[CaptainHaplo]

For those wanting the game to be "real time" - remember your tasked - in the demo only - to control 8 or more ships at a time. Think your up to tracking them ALL at the same time in "real time"? If you tried - you would end up screaming "Its too much to control at one time - why isnt there a "pause and command" feature!" The first time you neglected to check a vessel and it got hammered, you would be unhappy. This is not a game that is designed to be command and conquer with ironclads - its designed to represent some of the HISTORICAL challenges of fighting with, and against, this "new technology" at an earlier time in naval history.

Your entitled to your opinions, but lets keep the "well your screwed this all up" to constructive criticism. Instead of saying "the map doesnt show which way my ship is going" - try suggesting a fix - a map graphic change that shows the bow of your ship marked so you can determine direction for example. Just remember - you have a map - the Captains of the time period had a hand drawn map that they had to be able to tranlate what they could see - to relate it onto the map. Think just seeing a map that gives you a "birds eye view" would have been a luxury they would have loved to have? *Actually it would have given them alot better tactical awareness".

While games like Xcom did allow a soldier to "pass" his movement phase, thats something a person in the real world could do - choose to not move. However, can a ship in battle suddenly stop dead in the water just because its "tactically sound", then resume its movement later? No - physics indicates it can't - so such an option should not be in a game that strives represent the challenges of the era. Part of the challenge of naval maneuvering - from the age of sail through steam, is being able to plan ahead and anticipate what your opponent may do - so you place yourself not for the moment, but you act so that you have the opening in the future you need to gain the advantage. If you play any sailing "game" for the "right now" advantage - you won't win. This held true even with powered ships, and can be seen in actions from the defeat of the Spanish Armada, to the Battle of Jutland.

I am a bit of a history buff. I look at this as yes - the game could be improved. However, these devs haven't gotten this "finished" and have shown a great willingness to fix things that can be shown to need fixing. Is that not what we as gamers have always said we wanted? They have obviously done alot of groundwork research, and no game is perfect. Sure its not as pretty as Seadogs2 (PotC), or realtime. So far I haven't even inquired about if they are building in multiplayer support (nothing listed on that on the main english page). But the fact is, its a work in progress that shows a lot of promise.

If you like something - say so. If you don't - say that too! Just be considerate of the fact that these people are pouring alot of effort into it - so offer ideas on how to improve things, vs just "this is whats all wrong". The only exception there is turn based vs realtime. Taking a game like this - on a "built" engine - and changing that from one to the other - is almost impossible. You are asking them to almost start over. Those types of decisions - real time vs "time" turn based are made very early in developmental planning. There is nothing to be done about it now - and trust me on this - in the end you wouldnt be happy with it unless you could constantly pause the game to issue new commands anyway. If your having to do that - your not playing "real time" like a historical captain did anyway right?

Now - I will make a couple of suggestions regarding the turn based model. First, set it up so that if a player does not give specific orders to a vessel or group, they continue with the current orders. Also perhaps create a slider or setting to where we could control how much time each "turn" is containing. Currently the manual states we are simulating 5 minutes of time per turn. Some may see 5 minutes as too long a period for each turn. If we could adust it - say to 1/3/5 minute settings, then it would allow many gamers to feel they have more control over the actual battle. This could alleviate some of the "real time" requests while keeping the current scheme. Might not be possible due to reloading times - don't know how you guys implimented that. Just a couple of ideas.