Distance marker for ships at sight?

[SekoETC]

You know, the same thing we have for lighthouses exept that since boats are not seen as far away as lighthouses, the distances would have to be scaled down. Very far away would be nearly out of sight, far away like somewhere off the map, very close being a few pixels away and you get the drift. Currently on busy regions it's impossible to tell wether a back dot next to you is a pirate dinghy or a harmless raker. (Even though the compass point is announced, there might be two or more vessels in the same direction and you couldn't tell which one's closer.)

[Antacid]

I like this idea. Maybe in addition to this, we could have how much information one can tell about a boat be related to its distance. For example:

You see a ship to the south-east. You are very far away.
You see a raker to the south-east. You are far away.
You see raker "Jill's floatie" to the south-east. You are close.
You see raker "Jill's floatie" to the south-east at direction 135. You are very close.

Or something along those lines, those are just examples I whipped up.

I think this makes sense because in real life, if a boat is nearly on the horizon you probably can't tell what type it is, nevermind its name. As it gets closer you can see it's shape and therefore what type it is, but not its name until its really close.

[Rusalka]

You see a ship to the south-east. You are very far away.
You see a raker with a flag to the south-east. You are far away.
You see raker "Jill's floatie" to the south-east. You are close.
You see raker "Jill's floatie" to the south-east at direction 135. You are very close.

And what about that goddamn flags? Is this idea been ever accepted? click on the flag link:)

[tiddy ogg]

Yes, yes, yes. For those of us who don't see the graphics a great improvement.

[fishfin]

I like this idea (including the flags)

[Crosshair]

It'd be useful when there are lots of little black dots on the screen atm i got about three, all at similar angles from me, and one is a ship I am supposed to be following, tis tres difficult.

[SekoETC]

*bump* The code already exists for lighthouses so it shouldn't be that hard to apply for boats as well, right?

[Solfius]

a telescope or similar device should also extend the distance you can see details about the ships, such as the flags, names, bearings, etc

[Sicofonte]

I love this suggestion.

But I would rearrange the information obtained depending on the distance. The bearing should be always accessible (as it is with the lighthouses).
And... the people on deck could be visible (at least the number) at close range.


You see a ship at direction 135. You are very far away.
You see a raker at direction 135. You are far away.
You see raker "Jill's floatie" at direction 135. You are close.
You see raker "Jill's floatie", crewed by 5 people, at direction 135. You are very close.

If the flags were/are going to be implemented, I'd let them being seen at "close" range, something like:

You see raker "Jill's floatie" with flag Tarari at direction 135. You are close.
You see raker "Jill's floatie" with flag Tarari, crewed by 5 people, at direction 135. You are very close.

[SekoETC]

"with 5 people on the deck" rather than "crewed by 5 people", since there could be more inside cabins and holds. Cabins should be visible but holds would be hidden. And what about docked boats? These last two things should also be taken to consideration while the ship is docked to the shore or a harbour. The boats could be on the other side of it but if you are sailing then you could sail around the ship and would naturally see the docked boats eventually.

[Sicofonte]

Ah, yes, Seko, "with 5 people on the deck", thanks.


About docked ships.
I have read in some old post that the "docking" action was not the act of putting one ship near another and then tiing one to another, but putting one over the other (please, don't ask about how to put a sloop over a raker without a small crane, pulleys, or something).
But actually, as the docked boat doens't occupy people or weight capacity, it seems that docked ships are (magically) tied near, probably behind the ship.

But, no matter how you imagine it, docked ships should be visible, also when the main ship is in a beach or harbour.

[Cantryjczyk]

Dont forget sails, they shoud be visible not only from inside of ship, but also from distance and ground.

[Sicofonte]

You see a two masts ship under sail at direction 135. You are very far away.
You see a two masts raker under sail at direction 135. You are far away.
You see two masts raker "Jill's floatie", under 3 sails, with flag Tarari, at direction 135. You are close.
You see two masts raker "Jill's floatie", under 2 sails, with flag Tarari and 5 people on its deck, at direction 135. You are very close.

[Spiritus]

You see a ship with two masts under sail at direction 135. You are very far away.

You see a raker with two masts under sail at direction 135. You are far away.

You see a raker "Jill's floatie" with two masts, under 3 sails bearing a flag "Tarari", at direction 135. You are close.

You see a raker "Jill's floatie" with two masts, under 3 sails bearing a flag "Tarari" with 5 people on its deck, at direction 135. You are very close.

[Nakranoth]

Honestly, if we'd have this and flags... they should be identifyable long before the ship name is... probably at the same distance as ou could identify the style of ship. Like this they're actually a useful method of identifying ships.