• New Horizons on Maelstrom
    Maelstrom New Horizons


    Visit our website www.piratehorizons.com to quickly find download links for the newest versions of our New Horizons mods Beyond New Horizons and Maelstrom New Horizons!

Cannon damage calculations

T

the reverend

Landlubber
I was just wondering.......Thats probably enough to scare most of you off but for anyone still reading here goes:

How is cannon damage calculated? This turned into a long essay in the first draft but to keep it brief and simple these are the points i am interested in.

1. A Larger ball/ larger cannon/ more appropriate ammuntion will do greater damage right? Is this scaled in any way though? ie Obviously it will take a greater percentage of hit points from a smaller vessel than a large but will a 24 pound cannon ball do proportionately more damage to a tartane than a man o war?

2. Does the area hit affect damage sustained? I know during the 19th century at least it was the aim of captains to "rake" opposing ships, firing into the relatively frail bow and stern and thus cause damage from one end of the gundeck to the other especially to crew. If the game originally had masts falling when damage was sustained to them, does it also calculate damage to hull and crew when hit in different areas irrespective of cannon or shot type.

3. Is there a list of cannon damage scales by type? Do cannons do more damage than culverins to compensate for lack of range?

4. Has a carronade/ cannonade been considered as a possibility for build 12. I am again unsure of whether these are historically accurate for the POTC time frame (i suspect not), but would give a chance to install much more powerful guns on small ships although at the expense of a vastly decreased effective range. Just a thought to add an extra dynamic.
 
Reverend,

I can only answer the second part of the third question, I believe cannons do more damage than culverins and culverins have greater range. <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":rolleyes:" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" /> (lots o' help there!)

Do not give up hope, however, I fully expect Nathan to come along at any minute and he will probably be able to address all of the points you've raised.

I would imagine that someone has suggested carronades and a search of the site with that term would certainly bring up the threads where people have brought that idea up.
<img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/keith.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":keith" border="0" alt="keith.gif" />

I think a carronade would be especially effective on Skelly Bob's Gunboat. <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/par-ty.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheers" border="0" alt="par-ty.gif" />
 
thanks for the response mate. had a look through the search for carronade and found a few suggestions for them and someone working on a version for B12. Thankyou for exposing my laziness to all and sundry, lol. <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mybad.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":facepalm" border="0" alt="mybad.gif" />

im off to write a few hundred lines.

I must check the archives before reposting,
I must check the archives before reposting...........
 
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Thankyou for exposing my laziness to all and sundry, lol.  <!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Hey, that's what I'm here for, man. <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/oops3.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":eek:ops2" border="0" alt="oops3.gif" /> , <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="xD:" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" />

I have to add this, it's thinking like yours above, with all the points about what makes the cannons in the game do what they do, that has lead to a lot of improvements in the game. Wait until you hear Nathan talking about applying physics to the sailing in an attempt to make the experience more realistic. I think JMV575 and he were discussing how they might be able to incorporate "leeway" into the game. Don't hesitate to make a post on this site, even if you think the topic may have been brought up before, it's the ongoing exchange of ideas around here that keeps me coming back.
<img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/par-ty.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheers" border="0" alt="par-ty.gif" />
 
its ok old bean didnt take it personally. I am sure i will be hanging round here like the proverbial old smell for some time to come, bespattering all comers with mixed metaphors, sloppy punctuation and poor grammar.
<img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="icon_wink.gif" />
I dont remember who said it but "there are no stupid questions, just those that are easier to answer."

And changing tack, leeway, theres a thought, that must be fiendishly complicated to execute. I can almost see that old flat bottomed dutch barge struggling on a lee shore desperately trying to beat away from jagged rocks.
 
Sorry about the delay. :

First, I firmly believe that the only stupid question is the unasked one, so absolutely fire away! <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

1. Yes.
The damage model:
Vessels have hit points (hull points?). You can see what they are in the shipyard or ship info boxes (or download the ships stat sheet from the Mod Center). When looking in spyglass they're given in percent, but the HP at least is a "real" number behind that.

Each cannon has a damage multiplier. You can see what it is by opening programcannonscannons_init.c. (And, sorry Sir Chris: culverines do the exact same damage _per hit_ as cannons do; it's the damage _per second_ that is increased, since their reload times are lessened. So you're half right. <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" /> ).

And lastly, each ammo type has three damage multipliers: hull, crew, and rig. You can check this by clicking "info" in any goods interface.

Damage is decreased by the defense skill and defense perks of the target, and increased by the cannon perks of the attacker (not cannon skill, just the increase damage perks). A critical hit does 2x damage.
Ammo other than bombs have a _very_ slight chance of causing fires, and bombs have a slight chance of causing fires.
Fires do a certain amount of damage per second until put out (time alive is based on the inverse of the defense skill).

A ways back, I added an additional calculation to crew damage: crew damage is scaled based on the current crew size (so if you have full crew you take more damage than if you have only min crew, and you take very little crew damage at all when there's only five of you left).

And for build 12, rather than as before increasing reload time if crew < max on the firing vessel, I decrease _damage_ if crew is less than max on the firing vessel (because with fewer crew, fewer cannon are being manned and fired).

Sail damage is mostly done by the engine. I assume that it's based on sail area, so ships with more sail area need more hits.

At the present time, aspect has _no_ affect. A shot from any angle will do the same damage. The only `area-based` damage effect is whether the shot hits hull or mast. Neat idea, though!
 
Well thankyou for the reply. That covers just about everything i believe. Thankyou for your time in giving such full and detailed info mate.
 
Happy to help. <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />
If you want a more technical explanation, open programsea_aiaiship.c and scroll down to HullHitEvent which calls ApplyHullDamage and ApplyCrewDamage. Those have the actual formulae.
 
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Originally posted by Nathan Kell
(And, sorry Sir Chris: culverines do the exact same damage _per hit_ as cannons do; it's the damage _per second_ that is increased, since their reload times are lessened. So you're half right. ).<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

That's about twice my usual average! <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="xD:" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" />
 
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->That's about twice my usual average!<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

So you're right 1/4 of the time? Well, they say 1 outta 3 ain't bad, how does 1 outta 4 equate?... <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin.gif" /> <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mybad.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":facepalm" border="0" alt="mybad.gif" /> <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/diomed.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":dio" border="0" alt="diomed.gif" /> <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/pirate2.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p:" border="0" alt="pirate2.gif" /> <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/par-ty.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheers" border="0" alt="par-ty.gif" />
 
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->So you're right 1/4 of the time? Well, they say 1 outta 3 ain't bad, how does 1 outta 4 equate?... <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin.gif" /><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I believe the phrase is, "One out a four ain't good!", but I could be mistaken. <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":?" border="0" alt="unsure.gif" />

<img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/par-ty.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheers" border="0" alt="par-ty.gif" />
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top