Major Patch - Gameplay improvements and Investments rework

[Ink]

Captains

Major Patch will be deployed on Monday 27th June (or worst case Tuesday). We wanted to deploy the patch this week but unfortunately it got delayed due to server problems.

Major change in design methods.

Gameplay is king

• All сurrent improvements come from the major change in our design philosophy: Game play is king. Realism will be kept if it supports gameplay, but it is not going to be a key factor when it does not help to improve gameplay.
  
• Every item every module and ship should have a reason to be used. If an item does not have any reason to be used it should be changed or improved or dropped.

Please let us know in the patch stabilisation on steam forums or in comments if you see things you want to use but do not see any reason to use it (due to balancing mistakes or low parameters).

Patch Content

Acceleration, Wind power and Speed Control

• Acceleration has been completely revamped
  
• Acceleration now depends on on wind power in sails. You will accelerate slower if you have less wind and faster if you have full wind power in all sails. Hull now influences deceleration and resistance based on speed much better, which provides a more natural and realistic sailing feeling
  
• This also means that you have to push your ship further when tacking if you want to gain speed faster.
  
• All ships passport speed can be exceeded if you use manual sails and add more wind to sails, some ships are affected more by this feature than others.

Chain and Demasting Changes

• Cannon Ball will no longer damage masts for clear game play difference.
  
• Cannonball can be used for hull and structure, chain will be used for masts and sails
  
• Chain shot damage is no longer limited by distance and will damage rig as far as your chainshot can reach.
  
• Chain shot always damages masts at any distance for clear predictable demasting gameplay. Battle sails and lower sail combinations reduce incoming mast damage by 50%
  
• Chain will have very low damage to sails (representing their ability to catch wind even if torn)
  
• Chain will now entangle the rig represented by rigging shock if you hit the rig right way (hitting as many sails as possible).
  
• Rigging shock will stop yard and sails from working for 1 min and will slow you down for a fixed % of speed loss. Rigging shock will provide predictable and standard speed debuff allowing you to keep enough speed to be effective in combat even if multiple gankers are shooting at you.

Mast thickness bonuses and modules still work but are not as effective as before. Refit your ship for mast HP for best results.

Structural leaks and speed

• Artificial low structure speed debuffs have been removed.
  
• Receiving water into hull increases your deceleration and thus reduces speed. Losing structure increases structural leaks as before.
  
• You can reduce incoming water by slowing down.
  
• At 0 speed incoming water is reduced by 50% even if you are at 0 structure.
  
• Increasing speed to max will double incoming water.

Penetration and thickness

All gun penetration tables are reworked for gameplay.

• Choice of gun barrel length and gun type will become more important and defined (even better than in 2015/2016 Sea Trials).
  
• Angle will predictably work for the gun typical range.
  
• For example if medium gun penetrates at 50 degrees at 100 m it will penetrate the same way at all distances from 0 to 750 m - its typical gun range.

Gun types

• Long guns – best for distances above 750m, good at distances below 750m. Guns: Long, Navy Long, Blomfield. Lower DPM
  
• Medium guns – good for distances below 750m, bad at any other range. Guns: Medium, Congrive, Edinorog. Medium DPM
  
• Short guns – Low penetration – work only below 300-400m. Do not work at any other distance. Guns: Carronade, Obusier. High DPM

750m = distance when nickname becomes visible.

Damage and Time to Sink

• Dependence of cannonball deflection on your ship speed has been removed due to inability to use this feature in combat effectively and predictably.
  
• All reload speeds have been lowered
  
• Planking hit points for ships have been lowered (base 900 for cutter, 10000 for Ocean)
  
• Damage and Time to Sink have been reworked closer to old Sea Trials Levels and tuned for average 8 broadsides to destroy all planking (both sides) for any similar class ship.
  
• Turning and changing broadsides is now absolutely required to increase damage that you deal to enemies.

Ship differences

• Interceptor classes (and fast battleships) - higher speed (1-2 knots higher), good turning at high speed, horrible turning on lower speeds. Use of yards absolutely required for maneuvering combat.
  
• Combat classes - lower speed, great turning at low speed, good turning at high speed. Use of yards further improves maneuvering combat ability.

Other changes

Clan Port Investments

• All current investments (which can be compensated) will be compensated. Refunds will be sent to clan warehouse of the current clan owner of the port.
  

• IMPORTANT: If there is no space (number of slots) in the warehouse refund will be lost - so clear up clan warehouse space to have empty slots for the number of items refunded.

• There is no other way to track individual contributors unfortunately but some clans might help you get back what you invested..

Individual shipbuilding skills and investments in industry

• New seasonal reward has been added - Naval Service Medal.
  
• New ability has been added - ability to invest seasonal medals to improve your industrial knowledge (allowing adding new types of buildings) and shipbuilding knowledge (allowing building better ships)
  
• This feature is added in test mode and will be wiped 1-2 times before final release. All investments of seasonal medals to improve shipbuilding or investments will be refunded when reset.
  
• Shipbuilding capabilities will work in ANY port where you can build a shipyard.(The increased chance for more slots in capturable ports still remains).
  
• Industrial capabilities will work in ANY port where you can build buildings.

Date update

Captains,

Due to additional testing required and personal circumstances - the patch is moved on Wednesday, June 29th. Apologies for the inconvenience caused

Update: The update is live on June 28th

Captains,

the update was deployed today, June 28th.

All current investments (which can be compensated) were compensated. Refunds were sent to clan warehouse of the current clan owner of the port.

For more information please check full patch notes above (section Clan Port Investments)

[Marlinspike]

How will these changes effect the rigging repair mechanic? Sounds like rigging repair is being made irrelevant.

[angriff]

Oh No not unlimited Chain ammo.. that so ruined the game.

[Bethencourt]

Will we keep our actual shipbuilding skills when the changes start, so does this "shipbuilding knowledge (allowing building better ships)" mean that we then will learn to do better ships versions from the flat normal actual ones we can already build? or will we have to start all over again from zero shipbuilding skills level like noobs?

[c3r3al]

Cannonball damage on masts should be kept; however, it could be reduced. I think it's silly to take away the option of damaging masts with them at all.. meanwhile masts can still be hit by grapeshot.

[angriff]

How the heck is gameplay enhanced by making 2/3 of the guns in game worthless?

[Daddy Kon]

I have a few things.
1 Mission chests are not worth killing 12 of any ship. They are a useless reward that should be improved or thrown out.
2 Trade ships should always be full to their hull limit no matter what they carry. I don't know any players that take out a trader with 40 coal aboard. Think like a player/shipbuilder. He packs his ship full of iron, hemp, etc, anything that his shipyard needs. 8 out of 10 traders should be full. Just spawn less of them if you think that's not balanced.. Make people want to hunt them.
3 Fleet perks cost too much. Some players want to have fun with fleets and still have combat perks. Let them have that. I may even start using fleets. They should cost 1 for every ship.
4 Buy contracts should expire every day. 'Lifers' are just setting ridiculous priced buy contracts and hogging resources. Make them go back and renew their contract daily. Half of them aren't even online. Open the market to everyone please.
5 Traders should outrun you if they can. They're not using their listed ship speed.
6 Captains names should be shown on the world map, IF, they want them shown. A button maybe?
7 Some warships should be converted into cargo ships. Not replaced, converted, because that's what really happened.
8 The spyglass should list the enemies range in combat. It should also list the name of the port you're looking at in the world map, in case you don't have the sexton perk.
9 Relating back to 8. The sexton perk should be free.
10 When I'm dragging and dropping items, I'd like the slider bar for the amount to start on full. When hiring and replacing crew it should start on full. Who ever wants to replace half their crew?

If anyone else has anything to add, well, do it.


Thank you.
Good game.

[seanjo]

Goodbye salt?

[Ink]

Date update

Captains,

Due to additional testing required and personal circumstances - the patch is moved on Wednesday, June 29th. Apologies for the inconvenience caused

[Hilde Die Wilde]

Originally posted by Ink:

Date update

....Due to additional testing required...

You know you could have a hundred extra testers for free...by running the patch on testbed ?

[FoxSl]

Originally posted by Hilde Die Wilde:

Originally posted by Ink:

Date update

....Due to additional testing required...

You know you could have a hundred extra testers for free...by running the patch on testbed ?

people didn't get compensation for lost ships during the game crash, and you're talking about free testers..

[Bethencourt]

Originally posted by FoxSl:

Originally posted by Hilde Die Wilde:

You know you could have a hundred extra testers for free...by running the patch on testbed ?

people didn't get compensation for lost ships during the game crash, and you're talking about free testers..

Isn`t it happening in two days?

I love the answers to our questions by the way.

[Frequens]

Originally posted by Ink:

Date update

Captains,

Due to additional testing required and personal circumstances - the patch is moved on Wednesday, June 29th. Apologies for the inconvenience caused

Irakli, may we kindly ask you to deploy that.. 'patch', or whatever you guys call it, under any circumstances no later than July 7? Reason is, me and many other players will be refunding Naval Action on the basis of material breach of contract and you rendering the agreement irreparably broken as you now effectively deprive us of the true purpose of our deal: a very specific kind of gameplay experience, namely hardcore realism.

Carry on with the changes, no problem with that anymore. It's just that we want to be out of your madhouse asap and want our money back while the steam summer sale is still on. We want to spend it on better games and support developers who have not completely lost the plot and who are capable of providing actual content instead of just nerfing the last little nut and bolt into total ♥♥♥♥. Thank you.

[Ink]

Originally posted by Ink:

Update: The update is live on June 28th

Captains,

the update was deployed today, June 28th.

All current investments (which can be compensated) were compensated. Refunds were sent to clan warehouse of the current clan owner of the port.

For more information please check full patch notes above (section Clan Port Investments)

[Sas3bg]

i like new changes ! :)

[Frequens]

Originally posted by Ink:

Originally posted by Ink:

Update: The update is live on June 28th

Captains,

the update was deployed today, June 28th.

All current investments (which can be compensated) were compensated. Refunds were sent to clan warehouse of the current clan owner of the port.

For more information please check full patch notes above (section Clan Port Investments)

oh my, Irakli, gotta say I'm rather positively surprised to find all my production buildings intact, and the ships still having their full pbs buffs - even though their stats have been hit with a massive nerf again! At least, captains with enough good ships in their docks and the right skills to take good care of them are set for life. I'm certainly not doing the grind again to max out the crafting ports.

Now here's one thing I just can't wrap my head around: a 42lber navy gun with a base damage of 64 has a reload time of 99 secs, has a pen value of 150 @ 50 m - 182 @ 750 m and a staggering 214 @ one and a half kilometers. A 42lber medium gun reloads with a speed of 90 secs and has a pen value of 140 @ 50 m - 129 @ 750 m and 50 @ 1500 m. Can you explain this insanity to me?

Fix these messed up ordnance stats or there will be dire consequences!