My first thought when I stumbled upon this game was "Well, that sounds dumb."
Upon further review...maybe not so much.
Upon further review...maybe not so much.
Nantucket
- Thread starter mTk
- Start date
They made a movie about The Essex as well. IIRC it wasn't really worth your time.
Release date is January 18.
So they have made a video game version of "There was a young man from Nantucket..."?
I'm still waiting on the "Piss Pot Pete" video game.
Just picked it up from Steam for $16.19. Hard to make too much of a mistake at that price.
Had a look at it today - and I would consider a purchase just because the art style is fantastic. Please let us know what you think of it.
The art style is very attractive, but minimalistic. I guess the developer decided against throwing a lot of money/resources into graphics. It works fine though.
I like it so far, but have only done the tutorial and played for maybe 1 1/2 hrs, getting my captain (me) killed twice in the process. LOL Doing better now though.
The combat system looks simple, but is much more complicated/subtle than at first glance. Besides tossing a harpoon there are defensive maneuvers your whale boat can make, not to mention your Dr using his skills to keep you alive long enough to succeed.
Larger whales can recover health points. That's always fun to see in the middle of a fight.
For those of you aghast at the thought of someone making/playing a game based on killing our wonderful whale friends, rub that PETA fir back into place. I just think of it as killing whale-shaped German U-Boats and am entirely at ease.
I like it so far, but have only done the tutorial and played for maybe 1 1/2 hrs, getting my captain (me) killed twice in the process. LOL Doing better now though.
The combat system looks simple, but is much more complicated/subtle than at first glance. Besides tossing a harpoon there are defensive maneuvers your whale boat can make, not to mention your Dr using his skills to keep you alive long enough to succeed.
Larger whales can recover health points. That's always fun to see in the middle of a fight.
For those of you aghast at the thought of someone making/playing a game based on killing our wonderful whale friends, rub that PETA fir back into place. I just think of it as killing whale-shaped German U-Boats and am entirely at ease.
I love my pets. But I also love the f**k outta a ribeye!
Oh, if you encounter pirates early in your sailing career avoid them. Do whatever it takes.
R.I.P.
What a coincidence. Just bought one of those bad boys today. Looking forward to tonight, after I take my nap and reconsider the pirate issue.
R.I.P.
What a coincidence. Just bought one of those bad boys today. Looking forward to tonight, after I take my nap and reconsider the pirate issue.
Napping in your new Jag? I probably would....
I've spent about 6 hrs+ playing so far and its fair to say I really like this. Pretty sure I've already got my money's worth.
While whaling is your primary source of income you can only do it 3-4 months out of the year and usually less then that because of planning. You may not be near a whaling area when the season starts and waste some time getting there. I know. You spend the rest of your time doing jobs for money. Delivering cargo, or items will also get you some cash. Then you'll do some exploring and adventuring which may earn some money as well, or not. Money is only used to buy a new ship and stock up on ship supplies.
Watch out for bad weather and random events that may get you killed based upon your choices.
While doing all that your Captain will earn prestige points. Very important. His PP don't get reduced, but the unused amount available will determine what crew you can hire as each requires PP based upon his level. His level will determine his skill set. I thought crew would level up based on exp but I haven't seen that yet although since they do gain exp we'll have to watch that. The abilities of your crew and Capt (who definitely does level up and gain new skills) will determine your success.
You start out in a toy boat. Well, not really, but compared to what's available for purchase (when you can) it seems like it. Only 4 crew counting the captain and one whaling boat. Each boat has 3 crew of your choice. Each crew has a skill set, hunter, craftsman, sailor and scientist (Dr). Needless to say they all do different things. Your Capt can earn skills in all categories. I usually man each boat with 2 hunters and my Dr, your mileage may vary wildly based on crew quality and skills available.
It is much more complex than just this and I'll be seeing it soon. I have enough money now to get a ship upgrade. Have to do a slight bit more of tech research so I and my crew (which will expand to 6 and 2 whale boats) are capable of handling a bigger ship. Really looking forward to it.
"mTk Seal of Approval"
While whaling is your primary source of income you can only do it 3-4 months out of the year and usually less then that because of planning. You may not be near a whaling area when the season starts and waste some time getting there. I know. You spend the rest of your time doing jobs for money. Delivering cargo, or items will also get you some cash. Then you'll do some exploring and adventuring which may earn some money as well, or not. Money is only used to buy a new ship and stock up on ship supplies.
Watch out for bad weather and random events that may get you killed based upon your choices.
While doing all that your Captain will earn prestige points. Very important. His PP don't get reduced, but the unused amount available will determine what crew you can hire as each requires PP based upon his level. His level will determine his skill set. I thought crew would level up based on exp but I haven't seen that yet although since they do gain exp we'll have to watch that. The abilities of your crew and Capt (who definitely does level up and gain new skills) will determine your success.
You start out in a toy boat. Well, not really, but compared to what's available for purchase (when you can) it seems like it. Only 4 crew counting the captain and one whaling boat. Each boat has 3 crew of your choice. Each crew has a skill set, hunter, craftsman, sailor and scientist (Dr). Needless to say they all do different things. Your Capt can earn skills in all categories. I usually man each boat with 2 hunters and my Dr, your mileage may vary wildly based on crew quality and skills available.
It is much more complex than just this and I'll be seeing it soon. I have enough money now to get a ship upgrade. Have to do a slight bit more of tech research so I and my crew (which will expand to 6 and 2 whale boats) are capable of handling a bigger ship. Really looking forward to it.
"mTk Seal of Approval"
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Well, that was good Bought me a new boat! IIRC it cost about $7500. I could have gotten even a bigger one, but this should do me for a little while. I still have enough money left over to get a better one and at the rate I'm able to bring in the money now it may not be too long. Ship's name is the "Cool BreezE" (you can name it yourself). Has 2/3 more speed (it really zips around the strategic map in comparison to that little sloop I had) and about 90% more hold capacity. The only problem is that with twice the crew my whaling lay (share) is down to about 50%, but with the increased whaling I'm still making a tidy profit. And with two whaling boats taking on whales it has been fairly easy as the AI hasn't increased whale HP enough (yet) to cause me too much grief. I've even had a couple of pirate encounters and the pirates came out 2nd because I was finally able to get a couple of crewmen with combat skills.
I did confirm that regular crew can level up. I just haven't noticed it much as I usually hire level 10 and their getting to level 11 is a slow process. That and they tend to get killed or I fire/hire as skill needs require it. I do recommend you hire level 10 crew asap as the Captains prestige permits, no reason to save it. Everything is better that way.
If a crewman dies he can immediately be replaced at the next harbor at virtually no cost as he doesn't get paid until you collect whaling fees. What may be a problem is the next available crewman may not have the same skills. The game auto saves every month so there is not much reason to scum save.
I did confirm that regular crew can level up. I just haven't noticed it much as I usually hire level 10 and their getting to level 11 is a slow process. That and they tend to get killed or I fire/hire as skill needs require it. I do recommend you hire level 10 crew asap as the Captains prestige permits, no reason to save it. Everything is better that way.
If a crewman dies he can immediately be replaced at the next harbor at virtually no cost as he doesn't get paid until you collect whaling fees. What may be a problem is the next available crewman may not have the same skills. The game auto saves every month so there is not much reason to scum save.
You know what BOAT stands for, right?
Bust Out Another Thousand
Bust Out Another Thousand
How does your crew get the smell of rendered whale oil out of their clothes?
Do you lose boat crews to accidents?
If you consider having your boat hit by a whale's tale an "accident" then, yes. Actually, that doesn't kill them, just gets them all wet and useless for the next combat round.
I did finish this yesterday. And while I still recommend it, perhaps not quite as enthusiastically as before.
The last 25-30% of the game is a bit of a disappointment and it also has a design flaw that once discovered makes part of whaling counter productive. **Spoiler** When whaling you collect blubber and food. With a better ship you can turn some/most of the blubber to oil which is more profitable. When you have a full crew of 10 men for bigger ships their share for selling blubber & oil will eventually reduce the Capt's share to 0%. WTF? I'm sure the developers' idea was to make you balance crew quality against profits, but it doesn't end up working like that. It is the Capt's share that you use to buy a better ship and pay for provisions. The design flaw is that all proceeds received from the sale of food goes straight to the Capt's account. And the crew doesn't seem to care! So, why collect blubber? No reason, particularly since it takes up hold space. So, when whaling just add "food" to your hold space after whale kills. and leave the blubber for the scavengers. Of course you don't do this until regular whaling is no longer profitable, but a sharp eye will see you rewarded. Almost certainly when you get a ship with 10 crew capacity with high level skills.
Another weak point is money. I made money hand over fish whaling and could have upgraded ships even more quickly than I did. I only bought one mid-size ship and then pretty quickly bought the best the game has available. So, uh, what do I spend my money on now? Basically, nothing. Provisions are easily paid for by food "farming" and even the pay you receive for doing jobs.
Something I did not catch up on until the game was well in hand was cabin boys. They start at level 1 and are basically useless, except...they upgrade at a remarkable speed. My one cabin boy ended up with more HP than anyone else except my Capt and I didn't pick him up until well into the game. Other crew hardly upgrade at all so don't worry about them.
The game ends with a fight agains the BFG that is probably more frustrating than fun. I had to go to the community forums to see how to do it. I actually should have been able to figure it out on my own though.
So, yes. I still recommend the game as there is a lot of good things about it. Basically, up to a point it is a lot of fun. There are still some things left unexplained as a manual is not provided, at least not that I saw. I didn't look for one all that hard. It's not perfect, but I'm satisfied I got my money's worth. You will too.
I did finish this yesterday. And while I still recommend it, perhaps not quite as enthusiastically as before.
The last 25-30% of the game is a bit of a disappointment and it also has a design flaw that once discovered makes part of whaling counter productive. **Spoiler** When whaling you collect blubber and food. With a better ship you can turn some/most of the blubber to oil which is more profitable. When you have a full crew of 10 men for bigger ships their share for selling blubber & oil will eventually reduce the Capt's share to 0%. WTF? I'm sure the developers' idea was to make you balance crew quality against profits, but it doesn't end up working like that. It is the Capt's share that you use to buy a better ship and pay for provisions. The design flaw is that all proceeds received from the sale of food goes straight to the Capt's account. And the crew doesn't seem to care! So, why collect blubber? No reason, particularly since it takes up hold space. So, when whaling just add "food" to your hold space after whale kills. and leave the blubber for the scavengers. Of course you don't do this until regular whaling is no longer profitable, but a sharp eye will see you rewarded. Almost certainly when you get a ship with 10 crew capacity with high level skills.
Another weak point is money. I made money hand over fish whaling and could have upgraded ships even more quickly than I did. I only bought one mid-size ship and then pretty quickly bought the best the game has available. So, uh, what do I spend my money on now? Basically, nothing. Provisions are easily paid for by food "farming" and even the pay you receive for doing jobs.
Something I did not catch up on until the game was well in hand was cabin boys. They start at level 1 and are basically useless, except...they upgrade at a remarkable speed. My one cabin boy ended up with more HP than anyone else except my Capt and I didn't pick him up until well into the game. Other crew hardly upgrade at all so don't worry about them.
The game ends with a fight agains the BFG that is probably more frustrating than fun. I had to go to the community forums to see how to do it. I actually should have been able to figure it out on my own though.
So, yes. I still recommend the game as there is a lot of good things about it. Basically, up to a point it is a lot of fun. There are still some things left unexplained as a manual is not provided, at least not that I saw. I didn't look for one all that hard. It's not perfect, but I'm satisfied I got my money's worth. You will too.
Those flaws sound like they could be fixed with a patch. Thanks for the head's up.