Idea Reduce ship size, larger islands

[Darkslinger]

This would be included as a part of the high-seas expansion update.

Description: The high-seas are in need of a literal expansion — this would allow for more enemy ships to battle, as well as new features and updates that will be mentioned in this thread such as territories, trading and more.

The simplest way this could be achieved is by shrinking the ship and character model sizes to a much smaller scale so that pre-existing high-seas and islands would look much larger in comparison.

This would allow the high-seas of TLOPO to be populated with a large amount of enemy ships, sea creatures and fleets.

Finally, some cool images to show:

 

[Darkslinger]

BEFORE PICS:

 

[Darkslinger]

Also, thanks to @Hernandez for letting me borrow his war galleon.

 

[Luna Storm]

It certainly looks more realistic..I like it a lot

 

[William Goldhawk]

*Italian acsent* I like this idea. Please, tell me more...

 

[Flight1700]

But can we talk about how high the galleon sits above water tho XD? Like, all the ships do

 

[Darkslinger]

But can we talk about how high the galleon sits above water tho XD? Like, all the ships do

Yeah, proper ship immersion is highlighted in point 7 of the high-seas expansion update thread. It will add a little more realism to the game. (And perhaps a more challenging aspect when water resistance is added alongside a weather system (point 5 in the thread))

 

[Darkslinger]

*Italian acsent* I like this idea. Please, tell me more...

Currently, the ship to island size ratio is messed up. Not only does this fix that to make islands look much larger, it also allows more ships, creatures (eg: kraken..) and smaller islands to be squeezed into the high-seas - thus making the game more future-proof and content rich.

In the high-seas expansion update I mention territories (point 2), this new feature would go well with this modification as multiple territories can be created within the much larger high-seas.

 

[Richard Seakidd]

I'd love to see larger islands too. I was always surprised to see that my warship was nearly the size of a chunk of Tortuga lol.

 

[prattmatt]

I agree. Some islands are about the size of some ships, would look nice to be updated.

 

[Darkslinger]

I agree. Some islands are about the size of some ships, would look nice to be updated.

It's annoying when you notice that your ships mast is almost as tall as Padres del Fuego's volcano!

 

[soybeansoy3]

Gorgeous.

 

[Darkslinger]

Update: Added a poll to the thread (+bump).

To me, this is one of the many refinements TLOPO needs in the distant future. For those who might have not previously seen this thread or participated in it, I'll mention why.

A few improvements that this would bring to the game:

• Larger high-seas, a more immersive sailing experience.
• More enemy ships (and potentially sea creatures) roaming around the high-seas.
• Multiple islands can be added around and in-between pre-existing islands (without a major change in high-seas size).
• Island to ship size ratio will be fixed. Islands will actually appear to be as large as they are in real life when compared to ships.
• The high-seas can be divided into multiple different territories which hold certain types of enemies with a defined range of levels.

 

[FlightOfRavens]

This is a really good idea. Looks much more realistic and ship:island ratio as always bugged me since I started playing on Potco

 

[Captain Bren]

Honey I shrunk the ships! I like this idea as well! You sir, are full of GREAT ideas... Now, we need a better... whatever Panda3d is... the name eludes me currently... Because your High Seas update thingy is also full of stuff that would be cool!

 

[Darkslinger]

Honey I shrunk the ships! I like this idea as well! You sir, are full of GREAT ideas... Now, we need a better... whatever Panda3d is... the name eludes me currently... Because your High Seas update thingy is also full of stuff that would be cool!

Thanks for the kind words! I, too, believe that the high seas update would refresh the game and add tremendous replay value to TLOPO. It would be the greatest update to the game yet offering new enemies, territories, trading, weather systems, sea invasions, and more.

As far as the game engine goes, I think it can handle the changes since none of the above is graphically intensive. I initially thought it couldn't handle many things, but was corrected by an ex-developer. However, the increased content could lead to increased server load and higher CPU utilization if not coded with performance in mind so I'm not completely sure. A developer would have to answer that question.

 

[Simon Daggerhawk]

I would personally like to keep the ship sizes as is.

It seems as if you made the ships 10x smaller in the images you've shown (correct me if I am wrong), but I would then assume the time to travel from island to island would take 10x longer as well.

I would find the extended times to go to a non teleport island to be tedious if not unbearable. I already find traveling from Cuba to Isla Tormenta to be annoying.

I would also be concerned about the performance changes. I imagine there would need to be a higher number of enemy ships to fight, which I imagine would hurt frame rates more than it already does.

I would also imagine finding ships for quests would be beyond impossible, unless ships are spawned at the same density, which brings back the issue of frame rate.

While I love the idea of realism and immersion, I don't see this as feasible without completely overhauling the sailing system, which I am not up for personally.

Just my opinion.

 

[Christopher Cannonskull]

I think this is something that should happen eventually. Its not a huge issue though currently. It would be very nice to see alot more added to the ocean to make the increased travel times worth it

 

[Darkslinger]

I would personally like to keep the ship sizes as is.

It seems as if you made the ships 10x smaller in the images you've shown (correct me if I am wrong), but I would then assume the time to travel from island to island would take 10x longer as well.

I would find the extended times to go to a non teleport island to be tedious if not unbearable. I already find traveling from Cuba to Isla Tormenta to be annoying.

I would also be concerned about the performance changes. I imagine there would need to be a higher number of enemy ships to fight, which I imagine would hurt frame rates more than it already does.

I would also imagine finding ships for quests would be beyond impossible, unless ships are spawned at the same density, which brings back the issue of frame rate.

While I love the idea of realism and immersion, I don't see this as feasible without completely overhauling the sailing system, which I am not up for personally.

Just my opinion.

The ships are considerably smaller, not 10x smaller though. I scaled them down as I saw fit, so the ratios are slightly inaccurate and will vary from photo to photo. The traveling times would definitely increase, but every journey will be unique and will hold many possibilities. The ship count will increase, but they'll be spread out accordingly so they don't negatively impact performance.

Finding ships will be much easier than before, actually. If you previously took a look at the high-seas expansion update you might have noticed the territory map I concocted. The high-seas will be split into territories - so you'll have a rough idea where the ships you intend to sink will be. Pirates will have to figure out the best route they should take depending on the weather conditions, too. This will make your journeys even more unpredictable. These weather changes also have the potential to affect naval combat through varying stat boosts for you and/or your enemies. [If you want to read more about territories and weather system, check out the link embedded in the text above]

The territory idea provides countless opportunities to enhance the players experience. Random server-triggered events such as fleets, creature hunts, and weather changes will take place randomly in different territories, so you'll never know what to expect when sailing from one island to the other. Also, some territories (eg: Undead and Doomed) may have an attack-on-sight rule regardless of pirate bounty, so this is another challenge.

EDIT - Plus, more islands can be squeezed in-between pre-existing ones.

EDIT 2 - The weather system doesn't have to be graphically impressive. Simple effects can appear so pirates could determine the weather conditions and find out whether they are disadvantaged or not. Stat buff/nerf details would also appear to the pirate.

 

[Darkslinger]

@Simon Daggerhawk

So as you may have noticed, the advantages here clearly outweigh the disadvantages.


EDIT - Travel time is a small price to pay for a plethora of features, don't you think? Plus, many islands and cosmetic models like rocks or patches of land can be added in previously empty areas so there's more to explore. I think pirates will be too busy exploring and experimenting with the new features to even notice the time passing by!

A few improvements that this would bring to the game:

• Larger high-seas, a more immersive sailing experience.
• More enemy ships (and potentially sea creatures) roaming around the high-seas.
• Multiple islands can be added around and in-between pre-existing islands (without a major change in high-seas size).
• Island to ship size ratio will be fixed. Islands will actually appear to be as large as they are in real life when compared to ships.
• The high-seas can be divided into multiple different territories which hold certain types of enemies with a defined range of levels.

But regardless of whether you agree or disagree, I respect your opinion.