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HawkHawk

Ships Overhaul

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 Hello,

 

I have been working on some ideas for changes to ships I would like to see in game. I appreciate some of these may not be for everyone so welcome feedback on what people do and do not like.

 

New Ship

The Clipper

This will be the fastest ship available but with limited cargo space in comparison to other large but slower vessels. Much like the Caravel, the clipper will require significant skill and resources to construct and will work best in deeper waters due to its draft.

 

Onboard Your Ship.

Make It Yours.

Improved ship customization will allow certain items to be socketed into empty slots on your ship. Items available will include Figureheads, Lamps, Flags, Sail Patterns, Cannons (aesthetic only) Hammocks, onboard storage and cooking facilities. Further customization will be available by increasing the number of paintable zones on ships. Paintable zones will include Masts, Decks, Hull, on-deck structures and multiple paintable zones on sails.

 

Home Away from Home

If you are your deed mates are travelling add Hammocks to your ship so you can leave the tent at home and respawn back onboard instead. This applies to all ships with space below deck so cannot be used on the Knarr, Sailboat, or Rowboat. The ship must be stationary for the option to respawn onboard to appear, this cannot be used at the same time a tent is placed.

Since the Knarr is the Go-To ship for most things I think an added benefit of this is it provides a usage case for other ships that the Knarr cannot manage.

 

A Portable Workshop

Exclusive to only the largest vessels, you can now add small versions of many crafting tables, these work much slower than land-based options but provide a handy way to craft on the go when needed.

 

Attachable Rowboats

Your shipbuilder assured you she’d never sink but if you have a habit of taking unplanned excursions onto rocks or other obstacles there is a backup plan!

Rowboats can now be attached to and stored onboard larger ships (Corbita, Cog, Clipper, Caravel) Stop getting stuck in the sandbanks and send your deed mates rowing to and from the shore to collect any cargo you need. Once they’ve finished scrubbing your pristine freshly painted decks that is.

 

Walkable Decks

With the new customization adding additional functionality to your ship, you can now walk around the larger ships while they are stationary.

 

Flags

Several Flag options are now available to fly onboard your ship, choose from various patterns and designs which are all dyable or rep your server while travelling with dedicated flags for each map. Rare flag options can also be found in Treasure hunts.

 

Naming and Permissions Changes

Ships will all come with nameplates allowing the custom name you have chosen to be proudly displayed on the hull.

Players can choose to register their ships to their deed allowing permissions to be set based on settlement roles, registering a ship will also add a new Examine Text “This ship is registered to the settlement of <Settlement Name> By <Player Name> As with existing “citizens of my deed” permissions this wont work cross-server unless there can be a workaround.

 

Shoreside Improvements.

Cleats.

Cleats can now be installed on Piers to tie ships securely, these offer similar protection to the anchor but additionally align your ship with the pier for a more uniform look.

 

Dry Dock

If you’ve hit a few too many rocks and your Caravel is looking more like a colander, you can now build and use the Dry Dock. This must be built on a slope between 2-8, takes up an area 5 tiles long and 2 wide using winches or Horses to drag vessels out the water. Perfect for loading ships onto transporters or launching new ships into the water after construction.

 

Piers

Dedicated Piers for shipping, these can be made out of either wood or masonry materials and will not require a build-up of dirt or sand, they simply need building in the water (there will have to be a maximum depth)

 

Floating Platforms,

These will be 1 square in size and will be wooden platform anchored in place, these can then hold other items such as lamps, signs, or be used as a Fishing Platform for example.

If you got this far (without skipping to the bottom) thank you for reading my suggestions :)

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A lot to unpack there, but I like it. The shoreside improvements aren't quite as compelling as the ship improvements, in my opinion, although the Pier idea is one I'm in favor of. The improvements to ships though, all in favor of those. Nice job.

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do whatever you want with them other ships, but make the knarr approx 20kmh faster than it is on average. Sorted

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Ships should have interchangeable parts that can be removed, improved and replaced.  Think of it like horseshoes and a saddle on a boat.  

 

Sails-

1.  Improved with cloth tailoring, these give a speed bonus of x% per y quality (TBD).

2.  Can be enchanted with WoA for a slightly larger speed bonus.

3.  Dying the removable sail allows you to change the color of your sails when you want.  (As opposed to dye being a 1 time use).

4.  (Dream change) option for PMK sail graphics

 

Rudder- 

Improved with ropemaking (same tools for net traps), these grant both a slight speed bonus and improved navigation (cornering)

 

Oars - 

Improved with shipbuilding, these dramatically increase speed when traveling INTO the wind.  (10 kph instead of.... 3....)

 

 

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Dont forget the onboard compass which should remain stable when sailing.

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Spoiler
19 minutes ago, Wargasm said:

Ships should have interchangeable parts that can be removed, improved and replaced.  Think of it like horseshoes and a saddle on a boat.  

 

Sails-

1.  Improved with cloth tailoring, these give a speed bonus of x% per y quality (TBD).

2.  Can be enchanted with WoA for a slightly larger speed bonus.

3.  Dying the removable sail allows you to change the color of your sails when you want.  (As opposed to dye being a 1 time use).

4.  (Dream change) option for PMK sail graphics

 

Rudder- 

Improved with ropemaking (same tools for net traps), these grant both a slight speed bonus and improved navigation (cornering)

 

Oars - 

Improved with shipbuilding, these dramatically increase speed when traveling INTO the wind.  (10 kph instead of.... 3....)

 

 

 

I've had that idea for so long too, modular parts for ships! Maybe we could even different types of parts, like some types of sails go a bit better with the winds and some against the wind! etc etc for other pieces

Edited by Soleil
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+1, everything in this topic would add a lot more depth to ships!

 

I'd also suggest rebalancing the statistics of existing ships somewhat. For instance, it doesn't make any sense that knarrs (43 large crates) have a higher hold capacity than cogs (29 large crates) and almost as high as corbitas (49) and caravels (62). Knarrs are OP, and that hold capacity could definitely be brought down in exchange for keeping them as a the fastest low-wind ship. Instead of nerfing knarrs, you could also instead just buff the others - caravels, for instance, could have a 100 large crate hold capacity, with corbitas and cogs at more like 60-70, with knarrs kept the same as they are so that nobody's current ships lose value or usefulness.

 

Would additionally be nice to see wind somewhat revamped to further add to the usefulness of boats that aren't knarrs. For instance, open water on the edges of servers could be made to have permanently higher wind speeds - which I think is plenty realistic, it's rare for oceans to be calm without wind as much as Wurm's oceans are. Might also be nice to have some way to forecast upcoming wind changes, helping with planning journeys.

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20 minutes ago, Docterchese said:

with knarrs kept the same as they are so that nobody's current ships lose value or usefulness.

 

If this was to be done i would reduce the number of parts and skill required to build a Knarr at the same time. Currently only Caravel requires more of both.

I always thought that the cargo capacity is a tradeoff for the amount of effort required to build a boat, no matter what they look like or what their name is. Simply more work = better result.

 

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Just now, Locath said:

 

If this was to be done i would reduce the number of parts and skill required to build a Knarr at the same time. Currently only Caravel requires more of both.

I always thought that the cargo capacity is a tradeoff for the amount of effort required to build a boat, no matter what they look like or what their name is. Simply more work = better result.

 

 

Yeah, it's very fair since knarrs are difficult that they have increased stats. But the trouble is that they're better in every way - higher average speed (since they're faster in low winds), high cargo capacity that's comparable to any other big boat, high number of total occupants (only caravels can take one more) and yet the same draft as a sailboat, meaning they can go in much shallower waters than any of the other large boats. I think knarrs already have all of the advantages, so it would be nice to see some rebalancing that would make other boat types more viable and make endgame ship choices a feature with more depth than just "knarrs are always best."

 

Knarrs should always have their place as fast boats for cross-server travel with a decent hold capacity, but them being so good at everything makes pretty much all other boat types useless (which I think is a real shame).

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21 hours ago, HawkHawk said:

New Ship

 

The Clipper

 

This will be the fastest ship available but with limited cargo space in comparison to other large but slower vessels. Much like the Caravel, the clipper will require significant skill and resources to construct and will work best in deeper waters due to its draft.

 

18 hours ago, Soleil said:

I've had that idea for so long too, modular parts for ships! Maybe we could even different types of parts, like some types of sails go a bit better with the winds and some against the wind! etc etc for other pieces

 

Clippers being an umbrella term for several sail plans, may in this way, also provide a basis for modular sail plans indeed. This way ships could be equipped with either square rig (full-rigged), fore-and-aft rig (schooner) or a combination of both (brigantine), to provide speed with respectively wind from the back, from the side and a compromise of both. Players could plan their optimal sail plan according to the current wind direction and speed. Replacing rigs should be a slightly more complicated procedure than equipping horseshoes for example though, possibly requiring the aforementioned dry docks.

 

Edit:

Combining square rigs and fore-and-aft rigs could also enable the option to hoist sails strategically, such as using all sails of a brigantine on your journey with wind in the back, while hoisting only the square rig on the journey back with wind in the front to decrease the speed penalty.

Edited by Rishy
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53 minutes ago, Rishy said:

Clippers being an umbrella term for several sail plans, may in this way, also provide a basis for modular sail plans indeed. This way ships could be equipped with either square rig (full-rigged), fore-and-aft rig (schooner) or a combination of both (brigantine), to provide speed with respectively wind from the back, from the side and a compromise of both. Players could plan their optimal sail plan according to the current wind direction and speed. Replacing rigs should be a slightly more complicated procedure than equipping horseshoes for example though, possibly requiring the aforementioned dry docks.

 

This would be cool. It would also provide more content for cloth tailoring, if imping sails and making extra sails for people could be a viable business.

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+1 Ships/boats could definitely use some love and I'm really liking these ideas.

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+100 Knarryvederci needs more boats and this fits perfectly. I'll be waiting for the day that more boats get added!

 

Knarrs are way to OP, doesn't make any sense at all that they can hold that much. It's also quite boring that at public slays you see 50 knarrs and a few sailboats. Nothing more....

 

Totally agree with @Rishy and @Docterchese

 

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I don't think that what's needed is at the top of the line but towards the bottom. I'd really love to see something that's effectively a floating large cart or wagon. That's why I proposed the Wherry.

 

If we were going to introduce a larger sailing ship, I'd look for something bigger than a caravel, and faster. (If you understand the physics of sailing, you know that a longer waterline length makes for a faster ship.)

 

I'd also seriously consider making a ship with a depth requirement of 10-15 rather than 20, if only to mix things up a little. Let's create some competition for the knarr!

Edited by Sheffie
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I agree with Sheffie 100%. A mid range vessel is exactly what is missing. Draft from 10-15. Cargo equivalent to a Wagon. Something to bridge the slightly too wide gap between the smaller relatively easy practically cargo-less vessels and the long grind large ships.  The sailing boat stretched to 150% current size and widened 200% current size would yield a 3x2x2 vessel, known as a "Sixareen", or "Sixern" (From the Old Norse "sexaeringr"). With an occupant capacity of 6 and a size of 3x2x2 it fits very nicely in between the small sailing boat and the Corbita.

 

Suggested recipe:

4x keel sections
1x rudder
6x oars
2x mooring rope
75x pegs
75x tenons
1x stern
75x hull planks
15x tars
6x seats
1x square rig
6x belaying pins
2x thick ropes

Edited by Manachan
added receipe
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I agree to a midrange sailboat. But I do not think that the flotation depth should be deeper than the knarr. Else such a ship would be locked out of dual use canals, tunnels, and passages using the 5-7 depth range.

 

As to larger ships beyond caravel size, I am not against. But mind that the caravel already is rarely used. It may be a nice exercise for ship builders, but not so much more.

 

And -1 to attempts to nerf the knarr. Btw. the "home away from home" idea for larger ships is of course ok, and must not apply to knarr and below. It is a nice improvement for blue water ships.

Edited by Ekcin
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Honestly, nerfing the knarr alone would add so much viability to the larger ships. 

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1 minute ago, Ekcin said:

It would also add viability to give up Wurm.

knarrs are broken in every sense. The reason they have such a large capacity is how wurm calculates volume, they're extremely shallow as they have no hold, but they are EXTREMELY long and wide in code, meaning they have a massive hold. 

 

A longship for transporting people does not have a significantly large cargo space, and should not have a higher one than an actual cargo ship. 

 

They're broken, but it's too late to fix them because players generally want bugs that don't benefit them fixed, not the ones that do. 

 

One of those "yes it's wrong, but it's been like this for so long that changing it would cause a mass outcry" 

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Wurm is a social and gaming environment, not a CS elegance project. And "yes it's wrong weird as so much wogical stuff, but it's been like this for so long that changing it would cause a mass outcry"  is true.

 

But the "mass outcry" is not just because of the ship alone. So much in Wurm, on larger servers in particular, is created along that transport facility, canals, boat mines, tunnels, whole communication systems. And indeed, destroying by turning worthless our tunnels, canals and boat mines would have the same effect as the "smart ideas" of concentrating all players on one or at least few servers.

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6 minutes ago, Ekcin said:

But the "mass outcry" is not just because of the ship alone. So much in Wurm, on larger servers in particular, is created along that transport facility, canals, boat mines, tunnels, whole communication systems. And indeed, destroying by turning worthless our tunnels, canals and boat mines would have the same effect as the "smart ideas" of concentrating all players on one or at least few servers.

I don't know of any canals that are only 7 dirts deep, you can mine to the depth of the larger vehicles at 26 dirts I believe?, and that's intended mechanics. Dirt just requires dredging. 

 

It's not as big an issue as you may think.

 

I'm not arguing that it should be done, I'm just saying that it's actually broken, and any work on overhauling ships would require rebalancing the knarr

Edited by Archaed

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Actially it is quite a big issue for the submerged tunnel highways which also serve as shallow canals. There are frequently no space to extend horizontally to make another parallel tunnel.

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