Discussion Making the game more challenging

[Lrv]

I'm looking to increase the difficulty of the game, and make for a toughest challenge, If you have any ideas please share them!

For now I'm testing with weather, my "whrgeneratevalues.c" file looks like this:

switch(month)
{
case 1: rainrisk = 65; break;
case 2: rainrisk = 55; break;
case 3: rainrisk = 45; break;
case 4: rainrisk = 55; break;
case 5: rainrisk = 65; break; // beginning of the wet season
case 6: rainrisk = 75; break;
case 7: rainrisk = 85; break;
case 8: rainrisk = 95; break;
case 9: rainrisk =100; break; // twister maximal risk
case 10: rainrisk =100; break; // twister maximal risk
case 11: rainrisk = 95; break;
case 12: rainrisk = 75; break; // dry season

I'm seeing more rain and fog, but actual storms not so much, I'm not really sure if its working so I'm going to test it all at 100 later today.

Talking about bad weather, I've noticed that sometimes you get the tipical storm that breaks bit a bit the ship, some thunder hits, fire in the ship etc, (also the rolling angles and seasicknes, love those) but sometimes the "storm" passes, and the waves remain really huge, maybe a bit less than full storm, but the others details (ship dmg, thunder hits etc) are already gone, is there any way where I can put that kind of sea as default? (or anything similar) and make the "flat" sea a rarity?
Also, if thats posible, is it posible to make the AI sail normally on these conditions? so far I only see them just furl the sails

Also I'm not sure but I dont remember finding a storm if its not on a loaded zone with an Island, could that be? (Direct sailing/ironman)

From the difficulty options the game gives you, so far I've only seen that they change DMG on player and Ship, any idea if they change anything else? like shop prices, encounters or anything? I usually just stick to sea dog, and dont go on the higher one mainly because the mele combat/getting one-shoted

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

What about this line: "refShip.SpeedDependWeight = 0.3;"

Can it be added something similar for turning? (I'm not sure how weight afects IRL on turning a ship, someone knows?)

What about something like "TurnDependSpeed" /inertia? In-game when ships are dismasted they usually stop being able to turn, or do so extremely slow, but a ship without DMG on sails/masts, can start turning with no wind/inertia, that dosnt make any sense right? Unless the crew droped the lifeboats, and tried pulling the ship with some lines

EDIT: what does this code on WhrWeather.c do?:

//#define MAX_WEATHERS 804 // Old Mithrandir values
#define MAX_WEATHERS 384


If you have any ideas or sugestions please share!

 

[Grey Roger]

In "InternalSettings.h", change "ITEM_REALISM" to 1. Now you won't get skill bonuses from gems or Indian items, only from books and realistic items. Try experimenting with other settings in "InternalSettings.h" to make the game more to your liking.

There's no setting for this, but you can impose it as a limitation on yourself: don't sell prize ships unless you're in a pirate town, or in a town belonging to a nation for which you have a valid Letter of Marque.

 

[Lrv]

In "InternalSettings.h", change "ITEM_REALISM" to 1. Now you won't get skill bonuses from gems or Indian items, only from books and realistic items. Try experimenting with other settings in "InternalSettings.h" to make the game more to your liking.

I don't think I have anything left to touch in InternalSettings, its pretty straightforward so I got set it up from day 1, I'm not really concerned about stats regarding difficulty, I'm thinking on deeper changes, like the sea state I talked above, and stuff like that, maybe having harder restrictions on buying/selling cargo (availability of certain cargo more varied between islands etc) less profits overall, stuff like that, maybe disable the speed up option too

you can impose it as a limitation on yourself: don't sell prize ships unless you're in a pirate town, or in a town belonging to a nation for which you have a valid Letter of Marque.

I do these quite a lot, atm I'm playing with a single ship, I do berth other ships for different purposes, but no fleet allowed

 

[Grey Roger]

One thing you could try is to edit "PROGRAM\Characters\CharacterUtilite.c" and find function 'TradeCheck', specifically this part:

       // If you are Hostile with their nation, but you are a Hero
       if(rel <=  REL_WAR         && rep >= TRADEREP_ALL                     )   return true;

       // If you are less than Neutral to their nation, but you are a Horror of the High Seas
       if(rel <  REL_NEUTRAL         && rep <= TRADEREP_MIN                  )   return true;

Delete or comment out these lines. They allow Hero and Horror of the High Seas to trade anywhere. Removing them means that if you're in a hostile port and the storekeeper or shipyard owner recognises you, he won't do business with you, the same as if you have a less extreme reputation.

Beyond that, you can impose restrictions on yourself without having to code anything. If you don't think you should be trading at all in hostile ports, don't visit stores or shipyards when you're in a hostile port. If you don't want to use speed up, keep your fingers off the keys which do it! Don't take the "Storm Helmsman" ability and don't hire a navigator who has it, so that you take full damage during storms.

You can't make much profit from trading at the moment, unless you have all the commerce abilities, "Commerce" skill at maximum, and preferably a trade licence. So if you want less profit, don't take the commerce abilities, don't get a trade licence, and don't hire a quartermaster.

 

[Lrv]

One thing you could try is to edit "PROGRAM\Characters\CharacterUtilite.c" and find function 'TradeCheck', specifically this part:

       // If you are Hostile with their nation, but you are a Hero
       if(rel <=  REL_WAR         && rep >= TRADEREP_ALL                     )   return true;

       // If you are less than Neutral to their nation, but you are a Horror of the High Seas
       if(rel <  REL_NEUTRAL         && rep <= TRADEREP_MIN                  )   return true;

Delete or comment out these lines. They allow Hero and Horror of the High Seas to trade anywhere. Removing them means that if you're in a hostile port and the storekeeper or shipyard owner recognises you, he won't do business with you, the same as if you have a less extreme reputation.

Thats nice, thanks!

Beyond that, you can impose restrictions on yourself without having to code anything.

I dont know if you have played roguelites and similar game styles, but imposing restrictions on yourself is not fun, you dont play each day with the same mood and these go out the window, the game has to give you no option (if you can manage to do that, I applaud you for your willpower, but is not my case)

Don't take the "Storm Helmsman" ability and don't hire a navigator who has it, so that you take full damage during storms.

Actually what I want is just to have high waves as default, for the sake of it afecting naval gameplay, the storm damage is not something I want to touch, since is not gameplay that affects you other than plain damage to the ship, the waves on the other hand would make naval combat quite different, and thats what I'm looking for actual gameplay changes, more than touch stats here and there

You can't make much profit from trading at the moment... So if you want less profit, don't take the commerce abilities...

I may have worded that badly I was thinking on the cargo you get from boarding ships/pillaging towns, not about the trader playstile, less profit from pirating basically

Thanks for your insight, as soon as I can get a response on the "battle sails" stuff, and the sea/waves, I'll stop bothering for a while