Babbington

So... I backed the game in 2014 and made a few posts. But guess what: I have never got round to playing the game, not even once. Strange but true. Now it's out, alpha I think, and I'm just downloading from Steam. I hope it was worth the backing, and that you're all having a good time with the game. Later Edit: Awwww...someone stole my name in the game.

Have no fear; it seems extremely likely that it will be next week sometime, to me: I am so busy all through the week, that it's unlikely I'll even have the time to start Steam and download it.

Fair enough, Admin.

I don't doubt I'm in the right place with this game, Maturin. I discovered that old sim' poll thread, and was pleased to see how voting went and everyone's comments. I think it's all good, but don't think I can comment a lot more until I get to play about with the first offering I might see. The lack of leeway still makes me raise an eyebrow. It's going to be nice to play about in the Caribbean at Christmas, whilst the English weather scowls at me through the window. I'm down here on the south coast of England btw, opposite the Isle of Wight (my town is actually named after a lee shore!); I'll be looking forward to see how Game Labs deal with this part of the world.

Just noticed this thread, and I made my very late vote. It's good to see that this was considered and discussed at an earlier stage of development. I will say that the focus here has been on combat, and how desirable sailing simulation would be in that circumstance. Maybe the correct choice was made, with the vote confirming dev's judgement. But, it's been said that the final game is not going to be only about combat. Is it right to assume that if there's no combat going on, people are not going to want 'sailing simulation all the way' when they are simply sailing? I'm not sure it is.

Maturin, Yeah, 'ship Vs sailing simulator,' and 'ship' was what was used, I see what you mean. We're not helmsmen; yeah, again I see what you mean. The yard control you mention is nice, but I guess people will pick up on this quickly, and we'll (I'll) have to wait and see if the 'simulation' has enough to it to enable me to differentiate myself through its mastery. I'll try to be as active as I can and be of some use, to dev as well as players, in asking for player control rather than command; hardcore mode maybe. What you said earlier about mods and servers is interesting. OTMatt, This is the thing though: there's no way I'm going to be on my own here in believing that simply pointing, aiming, ranging and shooting the big guns is all there is to a sea battle. I know you are still going to need the spatial awareness to command your ship where it needs to be, but I would like to play a game where being able to sail it there, rather than simply command it there, was a requirement too. I also take your point about many players not wanting this; it seems to me that the folks currently in this community are going to be far more into the sailing than the final user base might be; perhaps Game Labs' idea of a target audience is more sensible than mine. That said though, this isn't only about combat: open world, exploration, and discovery have all been mentioned; it seems to me that people are going to want more than than an Assassins Creed level of simulation here. I too think Studding sails make a ship look fat, they also make them look damn intimidating, like a bird of prey preparing for the kill.

Yeah, when oldnavy77 did the maths, I thought that there was no way that the devs would not have realised and that they must be trying to hit the 21st. I know that nothing has been stated however.

Thank you both for the answers; they leave me a bit confused to be honest. I read, in another thread, this from Admin: "The systems, render technology and combat mechanics we are currently finishing will allow 3 products to be developed. 1. Hardcore single player ship simulator - with sail and yard trimming, individual sail control and deep crew management. 2. Session based fleet action a-la world of tanks or war thunder - we call it Faction Warfare or National fleet duty 3. Open world RPG with conquest, crafting, trading and pirates 2 and 3 can easily co-exist in one game and reinforce each other. " So number 1 suggests more to me. I had kind of assumed that any combat sim would necessarily include, at least, what I was asking about in my OP. To me the most significant factor in this kind of combat is manoeuvring anyway; how is one to differentiate oneself if not by the handling of the ship? If you choose to run from an engagement, it seems clear that you would need to be able to out-sail other vessels. I wanted to be able to sail closer to the wind, due to my trimming skill, and buy a ship with less leeway than my opponents so I could shave whatever headland to escape. I based another post on my assumption - hardly an assumption when it was stated though right - of this 'hardcore ship simulation,' but if you can't 'sail,' but rather just 'point' your ship... OK, I don't want to be the big whiner here; we shall see what we shall see.

Hi, I was wondering about the simulation: Is lee-way modelled at all; and will I be worrying about that lee-shore? If I'm running in a gale, will I need to reduce sail, will my spars be at risk, and is there a chance of broaching if I have a scrap on the mizzen? I guess I'm asking for any feedback about the simulation. Anything is welcome. Thanks and regards

The poor devs must be killing themselves to make that 21st deadline. Of course I hope they do, but all will depend on the winds and tides.

That's interesting: I thought I'd be in the minority when I voted for 5th rate. Hard choice to make btw; I very nearly went for sloops.

HMS Surprise! It keeps getting better. Nice video to get me excited