We get some first hand after action reporting at the
official PoTBS forums from this weekend's Penny Arcade Expo where FLS is showing off Pirates of the Burning Sea.
Pox gives us some nice info and even answers some great questions about the game as he was able to play around with it a bit at the Expo.
As he says in his post, lot's of cameras there so here's hoping we see some more vids of the game soon.
Anyhoo...here's Pox's posts, lovingly copied and pasted...
My thoughts just coming back from the PAX expo
My first battle was a Flute vs a xebec (i dont think i have the name right). The flute was the slower moving less maneuverable but with heavy firepower. The xebec was fast and very maneuverable. The xebec firepower was primarily spindle mounted cannons lower caliber and shorter range than the flute.
This was the first time tryint the game for both players. Also both players were recieving great info on combat and skills during the battle
I found it hard to maintain a good broadside shot on the xebec. Due to her maneuverability. I realised that the xebec could stay in my blind spots all day long if i couldnt reduce her edge. I shifted to chain shot. In roughly 2 or 3 shots i had severely damaged and destroyed most the sails and mast onboard the xebec. I then set my ship up for full broadsides and the xebec went down.
Second battle
I was now in the xebec and another player was in the flute. I had one game experience and the other guy didnt. Just keep that in mind.
I had located the player flute and was making a fast charge to the rear quarter. I used a enemy ship between the player ship and me to close range without taking heavy damage.
*** this worked great. You cannot fire through a friendly ship to attack an enemy so fire lanes and LOS are very important***
Once i reached the rear quarter and had "T" up with the flute i engage with chain shot again. To make the slow flute even slower. After about 7 shots or so (Small caliber guns dont do alot of damage against a bigger ship) I had finally destroyed most of the enemies sail, mast, and somehow two cannons. I then dropped sail used regular shot and sent almost all my shots thru the rear armor on the flute. Took a while but the small faster ship was able to defeat the heavy big gunned ship.
Couple of notes i noticed while playing...
The object collison doesnt exist yet. Otherwise the first game would have been a mess seems we were driving while drunk with no cops to pull us over.
Weathergage and shiptype has a huge impact in how fast and what direction you need the wind to be from for speed. The xebec worked great if i had the wind coming from about 45 to 60 degrees to either flank. Where as the flute only appeared to like the wind in the rear 180 degree arc.
Skills that are in the game such as Pirate hunter, rapid reload, repair hull, repair structure, repair sail?, accuracy, moredamage, defensive. Actually showed an effect on actually game play.
Broadsides----when you fire them you do appear to get a ripple effect with smoke and fire. If you are being attacked and the cannon balls are big enough (or your in the way) you can see them coming.
Now i have had a small taste of what they have been working on and cant wait.
BTW i did ask several times about alpha and beta signups list and i was told numerous times that "The sign up list will be up on the website this month.(assuming that means september)"
And i only got one free tshirt for my two ship kills.? But hey i support the Pirates.
Pox
Ps Sorry i didnt get pictures but there were several people there with cameras and video cams. Hopefully one of them will post some pictures.
PSS thanks for given me the proper name for the pirate ship.
Next post where he answers some questions from a fellow forum member...
How was the interface?
Interface seemed smooth and uncluttered. The size of the monitor we were using made some of the tiny arrows hard to see.
Took a bit to realize there was two tool bars and the "ghost Sail" preference awesome made fleet battle vison much better. The target armor, structure, sail damage tracked accurately with the damage being done. Was real easy to see which side of your ship to keep towards the enemy and which side to protect.
How long did the battles last?
First battle lasted around 6 minutes or so. Second one almost 15 minutes. The xebec has small caliber faster reloading guns.
Was there much preperation leading up to the encounter or did you start pretty much on top of each other?
There wasnt much preparation to each battle we were both in the same harbor with both of us having two NPC ships on our sides. When we could actually assume control of the ships the npcs were already duking it out. Only way to tell which ship were the PCs was our ships were bigger. We didnt start in range as i had to close range and get thru the range difference between the flute and the xebec. Once i realized the devastion chain shot had on a opposing vessel that was my opening preparation shifting to chain shot.
Did you see the Nav map, and if so what did you think of it?
Yes i did see the nav map and i think it looked nice. Picture of your ship with you maneuvering it to your destination port. BTW the devopers assured me there is no way to accidentally wandering into Pvp zones.
And the models i came up with weathergage and ship type were an approxiamation. I had a long drive home and was super excited so those numbers are probably off.
Pox
