Baggywrinkle Posted January 26, 2014 Posted January 26, 2014 Afternoon all, Just wondering if there are any real-world sailors out there, along with all you PotBS skippers! Thought it might be nice to have a place where we can chat boats, boating from hints/tips on sail trim to pilotage for various areas - all that sort of guff. So, who are ya?! Where are your home waters, favourite rigs, favourite trips and harbours? Looking forward to hearing it all. Baggy ps. For my part I've been sailing on wooden, traditional and out-right historic vessels all my actual and professional life. The Western Approaches are my back yard, no finer rig than a gaff ketch. That said, a good old proportion of my miles are deep sea and square rig. 1
admin Posted January 26, 2014 Posted January 26, 2014 I am getting my skipper's license this summer. Has been delaying it last 5 years but now its finally time. Will also make it mandatory for high level Naval Action developers to get the sailing course done. 1
Baggywrinkle Posted January 26, 2014 Author Posted January 26, 2014 Hahaha, fantastic news! Do you find the experience of the real thing helpful in developing this game, or is there not really all that much crossover between the two? Baggy
masterofn0ne Posted January 26, 2014 Posted January 26, 2014 My hope is that there is a lot of crossover. I know there is a large debate about the "simulation vs. arcade" nature of this game, but i think there should be ways to accomodate both, with realistic sailing that doesnt require a non-sailor to learn how to sail a square-rigger (I myself have been sailing most of my life, but have never set foot on the deck of a square-rigged ship). 1
Baggywrinkle Posted January 26, 2014 Author Posted January 26, 2014 I hope so too! I'm dead keen for a realistic/historical focus in NA, but I don't think it's necessarily difficult to maintain that without an awful learning curve. Mostly because sailing is fundamentally easy, and because what you as captain actually do is hands off. I appreciate the WASD control system mentioned elswhere, but really the point-and-click of E:TW is maybe closer to a captain's experience. But that balance of standard control mechanics with a bit of good sail-management should keep things fun for the lubbers and fun for the salts Baggy
masterofn0ne Posted January 27, 2014 Posted January 27, 2014 I appreciate the WASD control system mentioned elswhere, but really the point-and-click of E:TW is maybe closer to a captain's experience. why not both WASD and point-and-click? zoom out and the captain can tell the helmsman/master to go "there", and they will navigate as best they can, but the captain should be able to take over the helm when he feels it is necessary (navigating tricky passages, for example). same with gunnery, no?
Johny Reb Posted January 27, 2014 Posted January 27, 2014 I like the idea of jpoint and click or rather setting a course for the ship to sail but only on the O.S. It would make the longer sails that some of us have been arguing for less painful for all. Plot a course to avoid dangerous areas shoals and to grab current then head to your Captains cabin(your kitchen) or the Head(your bathroom) get a coffee and take a bio and come back to your PC with confidence that your crew and sailing master has kept course. 1
Baggywrinkle Posted January 27, 2014 Author Posted January 27, 2014 If NA is going to have a large 'open sea' arena a la PotBS, Silent Hunter etc then I think it's important your sailing master is a switched on gent - if wind shifts etc are modelled in the open sea then the (initial?) map of the English Channel will suddenly seem very cramped indeed! In a bid to keep this thread with one foot in real world sailing, I can vouch that it's not all that much fun (in the conventional sense!) coming on watch to find that the wind has veered into the north, that the vicious coast of Northern Brittany has appeared to leeward and you've got a couple knots of tide setting you back. There's a reason why the best sailors in the world came from this area! The related question for the game is whether to include all this stuff to make 'just' hauling/eco/getting from A to B/blockading/you name it a genuine achievement of navigation and seamanship or not, and how to maintain a useful autopilot system to avoid micromanagement for those who don't want it or who have to go AFK without leaving those sat at their computers for the duration of a lengthy voyage bored. God, this is such a cool area to be developing a game in! So many interesting facets Baggy
:Morrrrice Posted January 28, 2014 Posted January 28, 2014 Hello all! I am brand new to this site, and am still figuring out what it encompasses and what it offers. Looks awesome, and I look forward to participating in the very steep learning curve. Baggy, I am currently living on a 37 foot Endeavour sailboat, and have been for the last seven years. Currently, I am slipped in Marathon, Florida, (the Keys). I would be very happy to share experiences and adventures, and there are many of both, as well as funny. Bob, S/V 'No Agenda'
Thomas Blackwell Posted January 28, 2014 Posted January 28, 2014 Personally, I grew up on the ocean. My parents took me out boating for my first time at nine weeks old. That said, I have never been sailing, only ever powerboating. I have often thought about taking lessons, as sailing has been a dream of mine for a long time, and is often the focal point of many of my written pieces.
Baggywrinkle Posted January 29, 2014 Author Posted January 29, 2014 Hi Bob, welcome! I've only been here a short while myself, but thought I'd make a bit of a noise and fuss straight off rather than my usual lurking - I've got too many thoughts about this game to keep quiet! Just had a quick google of Endeavour 37s - they look like good boats, and that's a good name Have a 37fter myself, over spars, a wooden bermudan cutter, 60 years old this year - less than half the age of the boat I last worked on so a baby really! Not much time for her though sadly, and holding out for the right kind of buyer for her. Yeah, I like how many of the stories are funny...especially when a little time has passed since the actual event! And that's a gorgeous bit of coastline you've got up there Theo, absolutely stunning. Hoping to winter up around Vancouver in a couple years' time. I'm obviously a little biased, but I really do think sailing is fantastic. All the great things about being on the water on a power boat but clarified and intensified. Just nothing like it Of course the flip side is that the bad days are thoroughly shite What sort of things do you write? Baggy
Bobbydylan Posted January 29, 2014 Posted January 29, 2014 I like the idea of jpoint and click or rather setting a course for the ship to sail but only on the O.S. It would make the longer sails that some of us have been arguing for less painful for all. Plot a course to avoid dangerous areas shoals and to grab current then head to your Captains cabin(your kitchen) or the Head(your bathroom) get a coffee and take a bio and come back to your PC with confidence that your crew and sailing master has kept course. Ironically, this is exactly what I don't want. If this is case, why not include Mobile support, so I can que up instruction so I can "play" from my Ipad. No, I'd rather the sailing be an element of game-play. Even if it's nothing more than dodging storms.
maturin Posted January 29, 2014 Posted January 29, 2014 I'd like to see time-compressed fast travel, like a map in an Indian Jones movie, where you make periodic adjustments when the game alerts you to wind changes, worsening weather, spotted sails, etc. Edit: Oops, off-topic. Very much not a skilled sailor here, and as for traditional vessels, except for the 'yawldory' my dad built, the HMS Surprise simulator is just about it. Has anyone figured this bad boy out yet? I can finally sail to windward and everything, but with your only indication being numbers, I always get the strangest outcomes, with Rotational Thrust balanced to port but the ship still flying up staboard into the wind, or zero Heeling Thrust and no sail set, yet the ship still rolls through a full 100 degrees, probably capsizing (the rolling seems sort of glitched, or am I wrong?). Also, never hit more than 7 knots.
Rudi Starnberg Posted February 7, 2014 Posted February 7, 2014 Well, having some canvas out actualy stabilises a ship in certain conditions. If you are sitting with no canvas out with a heavy swell and parallel to the waves, the ship will roll extremely badly, maybe even enough to damage the masts, as the angular momentum experinced by the tip of a mst in a ship rolling 40 degrees is immense. This is why getting stuck in the doldrums was such a danger to sailing vessels. If there is even a bit of wind and you make some sail, the wind pressing on the sails and being counteracted by the ballast and keel will tend to hold the ship at a constant angle as the forces find an equilibrum, even if if the swell would otherwise cause her to roll her masts out. E: I haven't actualy tried the suprise simulator, so it could just be a bug or something, but it is entirely possible for a ship with no sails set to capsize in the right conditions. Infact, a vessel capsizing very rarely has much to do with sails, if you try to apply suficent force to a ships's mast to make it capsize you will usualy just snap the masts off instead. When a ship capsized it was ussualy because a wave broke over the side of a ship, and applying a few hundred tons of water to one side of the deck and not the other causes her to roll.
maturin Posted February 8, 2014 Posted February 8, 2014 I don't think sea state is actually simulated, though, or there would be a stat for swell height. And it doesn't seem possible for a square rigger to roll 40 to windward with too much sail set.
DakotaW Posted February 8, 2014 Posted February 8, 2014 Hey guys my first post! Yay! I am super interested in this game. Ive been looking for a sailing based naval game for forever. So far Assassins Creed has been the closest thing I've found, however being a sailor here on the Pacific side of the US things like being able to go any direction, fly full sails during a storm, or even simple things like the sails always loose and flapping bugged me. I personally would love to see this stick closer to the simulator side. However, I understand that for many having to learn how to sail before being able to effectively play could be a turn off. That's why a system similar to a game called War Thunder would be perfect. It turns down some of the realism and adds some assists to the newer players, while those with experience can get a near simulator like game. Either way im glad i found this, and i will surely being keeping a close eye on it.
Thomas Blackwell Posted February 8, 2014 Posted February 8, 2014 Hey guys my first post! Yay! I am super interested in this game. Ive been looking for a sailing based naval game for forever. So far Assassins Creed has been the closest thing I've found, however being a sailor here on the Pacific side of the US things like being able to go any direction, fly full sails during a storm, or even simple things like the sails always loose and flapping bugged me. I personally would love to see this stick closer to the simulator side. However, I understand that for many having to learn how to sail before being able to effectively play could be a turn off. That's why a system similar to a game called War Thunder would be perfect. It turns down some of the realism and adds some assists to the newer players, while those with experience can get a near simulator like game. Either way im glad i found this, and i will surely being keeping a close eye on it.I have a friend who plays Warthunder with me, and as a pilot some of the stuff you can do in that game makes him a sad panda. I spent about two hours in the realistic training room just trying to get off the runway...... One day I'll manage it. I have to agree with what your saying. Sacrificing some of the reality for idiots like me doesn't mean it can't still be a great game.
stoney67 Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 I now sail a Siren 17. Mostly at Eagle Creek reservoir. I built a Stephenson Weekender some years back and loved it. At 21 ft. loa, she had a gaff rig, wheel steering, a self tending jib and a small cabin. Unfortunately I had to sell her when my daughters tuition came due. I still wonder where she is now and do the owners appreciate her the way I did.
Ryan21 Posted February 19, 2014 Posted February 19, 2014 Hello there. I have spent the last year and more of my life sailing full time on mostly the Brigs Lady Washington and Niagara, as well as a couple months sailing and maintenance on the topsail schooner pacific Swift. Becoming a square rigger captain is my before age 30 goal and sailing these ships is the great passion of my life. Please ask questions I have lots of stories.my youtube page is here for those interested..www.youtube.com/user/tallshipspacific
Barberouge Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 Hey there ! I've been sailing and fishing since I was 4. The area is around the Brittany coasts, with St Quai Portrieux as home port. The ships were 6 to 8m recreational monohulls named 'Farain' ('Periwinkle' in dialect), 'Barbiturix' (obviously) and 'Dre An Avel' ('Small Gust' in Breton) - just for the record. My father used to "smuggle" from the tax-free British islands of Jersey and Guernsey Also I've been studying merchant navy in Le Havre, went on the Bourbon sea-going salvage tug Merou (we helped the Navy finding dead whales and making them explode to clear the boating ways ), but didn't make my job of it. I enjoy going to the old tall ships festivals 'Tonnerres de Brest' and 'Armada de Rouen', but never sailed those kinds of ships.
Doogerie Posted April 20, 2015 Posted April 20, 2015 Has anyone on here really been sailing? I have I went on the classic Malts in 08 and learn t that I hate whisky and dis like singe hulled racing boats I was perpetyly cold and wet but Scotland is butifull . I have also done a bit in the med that was much more fun we did a nightvsailnfrom Palma to Ibiza and then to Andrax that was a lot of fun . Also my Mum and dad run Neptune Navigation and that's for the pleasure sailing market and they do The Southapton Boat show every year (that would be a good place to promote Naval Action) so that's my connection to the sea . So as as said at the top any of you guys sail? 1
Henry d'Esterre Darby Posted April 20, 2015 Posted April 20, 2015 I grew up recreationally sailing my family's 25' Catalina (similar to the picture, I don't have an image of ours at hand): We used to cruise the coast of the Gulf of Mexico for a couple of weeks every year, as well as race in our club's regatta. I've also sailed 16' Hobiecats, Lasers, and Sabots, including almost making it into the final bracket at the club's bi-annual match race. I think of everything I've sailed, the Laser in the most fun. Being on the bleeding edge of capsizing, fighting the wind, boat and rig tooth and nail while fully hiked out over the water is a real blast. Me sailing a Laser: Me failing to have properly managed my Laser during an extremely gusty day (for the record, I walked the side perfectly and didn't get a single drop of water on myself, both during the roll and during recovering the boat back to upright): 1
DeRuyter Posted April 20, 2015 Posted April 20, 2015 Well Doogerie it sounds like you have a good connection to the sea! I used to crew on the tall ship Kalmar Nyckel (featured in the replica ship thread). I have sailed on a variety of lake and inshore dinghies; Thistles, Flying Scots, Hobie cats, Lasers, etc. I use to race Thistles for a sailing club on the Delaware river. I have done some sailing in the BVI off Tortola as well, soon to be part of the OW!
Doogerie Posted April 20, 2015 Posted April 20, 2015 That's cool guys I think my connection to this world is why this game interests me.
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