Gameplay

## What is Naval Action?

### COMBAT AND GUNNERY

Realistic ballistics and cannon performance of the period. Every cannonball is tracked in the air and after it hits the target. One shot can hit the stern, damage the rudder, then hit the cannon carriage, injure crew, ricochet from the floor and hit the opposite side. Listing and wind affects the shooting distance and will require change of tactics.

Weapons: All major types of naval artillery are implemented: from long guns to carronades, and mortars (of course limited by the ship role and its hull). Fort and land batteries will provide support during port battles. Fire ships and branders will also be present in the game.

### SAILING

Advanced wind and physics model provides for realistic portrayal of ship’s performance in the age of sail. Yard angles, ship angle to wind, cargo, fittings and ship condition affects speeds and turning rates. Correct tacking, box-hauling, club-hauling and other elements of the age of sail sailing are possible. Hidden ship characteristics will allow to gradually uncover potential of the vessel – every ship in game will be unique.

Damage model: Leaks, splinters, loose cannons, de-masting, raking, fires and all other hazards possible in that era. Damaged ship fittings and modules will change behavior of the ship.

### NAVIGATE

Breathtaking open world based on 18th century historical maps gives you an opportunity to explore the 18th Century Caribbean. More than 365 historical ports based on their real locations are scattered across the map. Map is enormous - you cannot see another shore of lake Maracaibo.

Map does not provide player position. Captains are expected to navigate using landmarks and compass. We were able to bring back the feeling of getting lost at sea into the computer game. Weather will make travel easier or harder reducing the visibility of the shores or allowing sneak attack on enemy fleets or ports.

Water depth is important and there are large areas available only to light ships.  If you are not interested in sailing heavy frigates or ships of the line you can move out to Bahamas’ sand banks and only sail your favorite brig without fear encountering a heavy super frigate.

### ECONOMY

Economy is still in development but is already player driven. Players can construct Production Buildings, which extract resources from the islands. Prices go up or down based on supply demand. Ship construction requires resources that have to be captured and protected from enemies. Every port has its own supply and demand patterns providing the trading opportunities for the players. You can build any ship in the game the way you want it: tweaking it's battle and sailing performance during construction.

### CONQUER

You can sail under the flag of nations that historically had presence in the Caribbean (had at least one port from 1600 to 1830)

* Britain
* France
* Spain
* United States
* Denmark
* Holland
* Commonwealth of Poland
* Prussia
* Russia
* Sweden

Or you can be a Pirate. Pirates can attack each other and that changes their mechanics compared to other nations. Pirate mechanics are in development and might improve or change in the future.

At this stage of the game all nations are at war with each other. Every port except for free towns and capitals can be captured, limiting access to resources to other nations. Build your own empire by creating a guild and conquering Caribbean for your nation.

**PVP vs PVE servers**

PvP:  Large-scale conquest with player vs player battles raging everywhere from the lower Antilles to French Louisiana.  You are at risk everywhere and can be attacked by other captains. You can capture any ship you want and sail any vessel you like if you have the proper rank requirement.

PvE: Peaceful server where players fight with NPCs. Players interested in a single player experience where other players can only help you should choose this server.

## Crew Management

All main tasks have a certain allocation of crew depending on ship type.

All main tasks have a minimum and optimal size of crew required.

* Optimal crew – tasks will be completed at max speed
* Minimal crew – tasks will be completed more slowly
* Less than minimal crew – some tasks may not be completed at all.

Sailing, Gun reloads, Repairs, Leak fixing is atomized and all of them require a min or optimal squad. The crew requirement is the sum of individual crew requirements. Switches between crew focuses take time and the bigger your crew the more time it takes to re-allocate hands from task to task. If you have full crew you can toggle optimal performance for all tasks.

All guns are loaded gun by gun if you have minimal gun crew.

**How it works**. Example: You first rate have lost most of the men and has 20 men left

Penalties and reload will depend on the gun composition of cannons for this particular vessel.  If you have 20 men left and switched to a gunnery crew focus it will be enough to reload 2 heavy guns per minute allowing you to fire them individually. All guns have a minimum and optimal crew requirements and the gun composition for the vessel will become extremely important in battle.

* Equip lighter guns – you will have more flexibility in choices when you start losing crew.
* Equip heavier guns – you will have to manage the crew.

**Repairs/Survival**

If you have only 1 leak it will take only 5 men to repair and will not affect other sailor/gunner crew composition. If you have 90 leaking holes you will have to find 450 men to plug them in.

If you are repairing Victory you might need up to 30% of crew to repair 15% of the integrity (number is arbitrary at this stage).

**Sailing**

Sailing is simple and works similar to guns. You have a % of crew required to work sails and if you don't do any other tasks you will not suffer any penalties to speeds of raising sails or turning yards. If you have enough crew you can work sails and man guns at the same time.

**Boarding**

Boarding crew has to be allocated before the boarding. And the main difference with the old system is this: if you have enough men you can shoot guns and have boarders ready at the same time. Some ships with low number of guns will shine as a result – lynx is the best example. And it will allow you to board when you are sinking (sending some men to repairs and the rest to boarding party).

## Game Modes

* Open World PVE battle
* Open World PVP battle
* Port Battle

consists of either shallow water or deep water port battle

* Event Battle

consists of either Small Events or Large events