• New Horizons on Maelstrom
    Maelstrom New Horizons


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  1. R

    Ship encounters need tweaking

    A dozen per side would be a good land battle. Especially if, as in ship battles, a few more could "arrive" as the fight dragged on. A dozen guys slinging lead at you would make the point pretty well - the guy with the most guns usually comes out on top, and everybody else ends up picking lead...
  2. R

    "Modify Ship" function from the shipyard (In Prog)

    Again, the things you could certainly change on any ship: -add armor to hull. Might help, but expensive (both to build and repair) and heavy (reducing cargo space and/or total performance, depending on how heavily loaded the ship is otherwise). Weight can also have a very negative effect if...
  3. R

    Defining a Common Goal

    The damage model does seem to move kind of fast. I believe that was in another thread. Historical ships seldom just sank. Often they were "totaled", to coin a term from the insurance industry. Even those usually did not have the crew totally wiped out. Just the threat of getting raked at...
  4. R

    Ship encounters need tweaking

    That's the dilemma with mods to begin with. The game was balanced to some point from the factory, based on playtesting (usually to a market audience, generally kids). Then, when you change one thing (to make it more real, more intelligent, or whatever), everything else has to be shifted to...
  5. R

    To-Do list for Build 13

    I think that was my earlier point. We need, for game purposes, a land combat model where more of the crew could get involved. That would be good. Were such a model to exist, we would also need combat-oriented officers whose skill would determine the skill level of the crew. What we call that...
  6. R

    To-Do list for Build 13

    But once again, we need a model where a substantial number of the crew can be seen in the fighting, before such an officer would be useful. If the boarding crew is just your officers, you don't really need a prep sequence - they are probably already armed. British Royal Marines were fairly...
  7. R

    To-Do list for Build 13

    To be technical, "Master at Arms" was a title from the Royal Marines. He was in charge of boarding and landing party weapons, and weapons training, but was otherwise not really considered a "ship" officer. The French used a similar system, where they added "des armes" after a military rank, to...
  8. R

    Defining a Common Goal

    The one thing we don't need right now is inspired imagination. That's one thing we have a lot of. What we need is concrete solutions. 1. Can we do something with the ship damage/fire/gun models to make them better reflect reality? Reflecting reality would put more thought into playing the...
  9. R

    To-Do list for Build 13

    That's a good start. Also, any mods that are questionable - for reasons of gameplay, content, or whatever - can be default off in the settings, but the code can still be included. That way, anyone who wants to study or modify it will already have the code. Children or casual observers...
  10. R

    Defining a Common Goal

    If you want a sea monster, you would have to create a model for him. However, the game has sharks as big as a 747 already - what kind of a monster did you have in mind? Ron
  11. R

    "Modify Ship" function from the shipyard (In Prog)

    Some of those ideas, like load balancing and sail trim, are supposed to be covered under the skill "sailing". Trim on sails is not something you need a shipyard to do - it's a matter of pulling on ropes. Put more or less slack in sails on one end or the other, to redistribute energy. A good...
  12. R

    Ship encounters need tweaking

    Most certainly it is "too much" - but before this can be fixed, other elements of the economy and combat model need work as well. Until we have a reasonable model for land combat - i.e. larger numbers of troops who would trade gunfire with each other - the ship prices cannot be seriously...
  13. R

    Ship encounters need tweaking

    Good point. We'll put that in the group with "rebalance the economy so the expense of ships is historically relative to cost of ground forces" and "tweak damage model to a more historical level, so not everything sinks like a stone". Obviously, without those other two changes, it would just...
  14. R

    How to purchase estates?

    Land is granted, when you gain rank with a particular nation. It only appears in the character screen as "land owned". Presumably, this land is owned in some other part of the world, probably back in Europe. You cannot buy it, and you cannot tour it.
  15. R

    "Modify Ship" function from the shipyard (In Prog)

    Well, since I got a message (from kblack) to help decide what to code for changes, I'll say what I know from history and game balance. (By the way, I appreciate the confidence in my expertise, but most of what I have said so far was really just paraphrasing things that were said earlier, or...
  16. R

    Thoughts on the newest Build Mod

    The prices of ships, and trade goods (especially cannon ammo), are low compared to the prices of personal items. The price balance was done because the land fight scenes were always done with only a few officers. If you had to equip 50 marines with weapons and equipment to board a ship, then...
  17. R

    Thoughts on the newest Build Mod

    OK, there was "caulking" - fabric or some kind of fiber (cotton, wool, whatever) and some form of chemical additive. The chemical was oakum, or tar, or heavy varnish, depending on who you ask. (Some countries, and some shipbuilders, had their own formulas.) This was placed below the waterline...
  18. R

    Thoughts on the newest Build Mod

    And a post while I was writing the last one, so: Firing cannons was expensive. Still is. There is an economic issue here. Enough cannon ammo to bomb a country into the ground seems to cost less than one good sidearm. Heck, you can buy enough material to build a city for the price of a good...
  19. R

    Thoughts on the newest Build Mod

    Wood and sailcloth are not contraband anywhere. Some places import them, and so they can be quite expensive and not in great supply - but that is tragically realistic, so should probably be kept. (You can't carry as much cargo if you're worried about your supply status.) If "supplies" were...
  20. R

    Thoughts on the newest Build Mod

    Ships of the period used some tar to seal gaps, but for the most part, well-finished oak boards kept the water out. A little varnish on the boards was about it. (Of course, it took good craftsmen to make boards fit so tight that they would hold water.) There was no substantial bulk of...
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