I have no clue exactly about any of this but I would love to know more about this and both the mechanics you have given seem to be awesome. I hope something like that gets implemented into the game.

Thanks!

It all depends on how much of a naval simulator the developers can/want to construct.

We can have small cutters and sloops that carry 50 or less, that can be beached on any shoreline. We can have canoes, barges and rowboats for coastal, canal, and river traffic. We can have large galleons for bulk trade, which would require a deeper harbor with docks, cranes, and warehouses to unload their cargo.

Warships would likely be rowed Galleys, which also would have sails. They aren't the greatest in deep deep oceans, but they can cross said oceans unless a major storm arrives. The main method of combat would be attempting to ram and sink other galleys, or coming alongside to board another ship. Galleys had enough crew to row the ship, but most of the people on board were soldiers or marines, since early naval combat was just land combat on ships.

You'd have an invasion fleet be sighted by lighthouse operators and watchtowers, then a defense fleet would row out to meet them.

As you can see, its almost like a completely separate game....it would be awesome to have all this in CoE for the pure immersion factor, and broader player opportunity, but it adds a whole nother layer of complexity to the game.

But if you have ships at all, given how CoE works in every other aspect of life, it would be stupid not to have a completely realistic naval world.

I cringe at the thought of moving all goods by land when I have a nice ocean or a convenient river nearby

I would have to agree with both the OP and everyone else so far that there really needs to an accurate and well developed form of river travel in the game. Inland water travel was so important, particularly to the early industrial process that it would be very disappointing to leave it out. With the world being so big and limited inventories, using only wagons and other forms of land travel would make life very difficult.

Furthermore, could you imagine the development possibilities of canals and other water projects? They have already told us that there will be a dynamic system for water diversion and the like. You could even use water as a weapon of war like the flooding of the Flanders countryside in World War One (see Battle of the Yser, 1914).

Everyone will begin on the same continent. So, if people are moving off to other continents they will either find it uninhabited or perhaps encounter primitive NPC's. So, at the point in the game where players begin to be separated by large bodies of water sailing technology will have advanced apace with that development.

Ah, I did not know about that last little tidbit. Good to know.

I'd still like to know what is in the realm of possibility here, however. I may start pushing research for shipbuilding as fast as possible.

Since ocean going vessels aren't going to be in at launch, there is very little known and very little SbS will reveal. We'll have to research the tech in-game and then find out what kind of floaty stuff the boat makers have in their menus.

About all that is confirmed is 1-2 person skiffs.

Posted By Ranulf at 10:49 PM - Thu Jan 19 2017

Ah, I did not know about that last little tidbit. Good to know.

I'd still like to know what is in the realm of possibility here, however. I may start pushing research for shipbuilding as fast as possible.

Sounds like you'd be a perfect fit for the guild I'm currently in.

https://chroniclesofelyria.com/forum/topic/12877/naeast-vornair-wolves-reach

Details are limited as we don't know much about how a lot of the things in the game will work, but this is the place you want to be if you can play on US-E. There is multiple Q&A's if you check under the youtube sub, but Gnoll the leader of the shipwrights won't do his till march. Meanwhile the big boss man who leads the whole navy did a Q&A awhile ago that's here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Br1b1UCyqo&list=PLqcsiMezBngqhiY54NiUhxNp8Z_0eZIUO

Vornair is a great KD so far, and I think this would be a perfect fit. Most of the guys so far who've joined are former military, and are very knowledgeable. I feel like this is the place for ya :P.

I'll check it out, but I was planning on playing on NAW

Is anyone planning on getting fishing fleets started? Do we even know anything about sea life yet?

Posted By Ranulf at 11:40 PM - Thu Jan 19 2017

I'll check it out, but I was planning on playing on NAW

Is anyone planning on getting fishing fleets started? Do we even know anything about sea life yet?

We don't know enough to make real firm decisions yet. A lot of it is going to be dependent on where we're located, what biome we're in, and what resources are available to us. I'm sure fishing will happen eventually (again we just don't know enough) but our #1 goal is going to be to research ships, and the King of Vornair is very keen on having a strong Navy.

I'm from US W too so I was planning on using that server, but Vornair really is amazing man. Definitely think about it.

I hope the navigation will be similiar to the game Naval Action: Just the sun (movement), map and compass. Then You need to have wind and regular changing wind directions. Then You need to think about the size of the ocean and ocean travel times. What about ports? Manual docking? Will ships remain in the gameworld when docked or despawn like in Archeage? Sea combat? On the open gameworld or in instanced battles? NPC crew, abstraction & automation or a detailled player crew? Yes, if You'll do it right it'll be a complete naval sim game within the game. :)

I would love to see something like this, but I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for it at launch. Warning all that follows is speculation, based on assumption and hubris :D

1. I followed a few games pre alfa and despite the best intentions none of them deliver all the things they talk about.

2. The core mechanics that are required to make the game be the game it is supposed to be are already very ambitious.

Those two things combined with the fact that SBS is a smaller company makes me think that we had best be satisfied if we get all the core ideas at launch. Detailed ships might be something that we get later. It may not even be possible to go to the other islands at launch.

But like I said I don't know, and don't pretend to know. I would love to be wrong on this, but my current outlook is that if reincarnation, destiny, talents, and land ownership all work well at launch, I'll be stoked.

As far as I am aware, ships and associated subjects are something SBS are interested in including.

It has been suggested, as mentioned in another post, that we will start with small ships capable of traversing rivers and shallow waters - or at least we won't be far from developing them.

Ocean travel has been cropping up as a subject since the early stages of information release - mentions of krakens, absolute death if you go overboard in deep water, who can claim new lands, etc. However, it is a complex subject that requires a lot of work and balancing of mechanics. It seems likely to come through as an actual advancement, the question is just how well it will be implemented.

I think it was always an obvious direction for the game to go. I'm guessing first after launch goal will probably be mounted combat. Then they'll start moving into things like ocean travel... But just because boats will be limited and ocean travel will be limited at start doesn't mean it isn't useful to plan ahead and research them. A strong Navy is a really huge advantage.

I think its going to be nearly impossible to sail across the ocean at start in the little skiff they say we will have.

We would need provisions and water to last us for the journey, and thats a lot of rowing to do. With the risk of immediate death.

Once we get more details on the cargo capacity of the ship, water storage/distillation, and non perishable food options, we can speculate on whether or not its possible. It would be fun to wander around an empty continent.

Hi Ranulf, welcome to the forums.

The reason you don't see much on the forums about what your asking is because those details, sadly, haven't been released yet. We do know from a few screenshots that basic single sail ships will be available at or very near the beginning though, as seen in this dev journal:

Merriment in Increments

It's really very exciting, isn't it? I think that lends some weight to the possibility of viking style coastal fleets relatively quickly, which is definitely where I want to be!

Anyhow myself, AshyLarry, Duke Kellix, and a few other people within Vornair are looking forward to pushing the limits of research and technology for exactly what you're talking about.

Duke Kellix's Dutchy of the High Seas is focused on everything sailing oriented, and specifically my County - Wolves Reach - within his dutchy will be hosting the Draugr Fleet and my own private shipbuilding facilities.

The R&D for long lasting food and water solutions, and other research necessary for long term sea travel, and most likely fishing ships since we all need to eat, is definitely part of that.

I basically can't wait until we can set out into uncharted waters and explore new areas, create new settlements, discover new creatures, and all that.

I know they said one continent to start, but if you think about China, the Philippines, and Indonesia... they make a chain of smaller islands to Australia. If something like it exists in the game, we could use them to travel to new continents while not technically traveling over the open ocean. The possibilities are endless, especially with their procedural generated world.

Anyway, if you're interested you can click my signature to take yourself to my county page, or just check out www.vornair.com You can send me a personal message if you'd like an invite to our discord, as well. I got with this group before the NA-E and NA-W thing was even announced, but I'm definitely staying NA-E for Vornair because they are awesome :)