Dev Blog - Ships & Warships
A Highly Customizable and Robust Ship System
Anything shown in Dev Blogs is currently a work in progress and may not be the final result, please consider that if something doesn't look perfect yet <3
One of the, if not the most, core principle in our game design is endless customization. Being able to play your character exactly how you want to, with as few limitations as possible. But that doesn't stop with your character... Ships in the world of Ravendawn are nearly as deep and customizable as your character itself.
Ships are broken down into 5 key components.
The Hull
The Hull is the base of the ship and will impact various degrees of different aspects, including the ship's overall weight capability, as well as extra support for certain accessories. The Hull also has base stats that impact the ship's direction, whether it be faster, more maneuverable, harder to detect, or better in naval combat! Currently, we have 4 different available hulls for the Alpha - Merchant Hull (Focused on carrying capacity), Fishing Hull (Focused on fish carrying capacity), Clipper Hull (Exploration and Maneuverability) & Galleon Hull (Warship). While the Hull can point to a direction of the ship's ability, it is but a minor part of what the ship's final capability is based on other components chosen. Sometimes a Hybrid approach can be incredibly valuable.
The Sails
Speed, speed and more speed! The bigger and stronger the sails, the faster your ship will be able to travel, as well as a higher speed ceiling. However, a larger mast, adding more weight, will take its toll on your ship's ability to change course on the fly!
The Cabin
Room for carrying extra products, Trade Goods, Large Ocean Catches on rear facing hooks, or leave it empty to lower your ship's weight and thus increase its speed and combat! The Cabin Component is much more than just actual Boat Cabins, this is the rear part of the ship where a multitude of attachments can be placed, a large hook for that Gargantuan Tuna you caught, dual hooks for 2 medium sized catches, a storage box for extra Trade Packs, the choice is yours!
The Auxiliary
The Auxiliary is a much more unique component to your ship, this attachment is the most diverse of all the possible attachments with a wide range of different options from Extra Cannons, to Reinforced Plating, Nets and Emblems to just name a few. There will be a wide range of variations within those options, for example; gryphon cannons, siege cannons, serpent cannons & many more. The auxiliary component is one of the main ways for a user to decide the main intent of their ship's loadout.
The Rudder
The Rudder will improve the speed at which your ship can turn and maneuver, a critical factor in ship battles, but perhaps less important for a simple merchant or fisherman. While a larger rudder will allow you to turn faster, it will come at the cost of extra weight and an overall slower top speed to your ship!
One of our team's core beliefs is that there should never be a simple right and wrong way to play an MMORPG. Everything comes at a cost in the world of Ravendawn. Ships are no different. You can make the biggest, baddest, largest ship the Ravendawn Oceans have ever seen, rivaled by few in head on head combat! However, this will severely limit your ship's ability to fish, carry trade goods, two important ways ships help you generate income.
While you cannot change the components on your ship while out at sea, you are able to easily adjust ship components anytime you are in a harbor to any components you possess. Having a wide array of ship loadouts will be very valuable for different situations based on what you need, or your team needs.
No limitations to what can be explored!
Our favorite part about the Ship System in Ravendawn is no place cannot be explored. If it's on the map, you can visit it! A vast ocean, scattered with islands big and small, prepared to be charted and settled by you the player, but be careful, while you may feel you are the first to these islands, you don't know what else could be on that island... or beneath it.
Dynamic Ship Turning & Acceleration
Ships do not naturally come to full stop and full speed on the fly. A ship takes time to build up momentum and speed. Not only will ship's build up momentum as they cruise across the ocean with the wind at their sails, but conflict resulting in maneuvers will also impact speed and acceleration. While changing course frequently is not ideal for getting to your destination, sometimes it could mean life or death.
Teaser Loadouts
We're going to finish off the dev blog by showing you some possible loadouts we put together, this is but a drop in a bucket of what is already available and will be available for the Alpha/Beta, and a drop in the ocean of what will be available on Ravendawn's Launch.
Equipped with three cannons on each side, a large sail for maximum speed, this loadout has nothing but the essentials for naval combat, remaining light and lean with the only weight being to increase its naval warfare. While it may not be the biggest ship, it's prepared to outpace other warships and hit them when they're at their weakest.
Not everyone is eager for violence, some prefer generating wealth to hire others to protect them and take care of their enemies. However, for this fisherman, that is his future dream. For now, he has a simple ship, equipped with a small sail and a single fishing hook on the back. It may not be glamorous, but while others are busy poaching the large fishing barges or firing their cannons at other ships for plunder, this fisherman goes under the radar bringing in hauls of fish along the coast of Ravencrest.
Speed, Protection and Commerce. This loadout has one goal in mind, to bring trade goods across the long and dangerous ocean passage from Margrove Hamlet to the Pirate Isles. While risk is high, the reward is extravagant.
Closing Words
We just want to finish off by thanking everyone so much for all their kind words, motivation, excitement, and most importantly sharing Ravendawn with their friends & gaming groups! We could never have imagined this kind of excitement and interest from how little we've shared. It really means so much to our team, and encourages us so much seeing others feel the same way as us, that we are making something truly special here.