Questions to developers

[Garetx]

1.

 

WIll be the Modifications for the ship have any graphic changes? 

Better Armor modification see some new armor plank or additional sails if u mod it with items?

 

2.

 

WIll be every ship has his own model or same like in POTBS  with refits or mastercrafted version

I dont hope the first rates get some different models not like in potbs 1 model with 5 different ships....

 

3.

 

The pvp System is openworld or arena ?

 

4.

 

Is it possible to conquer enemy ports?

 

5.

And will be added some user content?

Own Sail patters or flag?

 

i think enough for the moment =P

[Otsego]

1. Will this Game have different game mods like in WarThunder (Arcade,Historical Battle,Full Real)?

2. Will personal skill actually matter or only size of ship?

3. Will Ship collisions do damage to the ships dependent on speed and weight?

[Otsego]

And other Question: Will there be some form of Clans/Societies and a possibility to join fights as a group? If yes how many ppl can join as a group?

[Cherry Ice Cream]

And other Question: Will there be some form of Clans/Societies and a possibility to join fights as a group? If yes how many ppl can join as a group?

 

I guesing : 6, You can remake DSL and hunt like in old time's. But srlsy, i jus know there are society's but idk what about group fights

[Garetx]

I guesing : 6, You can remake DSL and hunt like in old time's. But srlsy, i jus know there are society's but idk what about group fights

if the game has no grp fights... kill me xD

[Cherry Ice Cream]

if the game has no grp fights... kill me xD

 

I have no idea lol... at last u can be lone ranger in vic xD

[admin]

1. Will this Game have different game mods like in WarThunder (Arcade,Historical Battle,Full Real)?

2. Will personal skill actually matter or only size of ship?

3. Will Ship collisions do damage to the ships dependent on speed and weight?

 

1) different game mods (initially no, but who knows)

2) personal skill + size of the ship. small cutter cant sink hms victory no matter what skill they have

3) yes

[admin]

And other Question: Will there be some form of Clans/Societies and a possibility to join fights as a group? If yes how many ppl can join as a group?

 

Clans and societies will be an important part of the game. We are testing the maximum size of the battle now.

[Digby]

Pirates - Open world without pirates is impossible. Chasing traders and running away is key for fun open world game play. 

Zombies, witches, magic - are not going to be present in our game, never ever.

Map - It is too early to tell. 

Can I suggest no pirates but privateers, that is captains who are affiliated to a nation. And then above that the nations ships - England, France, Spain, Holland, etc. The privateers shoul donly attack trade shipping of the current enemy(ies) of their own nation, and the game world has a structure of missions for the maain national fleets, squadrons and scouting/screening frigates to undertake. Traders could be players (neutral or national merchants) or be AI/NPCs.

I ask for this kind of structure because pirates tend to attract certain kinds of players to games and if you exclude them you may find yourself attracting more serious/historical players.

 

An early decision to include or exclude pirates could have a profound effect on the future mood, atmosphere, content and direction of your game.

 

Personally I'm intertested in the age of sail as a period in which governments projected political and trading power via sailing fleets and a world built around this foundation would give you a very different end product to one where piracy became a cornerstone of your design.

 

If you want to think of another parallel to DayZ - the organised groups with trade and power protection was what DayZ was in its early days, when people co-operated. The bandit-infested sniping misery was what it became because a form of no-rules "piracy" was permitted. Consider how different DayZ might be today if random killing was not allowed, but directed killing towards other teams only.

 

Something to think about.

[FLGibsonJr]

I agree with Digby on several of his points. I am hoping the focus will be on naval warfare in a realistic fashion. I think the game that should be emulated is a modern day Age of Sail II, not PotBS. Organized battles between established squadrons (clans) should be the ultimate goal. Privateers would be preferrable over pirates in a historic Age Of Sail naval game, because they would never purposely engage with naval warships. I think the target for the amount of MP players should be to reproduce Trafalgar with its 74 ships. I would error on the side of more ships (players), and sacrifice graphics if necessary in order to replicate the larger fleet battles. You have a lot of people hoping (praying?) for a realistic age of sail naval game.

Regards,

Gibson

[Marquiz]

 

 

I ask for this kind of structure because pirates tend to attract certain kinds of players to games and if you exclude them you may find yourself attracting more serious/historical players.

I understand your point of view. But iam for historical detail game, and on history pirates have great role on seas. If we concentrate only on fleet battles like egzample in mulityplayer without economy and trade, there be not mmo - open world game ,only very narrow game with low interest of ppl.

Pirates, privateers, trades ,naval officers ,gubernators ,trade  are connected to sail age and for me there is no option to leave something behind.

Secound important thing is that like u said pirates are good as marketing magent for players, so game without that, lose many potecial players. I think this not what is important to Developer. 

[Jack Sparrow]

Exactly, what about economy/trade/crafting aspect of game?

 

Ships will be player crafted or given as default , ie , we can participate in battles group full of hms victory vs same group, or that big expensive ships  will be something rare?

 

What about  escorted merchant convoys or robbing alone merchants? 

[Verhoeven]

I agree with Digby on several of his points. I am hoping the focus will be on naval warfare in a realistic fashion. I think the game that should be emulated is a modern day Age of Sail II, not PotBS. Organized battles between established squadrons (clans) should be the ultimate goal. Pirates have virtually no place in a Age Of Sail naval game, if they do it is unrealistic and immersion destroying. I think the target for the amount of MP players should be to reproduce Trafalgar with its 74 ships. I would error on the side of more ships (players), and sacrifice graphics if necessary in order to replicate the larger fleet battles. You have a lot of people hoping (praying?) for a realistic age of sail naval game.

Regards,

Gibson

 

S!

 

Well I have no issues against Pirates in the game when there is the option to set up your own multiplayer battles. In such a set up it is fleet vs fleet, based on the settings made by the host. If some fleet wants to name themselves pirates it would merely be the name. If certain types of ships are assigned to certain factions, that would implement that people could choose their ship in the lobby according to their faction. A Pirate faction would not be able to choose First, second, third rates for intstance.

In AOS2 the host would assign a ship to a all players. That was a bit complex. But having the option to set up any game you like, gives a nice 'what if' dimension/add on for the challenge. Like 2 vs 4, with second rates agains fourth rates for example. 

 

Keep in mind, that when it comes to larger engagements large pirates fleets would become historically 'unrealistic'. Large fleet battles with Pirates were rare. They would either run or fight in 1 vs 1 or 1 vs 2 or so. A true Age of Sail game would at least focus on the Militairy naval aspects. Line battles and frigates. Think of Trafalgar, Aboukir, Cape Vincent, Grand Port, etc. Not the crafting and trading, as this is not typically Age of Sail. If you talk Age of Sail I think of Horatio Hornblower, Master & Commander and Damn the Defiant, not Pirates of the Caribbean... :-), other wise it would be a Pirate or Caribbean naval game.

 

If battle only has a place in a PotBS style environment (port battles and interception) it will be just like another Sid Meiers Pirates inspired game. There have been quite a few of those in the last decade. It's all fine with me, if there is a stand alone battle option. 

 

Yours faithfully, your servant,

 

Verhoeven

[admin]

Our policy is to be completely open and direct with the community. Thus please forgive in advance our direct answers and view on things you consider important.

 

Here is our view and potential direction on the topic of pirates and navies. 

 

We are currently working on ship combat (i said it like 1000 times already so if you heard it before ignore the message). Awesome ship combat will suit pirates and naval officers and what not. Once this is done and tested well we will then start working on the leveling, skills and crew of ships. Only after that we will start working on the technology of the open world. So trafalgar like organized battles will be in the game immediately from the start. 

 

Now on open world it gets interesting

Most likely the open world will have 3 zones like it is in EVE. Safe zones, faction warfare and lawless areas. Players will be able to choose where to go at their own risk. 

 

Now about Pirates. Navy officer attacking enemy nation trade convoy is mostly a pirate according to that nation convoy captain. But to an attacker he is protecting his nation trade from enemy profiteers. Entrepreneurial commander capturing a rookie naval officer's frigate and running it to a safe is a pirate, but next day he can use this frigate in a national battle against the enemy. It exciting, is not it?  

 

Also - pirates = more players; more players = more targets to sink + more revenue to us, that will lead to a better game as a result. 

 

But let us finish the combat first. and then we will share the design ideas on the open world with navies and piracy.

[Digby]

Thanks for your answers and I fully understand that there are many more MP people out there wanting a pirate-friendly game than a historical squadron/fleet actions game. I am sure both can co-exist; at least with developing the combat system first and getting the gunnery, sailing, wind, crew allocation and damage models working that part of the game can be used by both the pirate players and the fleet players, even if the fleet battles are a stand-alone side game.

 

A lot of players though have had many, many pirate-based sailing games over the years. Historical naval combat fans have only ever had one that worked well - Akella's Age of Sail II and that was 12-15 years ago, Developing a game that satisfies this group of players will get you a hugely loyal following from that group - the Sea Lords has existed as a functioning group for 12 years without even a game to play, that's how much we love the era and the combat.

 

Perhaps moreso than pirates you could have privateers as I said, captains who own their own ship and are civilians but seek to attack trade ships only of their nations enemy.

 

Timeframes are tricky. The mid-late 1600s was the golden age of piracy, it had very much reduced by the 1730s or so. After that fleets became more professional and were able to power-project more efficiently making piracy a very difficult life.

 

I'm fine with trade routes, ports, dockyards, forts garrisons and an economy so that players can trade and amass money, but do please think of different kinds of players. Some like an MMO crafting game (I think of it as grinding and it doesn't appeal to me) but others don't want to be a single role-play type character and command one ship and have a career, they want a game that lets them be admirals and command squadrons and fleets, so please think of the different options there can be to gameplay.

 

Thank you!

[Marquiz]

 

Now on open world it gets interesting

Most likely the open world will have 3 zones like it is in EVE. Safe zones, faction warfare and lawless areas. Players will be able to choose where to go at their own risk. 

This sutis my well. In eve this 3 zones world work good for 10 years of game. So it proven design.

[Blackie]

I've already stated my desire for pirates, primarily because they are fun to play, but also because they are historically accurate.  I can understand why those who crave to play naval officers and wish to reenact the great battles of the Age of Sail would object to this.  Many pirate games in the past permitted pirate captains to sail galleons and/or ships of the line (depending on the period) which never, ever happened in history.  Pirates for the most part sailed sloops, schooners, and other small ships so they could take advantage of shoals with their shallow drafts and faster speed to escape naval ships.   The pirate was more concerned with profit and survival than being able to take on warships.  They hunted merchantmen and ran away from everything else unless cornered. 

 

I would suggest limiting ship sizes for pirates to ships smaller than frigates since these warships were extremely difficult for pirates to defeat or seize as prizes.  Privateers should be limited to frigates and below with pirates being permitted to accept letters of marque and give them up as they choose.  This would be historically accurate and would prevent pirate fleets from ever being large enough to challenge naval fleets leaving naval enthusiasts with their fleet battles untainted by pirate fantasy.  Navy vs. pirate engagements should be limited to a small number of ships, for example, a merchant convoy with a naval escort or one or two pirate hunters in frigates vs. one or a small number of pirate ships. 

 

I think by adhering to historical accuracy the developers can produce the best possible game and give everyone what they want.  I still believe a real world map is the best way to place this game firmly in history.  I can understand the desire to increase the sense of the unknown by creating a whole new world, but let's be honest.  How many people actually know what the real world looks like?  How many have actually studied geography and have intimate knowledge of real world oceans, islands, etc.?  Very few.  To me the sense of adventure is heightened by a blacked out real world map that must be explored to reveal.  To reenact real history itself with historical islands, harbors, and towns of the new world and the old.  The Age of Sail began with the Age of Discovery.  Without a real world map, the game will become a fantasy, despite real world ships, nationalities, etc.  It would ruin the game for me.

[Digby]

I agree, a nicely written post in which the place of pirates is put correctly. I would have no issue at all if piracy in the game was operated at believable levels. What bothered me upon first seeing this game was the idea of pirate players forming groups and becoming too powerful. Them having 74s in PotBs was a joke. Pirates should not actually be allowed to form groups (that is a group given status as such in the game, with the benefits that imparts), each should be an individual with one ship or at the most 2 to 3. The idea of pirates being prevented from having powerful ships is something I competely agree with, their ship availablity should stop short of frigate, as should privateers. Frigates are military vessels. Clans and guilds should perhaps be restricted to traders who would form companies and share the profits of fixed trade routes.

 

I would support a real-world map as well. It would feel extremely strange to have an unknown world to sail in, as that would be placing the game in our world's terms in the 1400s and 1500s with America only just discovered and the Caribbean a vast unknown. If you're going to have established ports, forts, an economy, tradeable goods and trade routes by their very nature that means the area is known and established and a real world map best suits that.

 

Possble locations to set the game:

 

Caribbean (obviously)

Mediterranean (lots of piracy here, and lasting much later than in the Caribbean, also all kinds of interesting trade)

Baltic (very different but fresh, not seen that used in a game before)

Black Sea (ditto)

(these last three are almost landlocked seas as well, making a nice closed game world)

East Indies - everything between India, Australia and Japan.

 

Each of those would give an interesting setting, though the Caribbean has been done to death in so many games, so a different map from that is my preference.

[admin]

In the faction warfare (organized X vs X) battles pirates won't matter to anyone including pirates themselves. It's just group of ships against group of ships. 

 

Regarding Piracy.

• Piracy or national allegiance is a way of life. It's not a flag. Like in Eve - Goonswarm or Test could be considered pirates to certain parties. But those are just well organized groups of people fighting for their cause.
• On the open world we don't see any reason to limit certain groups of people from organizing into something big. In real life pirates were disorganized. I think if they wanted to they could easily capture couple of archipelagos, instead they decided to serve nations (Henry Morgan example). 
• So if a certain Navy want's pirates out of the game they can go and try to "crush them, see them driven away and hear the lamentations of their women". 

To recap all this. on the open world there will be no pirates - there will be groups of people who decided to fight against all and raise their own flag over a group of ports (instead of British or Spanish). Players with national allegiance can do whatever they want with those pirate ports, capture them or burn them or leave them alone.

[Blackie]

...I would support a real-world map as well. It would feel extremely strange to have an unknown world to sail in, as that would be placing the game in our world's terms in the 1400s and 1500s with America only just discovered and the Caribbean a vast unknown. If you're going to have established ports, forts, an economy, tradeable goods and trade routes by their very nature that means the area is known and established and a real world map best suits that...

 

...Each of those would give an interesting setting, though the Caribbean has been done to death in so many games, so a different map from that is my preference.

 

I completely agree with this first paragraph.  A real world map is best suited for an Age of Sail game.  But then you make an exception for the Caribbean.  It may have been done before, but it doesn't make a real world map any less important.  I want to see Tortuga, Port Royal, Havana, and all the rest in the tropical Caribbean islands.  Without them, what's the point?  It's no longer a historical simulation but someone's version of fantasy islands.  I couldn't play such a game. 

[hole in the ground]

This may have been covered before. I might have missed it.

 

Bearing in mind that everything took a long time: moving, turning, reloading guns etc. Will there be an aspect of time or distance compression?

 

Will great guns take circa 1-2 minutes to reload?

Will 7knts really mean that it will take an hour to cover 7 miles?

 

On the real world vs fantasy, I can see where you are coming from with the fantasy map i.e. actual exploration, but I think during the period that you are considering most of the worlds coastlines at least were fairly well mapped out...

[BungeeLemming]

also I wonder what sort of range different cannons will have. The top deck guns of a 74 gun would have more range than the same caliber on a lower decked frigate..

What about stable gun platforms?

 

In Potbs we have the complete opposite to real life.

Small ships get higher target tracking despite the fact that smaller ships' hull move more up and down than the gundeck of a huge ship of the line.

 

The same would affect speed in bad wheater. A small ship cannot ride a wave as long as a bigger ship can do. Therefore the big ship is faster.

Also: The hight of a mast affects speed in such weather, too since big waves make big lees in their "windshadows". huge ships can catch the wind better in those than smaller ships which become becalmed for a certain time.

 

As a short question:

Is speed a fixed parameter for any situation the ship faces or will this caracteristic change with every different occasion thw sea yields?

[admin]

also I wonder what sort of range different cannons will have. The top deck guns of a 74 gun would have more range than the same caliber on a lower decked frigate..

What about stable gun platforms?

 

In Potbs we have the complete opposite to real life.

Small ships get higher target tracking despite the fact that smaller ships' hull move more up and down than the gundeck of a huge ship of the line.

 

The same would affect speed in bad wheater. A small ship cannot ride a wave as long as a bigger ship can do. Therefore the big ship is faster.

Also: The hight of a mast affects speed in such weather, too since big waves make big lees in their "windshadows". huge ships can catch the wind better in those than smaller ships which become becalmed for a certain time.

 

As a short question:

Is speed a fixed parameter for any situation the ship faces or will this caracteristic change with every different occasion thw sea yields?

 

re gun ranges

Based on our references http://www.amazon.com/Frigates-Napoleonic-Wars-Robert-Gardiner/dp/1591142830/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375183249&sr=8-1&keywords=frigates+of+the+napoleonic+wars

there were no drastic differences between ranges of cannons at minimum angle. First grazes were between 200 to 600 yards and longest range was 3800 for a longbarreled 18lbs at maximum angle. (Royal Navy tests) all types of cannons were able to fire to 1000 yards (except carronades), 

 

re stable gun platform

what about it? elaborate please

 

re speed

speed depends on wind, your angle to wind, we have not yet implemented speed changes according to the sea conditions

[BungeeLemming]

re stalbe gun platform:

 

When you  look outside a gunport in bad weather, the horizon will bounce up and down pretty fast. That means your target will be seen for a short time. In stormy weather it required more good luck to hit home in bad weather than beeing an expert gunner (wich helps ofc)

 

A huge ship of the line has a long deck/ keel etc. As an effect you will ride the waves for a certain time and the gunner gets a more or less "long" time window in wich his gunport is showing him a target.

The smaller frigate gunner therefore has the smaller ship with a smaller deck/ kiel length. The frigate cannot ride the wave as long as the bigger ship of the line can do and the time window in wich the gunner has a clear sight of the enemy is shorter.

 

And like the ship of the line is longer than the frigate, the frigate is longer than a corvette, the corvette than the brig etc..

merged: the longer the ship, the more stable is the gun platform.

 

But this only gives you an advantage in bad weather/ big waves (obviously until the waves reach a certain size).

[Digby]

But then you make an exception for the Caribbean.  It may have been done before, but it doesn't make a real world map any less important.  I want to see Tortuga, Port Royal, Havana, and all the rest in the tropical Caribbean islands.  Without them, what's the point?  It's no longer a historical simulation but someone's version of fantasy islands.  I couldn't play such a game. 

I was only saying that the Caribbean has been made a game setting by too many games. I have no issue with the devs basing their game there, but I would prefer something fresh that hasn't been seen in an MMO naval sailing game, like the East Indies, or the Mediterranean (still plenty of piracy in the Med long after it had been stamped out elsewhere). If all players want to do is be William Teach or Blackbeard and drink ale in Tortuga, things get dull because its been done before in so many games. Open your eyes to fresh potential in other parts of the world. Malta is very nice at this time of year, as is Tangier