It is very unique is it not... you could almost just sail around without shooting anything and feel the power of the waves and that be enough.

Yes, that's exactly what I thought when I had my first ( very brief ) go yesterday.

So much better than the feel I got from Empire TW naval action. You do actually feel your sailing, not just clicking buttons that make you "w" go fast, "s" slow down, etc,etc.

I just haven't got a clue what I'm doing yet

Cheers

LOL, that makes 2 of us.....the only bell I ever save is my own chrome dome. It gets rung regularly though I think I am gonna print off the keys Destraex posted to help me later.

Yes I have those in front of me, very useful. I have also looked at a few utubes with a guy explaining how to tack.

Hopefully they will have some tutorials later in development. I could see a couple of navigation ones actually being just as fun as actually getting into combat. Navigating yourself around an island or coming into dock, that kind of thing.

For an early Alpha I'm very impressed! One thing I hope they sought quite quickly though is the spray effect, its really not looking/working right yet.

I printed the Destraex keys and this is what I figured out so far:

The tabs on the bottom of the screen represent an emphasis on which you want your crew to focus its work on. the manpower being fully shifted when the circle is green again on the lower central right part of the monitor.

Then the different types of ammo represent a usage based on range and whether you are attacking or evading or pursuing.

I also found out that some aerial dogfight maneuvers and tactics could be applied here, for example the scissors, Boom and Zoom when in a lighter faster ship against big heavy armed ships and in combination with another teammate.

Then you will realize that a 90 degrees angle between the direction of the wind and your sails is not the most efficient way to use the wind, but a 60 degrees angle goes faster. It certainly explains the different sails and the special shapes of those hulls, compared to the hull of a destroyer today, that is.

After a couple of hours spent evading the enemies you will acquire a sense of does and don't. Hours that are not frustrating BTW, but very rewarding.

It is a different world of technology that could have been lost without games like this one allowing us to get a taste of what was Navy tactics of those times.

I never found combat so relaxing and agreeable than playing this game. It is almost like a Zen experience!...And it looks beautiful, those ships are almost art works.

PS: The only thing regarding the Destraex keys and he was not sure about it, since he marked it with a question tag is the Team chat. Team Chat is control+enter. Thank you Destraex for taking the time to make those key-binding available to us, modest rat bilge!

+1

Got my key last night, I'll give it a try today

+2. Thx for the further tips Gunny...keep em coming!

Looking good! Something like Assassins Creed 4 Black flag for Runaways?

Is it possible to re-bind the keys?

Naval Action configuration window - Input option. Never tried but i guess it is possible.

I tried, it works!

Those who bought the game before Nov 21.



We have sent invitations to the Alpha to everyone who bought the pre-order before 21 November.



If you have not received your key please contact us using support@game-labs.net forwarding your Paypal confirmation email as an attachment.



Those who bought the game after Nov 21.



We are planning to invite the rest of the buyers into the alpha once we rework the balancers, add more moderators and make the manual. This will happen in the foreseeable future, but we don't know when yet.



p.s.we must add the usual statement - that this is an alpha sea trial. there is no content except for ships and combat

Had a good time last night trying out the starter ship.

It takes several seconds, and kicked me back to the log in screen, but pressing F8 does make some nice screen shots. After logging back in it took me right back into the match.

It's going to take some time learning how to properly sail, but it should be a blast along the way

Speaking of blasting, I managed to work my way up to the Surprise Frigate, a lot heavyer then a brig at maneuvering, but offset with the heavy firepower...man....it has me wondering how deep this game is going to be.

I am only up to a brig. But when the next patch comes I guess it will all be reset.
just got a bothilo novel on my kindle as well.

Bothilo is good story telling. Enjoyable. My favorite was " In Shore Sqn. "

I have now been through 190 naval engagements in the Alpha or Beta phase, and I must say that this game, so far, is outstanding.

The scenery, the ships, the sound, the dynamic of the sea and the wind, the physics are somehow very nice.

The only things which are missing in my opinion are the wind and the salty water in my face and to be seasick!....

Gunnyhighway are the battles as good as in the Sea battles in Total War ?