Naval Action News

Seasonal Patch: The “missing link”



The concept existed in Darwin's time, that a chimpanzee-like missing link—that looked like something between humans and apes—would eventually be found at the root of the human family tree.Lucy found in 1974 proved this concept; Ardi further connected these missing links.

Just like the scientists who study the human origin, we strive to find all missing links in the sailing model to make Naval Action (and future games) better.

[h2]Missing link one: The Battle Sail[/h2]

• Everyone knows why Captains of the Age of sail fought on battle sails. Battle sails allowed to have a clear deck, improved visibility and reduced the risk of fires and falling sails. Many did not know why this allowed the ships to perform, sail and turn and the sailing model did not allow for that. Ships sails worked in linear progression.
  
• Careful and deep study of 18th century books on Seamanship helped us to uncover this link and connect the dots. Extra sails have diminishing power and every next sail that is set provides less and less power to the ship. As a result you will sail at very good speed and have best turning at just half of your sail set.
  
• For the majority of vessels sail settings will change to
  • slow
    
  • half
    
  • battle
    
  • full
• Undercooked sail settings (like sails opening and closing when increasing sail) will be fixed

[h2]Missing link two: The Wind shadow[/h2]

• Ships fought in lines, station keeping was important. Captains who could not - were court martialed, as lack of station keeping caused great danger to fleets and their task. Why they had to keep station and plan maneuvers carefully? One of the main reasons was wind shadow.
  
• Wind shadow significantly cuts the wind to leeward. At certain range (depending on the height of the mast) the wind could be completely cut. If you sail in a frigate by the leeward side of the first rate you will completely stop - No wind there. This is being implemented in Naval Action.
  
• Your position to the enemy or a friendly ship becomes a lot more important. Ships will get stuck if they don’t keep the station, blobs stop working, chases change, enemy ships will no longer be able to push you into the wind to board.

[h2]Missing link three: Sail setting vs Sail furling[/h2]

• This one is simple but important. It takes longer to furl (remove) the sail than to set it (drop it down). In active battle captain will have to turn yards and depower sails instead of removing them.

[h2]Gunnery changes[/h2]

• Multiple treatises on gunnery and ordnance were studied and the main lessons will be applied to Naval Action gunnery.
  
• All guns over-penetrate at close range, but long-range penetration does not diminish a lot for heavy guns
  
• Long range accuracy grows with cannonball weight
  
• The wind shadow and proper sail power will increase the battle distance on some occasions, and the changes the sailing model will help tactical variety in battles

[h2]Other changes and fixes[/h2]

Visual overhauls for ports

• Dutch
  
• British
  
• USA
  
• Prussia
  
• China
  
• France
  
• Russia (eventually)

[h2]Additional descriptions[/h2]

• Sailing
  • Fixed and tuned presets for all sails groups and ships
    
  • Fixed proportional power of yard power
    
  • Sail furling is now 2x slower compared to sail setting (sail setting/opening) has the same speed as before
• Sail preset bonuses
  • Added bonuses to presets
    • Lower crew depending on sails preset: more sails will require more crew, less sails will require less crew encouraging you to fight on battle sails
      
    • Sail damage resistance changes based on sail preset (you get additional resistance when you have minimum sail)
      • mast resistance based on sails open is coming soon
• New mission content
  • Mission to capture ports added.
    • Requirements
      • Capture several ports from neutrals or top 4 nations
        
      • Must be all in different regions
  • Front line change:
    • You can now take hostility missions for 2 nearest ports AND 1 nearest port of top 3 nations.
• Damage model rebalance
  • Full rebalance of hull penetration, cannon penetration and masts thickness numbers, giving better usability to lower calibers and giving more options in range for longer guns
    • Hull thickness difference changed
      • From 25 (cutter) - 75+ (first rates) to 70 - 100
        
      • Mast thickness changed to 100 (cutter) to 130 (first rates)
    • Gun penetration changes
      • Distance change - heavy long guns can operate at 1km against unpgraded first rates, and at 1.5km against light ships
    • Almost ALL guns penetrate first rates and their not upgraded masts at point blank range
  • Re balanced several upgrades (mostly reduced bonuses on mast thickness)
    • overall mast thickness boosts fell from 70+% from woods and upgrades to 49% total boost (max upgrades max wood)
  • Increased mast HP of lower sections and mid section
    
  • Increased charge penetration bonus from 10% to 20%
    
  • Tracking shot accuracy bonus lowered from 40% to 10% as 40% was too much in new penetration logic
• Economy and looting
  • Changed cannon prices
    
  • Looting: You can now loot from ANY distance after battle is over.
    
  • Loki invaders now count in PVE hunts (oops)
    
  • Rebalanced prices for clan wood delivery missions
    
  • Teleport to port battle is now 50,000 doubloons
• Chatting
  • Help chat and global chat is now switched off for War Server.
    
  • Help chat and global chat will continue working on Peace Server.
• Added ability to redeem Trincomalee if you already have it in docks
  
• Visual upgrade for some nations

[h3]Battle sails hotfix has been deployed 22 August[/h3]
Warning - DONT FIGHT AT FULL SAIL at close/medium range.

Sail combinations bonuses have been updated.

Logic

• Turning bonus - You get better rudder performance due to less heel and water pressure at keel at certain sail positions
  
• Yard torque bonus - same as above - due to less resistance at keel you get better yard side torque
  
• Crew on sail reduction = 85%. - self explanatory - less sails = less crew to operate
  
• Sail damage resistance = less sail open, less damage to rig and entanglement from chain
  
• Mast thickness bonus= 45% = less sail open results in less wind pressure on masts ,thus they are harder to take down.
  
• Mast damage reduction= -80% = less sail open results in less wind pressure on masts, thus they are harder to break if rig is damaged or mast is hit.

We are thinking of also adding accuracy bonuses to lower sails as you have a lot better visibility on deck for gun crews if you dont have lower main sails opened.

Here is the current state of bonuses after maintenance.

Stop

• Turning bonus
  
• Yard torque bonus
  
• Crew on sail reduction = 85%.
  
• Sail damage resistance
  
• Mast thickness bonus= 45%
  
• Mast damage reduction= -80%

Slow

• Turning bonus = 5%
  
• Yard torque bonus
  
• Crew on sail reduction = -85%
  
• Sail damage resistance = -75%
  
• Mast thickness bonus = 35%
  
• Mast damage reduction= -65%

Half

• Turning bonus = 10%
  
• Yard torque bonus = 10%
  
• Crew on sail reduction = -75%
  
• Sail damage resistance = -60%
  
• Mast thickness bonus = 25%
  
• Mast damage reduction = -50%

Battle

• Turning bonus = 15%
  
• Yard torque bonus = 10%
  
• Crew on sail reduction = -50%
  
• Sail damage resistance = 40%
  
• Mast thickness bonus = 25%
  
• Mast damage reduction = -30%

Full

• Turning bonus =
  
• Yard torque bonus =
  
• Crew on sail reduction =
  
• Sail damage resistance = 10% more damage - due to full wind pressure
  
• Mast thickness bonus = -20% less thickness - due to full wind pressure
  
• Mast damage reduction = 20% more damage - due to full excessive wind pressure on sails

[h3]Hotfix 27 August 2020[/h3]

• Hercules, Pandora, Xebec HP buffed, thickness buffed
  
• Turning curves changed slightly for more turning penalty at full speed and at less penalties at low speed.
  • Optimal turning zone is from 50 to 85% ship speed. With increased resistance the ability of rudder to turn the ship becomes worse due to resistance of keel
• Full sails receive a penalty to turning and slightly increased penalty to mast thickness and hp.
  
• Determined defender now requires attacker to have 30% more crew to overcome stiff resistance.

Seasonal Patch: The “missing link”



The concept existed in Darwin's time, that a chimpanzee-like missing link—that looked like something between humans and apes—would eventually be found at the root of the human family tree.Lucy found in 1974 proved this concept; Ardi further connected these missing links.

Just like the scientists who study the human origin, we strive to find all missing links in the sailing model to make Naval Action (and future games) better.

[h2]Missing link one: The Battle Sail[/h2]

• Everyone knows why Captains of the Age of sail fought on battle sails. Battle sails allowed to have a clear deck, improved visibility and reduced the risk of fires and falling sails. Many did not know why this allowed the ships to perform, sail and turn and the sailing model did not allow for that. Ships sails worked in linear progression.
  
• Careful and deep study of 18th century books on Seamanship helped us to uncover this link and connect the dots. Extra sails have diminishing power and every next sail that is set provides less and less power to the ship. As a result you will sail at very good speed and have best turning at just half of your sail set.
  
• For the majority of vessels sail settings will change to
  • slow
    
  • half
    
  • battle
    
  • full
• Undercooked sail settings (like sails opening and closing when increasing sail) will be fixed

[h2]Missing link two: The Wind shadow[/h2]

• Ships fought in lines, station keeping was important. Captains who could not - were court martialed, as lack of station keeping caused great danger to fleets and their task. Why they had to keep station and plan maneuvers carefully? One of the main reasons was wind shadow.
  
• Wind shadow significantly cuts the wind to leeward. At certain range (depending on the height of the mast) the wind could be completely cut. If you sail in a frigate by the leeward side of the first rate you will completely stop - No wind there. This is being implemented in Naval Action.
  
• Your position to the enemy or a friendly ship becomes a lot more important. Ships will get stuck if they don’t keep the station, blobs stop working, chases change, enemy ships will no longer be able to push you into the wind to board.

[h2]Missing link three: Sail setting vs Sail furling[/h2]

• This one is simple but important. It takes longer to furl (remove) the sail than to set it (drop it down). In active battle captain will have to turn yards and depower sails instead of removing them.

[h2]Gunnery changes[/h2]

• Multiple treatises on gunnery and ordnance were studied and the main lessons will be applied to Naval Action gunnery.
  
• All guns over-penetrate at close range, but long-range penetration does not diminish a lot for heavy guns
  
• Long range accuracy grows with cannonball weight
  
• The wind shadow and proper sail power will increase the battle distance on some occasions, and the changes the sailing model will help tactical variety in battles

[h2]Other changes and fixes[/h2]

Visual overhauls for ports

• Dutch
  
• British
  
• USA
  
• Prussia
  
• China
  
• France
  
• Russia (eventually)

In second part of the patch (or maybe earlier)

• Port battle conquest quest
  
• New battle ensigns

The patch is now on testbed.

[h2]How to get access to the testbed[/h2]

• Find the game in your steam library
  
• Right click and go to properties
  
• Go to Beta tab
  
• Enter the key - YlYBRbu8J1UC5py43DY0
  
• Select the beta called: Testbed
  
• And click close
  
• It will download automatically.
  
• To return to the main game select none instead of testbed in the beta tab.

Captains.
Every owner who bought or will buy the game before Monday 3rd of August will receive a free HMS Trincomalee DLC. If you were thinking about buying the game - this is a perfect moment. Ship DLCs will allow you to get a free ship from the admiralty (including with seasoned wood) once in 24 hours.

From 3rd of august - price of the game will drop as well.

• Trincomalee was built in from Teak in India by the master shipbuilder Jamshoot Wadia
  
• Wadia Group is still operating in India and owns multiple businesses including an airline and a cricket team
  
• Trincomalee blueprints were stolen from HMS Java by USS Constitution
  
• HMS Java was originally French sailing under name of "Renommee"
  
• Trincomalee was built based on the Leda Class designs
  
• Interestingly enough, another Leda Class ship HMS Shannon, captured USS Constitution weaker sister-ship Chesapeake
  
• Leda class design was based on the French ship "Hebe"
  
• Hebe was captured in combat by HMS Rainbow which was the first combat use of the Carronades
  
• Hebe was designed by Jacques Sane
  
• Sane also designed the Ocean, Duguay-Trouin, the Redoutable. A lot of ships at Trafalgar were designed by Sane
  
• Trincomalee was a training ship alongside HMS Implacable. Implacable was at Trafalgar under the name Duguay-Trouin
  
• Trincomalee operated till 1986
  
• These days Trincomalee is the oldest British warship afloat!
  

3rd August - HMS Shannon - another leda class ship - was launched at Chatham Dockyard

Captains,

Port battles are ready to return to War Server Thursday 25th of June!

[h3]Port battles are enabled on War Server (pvp server)[/h3]

Improvements

• Added flag expiry - currently set at 7 days. Flag will become useless in 7 days after its initial capture
  • Ability to trade in the flags to the admiralty will be added in the near future. Even expired flags can be traded in.
• Conquest flag Instance visibility
  • Added some distance between instances with conquest flag battles (indicated by swords) even if they are placed near each other to remove ability to hide instances from enemies (like happened with hostility missions)
    
  • Slightly raised the flags above sea for better visibility
• Returned the message from clerk on successful placement of flag
  
• Flag now allows attack for 2 nearest enemy ports as old hostility missions
  
• Flags now drop from heavy Home defense fleets (10% drop rate)
  
• Increased the number of first rates in Home defense fleets by 2

Current flags and conquest test chests will be removed from player accounts

Seeferkel last log can now drop from Admiral and Captain's chest and is slightly nerfed

Potential change to distance of attack

We are considering to change attack distance from 2 nearest port to the following system

• You will still be able to attack 2 nearest enemy ports (as before), BUT
  
• You will also be able to attack 1 nearest enemy port from 3 largest nation even if it is further away from 2 nearest enemy ports

This will allow you to attack more distant ports and is especially valuable for small landlocked nations who might be stuck and have to resort to diplomacy and port trading. Ability to attack 1 nearest port from top nations (even if it is far away) will greatly increase options for both large and small nations.

[h2]Hotfix 9th July 2020[/h2]

• War server - raiders now only attack top 5 nations by the number of ports.
  
• Patrol change - Patrols zones now only allow attack by ships within the patrol zone limit. For example 1st rate will no longer be able to attack 5th rates in the 5th rate patrol.
  
• Wood distribution
  • Malabar Teak and Greenheart now allow contracts
    
  • Additional trading source of all new woods added to a secondary cities in counties that had them.
    • For example Rangoon Teak, Greenheart and Malabar Teak woods can now be traded in St Joseph near Bridgetown.

[h2]Hotfix 23rd July[/h2]

• Timber stats updated.
  • Google doc with timber stats updated
    
  • Acceleration for all ships reduced to cover for acceleration inflation
    
  • Base Speed for all ships reduced by 7% across the board to cover for speed inflation.
    
  • Prices for base timbers updated to better correspond to the in game economy
• Tuned the Home defense fleets logic so they do not venture far from assigned patrol zones (please report if you see them elsewhere again)
  
• Conquest flag now can drop from the flag carrier as loot (so you can claim a small reward in the admiralty)
  
• Solo NPCs are added to the patrol zones (this will slightly improve situation in the patrol zones on the Peace server as well as will add some targets on the War server)
  
• Reduced the time to attack to 5 seconds (experimental) - from previous 8 seconds - This is experimental - please report if it causes issues
  
• Increased the attack circle by 50m to cover potential minor desync issues
  
• Fixed the problem that did not assign the owner to the conquest flag due to certain actions in port

[h2]Hotfix 12th of August[/h2]

• Victory marks removed from all investment requirements
  
• Victory mark grants removed for port ownership
  
• Port battle transport added at test price of 25000 doubloons per item

Port battle transport comes for testing to Peace server today patch

Here is how the item works.



If you have port battle starting in 5 minutes you can use the item to transport a group of captains to port battle.

• Acquire the item
  
• Create a group
  
• Request the group to click ready
  
• Use the item
  
• Select the port to transport the ships to
  
• Once sent to the port battle your ships will have 300 second invulnerability (and wont be able to attack too - only join battle)

The following requirements must be fulfilled.

• All captains must be in the same port
  
• Only group leader who is a member of the clan alliance or clan can use the item
  
• Holds of ships can only contain repairs (no trading goods)
  
• Ships must be not overloaded
  
• Ships must be combat ships (not trading ships)
  
• Every group member must click ready button in port

These parameters are set up for testing only and will change for live implementation.

• Group size - 5 Players - so Peace server players can try the feature
  
• Transport to port battle stops working 30 mins after port battle starts
  
• Number of groups that can be teleported to a particular port battle 2
• Price is set very low in the admiralty to allow testing the feature - once the feature is tested the cost will significantly increase (above 50,000 doubloons)
  
• Items will be cleared from storage after test is over.