here's your capitalism: <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="
" border="0" alt="icon_wink.gif" /> i also put all things you need to find quickly in bold for easy reference.
The <b>sailing view</b>:
This is the place where your swashbuckling adventure begins: the sea. In the top right corner you see your <b>radar</b>. You'll probably see some land represented by dark green if it's nearby. <b>Zoom in and out</b> by using the <b>E</b> and <b>F</b> keys. Any ships within view are represented by arrows, the direction they're pointing in is they way they are heading. <b>Green</b> means they're <b>friendly</b> (or commanded by one of your officers), <b>grey</b> means <b>neutral</b> or <b>surrendered</b>, and <b>red</b> is <b>hostile</b>. You will not see any indication of ships at the edge of the radar if they're out of the radar's range. They might be further away.
The big <b>transparant arrow</b>is the wind direction. Keep an eye on this, as it changes with every game hour, as well as the <b>wind's strength</b>, which you can see at the top left of the radar. At the top right is your <b>vessel's current speed</b>. You will notice that in realistic sailing mode, some ships might sail better at certain angles to the wind than others. Ships like frigates and barques like the wind from behind, and can sail at an angle of 90 degrees to the wind. Ships like the lugger and sloop like the wind from the side, and can sail at an angle of 30 degrees into the wind, although that's the limit of their capability. If you're going backwards, this will not be represented by a negative number, but by a positive one and obviously everything going past the wrong way.
Outside the radar you can see a <b>yellow and a blue bar</b>. These do nothing else than represent the <b>wind speed</b> and your <b>ship's speed</b> by their length. Blue is the wind speed, yellow is your ship's speed.
The <b>orange ring</b> around your radar with <b>N, E, S and W</b> in it is your <b>compass</b>. This shows the direction in which you're going. The letters mean <b>North, East, South and West</b> respectively. Take a look at the map once in a while to see where you should go. <b>important:</b> the map, which you can bring up by pressing <b>F2</b> and selecting the <b>'map' interface</b>, does not show your ship's position. You need to figure that out for yourself. In build 14, the map shows at which island your ship is and where it is in relation to the island. It doesn't show the distance of your ship to the island though.
Outside the compass ring you can see <b>four green bars</b>. (Or three, if you chose the gunboat at the start of the game) These represent your <b>cannons</b>. On the radar screen itself you can see <b>four grey triangles</b> around your ship. This is the <b>range of your cannons</b>. You will notice that it changes when you go over a wave, making the guns point up or down, decreasing or increasing their range. If a hostile ship is within one of these triangles, you can press <b>spacebar</b> to <b>fire the cannons on that side</b>. The green bar will empty, and it will be replaced by a red one which gradually fills up. If it's completely filled, it turns green, and you can fire again. Note that the caliber and type of the guns, the amount of crew and your cannon skill all contributes to the <b>loading time of your cannons</b>. Low caliber cannons have lower loading times, but do less damage than the bigger, slow-loading guns. More on guns later.
At the bottom right of the radar you can see a <b>cannonball icon</b>. This represents the <b>type of ammunition</b> that you have loaded your cannons with. Other types of ammunition are grapeshot, chainshot and bombs. Here's a discription of what they do:
<b>Cannonballs:</b> These allow for the maximum range of your cannons. They are mainly used against the enemy hull, but do a fair amount of damage to sails as well, should they fly through them. They are cheap and should be your primary ammunition.
<b>Grapeshot:</b> This is the kind of ammunition you would use just before boarding an enemy vessel. It has very short range, but can wreak havoc upon the enemy crew. Aim for the hull to kill the enemy crewmen five at a time per hit.
<b>Chainshot or barshot:</b> These have a decent range, but do not give you the maximum range of your cannons. Use this nasty stuff to rip huge holes straight through your enemies' sails, greatly slowing him down. Only use this when nessesary. If you plan to keep the vessel, don't aim for the sails. Use them to prevent an enemy from escaping or to escape yourself.
<b>Bombs:</b> Does exactly what it says on the package. Although hard to come by, this is a special treat for those guys that really annoy you. They make huge holes in the enemy hull, and have a big chance of causing fires. They don't have the greatest of range though. Bombs are not sold in shops, nor anywhere else. You must get by them by other means. As a hint, forts use bombs and can sometime sb entered by land.
To <b>switch your ammunition</b>, press <b>1, 2, 3 or 4</b> to select cannonballs, chainshot, grapeshot and bombs respectively. If you select a new kind of ammunition, all the green bars will empty and refill. <b>Important:</b> You have to have the kind of ammunition you want to use in your cargo hold to use it, as well as <b>gunpowder</b> to fire your guns with. The <b>ammunition symbol</b> will <b>blink</b> if you haven't enough.
That's enough about the radar. On to the other keys.
You will have undoubtedly noticed that you <b>aren't moving</b> at first when you go to sea. Press <b>W</b> to <b>hoist half your sails</b>, and press it again to <b>hoist the remaining sails</b>. With all sails set, you get the maximum speed out of your vessel, but with only half of them set, you will be twice as manuevrable, although you will lose half your speed. Having half your sails set is a good idea in battle, as it protects the sails you haven't set from flying cannonballs and gives you the extra manuevrability you need. Press <b>S</b> to <b>furl your sails</b>, once for half of them, twice for all. <b>High sailing skill</b> increases the speed at which the sails are furled and set.
You <b>steer your ship</b> by pressing the <b>A</b> and <b>D</b> keys to go <b>left</b> and <b>right</b>. Keeping it pressed makes your ship continue to move in that direction. <b>Higher sailing skill</b> makes your ship turn faster.
You can move your mouse around to <b>move the camera</b>. Clicking the <b>left mouse button zooms in</b>, and clicking the <b>right mouse button zooms out</b>. The view of your ship that you have now isn't your only option. press <b>TAB</b> to change the view to one from the deck of your ship. Click the <b>left mouse button to walk forwards</b> and the <b>right mouse button to move backwards</b>. Move the mouse around to <b>face a different direction</b>.
You will probably have noticed that while using deck view, you sometimes see a <b>yellow target indicator</b>. Using this, you can fire the cannons of the side of the ship you are facing manually by pressing <b>V</b>. Pressing <b>spacebar</b> makes the cannons fire by themselves in there's an enemy within range if they are loaded. Anything you fire flies in an arc, so be sure to <b>aim high enough</b> to hit the the target. If the <b>target indicator is red</b>, it means you're aiming high enough to hit the hull of the enemy. If there are big waves, it can be extremely difficult to aim well, so be sure to practice a bit with the front cannons, as long as you're not shooting at anything. <b>Important:</b> If you'll hit a <b>neutral target</b> if you would fire the cannons, the <b>indicator will be grey</b>. Fireing at that time will make the victim hostile to you and will result in a <b>severe loss of reputation</b>. (See: 'reputation' for the consequences)
When in <b>deck view</b>, press <b>Ctrl (control)</b> to use your <b>spyglass</b>. If you point it at a ship or fort, it will give you information on it. The amount of information depends on how far away the target is and the quality of your spyglass. Pressing <b>Ctrl (control)</b> again <b>puts your spyglass away</b>. You cannot go to the <b>full camera view</b> by pressing <b>TAB</b> when you're using your spyglass.
<b>Important:</b> In <b>build 14 alpha 6</b>, you will not see the radar unless you have a <b>compass in your inventory</b> and have it equipped.
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" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" /> just as a random idea: