Very cute and fun looking game, but I found it very difficult. Enemies have perfect aim, and I can't hit anything. Healing the ship takes too long, too. Do you have a difficulty slider/setting? Maybe I missed it. It feels like I'm playing on the hardest mode.
the control layout is a bit awkward on mobile. i find myself wanting to adjust both heading and trim continuously, but both controls are on the right so i cant use both thumbs. then the buttons to fire/ board are fiddly. tbh almost gave up then tried with keyboard and saw how it was supposed to go.
Super fun. How do I 'fire" though given spacebar brings up the map? Is the mouse the only option? How do I see the controls as I see the "s" key does something with the sails?
Shift has the problem of bringing up windows sticky keys dialog box if you tap it too fast. Spacebar was my instinct for fire key as well. For map it would be 'M'.
Whichever you choose, please consider displaying the controls inside the game, at least during the setup screen, don't make the user search for controls in the wiki. :)
Also the hp bar below the minimap is a bit weird, would expect it the same as enemy ships above my ship, so i can see if i'm winning or losing a cannon exchange like in a rts game. Or at least someplace more convenient to quickly glance at nearer the center of the screen.
Very fun game by the way, well done! Scratches the nostalgia itch of 'Corsairs Gold' for me.
If it's only a few buttons anyway you can just show them somewhere as hints while the user isn't giving input or until they used then.
Eg just show a "m for Map\nspace to fire" until the user used each, hiding them each when the m/space is used respectively for that session (session storage so it shows up again if the user comes back later)
Shift doesn't make sense as a main key almost at all tbh.
Space to fire makes more sense than shift to fire
Edit: Shift is a modifier key. Hold shift to go from lowercase -> capitals. In FPS games shift is walking -> running. In RTS games shift is "select one of these units -> select all of these units"
I know your game doesn't have to follow these rules, you can do whatever you want. However it's worth thinking about what "language" each key on the keyboard is speaking when you want to use it.
This actually makes a lot of sense to me. Never thought about shift being a modifier key from a UX perspective, I’ll likely make space to fire and move map to M because of this thread. Thanks guys!
This brings back some memories! I used to play the Ancient Art of War at Sea on my dad's Mac Plus as a kid. Having never sailed, it was fun to learn about tacking while trying to broadside spanish galleons. Years later, I lied about my experience to convince a resort to let me check out a tiny catamaran. I made it back to shore!
One recommendation: make the boats not turn quite so fast. It allows you to outmaneuver other vessels by planning ahead or gaining speed ahead of time.
I still don't know much about sailing, but I have a lot of kitesurfing experience. Do boats really travel that slowly downwind? I assume that crosswind is faster, but downwind should still move at the speed of the wind.
I need to check out that game, I’ve sunk countless hours into the 2004 Sid Meiers games. Also lying to sail a catamaran successfully back to shore is such a pirate thing to do :) you’re ready for TinyWind
Noted on the ship turn speeds, I’ve been playing around with larger ships having slower turn radii but I do want the naval combat to have more of a planning element (setup upwind, strafe run and fire, etc)
Let me look into the boat speeds in different wind conditions. I know beam reach/crosswind is faster than parachuting downwind but maybe my downwind speed is too slow now
Very cute and fun looking game, but I found it very difficult. Enemies have perfect aim, and I can't hit anything. Healing the ship takes too long, too. Do you have a difficulty slider/setting? Maybe I missed it. It feels like I'm playing on the hardest mode.
If you put sail adjust ments of the opposite side of the screen from the helm on mobile, its be easier to both at once.
the control layout is a bit awkward on mobile. i find myself wanting to adjust both heading and trim continuously, but both controls are on the right so i cant use both thumbs. then the buttons to fire/ board are fiddly. tbh almost gave up then tried with keyboard and saw how it was supposed to go.
The 2 game modes are free to play in browser. Come join our 245 active captains, I’d love any and all playtest feedback at this stage!
Super fun. How do I 'fire" though given spacebar brings up the map? Is the mouse the only option? How do I see the controls as I see the "s" key does something with the sails?
https://tinywind.io/wiki/briefing
Shift fires.
Lmk if space to fire and shift for map makes more sense
I wanted it to feel natural for qwerty and arrow key controls, the space felt a little clunky with arrow keys.
Space for fire, I kept hitting it reflexively.
Shift has the problem of bringing up windows sticky keys dialog box if you tap it too fast. Spacebar was my instinct for fire key as well. For map it would be 'M'.
Whichever you choose, please consider displaying the controls inside the game, at least during the setup screen, don't make the user search for controls in the wiki. :)
Also the hp bar below the minimap is a bit weird, would expect it the same as enemy ships above my ship, so i can see if i'm winning or losing a cannon exchange like in a rts game. Or at least someplace more convenient to quickly glance at nearer the center of the screen.
Very fun game by the way, well done! Scratches the nostalgia itch of 'Corsairs Gold' for me.
Space to fire would be my preference as well.
Tab and M for map, WASD and arrows for controls, space to fire seems like a good compromise
I’ll be making this change!
Though I’m worried it’s gonna be tougher for people to find the map and ship logs since space is a natural button to try and press early on
The whole thing should ideally have a quick modal with hotkeys when you first open it (and a small button to bring it up again if needed).
Modals are the worst ux in games.
If it's only a few buttons anyway you can just show them somewhere as hints while the user isn't giving input or until they used then.
Eg just show a "m for Map\nspace to fire" until the user used each, hiding them each when the m/space is used respectively for that session (session storage so it shows up again if the user comes back later)
My first instinct was space to fire FWIW (Also its giving me Age of Empire feels here!)
Shift doesn't make sense as a main key almost at all tbh.
Space to fire makes more sense than shift to fire
Edit: Shift is a modifier key. Hold shift to go from lowercase -> capitals. In FPS games shift is walking -> running. In RTS games shift is "select one of these units -> select all of these units"
I know your game doesn't have to follow these rules, you can do whatever you want. However it's worth thinking about what "language" each key on the keyboard is speaking when you want to use it.
This actually makes a lot of sense to me. Never thought about shift being a modifier key from a UX perspective, I’ll likely make space to fire and move map to M because of this thread. Thanks guys!
Is it multiplayer or am I playing against bots?
I submitted this a few days ago, so glad to see it posted again. Fun game. Funner to think I am sinking people, not bots :)
Both game modes are against enemy bot ships right now
I’m working on a couple PvP modes so you can run naval battles with real captains very soon :)
Thanks so much for submitting this earlier, we got a great boost!
I don’t seem to be able to stop the boat by sailing straight into the wind.
heave to
The boat seems to go faster with the sails on the wrong side (back winded), that doesn't make a ton of physical sense to me
Be interesting to see enemies take friendly fire, and possibly suppress fire if the shot on the player isn't clear?
Some zig zag motions are required to maintain velocity and the combat is fun. I like it!
Very cute aesthetic and reminiscent of Pirates!
I am lazy and would request a settings toggle to automatically adjust the sail angles for me for optimal speed given my bearing.
I love it!
Excellent!
Really cool! What did you use for the physics engine?
Looks great! it's nice that you can immediately try it out
Totally agree!! It's great to be able to get engaged in the game instantly and not have to sign up right away.
Ty so much! Dropping new captains directly on the waters was some very useful early feedback I received
This is lovely. Well done.
This brings back some memories! I used to play the Ancient Art of War at Sea on my dad's Mac Plus as a kid. Having never sailed, it was fun to learn about tacking while trying to broadside spanish galleons. Years later, I lied about my experience to convince a resort to let me check out a tiny catamaran. I made it back to shore!
One recommendation: make the boats not turn quite so fast. It allows you to outmaneuver other vessels by planning ahead or gaining speed ahead of time.
I still don't know much about sailing, but I have a lot of kitesurfing experience. Do boats really travel that slowly downwind? I assume that crosswind is faster, but downwind should still move at the speed of the wind.
I need to check out that game, I’ve sunk countless hours into the 2004 Sid Meiers games. Also lying to sail a catamaran successfully back to shore is such a pirate thing to do :) you’re ready for TinyWind
Noted on the ship turn speeds, I’ve been playing around with larger ships having slower turn radii but I do want the naval combat to have more of a planning element (setup upwind, strafe run and fire, etc)
Let me look into the boat speeds in different wind conditions. I know beam reach/crosswind is faster than parachuting downwind but maybe my downwind speed is too slow now
controls could be easier :D
This game is super fun. Thanks.
This is awesome!
Noice. What’s the stack?
Pretty amazing, congratulations!
Very cool, love it!
Would be nice if cannons didn’t fire in directions that had no clear enemies.
nice one