Rethinking the Store model

[mjh623]

Been thinking about this for awhile, and it seems to me that when I pull into port to refit and re-supply, I aught to be going to the Shipyard for repairs, lumber and sailcloth. I should probably be seeing either the fort or the Harbor Master about munitions, and the Store for food and trade goods, as well as personal equipment. Is that possible to change in the game? I might even take a stab at learning these coding dark arts to get a sensible change like that into here.

 

[morgan terror]

think of it this way:

why would a shipyard be selling stuff so you can fix your ship yourself instead of them, which would yield them a bigger profit?

being able to buy everything at a single place makes the game much less tedious for the player. don't get me wrong, i like the realism of the idea, but it seems too impractical to work.

 

[mjh623]

I agree on the tedium point, sort of. But I'm not usually stopping at port without going to both the shipyard and the store anyway, even if it is just to see what new ships are in stock. Always keeping my eye out for a faster Schooner, ya know. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="icon_wink.gif" /> As for the shipyard selling the supplies, I beg to differ. Many of the materials I buy to build boats today come from boatyards with chandleries. The Harbor Master would be accurate for these materials with regards to military ships, but less so with traders and privateers. As for the Fort for munitions, that would add a little tedium, but it would also add a new element to take into consideration. Gunpowder becomes a more significant commodity when your access to it is limited by your reputation and status with the supplier, along with what you can scavenge from your conquests. Just some thoughts to kick around. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/dunno.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="dunno.gif" />

 

[morgan terror]

gunpowder would seem to me like a pretty dangerous commodity to trade. a new role for the smugglers, perhaps? what if you can't get your hands on ammo? it would disable the player from defeding himself properly at the beginning, which isn't nessesarily a bad thing. in fact, it could be very interesting. if the player succeeds in boarding an enemy vessel and capturing the ammo on board, he'll get more possibilities. it would also prevent the player from making too much progress too quickly. there should be various ways to get ammo, but none of them too easy. later in the game, it gets easier for the player because he boards more ships.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

This should be possible, but it would require editing all the relevant characters' dialogs and figuring out how to have certain character sell only certain goods. Also for the player it would indeed, as Morgan points out, be more tedious than being able to buy all goods from the same place. I do understand it would be more realistic, but a lot of people would very much dislike this because it seems to be very much like the notorious "micro management" that can be very annoying for the player. In short: The less actions the player must perform over and over again, the better it is as far as gameplay is concerned. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/dunno.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="dunno.gif" />

 

[mjh623]

I hear that. And though it would be neat for awhile, the novelty would probably wear off pretty quickly and I would be back to wishing it was all in one place. Thanks for that perspective. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/me.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="me.gif" />

 

[Pieter Boelen]

You're welcome. If you have another idea, feel free to tell us. We'll try to help you get it done. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/yes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="yes.gif" />