Battle on the Open Seas

[tefda]

Tefda presents...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A brand new mini-game involving ships, crew, cargo, cannons and fighting!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Battle on the Open Seas (BOS for short) is a mini-game where you travel back and forth across Runescapes waters carrying cargo to predetermined points, all the while avoiding dangerous Frigates, galleon's and privateers hungrily scowering the waters in search of cargo ships. It is your choice if you are going to be the one searching for the cargo ships or delivering the cargo and earning some money while you do it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What you need to Know:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Missions:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your purpose in the game is to become the best sailor you can be by gaining points. To gain points you have to complete missions or defeat enemies. You can get a mission after you have built your ship (see "Ships" further down) and at anywhere that has a dock. In each dock area there will be two people. One person giving missions and another that sells large amounts of items (coincidentally it's

 

 

 

always something you're looking for).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In your ship you have a certain amount of cargo space. One unit of cargo is ALWAYS taken up by your cannon balls UNLESS you do not have a single cannon ball in your ship or you do not have any cannons (Merchant Ship). A single unit is taken up by at most 100 items (example: If you have 173 Bronze Platebodies that are needed to be transported it would take up two (2) cargo spots split up as 100 and 73). Your mission will be tailored to your type of ship (meaning if you have a max cargo space of 13-1 (for cannon balls) you will only ever have to take 12 seperate units of cargo).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where is the Cargo going?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You will always have some sort of destination which you must navigate to via compass, sea chart, and sextant (similar items to Treasure Trail). In your Cabin (you being the captain of the ship) you will have the ability to set a course (requiring some flicking of buttons similar to adjusting a sextant and occasional checks to be sure that you are still on the correct course). In your Cabin you will be able to see your current course and the course you are supposed to be on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See more on Sailing further down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When you succesfully deliver your cargo you will get 125% of what you paid for it. Which means if you payed 100,000 gold pieces for your entire cargo and you delivered it you will receive 125,000 gold in return. Now you don't have to purchase your cargo from the merchant in the dock. You can also acquire the items yourself or you can get your crew to help you out as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Running through a hypothetical situation here. Let's say the cargo is something simple, 100 Iron platebodies. The merchant man is selling you the entire load for 356 gold each (always the price of High Alchemy). You make all 100 iron platebodies and YOU (the owner of the ship) receive 44,500 gold coins as pure profit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What about the points?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I didn't forget about those! Gold is simply an added bonus to the game. Points are given to you when you have delivered the goods. What about the crew though? Those landlubbers that signed up with you back at Port Sarim and now are all the way in Port Khazard, they don't get any of the profit. They get a share of your points. For every cargo that you deliver (every unit that is) they will earn their equal share of it. For every bit of cargo you deliver you earn 100 points. Certain ships that are defeated (Trade Cogs, Galleons, Frigates, and Privateers) will yield a certain number of points dependant on your own ship class (see Ship Battles). If your ship is undamaged you'll receive 150% of your points, meaning 50% of your points are added on if your ship did not get damaged.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Situation: You have a crew of 5 men including yourself. You have a full cargo of 50 items (plus one for cannon balls). You've delivered the goods, your ship was undamaged. Now you (the owner of the ship) gets paid and points are tallied. For all of this you will receive your Cargo Item Points (5,000 points) and your Undamged Points (2,500 points) which leaves you with 7,500 points to be distributed between you and your men. But you being the awesome captain are above your men and therefore get 200% of your regular points. So in this instance the 7,500 points gets broken up into 5 parts (1,500 for each man) and you receive instead of only one fifth (1/5) of a share you get two fifth (2/5) without actually affecting anyone elses points (you receive 3,000 points).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More on gaining points via combat is explained in the Sea Battles section.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ships:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your ship is the entire purpose of the game. Without one you cannot play. A quick overview of the boats are below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you'll note the ships have cost in woods also for each cannon in the ship you must pay 100,000 gold to the Dwarves (The same dwarves that you can get your dwarven cannon from). They will then give you a cannon voucher. To get a ship built you must go to Ned in Draynor Village and request that you would like to have a boat built. Ned will gladly oblidge (despite other incidences with you and boats) only if you give him the supplies needed as well as as many cannon vouchers needed for the boat (depending on type) and 5,000 gold pieces as his fee.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ned will tell you to meet him in Port Sarim. Once you meet him there and talk to him he'll start construction on your ship (a short cutscene of the boat being built with you looking on). After the cutscene you officially have your boat!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now just because you have your boat doesn't mean that you can instantly go jump into a swashbuckling duel, trading off full broadsides with the very first Privateer you see. If you'll refer back to the overview of the boats above you'll note that some of them have very few cannons in comparison to others. The Junk Ship, Merchant Ship, and the Trading Cog are all ships that are used primarily for transporting cargo. Whereas the remaining three are for fighting and carrying off your foes cargo to at least some degree. The merchant ship has NO cannons and therefore is used only for transporting. But Battles will be explained a bit more further down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Starting Out:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you've got a single man ship, then you won't have to do any of the jobs listed in the crew section. But if you have multiple members of your crew than you'll need to hire them. To hire them you'll have to be carrying all the equipment needed to sail, have your cargo full and ready to go, and then talk to the Merchant man who will put up a poster in the dock area for all potential sailors to see. At first come first serve basis "jobs are filled" meaning if you have a 4 man ship with three openings the openings will be for people with level 40 in skills such as agility, crafting, carpentry, and strength. Some people will need to double up on a skill. When applying the sailor will be able to join up when he checks off what skill(s) he's able to do (will only be able to double up skills if it's needed, meaning in a small crew ship). A person with level 40 Strength, Crafting, and Agility is great, but he cannot be in different places at the same time. Small crew ships will have fewer mishaps and random events whilst out at sea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sailing:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Captain:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No longer are you a man of the cable tier, you're the captain of your own ship, you've been saving up for years now let's be sure that you won't sail your vessel straight into a Privateer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sailing has few requirements. You must have a compass, a sea chart, and a sextant (Those items are retrievable from the ones whom gave them to you in treasure trails and the sea chart can be gotten off of any pirate or purchased from a merchant in a dock). When you first set out to sea you must set your preliminary heading. You simply try to line up an arrow with a more subtle line that goes from your current position to your destination.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All of this is done within your cabin. Also in your cabin is a destination map which shows where you SHOULD be going. If you're strolling around above decks and you begin to veer off course a little message will pop up (similar to amulet of nature) that says "Hmm... it seems like the winds are changing, I better check the course".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you are to die in combat you won't leave the ship until your entire crew is defeated. If you did leave than your investment would be in the hands of another crewmate and you can't always trust your crew to keep in mind your interests. If some of your crew remains you can still control the ship because your "spirit" still remains with the ship. When you reach a port you will be "brought back to life" by a person who would give you missions (see more on Dieing on your ship in Ship Battles). Otherwise the life of a captain is fairly easy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crew:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You may not have enough to get your own ship, but that doesn't stop you from enjoying the salty air and the beautiful open sea. You may not get to spend all your time lollygagging in the comforts of a cabin but you get to spend your time doing character building work (quite literally), enjoying the company of your fellow crewmate and sometimes getting in a fight with them too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a member of another man's ship it is your duty to see that it keeps afloat, maintains it's course, and protect it from being taken by boarders. You may not get gold for doing this, but you will get valuable experience as well as points to show off your vast sailing experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jobs will need to be done. A job can only be done at level 40 in it's respective skill. There are many jobs that need to be done on a ship and when you sign onto a ship you'll need to fit into it's remaining needs (see Starting out and getting a crew above). The jobs of each are explained below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Controlling Sail: You have to climb up the ropes and let loose and take in sail every once and awhile.

 

 

 

Repairing Damage: Fixing up the hull of the ship is very important and takes place after battle or Rough seas (see Random Events at Sea).

 

 

 

Fixing Rope: Sometimes rope splices and frays, a simple task, but a vital one.

 

 

 

Emptying water: Pumping out water to keep the ship from sinking and preventing it from slow down.

 

 

 

Conjure Wind: A summon wind scroll is given to the captain of any ship when he receives a mission. Given to a wizard it can keep the ship going and going even in the calmest of seas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All the jobs except the Repairing damage can happen at any minute so you must keep aware of these things (via checking the mast to check for everything except the water below decks. To do that you must check the bildge pumps).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you're not doing any of that you can always spar with your fellow crewmates in friendly combat. You can fight with any crew member and earn points doing so. You must fight members that are at your level or above you. Higher level players can accept the challenge, but not challenge lower level players. If the lower level player is half your own level you will receive no experience at all. If they're three fourth (3/4) your level you will receive the differnce of your levels. If you're the lower level you'll receive double the difference between your levels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Situation: You are a level 20 player. You challenge a level 40 player. The level 40 player wins but receives no points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You are a level 75 player and challenge a level 100 player (they can now earn points from this fight). He accepts and wins. He receives 25 points (100-75=25; 25*1=25).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You are a level 75 player and challenge a level 100 player. You win this time around. You receive 50 points (100-75=25; 25*2=50).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now what about same level players? You receive your level in points if you beat someone the same level as you. No one can challenge the captain. Tis a matter of discipline.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Random Events at Sea:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These can be considered that as they happen randomly. All of the jobs are considered to be random events only in a more frequent timeframe. The less often ones are Rough patches of sea which damage your ship or mystical misfire whilst casting the Conjure wind spell that pushes you off course (resulting in a longer time for the mission as well as a chance of blowing back into an enemies course).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Battle on the Open Sea!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are you sick and tired of being a pathetic midshipman in some other man's navy? Has toting around 100's of barley malt's gotten you board with sailing? Perhaps it's time to drop the pitchfork and pick up the sword! It's time for Battle on the Open Sea!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Battle occurs when a ship with cannons spots another ship and begins to move towards it. A ship must be able to match the other ships course and go along side it to fire a broadside into the hull of the other ship. This requires some work via the captain and good guesswork by him because the other captain is sure to change course when he sees another ship approaching, maybe even towards the oncoming ship!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The navigating takes place just like the normal navigating, a flick or two of buttons to change course and avoid or engage the enemy. Firing your cannons to the most effective would be to run along side the other ship. As captain you will receive a message saying "The enemy is alongside now!". Within your cabin you must type in "FIRE!" in all caps after that message has displayed to fire the guns. That can be done only during certain intervals of time (every 5-10 seconds) and cannot be done after the message "The ship has evaded us." Once that message has displayed typing "FIRE!" will no longer send out a barrage of cannons. Cannons will do a constant amount of damage to the ship (10 Points of damage to the hull. It takes two round of Repairing the hull to remove the effects of one shot) so one full broadside from a privateer can result in 60 damage to the hull. Each ship has a certain # of hit points until it's able to be boarded or sunk completely (resulting in only point gain and no booty).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boarding the ship will let you combat the crew hand to hand, sword to sword, spell to spell, arrow to arrow or a mix of the sorts :) For points gained in boarding the ship you receive a point for every level of the enemy you kill (I.E. if you kill a level 126 you will receive 126 points).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To increase the desire to attack and defeat ships, you will see the points you can earn in the chart above. You can plunder ships that you defeat and depending on your cargo hold you can take back items to the merchant men who will purchase any and all units of cargo for 50 gold per item (It's not alot, but technically free money).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dieing at sea:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You don't actually die. If you are defeated in hand to hand combat against boarders you will wash up against shore with 10% of your hit points remaining. Where you will wind up depends on your location in the water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If over half of the maximum crew dies then the ship cannot be run any further and if you won the battle you instantly sail with what crew you have to the nearest port. It remains the same as to location for dieing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fighting is simple. You'll see that the Merchant Ship has higher HP and less points earned. That's intentionally there to deter Privateers from going after it and it's cargo instead of finding other Galleons, Frigates, and Privateers to fight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Important Notes:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You never die and lose all your equipment in the mini-game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Being a captain is the most profitable, but can be HORRIBLE when you lose your cargo and SHIP, there are risk and rewards to being the captain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When the ship is taken (meaning everyone is dead, no crew member is still on the ship), the ship goes to the bottom of the sea and the captain loses all of his investment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carpenters/Crafters must bring in their own Planks and Nails to work on the ship (can be bought in large quantities by the Merchant). Any and all noted Planks become usable on the ship and return to noted planks after exiting the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When you log off during the game you forfit your share of the prize. If when you log out the crew is less than half of the max crew, the ship will auto-sail it's way back to the original port.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's what I've got so far. I couldn't really illustrate the battles at sea, but imagine the wilderness on a boat with team capes. Hope you've enjoyed what I've written and illustrated. This post was inspired by the other guys that were making Sailing additions to Runescape. I love sailing, I love reading about it, I love watching movies about it. I've always thought about Ships in Runescape and it took your guys examples (Nothing here is copied, twas typed by my own two hands) to get me off my lazy butt and type this all out (ironically I actually sat on my butt for the duration of typing this). Again, thanks for reading and constructive criticism would be great.

[willyx]

nice. i see u put a lot of effort into this.

[Ultrninja]

that ttok a while to read

 

 

 

nice.

[deathhead154]

Truly beautiful writing. Nice vocabulary, awesome ideas. You, sir, are a true idea man!

[abyssalreaper]

Wow you took my idea and made it better by 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000x

[tefda]

Truly beautiful writing. Nice vocabulary, awesome ideas. You, sir, are a true idea man!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks but it isn't anything really original. It's just some knowledge on ships and taking the time to write it all down with a runescape twist on it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow you took my idea and made it better by 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for saying that, I was hoping that you and the other writer wouldn't get super angry at me for posting yet another similar topic.

[Mc_comix_yo]

I have a question. It may be in there, and I just missed it, but what do Points do? Are they just useless? Do you trade them in for fancy exclusive-clothing? Trade them in for experiance? Trade them in for money? What are they for? :?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That suggestion was amazing, I really enjoyed the creativity in it, plus the pictures really helped too. You made me want that minigame SO BAD :P

[tefda]

I have a question. It may be in there, and I just missed it, but what do Points do? Are they just useless? Do you trade them in for fancy exclusive-clothing? Trade them in for experiance? Trade them in for money? What are they for? :?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That suggestion was amazing, I really enjoyed the creativity in it, plus the pictures really helped too. You made me want that minigame SO BAD :P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought them just the same to the Burthrope points. You just get more and more of them so you can show off to other people. The games room isn't that exciting but you do get the points to say that "I'm better than you at checkers and connect-4". With the mini-game it would be exciting and you can still show off points and can say "My Privateer can totally take on your Frigate with your loserly crew".

[Mc_comix_yo]

That would work, but I was also thinking that, say, you had 1000 points. At 1000 points, you could go to the merchant, then get a Sailor Hat (Or any other part of a "Sailor" outfit. Have the full Sailor set be at 10,000, or higher, and maybe have thinks after that, like a pirate set (Spotted (Red/White) Bandana, a lether vest (With no shirt underneath, like Verac's brassard in a way), some green pants, and a cutlass (Either have it be a joke weapon, with 0 for stats, or have the power of steel.). After that, possibly get a Merchant outfit, which would be the outfit that the Merchant wears, and have it be an insanely high amount, only for the people who are obbsessed/good at it.

[willyhenriksen]

I like the idea so really much (exept the p2p part) great work :D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

now we only need bubsa to critique this topic

[deathhead154]

Why not when you are a captain, get yourself a captain suit(with the points). I would look so snazzy with a rapier, a baldric and an admiral hat!

[Brinner]

ya great idea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i think the ship should cost like 1 mil to own or something high since not everysingle person should be able to own one..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

should also have other random events:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-sea gull attack: sea gulls attack at ur crew

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-whirl pool: a hole in the ocean spinning watch out!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-have it so when u hit another person ship they both may get destroyed or badly damaged depending on the ship type...

[willyhenriksen]

Check behind the scenes folks, his idea got through :)

[EC]

First, VERY nice post. Looks like you enjoyed making it, good work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm a little confused though, I thought Frigates were medium ships, but you have them as "Fast." But I don't know, I have a lack in history :roll:. But I didn't get to read the entire post since I'm playing RS atm, will read it later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway this is my first post here, good website/forum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See you around...

 

 

 

Emperor Cesa

[aoe325]

ur idea is great but . . . ur introducing a whole new game! its too complex

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ur suggesting to change the whole runescape gameplay!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

great idea but too complex .. .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i think jagex is going to release something like that (in much much much smaller) this month

[Stallion4589]

maybe not the whole player-owned ships idea, but possible a castlewars style ship to ship combat (where there are two or even three opposing "god" ships, each with dedicated crews, chosen in a similar fashion to cw).

[willyhenriksen]

maybe not the whole player-owned ships idea, but possible a castlewars style ship to ship combat (where there are two or even three opposing "god" ships, each with dedicated crews, chosen in a similar fashion to cw).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To late, the update is here...

[kevinyang222]

Half your dream came true. SEA BATTLES YAY!

[sebbeberg]

Wootness!! *drool*

[y2kstang]

I like the idea. Would add yet another area of fun to a growing RS world.

[tefda]

ur idea is great but . . . ur introducing a whole new game! its too complex

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ur suggesting to change the whole runescape gameplay!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

great idea but too complex .. .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i think jagex is going to release something like that (in much much much smaller) this month

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"... a whole new game" is exactly what I'm trying to introduce :)! Just a persistent mini-game which those capable of doing so can spend the money to build the ship, buy/make the supplies, and take the risks that are involved with sailing on the seas of Runescape.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jagex is the worlds number one (#1) Java Developers. I'm sure that they'd figure out a way to do it eventually and from the look of the most recent newspost (02/07/06) they've taken into effect part of what I've said (Too bad I'm no longer a member).

[tefda]

Hmm.... the new Pirate Island could be the focus of the game, you simply float around there and have an all out brawl with everyone else, no transporting, simply Pking in the wilderness with no Loot drops.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But still I think being able to lose your ship and whatnot would be much better.