Campaign Overview
The Admiralty has just declassified a recent report on Ultimate Admiral: Age of Sail, the document in question reveals details about the Campaign.
This is the campaign map, an illustrated replica of a real historical region. Here players maneuver their fleets to engage the enemy or otherwise explore.
In Ultimate Admiral, the campaign is divided into regionally distinct chapters. Each chapter traverses a region of European or American waters and consists of multiple battles, events, and other points of interest. Every chapter has multiple stages, or turns measured one month at a time. The game world is updated after every stage, repopulating the map with new challenges and opportunities for the player to tackle.
Events, Quests, and Points-of-Interest
The campaign mixes historical events with those triggered by player choice. Many events are driven by player action, such as exploring a coastal cave (or other point of interest)—which could trigger a story with a significant reward—or losing a battle, which could lead to a series of events that make life even harder for the player. Oftentimes, players will be asked to make choices with potentially far-ranging consequences, affecting other events later in the campaign.
Some events are triggered by the success or failure of previous missions, which can begin longer quest chains. For example, should players send a ship to patrol coastal waters for smugglers and fail, they may find themselves ordered to rescue an admiral’s daughter after a rise in piracy. Should players instead send a squadron and capture a smuggler, they could be ordered to take the smugglers’ hideout by storm, with a chance to capture valuable materials.
In addition, there are a number of points of interest for players to explore—towns, geographical landmarks, islands, and more. Exploration may lead to battles, random events, or loot.
Missions
There are two types of missions available in Ultimate Admiral. The first are epic and minor battles that require players to deploy and utilize their fleet directly, engaging enemy forces head on much like previous Ultimate General games.
The second are missions where players assign a number of ships to a task for the duration of a stage(s) and await the outcome. Players will have to weigh their odds of success and the absence of those ships during battles or events against the potential awards.
Missions, quests, and events are closely interrelated in Ultimate Admiral.
Fleet Management
This is the Fleet Management screen. In Ultimate Admiral, players must carefully develop their fleet through managing individual ships. Each ship has unique characteristics, upgrades, commanding officers, and crew. All of these elements influence the efficiency of any given ship in battle.
- Weight is the limiting factor in customizing ships, forcing players to decide between armor, guns, and transport space.
- Technologically advanced upgrades help develop more powerful and flexible ships, at a cost.
- Skilled crews are vital to the success of naval battles, can provide additional support during landing operations as detached infantry, and act much like the brigades of Ultimate General.
There are two types of ships in player fleets, warships and transports. Warships can fight in battle, bombard targets on land, and even disembark assault parties. Transports on the other hand, are much less effective, but are able to carry a significantly larger contingent of trained infantry.
Renown & Experience
While playing Ultimate Admiral, players will earn renown based on their actions. As their reputation grows by winning battles and successfully resolving other missions so too does their renown, but neglecting events or losing battles will just as quickly lower it, along with the Admiralty’s faith in your abilities.
Players can use their renown to order new ships and research technology, giving them a distinct advantage in battle.
In addition to renown, players will gain experience over time, allowing them to improve their admiral’s skills. Upgrading skills can increase player access to resources, improve relations with the Admiralty, increase recovery rates for your crews, and offer cheaper prices or other advantages that will aid them in their campaigns.
Like admirals, players’ officers and crews gain experience too. Experience is earned performing most actions in battle. Firing the cannons increases accuracy and reloading speeds while controlling the rigging increases the rate of turning and sail management. Officers on the other hand, have very specific postings. They can be responsible for a number of duties, gaining experience only in those they are actively performing—taking the time to train good officers can have a profound impact on the efficiency of a ship.
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