Fix Sail/Wind Physics in Headwind/Close reach (against crosswind)

  • ZAvon5159
    Seafarer

    I posted a suggestion a few minutes ago suggesting the speed of brigs going against the wind be nerfed. Immediately after, I learned that sloops will actually go faster than brigs against the wind...if you use the sail in the opposite way that you would in real life

    For whatever reason (as I'm sure most people on here were aware while I was not), if you point your sail forward DIRECTLY INTO a headwind, with the wind pushing backwards on the full breadth of the sail, that will push you forwards faster than if you kept the sail to the side and out of the way. The sails working in counter-intuitive way makes learning some of the nuances of this game a little frustrating, and I'm not sure what the benefit is of having the sail function in this way

    In a close reach (going against a crosswind), a sloop will apparently go faster STILL with the sail pointed straight forward than it will if you turn it the opposite way to let the sail catch a piece of it. This also does not make sense and is very counter-intuitive.

    I think it would be really cool if the entire way that sails and the wind interacted in this game was overhauled to function a little bit more like it does in real life. I had a heavier ship chase me all the way from the northwest to the northeast and take 20 chests and a Grade V emissary flag because I wasn't deep enough in the community and game to know to do the thing that makes the opposite of sense with an actual sail. I don't think that's optimal

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  • Kerrs Holley
    Ship Mate
    Insider

    @zavon5159

    You do make some interesting points, however, I think the purpose of having your sails set in the neutral position is to make it easier for certain folks to sail. Newbies mostly. Remember there are little kids who play the game and might not even be aware the wind affects their sails or that they can be changed. So these "dummy" sails, as I heard them being called does serve this purpose and ensures the younger SoT population can still sail at an adequate pace, even without messing with the rigging. Unless I've heard wrong, that seems to be the purpose of this, so it might be hard to have the wind mechanics changed to imitate real life physics. At the end of the day its just a game that we enjoy greatly!

  • One Eyed Curly
    Master

    Yes, as a life long sailor, this aspect of the game has frustrated me since the start, when I tried to play the wind shifts and the angles a lot more, until I found out it was faster just to point the boat straight into the wind. Perhaps this was done to make the game more accessible to the general population, I don't know. Despite this, I still enjoy the game and and am able to use tactics like maintaining the weather gauge on other ships to my advantage, and if I'm after a more realistic sailing experience I can always play Virtual Regatta.

  • Little Squash
    Commander
    Insider

    @zavon5159 said in Fix Sail/Wind Physics in Headwind/Close reach (against crosswind):

    .....because I wasn't deep enough in the community and game to know to do the thing that makes the opposite of sense with an actual sail. I don't think that's optimal

    Experience is the advantage!

    Anyone playing this game has all of the same access to weapons and tools. It is the experience one has that ultimately provides the advantage in how to use the tools to win and survive.

    It is likely that this specific issue will not change as it is probably due to balancing the speeds of the ships combined with the physics of allowing ships to sail directly into a headwind.

    So consider yourself more experienced and use the knowledge to your advantage.

  • Prescafatty
    Commander
    Insider

    @zavon5159 I totally agree. Putting sails perpendicular to the wind makes zero sense. And it makes even less sense that I had to watch a bunch of Youtube videos to figure this out. I wish they would have the sails work in an intuitive manner.

    I don't buy the argument that Newbs are too stupid to ever move their sails. After all I was a Newb once, you were a Newb once, and we both assumed it would be fastest going into the wind close hauled.

    Would love to hear Rare's thinking on this one...

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