I was the first person to ever make a boat suggestion.
https://forum.worldofmagic.dev/t/if-ships-are-added/38626
So it seems right for me to make a new and revamped version. There will be two parts: Boats and Mechanics.
BOATS
Boat Building:
You will start by building your boat in a boat shop. Only large islands will have these (the spawn islands that is).
Boats have several components. The first component is the hull.
Hull
The hull of a ship is the most important part of the vessel. At the boat builder, one will be able to modify the base ship hull. There will be a first choice: Single Hull, Flat-Bottom, and Hydrostatic. The Single Hull can be used to construct rowboats and simple sailboats, Flat-Bottomed boats can travel easily up rivers despite being much larger than Single Hull ships, and the Hydrostatic hull is the true ship hull. After choosing a type of hull, one can add length and width to it. The thinner the boat the faster, but the harder to turn. It also is a bigger target when thin and long. Larger ships are slower, but can mount more sails and weapons, while carrying more cargo, and thus have the potential to be faster, but never more maneuverable than a small vessel.
Movement
Movement. Ships may use oars or sails. Oars have the advantage of working in all conditions, but they require active use and take up stamina. Sails do not. The more sails the faster, but you have less space to put cargo and weapons. There are two types of sails. Square-rigged sails are fast but slow at turning. Triangular sails are far better at turning but only half as fast. Mixing them will create a balanced vessel. Oars can be added along with sails, to create a mixed vessel. Adding sails will increase a ship’s weight, which is limited. Larger ships can support more weight.
Weaponry
Weaponry. The basic ship has one layer, and on top of that cannon can be placed, weapon slots appearing depending on the size of the ship. Thin ships will not be able to mount heavier weapons on their sides, while short ships will be able to mount less weaponry overall. Adding layers increases the weight of the ship. Cannon mounted in layers have less vertical maneuverability but a ship with several layers has so much more firepower. Cannon will include:
- Carronades, small light cannon that have an incredible firerate, weak firepower, very little weight, short range, and thus several can be mounted on a vessel, greatly increasing the close range firepower of such a vessel.
- 8 Pounders, light guns. Moderate firerate. Light weight.
- 12 Pounders, medium guns. Slow firerate, medium weight, hefty firepower.
- 24 Pounders, heavy guns. Very slow firerate, heavy weight, incredible firepower, great range.
- Long Nine: A light gun with incredible range, slow firerate and light firepower.
Other ship based weapons will include:
- Gatling guns. Rare, expensive weapons, they can sweep the deck of an enemy vessel clear in seconds, and will punch through the thin hull of a light vessel and hit targets within. Incredible firerate, but they have a very long reload, but are fairly cheap to use. Cannot harm enemy ships.
- Grappling Hooks. Used to grapple enemy ships and board them.
- Ram. A simple iron piece mounted to the bow of a ship, will do great damage to an enemy ship, but requires high speed and close range.
Fishing
Fishing
Fishing from boats can take the simple form of using a fishing rod off of the boat, but one can also mount fishing nets to a boat. Only certain boats will be able to do so, specifically smaller, lighter boats. No layered boat will be able to fish. Riverine boats will catch more fish. A certain amount of fish will be caught, but after some time, the fishing nets must be cleared of fish. Fish will only be caught when the boat is in motion. After a fishing net is filled, it is possible for the net to come loose, falling off, causing the loss of both the net and all the fish. The longer the net sits while full, the more likely it is to fall off. Fish can be stored by packing them in barrels, which is a time-consuming task.
Cargo
Cargo
Cargo can be acquired at islands, and certain island groups will have certain cargoes found nowhere else. One island may grow bananas, another may have arcanium ores, a third might provide high-quality wool. These can be purchased individually from stores, but you can only carry a few in your inventory. In order to make a real profit, a trader must store them in the ship’s cargo hold. A ship may only be able to carry so much cargo depending on its size and weight. If a ship is destroyed, the ship is not lost but the cargo is. Purchasing cargo for ships from stores may be done with a separate button, which allows you to choose which ship to put the cargo in. This takes a certain amount of time, depending on how many crewmembers you have at that moment. This allows you to quickly buy in bulk. The same can be done with selling, allowing you to sell all or some of your cargo with a simple button, which also takes time depending on number of crewmembers.
Ammunition
Ammunition
Ammunition may be purchased on certain islands. It is not cheap but cannon do great damage, specifically against enemy ships. Cannon have great destructive power and damage, which is why they are preferable for bombardment and ship-to-ship fighting.
MECHANICS
Water Type
Blue water/Riverine
Riverine vessels, that is, vessels designed with the Simple Hull or Flat-Bottomed hulls, can only travel on a lighter colored water that surrounds islands and contains rivers. Only larger ships with the Hydrostatic hull can travel on the darker waters. In order to cross oceans, Riverine vessels must hop from island to island, traveling through intersecting lighter colors, which is not only slow but also cuts them off from many islands.
Crew
Crew
Crew members can vary, but in order to man a ship, a certain amount of crew is needed. One can sail with a limited amount of crew, but this is unadvised. Crew must be hired at a tavern. The more crewmembers you have, the more cannon you can use, the more maneuverable your ship, and the greater its acceleration/decelaration. Having more crew also lowers your maintanence costs, speeds up selling your cargo, and speeds up buying it too. But hiring crewmembers can be expensive. You can also hire mercenaries, who specifically man the weapons, and do not affect the handling of the ship and other processes. They will also fight boarders and pirates. You may order your crewmembers/mercenaries to board an enemy ship, but make sure you have truly locked your vessels together, or your crewmembers and mercenaries may fall overboard. To get them back on board, you must use a rope in the center of all ships, which upon being clicked teleports all crewmembers in the water back onto your ship. It is also possible to use a player as a crew member, upon which they will take up a spot.
Miscellaneous
Combat Status
Upon being damaged, your ship enters combat, which has a special soundtrack and symbol.
Fleets
One can join a fleet, which is essentially a team but with entire ships. This also has perks, markers, and friendly fire control.
Quests
There may be quests to destroy pirate ships, examine ruins, and sell cargoes, or buy cargoes for a commission.
Sure this is complicated, but it will make sailing fun. Remember, sailing will be an incredibly important part of the game in the future. Treating this as too complicated for “only a transportation method” is foolish. The game will be as much about the water as the land in the future, and we ought to treat it as such.
Thanks to everyone who I borrowed and modified ideas from, thought it might be nice to have a single unified post with my own ideas thrown in.
Ok Summary:
Customizable Boat
Trade
Fishing
Crew
Edit: Hid details
