maturin

The mortar brig is already in the game. It was just removed temporarily because the aiming mechanics were OP.

I don't imagine they could do that very effectively. And if they could, heel is far from constant anyhow. It will change in every gust and lull. A tilted barrel would really throw off the rudimentary sighting method. Luckily most ships with chasers were pretty stiff.

The Obusier was far inferior to the carronade, even without the defective explosive shot.

AFAIK you can change factions now, because XP is attached to your Steam account. Most popular factions in order are: Britain, Pirates, U.S.

Absolutely. There are plenty of free towns that you can visit, and pirates have the widest-possible selection of NPCs to fight. You may find crafting resources to be expensive, however.

Dude, you can't take ten ports in one day (which you have no need of and give the lie to your earlier excuses for conquest) and then act all nice and friendly at the same time. This is not a highly sophisticated diplomatic concept. A blitzkrieg invasion is prefaced by a demand for surrender, not an offer to negotiate a settlement. No matter how politely worded. If you want negotiate--especially if the precise negotiating partner is not obvious--you need to STOP taking ports for a moment. Negotiations only take place during a ceasefire. Meanwhile, the U.S. needs to take the rational steps of shoring up its defenses against the Brits and pirates. No one in Spain gives a shit about your words, only your actions. Those actions are steamrolling Mexico while the British build a base to cut off your new holdings. Outside the echo chamber of U.S. magnanimity (always hazy and dubious in the telling of its origins), the de-facto operations of the U.S. are obviously centered on destroying Spain to the detriment of confronting the powerhouses of Pirates and Britain. And no one has the foggiest idea about what some guy from RAE said to some guy from the U.S. months ago in Florida. RAE obviously isn't the mouthpiece of the Spanish nation anymore, and all this 'he-said she-said' is ancient history. Accusing the Spanish of declaring war is pretty dodgy as well. Really? The U.S. never took a single Florida port until someone from RAE was mean? The U.S. is full of RP-minded people, so why are they waging a Total War? In the politics of the time, a dispute over Florida would lead to just that, a local war for Florida. Edit: I'm not blaming you for your negotiation tactics, I'm just informing you of the logical consequence of those efforts. They involve holding your victim down and bludgeoning them while covering your eyes with one hand and melodramatically calling out, "Oh Lord, look what they are making me do to them!"

It's the fog that comes along with the rain that really affects visibility.

Getting rid of the NPCs would be a start.

Constitution is faster.

Americans didn't want to negotiate at the Alamo either. I can make cheapshots too. Which is why the U.S. negotiating position is less secure than you think. Sooner or later Spain will get organized, and you will lose your new ports in Mexico, as the pirates or British close in. The stubborn Spanish know this. Your only option for long-term defense of your territorial gluttony in Mexico is to totally extirpate Spain as a nation there, leaving it with Panama and Habana. That will earn you everlasting hatred, including after the port wipe. If the U.S. was smart, it would start cooperating with Spain in anticipation of joint port access. Spain has learned its lesson that the US would be a better ally than Britain because northern Cuba is more important than southern Cuba, and Hispaniola is more important than Florida.

Constitution historically cost drastically more than a Third Rate. Accordingly it is entirely appropriate that she be given only to captains who would otherwise be entrusted with a ship of the line. She should not be just another step on the ladder. It is perfect the way it is now. The problem will arise once we get Fourth Rates. If the ranks jump from 350 to 650, no one will ever use them.

Localization is a labor-intensive coding challenge. The devs appear to be saving it for last on a long list of pre-release tasks. Would you rather have additional languages now, or land in port battles, better forts, more ships and production buildings? The Russian community seems to be doing alright, despite their different alphabet and drastically lower proportion of English-speakers.

Theoretically you should end up with no rudder and no guns when you're done 'tanking,' and the enemy gets an easy capture. But to accomplish this, there has to be some automatic gun loss when shooting at a 'destroyed' stern, and perhaps some special sort of crew shock. Most of all, if the darn mast hitboxes would extend to the waterline like I ask for every week, you would be dismasted.

Fast teleports of player between outposts? Sign me up! Teleports of ship should go to 24 hours, and have a 50% tax on cargo.

I don't think it's necessarily the most accurate painting. But in that chase the Americans started kedging first.

You already get leaks that way. Leaks from low bow planking are severe enough to force Survival mode from time to time. But if you can sink a ship just by shooting its stern windows, that's really freaking stupid. Cutter sinks Santi every time.

I bet 20 SoLs can destroy 5 towers before being sunk themselves, no matter the size of the defending fleet. Just because there are towers doesn't mean PBs should turn into literal Tower Defense.

Neat idea. I can't stand the though of being locked out of Surprise and Renommee for want of only 40 men.

I think it's ridiculous that we get all this technology for free. We should start in the dark ages and have to grind up from small reed boats and canoes, then discover the New World like Columbus. Game is set in Caribbean. Caribbean has forts.

Land would be a gamechanger for the anti-fort tactics. Imagine if there was a powerful fort placed 200 yards inland on a bluff. You would be incapable of hiding under its guns.

Not if vertical accuracy was tied to heel angle. pewpewpewpew *whiff*

It's not the admiralty's call. Only the king can grant pardons.

Wiiiiiiind strength as a feeeeeeature.... No one heels much if the wind is light enough to set royals and topgallant staysails.

Only for long guns.

I don't want ships to sink just because they lost stern planking. But it's time to buff gun loss when hit through zero-planking arcs again. And I mean automatic gun loss, not hitbox dependent. As for bow tanking, it would help if collision and bow leaks were sometimes irreparable, with crew only able to diminish the flow of incoming water. This makes sense for large areas damaged by collisions, and for shot-holes in the complex bow timbers.