ObiQuiet

A "left"ennant once taught me: Port = Left = 4 letters Port Wine = Red Wine Everything else is starboard. (Supporting the effort to make the game's social vocabulary mimick the historical language)

A whole new set of worlds is opening to you, my friend: http://forum.game-labs.net/index.php?/topic/703-age-of-sail-readers/?hl=readers

I have a signed, numbered print of Geoff Hunt's "Frigate Squadron Cleared for Night Action" aka "The Hundred Days" over my mantle. (Now you know why I like this game.)

Good idea, Tom. This will help with the immersion and atmosphere.

There were also embargoes, like the US embargo on US (!) trade with Britain and France of 1807. Involved interception, inspection, siezure or fines, and sending offenders back into port.

Btw, the method used to preserve the remains of the Mary Rose (which is right next to the Victory in Portsmouth) is interesting. They spent years soaking the timbers in a glycol solution, and I believe she is still being sprayed. Of course she was preserved as sunk, and the Victory is dry, so different preservation techniques would/wood apply.

A sound effect of a hesitant first lieutenant saying, "But, sir, that's the..." Well, maybe everyone else's suggestions are better after all.

Here are some non-fiction books that would, I think, be good for the general gamer who wants to dive more into this era. None of these are as technical (or expensive) as Harland's "Seamanship." General: HMS Victory Owners’ Workshop Manual. Haynes Publishing. Ignoring some of the gift-shop photo book style, this actually includes a reasonable amount of detail for those who don’t know much about the era but want an intro suitable for Naval Action. Includes some schematics, armament, mast and spar names, steps for tacking and wearing a square rigger. (If you want schematic drawings of every deck, hull cross-sections, list of guns by year, and fewer photos, then John McKay’s Anatomy of the the Ship Victory (with foldout plans!) is a better book. Don’t be fooled -- the cover makes it look like a children’s book, but I used it as my map & reference when I visited the Victory in Portsmouth.) Battles Sea Battles in Close-Up: The Age of Nelson David Lyon Summary of the history and ship movements in several key battles. Nelson’s Trafalgar Roy Adkins Detailed layman’s history of the context and the battle itself. General History: Six Frigates Ian W. Toll (History of the first significant ships in the US Navy) The Billy Ruffin: Biography of the English ship of the line Bellerophon David Cordingly Respectfully yours, etc.

The most complete inventory of Age of Sail books I know of is here: http://www.historicnavalfiction.com/ Astrodene has a timeline index, author index, interviews, etc. He also keeps us up-to-date with new publication dates. One of the best sites for finding books, both old and new. Not much in terms reviews or rankings, though, and he has felt obligated to include some fantasy takes on the genre. But, find something interesting and follow his link to Amazon to read the reviews. I'll have to compile a list too. Agreed on Harland at the top of the list of "practical guides for the armchair sailor." O'Brian and Marryat (he sailed with Cochrane!) and Pope (Ramage) and Forester (Hornblower) in fiction. Yours respectfully, etc.

Ohh, I should have taken an image of my enemy's sails yesterday -- a patch of sailcloth in the middle of a huge hole, with nothing holding it up...

When a ship rolls in a heavy sea, today it rolls as a single solid unit looking like a static model. Adding some back-and-forth rotation to the yards as the momentum shifts would liven that up. Respectfully yrs, etc.

I find the telescope view thrilling --- nothing like seeing the bow wave of an enemy approaching in the haze! Well done, and very immersive; compelling even. Two suggestions: 1. The water drops on the lens are an awesome detail. I wish they would be different each time. 2. When scanning the horizon to find a ship, I have no idea in which direction it lay when I remove the glass from my eye. Perhaps a the non-scope view could follow the last angle of the scope? Of course, we wouldn't want this to affect aim.

Suggestion: Separate the NA and UGG forums for the purposes of search and "new content" at least. Or, make it visible in the lists of threads or posts which area the content comes from.

The TAB key shows the status of the other ships and players in the battle...

Masthead view sounds like a really good idea!

Assuming the terminology issue of Left/Right vs. Port (or Larboard)/Starboard has been debated and a decision intentionally made to use Left/Right in the game UI, I'd still vote for a per-Player option to use "P/S" instead. Like a F/C or Mi/Km units option in other applications. (Edit: same for Bow/Stern for the chasers instead of Front and Back) (I still have a lot of threads to read in the forum, so forgive me if this topic has already been debated or discussed in a thread my searches didn't discover.) So far it seems that this particular piece of terminology is not bound to any L or R keys, so it may make no difference in the overall UI except a few labels, like those for reloading the guns. Thanks!

Ohh, me too! Signed up as soon as I learned about the game, hope I am not too late.