Whales in the game

I suggested this to rare on launch day.

Doesnt seem to be any achknowledgement of the suggestions we put forward atm :/

Apart from the connection issue which they had to sort

Whales to look at, or dolphins, maybe kill sharks that are attacking us, groovy. Whales to hunt...that sounds very um.... controversial.

I agree, we should have a sea monster faction, but they should be mythical creatures. Plenty of non controversial stuff we can go kill, no need to wipe out Willy and his family.

Or Moby D**k but I mean, cmon. Who wouldn't try and kill Moby D**k. Call me Ishmael!

Well, I dated a few whales in highschool... I could call them and see if they play Xboxlive games. They could be found in game that way?

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Just kidding.

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Actually, whales, dolphins, manatee, and albatross' I feel there's room for a wide variety of sea and avian life in the game.

Doubt much of it will ever appear.

But hey, they should be!

@fancypantzmcgee I find it a bit funny that hunting whales is seen as controversial in a fantasy pirate game, when whaling was actually a common thing to occur during the golden age of Pirates. Just saying, that's kinda funny. You can't look at this game through the lens of the modern world, it just doesn't work. It's like playing Kingdom Come and getting mad there's only white people in the game, it misses the historical context.

Whaling would be acceptable in my head, as would just general fishing in the game. But yeah, just overall more marine life would be great to have. Even if it's non-interactive and just wanders about in the background, it would at least make the sea seem more alive.

@da-lootmasta said in Whales in the game:

@fancypantzmcgee I find it a bit funny that hunting whales is seen as controversial in a fantasy pirate game, when whaling was actually a common thing to occur during the golden age of Pirates. Just saying, that's kinda funny. You can't look at this game through the lens of the modern world, it just doesn't work. It's like playing Kingdom Come and getting mad there's only white people in the game, it misses the historical context.

Whaling would be acceptable in my head, as would just general fishing in the game. But yeah, just overall more marine life would be great to have. Even if it's non-interactive and just wanders about in the background, it would at least make the sea seem more alive.

I think the only thing keeping the whole whaling thing from happening is the style of the game. If you noticed besides the swords and gun fighting there really isn't anything like gore involved in the game. The act of whaling is a pretty bloody act and I don't know how they'd integrate it into the world and keep the no blood and guts theme going.

I think whales would be cool to add to the game as a sight seeing type thing and definitely add a Moby D**k type aggressive whale to the mix. It'd pretty much just be an over sized shark that could smash into your ship when you enter its territory.

@el-dunco Probably the same way they deal with players killing pigs and chickens: make them vanish after you kill/harvest them. Even sharks just kinda float for a bit until they hit the surface and vanish. This game's not realistic by a long shot, so no need for blood when whaling.

@da-lootmasta True but what would be the intent of whaling?

-Are we harvesting their blubber and selling it to the merchant alliance?
-How would that harvesting mechanic work?
-Do we hack at them and then carry a handful of blubber to a barrel?
-Do we just pick up chunks of whale?
-Or is this just lets kill some whales for the fun of it?

I'm not saying whaling is a bad idea. I'm just wondering what the point of it is in the game.

@el-dunco I would actually see it as a Merchant mission (or some version of a Fishing faction later on). Current thoughts on it are that instead of animal crates or baskets you get a harpoon gun and barrels. The harpoon gun works like a smaller player-movable Cannon (pick it up & put down like other items) but can only damage flesh (so enemy players as well if need be). Aim for the whale and fire, and then the crew have to hold on as the angry whale takes off. The goal is for the Harpooner to keep a solid anchor to the whale, so he'll likely have a mini-game-like activity where he'll try to reel the whale closer while fighting it's strength (maybe pull too hard too fast & rope breaks?). Others will have to shoot the whale itself as it's dragged towards the ship or repair the ship if it's dragged into rocks (a very real danger) or if it turns around and headbutts your boat (also a danger but less likely as the whale's more concerned with running than fighting). Once dead, it'll do a float animation like the dead shark and the players can reel in the body. Once it touches the ship it will vanish and a certain amount of the Whale Oil barrels will be filled, depending on the size of the whale.