Map Tracking

[Kanay]

A navigator crew member that gives you an approximative position once a day yes, and the better skilled is the Navigator when you hire him , the more accurate will be position while not being a GPS locator and only once per in game day.

 

An option to have a locator you can turn on/off in options and on the same servers having players using it and others not introduced after players are already established in servers ? ? Nope, no way, all have to play with the same parameters in the existing servers.

 

Such options for a new server where it will be clear from the start for all that this server allows option to be turned on and off or even have gps enforced and people deciding to go there fully aware of it yes it can be done, but adding such option while staying on existing servers and having a mix of players using it and others not, no.

 

What makes the charm of this game is to explore, have the possibility to get lost at sea if you don't pay attention to your compass or from where you come from, adding a locator will kill the charm of this game, beside having a once a day navigator crew member that will more or less accurate tha twill be somehow realistc the rest is not an option to have, not on the existing servers at least.

 

Game was designed like this, it was clear from the start, if people wasn't aware and now complain well it's an issue, but if there is a lot of people asking for such feature they can make a more easy gamemode server where people have the GPS enforced for all and those who want to play with such feature play together in a same even field, like there is a PVE server separated too, but adding this option to the current meta game and introduce it in current servers, no. 

Edited February 6, 2016 by Kanay

[mad_blind_eric]

 I personally find this whole subject really amusing. Anyone who brings up this subject always gets shot down on these forums, but it keeps coming up on here and in the game chat. I wonder why. For a game which is all about realism etc not having a notion of where you are on the map is utter garbage.

 

Do you all really think that during the Age of Sail people just left port and said "we ll just head north east and wing it." If that was good enough why was the invention of ever more accurate time pieces of such importance to facilitate the accurate calculation of longitude.

 

 I wholeheartedly agree that the notion of a super accurate gps style positioning system is out of character for the game. But. There absolutely needs to be a proper, well designed, period in-keeping system for tracking and calculating ones position on the map. This could be effected by time of day, weather, proximity to land and known landmarks. officer quality, modules who knows.

 

 There is also actually *no* exploring in this game. The map is all exposed and charted. Nowhere is there a big fog saying "here be dragons" there are only places that you as a player haven't gone to yet. Which for me only adds further weight to the argument that there should be some form of map locator. These guys would know where they were. Pretty much, give or take, assuming things had gone to plan type thing.

 

 As to the notion that with some sort of marking device we would lose the ability to get lost or such like I again disagree. Just because they "knew" where they were, doesn't mean to say that they were right. Put in place a system that the longer one is out of sight of land, every course change or speed modulation the more inaccurate the reading becomes.. then it becomes a simple interface problem to solve.. how to convey vagueness to a player in a way that is useful and yet not useful at the same time.

[B4DD4WG]

Im just going to post this idea here, instead of making a whole new post. 

 

Idea for the map, plotting courses, and "marking" location. (Before you guys bite my head off for mentioning "marking" a location. Have a read..Thanks)

 

You open the map.

 

You will find your navigator tools. (Which WE are the Captains, not the navigator. So, having the "navigator" doing somethings, with "majik", is ok and can be immersive.)

 

1: Plotting: If you click this button. The camera will zoom in a bit, a couple of hands come out and grab a pencil, ruler, protractor..etc(Mostly for immersion)

You can click the pencil and make straight lines on the map. This line you mark will only be useful for your navigator. But, should look nice, and be editable. 

 

2: Clear Course: (self explanatory)

 

3: Navigator: (This should not be used lightly, all willy nilly. There should be risk involved in "navigating". Because, we don't want it to be hand holding. And, it would be nice and immersive to have a navigator. If done right)

This action can be interrupted and canceled. It will leave your ship vulnerable for a short period. You must be stopped to navigate. (no hand holding remember)

Once you call on your navigator to find your location. It starts a countdown. Depending on the course plotted. (which is necessary to mark, or find your location) Will depend on how long it takes your navigator to "find" your location. And, then give you a rough "guess", or estimate, of your location. During this time. You can be attacked. (risk) And, being that you are in your "map room". You can't keep an eye out. So watch out using it!

For some "immersion" while this is going on. You can hear the navigator scratching sounds, from him "calculating" on the map. Maybe see a few instruments being moved around. And, the closer that the timer gets to complete, have a magnifying glass following the plotted course. Once complete, the magnifying glass would "encircle" your estimated location. And, in the middle of it, you could see a X. The circle of the magnifier would be like the circle you see around a port when you are docked, and open the map. Plus, there should be a cool down on being able to use the navigator again.

 

4:Calculate distance of your plotted course. It would tell you how many nautical mile you plotted course would be, and an estimated time to travel that course.

 

5: Notes: Here you could archive your most used courses. But, can only "store" limited amount.

 

(Im sure that with the "help" of the community. A map, and tools, could be achieved without making it "easy mode". Plus, it could be immersive, and risky.)    

[Pigafetta]

I think the right word to describe my experience in OW navigation is "estimate." The compass is more then enough to estimate your position with a certain degree of error. And, I suppose, it is the same degree of error one would have using a sextant (which from my reading is more or less 30 nautical miles). If we consider that a nautical mile is 1,854 meters (around 6,000 feet) the approximation we have navigating our little closed OW is, in my opinion, realistic.

 

As I said in previous posts, I like to navigate around and explore new ports (hope soon the devs will add something on exploration and discoveries) and I noticed that slowly I am starting to recognize my surrounding... the two peaks in the Bahamas, indicating me the way to Crown Heaven; or the pointy peak  of La Desconoscida. I am simply doing what in reality is called "piloting" or navigate along the coast using identifiable points on the coast).

 

Yes, sometimes I get frustrated when sail to my outpost in La Mona o La Orchila because there is no coastline, but in that case the compass is more than enough, and I always arrive close my target, close enough to spot a city and start again "piloting." 

 

In another post on navigation someone wrote about the experience of "getting lost" and not being sure of the position and how such uncertainty actually adds more depth to the game. I totally agree and I hope our devs will never ever put any kind of GPS. Sail people, sail

 

Henry d'Esterre Darby, on 29 Feb 2016 - 4:36 PM, said:

  This is not a fast game if you want to go end to end.  Those with less time are advised to set up an outpost in a hotspot and stay near it.

Edited March 1, 2016 by Antonio_Pigafetta

[Tigron]

well for all those that say navigators back then did not use the stars or sun to locate their EXACT location here is a little video and a chance to really see what they did.

https://timeandnavigation.si.edu/navigating-at-sea/challenges/navigate-the-sea-activity