All ship data should be randomized slightly per each ship. I mean amount of guns, their range, cargo hold size, amount of crew, hull/sails points, even speed and morale of the crew to some degree. There weren't two exact ships after all. 
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Suggestion
One thing that hasn't been mentioned, quite to my surprise actually, is dealing with the ports you own.
Why do the ports I own not generate any money for me at all? It seems that I should be able to open my port to other traders, or at least I should make some money off of ports when other ships port in and buy/sell goods. I should get a port-fee, and if not the full value of the goods that are sold (since the company owns the port!!!) then at least some type of tax off of the goods purchased/sold.
My ports should generate profit too!
One thing that hasn't been mentioned, quite to my surprise actually, is dealing with the ports you own.
Why do the ports I own not generate any money for me at all? It seems that I should be able to open my port to other traders, or at least I should make some money off of ports when other ships port in and buy/sell goods. I should get a port-fee, and if not the full value of the goods that are sold (since the company owns the port!!!) then at least some type of tax off of the goods purchased/sold.
My ports should generate profit too!
Continuing my wish list....
43. A better sense of raw material and market products would be nice. Britain produced the best quality wool which was woven into clothing in Holland. When Britain kept and processed its own wool, huge sums of money suddenly went from Dutch traders to the British.
44. This period saw many technical innovations: the tiller replaced by the wheel, waterproof hulls for the transport of food, etc. They were state secrets in their time. Perhaps a Tech Tree ?
45. I would like to see the presence of the State in the game. Co-operative governments would add political pressure to help trade. Britain passed laws so that only British ships could trade in their ports. This not only aggravated other nations, it helped spawn independence in the colonies. The game starts with this as the default but it is a serious gamer's decision.
46. Barbary Coast pyrates not only attacked trade but also raided the coast of Europe and the mediterranean as far as Ireland and western Germany for slaves. Maybe it would be possible to raid a coast ?
47. One failed attack on the Barbary pyrates produced so many slaves for the pyrate states a white slave was as cheap as a loaf of bread.
48. Trading companies didnt just trade. They bought local industries, and tried to own and control the whole process of supply and manufacture. Increasingly they contracted for goods with other companies.
49. There is a reason small ships sailed alone...it is faster than a fleet. There is a reason ships sailed in a fleet...it is safer then being alone.
50. I am almost out of ideas (I said almost) so to Santa / Kim_Soares, I would like to say "pyydän" .
43. A better sense of raw material and market products would be nice. Britain produced the best quality wool which was woven into clothing in Holland. When Britain kept and processed its own wool, huge sums of money suddenly went from Dutch traders to the British.
44. This period saw many technical innovations: the tiller replaced by the wheel, waterproof hulls for the transport of food, etc. They were state secrets in their time. Perhaps a Tech Tree ?
45. I would like to see the presence of the State in the game. Co-operative governments would add political pressure to help trade. Britain passed laws so that only British ships could trade in their ports. This not only aggravated other nations, it helped spawn independence in the colonies. The game starts with this as the default but it is a serious gamer's decision.
46. Barbary Coast pyrates not only attacked trade but also raided the coast of Europe and the mediterranean as far as Ireland and western Germany for slaves. Maybe it would be possible to raid a coast ?
47. One failed attack on the Barbary pyrates produced so many slaves for the pyrate states a white slave was as cheap as a loaf of bread.
48. Trading companies didnt just trade. They bought local industries, and tried to own and control the whole process of supply and manufacture. Increasingly they contracted for goods with other companies.
49. There is a reason small ships sailed alone...it is faster than a fleet. There is a reason ships sailed in a fleet...it is safer then being alone.
50. I am almost out of ideas (I said almost) so to Santa / Kim_Soares, I would like to say "pyydän" .
Ship names finally gone, thanks!
Thanks a lot, that really did the trick.
-Danevang
Thanks a lot, that really did the trick.
-Danevang
- When a fleet is held in the port due to plague it would be really useful to have some sort of info about it in the fleet's screen. Maybe a tiny skull next to captain's face or whatever.
- Now that ships start further apart due to 1.06 patch, it would be cool to increase escape range from 1km to at least 1,5km so you can't escape in a matter of seconds...
- Now that ships start further apart due to 1.06 patch, it would be cool to increase escape range from 1km to at least 1,5km so you can't escape in a matter of seconds...
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This!
I got into a fight with my fleet of five experienced Xebecs and my best captain. I carefully considered the wind, thought how best to array my fleet, selected the whole fleet that I wanted in a line, and promptly selected "surrender."
Devastating!
Autosave was triggered on completion of that battle, which was fantastic since I had not done a manual save for about 18 months (my fault, yes, but I was on a roll).
That ended my gaming session for the night. A "really surrender?" confirmation button would be great.
I'd like the trade info screen to list profit per ton. It already shows price and sale value, so it'd be nice if the game saved me from having to work it out mentally when not in a port that sells the good.
I wish there was a bit more to do. For example, perhaps some way to upgrade your home port with factories to produce more/better export goods. These should be fairly expensive so they're something to work towards later in the game, and they could perhaps use some of your imports as raw materials.
I'd also quite like to see more trade with other companies. Right now it just seems like the AI will attack you if it can't buy a good that it wants and you hold, even if you're vastly more powerful than them. Instead of comitting suicide like that it would make more sense for a company to try and buy goods from you. Perhaps you could even set up "contracts" to automatically trade certain goods with them. I'm sure that when your homeport is flooded with spices and their's hasn't seen any in years they could buy it from you for more than you'd get in your homeport and still make some profit selling it in their's.
I wish there was a bit more to do. For example, perhaps some way to upgrade your home port with factories to produce more/better export goods. These should be fairly expensive so they're something to work towards later in the game, and they could perhaps use some of your imports as raw materials.
I'd also quite like to see more trade with other companies. Right now it just seems like the AI will attack you if it can't buy a good that it wants and you hold, even if you're vastly more powerful than them. Instead of comitting suicide like that it would make more sense for a company to try and buy goods from you. Perhaps you could even set up "contracts" to automatically trade certain goods with them. I'm sure that when your homeport is flooded with spices and their's hasn't seen any in years they could buy it from you for more than you'd get in your homeport and still make some profit selling it in their's.
The sound options effects sample ought to include close on cannon fire as it can be overwhelming. Perhaps the various effects could be rebalanced so that you do not scare your neighbors late at night but can still hear the interface clicks and dings. As it stands now with 100% voice and 45% effects I cannot hear the voices over the cannon fire. While that may be realistic, it isn't helpful. If I turn the effects down any further I won't be able to hear the clicks and dings. I find I am always playing with the volume knob on my tuner which my sound output is plugged into.
Fleet UI Idea
Repost from its own thread:
I've posted in many threads about my frustrations with the Fleet bar (the area of the screen in Strategic view that shows all the captains). Quick summary of the basic complaint: Once the game is rolling and you have 6+ fleets, with retiring generals and new fleets being created and old fleets sinking or being split up, it becomes incredibly frustrating trying to remember Who is doing What. Checking the Trade prices for Items, I see that Porcellan is no longer profitable. Which fleets are doing porcelein? Oh yeah, I have to click through every single one of them and follow the dotted line to the main port. That's not good design.
So, to my idea. Along the left screen border, from top to bottom would be an icon for each MTI I am importing (determined by the trade route the fleet is coming from or going to). Arrayed next to each MTI icon is an icon for the Fleet assigned to that MTI. The border of the Fleet Icon would be Red for Going To the MTI Port, and Green for Coming Home. This way I can quickly see: A) What I am importing, B) Where my ships are, and C) What coverage of all MTI's I currently have. Changing the MTI for a Fleet would be as simple as dragging the fleet icon from one MTI and dropping it on another. A nice addition would be to "delay" that order for ships bound for the Home Port until they unload, re-load, and set sail for India.
Thoughts?
Repost from its own thread:
I've posted in many threads about my frustrations with the Fleet bar (the area of the screen in Strategic view that shows all the captains). Quick summary of the basic complaint: Once the game is rolling and you have 6+ fleets, with retiring generals and new fleets being created and old fleets sinking or being split up, it becomes incredibly frustrating trying to remember Who is doing What. Checking the Trade prices for Items, I see that Porcellan is no longer profitable. Which fleets are doing porcelein? Oh yeah, I have to click through every single one of them and follow the dotted line to the main port. That's not good design.
So, to my idea. Along the left screen border, from top to bottom would be an icon for each MTI I am importing (determined by the trade route the fleet is coming from or going to). Arrayed next to each MTI icon is an icon for the Fleet assigned to that MTI. The border of the Fleet Icon would be Red for Going To the MTI Port, and Green for Coming Home. This way I can quickly see: A) What I am importing, B) Where my ships are, and C) What coverage of all MTI's I currently have. Changing the MTI for a Fleet would be as simple as dragging the fleet icon from one MTI and dropping it on another. A nice addition would be to "delay" that order for ships bound for the Home Port until they unload, re-load, and set sail for India.
Thoughts?
Cicero, you old dog, a very good idea. One question though: what do you envisage if we convince Nitro to have multiple port trade routes. Perhaps the port rather than the goods should be displayed ????
- Irritates the constant beginning of fight at a head wind. Random is necessary.
- For change of type of a cannonball time should be spent - the recharge of guns is necessary.
- For change of type of a cannonball time should be spent - the recharge of guns is necessary.
- Cannons should be destroyed during combat. Seriously, having a ship shot down to 10 hull points giving you one full broadside cannonade with all guns after another is just weird. He should have barely two guns left on each side after taking such damage... if he's lucky.
- Same goes for crew. You shoot a ship with solid cannonballs for hundreds of damage (I once went over Hull: -500 above the ship) and not killing even 1/10 of his crew in process just doesn't feel right.
- Heavily damaged ships should start leaking and taking water. It could be portayed by slow but steady loss of hull points which would end up in ship's sinking unless the player surrenders the ship and lets sailors patch it up.
- Ships with huge rigging like Brigs or Frigates should have more Sails points than they have hull points.
And most importantly,
- Autosave needs to be brought to pre-1.06 state or at least an option should be introduced to switch it off.
- Same goes for crew. You shoot a ship with solid cannonballs for hundreds of damage (I once went over Hull: -500 above the ship) and not killing even 1/10 of his crew in process just doesn't feel right.
- Heavily damaged ships should start leaking and taking water. It could be portayed by slow but steady loss of hull points which would end up in ship's sinking unless the player surrenders the ship and lets sailors patch it up.
- Ships with huge rigging like Brigs or Frigates should have more Sails points than they have hull points.
And most importantly,
- Autosave needs to be brought to pre-1.06 state or at least an option should be introduced to switch it off.
Cicero, you old dog, a very good idea. One question though: what do you envisage if we convince Nitro to have multiple port trade routes. Perhaps the port rather than the goods should be displayed ????
Damnit, lol! Way to screw up my wonderful idea!
For multiple routes, my initial reaction would be to still only list the end point (i.e. the extreme destination, or in other words the point at which the fleet turns around and starts to head home). Maybe for ships with multiple destinations, you could add a "+" to the icon, or a special border....
Of course, if you use Auto-Routes now, you are already getting multiple destinations - being that the ships will stop at way-ports and buy any goods that will still fit in the hold. So it technically would not need to be represented like the main MTI would.
But, even if the UI only really enhanced the organizational view of a single MTI per fleet, it would still be leap years above the current implementation, imo.
Another request:
Please eliminate the Modal dialog behavior of Mission. When presented with the opportunity to Accept or Deny a Mission, no other part of the UI is active. Therefore, you are forcing me to have a complete mental picture of my entire company, from the goods in my warehouse and currently en route, to the location of my fleets, etc.... This isn't practical nor is it realistic. No business person worth their salt would make a decision without first consulting all of the available information.
So, my "wish" is to treat these dialog boxes like any other window - allow me to pause the game and look at all of my data before making a decision.
Please eliminate the Modal dialog behavior of Mission. When presented with the opportunity to Accept or Deny a Mission, no other part of the UI is active. Therefore, you are forcing me to have a complete mental picture of my entire company, from the goods in my warehouse and currently en route, to the location of my fleets, etc.... This isn't practical nor is it realistic. No business person worth their salt would make a decision without first consulting all of the available information.
So, my "wish" is to treat these dialog boxes like any other window - allow me to pause the game and look at all of my data before making a decision.
1. Add to the list of action icons for a Ship a "Go Home" button. Scrolling back and forth and back and forth is a bit tedious for such a common task.
2. The selection, in my opinion, is out of priority. Simplest task should be assigned the most often used action. Therefore, mouse drag with no buttons held should be "Put as much of item into Target given the restraints of Cash and Destination Cargo Space". Currently the default mouse drag is assigned 1 bit of the item. So, even start of game, you have assigned the cargo ship of the time, the 40 slot Schooner, to being 40 mouse drags to load, and 40 to unload. I would think one-at-a-time dragging is the least used technique.
I would suggest using Ctrl or Shift to indicate a De-Stacking. For example, I have 600 Diamonds in my Warehouse. I would like to split of 48 of them. Ctrl+Click and Drag to a new slot in my Warehouse would give me a popup number entry. This could work for the one-at-a-time case as well, obviously.
What would be really interesting would be to use whatever modifier key you didn't use above, let's go with Shift, to give me a "Expected Sale Price" popup window. Save me the step of doing maths or using my calculator. Just drag and hover over a Trading Post or in a Diplo Window to see what the value would be.
2. The selection, in my opinion, is out of priority. Simplest task should be assigned the most often used action. Therefore, mouse drag with no buttons held should be "Put as much of item into Target given the restraints of Cash and Destination Cargo Space". Currently the default mouse drag is assigned 1 bit of the item. So, even start of game, you have assigned the cargo ship of the time, the 40 slot Schooner, to being 40 mouse drags to load, and 40 to unload. I would think one-at-a-time dragging is the least used technique.
I would suggest using Ctrl or Shift to indicate a De-Stacking. For example, I have 600 Diamonds in my Warehouse. I would like to split of 48 of them. Ctrl+Click and Drag to a new slot in my Warehouse would give me a popup number entry. This could work for the one-at-a-time case as well, obviously.
What would be really interesting would be to use whatever modifier key you didn't use above, let's go with Shift, to give me a "Expected Sale Price" popup window. Save me the step of doing maths or using my calculator. Just drag and hover over a Trading Post or in a Diplo Window to see what the value would be.
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I second the modal wish and I would further like to be able dictate which messages I receive, I never look at the year end status except once in a blue moon and it is fairly misleading to begin with. I have a million + in the bank and yet my cumulative total is a million in the hole, at the very least include the standard value of any stock I have en route or in a warehouse to my valuation. That would result in a somewhat more accurate depiction.
Another thing put a close bar on all the little windows so I do not have to hazard the ? button when clicking on the x, for the most part the ? is only useful a few times ever for a particular window but if the x is the only way to close it then I'm going to have it pop up a lot. Maybe it is just my hand-eye coordination...
Fix the mouse pointer, it is inaccurate at the best of times and has active delays as session time goes on. It moves around fine but where you click isn't always where you expected. I think this might be because of the elevated camera view but it might be something else.
Another thing put a close bar on all the little windows so I do not have to hazard the ? button when clicking on the x, for the most part the ? is only useful a few times ever for a particular window but if the x is the only way to close it then I'm going to have it pop up a lot. Maybe it is just my hand-eye coordination...
Fix the mouse pointer, it is inaccurate at the best of times and has active delays as session time goes on. It moves around fine but where you click isn't always where you expected. I think this might be because of the elevated camera view but it might be something else.
Here's a bug I noticed: MTI Trade achievements don't stay on my current achievent listing once I've got them. This happened with spice, tea and silk so far.
Just a quick message from GDC / GamesCon.
I see you guys are productive when it comes to ideas!
There is good stuff here, I'll go through them with time after I get back at the office.
I see you guys are productive when it comes to ideas!
There is good stuff here, I'll go through them with time after I get back at the office.
On the achievements page indicate an active tally for the ones still to accomplish so that I can see what more I need to do. I'm not sure the deceiver one is working because I have killed 200 plus ships in the 70-odd game years and never once declared war. A lot of those surely would have been enemy ships but I haven't always been so particular about whose ships I attacked, and indeed have attacked neutral ships by accident on several occasions as well as by intention. Of course now I am at war with all remaining nations with three having already resigned.