Progressing Ship on Ship Combat

@derklotz2000

Thanks for the response. The entire point was definitely to increase the skill gap, right now the skill cap is very low. It doesn't take much effort for a competent crew to keep your ship from sinking. You can be hit with barrels and it's still no problem. The only time we have been sunk is when we learnt barrels explode on the inside when hit on the outside! For a game that is dedicated to having a level playing field, it certainly needs more skill involvement.

I hear you on the chase aspects, a crew does need to do all those things, and there isn't a thing on there I would disagree with, and already do, some chases have been successful with those things, others not. Currently the only way to get a fight, is either at a fort or if they want it. There needs to be more more ways to engage in both active offence and defence during a chase, increase ways to get someone off your tail and increase ways to actually be able to do something to your prey. Chase cannons bow + aft, are an actual thing. Currently barrels are the closest thing we have to engaging in this, and is awkward to throw over board without a person attached.

@zep-darkwater I need to think about what I am asking before I post? I clearly did that. Why don't you do the same, I am trying to engage a discussion on ways to progress ship on ship combat in a positive way, I clearly said that, all you gave is [generic insulting dismissal].

@crayonxbuk Love the idea about the cargo weighing you down, definitely does add something, can also negatively impact hunters if they are carrying stuff too.

@zep-darkwater No bother pal, just seemed like you were basically saying my post was pointless and you were just trash talking, glad to hear it was a misunderstanding.

I see what you are saying, but that's what I am trying to engage a discussion around, would love to hear what you feel breaks balance, as I have mentioned, as a game that focuses on skill and not a gear/level upgrade it has a fairly low skill cap, I would much rather improve on chances to prove skill and coordination over "I want cannons with +5 damage so I am better after X hours".

Go on steam / buy Naval Action / See how it works / Put everything into the game / Have a realistic game (maybe not fun in this game)

Still it's totally true that a lot of things could be done to improve the game without making everything a pain like turning much more effectively with sails (playing with the wind) and such things that would probably discourage a lot of players. As the game goal is to be fun and not a naval simulation.

Ships really need a front canon to hit sails. 1 canon on small ship and 2 on bigger one. With the ability to repair sails with a new ressource: "cloth" or something like that.
So you would be able to make a ship really slow, as canon balls bigger ship would have 3x more "cloth ressources" as their is 3 sails to repair.

The damage region would be interesting too if the firing system wasnt as it is right now. At least on PC (have no idea on Xbox) but you can shoot 1 canon ball every 1 or 2 sec. That's not even the time to repair a hole in your boat.
That's allready a broken feature as you can fire the exact same spot and the ennemy isn't able to repair their ship at all. So adding all those "damage region" would mean an entire rework on canon mechanism.
As the game was designed i think they want a "fun" game and not a "realistic" game so they only need to add something to break those 2 hours infinit chase.

I would love a more realistic game cause the overall feeling is great once you are on board, but a lot of people would probably not like it, as they enjoy the "quick / easy / fun" design.

• it's not "grapeshot", as grapeshot were made to damage the crew and not the sails. The real name is "chainshot"

@mishaxg Hyper realism isn't needed, I was just putting some ideas on increasing ship combat involvement which is more than just hoping they aren't very good at patching their ship.

I think you raise a fair point about the cannons, slow firing rate certainly would lead more towards requiring skill to make every shot count, which also favours being able to choose how to impact the other ship.

Thanks for the info on grapeshot, I thought it was primarily to shred sails, however according to wikipedia sail damage was definitely a secondary function of it.

First, it continued its role as an anti-personnel projectile. However, the effect was diminished due to a large portion of the crew being below decks and the addition of hammock netting in iron brackets intended to slow or stop smaller shot.[2] Second, the balls were cast large enough to cut rigging, destroy spars and blocks, and puncture multiple sails.[3][4]

I agree with most of the suggestion and would like to add one.

I think that ship fight between two crews with the same experience and same number of resources can drag on for too long because of the ability to completely repair a hole as good as if there were none.

The way I would see it is, once you pierce a hole in the hull, well you can patch it, but it will still be fragile. Meaning that if another shot lands next to the hole you just repaired, you would get two holes instead of only one. This would serve to accelerate combat that can drag infinitely otherwise.

You could compare it to the tabletop game "Flashpoint". A game where you save people in a building in flames. You cannot hope to beat the fire completely as it will keep coming back stronger and stronger. Your only objective is the keep it under control until you saved everybody.

So, in SOT, if you're hit, you can only hope to delay the inevitable and try to sink your ennemy before damage gets too extensive. You could patch up to keep water from flowing in, but the only way to really fix your hull would be to visit a shipwright at an outpost.

What do you guys think?

Honestly, I agree, something to make it require skill, but also make it more diverse as well.

I was talking to a friend, and we thought it would be cool if the ships were modular. By this I mean that you could have the sails be changed from square to triangular, giving less top speed but easier wind catch. Also mortar cannons, replace half you cannons for four cannons that shoot upwards, are mostly inaccurate, but if they hit devastate crew where they rarely hit.

I know the game is supposed to be horizontal progression, but there is no real "better equipment" in my examples as they have their own pros and cons, it's more of a personal preference per say, I could be wrong, but I am just throwing this idea out that we can incorporate more to what you have came up with.

Sorry this is probably a bit off topic but it kind of goes along with how modular the damage done to things seems to sound in your post so it just reminded me. ;)

@rakke83 Overall all canonballs damage everything it's just about the effectivness. I'm pretty sure a canonball shot, a chainshot or grapshot would have the same effect on a body, will destroy sails and destroy ot start to destroy a part of the boat. ^^"

Those ideas are good but the first step would be rate of fire + chainshot to stop those 2 hours chase. Last night we even chase a crew for 1 hour, they fight back, but at the end they decided to suicide at the map edge.
The only actual solution is someone climbing on the boat, stopping the boat so you can reach it. So if they only try to run away it's nearly impossible to catch someone.
Not talking about Sloop going quicker against the wind and Galions going quicker with the wind.

Still i would love a "bit" more realism to be honnest, even if the game isn't based on realism at all. Machingun canons should end. Canonballs should also be able to go threw one side to another of the boat.
For example: Hitting lower deck 1st time will result in 1 hole, hitting the same spot if a hole is still there will result in a 2nd hole at the opposite of the boat.
Accordingly water coming inside & reparation should have their mechanism changed. Longer reparation, water coming in slower and less water in the bucket.
Right now 1 bucket seems to take out half of the sea and that's a bit weird.

Naval only fights, with anyone climbing in the opponent ship results in no one able to win (when the crews aren't super bad). That definitely shouldn't be the case.

@spookyblackhole @mishaxg I love the idea both of you are suggesting here, some way to compound the damage on the hull after it has taken damage.

• Cannonballs can "pass through" existing holes
• Cannonballs also remove existing planks in a radius around the cannonball hit. If I understood that correctly, meaning the patches are fragile.

@rakke83

You understood correctly! :^)