Each month we take a moment to talk with you about the development process and progress from the past month, while also highlighting contributions from the Ahoy community.
This month, we’re taking a look at the latest addition to the Ahoy fleet – Silver Hornet.
Introducing the Silver Hornet — Ahoy’s first schooner! This graceful vessel draws its design from the famed Marblehead schooners, named after their home port of Marblehead, Massachusetts. These ships are renowned for their pivotal contributions to America’s early naval history.
Marblehead schooners were among the first armed ships in the Continental Navy, serving under George Washington’s command during the Revolutionary War. Perhaps the most famous of these was the USS Hannah, a two-masted, gaff-rigged fishing schooner owned by John Glover before it was commissioned into Washington’s fleet in 1775. Hannah is widely regarded as the Continental Navy’s first armed vessel.
Silver Hornet, while not a direct replica of any particular ship, pays homage to the Marblehead schooners as a whole. She is designed to take on a wide range of roles in Ahoy, whether it’s navigating difficult coastlines, delivering small cargo between nearby islands, or providing an introduction to naval engagements for smaller crews. With a versatile design, she is well-suited for players who want a balance of speed, manoeuvrability, and the unique sailing experience a schooner provides.
Silver Hornet is armed with eight 3-pounder cannons and six swivel guns, making her more than capable of living up to her name. Despite her size, any captain who underestimates her will quickly feel the sting of her rapid broadside.
In addition to showing off Silver Hornet, we’re excited to share some new images of the interiors of both Silver Hornet and our previously announced ship – the equally stinging Yellow Jacket, our 10 gun Bermuda sloop.
Silver Hornet’s mess provides room for 40 men to sit for a meal, however the number would likely be less than this due to the split meal and watch times.
The captain’s quarters of Silver Hornet are very cosy. There really isn’t room to swing a cat!
By comparison, Yellow Jacket’s cabins are far more spacious, even if you still need to mind your head on the door frames!
Here, you can see the view towards the captain’s cabin, along with the ship’s boat and her starboard guns.
Overall, Yellow Jacket is a larger vessel compared to Silver Hornet, offering increased cargo capacity along with its greater size, but we’re particularly fond of Silver Hornet’s smaller scale. The perfect starter vessel.
Each month we ask some of the community questions asked since the last Journal update. We’re really enjoying this process of Q&A, and we would love to hear your thoughts on this month’s Journal.
On the differences between player skill set and ship reputation:
– Respondent, Journal Questionnaire.
- Will there be personal skills and/or experience that is earned separate from your ship’s reputation, and if so will skill levels and experience contribute to your overall abilities and attributes?
Yes, Ahoy's open world will feature a system where personal skills and experience are earned independently from your ship’s reputation. As you progress, your character will develop skills that enhance your personal abilities, such as navigation, combat, and crew leadership.
These skills will not directly impact your effectiveness in these areas, but will unlock additional access to certain aspects of the game. For example, when joining another player's crew, you might be more likely to be chosen for a role on their ship based on your existing experience. Additionally, certain organisations within the world may favour your skill set more than others when taking on new work.
This system ensures that both the captain and their vessel grow stronger over time, allowing for a deeper level of customization and progression, beyond just your ship’s reputation.
On player inventory and equipment:
– Respondent, Journal Questionnaire.
- Will there be a personal inventory? Will it be possible to acquire a better quality cutlass, or brace of pistols for example?
Your personal inventory in Ahoy is highly limited. Primarily, you will be moving goods between the hold of your ship and warehouses, auction houses or other locations within various ports. How much you can carry is essentially limited to your personal effects. Smaller belongings that you can carry on your person at all times. This would include a dagger or knife, a sword, one pistol and a musket, or two pistols, your coin purse, and your chosen outfit among a few other things.
All other goods besides objects you are temporarily holding in your hands (like consumable items, books, documents, makeshift or picked up weapons, etc.) are stored within the ship's hold, your own locker within your allotted cabin, your personal warehouse space, or some other acquired storage location.
On AI crew management and responsiveness:
– Respondent, Journal Questionnaire.
- How intelligent will AI crew members be? Will they require active management, or can we rely on them to perform tasks automatically? Will crew morale be a factor in the game?
The AI crew in Ahoy is designed to offer captains and player officers flexibility and a sense of management. Their primary function is to handle repetitive manual labour, freeing players from constant attention to routine tasks. This way, you can spend more time worrying about the big picture.
Your crew is divided into groups based on how you assign watch schedules, mealtimes, sleep, drill, and leisure allotment. Balancing these, along with delegating tasks to specific crew sections, is essential for maintaining a happy and efficient crew.
Management is handled through the Ship's books, where captains and officers can allocate tasks to different crew sections based on a time-of-day schedule for both peacetime and during combat. This allows you to pre-plan your crew’s organization, switching between designated profiles when needed for different scenarios.
While the AI crew will follow your commands closely (assuming they are able and willing), players will also have opportunities to take direct control of certain physical tasks. This hands-on involvement is more frequent on smaller ships with smaller crews, but even larger vessels offer chances for players to engage directly when needed.
On types of naval gun ammunition:
– Respondents, Journal Questionnaire.
- Will there be grapeshot in the game? Will Ahoy be able to track each ball?
Yes, Ahoy will include grapeshot as a type of ammunition. Grapeshot, historically used to damage enemy crew and equipment, will be available to players for specific combat situations. As for tracking each individual shot, the game’s damage system is designed to simulate the spread and impact of grapeshot effectively. While it won’t track every single ball in real-time, the system will realistically calculate the effect of the shot on crew members and the environment, ensuring devastating results when used at close range. This adds both tactical depth and historical accuracy to naval engagements.
On contributor memberships:
– Respondent, Journal Questionnaire.
- Will you consider a yearly membership fee?
To be sure to answer this correctly, it would be important to understand exactly what kind of membership we are discussing here. If, as I suspect, this is relating to the ongoing Patreon and Ko-fi contribution campaign, there are already methods to donate towards the project on a yearly (instead of monthly) basis on both platforms. If you would would like any assistance in setting that up, please reach out to someone via Discord or email us.
If, however, we're discussing how players will access the game at launch, this is something we have not decided on yet. We feel that it is best to focus on the development of the game and to then see how the community feel about different paths to monetise the project to ensure servers can stay online and the team can continue to add new content after launch. Membership is a possibility, and we've thought about various ideas in this regard, but we're not ready to share any specific details on monetisation at this time.
Please do keep sending in your questions about Ahoy. If you have more questions for the team and would like them answers next month, please submit your questions below.
Submit your questions:
https://forms.gle/1w9MRgU3qrvTNkqn7
Until next time, good day!
Sincerely your most humble servant,
Tyler – Project Lead
Our Journal updates are often discussed at length in the official Ahoy Discord server. Whether you have questions about the topics covered in this update, or you would like to leave your own feedback or suggestions, please join our Discord server to discuss!
Join the Discord