Dismasting

[Taurondin]

I think this is one of the best features of the Build. I always get a buzz when I aim for a mast and see it topple, and I`m sure my crew would raise a cheer. I think they deserve a Morale boost, if that could be coded into the routine somehow.

Or perhaps the crew on the enemy ship might have a Morale drop for each mast that goes down (and the same for my ships). The biggest problem I have in my current game, at Journeyman level, is dying during boarding actions. I`m often up against fully crewed pirate ships with Heroic morale. Even if I riddle them with Grape to a handful of crew, they`ve still got `600-800`+ hit points and my lads are slaughtered in seconds. I`d like to stand off and reduce my target to a hulk before boarding, and knock their will to fight at the same time <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_mrgreen1.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="icon_mrgreen1.gif" />

 

[Kieron]

that's a good idea. i don't know how that stuff is handled though. isn't it in the dlls?

 

[CatalinaThePirate]

I like the idea, too! <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/onya.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="onya.gif" />

Heck Taurondin, you should try Swashbuckler, it's pretty durned difficult!!! (but a lot of fun, LOL!) <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="icon_wink.gif" />

 

[NathanKell]

I'd go a bit further and suggest a big morale revamp.
Edit: This was unclear. The following is what I'd _like_ to see, not what's currently implemented. Bad tense choice.

Morale goes down a bit for every second of combat; consider combat to be if ship has been hit or fired a gun in the last two minutes.
When _out_ of combat, morale gradually returns to normal level*.

When enemy ship sunk or taken, morale boosted (normal level brought up a bit, and also a temporary bonus that dissipates over time). Ditto dismasting.

Morale decreases extra when ship hit or mast falls.

*Maybe not _quite_ normal level; maybe you have to stay out of combat for a _week_ to go back to _really_ normal level...

Kieron: funcs in AIShip know when mast falls. {float Ship_MastDamage() }. Also, morale is just char.ship.crew.morale. So yeah, it's possible.

 

[CatalinaThePirate]

But if there's a double ration of rum to one ration of wheat, the crew's morale skyrockets (and sometimes you get drunken brawls, LOL!). I like that part! <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" />

This brings to mind the problem where - after you are cast ashore after the bad storm during the main quest, and have to find a way to get to Conceicao, you never have to feed or give rum to your crew, ever after.

I know that sounds like a bonus, but it's not... Heh. It should be fixed. I think someone was looking at it but I don't know if it got fixed or not...

 

[NathanKell]

Oh, right. I think CCC? had the fix for it. I'll look again.