Age of sail simulation?

[aergistal]

I was wondering if you know any good example. I know there's a sub-forum called Pirates! around that's about sailing, but none of those games would fit my idea of a simulation. So I'm thinking past click-and-go with the wind, or worse, against the wind. I haven't tried Age of Sail yet but judging from what I've read around that won't come close either.

I find the theme interesting and fascinating and I wonder why isn't there such a game yet (at least I'm not aware of any). It could have a great deal of exploration, like giving you the available maps at the time and let you have a go at establishing new trade routes, doing navigation the old way all in a dynamic campaign setting on which you can choose your side (yes, pirates included :arrgh!:). The micromanagement fans would be able to dive into crew/supply/ship configuration. You could be fighting other ships or the forces of nature, like confronting a severe storm and, providing you survive, being able to tell where the heck you are on the map afterwards :DL Drop in realism options like in SH and some nice graphics and it could work.

Anyone else who would enjoy this sort of game?

[FIREWALL]

There are modern ship sailing sims out there.

How good ? Anyones guess.

Google is your friend.

[aergistal]

This is not about Virtual Skipper mate. The topic is called Age of Sail Simulation. When I say I'm not aware of any example I mean I've searched and re-searched before posting. Also this is a discussion so any opinions are welcome.

[fw66]

I would definitely buy a game based on this sort of thing

I know you're asking for specific games, but I'm afraid I don't know any, but I've always thought that sh3's engine would be great for modding something like this due to its campaign system and the fact that it models wind speed/direction, crew morale etc..

The campaign could be set in the napoleonic wars, or perhaps a little earlier.
You could choose a navy (eg French, British, Spanish), start as captain of a sloop and get sent on cruises to patrol certain areas capturing/sinking vessels - much like in sh3

Scripted events could also take place (like the battle of the Nile, Trafalgar etc) and you could be summoned to join scripted fleets via the radio message system (obviously modded to look suitably 18th/early 19th century as if receiving orders from a ship carrying dispatches)

the renown system would work well with ship and weapon upgrades too.

Of course, even a very simple version of this would be an enormous amount of work, but it's an interesting thought and one that I frequently daydream about!

[Sub146]

Yes i would love this type of game/sim , as it stands i get my age of sail fix with empire total war and napoleon total war , we can only hope this will happen some day :arrgh!: i for one would buy it.

[fw66]

I also get my fix from East India Company, which as a game is pretty disappointing, but the combat is the closest thing to what I'd like (although rather crummy simulation of weather and all that) as you can stand on the deck and get a bit of a feel for it. The East India Company Pirate Bay addon is a bit better I guess as it's completely focussed on the combat, but it's not really worth the money.

I like Empire, but find the management of so many ships gets very frustrating!

[Sonarman]

Yes, probably East India Company in terms of combat. You should also check out the Pirates Ahoy site (http://forum.piratesahoy.net//index.php?) as it's primarily dediated to that period and they have quite an active modding team working on various games, particularly the Akella ones.

[raymond6751]

I've had Sea Dogs, Pirates of the Carribean, and Age of Pirates 1 & 2 and, like you, just want to sail.

I play these games as a trader and avoid fighting, as a trader would. The best of them, for just sailing around, is Age of Pirates 2 City of Lost Ships.

The reason is that you really sail the map. You can go to the 2d, topdown map and fast move. You can also set your course and patiently wait for the destination island to come over the horizon.

There isn't much 'sailing' technicalities though. It would be great to have a game where you could set specific sails, tack, and navigate properly.

Designing ships would be cool too.

[Sonarman]

The great news is that the modding community at Pirates Ahoy actually have been given the source code for City of Abandoned Ships by Akella so now anything is possible, definitely one to watch.

[aergistal]

Thank you all for the feedback!

raymond, Age of Pirates 2 looks interesting. Is it playable in stock form? I mean, I don't care if it has a steep learning curve or you need trial and error but is it relatively free of frustrating bugs? There's also that upcoming game,
Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned. I like the fact that you can leave the ship and explore the land too.

Sonarman thanks for letting me know about the site. I'm gonna watch it too. Maybe even going to start modelling some ships after I finish my current project.

Now for a proper sim, among the features I would enjoy in such a game, besides good physics, would be a simulated night sky with some of the actual stars and planets (with an option to display labels for them :DL). There are many open source programs for this. The lack of precision of early navigation could be challenging. You'd have the option to use tools like astrolabs, back staffs or the early sextant yourself or get the navigator do it for you. For longitude you'd have a range of clocks of different precisions.

I wonder how the in-game map should look and work. It might not be enough to have a fog of war effect. I think it needs a new mechanic, like displaying newly discovered map objects (such as islands) based on your navigation error and skill.

[Sung]

Ahoi,
:salute:
we work since 6 month on a Pirates Sailing "Simulation". Our project goal is it to make a game like "Elite" in a tropical island theater. You can try a new demo (traveling and trading) of the project.

http://www.silent-wolf.de/bilder/info.jpg

Pirates Empire Demo II (7,5 MB)
http://www.box.net/shared/0bluvmryul

The manual sheet in german language
http://www.box.net/shared/y713v026jc

We develop the game in german language. Maybe it is a little bit difficult to understand the manual but its easy to understand when you play it.

Commands after starting the game.

in the harbour:
press space to open the trading book
left side the trading goods and price - right side your ship
Accept with the right button under the book

traveling:
click on the anchor button (blue) - anchor is now up
click on the sail slider to set sail up
Look on the wind direction panel / left side upper corner
the ship direction panel is nearby. If both arrows shows in the same direction the wind came from behind.
click left mouse button an hold on the rudder

There is a minimap in the right corner. left mouse button on it and you see the big map.

Greetings
Sung
:arrgh!:

[fw66]

Ahoi,
:salute:
we work since 6 month on a Pirates Sailing "Simulation". Our project goal is it to make a game like "Elite" in a tropical island theater. You can try a new demo (traveling and trading) of the project.

http://www.silent-wolf.de/bilder/info.jpg

Pirates Empire Demo II (7,5 MB)
http://www.box.net/shared/0bluvmryul

The manual sheet in german language
http://www.box.net/shared/y713v026jc

We develop the game in german language. Maybe it is a little bit difficult to understand the manual but its easy to understand when you play it.

Commands after starting the game.

in the harbour:
press space to open the trading book
left side the trading goods and price - right side your ship
Accept with the right button under the book

traveling:
click on the anchor button (blue) - anchor is now up
click on the sail slider to set sail up
Look on the wind direction panel / left side upper corner
the ship direction panel is nearby. If both arrows shows in the same direction the wind came from behind.
click left mouse button an hold on the rudder

There is a minimap in the right corner. left mouse button on it and you see the big map.

Greetings
Sung
:arrgh!:

Thanks, will give this a try!

[aergistal]

Roger, Sung! Will have a go at it. Thanks!

[Sung]

Pirates Empire is going on.

We finish today the trading A.I. The A.I. Ships are now trading and traveling to harbours.
We also have a new ship, a sloop. Here you see the player ship crossing a sloop in the salty bay :D
http://www.blitzforum.de/upload/file.php?id=8566

:arrgh!:
If you like it you can follow our worklog on : http://www.blitzforum.de/worklogs/344/ (german language)

[Sung]

A video is online :salute:
http://www.blitzforum.de/worklogs/344/

cya
:arrgh!: