Build 2.14 Cannon Changes
In his devlog “Cannon Accuracy Changes” Half-Hitch explained a fundamental change that is being made to cannon performance. This modification to accuracy will appear in conjunction with other changes to cannon performance and construction as part of our implementation of a new cannon model. In this devlog I will explain a bit about the other changes associated with cannon but first I’d like to address a large question that has come up regarding Half-Hitch’s devlog.
Why are we changing the current cannon model?
The short answer is it doesn’t work well with our future plans.
We have a long term goal of making cannon something that can be changed individually as easily as a ship’s outfittings. One day we want players to be able to decide exactly which cannon is behind each gun port and have the granularity to have cannon of differing poundage on the same deck. Ultimately we want to present captains with a real choice captains had when it came to how their ship was armed.
2.14 is the first step towards this ultimate goal, and has two parts. The first is to change the way cannon perform so that they engender the kind of gameplay we want to see. Right now large fights are dominated by sniping from extreme range. No one can close on the enemy without getting spiked and sunk. The result is fights that aren’t as dynamic as they could be. We want fighting to be possible at a variety of ranges, and for the choice of range to be something dictated by a ship’s captain, outfittings, and tactics. There needs to be more to cannon selection than picking the heaviest guns your ship can carry so that you can hit hard at long range, and changing cannon performance is the way to do that.
The second part includes changes to cannon production and the economy. The current model used in game is simplified to a degree that it cannot provide us with the definition desired for the model we plan to implement. The 5 cannon production sizes for all poundage of cannon disconnects production costs too greatly from cannon performance and is too restrictive for our economy expansion plans. We need a more robust model to implement our plans so we’re making a change toward what we need.
Changes to Cannon and Cannon Production
In the 2.14 cannon production changes from creating cannon by size (like small, medium, or large cannon) to creating cannon for a specific shot weight. Instead of creating a medium cannon that can be used as either a 9 or 12 pound cannon in a ship recipe, the cannon would need to be created as a 9 or 12 pound cannon. Cannon created prior to the 2.14 build will become obsolete and an exchange will be set up where you can trade in the old cannon made by size for raw materials and doubloons.
We are also going to add some variety to each poundage of cannon. You will be able to create short, standard, or long barrel cannon featuring a variety of casting method modifiers. The barrel length and casting method modifiers will modify the cannon’s damage, reload time, accuracy, and range. This allows for overlap in some performance characteristics between cannon with different shot weights, creating a larger variety of viable ship loadouts.
The number of changes being implemented in the 2.14 build will require a longer period of time on the Test server than usual and the implementation will be rolled out in two parts. The first part will contain the ships fitted with the new cannon model and tuning adjustments as well as the accuracy changes from Half-Hitch’s devlog only so we can begin combat testing as early as possible. The second part will contain the economy changes to the Forge and Advanced Forge for testing cannon construction and ship recipe use. It will also contain the first part of our economic expansion plans introducing new partner level structures. This second part of the cannon model implementation will be featured in its own devlog that will come out shortly after the first 2.14 build is on the Test server.
We encourage all players to take the opportunity to test the new cannon model when it is available on the Test Server. The changes contained in the build should give a very good representation of the new model’s effect on combat. We will be holding test events during the 2.14 testing cycle for data gathering which we hope players will attend. We will be looking forward to feedback provided regarding the new system.
Posted by Fodderboy | 09/15/2013 | Devlog | Discuss
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