New trailer

[Zenicetus]

Do you know anything about sailing?

I certainly do.

Okay, so if you know something about sailing, then you should know how ridiculous those naval combat clips are. I know a little bit about sailing too. I grew up on the water. I've owned sailboats. I'm ASA certified for bareboat sail charter of anything up to 50 feet, anywhere in the world (monohull, never messed with catamarans). I've also read enough history to know how square-riggers differed from modern rigs, and what pigs they were to maneuver.

You DO NOT SAIL UPWIND, period.

You DO NOT fight at a 180 degree angle to ships with wind in the stern quarter (fast forward to 1:12 in the trailer clip, and notice how both fleets are showing bow wakes, even though only one has full sail with wind at the stern).

You DO NOT fight with furled sails, because that's the only engine you have, and just like a modern fighter pilot, "speed is life".

Turning into the wind is DANGEROUS in combat. You never do that, because it puts you "in irons" and you're a sitting duck against anything with wind advantage. Wind advantage is the WHOLE POINT! You maneuver for wind advantage the minute you get within sighting range, and hope to achieve it before you get within cannon range. Tail chases are possible... drawing close with matching battle lines where both fleets have the wind (more or less) at the rear is possible. If you're lucky, you'll engage upwind where you can zig-zag back and forth, "crossing the T" to rake the enemy with cannon fire... all because you have the upwind advantage. That's what sail combat is all about. Not these silly trailer clips.

Look, I don't WANT total realism in sail combat. That would be a micro-management nightmare, unless the AI captains were really smart about acting under your (presumably Fleet Admiral) orders. And AI hasn't been the strongest suit for CA in the past. But I do want the sailing ships to act like sailing ships, not powerboats. Otherwise I have zero interest in this game. There are many interesting things about tactical maneuver in sail combat. If this is all just eye candy with ships that drive around like powerboats with no dependence on the wind, and no "forbidden zone" where no sailing ship can point upwind, then what's the point? Why play out some arcade game version of what the real sailing ship admirals and captains had to deal with?

CA have said that rather than implementing rigid tacking angles (eg Age of Sail), a ship can sail directly into the wind but with much reduced speed so that someone trying to do that will still get outsailed by the person using the wind properly. It may be a bit weird sometimes but I can understand why they would do this.

Yeah, I can understand it too... they're making this into an arcade game. Judging by the lack of response from people who are noticing what I'm noticing, I guess they know what market they're aiming for.