That was fun, but the AI and the balance need some work.

It's too easy to win as the small boat. You just stay ahead of your opponent and then turn back and strafe periodically.

It would be much more challenging if you added wind and realistic sailing dynamics. If wind direction vs sail orientation mattered to your speed and boat characteristics weren't as simple as smaller = faster then I think it would be much better balanced and way more fun/challenging!

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dbingham 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

On further play, really the only match up where I had any trouble was large vs large. (As a side request, it would be nice to be able to choose your opponent!)

With both small and medium, you can just strafe back and forth in front of your opponent if you're faster than them. With medium and large, you can just circle them and absorb more punishment than them when you're larger than them.

Multi-player would solve the AI problem -- especially if it was more than 1v1 -- and then it would be more challenging.

But I would still request realistic wind and sailing dynamics. That strafing maneuver isn't really possible with real wind dynamics, because you slow down as you swing around and that allows the opponent to catch up to you and return fire. You could have a little arrow in a corner of the screen that shows the wind direction. You don't even have to make the sails movable, you could just have your speed be proportional to how orthongal your sails are to the wind direction in the simplest implementation.

It would add a whole new element to it that would make it much more challenging! :)

	▲	iweczek 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Thanks for playing and the feedback. I plan on adding wind dynamics very soon. Letting you choose opponent instead of random should be easy. Multiplayer with more than 1 would be interesting, I like that idea!

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carpo 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

If I remember correctly, the original was like this too. I always used the sloop and would often beat much larger ships.

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chongli 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Yeah so the other factor missing is gun calibre and ship hull reinforcement/design. The reason sloops didn’t dominate against ships of the line came down to these factors, as well as sheer number of guns.

A sloop’s guns were generally so light the balls would bounce off the hull of a ship of the line. The sheer weight of firepower in return would shred a sloop to pieces. Add on to that the fact that heavier guns can achieve longer range when trained at the right angle, and a sloop can’t really get anywhere near a ship of the line and live to tell the tale.

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iweczek 3 hours ago | parent [-]

I plan on adding wind dynamics. The largest ship has 1 more cannon, do you think I should add more? or perhaps longer range on the larger ship cannons?

	▲	chongli 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Longer range would help! I should also note that ships had forward- and aft-firing guns in addition to the main batteries on the gun decks firing to the sides. A smaller ship merely trying to run away could be fired upon until it got out of range.

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iweczek 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

yes, i also always chose the Sloop and would usually win.

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Mtnh2o 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Highlighting that game mechanics are hard - I struggled with your strategy but found it too easy to be the tank. Turn in a circle and shoot and rely on the higher HP + cannon loading.

	▲	dbingham 5 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Fair!

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matthewfcarlson 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I just went into a circle and shot, won every time for every boat

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idontwantthis 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The cannonballs should have randomized elevation as well so that "raking" the bow and stern is more likely to get hits than hitting the side. Hits on the bow and stern should also do more damage. Cross the T!

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stackghost 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

That's interesting, because I found it trivial to win with the largest boat. Tank one hit, lead your target, blast away. I remain undefeated with the largest boat.

By contrast I found winning with the medium boat required the most skill, and lost the first few times I tried.