Naval Acton looks too pristine!

[Eldberg]

Greetings,

This is a bit of an odd suggestion/complaint, but it is something that can be very quickly adjusted with very little effort.

In my opinion, the games textures are just too clean. It needs a bit of dirt, a bit of grime, a bit of character. When creating 3D assets the question any good 3D modeller needs to ask himself/herself is "What is the story behind this asset?". The dents, the scratches, the dirt, the rust, the grime... It all tells a story. If you take almost any object in reality it has a story. From a computer desk with a corner chipped off, to an oil barrel with a dented side and scuff marks where it has been rolled.

Naval Action's textures are so clean, there is no character to them. The planking on the sides of ships would have variation in colour, cause by anything from bleaching (from the sun), variation in colour of the wooden planks, dirt, decay, damage etc. Imagine, a plank is blown loose in combat. Later it is replaced with a fresh plank, one that has not been painted multiple times before, the paint would be fresher, thus a slightly different colour. The sails may have patches on them, discolouration from where they were stored and folded, dirt built up from cresting waves. The decks would be worn from constant use, the ropes partially fraying from where they have been rubbing, the anchors dented from where they have snagged on rocks and dug in. Every single little thing adds variation, every single little thing adds a little piece to the story, every little thing add's character.

Heck, just grabbing a grunge brush with a dark brown and low opacity and slapping it on top of the already created texture in select parts would be a huge difference. However realistically the textures need to be created from scratch with the character mentioned above.

Regards, Stephen Decatur

[Eldberg]

Forgive the fact that this model is almost quad-ripple the polycount of those in Naval Action, but the textures show exactly what I am talking about. With maintenance the effects would not be so profound, so maybe this is an extreme example but you get the point.

 

 

[Niels Terkildsen]

For pirates, perhaps. For ships of national navies, not really.

 

PS. though I'd agree if what you meant was that each ship should be more unique - perhaps they should look slightly different depending on the modules/upgrades installed.

Edited April 2, 2016 by Niels Terkildsen

[Precious Roy]

Please no barnacles

[Eldberg]

For pirates, perhaps. For ships of national navies, not really.

 

PS. though I'd agree if what you meant was that each ship should be more unique - perhaps they should look slightly different depending on the modules/upgrades installed.

Even enlisted navy ships faced wear and tear. Maintenance on the open ocean was a constant job, but they did not paint the ship every day, or even every week. 

[MikedaBike]

I agree with the OP a little character would not go amiss, a little discolouration here, a scratch or two where a French trader with half his wine load in his belly rubbed down the side of your ship that night in Freeport. It is the little things that make the difference. In fact going along with his everything has a story routine, how about your ship can collect scars after an epic battle? Maybe sink 3 pvp in the same battle and you get a scar across one side, or a mast gets a bruised area. Something that you can look at and remember the battle.... who knows it may even encourage more pvp, collect your battle woulds to prove your a real captain...?

[sacapus]

I'l personnaly liked it.

 

Great pictures too. Wear and Tear will add to the realism level.

Also customized and personalized equipment on ship, silver or gold color guns...

[OTMatt]

I think its a cool little touch for immersion. But every time some game adds worn out textures its usually overdone.

 

Still I have faith the devs can find the right balance.

[Jesters-Ink]

Perhaps purchasable skins with different levels of weathering and/or colours?

Edited April 3, 2016 by Jesters-Ink

[Eldberg]

Well, they have the "Days at Sea" function. Start the opacity of the dirt/wear and tear overlay texture at 0%, for every day at sea, your ships condition slowly deteriorates.

[Destraex]

I think ships should look pristine new and weather the longer they are in operation without paying for cleaning barnicles and paint for repainting etc.

[Francis Tabernac]

I like the idea in general - yes, Navy ships would be well-maintained daily but there's only so much that can be done - but the idea of weathering slowly increasing with the 'days at sea' function is what I like most. Just a nice little cosmetic addition.

[Cragger]

For pirates, perhaps. For ships of national navies, not really.

 

PS. though I'd agree if what you meant was that each ship should be more unique - perhaps they should look slightly different depending on the modules/upgrades installed.

 

If you think naval warships don't show signs of weathering then I invite you to check out the national archives. Well cared for museum and attraction ships like U.S.S. Constitution, H.M.S. Victory, Niagara, Rose II are not indicative of real warships in service. Only ones right after a fresh refit

[Niels Terkildsen]

Sure, I was just put off by the 'swashbuckling' pictures of a poorly maintained whatever-that-is. I actually think it would be interesting to link a slight weathering with the "days at sea" indicator, just don't exaggerate it.

[admin]

Captains took good care of their ships. 

Before Trafalgar - ships were freshly painted and it was done very often.

Every painting of large battles from that time show ships in an excellent state. None of them looked like they were just raised from the bottom of the sea.

[Jesters-Ink]

Captains took good care of their ships. 

Before Trafalgar - ships were freshly painted and it was done very often.

Every painting of large battles from that time show ships in an excellent state. None of them looked like they were just raised from the bottom of the sea.

 

Got to pick you up on this, artist used a lot of liberties back in those days, shame photography wasn't around (1800s), I bet it would have shown a very different side.

The only chance  an "artist" would have had of seeing said ships back then would have been in port (more than likely freshly painted).

Captains did have decks swabbed regularly but I cant see much being provisioned for "paint" at sea, "oh Roger, get yourself over the side with a line and paint the sides dear chap, the ship is looking a bit dirty". Yeah ok.

 

We have had the very same conversation about WWI WWII aircraft skins, people saying they were kept very clean and tidy, you should see how much oil and filth those engines kick out after just 20 minutes worth of flight and yes I know its apples and pairs, but these ships were at sea for months, not minutes .

 

Its the DEVs call, but personally, I was thinking the very same thing the other day whilst on a long trip over to the other side of the map.

This ship would be a bit of a filth pit after that long at sea. The elements have a very forceful way of imposing on all things.

 

I would love to see it in game, would it break the game, nah.

Edited April 4, 2016 by Jesters-Ink

[Niels Terkildsen]

Quotes of a couple of passages from "The Far Side of the World" (the tenth book of the Aubrey-Maturin series which I just finished) that came to mind:

 

"Jack was not one of the modern spit-and-polish captains whose idea of a crack ships was one that could shift the topmasts five seconds quicker than the others in the harbour, in which great quantities of brass outshone the sun at all times and in all weathers, in which the young gentlemen wore tight white breeches, cocked hats and Hessian boots with gilt twist edging and a gold tassel, singularly well adapted for reefing topsails, and in which the round-shot in the racks and garlands was carefully blacked while the naturally black hoops of the mess-kids was sanded to a silvery whiteness. But he did like what little naked brass the Surprise possessed to gleam and her paintwork to look tolerably neat; his first lieutenant liked it even more, and curiously enough the men who had to do all the work thoroughly agreed with them. It was what they were used to, and they prized what they were used to, even if it called for starting the day with sand and holystones on the wet deck long before sunrise and even longer before breakfast, even if it called for painting exposed parts of the ship while she swooped and plunged, flanking across the Atlantic swell with four men at the wheel and most of the watch standing by to let all go with a run: not that this happened often, since in general the winds were no kinder to her than they had been in the early part of the voyage..."

 

 

"The rising sun proved that he was right: it showed a line of figures leaning along the stranger's rail in easy attitudes, some with moustaches, some smoking cigars. The United States Navy, though easy-going and even at times verging upon the democratic, never went to such extremes as this; and indeed the chase turned out to be the Estrella Polar, a Spanish merchantman from Lima for the River Plate and Old Spain..."

Edited April 4, 2016 by Niels Terkildsen

[Jesters-Ink]

Last book of any interest I read was Trafalgar by Roy Adkins.

 

A very interesting biographical account from many points of view and well worth your time if you are interested in this sort of thing.

[WhoopAss_McGue]

Dirtier ships could look nice and improve the look of the game, but the current textures are already excellent and I think it would be a shame to have them completely redone.

Edited April 5, 2016 by WhoopAss_McGue

[maturin]

Not that much dirt to be found at sea, mate.

 

 

Decks were hollystoned daily, and not painted. Ships also carried paint on board.

The best candidate for visual wear and tear would be tar-stained sails: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Brig_Niagara_full_sail.jpg

The other big one is weed growth on the hull, especially for uncoppered ships. 

This kind of stuff could all be handled with texture decals and overlays.

[Eldberg]

Captains took good care of their ships. 

Before Trafalgar - ships were freshly painted and it was done very often.

Every painting of large battles from that time show ships in an excellent state. None of them looked like they were just raised from the bottom of the sea.

There are some captains that indeed kept their ships in tip top condition. They flogged their crew for bad presentation, painted, polished and scrubbed every square inch of the ship. Realistically though, not so much. With the average ship maintenance, there would still be signs of ware.

Paintings would not be a true representation of the ships, it would not allow for small micro details such as ware and tear unless the artist truly spent an age doing so.

[Snoopy]

Unless they had been riding out a storm I would imagine that even the most decrepit coffin ship would've gotten a generous splash of paint before showing up for a large battle.

These ships were symbols of their nation at sea.

I am also a huge fan of Naval Action's style of essentially making paintings of the time (for all their faults) come to life.

[maturin]

 

 

Paintings would not be a true representation of the ships, it would not allow for small micro details such as ware and tear unless the artist truly spent an age doing so.

From where I'm sitting, most paintings are 'higher res' than the game's models. Artists actually had an age to 'render,' and didn't worry about framerate.

 

 

Would be nice to see some texture decals, though. It's the sort of thing that could be handled by an equivalent of PotBS' user content system.

[Cragger]

Unless they had been riding out a storm I would imagine that even the most decrepit coffin ship would've gotten a generous splash of paint before showing up for a large battle.

These ships were symbols of their nation at sea.

I am also a huge fan of Naval Action's style of essentially making paintings of the time (for all their faults) come to life.

 

Not sure why you assume even the famous of Trafalgar was an arranged battle. Nelson's fleet was sorely in need of resupply and provisioning when Napoleon ordered the combined Spanish and French fleet to sea.  

[Cragger]

Captains took good care of their ships. 

Before Trafalgar - ships were freshly painted and it was done very often.

Every painting of large battles from that time show ships in an excellent state. None of them looked like they were just raised from the bottom of the sea.

 

Yes they were freshly painted... the Spanish and French ones that had been blockaded in harbor. The British ones that had been steadily dwindling as they were dispatched for provisioning not so much. Painting as to remove weather and expansion cracking required a dry scraped and sanded surface, warm days and not too much direct sunlight, and a supply of solvent. 

 

The last one returns hundreds of years later when the Kriegsmarine and the Panzer divisions turned to using water instead of gasoline and kerosene to mix their paint which didn't adhere well and thus looked faded to begin with. Latex paint that we are all familiar with didn't come into mainstream use until the 1960s.