Regressions

[maturin]

As the game gets bigger and better, there will inevitably be certain features that get dropped or broken in the development process.

Below is my list of useful bits of the game that have disappeared or degraded.

• Move Transparent Sails toggle back to the main Escape menu. When we want to toggle the transparency of sails, we want to do it fast. This option is not useful when buried in the Graphics menu. The result is that no one ever uses non-transparent sails, even in non-combat, traveling situations. Less beauty in the game overall.
• Possibility to bind more than one key for the same function. All through Sea Trials I used both X and C to rotate aft yards to starboard. This is because the keyboard layout makes it very difficult to control aft yards while performing certain maneuvers. In the heat of battle I often miss the key, and find it much easier when both X and C do the same thing. (In general, keybinding flexibility is essential in a PC game. Reference ArmA's libertarian system of ctrl-clicks and double-taps.)
• Give merchant vessels their guns back. Trader's Snows have lost their stern chases, and stopped firing the upper deck guns that they do have. Capturing these valuable vessels used to be dangerous.
• New Course (square mainsail/foresail) model is less accurate than original. Late last year, the game's artists started using a new animation/model for square-rigged lower sails. Unfortunately, this new model is less accurate than the old course animation that the older vessels (Constitution, et al) have used since Focus Test days. See Belle Poule for an example of the flawed new version. Were ships to set their courses this way, they would be unable to sail upwind.

 

[admin]

 

As the game gets bigger and better, there will inevitably be certain features that get dropped or broken in the development process.

Below is my list of useful bits of the game that have disappeared or degraded.

 

• Possibility to bind more than one key for the same function. All through Sea Trials I used both X and C to rotate aft yards to starboard. This is because the keyboard layout makes it very difficult to control aft yards while performing certain maneuvers. In the heat of battle I often miss the key, and find it much easier when both X and C do the same thing. (In general, keybinding flexibility is essential in a PC game. Reference ArmA's libertarian system of ctrl-clicks and double-taps.)
• Give merchant vessels their guns back. Trader's Snows have lost their stern chases, and stopped firing the upper deck guns that they do have. Capturing these valuable vessels used to be dangerous.
• New Course (square mainsail/foresail) model is less accurate than original. Late last year, the game's artists started using a new animation/model for square-rigged lower sails. Unfortunately, this new model is less accurate than the old course animation that the older vessels (Constitution, et al) have used since Focus Test days. See Belle Poule for an example of the flawed new version. Were ships to set their courses this way, they would be unable to sail upwind.

 

 

1. This one might come back

2. Merchant guns are an oversight and will be fixed some day

3. New course - can you please post the screenshot of the difference?

[William the Drake]

2. Merchant guns are an oversight and will be fixed some day

 

Could it be possible that instead of having a trade variant ship that simply has its guns missing with empty gunports, that traders come with less guns, and thus fewer gunports? For example the base Lynx has 8 guns, and the trader variant will have 4? Some traders didn't have any type of armament yes, but others did come with a small compliment of guns.

• Variants and the Modular Ship

[maturin]

 

Could it be possible that instead of having a trade variant ship that simply has its guns missing with empty gunports, that traders come with less guns, and thus fewer gunports? For example the base Lynx has 8 guns, and the trader variant will have 4? Some traders didn't have any type of armament yes, but others did come with a small compliment of guns.

• Variants and the Modular Ship

 

Not to get too off-topic, but absolutely every trader ship should be able to carry some armament.

 

Basically you have two types of merchantmen:

• Warship-like vessel that carries cargo in space freed up by removing most guns/crew/ammo. Realistically you could convert warships into traders this way, and vice versa.
• Vessel with a hullform that prioritizes capacity over speed (especially close-hauled). This would make for a slow, permanently civilian ship. Perhaps with a built-in module for less speed but more capacity than type #1 above.

[maturin]

3. New course - can you please post the screenshot of the difference?

Here are some screens: http://imgur.com/a/C4erR

 

Just to reiterate, this new model is worse than the one that came before it. It would be best just to delete the new one, and use the model that all the old Sea Trials ships had.

 

IIRC Belle Poule and some others have the new model, not just Pickle.