The Positive City of Abandoned Ships Thread

Pieter Boelen · May 11, 2009

For those people who have the game, please let us know what you like about it.
How does the gameplay hold up? Especially when compared to other Storm-engine based games and mods?
Which features does CoAS offer that PotC doesn't? Even with the Build mod included?
And how much improved are those graphics?

We need some serious information on all this to be able to decide if and when we might move the Build mod over to CoAS.
Plus it'll allow people to decide on buying/not buying the game.
So let us know what you think! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/w00t.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=" :woot

" border="0" alt="w00t.gif" />

Pieter Boelen · May 11, 2009

This remains the most informative source available for now, despite being over a year(!) old: <a href="http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/841/841808p1.html" target="_blank">http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/841/841808p1.html</a>

gdkiv · May 11, 2009

well the install music is ok..hehe and the game does have a nice logo damn my dvd player takes it time to install this shit..

i hope you can gamble in this game like you can in the build... damn you assholes with your build mod. you guys have spoiled me!

Pieter Boelen · May 11, 2009

You probably can gamble; the Build uses graphics from the Sea Legend id Back mod for the gambling and that was made by seaward.ru too.
Though they were still a modding community at that point.

gdkiv · May 11, 2009

okay i havent played much yet. but i think this is the game to convert the build to. and i have not even sailed a ship yet.. but everything feels so fresh..

Pieter Boelen · May 12, 2009

Thanks to Thomas the Terror, I've been reading some Dutch previews of CoAS that are based on an early half-translated version.
Surprisingly, for me at least, these previews are far from being positive.
Some of the main points from the reviews:
- Graphics are crappy (Really? Still looks better than PotC.)
- Fighting system is clumsy and you die if you're faced with more than one enemy (no surprises there; though in PotC usually you CAN survive a multiple enemies attack)
- Gameplay is fairly boring, due to a lack of a goal in the game. There's many random quests, but these also appear boring.

So far I haven't heard a SINGLE positive thing about CoAS from somebody who actually played it.
It appears people were even more positive about the original Age of Pirates! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/piratesing.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=" :shock

" border="0" alt="piratesing.gif" />

Lucky · May 12, 2009

On the official board is a thread called "GERMAN THREAD-FÃœR DEUTSCHE AOP 2-GAMER".
Allmost everyone in there seems to be very happy with the game...

Stallion · May 13, 2009

People on one forum are reporting:

-the game defaults to widescreen resolution, and gets stretched when changing to suit a "normal" monitor
-the sound stutters and crackles - they may have a fix for this
-random system lock-ups
-incompatibility with several Nvidia graphics cards (that might be a wee bit of a problem, eh? <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="

:" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" /> )
-a submersible ship (unconfirmed except for the guy who reported this)
-invisible weapons (again, unconfirmed)

And, no, don't ask which forum this is - suffice it to say it involves pirating of a somewhat different nature than that of PA. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/389_robber.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":robber:" border="0" alt="389_robber.gif" />

Oldtimer · May 13, 2009

Hi all,

a little abt. the gameplay on Captain difficulty. Disclaimer: I`m an adventurer and like sailing around, trading, doing small missions. Have not consciously made any endeavour to progress MQ or such.

- the difficulty lvl is very high. Captain lvl is said to be normal, try that...

- music is horrid, immersion destroying frankly, at least after you`ve heard the very rousing soundtrack for the trailer on Playlogics site,

- low encounter rate too low, normal too high,

- the maritime knowledge quizes, supposed to give you useful items are extremly annoying for a non english speaker. Even if I know what is wanted in Swedish, I usually forgot it in English and it`s not my idea of relaxation to play a game with an open maritime dictionary at the side,

- the small side quests can be annoying, especially finding spy and sink pirates. Finding an unnamed pirate and sinking him means generally sinking ALL pirates in the vicinity. Nothing for a low lvl char...
Finding jewels for moneylenders seems to be bugged. The jewels seem not to spawn sometimes.

- the larger side quest seem to be very well done and need you to have your brain in gear, some seem to come from "RoSL" and it`s not a bad thing at all,

- starting new game with the same hero might provide different ships and starting locations, very good. Adds replay value.

- leveling system, really good and interesting(also imported from "RoSL", BTW). BUT, if you read the manual, you see that the game world is player centered. The game lvls with you, not you lvl up to the game(like Morrowind). This affects rewards and loot.
I don`t know how weighted this is yet, but this approach if taken to the extreme like in Oblivion makes the idea of leveling redundant. What`s the point of improving if irrespectively of lvl you do not get some easy fights now and then???

- officer system flawed, all ship classes need all types of officers to operate efficiently. Considering how expensive officers are it makes running a small ship efficiently very hard. And you start with a small ship. Multi specialists are available, very good, but their cost negates the advantages.
This because hero perks are individual, ship perks work only with appropriate officers. A captain should at least be able to be his own navigator and trader.

- artillery works awful, without a VERY good cannoneer, you will not hit a three-decker at point blank even once. With your own three-decker...

- melÃ¨e combat is very hard, but in a realistic way. Fighting against multiple opponents is terribly difficult, you need help and that is as it should be.

Anyway, the game is very playable thanks to/in spite of the above and knowing who made it I think that the deeper you delve into the main quest the better it gets. Here we have content, not only graphics, which are nice anyway.

Regards, Oldtimer

Oldtimer · May 13, 2009

Hi,

abt. remarks that there is no MQ, AFAIU there is one involving mythology and finding the city of the lost ships itself.

Regards, Oldtimer

Pieter Boelen · May 13, 2009

Thanks a LOT for posting that! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/w00t.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=" :woot

" border="0" alt="w00t.gif" />

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Oldtimer @ May 13 2009, 10:38 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=319390"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'>- music is horrid, immersion destroying frankly, at least after you`ve heard the very rousing soundtrack for the trailer on Playlogics site,</div>Agh; that is BAD news. I was hoping for more Sea Dogs/Pirates of the Caribbean/Age of Pirates-like good music from Yuri Poteyenko.
What's the music like? Do you know if it was written by Yuri Poteyenko this time around?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Oldtimer @ May 13 2009, 10:38 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=319390"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'>- the maritime knowledge quizes, supposed to give you useful items are extremly annoying for a non english speaker. Even if I know what is wanted in Swedish, I usually forgot it in English and it`s not my idea of relaxation to play a game with an open maritime dictionary at the side,</div>Maritime quizzes? Uh? <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/piratesing.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=" :shock

" border="0" alt="piratesing.gif" />

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Oldtimer @ May 13 2009, 10:38 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=319390"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'>The game lvls with you, not you lvl up to the game(like Morrowind). This affects rewards and loot.
I don`t know how weighted this is yet, but this approach if taken to the extreme like in Oblivion makes the idea of leveling redundant. What`s the point of improving if irrespectively of lvl you do not get some easy fights now and then???</div>PotC and AoP were the same, I think. Gameplay-wise I believe that the game should get harder as you progress, but that doesn't really make much sense with leveling up.
I wonder how a game world/leveling system could be made that's better.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Oldtimer @ May 13 2009, 10:38 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=319390"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'>- officer system flawed, all ship classes need all types of officers to operate efficiently. Considering how expensive officers are it makes running a small ship efficiently very hard. And you start with a small ship. Multi specialists are available, very good, but their cost negates the advantages.
This because hero perks are individual, ship perks work only with appropriate officers. A captain should at least be able to be his own navigator and trader.</div>That's a bit over-the-top! We've been doing some brainstorming on that ourselves and that is indeed one of the potential problems Hook came up with.
Personally I would think that different ship types should require different sets of officers. And for example just a tiny ship you should be able to handle on your onesy.
You should only really NEED officers on the bigger ships.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Oldtimer @ May 13 2009, 10:38 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=319390"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'>Anyway, the game is very playable thanks to/in spite of the above and knowing who made it I think that the deeper you delve into the main quest the better it gets. Here we have content, not only graphics, which are nice anyway.</div>That does sound good; I'm glad to hear something more positive about this game. Thanks again! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/w00t.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=" :woot

" border="0" alt="w00t.gif" />

wolfsrain · May 13, 2009

Thanks for the mini-review, Oldtimer. I think it's the first review which enters in detail, so big thanks for sharing your experience with the game so far.

Oldtimer · May 13, 2009

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pieter Boelen @ May 13 2009, 10:49 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=319394"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Oldtimer @ May 13 2009, 10:38 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=319390"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'>- music is horrid, immersion destroying frankly, at least after you`ve heard the very rousing soundtrack for the trailer on Playlogics site,</div>Agh; that is BAD news. I was hoping for more Sea Dogs/Pirates of the Caribbean/Age of Pirates-like good music from Yuri Poteyenko.
What's the music like? Do you know if it was written by Yuri Poteyenko this time around?</div>Music is a combo of the above, but it is somehow not quite in gear with the game, if there were stretches of trailer music added, it would work.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pieter Boelen @ May 13 2009, 10:49 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=319394"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Oldtimer @ May 13 2009, 10:38 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=319390"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'>- the maritime knowledge quizes, supposed to give you useful items are extremly annoying for a non english speaker. Even if I know what is wanted in Swedish, I usually forgot it in English and it`s not my idea of relaxation to play a game with an open maritime dictionary at the side,</div>Maritime quizzes? Uh? <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/piratesing.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=" :shock

" border="0" alt="piratesing.gif" /></div>City dwellers accost you and offer items if you can answer their questions. Lovely idea, in theory...

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pieter Boelen @ May 13 2009, 10:49 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=319394"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Oldtimer @ May 13 2009, 10:38 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=319390"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'>The game lvls with you, not you lvl up to the game(like Morrowind). This affects rewards and loot.
I don`t know how weighted this is yet, but this approach if taken to the extreme like in Oblivion makes the idea of leveling redundant. What`s the point of improving if irrespectively of lvl you do not get some easy fights now and then???</div>PotC and AoP were the same, I think. Gameplay-wise I believe that the game should get harder as you progress, but that doesn't really make much sense with leveling up.
I wonder how a game world/leveling system could be made that's better.</div>Very easy, random encounters irrespectively of player lvl. And you did a good thing in BUILD where
you can stumble upon ongoing fights between other parties and benefit from it. The thing is that you are a speck of dust in the universe and the universe goes abt. it`s business ignoring you, mostly.
With randomness you can simulate this in a game.

Pieter Boelen · May 13, 2009

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Oldtimer @ May 13 2009, 11:16 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=319401"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'>Music is a combo of the above, but it is somehow not quite in gear with the game, if there were stretches of trailer music added, it would work.</div>Hmm... I'll be interested to hear it for myself once I managed to find the game. Somewhere.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Oldtimer @ May 13 2009, 11:16 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=319401"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'>City dwellers accost you and offer items if you can answer their questions. Lovely idea, in theory...</div>The idea indeed doesn't sound all that bad, truth be told. I'll be interested to see how that plays out.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Oldtimer @ May 13 2009, 11:16 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=319401"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'>Very easy, random encounters irrespectively of player lvl. And you did a good thing in BUILD where
you can stumble upon ongoing fights between other parties and benefit from it. The thing is that you are a speck of dust in the universe and the universe goes abt. it`s business ignoring you, mostly.
With randomness you can simulate this in a game.</div>How would you handle difficulty then though? You might accidentally run into too strong enemies early in the game.
Or end up bored later in the game at some points.

What I don't much like in PotC is that ships and random NPCs just don't have any purpose at all.
They don't come from anywhere and they don't go anywhere.
They're just there to provide gameplay, but they're not part of a real "living" world that works on it's own.
The whole game is basically a highly animated backdrop for you to have fun in; player-centred indeed!

Is there any improvement to that in CoAS? I would imagine that is one area where some HUGE improvements could be achieved as far as immersion in the game is concerned.

Oldtimer · May 13, 2009

Hi Pieter,

you can handle difficulty by running away. If you can`t, you will most probably die, that`s one of the realities of life for an adventurer. Just save often, unless you play DID, which will be very frustrating in this game...
And running away instead of helping a girl against rapists destroys your rep. Yes, the game keeps track of this, very good.
People comment on your deeds in conversations, excellent!

Regards, Oldtimer

Pieter Boelen · May 13, 2009

That actually happens in CoAS? That IS pretty cool!
What's DID...? Damsels in Distress? <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=" :rolleyes:

" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" />

Oldtimer · May 13, 2009

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pieter Boelen @ May 13 2009, 11:42 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=319406"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'>That actually happens in CoAS? That IS pretty cool!
What's DID...? Damsels in Distress? <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=" :rolleyes:

" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" /></div>

Hi Pieter,

DID=Dead is dead...

After dying you start a new game, not a recommended approach here...

Regards, Oldtimer

Oldtimer · May 13, 2009

Hi Pieter,

abt. a "living" world I cannot say much yet. In Sea Dogs there were missions to disrupt enemy communications and trade. But I think they were of no consequence to the enemies economy as there was no political/strategical dimension. Meaning that by cutting trade routes, intercepting payroll convoys and troop transports you could make forts easier to capitulate, colonies easier to conquer. Maybe even without a fight if a blockade was tight enough.

I havn`t seen trade routes and hints of interdependent economy(inclusive of smuggling) in CoAS yet. Without these 2 prerequsites I think the world is much as it was before, unfortunately.

Regards, Oldtimer

Pieter Boelen · May 13, 2009

Sounds rather samey to PotC then; that's too bad, I would've hoped for at least some sort of semblance to sensical trade routes on the worldmap.
The worldmap ships are one thing we cannot influence in the code and has been done through the engine; I had rather been hoping that they would've done that.

Do I understand correctly that in Sea Dogs, you COULD cut trade routes and things like that? Why did they EVER cut that out of the "sequels" then? <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/piratesing.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=" :shock

" border="0" alt="piratesing.gif" />

Oldtimer · May 13, 2009

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pieter Boelen @ May 13 2009, 02:15 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=319441"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'>Sounds rather samey to PotC then; that's too bad, I would've hoped for at least some sort of semblance to sensical trade routes on the worldmap.
The worldmap ships are one thing we cannot influence in the code and has been done through the engine; I had rather been hoping that they would've done that.

Do I understand correctly that in Sea Dogs, you COULD cut trade routes and things like that? Why did they EVER cut that out of the "sequels" then? <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/piratesing.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=" :shock

" border="0" alt="piratesing.gif" /></div>

Hi Pieter,

maybe I was not clear here. In Sea Dogs you could get a mission to say capture/sink a no of merchants during a set time in order to harm the enemy, but it does not mean there were any trade routes per se.
You took on the randomly generated ships, that`s all.
The rest of my post is abt. what is needed to make the world come alive.

Regards, Oldtimer

The Positive City of Abandoned Ships Thread

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