Let's design a solo only ship, and why we need to.

If I were to design a solo ship, it would be exactly like the sloop. Done. I've fought and won against fully crewed sloops, brigs, and galleons. The sloop is a very capable ship in the right hands, easily manageable by one skilled sailor. The trick is in becoming that skilled sailor.

If the sloop is still too much to handle, however, there is one other vessel that's perfect for solo play. The rowboat.

@Genuine-Heather, done with effort.

https://www.seaofthieves.com/forum/topic/77221/solo-ship-idea-with-concept-art-updated-crows-nest-and-flag

i made this design a little while ago and im still very proud of it. unlike the rowboat or sloop, it actually adds something that is not already in the game.

@mysticdragon297 Don't get me wrong, that's an awesome design. Very nicely done indeed. But what advantage does that have over a sloop? A sloop is already quite manageable by a single player, plus it's more seaworthy and carries two guns. I love your design but I don't see it being worth the time or expense in terms of development and implementation. It's too small a niche. I'm not saying I'd be upset if Rare introduced it, but I don't see it happening.

@genuine-heather said in Let's design a solo only ship, and why we need to.:

@mysticdragon297 Don't get me wrong, that's an awesome design. Very nicely done indeed. But what advantage does that have over a sloop? A sloop is already quite manageable by a single player, plus it's more seaworthy and carries two guns. I love your design but I don't see it being worth the time or expense in terms of development and implementation. It's too small a niche. I'm not saying I'd be upset if Rare introduced it, but I don't see it happening.

to explain:

the ship is designed to be a leisurely vessel with a gaff-rigged sail that automatically catches the wind.

from the helm, which is directly attached to the rudder, the player is able to control the ships direction and speed by adjusting the sail's freedom (up and down). the player can also hold down a certain action to release and lift the anchor.

the map is angled toward the helm, so that players would not have to leave the helm at all to quickly look at the map.

as opposed to the sloop, literally everything is within view from the helm.

naturally, every interaction on the ship will be faster than even that of the sloop.

not only does it take less time to make a full turning radius, the ship is also most maneuverable at its top speed, making it hard to hit and ram.

it can also sail upon much more shallow waters. meaning it can often sail right through some islands without a scratch.

the ship could easily be just as fast as the sloop to compensate for its lack of firepower, but that is still undetermined. this will, however, be naturally the fastest ship against the wind.

another discussion was brought up in the my original post concerning encounters. some believed it to be fair that the ship would attract little to no PvE encounters, similar to how the sloop was before the shrouded spoils update.

i specifically made a thread like the OP in hopes to design a ship based on community input. this was the result.

I’ve always imagined a solo ship being a sail boat in design. No cannons and the sail angle is locked in place. To adjust speed you raise or lower the sail. With the wind directly into the sail it is the fastest ship. With wind against the sail it’s the slowest. The ship would be 3/4 the hull size of the sloop.

Players could hide the ship easily due to its size and small sail profile. Would have no lanterns. No stove. Just a barrel for planks and food.

So pretty close to the amazing concept up above.

My two cents.

@rk1-turbulence said in Let's design a solo only ship, and why we need to.:

This seems to be going in the direction of a ship that never fights, and never needs to. At that point you're just needlessly taking up server spots imo. I think the sloop is fine for solo. Yes, you're at a disadvantage against everyone else, but you should be when you're playing alone.

even on a sloop, a solo player can choose not to fire a single cannonball or not engage in battle in general. it really gets on people's nerves when a players just does not want to fight, doesn't it?

anyway, i think a unique solo player ship would really be great addition to the game in general and would make a lot of players happy and more welcome. if a solo player wants to continue to play "hard mode", they can always just pick the sloop on a closed crew. better yet, a galleon.

@rk1-turbulence said in Let's design a solo only ship, and why we need to.:

"it really gets on people's nerves when a players just does not want to fight, doesn't it?"

Not at all. But if you don't want to fight you better be good at running. Making it too easy to run away kinda ruins it. And it's not like you can't run away as it is currently, I've done it many times solo.

yet at first you say that solo players who dont fight are just wasted server space, and now your talking about escaping and how easy it is to do so. i am not convinced.

i just think one more ship in the game is just one more ship, and each ship should provide a unique play style. i just dont think the sloop has an appropriate play style for solo players.

I originally thought this idea wasn't introducing anything necessary, but I really like the suggestions you're bringing up. It seems like a "I'm going to go fishing for fifteen minutes" boat, where the sloop is a more "I want a bigger adventure" boat. It's less of a ship for one person, and more of a different option to choose from.

Even if they add this...
U want this so u can full crew a solo ship yes. Because if u sloop your crew aint full and other ships do have full crews.

But how does it help to make a solo ship so u are full crewing it.
U will come across other vessels with full crews 1 up to 4.

So its solo full crew vs full crew galleon?

How does this help u?

I like the direction you are goimg in, but I think the ship is still unnecessarily big. Since they launched rowboats, and I went on a few extended rowboat advemtures, I have thougt it would be fun to have a single player longboat. I will try to upload a scrawl of it....and before anyone beats me to it I know my drafting skills are nonexistent.


The idea is that it has the same speeds as the sloop, or perhaps even slightly slower, but makes up for it in maneuverability and stealth. You could sail using the gaff rig and rudder, or the mast could be collapsed and you could use the oars.

Between the seat with the rudder and the one with the oars is a small map table, which in my thoughts incorporates the biggest changes. To increase difficulty and to represent not having a ships navigational equipment, the map would only show one region at a time, and would indicate your position, but not what direction you are facing or provide a path you have taken. Perhaps it could even have a hazy larger circle for your position rather than a precise dot. There would be no compass, so you would have to do some minor navigation on your own amd pull out your own compas.

Food, plank, weapon and ammo storage would be crates rather than barrels, like you see at the shipwrights, and they would be secured on the side of the boat to either side of the bench with the rudder. This way they would provide a little cover from fire while you are sailing, though the player should still be visible. Less important chests like cloathing, vanity, and equipment can be crammed up front. There would be a small anchor winch in front of the mast, and winches to adjust sails and raise/lower the mast on either side of it. Finally there would be a single harpoon right at the prow. There is no cookimg station, you would have to rely on finding cooking spots on islands to cook food.

The longboat would be about as wide and maybe half again as long as the current rowboat, so that it coild make it into some island streams and into small gaps in rocks, or over shallows ships can't handle. As far as damage, I was thinking it would work the same way as a rowboat: x amount of shots will outright destroy it, but you can actually repair damage unlike the rowboat.

I think this setup could provide a lot of fun, opening possibilities for players who want to run pve undetected, or who want to focus on stealthy robbing other players ships.

@viperishemu2992 the development time is a matter of opinion. I could think of plenty of things that would have been more valuable than all the time spent on adding fishing. Including going home for the day to relax with a pint of grog or watching paint dry on the walls. Yet jere we are.

The sloop is well designed to be run by 1, but you could develop a smaller vessle focusing more on stelth and agility for players who want to play that way. I don't think that opening up more playstyles would be a waste of time at all, and if they are given additional tools to avoid, though not be immune to conflict, maybe the people who want pve servers will settle down a bit.

Gunboat:
No Harpoons
No Anchor
1 Sail
2 Angled cannons in the front instead of harpoons
No wheel, Just a boat fin to turn left and right

For that small size, you are immune to helm balls and anchor balls. which makes your small ship a fierce opponent in the seas. You can also easily attack galleons from the back while staying out of range.

@weakdexx said in Let's design a solo only ship, and why we need to.:

Even if they add this...
U want this so u can full crew a solo ship yes. Because if u sloop your crew aint full and other ships do have full crews.

But how does it help to make a solo ship so u are full crewing it.
U will come across other vessels with full crews 1 up to 4.

So its solo full crew vs full crew galleon?

How does this help u?

why all of this criticism on such a ship from the PvP perspective? the concept i made was entirely meant to be a leisurely vessel, or a ship that can easily escape from fights and rarely able to engage other players.

Very cool concept! It'd be interesting having one cannon over the stern so it shoots over the bow; and two harpoons on the side for tight turns. Would also be cool if it's really really fast but 'carp' ;) at turning: opposite the sloop.

Not sure if a solo ship goes with the spirit of the game though: being social with a crew of 2-4 to sail and adventure. I know people play solo and I did to to learn the actual boat ropes... But I find the "need" for a solo ship is more a symptom of social problems: many player populations with different goals (killers, achievers, builders, socialisers) conflicting with each other...

As a new fish to the game what are the advantages of Solo play?

A single player boat would still need a number of movement controls;

1. Steering
2. Sail angle
3. Sail Length
4. Anchor
   The requirement for having these means that a sloop is still the best choice... but, perhaps, if the sloop was smaller, more agile, faster, on a single level and to give you an edge and to even the playing field it could be the only boat to have a forward facing pivoting cannon.
   You'd be blooming hard to hit, you'd be quick and manoeuvrable, and with that front facing cannon, could chase other boats like a small dog at the heels of the postman.
   You'd still have to contend with powder barrel bombs and pirates leaping off the stern in the hope of boarding you, but it could be a fun addition.