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C/C++/Python skills, and also historical ships / sailing addicted

danduk82

danduk82

Sailor
Hello,
I'm another sailing addicted. I found the Akella simulations quite interesting as historical naval simulations, and I like a lot the mods you have provided for AOP (1 and 2), didn't test POTC. I am also addicted to the books of O'Brian and I'd like to see a compter game that could reproduce this fascinating world.

I am not really an informatician, no idea on how the Unreal Engine works, but I'm coding lots of small scientific programs (normally to be run in command-line). I'm using Python for the POF (Prove Of Concept) prototypes and when something needs power, I usually re-code it in C++.

I am also used to Linux Cluster administration and Linux System administration, but I don't thing that this should be helpful here... I am also used to 3D geological modeling, but I don't think that it is really similar to 3D ship modeling...

I am finishing my PhD, and right now I don't have a lot of free time, but I should have more time after January 2013. May I be helpful anyway? I'd be glad to contribute to this project, and to learn more about computer games programming :read .

Cheers

PS: I've got also a couple of interesting books representing historical ships, with also the plans, that could be useful to the modelers.
 
:ahoy mate!

You can do 3d geological modeling? There will be a need for detailed islands and coastlines in the future.
 
Ah, yeah. That's more or less the topic of my PhD. But I'm not used at all to model textures and stuff. 3D geomodeling is more about geology and geomorphology, but the aim of the models is to have a conceptual model of the underground. Not really need to be pretty...

But I'm very used to cartography and related topics.

Actually I also found that the cartography / navigation part of Akella games is really missing. But the arcade-like navigation map is quite funny too...

But in a more realistic naval simulator I would expect something more like Silent Hunter 3-4, where you are always on the ship, and the time stops when you spot someone (spotting distance depending on some skills of the officers). Something like that, with the navigation instruments of the late 18th century could be an interesting way to feel the historical period. Including the necessity of calulate the marea to make a good route etc. It would be (my opinion) very immersive.

I don't know what are the guidelines for the navigation part of OAK.
 
Cartography, eh? Always an interesting subject, being a real-life Navigation Officer myself.

When you've got the time, do check out PotC with New Horizons too! That basically showcases most of the concepts we would like to do better with the new game.
Anyway, you are most welcome and I'm sure you'll be able to help us! I hope you'll have a good time here. :doff
 
All your skills are extrordinary and the most spectacularly suited to making this game come to life in a new way.
I have one or two pdfs as well however id be interested in knowing which ship plans you have as that'd help in making new and improved models(I have detailed plans of the beagle , .
Please while your at it try to find some plans of old fortifications and townships this will aid in the good design and layout of decent land maps.
In particular I like the anatomy of a ship book series..
 
Ahoy danduk82, welcome aboard mate! :dance

You definitely have a unique set of skills that should come in real handy once we really get in to building the navigation system, and your modeling experience is most welcome as well. This is going to be a long term project, so don't worry about having to contribute anything right off.
 
welcome! Glad to see another o'brian fan coming aboard.:onya
we have quite the collection of plans going already( originally for the storm engine games, before this project was begun) and yours would be most welcome!
http://www.piratesahoy.net/threads/selected-ship-plans-plan-websites-and-other-resources.18660/
it seems you have a great skill set, and don't worry about not having the time to work on much for the game for awhile, as thagarr said, this is a long term project, and we all put in what we can when we can.
 
:ahoyeverybody
Thanks for the welcome.

Splat: I have 2 books called "Souvenirs de marine conservés" ("preserved marine remembrances" - google translate). i.e. a lot of plans (mainly of hulls) of a lot of boats (didn't count them all, I'll say the right number tonight). For some of them there are also the sail plans and for other also the inside etc. There are also a lot of small boats, which should populate the seas around the harbors and coasts (small fishers, but also many cannon boats that where used to defend the horbors. There are also a couple of "bombardes", which I don't know the name in english, but which where equipped with mortars to destroy land fortifications (and which are completely absent in all the pirate-naval games that I've see until now). I have a couple of other books that are re-editions of old (late 1800) manual for marine ship captains explaining rigging etc.
:ship
 
I think 'souvenirs de marine' are 'ship plans' in English, which makes sense by your description.
Anyway, I like the sound of plans detailing ships' interiors! That will be especially useful for the level of detail we're aiming for. :keith

'Bombardes' are probably 'bomb vessels', and it would be great to include some of those for authenticity and flexible gameplay.
 
These are the kind of plans I was talking about.
IMAG0139.jpg
IMAG0138.jpg
IMAG0135.jpg
IMAG0137.jpg
 
These are only crap photographs taken with my mobile phone, but in case I can make some good scans. Actually, I don't want to put them in free access over the internet because I guess the editors may associate it with illegal sharing of copyrighted material. But we could have an internal sharing place for that kind of stuff, and cite the book as reference for the plans in the credits of the game, as in any "sane research" world...
 
What you could do is post a list of all the ships included in the books, with essential details like number of guns etc, and then modellers would have to ask you for scanned copies in a personal message.
That saves you scanning every single one and having only a fraction of them actually used.
 
Those plans look pretty detailed. Do they have information like tonnage, cargo capacity, and crew size?
 
Armada: good idea I'll do the list tomorrow. Maybe I'll post it in a different thread in the brainstorm forum for HoO.

Hylie: depend on the boat. Some of them have only the hull, some have also the sail plan, some the interior, they are mainly french ships actually. Normally the tonnage and number of cannon is present. For the sail plans there are also the number of square meters of each sail, I don't remember for the crew, I'll check tomorrow.

There are also a lot of small units, which are quite detailed, and separated by region. But as the admiral who originally did this collection of plans in the late 1800 was a French admiral there is not such a big choice in nations...

Small units could be useful to make live the harbors and the sea near the islands.
 
Hi! I read about this project on modddb.com; I was just thinking a few days ago about the lack of a new "pirates" game and about how cool would it be made one myself. Well the point is that I've study what you can call in english "computer engineering" at Salamanca University (Universidad de Salamanca); so yes, i'm spanish; I have a good knowledge of C and C++, a bit of Java as well. I also know a bunch of things about "how to organice" software development and of course I'm a videogame geek. I have also some friends that studied a Physics degree so it could be handy and I know quite a bit about spanish history as well, that maybe could be of help at some point. I'm just a noob of course I've just finished my degree but I think I could help, at least as a voice actor or to translate the dialog XD. (I apologize if my english isn't very good).

PD: I've never used the Unreal Engine but of course I could learn.
 
Ahoy ChichesTH, welcome aboard mate! :dance

No need to apologize mate, your English is just fine, and much better than my Spanish! I am sure that your knowledge of your native Spain will be invaluable in many aspects of our game development, and your computer science degrees and programing knowledge are a huge bonus!We are still in the very early stages of development, and not very well organized at the moment. We have a while before we really start major development efforts, I would suggest familiarizing yourself with the UDK, and also what our small team has come up with so far.

A lot of us, myself included know absolutely nothing about programing, but we do know a lot of naval history, and quite a bit of regular history as well. We also have quite a good crew of modelers and story writers, and we are always looking for more as well.
 
Welcome indeed ChichesTH, your help will be much appreciated!
Having an actual Spanish person here should help with getting the Spanish part of the game more accurate as well.
We've got many English-speaking people here, a few Dutch ones, it'll be good to add Spanish to the mix! :woot
 
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