Boarding, Deck Guns and More...

[B4NGSPL4T]

Greetings,

So this is essentially a post suggesting changes to various aspects and mechanics of the game. Some of you won't agree with them, some of you will, but they are here for debate, improvement and hopefully development. You may have seen various suggestions posts of mine around the board, but here is the place for me to consolidate them.

Thank you, B00M.


Boarding:
COMING SOON - Lots to write here.


Swivel Guns:
The term swivel gun usually refers to a small cannon, mounted on a swivelling stand or fork which allows a very wide arc of movement.  Swivel guns were typically quiet small, measuring less on average about 1m long with a bore diameter ranging between 25mm to 75mm. They were used principally aboard sailing ships, serving as short-range anti-personnel ordnance. They were not ship-sinking weapons, due to their small calibre and short range, but could do considerable damage to anyone caught in their line of fire. They were were usually mounted on the upper decks of the ship at the rear (Poop & Quarterdeck) and at the front (Head & Forecastle) as well as in the Crows Nest.

In battle moving your mouse changes the direction of your view, I am proposing that the Swivel guns automatically aim where your view is focused. Depending on your view, certain guns will disable so as to not shoot your own crew. They would shoot with a single left click, and reload in 10-15 seconds. An option here would be to have your swivel guns set to automatic, where they will shoot at enemy ships if you are within a certain range. While they typically used grape shot, but also used single shot ammunition. Grape could potentially kill multiple enemies but suffers from lower accuracy, while single shot would kill one (maybe two if you were very lucky) at the cost of lower spread.


Boarding Prep:
Currently there is no way of knowing if an enemy ship is preparing for boarding other than if you hear the boarding signal (the whistle), or if you are acute enough to recognise a slower reload (which can also be cause by switching ammunition). The suggestion is to add a visual cue that not only shows that a ship is in boarding prep, but also how prepared they are. Initially I toyed with the idea of representing the boarding prep by having crew waving swords on the deck, however this would greatly increase the polycount thus reducing performance. A simple yet elegant solution to this would be to have a crew member (one on each side of the ship) climbing the rigging. The further up the rigging they are the higher the board preparation.

 

 

AI Boarding Prep:
It appears that the AI still have the "random boarding prep" feature. Continuing on from the boarding prep visual cues I suggest requiring the AI to build up boarding prep, just like players. It could be triggered depending on three conditions. One being if there is a player/s within a set range (500m), two being if said player/s have boarding prep themselves. The third condition is if the AI ship deems your ship a viable boarding target (ship/crew damage).


Interactive Grapple:
Currently the system works (well, sometimes...) that if you and your target are below 6 knots you are offered the option to press the key "G" to initiate a boarding grapple. I suggest removing this feature and changing it to a more interactive system. For a player to initiate a boarding grapple they will press the "G" key, this will toggle a grapple aim comprised of several lines; for this example say 6 at the front/back and 12 on the port/starboard. The player will have to aim to ensure at least half of these grapple lines hit the enemy ship for a successful grapple.

Not only will players have to manually aim their grapple lines, but they will have to guess the speed of the enemy ship. If the enemy ship is going too fast and a grapple attempt is made, the grapple cool-down will be invoked. The player might even perhaps lose a small amount of crew; crew being pulled overboard.


Contraband & Illegal Goods:
The latest patch has removed a considerable portion of trade ships in favour for combat ships. Obviously this is not accurate, as realistically there would be much more trade ships than combat ships, however for the sake of easier level progression (to counter the honour kills) it was necessary. However what this has done is removed a considerable amount of potential targets for those poor neutral players. While it does make sense to give the neutral players a little bit of a hard time, as they can enter most ports and are protected from all attacks other than pirates, this is probably a little bit too much.

Realistically, almost all ships carried cargo to some degree whether they were a nation owned war ship, privateer or a trading vessel. What may be considered "legal goods" for one nation may be considered "illegal" for others, It was also not unheard of captains carrying smuggled goods under the radar.


Ship Hold:
Currently the weight of materials and resources are not accurate. As an example, 5 tons of materials makes much more than 1 single gold coin. Second of all, a single gold coin does not weigh 670kg. Ships were generally built for purpose, however that did not mean that they were not re-fitted for purpose for particular voyages. It was not unheard of ships having their cannons removed to carry cargo, you may think that it wouldn't free up much space/weight but consider that ships not only carried the cannons on their deck but also replacements (usually anywhere between a quarter or half of the deck capacity).

Consider a 74, it carried 28 x 36 pound cannons on the lower deck, 30 x 24 pounds on the upper gun deck, as well as 18 x 12 pounders on the upper works. Then factor in the weight of gunpowder, cannonballs and all other cannon related resources you would free up about 500-600 tonnes. Now bear in mind that these ships could could carry a lot more weight, with the removal of cannons to make room for cargo you could probably expect to have a game hold size of at least 4,000.

Players should be able to remove cannons from their ships to transport large amounts of cargo, which of course comes with it's own risks due to not having cannons for protection (or perhaps just a limited amount). This would require the need for individual cannon fitting (You would need to buy 28 cannons to fill 28 slots and so on), it could also bring in the addition of treading cannons as a sub-resource. Cannons could be treated as perishable due to damage in battle. If you carried additional cannons in your hold they could be replace by going in to "survival mode". In port the repair function would re-fit the ship with cannons to fully fit the ship (but not spares).


Fleet:
Some people hate them, some people love them; However fleets are an invaluable tool when attacking multiple ships by yourself. Fleets need to desperately be expanded, the addition of trader ships would be the most logical, allowing players to load their fleet with goods and carry them en convey. It would also make sense for the fleet ships to be expanded, allowing players of a higher rank to hire larger ships. While it is important to ensure the fleet option does not become overpowered, expanding the fleet options to include Frigate (including the Belle Poule) and all the ships below would be appropriate.


Automatic Surrendering:
It does not make sense for a ship that has lost the majority of its crew to carry on fighting. If you are in a 3rd rate ship with 757 crew and in battle and 600 crew have been slaughtered... Realistically you are going to surrender. I propose that if your crew falls below a certain amount (15% for example) you will automatically surrender.


De-masting:

Currently de-masting only effects the mobility of the ship, however look at this realistically. Imagine yourself on a ship in battle, the enemy lets off a roaring barrage of cannon, cannonballs smashing through the ship maiming fellow crew as they crash through the ship. A stray cannonball hits the centre mast, tearing off a chunk as it bounces off, only to be shadowed by another ball of iron. A crack, a thud, a creak... and slowly the mast splashes down in to murky turquoise waters below. Slowly sinking under the weight of the water dredged sails, and along with it any hopes of survival.

I propose that with every mast down, a chunk of crew moral goes with it. A de-masted ship is a ship that is close to surrender, the crews moral is shattered and thoughts of jumping ship are a plenty.

Edited November 24, 2015 by B4NGSPL4T

[Malachi]

This would require the need for individual cannon fitting (You would need to buy 28 cannons to fill 28 slots and so on), it could also bring in the addition of treading cannons as a sub-resource.

 

 

Not necessarily. When SoLs and frigates were armed en flûte, the cannons usually replaced the iron ballast. So you´d need to buy new ballast, not cannons, if you rearm your ship.

[B4NGSPL4T]

Not necessarily. When SoLs and frigates were armed en flûte, the cannons usually replaced the iron ballast. So you´d need to buy new ballast, not cannons, if you rearm your ship.

 

Ahh, that makes sense. So they would replace the ballast with cannons, so when they reached their point of arrival they can re-arm the ship and source new ballast.

Edited November 6, 2015 by B4NGSPL4T

[B4NGSPL4T]

Updated.

[B4NGSPL4T]

Updated.