Ship Maneuvering/Turning Overhaul
Captains!
We are significantly improving maneuvering mechanics in this patch, thanks to extensive research on rudders and ship maneuvering done for Sea Legends (single player pirate/smuggler rpg we are working on).
Patch will be deployed today Friday 8th October.
What is different from previous system of turning and what is improved.
Tactical turn diameter
Tactical turn diameter stays almost the same at any speed of turn (when rudder still working). Previously your turn diameter was much smaller at smaller speed which allowed tighter turns especially when stern-camping.
Turn speed loss:
Ship loses speed during a sustained turn. This feature was Naval Action some time ago, but it was switched off as it was not working correctly. Now it is back and is done properly. Constantly doing zig-zag maneuver will lose more and more speed every turn.
Stopping inertia
Previously, ship stopping time was not done properly and is now fixed, for example Ocean acceleration was 80 seconds and stopping time 59 seconds, while cutter had 13 seconds acceleration and 30 seconds stopping time. Stopping time must depend on ship parameters and is always longer than its acceleration. All ships' inertia has been improved and tuned.
Rudder efficiency
Naval Action turn diameters were too high. They were higher than tanker turn diameters compared to hull length (length between perpendiculars). This is now corrected by general increase of turn rates for all vessels compared to their L/B/D. All turns are tighter.
Overshoot
Ship continues turning when you set the rudder to zero. Overshoot has been slightly increased for all vessels. Yard turning time was slightly increased
What it means for combat.
Sustained zig-zag maneuver on the stern (stern-camping) becomes much harder now as continuously turning you will lose more and more speed every turn until your ship reaches balanced forces state.
Captains have to plan for the maneuvers and try to keep their speed above the balanced state for optimal and fast turning. Remember that tactical turn diameter will still be similar, you will not achieve tighter turn by slowing down if you only use rudder.
Other changes
Ship will now surrender the ship if they lost all men who are capable to fight (destroyed all crew). Artificial limit that stopped all crew damage below certain limit was removed
Mission bots will drop slightly better loot starting this Friday. We will improve it further next week based on feedback.
This feature might need additional tuning please post your feedback in comments on steam or in Discord.
Hotfix on October 11th
- Increased deceleration bug fixed at negative speeds
- Rudder effectiveness increased at low speeds