Comments on: A Day of Infamy: Buccaneer Demo Available.

By: pepper

pepper — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 16:00:07 +0000

I agree with the weapon firing system, it could be made a little harder, and making a hit on certain giving you a advantage, but its definitely a fun arcade! Still have to give this a go MP though.

By: BonSequitur

BonSequitur — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 11:40:53 +0000

I actually played the demo. It’s a good game if you see it for what it is, that is to say an arcade game. The piratey trappings seem to be getting in the way of people’s enjoyment; this could be about tanks, or WWII-era naval combat, or spaceships. It’s an arcade game. The biggest flaw in my opinion is that the trajectory of cannon shots isn’t predictable enough, and that you don’t seem to get a big advantage from firing a broadside into someone’s ~~face~~ bow (“Crossing the tee,” as Nelson would put it).

Not what I wanted right now though. I am one of those freaks who actually knows how to tack. I think Pirates! mostly got it right by having the wind matter, but not forcing the player to actually control the sails directly. Hence the ships were never doing anything insanely unrealistically (Like, say, a square-rigged ships sailing against the wind, which is impossible) but you didn’t have to fiddle.

By: Mathieu

Mathieu — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 08:35:11 +0000

Congrats guys ! :)

By: caesarbear

caesarbear — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 06:18:22 +0000

Anyway, realistic age-of-sail naval combat wouldn’t be much fun. It’s so hard that it took hundreds of years for the actual navies to start figuring out.

How’s that Mr. History?

Are you saying games have to be dumb for people to understand them?

By: Mister Yuck

Mister Yuck — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 05:21:34 +0000

Where’s the love for Hornblower? Only one C. S. Forester comment on this whole argh blargh blargh blargh.

Anyway, realistic age-of-sail naval combat wouldn’t be much fun. It’s so hard that it took hundreds of years for the actual navies to start figuring out. Ultimately, the only successful players would be the one’s who read up on their history. The real fun in multiplayer games is figuring out your own strategy and endlessly honing it.

By: Al3xand3r

Al3xand3r — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 01:27:58 +0000

I don’t think most people’s concerns were realism or anything of the sort, despite the talk of wind stuff. Most referenced Sid Meier’s Pirates! (or the excellent 2004 remake you all should buy) for a reason, heh.

By: Plopsworth

Plopsworth — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 20:35:48 +0000

Part of the dichotomy and polarisation in the commenting is probably just due to the extreme emptiness of the whole “sails on the high seas” genre. The genre is a massive reserve of untapped potential. Then when something shows up with a blip on one of the most neglected “radar-frequencies”, if you will, of the community, everyone gets excited hoping that it’ll be the game they’ve dreamed of making or playing themselves. Add to that the renewal of coolness of pirates again (Pirates, Ninjas, and Dinosaurs. Something every boy likes!) by a certain blockbuster trilogy and you’ve got two overlapping sets of expectations from two very different directions.

On the one hand, you’ve got the general pirate fans, and on the other hand you’ve got the age of sail enthusiasts. The game pings on both collective sonars. We grognards can be a picky bunch, as we’ve played boardgames of the genre, grown up by the coast, read historical fiction which has taught us our mizzen-masts from our foremasts, or some combination of the above.

It’s pretty comparable to the void in the World War I flight genre or Western games. Compare that to the overabundance of serious war/terrorist-shooty-splatter-gravelly-voice games.

Part of the joy for me was just seeing some actual pretty looking sailing ship models in a modern release along with the cheery tropical (Blue Skies, people! Blue!) environment (Actually hearing the first mate exclaim “YARRR! PLUNDER!” made me grin from ear to ear) and the incidental detail like the gulls and the hammerhead sharks circling around, or raising crew morale by deploying grog rations.

So, the sooner people like me realise what this game is and isn’t about, the better we can calibrate our expectations. It’s a bit like Outrun Coast 2 Coast, covered a few weeks back. And while some stylized graphics might have made it easier to get over that initial suspension of disbelief (as in TF2), or some sort of alternate-universe steampunk visuals, try and take it for what it is, and for what it’s trying to be. What is it then? A very neat arcadey sea-action budget title with multiplayer capabilities made by two people on a shoestring budget. Grognardy types: pretend that they’re galleys and you’re recreating the battle of Lepanto :p

For the O’Brian-ophiles: check out East India Company , coming Q1 2009.

As for me, Captain Plopsworth is planning on giving the multiplayer a whirl and trying my hand at the forward-shooting powderkeg-dumping schooner tomorrow when I have a day off.

By: pepper

pepper — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 20:11:42 +0000

Harv, you definitely did a good job, it just needs some adjustments to make it better, good luck!

By: Harvey Greensall

Harvey Greensall — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 18:56:02 +0000

Indeed, point taken. Well, at least we’re all pretty passionate about our gaming eh?

And all this stuff is being taken on board too, especially comments about the MP servers,etc. At the end of the day, we did this to make our own game, we always set out to make something we thought to be good, and if we make enough we’ll hopefully have the funds to make another. We’ve lovingly slaved over Buccaneer for years now, so it’s a new deal for us both letting it loose on the public, and taking the comments of fans with the flamers…it’s a very strange experience that’s for sure!

So, good or bad, Big thanks for the comments so far !!

By: Heliocentric

Heliocentric — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 18:32:28 +0000

Looks like the framework of an excellent game. If the dev can “enhanced edition” the game and add some grognard options in the menu/server settings it could be pretty epic, is the multi purely counter op or can you work together against ai? I’ll play this demo when i get home. To the furious defender harvey. Chill, once you ask for money you lay yourselves at the mercy of the customer. That includes demo’s as they are a method of accruing sales not just a gift.

By: Scandalon

Scandalon — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 18:29:06 +0000

Your game uses a subject for it’s inspiration that I have an obsessive interest in, and does not live up to the expectations in my head of the game that I would make if I had unlimited funds, time, and a perfect team of coding/modeling/gameplay geniuses. It is therefore rubbish, deserving of condescension and belittling. I demand satisfaction!

By: pepper

pepper — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 18:02:19 +0000

This game is quite enjoyable, although i got shot out of the water the first 2 missions i tryed, so i upgraded the ship, and managed to sink 2 of em pretty unharmed! All of you saying it should be something else give this a go, i havent tryed MP yet because there werent any servers, but just look at this game for what it is!