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.
So here we are hard at work and you are on holiday ? I always thought you would be faithful.....oh, Kim....how could you !!! A GamesCon and you didnt take us ???:rofl:
Now back to work....
51. I know all sailing games sink ships, but it is quite wrong. Wood floats. Damaged ships sink in rough weather. After a battle, the winner gets all out of commission ships and makes a bee line for his nearest port before he loses his prize money. Many ships were lost at Trafalgar not because of the battle but because of the weather afterwards.
52. Ocean Rollers is the name given to large repetitive waves like in the game.
If you have lived through these then you probably still get a tingle in your gut to talk about them. 20m high, though in the Antartic ocean they can reach over 30m high, if they are too closy spaced you will be swimming. Waves like in the game (3m rollers??) do not exist. The sea does have a direction to its waves, but this is usually confused by the wind, producing a choppy sea.
53. Someone posted that the sea state in the game is correct. I strongly disagree. I have some experience myself, and to attempt to fight in the games usual 3m and up swell is impossible. Navies at the time did on occasion out of hatred attempt to kill each other in such seas but it ALWAYS ended as a farce. They had more chances of hurting each other by shaking their fists briskly.
54. The reason ships sailed alongside each other to fight was so you could shoot and hit something. After the first shot with black powder you were firing in the dark. If there was a strong wind, then the smoke would disipate but then you are left with the previous argument, too strong a wind and the sea picks up.
55. The experience of crews for gunnery varied enormously. If the French and Spanish had of been able to practice their gunnery at sea instead of being in port all the time, the British may not have ruled the waves. Some experienced crews could load a cannon with only enough powder to just go through the enemy hull, causing the maximum number of casualties through maximum splintering. Some cargo ships had ex-navy sailors, so there cant be a generalising of warship versus cargo ships. It varied more by ship then class.
56. What happened to bow chasers, or smashes, and stern rakers ? Ships did not just follow a retreating enemy, the battle continued from both sides. Sometimes these few (often only two) cannon would decide the issue (if they hit).