Tides of War

[CaptainMurphy]

Heart-pounding naval combat with wooden ships and iron men! Take command of your ship and crew to sail into battle with iconic ships from the golden age of sail. Balance your offence and defense to outlast, dismast, sink, board, and plunder your enemies. Challenge your friends in thrilling smoke filled multiplayer battles or sail solo in missions to challenge your command skills. Become a Pirate Lord in the Brethren of the Coast or hunt down your nations enemies as the Captain of a Ship of the Line. Earn your Letters of Marque and start your voyage, if you dare.

Take part in large scale battles in both multiplayer and single player naval combat that spans the golden age of sail. Sail iconic ships and lead your crew in sinking, capturing, plundering, and razing enemy ships for King and Country or for your own personal wealth. "Raise the Black" against merchant ships or seize cargo for your nation is varied multiplayer battles that will test your abilities as a Captain, or lead your squadron and test your abilities as a Commodore as well. Manage officers, crew, and specialists to give your ship an advantage in situations and train and keep your crew alive to make sure your veterans can train the latest recruits. Balanced gameplay will give your decisions weight in the fray. Rush in and rely on your heavy armored Ship of the Line or slowly pick at the enemy from afar with your light and fast Schooner. Your play style can be as varied as you want.

 

Quick synopsis: Letters of Marque is a multiplayer and single player game that is designed to allow the player to test their crew management and ship handling skills in challenging, dynamic missions and environments. Players will be in 3rd person control of their ship with 1st person views over the guns when needing precision firing control. The play will revolve around players earning/purchasing Letters of Marque to be able to play as certain countries in later matches. It will offer variable realism levels from an arcade type feel to a more realistic and challenging historical mode. We are planning to even recreate some historical battles for players to take part in and change history!

 

Game format: Multiplayer and Single player. Game style ranging from arcade to historical based on each game that is hosted.

Gameplay Basics: Players take part in single or multiplayer battles by taking direct control over a ship of their choosing (earned through gameplay). If a player is able to board and capture a ship on the enemy team they will earn their team Gold (plus a bonus for himself) and get XP for himself. Gold is divided at the end of the mission among players that are still in the server. Players start with the ability to play as 2 starting nations with the ability to purchase a Letter of Marque to play as other nations.

 

Game Currency: Players complete missions to earn Gold and Reputation XP. Gold is used mostly for ship/player upgrades that are akin to tangible items. Reputation XP is used in two ways, the first is a currency version that allows XP earned in missions to be ‘spent’ on skills or crew updates while the overall XP earned is used to track the player’s ‘rank’, which is used to determine what class of ships a player can use for that nation. Reputation XP is specific to a nation and does not carry over to a new nation when a player purchases a Letter of Marque. The Reputation XP starts over with that nation with a base amount.

Goals of Gameplay: Players will be challenged to complete specific goals as part of their team in a cooperative method. One player in the team will be elected as the Commodore and be able to give orders to their team, with bonuses earned in XP or Gold for completion of those orders. The XP is used to add specific skills to your player skills set and to 'purchase' crew and ship upgrades that are consumable (ammo, shot, injured/killed crew, damaged ship components). Gold can be used to add special upgrades to the ships such as hull upgrades, sail changes, gun upgrades/sizes, and crew boarding advantages. Players also manage how their crew is set up to maximize their play style.

 

Major Game Mechanics:

Sailing - Done in a third person view. Players in arcade mode have a HUD available to maximize wind usage, players in Historical games must use flags and other wind indicators for their apparent wind. Sailing skills of the player can affect the speed of actions, as well as the number of 'sailor' crew that are on board. More sailors means the actions will complete faster or more efficiently so ships will accelerate faster and change sails quicker. Turning will also improve as the sailors count or skill increases.

Battle - Players can fire cannons using third person view or switch to a 1st person type view looking over the area that the guns cover for more precision. Players have control over the different batteries on board separately and can manage them individually to change the shot type (double shot, single shot, bombs, hot shot, grapeshot, knipple), elevation set, and powder charges used. Ships have the ability to take damage from 4 quadrants with each quadrant able to be upgraded with components that can increase the 'armor' rating to stop shot from penetrating. Each armor quadrant can be damaged and depleted so players have to keep track of how much damage each side is taking to keep too many shots from getting through. Guns also can be damaged or destroyed once an armor rating has dropped sufficiently. Battle skills of the player affect reload speeds, accuracy, and timing of the guns (broadside effectiveness) as well as the number/skill of 'Gunner' crew type on board. If a player's ship is sunk or captured in a battle then the player has a cooldown time before (typically) respawning at the spawn point that is designated in the mission. Some historical missions will allow the player to assume control of an AI ship that is part of the fleet instead. If there are no AI ships left or respawn tickets left then the player becomes an observer for the remainder of the match.

Boarding - Players set up their crew with a third type of crew called 'Marines' that are the boarding/repelling specialists. A player can capture a ship that has not struck their colors by grappling the ship and bringing it along side. Be aware that the battle continues around the player while grappling and a grapple must be 'cut away' before it a ship is free to move again. Marines specialize in repelling/boarding, and Sailors and Gunners can repel boarders just not as effectively as Marines, and both can be augmented by optional items like boarding nets. Ships that have lost morale will strike their colors and Marines can board by using launches from the player's ship. Beware, launches can be destroyed while in transit so don't send them from too far away. They are slow and vulnerable. Once a ship is captured it is given a prize crew and the player can then give it simple orders to follow. If the captured ship survives to the end of the level then the player is given a lions share of the prize money with the rest divided up among the other remaining players.

 

Upgrades and Addons: Ships and players can be upgraded with bonus items.

Player Skills (Costs XP): A player earns 'reputation points' (XP) by surviving battles and damaging/sinking/capturing enemy ships. Rep points can be used to increase a player's skill level in certain areas such as gunnery, sailing, boarding, or command. These player skills are locked to the nation under which they are earned. Certain nations will have special skill sets that are limited to that one nation.

Player Addons (Costs Gold): Players will have the ability to upgrade their avatar with better equipment like clothing, hats, boots, weapons, etc that will have an effect on their stats. COLLECT THOSE HATS!!! Addons stay with the player across all nations/ships.

Crew Skills (Costs XP): Players can 'teach' their crew new skills by purchasing certain skillsets. Crew skills are limited to the nation that the player purchased them under.

Crew Upgrades (Costs Gold): Upgraded boarding equipment, better training, higher level crew can all be purchased with Gold for the ship that is outfitted. Crew upgrades are limited to the ship that is upgraded with them.

Officers (Costs Rep XP and Gold): Officers are a consumable item that assist the player in increasing the speed of actions taken on board and increasing the morale of the crew during battle. If an officer is killed in battle they will not be available after that mission and must be replaced. Ships only have limited officer slots that can be filled. The more missions an officer survives the better their rating gets and increases bonuses in battle.

Ship Upgrades (Costs Gold): Ships can hold a number of upgrades for battle. A ship has a limited amount of free weight available and upgrades, crew, and consumables like ammo will take this weight. If a player is planning to be a fast boarding vessel then the crew may be filled with more Marines and Sailors and less Gunners. Upgrades like increased hull plating will add weight that will slow a ship down, while lighter sails will remove weight but reduce the damage resistance of the sails. Each upgrade set is unique to each ship so that a player can tailor their ship for the play style they want to do. Fast boarders, slow damage tanks, long range harassers, and more can be done through the upgrades system.

New Ships (Costs Gold and XP): Players will be able to use their gold to purchase access to new ships for a nation. The new ship will be completely un-rigged and must be set up by the player with crew, upgrades, consumables, officers, etc. A player can only purchase a ship if their current reputation and rank are high enough to captain that ship. Outfitting a ship is expensive so prepare to have a lot of Gold on hand to complete the process.

Consumables (Costs Gold or XP): These are things like gun/swords for boarding, cannon shot, gunpowder, rations/rum (morale), launches, and spare components for repairs.

Missions: Different nations will have access to different missions. A mission can be done with a mixture of AI and Players if there are not enough players to fill out the team. Certain missions may also have AI mixed in as a normal part of the mission (escort and protect, for instance). The mission parameters will vary from being an out-and-out brawl to being a speed and control set. Capture and hold, king of the hill, escort and protect, and more. Historical missions will be designed to replicate real world battles including the location and weather conditions throughout the battle.

Weather/Time: Most dynamic missions will have the option to vary the weather conditions and time that the battle takes place. Having linstock guns won't be good when fighting under gale conditions and fighting in high heat or extreme cold will exhaust your crews faster so plan your actions accordingly. Losing crew overboard can have a drastic effect on morale so try to keep your major sail changes to a minimum in heavy seas. Don't forget that running a lot of sail under high winds can damage your rigging to the point of dismasting so be careful of your orders and watch your rigging for damage indicators.

Damage Model: Ships have a single 'health' component that indicates the current status of the inside of the ship. In order for this to be reduced, opposing players have to damage the outside of another ship (armor) to the point that their shot will go through. For upgraded or larger guns this will be easier but for lighter guns it may take several broadsides to knock the armor down enough to begin to damage the internals of the ship. Once the health begins to drop the crew will begin to lose morale and take casualties much faster. Hot shot can start random fires that damage armor and internal components and can even cause magazine explosions if not caught in time. Flooding will have to be managed through crew interaction. Different shot types will cause different damage at different rates.

Hull Planking/Plating/Armor: A player can upgrade their ship with better hull components or plating/planking to help reduce the amount of damage done by enemy shot. Armor is tracked per quadrant and is non-replenishable in battle. A player will have to manage and mitigate their armor loss during a battle by not keeping the same side of their ship exposed to the enemy.

Damage Control: Players can assign Sailors to be part of Damage Control teams that will manage flooding, fires, and repairs. As a ship floods it will slow down and begin to list so be sure to keep your DC teams topped off to make repairs as quick as possible. A player can also use a special command to send all sailors and gunners into firefighting mode as this is a critical component in Damage Control. During this action all other activities like sail changes and gunnery will cease until ordered to resume or the fires are stopped.

Rigging: A rig can be damaged and destroyed using any ammunition type. Certain shots will do more damage to different components.

Crew: A player can use special shot and ship upgrades to devastate the enemy crew prior to boarding. Arming Marines with upgrade muskets can increase enemy casualties quicker. Grape shot can be used to sweep the decks of enemies to reduce their crew effectiveness and possibly drop the morale enough to cause them to strike their colors. Be quick to board, however, as an enemy captain or officer can rally the crew back into battle over time.

 

How much will it cost?

Cheap. Like ridiculously so. Current estimates are around the $15 mark. There will be a free version available for players to try out that has a level cap per nation. You can continue to earn rep for that nation but will not be able to captain higher level ships. You can still take part in all battles like normal and will not be restricted on what else you can do. Paid players will also get the ability to sync their profile to an online system that will allow them to play on multiple computers using the same profile. Also, there will be no DRM that limits the player in how many machines they can play on, just how many of their profile that can be online at a time.

How can I help?

The initial battle system is nearly working with the ability to join online games coming very soon. The detail levels of the models and assets are fairly low (similar to PotC levels) and we could really use some help getting some ships into the game. The ship model setups are very similar to the Akella games in that the rigging is separate and uses markers to generate the components in the correct places. What we would love to do is allow modelers to features their ship models in the game. We are willing to take existing models (with the author’s permission) and re-texture them to a higher level, but are also willing to pay modelers for their license to use the asset as long as it meets our minimum level of detail and configuration. If you are interested in offering a model then contact us through PM here or by sending an email to support@wolfpackgames.co and we can get the details about model setup there. We CANNOT use reskinned/slightly modified Akella models due to licensing concerns so the model should be owned by you and built from scratch. You will also get a chance to use your model in game with a free license to the game for each model you submit that we can use (including pre-alpha and above access). Payment will depend on the model detail and usability, as well as how much work will be involved to convert it to the game standards. Detailed ship models range from $10-99 on most 3D model sites so we are easily willing to offer top dollar for good detail and usable models. If you are offering a license to use an existing model that is PotC/AoP ready then we will start at the free license price range and work up from there depending on what you are willing to complete on it. Any models submitted will be credited to the original artist and each model will have a credits/contact button that players can click to link to any additional info/sites that you want to be visited. We want to give as much credit as possible to artists for their hard work and skills in the craft.

Testers will also be allowed as well as artwork that folks want to submit.

When will it be available?

Current plans are for an pre-alpha release with basic gameplay in ~2 months (Q3 2015). After that will be the ability for upgrades and addons, crew management, and some advanced damage control to round out the Alpha stage in another ~2-3 months (Q4 2015). Beta stage is expected to take a good bit to finalize the networking and distribution channels as well as get the marketing into full effect with finalized UI and gameplay mechanics taking around 3 months more. All times are subject to changes due to development hurdles but we anticipate no major issues.

Are you going to make it into DLC heaven?

No. In our opinion splitting up a multiplayer game into DLC is akin to pay-to-win games and we do not want that at all. We have several additional changes that are planned for the post-release game including increasing ship details, changes to the water systems, better weather, and adding ships/upgrades/locations/missions. However, none of those additions are going to cost end users a single dime.

Will I be able to Mod the base game?

Modding has been discussed and will not be available for the initial game release but is on the roadmap for much later releases. We hope to have so much content in the game initially that modding will be done in-house by adding new ships, locations, upgrades, and more at a sufficient pace to keep players excited to play. If modding is allowed we have to determine the correct way to manage it so that it does not cause any issues with the balance of the online play. More than likely modding will be restricted to privately hosted servers so that clients can all match in their mod base.

I think that wraps up the basics. If you have further questions or comments post them here or contact us at support@wolfpackgames.co and you can visit our new website and forums at www.wolfpackgames.co, follow us @wolfpackgamesco on Twitter, or visit us over at IndieDB.

[CaptainMurphy]

We have begun testing a new water system. It can go from slick calm to a massive storm smoothly, and generates dynamic energy based foam along with the wave dynamics. We should have this water in our next pre-alpha demo.

[CaptainMurphy]

Week 4 is upon us and we would like to say a sincere THANK YOU to all of our fans and followers! As a token of our appreciation our artist has made a desktop background for you. You can download it from IndieDB here. Be sure to follow us on Twitter @wolfpackgamesco or #LettersOfMarque to keep up with the latest news and updates.

Updates

Updated HMS Victory model – Some of the textures are modified and a few of the higher detail objects have been removed. The whole model was gone over and smoothed out and reduced in poly to keep the frame rates high. Windows have been made into glass and PBR textures have been cleaned up and optimized. Next up will be adding in LOD and getting some of the cloth objects working.



New keybindings – All new keys are set up. We are using a much more refined input manager that allows us to quickly create mappings for not only keyboard but for controllers as well! Look for an update next week with controller support. Gun elevation, sail control, and rudder position are all updated to be smoother and more controller friendly.



Camera Control – A new camera control was created to make for a smooth camera motion for battle scenes. Currently the ‘deck view’ system is removed until it is finally sorted out for keybinds, but should be back in before next week.

Victory AI – The Victory class ship has been added to the battle scene on both the Spanish AND English sides as their flagship. Don’t get between them as they duke it out as they both have 55 guns per side that will tear a player Brig to pieces.



AI Updates – The AI is now smarter about gun usage and speed matching. Our test battle scene is an amazing amount of carnage in a short period with the AI able to manage player ship movements and range estimation.

Battle UI – The new UI is now functional for the ship health, rudder position, gun elevation, sail setting, and heading. Players can get a lot of info from one glance at the UI object with more items coming soon.



Updated Main Menu splash screens – All new splashes are in place for the main menu. We were able to cut the size and maintain the quality of the splash images while making them more detailed and beautiful.



Updated particles – Particle management got a bit smarter with the ability for a particle pooler to handle large and small explosions/splashes/smoke without needing to load another particle system. Through management of the particle components in the pool we were able to effectively halve our memory usage for particle effects without needing to lose any detail. In fact the smoke and fire have gotten even MORE detailed in the past week with better performance.

Roadmap
In the next week we hope to have more AI updates, more graphical updates, and quite possibly a new water system in beta testing. We expect to have a playable pre-alpha in less than 2 weeks and are going to be taking applications to become a tester in the next week. Be sure to follow us on Twitter or in IndieDB to be notified of the tester access positions available.

Stay up to date, follow us on Twitter @wolfpackgamesco and here at IndieDB.

[CaptainMurphy]

Week 5 Update
Now that we are in the 5th week of development, things are starting to move smoother and with better results. Our optimizations last week paid off this week with new water systems adding a large chunk of performance back to the game. Here is a rundown of what our team has accomplished this week.

New Water

With every build we have been trying to optimize and enhance the water, and this week it has been taken to a whole new level. We switched to a prototype water system and have been able to increase our frame rate by almost tenfold. At the same time we now have energy based foam, wakes behind moving vessels, and better transparency/refraction. The best part is that this system is fully networkable for our later builds for multiplayer!




Wind Integration

The UI now reflects the correct wind direction and speed. This will better help Captains to decide on their maneuvers in battle.



Vessel Dynamics and Movement

Vessel movement has been overhauled to include actual drag force calculations on the hull, real wind force information on the sails, and more accurate and smoother buoyancy calculations. The system is designed to allow us to compress real world values to a more manageable and usable amount.

Mission Weather Selection

Dynamic weather systems help to bring variety to battles. The same small bay can be a totally different place with high winds and choppy seas if you are used to light winds and smooth sailing. Now you can change the weather to be what you want for single player testing battles.



Cannon UI

The cannon system now talks to a UI so that players can see where their gun crews are currently at in the reloading process. It reflects the number of active guns, the readiness of the battery, and what shot type the battery is currently loaded with.



Updated Cannon Elevation and UI

The main battle UI has been updated to reflect the expanded cannon controls so that guns can be more precisely elevated. Guns have also had their range increased to give more extended range gun battles. Each gun size and type will have unique range and damage abilities with different types of shot.



New Particles and Particle Handlers

When working with hundreds of individual cannon shots we are looking at the possibility of thousands of particles being generated between the splashes, smoke, fire, debris and more. As a result the particles have been reworked by our artist to make them lighter and cleaner so that we can have multiple levels of detail at different ranges. This helps to keep quality consistent for the player and performance high.

Objective Icons

With our expanded objective system you can now quickly see overhead markers for both your objective targets and for defence goals.



Updated loading logo for Wolf Pack Games
To go along better with the theme of Letters of Marque, our artist has made us an all new loading image for the splash screen.



Roadmap

Our pre-alpha testing is getting closer with more AI updates in the works, expanded shot types available, more ship/water interaction through bow waves and kinetic particles to show a vessel plunging into the sea. Camera updates are planned and controller support should be shortly after that. If you are interested in helping test please contact us at support@wolfpackgames.co for more information.


Remember to be sure to follow us at Twitter @wolfpackgames.co, over at IndieDB, or at our website www.wolfpackgames.co to keep up with our latest developments.

[CaptainMurphy]

[Thagarr]

Looking beautiful mate!

[CaptainMurphy]

Well, fancy seeing you here! Thanks for the compliment. We are updating the water this week and doing some more atmospheric tweaks, so hopefully it will look better next week!

[CaptainMurphy]

One of the low level Pirate Ships Christian is making/modeling is almost ready to make its way into the game. The textures are just placeholders, and a lot of detailing is still to be done.

She is a Hackman Ketch, with 10 guns (most likely 4lb cannons)
4 on each side, and two bow chasers.

We are getting closer and closer to start Pre-Alpha testing, so head over to www.lettersofmarquegame.com to keep up to date.
More artwork and "behind the scenes" will soon be coming.

[Thagarr]

Originally Posted by CaptainMurphy

Well, fancy seeing you here! Thanks for the compliment. We are updating the water this week and doing some more atmospheric tweaks, so hopefully it will look better next week!

I have actually been lurking around these forums for going on 20 years now, since just after it went online. I just never signed up for an account till just a few years ago. I originally found out about Sea Dogs here. If you haven't looked around much mate, I suggest you do! There are quite a lot of good people here and great information about a lot of things, especially from WWII. That is a nice little ketch! Really looking forward to more updates!

[CaptainMurphy]

I have been a lurker here for a long while as well! Ever since my first copy of SH2 if I remember correctly. We are hoping that the framework for Letters of Marque will be reusable for other games when we are done with it. We may be interested in doing another genre of battle, so who knows, there may be a sub game eventually.

[tater]

Having watched the video, can you have it possible to control time compression, so that at 1:1, it's real time, and just up TC as needed? I'm thinking single player. If it takes 2 hours to hit 6 knots, I'm fine with that, what if you spot a sail near sunset, for example...

Looks really pretty, but I have to say that it saddens me when every age of sail game that is in the pipes is aimed at MMO, which utterly destroys any realism (at least in every single one I've seen in practice).

Maybe you have a way around this.

I suppose I'm odd in that I have little interest in fleet actions. I want to be a junior officer with a command, not an admiral. I want to hunt along a coast---I want SH, only with a small frigate.

[CaptainMurphy]

This game is focused around the battle itself, so the chase part will be pretty minimal unless someone is trying to run away from you in one of the battles. In single player mode you will be able to choose your ship and the ship(s) of enemies and allies, your location, weather, etc and pick what type of engagement it is (mission type). For multiplayer it will be similar except you will set the number of players and the maximum/minimum class of ship instead of getting to pick the exact ones. Some battles will follow historical settings with pre-determined ships that players can use rather than bringing their own. So if you want to find out how you would do as the Captain of the HMS Surprise against the Acheron, or as Lord Nelson in the Battle of Trafalgar then this would be what you want. If you are looking for a more first person type game that is more about the entire long haul then look into Hearts of Oak.

We are aiming to make the battle dynamics fluid so that players can set their own levels of realism to reflect their play when hosting games or as single player. You will be able to slow down the reaction of the ship to physics but I can guarantee you that realistic values are really, really slow. We have a current balance that we call 'cinematic reality' that helps to keep the players from being bored from slow turns and acceleration but does not have an arcade feel.

[CaptainMurphy]

We were contacted by the writers over at GC and they were kind enough to get an interview with us. You can check it out HERE. It gives a bit more insight into the game design and how it is planned to work.

[CaptainMurphy]

Networking is getting along finally! The hosting and connection code is in place and we have begun getting the environmental objects synced up (time, weather, wind, seas) and finally have our first ship test in engine with the server authoritative model working flawless!

Server is on the right, client is on the left. The number in the top right is a frame syncing object to make sure the visual indicators match between the two computers.

[sturmer]

that is 1 sweet looking game, cant wait to give it a try