The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Man-of-War related games
MalaysianShrew
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So sometimes I get into ye old sailing ships. The epic ship on ship actions that took place and the large fleet battles. However, I don't know of any good games that present this. I remember playing a History Channel demo called Horatio's Revenge or something, where you commanded various ships from a first person perspective. It wasn't all that great, but it was something I had never seen before and havn't seen since.
So, G&T, are you aware of any Age of Sail sim games that can satiate my hunger for boarding actions and grapeshot? Or am I doomed to recreate battles with my lego ships?
So, G&T, are you aware of any Age of Sail sim games that can satiate my hunger for boarding actions and grapeshot? Or am I doomed to recreate battles with my lego ships?
Never trust a big butt and a smile.
MalaysianShrew on
0
Posts
The classic board game of Age of Sail combat is Avalon Hill's Wooden Ships & Iron Men (1975), which was converted into an apparently mediocre PC game in 1996.
More recent games are Close Action from Clash of Arms Games (1997) and Flying Colors from GMT (2005).
Also for a brief moment I thought this thread was going to be about a new He-Man game and got really excited.
Bethesda merely published it. Sea Dogs and the number of games following it are Russian made. They're huge there, and the franchise is actually called Corsairs. Sea Dogs, or Corsairs, came first, followed by Pirates of the Caribbean (Corsairs 2). There have been countless expansion packs and stand-alone expansion packs and mods that never arrived in the United States or elsewhere. We're actually missing out on so much content, most of which is really impressive, it is beyond ridiculous.
The actual Corsairs 3 was released out of Russia as Age of Pirates: Caribbean Tales. It's a lot of fun and it's visually impressive [at sea]. Although the new engine and interface are a big improvement, feature wise it's lacking from previous games. Naturally, expansion packs and the massive mods came out in Russia, but we never got any of those. There was little to no land exploration to be had, aside from towns.
It's definitely worth checking out, however. You can trade and do random side missions and pirating to your hearts content. Sign on with the Dutch or French or English or Spanish or pirates, if you so wish, and terrorize the sea or set out to make your faction better than the others. You can attack towns, and even govern them. These towns can even be improved. I don't believe you can govern them, however, unless your faction gives you the order to take it.
Pirates of the Caribbean has a huge mod for it made by non-Russian players that's still being heavily worked on even today. Some of the new content can be quite buggy, though, but it does add an absolutely huge amount. I can't stand the interface and world map in comparison to Age of Pirates, as they're just plain ugly, so you have to decide what you want. A much more visually pleasing game with a better and more interesting interface and world map, easier to get into and make a fortune, or a more feature rich experience in a less user-friendly game with a very dated interface and engine.
There's another game coming out, however, and it looks to have everything we missed out on. The big mod team in Russia was made into an actual development house, and they're the ones crafting Corsairs 4, or as we know it, City of Abandoned Ships. It has been out in Russia for some time, and the US release date says Q2 2008, so it's possible we could see it in June. It looks and sounds fantastic, as a fan of the series, with huge land sections to explore. You can even dive under the water to explore sunken ships and ruins for treasure. There are multiple characters to choose from with multiple stories and paths to take.
Here's the RPG Vault interview:
Yury Rohach: City of Abandoned Ships is a based on a romantic view of pirate life in the late 17th century. It offers the opportunity to explore a gigantic, self-sufficient, independent world that players can affect, depending on their particular decisions. There is a wide range of freedom in these choices, and in the ways of completing tasks. At first sight, the closest similar game seems to be Age of Pirates: Caribbean Tales, but where the gameplay is concerned, we'd rather compare it to Sea Dogs.
The gamer will always need to maintain the balance between two big environments. One is the land territories, which are normally seen with the third-person view, although it's also possible to switch to first-person. The other is the sea lanes, where it's possible to take control of one or several vessels in both third-person and flagship deck views. The balance of play while controlling your character on land and on the seas approaches 50/50. There's no multiplayer.
Jonric: What will distinguish your game from the two you named and others with the pirate theme that might appear similar at first glance?
Yury Rohach: Well, when distinguishing the game from other seemingly similar titles of the same genre, I would pick out these key elements that make City of Abandoned Ships stand out:
- The character's adventures on land are very interesting and challenging. Land is not only the place where you can recruit your crew members and replenish your ship's hold, but also a venue to experience romantic adventures, search for treasures and loot, and get deeply involved in political conspiracies.
- We tried to escape plunging the gamer into a single plot or storyline; instead, we give him complete freedom in making his choices, and also immerse him in a number of separate storylines within the gameworld.
- There are a lot randomly selected stories and events, so the game will be interesting to replay. Every time you choose a different way of solving a problem or completing a task, you might find very different consequences, adventures, and whole stories!
Jonric: What can we expect in terms of backstory elements? How is the game structured, and what is the player's ultimate objective?
Yury Rohach: The gamer will find several variants of the backstory depending on the character selected. Two of the three available will enable the player to get to one of the many ports to start his career. When selecting one, the gamer will have to find out what it is to turn from a regular British doctor into a famous corsair.
After that, all the three characters will be completely free in their choices; there are lots of side quests and additional adventures, both big and small. The game is open-ended. The gamer can finish it by completing one of the global stories, or he can choose to go farther and capture all the colonies to achieve absolute victory over all the foes.
Jonric: How large and varied is the gameworld? What are some interesting or unusual locations we'll be able to visit?
Yury Rohach: The game is set around the famous islands of the Caribbean. The total area amounts to about 3,000 by 2,000 km. The gamer will encounter jungles, caves, catacombs, coves and bays, desolate islands, and wild unexplored spaces.
Among the unusual places to visit, there will be the City of Abandoned Ships itself, which is chaos on the sea, full of waterlogged vessels; and Tenochtitlan, the former capital city of the Aztecs, where the gamer can explore dungeons and temples filled with mysteries. There will be separate unique locations involving some missions below the waves. One of them requires the character's searches for an ancient prototype of an underwater suit.
Jonric: Will we see much historical context such as personalities and events, and how does the player character fit in with them?
Yury Rohach: The game involves the player interacting with real historical personalities from Henry Morgan to captain Morris Williams, and participating in authentic historical events, such as, for example, assault of Panama. It's up to the gamer to become an honest and loyal captain ready to die for his reputation or the commodities entrusted to him... or you can choose to be a desperate pirate who plunders merchant ships.
Jonric: What range of characters can the player choose, and what's the impact of decisions made at this stage?
Yury Rohach: The game starts with three options for selecting a character, each with a destiny to become a merchant, adventurer or a. We can also pick out a nation to get to the first city and the initial story that will lead us to the main ones.
The choice of the character will affect the attitudes of other NPCs towards him. All the characters can be equipped with weapons and several types of cuirasses.
Jonric: What kind of advancement system are you implementing? What are the primary attributes, and are there many skills and abilities to develop?
Yury Rohach: The game is based on the P.I.R.A.T.E.S role-playing system - Power, Impression, Reaction, Authority, Talent, Endurance and Success. These stats affect the development rate of the character's 14 skills, which skills are divided into personal (authority, light, medium, and heavy weapons, guns, luck and stealth) and seafaring (navigation, accuracy, arsenal of weapons, boarding, defense, ship recovery, trade).
Every skill gets its own development path depending on the way the player gets through the game. For example, shopping increases the Trade skill, and its development will finally decrease and block the Boarding skills. If you fire guns, you develop your Gun skill only, becoming more accurate and fatal to enemies. Sea battles develop Accuracy and Arsenal of Weapons skills, etc.
As the game proceeds, the player receives various personal or ship ability points - perks. They can be assigned to any or all of the 55 different abilities. The way abilities are arranged affect whether it is easier either to trade and settle conflicts among nations, or wage wars with merchants and colonies. Such is the life of an adventurous pirate.
Jonric: What form will combat take when it occurs on land, and what will the player want to focus on to emerge victorious?
Yury Rohach: Fencing is divided into three categories: rapier (light), cavalry sword (medium), and swords, and axes (heavy). The hero can become an expert in those weapons he wields most. It's also possible to use guns. It's also important to know that in battles, there will besides, there will be officers the main character has recruited - up to five. The most valuable of them is a musketeer who wields a very powerful weapon. Thus a large part of the game's battle system is comprised of the battle tactics since there are various ways of enticing enemies into traps and ambushes.
Jonric: How about the naval engagements? What are they like, and what key factors significantly affect the results?
Yury Rohach: The ship battles rely on tactics, stats and number of vessels in the character's squadron, which can be up to five. It's very important to keep an eye on condition of the crew, which affects maneuverability and weaponry. The degree to which the ship is damaged influences the course of an encounter.
However, the most important aspect of the sea battle should be its tactics. You'll need to consider location and condition of the ships you take command of, wind rose and location of forts. We are really proud of the ship AI that acts independent of the gamer.
Jonric: What kinds of opponents can players expect to face, both on land and while at sea? What are some interesting or unusual examples?
Yury Rohach: While playing on land, the gamer can face various characters, from bandits and pirates to soldiers and municipal police. Sometimes, he'll even fight entire garrisons or military troops. A separate group of enemies includes the likes of Aztec warriors, living skeletons and, sometimes, gigantic crabs.
The bosses include famous pirates and military officers. While boarding an enemy's ship and fighting on the deck, you can regard every enemy captain a mini-boss. You'll definitely remember the Aztec leader and one of the ancient gods who decided to return to life.
At sea, the main character will face various ships, and forts on shore. The most unusual boss at sea is probably the Flying Dutchman. She can, however, be captured if luck is on your side.
Jonric: Does the game have many types of ships to sail, how do they differ, and how are they acquired to build up the player's squadron?
Yury Rohach: The game features 25 types of ships. The gamer can get some by completing quests successfully. Each one has a unique combination of various parameters: hull, sails, speed, maneuverability, wind on the bow, hold, arsenal of weapons, sailors, and experience of the crew. The weapons like cannons or couleuvrines [a type of small artillery piece - Ed.] can be of various calibers.
Besides the ship stats and the crew itself, there's cargo; It's important to keep an eye on it while sailing since there's always a risk of damage. The ships themselves can be repaired, but it's necessary to get to the port. Hulls can be fixed at sea if you have necessary materials.
The gamer can acquire vessels by seizing them from the enemy or purchasing them at ports. However, you'll need to capture one ship; have a small part of your crew to swim up to the ship and get aboard. Within a squadron, it's possible to exchange crews and cargos. That's why it's sometimes recommended to re-group the resources among ships to enhance their potential and influence the outcomes of battles.
Jonric: Do weapons and other items comprise an important gameplay element? What are some interesting ones? And is there any form of magic, like voodoo?
Yury Rohach: Every type of weapon has its strong and weak points. Heavy ones do the most harm; however, they require more energy. Light arms are quite the opposite, enabling the gamer to make more attacks, but with less damage. Firearms vary in damage, range, reload time and accuracy.
There are many articles, including those that affect stats, and others necessary to complete certain quests. You'll be able to find them in chests, on board ships, on defeated enemies, and in multiple treasures scattered all over the gameworld. You'll sometimes need NPCs' help to find them; they have their stories, and treasure maps that you can get or buy. There are a lot of interesting items, like the Aztecs' belongings... you'll have to search various islands for them to finally uncover Tenochtitlan's location.
There's no magic in the game. However, the player will have to face some mysteries the pirates' life is full with. You'll meet the living dead and legends of the ancient America.
Jonric: What goals did you set for City of Abandoned Ships' quest element, and have you tried to do anything that isn't typical?
Yury Rohach: All the quests were originally built as non-linear. There're always at least two options available, but very often there are even more because of many additional conditions.
The gamer will always be able to find something to do in the City of Abandoned Ships. He may run into soldiers from the closest hostile city, or just a gang... there's always someone to save from them. It's also quite hard to escape duels, searches for treasure, and quests given to you by the governors. You'll also need to penetrate the enemy towns to take part in political conspiracies or just to look for loot.
We believe that we took quite an interesting approach by adding some random events, independent of the gamer's choices. For instance, the character you agreed to meet with may not arrive. Afterwards, you'll need to find out what happened to him or her. However, when you replay the game, you may find that everything is alright.
Jonric: What would you like to say about other aspects of developing the game, such as the technologies you're using, and the music?
Yury Rohach: We have developed the game to be accessible for those players who don't possess extra-modern PCs, so you won't see the most innovative game technologies. However, we tried to make an overall look that lets the gamer get deeply immersed in the environment of that time.
As well, we believe that we have very good, if not the best, seascapes, sea behavior and weather variations. The in-game music was recorded by the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra and the folk group Doroga Vodana.
Jonric: What is the background of your team, Seaward.ru, and how did the City of Abandoned Ships project come about?
Yury Rohach: The City of Abandoned Ships is based on the Sea Legend is Back (available in Russian) that was originally a non-commercial, amateur add-on to Pirates of the Caribbean, then later modified for the graphical engine, models and textures of Age of Pirates: Caribbean Tales. At that time, Seaward.ru was comprised of a group of true enthusiasts, pirate game fans who studied development technologies.
Some time later, Akella suggested making an independent project and offered the support of its professional employees who worked on Sea Dogs, Pirates of the Caribbean and Age of Pirates: Caribbean Tales. Some of them became part of the present Seaward.ru. We re-developed almost all the in-game content, created new locations and characters, finalized and added many design elements and special visual effects. Thus, we now have a new game full of real pirate adventures.
Jonric: Since we often end our interviews in an open-ended manner, do you have any final thoughts to express?
Yury Rohach: The Russian game community has acknowledged that City of Abandoned Ships is a title with all the necessary features to make it a true romantic pirate story. We believe that's partly because the game developers have been and are fans of naval games about pirates. "Made by game fans for game fans."
I hope that got you interested. They're not the perfect games, however, and they can have a lot of bugs, but they're fantastic high sea adventure games which can be quite addictive. If you have some patience, City of Abandoned Ships should hopefully be out soon. It'll be the most feature rich Corsairs game released in the United States yet, as we're actually going to be getting features we've been missing out on from Russia only expansion packs and mods.
A sub-par MMO? No. The only cool thing was the character customization and nothing else.
SteamID: FronWewq
Battle.net: Orange#1845
3DS Friend Code: 1289-9498-5797
Worse than that I thought it was a thread for Manowar related games
NSFAnyone:
Don't feel bad, I thought the same thing.
I'm really looking forward to the new Akella game that Dashui mentioned.
Dashui's post is actually kind of exciting.