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Thoughts on the newest Build Mod

R

ronlosey

Freebooter
Storm Modder
Guys:

I just signed up for this forum, but I've been playing with the Build mods for some time now. The newest one is great, but since it is still in Alpha, I figured now was the time to make observations.

The ammunition limits for small arms was a cool technical touch, but its current form is both unreasonable and annoying. Gunpowder is cheap, people. The crew would spill more of the stuff reloading for one broadside than your officers could burn through small arms in decades. For the price of a case of beer, you can get enough black powder to put a car in a tree - and it was true then too. That's why guns replaced crossbows as early as they did. Ammo bags are a nice touch, but just reload them when you get back to the ship. (I don't know, say... small ammo bag holds 30 rounds, large holds 100. Small for reality. I seem to remember reading British army carried 200 per man. Funny since the average British soldier at Waterloo fired 3 rounds during the entire campaign.) Fast reload equipment should be an option - reloading a musket from a British style powder flask is relatively quick (say, 3 rounds per minute - that was what the Redcoats trained to do), while chewing your patches and pouring powder into a powder measure from a sack could take a couple of minutes. I've played with black powder weapons (although mine were rifled guns with percussion caps, not smoothbore flintlocks), and it does make a difference. To put it into the spirit of the game, you can make fast-reload setups depend on "gunman" or "expert gunman" (or whatever it was called).

If you really want to make a great change, add small arms to the ship duels. Swivel guns and muskets could be used on any ship within 200 yards (for swivel guns, or 100 yards for muskets), and would make things very hot for the opposing crew. That would include realism, and make it tougher to just sail up on somebody. The newest cannon mods make these changes more feasable to add. That would take care of the ammunition problem too - make "small arms ammo" a ship supply (say, 10 per 1000 rounds, weight 1), and reload the officer's ammo from ship stores when they return to the ship. Have to add "muskets" as a trade resource, and "swivel guns" to the ship's cannon list, as well as "small arms ammo".

Another note - either your map or your compass is upside down. North seems to be at the bottom of the map.

The "sail to" command needs to check for hostile ships, and stop at about twice cannon range from anything hostile. This would prevent using the "sail to" and getting the effect of two ships sailing within 50 yards of each other before realizing that they should be at war.

Again, great work. I hope this helps. If I notice anything else, I'll post it later.

Ron Losey
Instructor of Western Civ and Culture Studies
Shaanxi University of Science and Technology
Xianyang, People's Republic of China
 
Welcome on board, matey! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/hi.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":gday" border="0" alt="hi.gif" />

The pieces of advice you give here are very good. But it is always a decision between gameplay and realism.
If an ammunition pouch could store 100 or more bullets, it would be rather superfluous speaking in game terms. The limitation of ammo forces the player to use his guns wisely (since when is using a gun wise? <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/whistling.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":wp" border="0" alt="whistling.gif" /> ), while he is on land.
Of course you're right. It would be more historically correct, if gunpowder and ammo was way cheaper and stored in larger amounts by the individual fighter.
The automatic ammo restock for officers, when they enter the ship, is a fine idea!
I think, somebody planned or has already made muskets as a trade good in his/her mod.
I also miss the good old swivel gun. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile2.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":))" border="0" alt="smile2.gif" />

Maybe someone will take a closer look at it and add a little more realism like you proposed.
I suggest that we include a #define REALISTICAMMOAMOUNT 0/1 in the buildsettings.h, when it is done, to enable or disable your mod.
 
Hi

Welcome aboard <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/hi.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":gday" border="0" alt="hi.gif" />

<!--quoteo(post=142938:date=Mar 23 2006, 02:31 AM:name=Ron Losey)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ron Losey @ Mar 23 2006, 02:31 AM) [snapback]142938[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
Guys:

...... Gunpowder is cheap, people. ......
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Not so cheap... the gunpowder for a pistol can be considered "cheap", but the amount of gunpowder needed for a cannon broadside it was so considerable as to make real fire practice an uncommon event even for the English Navy

Anyway, the gunpowder cost for pistols, in my experience, it's not relevant in gameplay (too small to be noticed when a good sword it's on the thousands)

<!--quoteo(post=142938:date=Mar 23 2006, 02:31 AM:name=Ron Losey)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ron Losey @ Mar 23 2006, 02:31 AM) [snapback]142938[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
.......Fast reload equipment should be an option - reloading a musket from a British style powder flask is relatively quick (say, 3 rounds per minute - that was what the Redcoats trained to do)......
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

POTC it's supposed to happen round 1690... that rates of reloading are for the top-trained hard-peninsular veterans in 1812... AFAIK


<!--quoteo(post=142938:date=Mar 23 2006, 02:31 AM:name=Ron Losey)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ron Losey @ Mar 23 2006, 02:31 AM) [snapback]142938[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
..... To put it into the spirit of the game, you can make fast-reload setups depend on "gunman" or "expert gunman" (or whatever it was called).
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IIRC those "perks" already gave you faster reloading times.

<!--quoteo(post=142938:date=Mar 23 2006, 02:31 AM:name=Ron Losey)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ron Losey @ Mar 23 2006, 02:31 AM) [snapback]142938[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
...... Swivel guns and muskets could be used on any ship within 200 yards (for swivel guns, or 100 yards for muskets),
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

IMHO: 100 yards for muskets? from ship to ship? IIRC thats over the recommended distance to open fire by infantry battalions at Napoleonic Wars.

swivels at 200 yards? it's supposed that carronades were to be used for "penol a penol" combat (touching the ends of sails of both ships)

Anyway, there is a perk called "musket volley" that represents musket fire before the boarding.

<!--quoteo(post=142938:date=Mar 23 2006, 02:31 AM:name=Ron Losey)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ron Losey @ Mar 23 2006, 02:31 AM) [snapback]142938[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
... Have to add "muskets" as a trade resource, and "swivel guns" to the ship's cannon list, as well as "small arms ammo".
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

I agree it would be good idea to have swivel guns, mainly because to see a schooner with 9 pdr long guns, or even 12 pdr seems a little odd, at least in my opinion.

But no idea of how to do it. :-(

<!--quoteo(post=142938:date=Mar 23 2006, 02:31 AM:name=Ron Losey)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ron Losey @ Mar 23 2006, 02:31 AM) [snapback]142938[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
Another note - either your map or your compass is upside down. North seems to be at the bottom of the map.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Solved. Look here
<a href="http://forum.piratesahoy.net/index.php?showtopic=6872&st=0" target="_blank">http://forum.piratesahoy.net/index.php?showtopic=6872&st=0</a>
to download the Windrose.gpm

<!--quoteo(post=142938:date=Mar 23 2006, 02:31 AM:name=Ron Losey)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ron Losey @ Mar 23 2006, 02:31 AM) [snapback]142938[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
The "sail to" command needs to check for hostile ships, and stop at about twice cannon range from anything hostile. This would prevent using the "sail to" and getting the effect of two ships sailing within 50 yards of each other before realizing that they should be at war.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

It's on my future mods/tweaks lists... AFAIK seems rather easy.

Regards

Kblack
 
by downloading the which from the where?

Maybe that should come with instructions for those of us who don't know this set of web pages as well as others. URL maybe?


------------------

As for "using guns wisely", I can think of some situations. (More appropriately, some individual targets.) Seriously, for both realism and gameplay, enemies who would stand and trade musket fire with you rather than rushing in like a bunch of vikings - that would add an element of gameplay that is currently lacking. Of course, to really make it work would be a pain. It would seem like "shoot, reload, shoot" would have to be a completely different combat mode than "sword, with optional pistol(s) in off hand". That may be more than a simple mod can handle - that could require an entire first-person-shooter engine. Maybe muskets could be set as a primary weapon, instead of swords - with only bayonet or gun stock as melee capability (weak at best). (If you've never tried it, fighting with a bayonet is like playing pool with a hockey stick - it's just not quite right, somehow.) Then the AI for anybody using a musket could be set to reload rather than charge - and reloading requires you stand still. That would give realism (that is the way ground troops normally attacked in that period - only ship boardings and building interiors were close-combat), and burn more ammo. Could get a little hot if the Redcoats or French Musketeers opened up on you in volley (instead of running up to you like a bunch of dogs), as they likely would not miss - but heck, the game gets too easy too fast anyway, right?

Larger ammo limits would not really change the basic tactical weakness of guns - that they are useless in close quarters. That point is painfully clear to anybody who tries to fire a round at close range, and gets carved into lunch meat before they can get a blade ready again. That is even true with modern guns, as many police learn every year when faced with knife-armed lunatics. (On my spare time, I teach melee combat - both for self-defense among my students, and sometimes to police and security. Guns are always a bad bet at ranges less than three feet.) POTC did a good job of teaching that lesson already.

I would write some of these changes into mods myself if I could, but I'm not a computer programmer. I teach Western Civ. It takes me some time to filter through the scripts in their current form, to figure out what someone else did. (Took me about 30 minutes to figure out where the ammo mod on/off control was.)

--------------------------------

On an unrelated note, with the new cannon mods.... One thing is far TOO realistic. You cannot possibly escape Oxbay during the first attack. You are doomed to start the game in a lifeboat. I don't know if this was intentional, but if not, someone needs to check on it. If it was intentional ... well, it does add a certain degree of challenge.



If I notice anything else just glaring at me...

Ron
 
disregard that request for a URL - it was posted while I was writing. Thanks.

-----------------

The cheap gunpowder I was talking about is the fact cannon ammo comes in 20 rounds for 10 coins, and that would include 100 pounds of gunpowder, while a tablespoon of powder for the pistol cost more than that, and was hard to find. Something was out of spec.

No matter how cheap gunpowder is, cannons burn a lot of it. Firing 100 rounds of practice broadsides could burn a galleon load of powder. I mean, 20 tons of anything is expensive. (And a hundred rounds isn't really much practice either.) 20 tons of SAND is expensive.


------------------
The "musket volley" perk is too arbitrary. I mean something that could be used in maneuver warfare. Also, the ranges I gave were assuming a bunch of drunken pirates firing across the deck of a ship, just to keep the enemy pinned down. Sure the Redcoats closed to sixty paces before they fired, but they were shooting at individual humans that they could see - not moving hats scurrying around behind a bunch of rigging. I didn't say they would hit much at that range - but unless given orders to hold their fire, that's about when a bunch of marines would open up on somebody. Much like modern machine guns, do not underestimate the value, both psychological and inflicting actual casualties, of area-targeted fire. That's how grapeshot works, after all. That's how the swivel guns and muskets were used as well, and volley-fire arrows and slingstones before that. (The Roman Legions opened fire with SLINGS at 200 paces and DARTS at 100, firing for area effect. Hitting individual targets with either of those required almost point-blank.)

Now, can it be scripted into the program? I have no idea. I'm just throwing out some ideas.

Ron
 
actually you can sail away with your ship intact, just set your nationality to french or to a nation thats on good terms with them.

Now my input on firearms

Swivel guns:
its a fine idea, and probally doable to a certain degree, the thing that makes them diffrent is that they can be aimed considerably, while the firing arc that cannons are able to is limited, we could probally find a way to increase the firing arc for swivels.. say, 180 degrees, but that would look wierd considering there are no animations on ship models, they would be fixed visually(and if one has swivels they should be there physically as well as functionally)

Gunpowder:
id like to suggest that the gunpowder be expanded to ships, that way you would really have to think when supplying the ship, you would have to decide: do i balance so i have enough gunpowder for all my rounds, or do load on enough gunpowder just to fire off all rounds of one type of shot to consever cargo space.
Perhaps even put a powder storage to ships, so that if it gets an unlucky hit it blows the ship out of the sea.

But i definatley think ships should need powder to fire as well.
 
The worst thing about the ammo mod I think is the rather ceremonius procedure of distributing ammo to your officers. I thought about some "autodistribute" system when buying, looting finding but it soon got VERY complicated. Maybe some of the ideas above may solve this "problem". <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />
 
<!--quoteo(post=143020:date=Mar 23 2006, 05:41 PM:name=Jack Rackham)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Jack Rackham @ Mar 23 2006, 05:41 PM) [snapback]143020[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
The worst thing about the ammo mod I think is the rather ceremonius procedure of distributing ammo to your officers. I thought about some "autodistribute" system when buying, looting finding but it soon got VERY complicated. Maybe some of the ideas above may solve this "problem". <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

"-We pledge our loyalty to the founders, now and until death"
"- Then recieve this gift from the founders and may it keep you strong"

if you have watched Star Trek Deep Space 9, you probally know what it means and how it relates lol. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="wink.gif" />
 
Welcome to the forums, Ron. I hope you have a pleasant time here. Most of the things that should be said have already been said, so I will not repeat them.

The fixed windorse file is in the latest (18 March) modpack update. However, that update contains a rather large amount of annoying bugs causing very frequent CTDs (Crashes To Desktop), so I would recommend waiting with downloading the next version, which I am hoping to get ready this weekend.

I think that swivel guns aren't really supported by the game's engine. The "best" you could do is to add a new "ammo" type that is swivel guns. That "ammo" would have a better firing arc, but a very bad range. It should also have a high reloading speed and a high amount of damage on the enemy crew and morale. It would still look as if the ship's cannons were firing them though.

The same goes for the extended gun use mod. The problem is: The game's engine has it's limitations. One of this limitations is that you can't (easily) add new animations, let alone a complete new way of fighting. If it even is possible, it requires a lot of work. Work that nobody here, I think, knows how to do.

I reckon the ammo mod is a pretty nice mod. It isn't truly realistic, but if it were realistic, it would have no impact on the gameplay, so the ammo mod might as well not be there. The ammo mod's main purpose is not to make the game more realistic, but to limit the use of pistols, so that you can't "freely" keep firing your guns. (Is that right, JRH?)
In the same way, the bladedamage mod I made is not meant to be truly realistic either. I know blades don't quickly break, but in the game now, they do break in a noticeable time. I did that to limit the uses of blades, to balance the game better and to make blacksmiths more important.
All these mods are not meant to make the game more realistic, but <i>are</i> meant to make the game more interesting. And for those people who want a realistic game, they can always try and tweak some of the values or turn off the mods completely in BuildSettings.h.
 
I´m too old for Star Trek (but not for POTC?) No its not logical that gunpowder for the ships cannons now are missing. Thought of doing something about it after the ammo mod but lost myself in another thing. Maybe someone else would like to...?. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/boom.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":boom" border="0" alt="boom.gif" />
 
Hello Pieter, you must have got there a microsecond before me. I fully agree with you about the interesting aspect. A few new items, a little variation, something more to worry about.... Anyway I think Ron has a point. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/hi.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":gday" border="0" alt="hi.gif" />
 
Pieter,

Is it a new modpack update or windorse fix you'll have ready at the weekend? Thanks, mate! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/me.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":onya" border="0" alt="me.gif" />

Barçellus

<!--quoteo(post=143027:date=Mar 23 2006, 12:34 PM:name=Pieter Boelen)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pieter Boelen @ Mar 23 2006, 12:34 PM) [snapback]143027[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->

[Snip!]
The fixed windorse file is in the latest (18 March) modpack update. However, that update contains a rather large amount of annoying bugs causing very frequent CTDs (Crashes To Desktop), so I would recommend waiting with downloading the next version, which I am hoping to get ready this weekend.

I<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
 
Assuming that both powder and shot would be part of "ammo" is not unreasonable, and it reduces the ammount of micro-management involved. That's not a bad thing. Micro-management is really bad in a computer game. Realism is generally a good thing. Micro-management is neither realistic nor playable.

-------------------------------------------------

Again, suggestions are exactly that. I doubted if many of these things could be worked into a mod. I'm just throwing them out to keep people thinking. That's what I do - I teach sophmore university students how to think.

--------------------------------------------------

As for hits to powder, the original included something called a "critical hit". This was to simulate secondary damage, such as explosions. Granted, it was poorly implemented. A more realistic model would be for fires to trigger the occasional secondary explosion and/or suddenly spread dramatically, to simulate fire reaching a bag of powder or a barrel of kerosene (or whale oil, or whatever they were burning for light and/or heat). Fires on ship are like "that which hits the fan will not be distributed eavenly".

-------------------------------------------------

Another thought - more kinds of food. Rename the basic foodstuff to "rations". Add fruits as consumable - what's a pirate ship without a fruit barrel to prevent scurvy. Keeping some fruit would be very good for morale. Maybe add some "luxury" food items - say, "pigs". If they run out of rum, let them drink wine or ale. I doubt a bunch of alcoholic pirates were so particular about their booze. Pirates that would rather starve than switch from bread and rum to coconuts and ale seem odd to me.

While on the food note, disable food consumption while ashore. Pirates on shore leave are not going to stick around to see what the ship's cook is turning out. They're certainly not going to starve to death within a five minute walk of a cafe.

Ron
 
The original Sea Dogs had a very well implemented critical hit, that would have been the powder storage going up, either the ship would suffer extreme damage or dismast and sink alltogether
 
The seadogs critical hit model was extreme. It assumed that 1. enough powder would be stored in any one place to blow the ship to splinters, and 2. impact from weapons fire would set it off. Neither one of these seems terribly reasonable.

A more likely scenario would be several smaller munitions closets/chests/etc. located near to the guns. These containers would likely be heavy-wall hardwood (as metal could create sparks), and powder stored inside would be in bags or kegs. Therefore, a solid shot (round ball, grapeshot, chain/bar) would likely not do much except make a mess. (Black powder is not like TNT or dynamite - it just DOES NOT explode from shock.) If fire, on the other hand, reached one of these - well, the secondary explosion and/or flash fire (depending on how compressed the powder was) could make things hot for a substantial chunk of that deck. Even the charge for a single cannon, exposed to flame, could turn a relatively contained fire into a nightmare - especially if it started a chain reaction with several others along the deck.

I think a little playing with the settings on behavior of fire could help. The "fire drill" routine seems an inelegant solution. A more likely solution is that a large portion of the crew (exact numbers depending on how much fire we are talking about) would drop what they were doing and start fighting fire. (This would, of course, greatly impede whatever else they were doing.) How effective they were would depend on skill (defense, maybe, and/or leadership - organizing a fire drill rather than a mass panic could take some doing), number of people, and how much fire we are talking about. Results could range from the fire going out rather quickly, to fire continuing to burn, or spreading if the containment was inadequate. Fire should create both structure damage and crew casualties. A fire on the hull should create a chance of random secondary explosions, which could do some damage (to hull, rig, and/or crew), and would likely spread the fire. Fire should also have the option of spreading to sails, which would burn VERY fast. Once all canvas was burned from the sails, they should create a small chance of setting fire to the mast, or otherwise should burn out.

If done right, fires should start and, if the crew fails to contain them, gradually spread until ten to twenty minutes later the ship was a floating torch on board which nothing could survive. A good (large) crew with high skill should be able to contain a fire rather quickly. A disorganized crew or one that has taken a lot of casualties would be in trouble. Even a contained fire could burn for some time before they completely put it out. Small fires should not do much damage, but unless dealt with, they should spread quickly and therefore turn into large and very dangerous fires. Even after turning into an inferno, it should still burn for an hour or more before burning to the waterline and sinking. Once fire had killed the crew and destroyed most things of value, you could go ahead and chalk up the kill even if the hulk was still burning - it would just remain as a navigation hazard. (A burning ship hull is a pretty big navigation hazard, especially considering fire could spread from it to your sails or the like, not to mention creating enough smoke to conceal an island.) This is why British orders for ship intercepts read "Sink her, burn her, or take as prize" - "burn her" translated: cause enough fire to kill the crew, and you don't have to sit there and watch her burn for three hours. The danger from fire was the fire spreading until everyone died of heat or secondary explosions, not the actual ship hull (10,000 pounds of waterlogged oak) burning in half. Burning a ship hull is going to take some time.

That would be a fire and critical hit model from reality. I think it would add to gameplay as well. It also seems possible using scripting already in play, just from what I can tell of things that have already been changed.

---------------------------------

On that note, ships seem to sink easily. Ships of the period were more often shot to splinters but still technically afloat. A common picture was ships either burning or damaged to the point where they were immobile and defenseless. Actually punching enough holes in a ship to break the keel was very rare, and holes below the waterline were highly uncommon. Legends of "ghost ships" were not unreasonable - ships could have their crew killed, or be disabled and left adrift until the crew died of exposure, and the hull left floating until it washed up on some beach. The surrender option in the new mod is a great move on that theme, and the disabled cannons are perfect, but the ships do still sink quickly.


I broke my foot last week, so I'm spending all my spare time trying to stay in a chair. I have plenty of time to playtest these things, if somebody can put some of them together.

Ron
 
<!--quoteo(post=143052:date=Mar 23 2006, 08:21 PM:name=Barçellus)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Barçellus @ Mar 23 2006, 08:21 PM) [snapback]143052[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
Pieter,

Is it a new modpack update or windorse fix you'll have ready at the weekend? Thanks, mate! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/me.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":onya" border="0" alt="me.gif" />

Barçellus

<!--quoteo(post=143027:date=Mar 23 2006, 12:34 PM:name=Pieter Boelen)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pieter Boelen @ Mar 23 2006, 12:34 PM) [snapback]143027[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->

[Snip!]
The fixed windorse file is in the latest (18 March) modpack update. However, that update contains a rather large amount of annoying bugs causing very frequent CTDs (Crashes To Desktop), so I would recommend waiting with downloading the next version, which I am hoping to get ready this weekend.

I<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

No need to wait. Download the file windrose.gpm (search for windrose in the forum and then go to the topic "May map has gone nuts!!! "

Then search for the file windrose.gpm in yours POTC folders

Subtitute the original file by the downloaded one.

Ale hop!

P.D Aun no teneis ganada la liga ;-)

Kblack.
 
Kblack,

Thanks for the reply, mate! I'll certainly do that, though if the latest post-build update has the file it may save me both time and trouble. If it's to come out this weekend, I shall have to adjust my plans accordingly . . . .

Aye, first la liga and then the UEFA Cup! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/yes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":yes" border="0" alt="yes.gif" /> <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/buds.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":drunk" border="0" alt="buds.gif" />
 
Another issue.

I like the larger map and the new islands. Making the map larger is always a good thing - it creates more options. However, we have a scale problem. The original islands, if we are to assume their size in the 3d view is actual, would be specks on the world map beside all of Cuba. I mean, it takes less than an hour to sail past an island in 3d, but two days on the world map. I would be in favor of making them specks on the world map, and merely using large labels to navigate. That or change other things on the map, or the 3d island layout. Something, however, is way out of scale.

Also on the map, ships turn too slow. Ships turn slow in real time, but it should not take two days to rotate 180. Nothing is that slow. Trees grow faster than that.

------------------

There was also some debate on the fast repair abilities. I thought about this, and figured they could be used to simulate jury-rigging. If a ship is severely damaged, the crew would do everything they could to keep it afloat - using materials in an extremely inefficient manner, and generally neglecting other duties to work damage control. We might be able to simulate this. Call it "emergency repairs" or something. Since there are two such skills by default, make two levels - one that only repairs up to 10 percent of hull, and another that goes up to 20% and also repairs sails. Make them burn materials at several times the original level - like just cutting away the sails and putting up a new set, rather than repairing them.

Might also use one of them to represent effective fire control, as earlier discussed. (Effective fire control would be very different from "panic and beat at the fire with a wet mop" fire control, which sailors would do on their own.)

----------------------

Adding prevailing winds to the map would be another nice touch.


Just a couple more thoughts.
Ron
 
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