottom. The bottom gets weedier with time-at-sea, gradually slowing the ship. * New sails. Expensive, but able to increase speed. * Spare sails. Allows sail repair at sea, rather than at a port. * Re-rigging. Expensive, but improves the ships speed and ability to point. * Re-ballasting. Expensive, but improves the ships speed and rolling. Armor - * I can't think of many modules here. The ship is what she was originally made of. All ships have hammocks. Maybe boarding nets could be a module. Crew - * I could use some XP to "buy" or "earn" a better first lieutenant or better sailing master who would improve reload and ship handling by some %. * The longer I keep a ship, the better the crew get at reload, setting sails, etc. Not a lot, but enough to make a difference. If I lose the ship, I have to start training them over again. If I choose a different ship, the crew retains some portion of their training. This is a "crew XP". Boarding - * Assume a crew has XP too. The more they have, the better they get at boarding. * I'd spend $$ for crew weapons. These go with the ship, I should think, not with my personal effects. Repair - * I could buy spare sails, spare yards, spare topmasts, spare rudder (only for small ships) to allow repairs at sea without a port. Or, at least make repairs at sea more quickly saving me a trip to a port. This may be fine with the current "repair kits" model, but "repair kit" as a term isn't very satisfying for this era.

Some little things that I don't think have been mentioned, and aren't obvious enough that I'd expect a fix without mentioning... * AI ships which flap their staysails up/down or wiggle their yards as they try to make up their AI minds * Left, Right, Front, Back terms for the gun menus instead of Port & Star-/lar-board, Fore, Aft. Of the terms from real world sailing one might expect players to learn (tacking, heal, etc) these words seem like the easiest and would (to me) contribute to immersion. * Can't count my money or my xp when at sea (AFAIK)

I've done a fair amount of long-distance, open sea travelling. I like it -- the map scale, the transit speed, the port distances -- all seem about right to me. (As discussed elsewhere, I think the only issues are the speed of the wake animation, and the over-steering on turning). The best thing about the size of the map, is that it may allow people to go places where there aren't bullies, or where the type of player/game they want to interact with can be found. Sailing a distance is an investment of time. What might make it better: A lookout at the masthead. In other words: While sailing a long distance, I'd like to be able to tell my crew to inform me when one or more of the following occurs: 1. Any ship sighted. 2. Any ship sighted which is on a converging course. 3. Any land sighted. 4. Any land sighted forward of the beam (especially if/when damage from grounding is implemented) 5. Any new land sighted (land masses that weren't visible when the command was given. This may be too hard to do well.) The signals should be: 1. For ships, a drumbeat 2. For land, perhaps a whistle, like the reload bos'n whistle. (Not a verbal recording, please) If not these, then at least let me know audibly if I have grounded or am being attacked. This would allow me to sail far without having to keep my eyes glued to the screen. Of course, these should be able to be turned off. But, I am thinking less of a background sound effect and more of a "here are my orders" function. Pros, Cons?

Yes, that happens to me too. If I restart the game client, F11 works. Hasn't happened enough that I can determine the cause.

http://www.houstonmaritimemuseum.org/ship-models/

You're at a work conference reading this forum... oh, that's when you haven't played enough..

I think this might be happening just on leaving a port, too. Maybe updating or moving items, then immediately setting sail? Will try it later, to see if short time increases the occurance. A logout/login fixes it for me so far.

Ha, okay, maybe when the world grows to the Mediterranean and far north & south...

A glow of lamp light from a port town on a foggy night, twinkling lights on a crisp night...

These are important aspects to resolve during this alpha period.

Yes, I think the physics will prove that to be best way for a Lynx to cause damage to a Victory (or anyone else).

A surrendered or captured ship should have the captor's flag flying above the original one.

Isn't alternative history fun? Wonder why they didn't try it with sailors? (At sea, in the doldrums, making stuff up...)

Good discussion. Couldn't stop thinking about it, so decided to jot some rough ideas down... I can imagine a hypothetical game model where there are some additional advanced sail settings and factors, but not too much: furling/-ed (*)- no chance of damage or fires(**), long transition time, long time to gain or lose speed, no heel, maximum rolling clewed-up - reduced chance of damage or fires, medium transition time, medium time to gain or lose speed, no heel, ? rolling hove-to - full chance of damage or fires, medium transition time, quick to lose speed, medium to regain speed, no heel, minimal rolling shivering (***) - full chance or damage or fires, quick transition time, medium time to lose speed but quick to regain speed, normal heel, normal rolling battle (fits into the scheme too) - reduced chance of damage or fire, long transition time, long time to gain or lose speed, normal heel, but reduced rolling. ... or something like that. Interpolated from descriptions of IRL in "Fighting at Sea in the Eighteenth Century", about the various postures captains could choose from when approaching an unknown ship. (Willis, 2008) (* slow/stop/half/full could be incremental points within this mode) (** "fires" -- sails being set alight by our own burning wads blowing back on us. "damage" -- from incoming shot) (*** perhaps effectively the same as "scandalized"?)