NAME
sail —
multi-user wooden ships and iron
men
SYNOPSIS
sail |
[-bx]
[-s
[-l]]
[num] |
DESCRIPTION
sail is a computer version of Avalon Hill's game of fighting
sail originally developed by S. Craig Taylor.
Players of
sail take command of an old-fashioned Man of War
and fight other players or the computer. They may re-enact one of the many
historical sea battles recorded in the game, or they can choose a fictional
battle.
As a sea captain in the
Sail Navy, the player has complete
control over the workings of his ship. He must order every maneuver, change
the set of his sails, and judge the right moment to let loose the terrible
destruction of his broadsides. In addition to fighting the enemy, he must
harness the powers of the wind and sea to make them work for him. The outcome
of many battles during the age of sail was decided by the ability of one
captain to hold the ‘weather gage’.
The flags are:
- -b
- No bells.
- -l
- Show the login name. Only effective with
-s.
- -s
- Print the names and ships of the top ten sailors.
- -x
- Play the first available ship instead of prompting for a
choice.
IMPLEMENTATION
sail is a multiplayer game. Each player runs
sail to either connect to an existing game or start a new
one. The game server (or “driver”) is an extra fork of the
sail program created when a game is started. The driver
coordinates the game and runs the computer ships.
If a player joins a game in progress, a synchronization process occurs (a rather
slow process for everyone), and then the game continues.
Note that while each scenario can be running independently with different
players, each scenario can also only be running once at any given time.
COMMUNICATION
To implement a multi-user game in Version 7 UNIX, which was the operating system
sail was first written under, the communicating processes
must use a common temporary file as a place to read and write messages. For
e.g. scenario 21, this file is
/var/games/sail/#sailsink.21.
Corresponding file names are used for the other scenarios.
In addition, a locking mechanism must be provided to ensure exclusive access to
the shared file.
sail uses a technique stolen from an old
game called “pubcaves” by Jeff Cohen. Processes do a busy wait in
the loop
for (n = 0; link(sync_file, sync_lock) < 0 && n < 30; n++)
sleep(2);
until they are able to create a hard link named e.g.
/var/games/sail/#saillock.21. where 21 is again the scenario
number. Since creating a hard link is atomic, a process where this succeeds
will have exclusive access to the temporary file.
CONSEQUENCES
OF SEPARATE PLAYER AND DRIVER PROCESSES
When players do something of global interest, such as moving or firing, the
driver must coordinate the action with the other ships in the game. For
example, if a player wants to move in a certain direction, he writes a message
into the temporary file requesting the driver to move his ship. Each
“turn”, the driver reads all the messages sent from the players
and decides what happened. It then writes back into the temporary file new
values of variables, etc.
The most noticeable effect this communication has on the game is the delay in
moving. Suppose a player types a move for his ship and hits return. What
happens then? The player process saves up messages to be written to the
temporary file in a buffer. Every 7 seconds or so, the player process gets
exclusive access to the temporary file and writes out its buffer to the file.
The driver, running asynchronously, must read in the movement command, process
it, and write out the results. This takes two exclusive accesses to the
temporary file. Finally, when the player process gets around to doing another
7-second update, the results of the move are displayed on the screen. Hence,
every movement requires four exclusive accesses to the temporary file
(anywhere from 7 to 21 seconds depending upon asynchrony) before the player
sees the results of his moves.
In practice, the delays are not as annoying as they would appear. There is room
for “pipelining” in the movement. After the player writes out a
first movement message, a second movement command can then be issued. The
first message will be in the temporary file waiting for the driver, and the
second will be in the file buffer waiting to be written to the file. Thus, by
always typing moves a turn ahead of the time, the player can sail around quite
quickly.
If the player types several movement commands between two 7-second updates, only
the last movement command typed will be seen by the driver. Movement commands
within the same update “overwrite” each other, in a sense.
DEFECTS OF THIS
SYSTEM IN THE MODERN WORLD
Quite a few.
It should be thrown out and replaced with something socket-based.
HISTORICAL INFO
Old square-riggers were very maneuverable ships capable of intricate sailing.
Their only disadvantage was an inability to sail very close to the wind. The
design of a wooden ship allowed for the guns to bear only to the left and
right sides. A few guns of small aspect (usually 6 or 9 pounders) could point
forward, but their effect was small compared to a 68 gun broadside of 24- or
32-pounders. The guns bear approximately like so:
\
b----------------
---0
\
\
\ up to a range of ten (for round shot)
\
\
\
Firing a broadside into a ship lengthwise, from bow to stern or stern to bow, is
called
raking. This did a great deal more damage, because
the shot tended to bounce along the deck. Because the bows of a ship are very
strong and present a smaller target than the stern, a stern rake (firing from
the stern to the bow) causes more damage than a bow rake.
Most ships were equipped with
carronades, which were very
large, close range cannons. American ships from the revolution until the War
of 1812 were almost entirely armed with carronades.
The period of history covered in
sail is approximately from
the 1770's until the end of Napoleonic France in 1815. There are many
excellent books about the age of sail. (See
REFERENCES).
Fighting ships came in several sizes classed by armament. The mainstays of any
fleet were its
ships of the line, or
line of
battle ships. These were so named because in fleet actions they would sail
in lines so as to present all broadsides to the enemy at once. The modern
terms “ocean liner”, and “battleship” are derived from
“ship of the line”.
The pride of the fleet were the “first-rates”. These were huge three
decked ships of the line mounting 80 to 136 guns. The guns in the three tiers
were usually 18, 24, and 32 pounders in that order from top to bottom.
Lesser ships were known as “second-rates”,
“third-rates”, and even “fourth-rates”. The most
common size was the 74 gun two-decked ship of the line. The two gun decks
usually mounted 18 and 24 pounder guns.
Razees were ships of the line with one deck sawed off. These
mounted 40-64 guns and were a poor cross between a frigate and a line of
battle ship. They neither had the speed of the former nor the firepower of the
latter.
The next class was the
frigate. Often called the “eyes
of the fleet”, frigates came in many sizes mounting anywhere from 32 to
44 guns. These were very handy vessels. They could outsail anything bigger and
outshoot anything smaller. Frigates did not generally fight in lines of battle
as the much bigger 74s did. Instead, they were sent on individual missions or
in small groups to harass the enemy's rear or capture crippled ships. They
were much more useful this way, in missions away from the fleet. They could
hit hard and get away fast.
Lastly, there were the corvettes, sloops, and brigs. These were smaller ships
mounting typically fewer than 20 guns. A corvette was only slightly smaller
than a frigate, so one might have up to 30 guns. Sloops were used for carrying
despatches or passengers. Brigs were small vessels typically built for
land-locked lakes.
SAIL PARTICULARS
Ships in
sail are represented on the screen by two characters.
One character represents the bow of the ship, and the other represents the
stern. Ships have nationalities and numbers. The first ship of a nationality
is number 0, the second number 1, etc. Therefore, the first British ship in a
game would be printed as “b0”. The second Brit would be
“b1”, and the fifth Don would be “s4”.
Ships can set normal sails, called
Battle Sails, or bend on
extra canvas called
Full Sails. A ship under full sail is a
beautiful sight indeed, and it can move much faster than a ship under battle
sails. The only trouble is, with full sails set, there is so much tension on
sail and rigging that a well aimed round shot can burst a sail into ribbons
where it would only cause a little hole in a loose sail. For this reason,
rigging damage is doubled on a ship with full sails set. This does not mean
that full sails should never be used; the author recommends keeping them up
right into the heat of battle. When a ship has full sails set, the letter for
its nationality is capitalized. E.g., a Frog, “f0”, with full
sails set would be printed as “F0”.
When a ship is battered into a listing hulk, the last man aboard
strikes the colors. This ceremony is the ship's formal
surrender. The nationality character of a surrendered ship is printed as
‘!’. E.g., the Frog of our last example would soon be
“!0”.
A ship that reaches this point has a chance of catching fire or sinking. A
sinking ship has a ‘~’ printed for its nationality, and a ship on
fire and about to explode has a ‘#’ printed.
Ships that have struck can be captured; captured ships become the nationality of
the prize crew. Therefore, if an American ship captures a British ship, the
British ship will thenceforth have an ‘a’ printed for its
nationality. In addition, the ship number is changed to one of the characters
‘&'()*+’ corresponding to its original number
‘012345’. E.g., the “b0” captured by an American
becomes the “a&”. The “s4” captured by a Frog
becomes the “f*”.
The ultimate example is, of course, an exploding Brit captured by an American:
“#&”.
MOVEMENT
Movement is the most confusing part of
sail to many. Ships can
head in 8 directions:
0 0 0
b b b0 b b b 0b b
0 0 0
The stern of a ship moves when it turns. The bow remains stationary. Ships can
always turn, regardless of the wind (unless they are becalmed). All ships
drift when they lose headway. If a ship doesn't move forward at all for two
turns, it will begin to drift. If a ship has begun to drift, then it must move
forward before it turns, if it plans to do more than make a right or left
turn, which is always possible.
Movement commands to
sail are a string of forward moves and
turns. An example is “l3”. It will turn a ship left and then move
it ahead 3 spaces. In the drawing above, the “b0” made 7
successive left turns. When
sail prompts you for a move, it
prints three characters of import. E.g.,
move (7, 4):
The first number is the maximum number of moves you can make, including turns.
The second number is the maximum number of turns you can make. Between the
numbers is sometimes printed a quote ('). If the quote is present, it means
that your ship has been drifting, and you must move ahead to regain headway
before you turn (see note above). Some of the possible moves for the example
above are as follows:
move (7, 4): 7
move (7, 4): 1
move (7, 4): d /* drift, or do nothing */
move (7, 4): 6r
move (7, 4): 5r1
move (7, 4): 4r1r
move (7, 4): l1r1r2
move (7, 4): 1r1r1r1
Because square riggers performed so poorly sailing into the wind, if at any
point in a movement command you turn into the wind, the movement stops there.
E.g.,
move (7, 4): l1l4
Movement Error;
Helm: l1l
Moreover, upon making a turn, the movement allowance drops to the lesser of what
remains this turn and what would be available when going in the new direction.
Thus, any turn closer to the wind will generally preclude sailing the full
distance printed in the “move” prompt.
Old sailing captains had to keep an eye constantly on the wind. Captains in
sail are no different. A ship's ability to move depends on
its attitude to the wind. The best angle possible is to have the wind off your
quarter, that is, just off the stern. The direction rose on the side of the
screen gives the possible movements for your ship at all positions to the
wind. Battle sail speeds are given first, and full sail speeds are given in
parenthesis.
0 1(2)
\|/
-^-3(6)
/|\
| 4(7)
3(6)
Pretend the bow of your ship (the “^”) is pointing upward and the
wind is blowing from the bottom to the top of the page. The numbers at the
bottom “3(6)” will be your speed under battle or full sails in
such a situation. If the wind is off your quarter, then you can move
“4(7)”. If the wind is off your beam, “3(6)”. If the
wind is off your bow, then you can only move “1(2)”. Facing into
the wind, you cannot move at all. Ships facing into the wind are said to be
in irons.
WINDSPEED AND DIRECTION
The windspeed and direction is displayed as a weather vane on the side of the
screen. The number in the middle of the vane indicates the wind speed, and the
+ to - indicates the wind direction. The wind blows from the + sign (high
pressure) to the - sign (low pressure). E.g.,
The wind speeds are:
- 0
- becalmed
- 1
- light breeze
- 2
- moderate breeze
- 3
- fresh breeze
- 4
- strong breeze
- 5
- gale
- 6
- full gale
- 7
- hurricane
If a hurricane shows up, all ships are destroyed.
GRAPPLING AND FOULING
If two ships collide, they run the risk of becoming tangled together. This is
called
fouling. Fouled ships are stuck together, and neither
can move. They can unfoul each other if they want to. Boarding parties can
only be sent across to ships when the antagonists are either fouled or
grappled.
Ships can grapple each other by throwing grapnels into the rigging of the other.
The number of fouls and grapples you have are displayed on the upper right of
the screen.
BOARDING
Boarding was a very costly venture in terms of human life. Boarding parties may
be formed in
sail to either board an enemy ship or to defend
your own ship against attack. Men organized as Defensive Boarding Parties
fight twice as hard to save their ship as men left unorganized.
The boarding strength of a crew depends upon its quality and upon the number of
men sent.
CREW QUALITY
The British seaman was world renowned for his sailing abilities. American
sailors, however, were actually the best seamen in the world. Because the
American Navy offered twice the wages of the Royal Navy, British seamen who
liked the sea defected to America by the thousands.
In
sail, crew quality is quantized into 5 energy levels.
Elite crews can outshoot and outfight all other sailors.
Crack crews are next.
Mundane crews are
average, and
Green and
Mutinous crews are
below average. A good rule of thumb is that
Crack or
Elite crews get one extra hit per broadside compared to
Mundane crews. Don't expect too much from
Green crews.
BROADSIDES
Your two broadsides may be loaded with four kinds of shot: grape, chain, round,
and double. You have guns and carronades in both the port and starboard
batteries. Carronades only have a range of two, so you have to get in close to
be able to fire them. You have the choice of firing at the hull or rigging of
another ship. If the range of the ship is greater than 6, then you may only
shoot at the rigging.
The types of shot and their advantages are:
-
-
- ROUND
- Range of 10. Good for hull or rigging hits.
-
-
- DOUBLE
- Range of 1. Extra good for hull or rigging hits. Double
takes two turns to load.
-
-
- CHAIN
- Range of 3. Excellent for tearing down rigging. Cannot
damage hull or guns, though.
-
-
- GRAPE
- Range of 1. Sometimes devastating against enemy crews.
On the side of the screen is displayed some vital information about your ship:
Load D! R!
Hull 9
Crew 4 4 2
Guns 4 4
Carr 2 2
Rigg 5 5 5 5
“Load” shows what your port (left) and starboard (right) broadsides
are loaded with. A ‘!’ after the type of shot indicates that it is
an initial broadside. Initial broadside were loaded with care before battle
and before the decks ran red with blood. As a consequence, initial broadsides
are a little more effective than broadsides loaded later. A ‘*’
after the type of shot indicates that the gun crews are still loading it, and
you cannot fire yet. “Hull” shows how much hull you have left.
“Crew” shows your three sections of crew. As your crew dies off,
your ability to fire decreases. “Guns” and “Carr” show
your port and starboard guns. As you lose guns, your ability to fire
decreases. “Rigg” shows how much rigging you have on your 3 or 4
masts. As rigging is shot away, you lose mobility.
EFFECTIVENESS OF FIRE
It is very dramatic when a ship fires its thunderous broadsides, but the mere
opportunity to fire them does not guarantee any hits. Many factors influence
the destructive force of a broadside. First of all, and the chief factor, is
distance. It is harder to hit a ship at range ten than it is to hit one
sloshing alongside. Next is raking. Raking fire, as mentioned before, can
sometimes dismast a ship at range ten. Next, crew size and quality affects the
damage done by a broadside. The number of guns firing also bears on the point,
so to speak. Lastly, weather affects the accuracy of a broadside. If the seas
are high (5 or 6), then the lower gunports of ships of the line can't even be
opened to run out the guns. This gives frigates and other flush decked vessels
an advantage in a storm. The scenario
Pellew vs. The Droits de
L'Homme takes advantage of this peculiar circumstance.
REPAIRS
Repairs may be made to your Hull, Guns, and Rigging at the slow rate of two
points per three turns. The message "Repairs Completed" will be
printed if no more repairs can be made.
PECULIARITIES OF COMPUTER
SHIPS
Computer ships in
sail follow all the rules above with a few
exceptions. Computer ships never repair damage. If they did, the players could
never beat them. They play well enough as it is. As a consolation, the
computer ships can fire double shot every turn. That fluke is a good reason to
keep your distance. The driver figures out the moves of the computer ships. It
computes them with a typical A.I. distance function and a depth first search
to find the maximum “score”. It seems to work fairly well,
although I'll be the first to admit it isn't perfect.
HOW TO PLAY
Commands are given to
sail by typing a single character. You
will then be prompted for further input. A brief summary of the commands
follows.
COMMAND SUMMARY
- ‘f’
- Fire broadsides if they bear
- ‘l’
- Reload
- ‘L’
- Unload broadsides (to change ammo)
- ‘m’
- Move
- ‘i’
- Print the closest ship
- ‘I’
- Print all ships
- ‘F’
- Find a particular ship or ships (e.g. "a?" for
all Americans)
- ‘s’
- Send a message around the fleet
- ‘b’
- Attempt to board an enemy ship
- ‘B’
- Recall boarding parties
- ‘c’
- Change set of sail
- ‘r’
- Repair
- ‘u’
- Attempt to unfoul
- ‘g’
- Grapple/ungrapple
- ‘v’
- Print version number of game
- ‘^L’
- Redraw screen
- ‘Q’
- Quit
- ‘C’
- Center your ship in the window
- ‘U’
- Move window up
- ‘D, N’
- Move window down
- ‘H’
- Move window left
- ‘J’
- Move window right
- ‘S’
- Toggle window to follow your ship or stay where it is
SCENARIOS
Here is a summary of the scenarios in
sail:
Ranger vs. Drake:
Wind from the N, blowing a fresh breeze.
(a) Ranger 19 gun Sloop (crack crew) (7 pts)
(b) Drake 17 gun Sloop (crack crew) (6 pts)
The Battle of Flamborough
Head:
Wind from the S, blowing a fresh breeze.
This is John Paul Jones' first famous battle. Aboard the
Bonhomme
Richard, he was able to overcome the
Serapis's greater
firepower by quickly boarding her.
(a) Bonhomme Rich 42 gun Corvette (crack crew) (11 pts)
(b) Serapis 44 gun Frigate (crack crew) (12 pts)
Arbuthnot and Des Touches:
Wind from the N, blowing a gale.
(b) America 64 gun Ship of the Line (crack crew) (20 pts)
(b) Befford 74 gun Ship of the Line (crack crew) (26 pts)
(b) Adamant 50 gun Ship of the Line (crack crew) (17 pts)
(b) London 98 gun 3 Decker SOL (crack crew) (28 pts)
(b) Royal Oak 74 gun Ship of the Line (crack crew) (26 pts)
(f) Neptune 74 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (24 pts)
(f) Duc de Bourgogne 80 gun 3 Decker SOL (average crew) (27 pts)
(f) Conquerant 74 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (24 pts)
(f) Provence 64 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (18 pts)
(f) Romulus 44 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (10 pts)
Suffren and Hughes:
Wind from the S, blowing a fresh breeze.
(b) Monmouth 74 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (24 pts)
(b) Hero 74 gun Ship of the Line (crack crew) (26 pts)
(b) Isis 50 gun Ship of the Line (crack crew) (17 pts)
(b) Superb 74 gun Ship of the Line (crack crew) (27 pts)
(b) Burford 74 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (24 pts)
(f) Flamband 50 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (14 pts)
(f) Annibal 74 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (24 pts)
(f) Severe 64 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (18 pts)
(f) Brilliant 80 gun Ship of the Line (crack crew) (31 pts)
(f) Sphinx 80 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (27 pts)
Nymphe vs. Cleopatre:
Wind from the S, blowing a fresh breeze.
(b) Nymphe 36 gun Frigate (crack crew) (11 pts)
(f) Cleopatre 36 gun Frigate (average crew) (10 pts)
Mars vs. Hercule:
Wind from the S, blowing a fresh breeze.
(b) Mars 74 gun Ship of the Line (crack crew) (26 pts)
(f) Hercule 74 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (23 pts)
Ambuscade vs. Baionnaise:
Wind from the N, blowing a fresh breeze.
(b) Ambuscade 32 gun Frigate (average crew) (9 pts)
(f) Baionnaise 24 gun Corvette (average crew) (9 pts)
Constellation vs.
Insurgent:
Wind from the S, blowing a gale.
(a) Constellation 38 gun Corvette (elite crew) (17 pts)
(f) Insurgent 36 gun Corvette (average crew) (11 pts)
Constellation vs.
Vengeance:
Wind from the S, blowing a fresh breeze.
(a) Constellation 38 gun Corvette (elite crew) (17 pts)
(f) Vengeance 40 gun Frigate (average crew) (15 pts)
The Battle of Lissa:
Wind from the S, blowing a fresh breeze.
(b) Amphion 32 gun Frigate (elite crew) (13 pts)
(b) Active 38 gun Frigate (elite crew) (18 pts)
(b) Volage 22 gun Frigate (elite crew) (11 pts)
(b) Cerberus 32 gun Frigate (elite crew) (13 pts)
(f) Favorite 40 gun Frigate (average crew) (15 pts)
(f) Flore 40 gun Frigate (average crew) (15 pts)
(f) Danae 40 gun Frigate (crack crew) (17 pts)
(f) Bellona 32 gun Frigate (green crew) (9 pts)
(f) Corona 40 gun Frigate (green crew) (12 pts)
(f) Carolina 32 gun Frigate (green crew) (7 pts)
Constitution vs.
Guerriere:
Wind from the SW, blowing a gale.
(a) Constitution 44 gun Corvette (elite crew) (24 pts)
(b) Guerriere 38 gun Frigate (crack crew) (15 pts)
United States vs.
Macedonian:
Wind from the S, blowing a fresh breeze.
(a) United States 44 gun Frigate (elite crew) (24 pts)
(b) Macedonian 38 gun Frigate (crack crew) (16 pts)
Constitution vs. Java:
Wind from the S, blowing a fresh breeze.
(a) Constitution 44 gun Corvette (elite crew) (24 pts)
(b) Java 38 gun Corvette (crack crew) (19 pts)
Chesapeake vs. Shannon:
Wind from the S, blowing a fresh breeze.
(a) Chesapeake 38 gun Frigate (average crew) (14 pts)
(b) Shannon 38 gun Frigate (elite crew) (17 pts)
The Battle of Lake Erie:
Wind from the S, blowing a light breeze.
(a) Lawrence 20 gun Sloop (crack crew) (9 pts)
(a) Niagara 20 gun Sloop (elite crew) (12 pts)
(b) Lady Prevost 13 gun Brig (crack crew) (5 pts)
(b) Detroit 19 gun Sloop (crack crew) (7 pts)
(b) Q. Charlotte 17 gun Sloop (crack crew) (6 pts)
Wasp vs. Reindeer:
Wind from the S, blowing a light breeze.
(a) Wasp 20 gun Sloop (elite crew) (12 pts)
(b) Reindeer 18 gun Sloop (elite crew) (9 pts)
Constitution vs. Cyane
and Levant:
Wind from the S, blowing a moderate breeze.
(a) Constitution 44 gun Corvette (elite crew) (24 pts)
(b) Cyane 24 gun Sloop (crack crew) (11 pts)
(b) Levant 20 gun Sloop (crack crew) (10 pts)
Pellew vs. Droits de
L'Homme:
Wind from the N, blowing a gale.
(b) Indefatigable 44 gun Frigate (elite crew) (14 pts)
(b) Amazon 36 gun Frigate (crack crew) (14 pts)
(f) Droits L'Hom 74 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (24 pts)
Algeciras:
Wind from the SW, blowing a moderate breeze.
(b) Caesar 80 gun Ship of the Line (crack crew) (31 pts)
(b) Pompee 74 gun Ship of the Line (crack crew) (27 pts)
(b) Spencer 74 gun Ship of the Line (crack crew) (26 pts)
(b) Hannibal 98 gun 3 Decker SOL (crack crew) (28 pts)
(s) Real-Carlos 112 gun 3 Decker SOL (green crew) (27 pts)
(s) San Fernando 96 gun 3 Decker SOL (green crew) (24 pts)
(s) Argonauta 80 gun Ship of the Line (green crew) (23 pts)
(s) San Augustine 74 gun Ship of the Line (green crew) (20 pts)
(f) Indomptable 80 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (27 pts)
(f) Desaix 74 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (24 pts)
Lake Champlain:
Wind from the N, blowing a fresh breeze.
(a) Saratoga 26 gun Sloop (crack crew) (12 pts)
(a) Eagle 20 gun Sloop (crack crew) (11 pts)
(a) Ticonderoga 17 gun Sloop (crack crew) (9 pts)
(a) Preble 7 gun Brig (crack crew) (4 pts)
(b) Confiance 37 gun Frigate (crack crew) (14 pts)
(b) Linnet 16 gun Sloop (elite crew) (10 pts)
(b) Chubb 11 gun Brig (crack crew) (5 pts)
Last Voyage of the USS
President:
Wind from the N, blowing a fresh breeze.
(a) President 44 gun Frigate (elite crew) (24 pts)
(b) Endymion 40 gun Frigate (crack crew) (17 pts)
(b) Pomone 44 gun Frigate (crack crew) (20 pts)
(b) Tenedos 38 gun Frigate (crack crew) (15 pts)
Hornblower and the
Natividad:
Wind from the E, blowing a gale.
A scenario for you Horny fans. Remember, he sank the Natividad against heavy
odds and winds. Hint: don't try to board the Natividad; her crew is much
bigger, albeit green.
(b) Lydia 36 gun Frigate (elite crew) (13 pts)
(s) Natividad 50 gun Ship of the Line (green crew) (14 pts)
Curse of the Flying
Dutchman:
Wind from the S, blowing a fresh breeze.
Just for fun, take the Piece of cake.
(s) Piece of Cake 24 gun Corvette (average crew) (9 pts)
(f) Flying Dutchy 120 gun 3 Decker SOL (elite crew) (43 pts)
The South Pacific:
Wind from the S, blowing a strong breeze.
(a) USS Scurvy 136 gun 3 Decker SOL (mutinous crew) (27 pts)
(b) HMS Tahiti 120 gun 3 Decker SOL (elite crew) (43 pts)
(s) Australian 32 gun Frigate (average crew) (9 pts)
(f) Bikini Atoll 7 gun Brig (crack crew) (4 pts)
Hornblower and the
battle of Rosas bay:
Wind from the E, blowing a fresh breeze.
The only battle Hornblower ever lost. He was able to dismast one ship and stern
rake the others though. See if you can do as well.
(b) Sutherland 74 gun Ship of the Line (crack crew) (26 pts)
(f) Turenne 80 gun 3 Decker SOL (average crew) (27 pts)
(f) Nightmare 74 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (24 pts)
(f) Paris 112 gun 3 Decker SOL (green crew) (27 pts)
(f) Napoleon 74 gun Ship of the Line (green crew) (20 pts)
Cape Horn:
Wind from the NE, blowing a strong breeze.
(a) Concord 80 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (27 pts)
(a) Berkeley 98 gun 3 Decker SOL (crack crew) (28 pts)
(b) Thames 120 gun 3 Decker SOL (elite crew) (43 pts)
(s) Madrid 112 gun 3 Decker SOL (green crew) (27 pts)
(f) Musket 80 gun 3 Decker SOL (average crew) (27 pts)
New Orleans:
Wind from the SE, blowing a fresh breeze.
Watch that little Cypress go!
(a) Alligator 120 gun 3 Decker SOL (elite crew) (43 pts)
(b) Firefly 74 gun Ship of the Line (crack crew) (27 pts)
(b) Cypress 44 gun Frigate (elite crew) (14 pts)
Botany Bay:
Wind from the N, blowing a fresh breeze.
(b) Shark 64 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (18 pts)
(f) Coral Snake 44 gun Corvette (elite crew) (24 pts)
(f) Sea Lion 44 gun Frigate (elite crew) (24 pts)
Voyage to the Bottom of
the Sea:
Wind from the NW, blowing a fresh breeze.
This one is dedicated to Richard Basehart and David Hedison.
(a) Seaview 120 gun 3 Decker SOL (elite crew) (43 pts)
(a) Flying Sub 40 gun Frigate (crack crew) (17 pts)
(b) Mermaid 136 gun 3 Decker SOL (mutinous crew) (27 pts)
(s) Giant Squid 112 gun 3 Decker SOL (green crew) (27 pts)
Frigate Action:
Wind from the E, blowing a fresh breeze.
(a) Killdeer 40 gun Frigate (average crew) (15 pts)
(b) Sandpiper 40 gun Frigate (average crew) (15 pts)
(s) Curlew 38 gun Frigate (crack crew) (16 pts)
The Battle of Midway:
Wind from the E, blowing a moderate breeze.
(a) Enterprise 80 gun Ship of the Line (crack crew) (31 pts)
(a) Yorktown 80 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (27 pts)
(a) Hornet 74 gun Ship of the Line (average crew) (24 pts)
(j) Akagi 112 gun 3 Decker SOL (green crew) (27 pts)
(j) Kaga 96 gun 3 Decker SOL (green crew) (24 pts)
(j) Soryu 80 gun Ship of the Line (green crew) (23 pts)
Star Trek:
Wind from the S, blowing a fresh breeze.
(a) Enterprise 450 gun Ship of the Line (elite crew) (75 pts)
(a) Yorktown 450 gun Ship of the Line (elite crew) (75 pts)
(a) Reliant 450 gun Ship of the Line (elite crew) (75 pts)
(a) Galileo 450 gun Ship of the Line (elite crew) (75 pts)
(k) Kobayashi Maru 450 gun Ship of the Line (elite crew) (75 pts)
(k) Klingon II 450 gun Ship of the Line (elite crew) (75 pts)
(o) Red Orion 450 gun Ship of the Line (elite crew) (75 pts)
(o) Blue Orion 450 gun Ship of the Line (elite crew) (75 pts)
HISTORY
Dave Riggle wrote the first version of
sail on a PDP-11/70 in
the fall of 1980. Needless to say, the code was horrendous, not portable in
any sense of the word, and didn't work. The program was not very modular and
had
fseek(3) and
fwrite(3) calls every few lines.
After a tremendous rewrite from the top down, the first working version was up
and running by 1981. There were several annoying bugs concerning firing
broadsides and finding angles.
Ed Wang rewrote the
angle() routine in 1981 to be more
correct. He also added code to let a player select which ship he wanted at the
start of the game, instead of always taking the first one available.
Captain Happy (Craig Leres) is responsible for making
sail
portable for the first time. This was no easy task. Constants like 2 and 10
were very frequent in the code. The
sail code was also
notorious for the use of “Riggle Memorial Structures”. Many
structure references were so long that they ran off the line printer page.
Here is an example, if you promise not to laugh:
specs[scene[flog.fgamenum].ship[flog.fshipnum].shipnum].pts
sail received its fourth and most thorough rewrite in the
summer and fall of 1983. Ed Wang rewrote and modularized the code (a
monumental feat) almost from scratch. Although he introduced many new bugs,
the final result was very much cleaner and (?) faster. He added window
movement commands and find ship commands.
At some currently unknown time,
sail was imported into
BSD.
AUTHORS
sail has been a group effort.
AUTHOR
Dave Riggle
CO-AUTHOR
Ed Wang
REFITTING
Craig Leres
CONSULTANTS
- Chris Guthrie
- Captain Happy
- Horatio Nelson
and many valiant others...
REFERENCES
Avalon Hill, Wooden
Ships & Iron Men.
Patrick O'Brian, Master
and Commander, and 20 more volumes.
C.S. Forester, Captain
Horatio Hornblower Novels, (13 of them).
Alexander Kent, Captain
Richard Bolitho Novels, (12 of them).
The Complete Works of Captain Frederick
Marryat, (about 20).
Of these, consider especially
- Mr. Midshipman
Easy
- Peter
Simple
- Jacob
Faithful
- Japhet in
Search of a Father
- Snarleyyow, or
The Dog Fiend
- Frank Mildmay,
or The Naval Officer