Boat damage and sinking

Partially available: Hulls can lose points and retain damage between zones. Damage stages and sinking are switched off; at zero hull a vessel is held to slow speed and does not sink.

Boat damage and sinking govern how a vessel responds to collisions and other hull damage. The helm display includes a coloured hull bar, and each hit reports the remaining hull percentage to players aboard.

Disabled damage stages

The switched-off system was built with three visible stages:

• After losing one quarter of its hull, a boat slows and begins smoking.
• After losing three quarters, it slows further, sits lower, shows crew pumping water over the sides, and continues leaking until tied up in a slip.
• At zero hull, the wheel stops responding, the vessel loses way, and it sinks over roughly one minute, leaving the crew in the water.

These are development values, not current player-facing behavior.

Collisions and ramming

Damage depends on how vessels meet. A bow-first ram takes reduced damage while a strike against another boat's side or stern deals more to the target. Rocks, piers, and walls still damage the bow fully, and two bows meeting head-on both take the reduced amount.

Repair and recovery

Hull damage follows a crewed vessel across zone transitions. Hull Patching is intended to repair damage, but the Seafaring school is switched off and the skill cannot currently be used. A harbour-owned boat returns to its mooring about five minutes after it sails away.

See also

• Hull Patching
• Sailing
• Anchoring and mooring