Picture of the Week
Pictures of the Week: 29 August 2017: Massive Ship production, Hanged Pirates and Bloedvlags
Hello Everyone! Wow I can’t believe I haven’t posted anything to this topic in a year. Sorry! I will try to do much better.
Today I wanted to share a couple of pictures with you that I find quite interesting in my constant quest for knowledge and research about our favorite time period.
The first painting is fascinating and hits home a point I have made in my comments and writing numerous times over the years. “A picture is worth a thousand words” as they say and I can find no other better way to illustrate my point than with this picture.
If you read my recent posting (Part II of the lecture on the Pirates of Puerto Rico) you can see an event timeline I provided, in which I include most of the significant germane historical occurrences of the Caribbean of that time. The thing that will pop out and smack anyone reading IS – just how totally the Dutch had become a very aggressive and dominant naval power in the Caribbean of the first half of the 17th century. In the next installment of that article I will cover the 1650s to the end of the century and you will see the dominance continues and increases.
So the QUESTION is HOW and WHY was a little country like the Netherlands able to become so powerful and possess SO MANY SHIPS? If you have read some of my other historical articles you already know the answer, but I will give the shortest possible version of that here.
In one sentence – Dutch Banks with huge amounts of venture capital along with early stock market trading/speculation, combined with the earliest example we find in western history of a massive early industrialization, and last, an immense resulting commercial and colonial trading expansion which began first to break the back of Spanish/Portuguese power in the longest war of rebellion in history (80 years), and then later to obtain a global monopoly on trade – is the reason (why and how). Phewww catching breath LOL – I am nothing if not way too verbose.
None of the things in that sentence could happen without the others. It was like the planets had come into alignment. The industrialization caused advancements in technology – thousands of water & wind driven saw-mills and the importation of massive amounts of wood from Germany and the Scandinavian/Baltic countries – a massive arms/cannon production in the first large scale arms factories in history which produced guns both for domestic and export consumption. Venice as I covered in my article about the Most Murderous Monument was the only other country to ever do this before on a much smaller scale and it was not even close to the output the Dutch achieved during their Golden Century.
Massive amounts of Salt and Fish(herring) was required to feed the Netherlands and supply its ships with preserved food for long journeys. The industrialization caused an explosion in the Dutch birth rate and immigration with thousands of Scandinavian and German people flocking there for jobs. The Dutch navy had sailors from dozens of nations making up its ranks.
This painting (by Jan Molenaar from 1682 currently in the Edam Museum) is a demonstration of that prosperity and the massive ship production that no other country in Europe could keep up with. This is only ONE ship builder and not the largest by any means. Each town in the Netherlands was expected to build a certain amount of ships for the Dutch Confederate Navy each year.
Here we see a major shipbuilder for the Dutch town of Edam. The rich industrial leader – one – J.M. Osterlingh, illustrates the 92 ships (of all types and sizes) that his yard alone has put into production in 1682. Osterlingh beams with pride showing off his achievements to his youthful daughter and son-in-law. In addition, the work of art itself preserves for posterity Osterlingh’s impressive annual output.
We know from documents of the time (and the English Lord Clarendon’s own assessments based on his spies) – that the Dutch possessed twenty-five thousand ships globally in 1660 with the English trailing badly with only three thousand. Clarendon and Pepys both urged King Charles to build more ships – when we see this painting – we can see why.
When we look at the numbers of ships in this single painting, we can also see why the Dutch dominated the East and West Indies of this time so dramatically. I am always amused at how all other video games get this dreadfully wrong. The reason I could never get into POTBS is because there was never a playable Dutch faction.
NEXT…
So this next painting is one I thought about saving for later because you will see it again soon in a story I am writing about Capital and Corporal Punishments in the navies and among pirates during the Golden Age. Look for it soon.
This picture goes along with the many others I have included in this section which feeds my obsession concerning the Bloedvlag “Blood Flag” and it adds to the narrative of the European powers combating piracy in the Mediterranean in the 17th century. If you haven’t read my article on a Most Murderous Monument, I suggest you have a look HERE.
In the article on the monument I covered many of the raids on the Barbary cities and states, and here we see an illustration from the 1660s or 70s of a Dutch fleet sitting outside of Algiers boldly showing off to its inhabitants all of the pirates it has caught and has hung upon the yard arms. Notice the Bloedvlag prominently displayed on the ship in the foreground(both on the Tafferrel and the main-mast) and Dutch tri-colors on the other masts. I am certain this was very likely a fairly regular occurrence during this era.
I love illustrations that so dramatically demonstrate and represent historical routines which I read about so often. So awesome!
MK
Pictures of the Week: 09 August 2016 Bloedvlags and Spanish Privateers
So last installment we looked at a Spanish Ship sinking during the Battle of the Downs by small Dutch warships and this month we’ve got a similar illustration with Tromp’s Aemilia taking the large Spanish almirante galleon commanded by the Spanish Admiral Oquendo. Even though its a black and white lithograph the Bloedvlag can still be clearly made out on the tafferel of the Aemilia. This one is with the arm coming out of the clouds.
Next we have another modern illustration by my favorite maritime artist currently living Arnold de Lange. Here we see another rendition of Tromp’s Aemilia going after a Spanish ship. There on the tafferel is again displayed very prominently – the Bloedvlag!
????????????????????????????????????
And now a painting by one of the Van de Veldes that is not known as well as the others – Cornelis Van de Velde…not to be confused with the Dutch privateer Cornelis Van de Velde who preyed on Caribbean shipping in the 1650s. This painting is a rare treat. It is a painting commission by James II during his short reign before William of Orange invaded England to take the throne. It depicts a very real battle in which an English East Indiaman successfully beat off three pesky Spanish/Flemish privateers out of Ostend. Not only did the ship cripple the two in the background causing them to retreat, but it actually captured the one in the foreground that you can see is striking her colors. This goes to show why East and West Indiamen of the time were heavily armed and manned. What a great painting! Love the detail in the English Indiaman but even more love the rare glimpse into what a Spanish Ostend privateer looked like in the 1680s. Very cool! Wish I could find a few more like this one. MK
Pictures of the Week: 09 June 2016 (Yet more Bloedvlags! and the oldest flag in America)
So the last few months I have managed to find yet more interesting paintings/pictures of bloedvlags. In this installment we see no pirates involved at all. In fact these paintings clearly illustrate Dutch squadrons boldly flying the Bloedvlag while engaged with Spaniards during the 80 years War in one case and in the First Anglo-Dutch War in the second case showing Admiral Tromp’s beloved Aemilia replete with Blood flag going into action against the English. Only the Dutch galleon circa 1615-1640, sailing past some fortifications in the distance (probably in the Med) could be out pirate hunting. These are just quite simply some awesome pictures.
BHC0269
Last here is an interesting replica of the oldest known flag in North America – known as the Bedford flag. Read about its history HERE It is fascinating that the flag was carried by cavalry as early as 1704. Wonder what European event or experience might have influenced its original creator? Had someone been sailing with a particular nation’s navy or privateers during or prior to the War of Spanish Succession? Makes you wonder. I was both surprised and baffled to find this totally cool flag where I did. The Bloedvlag influence is undeniable. Here’s a pic of one you can buy online. The link above shows the original: MK
Pictures of the Day: 11 October 2015 (More Barbary Pirates and Bloedvlags!)
So I have found several more really interesting ship paintings clearly showing the Bloedvlag. So lets look at them and discuss!
(c) National Maritime Museum; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation
In the first picture we see an action taking place right off a coastal town. This fight is clearly between the French and the Dutch and pirates are not in the fight. Yet here we see the Bloedvlag displayed prominently. I do not know what battle this is but it does not appear to be in the Mediterranean.
In the second picture we see fighting going on between Englishmen and Dutchmen in the boats of the foreground. I had initially thought that maybe aid or rescue were occurring, but clearly not. Being that this is a Backhuysen depiction of the Battle of the Texel in the 3rd Anglo-Dutch War we know this is in the channel. So once again – no pirates and we can clearly make out English and Dutch navy ships battling it out. This was another great DeRuyter victory. There to the left is a Dutch ship flying the Bloedvlag.
I clearly have more research to conduct on the subject. If use of that flag wasn’t just confined to fighting Dunkirkers and Barbary pirates – and included fighting opposing nations war fleets, what was the protocol? Could this flag have been flown in the Caribbean? We know pirates adopted the flag. Could they have seen it there already? Could it be they procured their first flags from the Dutch or from the taking of Dutch military prizes? Several notable pirates took Dutch warships and made them their flagships. Could Condent’s Flying Dragon already had a Bloedvlag aboard? What about Edward England’s Fancy. Interesting to think about eh??? MK
Pictures of the Day: 28 January 2015 (More Barbary Pirates and Bloedvlags!)
So today I am featuring more than just one picture. In staying on the topic of my current study of European actions against the Barbary Corsairs during the Golden Age and their use of the Bloedvlag, I bring you four(yes that’s right count em “4” paintings by Van de Velde the Younger of Barbary Pirates.
In the first two paintings notice the patrolling Restoration Era English 3rd rates (possibly a 2nd rate in the first picture) single-handedly dealing with bunches of the nasty Barbary minions. Notice the English Ensign shot through the transom pole and drooping in the first picture. I actually own an AA Orlinsky recreation of this painting in my private collection.
In the third picture we are treated to a Dutch punitive expedition bombarding Tripoli in 1670. The pirates have come out to meet the Dutch in full force. I love this picture. Notce the large Barbary warship done more in a Spanish style with a sun and a kneeling figure on the stern. As I said in the previous post, the Barbary Corsairs built and manned their own large warships and here we see another example. Also notice on the prevalent Dutch Warship the Bloedvlag flying from the tafferel. This one is much like the captured Spanish or Dunkirk version hanging in the Binnenhof in my first picture post – showing the arm with the sword coming out from a cloud.
In the final close-up picture we see a Dutch warship engaging Barbary Pirates with the typical Dutch version of the Bloedvlag flying from the tafferel. Wouldn’t it have been amazing to be there! If I can get the funding next year, I will take anyone who wants go into these pictures on that kind of adventure with my own splendid historical video game.
MK
Picture of the Day: 15 January 2015 (A Sea Battle with Barbary Corsairs)
So here we see a painting by the noted Flemish painter Laureys a Castro (1664-1700). This painting is part of the Dulwich Collection in the UK. It was probably painted sometime in the 1680s. If I had to guess I would say that it is a post Third Anglo-Dutch War (1672-74) and pre-William and Mary era(1688-1704)painting based on the styles of the ships depicted alone. These are left-overs from the 1660s-70s and the painting likely depicts an action fought around 1680. We see a fierce battle between a combined Anglo-Dutch fleet against large Barbary Corsair warships.
I love this painting because of the wonderful action frozen in time and the almost cartoon-like composition of Castro. For many Americans, they know about the Barbary Corsairs only from the little bit of history they’ve learned about the battles fought against Tripoli and Algiers by the fledgling US Navy only decades after we we started out as a nation. Most westerners know the US Marine Anthem with the phrase “From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli”. However, most people aren’t aware that the Barbary Pirates were a centuries old threat that had harassed and raided European shipping and ports for centuries. I have an excellent book about slavery I plan to review in the near future that covers the centuries of slavery of White Slaves brought back to Northern Africa as captives of the Barbary Corsairs. If you read my story on Piet Heyn you will observe the short episode where he has to take on supplies at one of these North African ports and negotiates the release of Christian slaves from the Sultan. This is a true story – it really happened.
The Barbary Corsairs were a fearsome opponent that were constantly dealt with by seafaring nations. The Spanish, French, Dutch and English kept navy forces and patrols constantly in the Mediterranean to protect their convoys and shipping from the 16th century onwards – almost to modern times. These “pirates” far from being the lightly armed and meagerly equipped opponents they are often depicted and stereotyped as, were often just as well armed and equipped as their European counterparts. They not only built their own warships in the European style (not just galleys and xebecs, but full blown manowar), but they often used European tactics as well. Dig a little and you can find stories of European defectors that became powerful Barbary warlords.
The primary action shows an English Third or Fourth rater engaging a large Barbary Manowar. On the opposite side a smaller Dutch OorlogsFrigat (war pinnace) fiercely engages the same ship. Notice the colorful Barbary flags with multi-colored stripes and crescent moons. Colors and symbols we see even now in the flags of the North African nations of modern times. To the left foreground we see a damaged Barbary frigate with its bowsprit shot off trying to get into the action.
What an awesome painting. These types of actions were commonplace and you can find them in spades in the surviving logs and accounts of the times as well as the art of the period we see right before us. Many of the ships that engaged these pirates flew the Bloedvlag and I will be showing more paintings in the near future as part of my research of the Bloedvlag and my upcoming historical article on the subject. Stay tuned!
MK
Picture of the Day: 09 January 2015 (Spanish Warship in Naples)
This grand painting by the Dutch master Abraham Willearts gives a brief glimpse into a bustling port in the Golden Age. The ship has just come to rest anchored next to a great lighthouse in Naples, Italy in the late 1660’s. Naples at this time was a powerful city which dominated Italy. It was a very important Spanish possession until the end of the War of Spanish Succession in 1714. In 1668 when this scene probably took place during Willaert’s visit to Naples a year before his death, Naples was the second largest city in Europe with around 300,000 inhabitants. Only Paris was larger. Naples was the largest port and city in the Mediterranean and ships from all over Europe, the Med, and the Levant called here to off-load and exchange rich cargoes.
Looking at this impressive Spanish Manowar in the foreground, one wonders if she has been sent with, troops, official correspondence, important passengers from Spain or if she is just coming in after a patrol to keep the shipping lanes safe from all manner of pirates (especially Turkish and Barbary corsairs).
This large galleon tells us a lot about Spanish warships of this time. Along with the typical ornate stern decoration on large galleons of this era we see a large figure head as well of a prince riding upon a leaping white horse. Her armament is impressive and she boast three full gun-decks and one or two split gun-decks above on either side of her waist. By her size she very likely mounts bronze 50pounders on her lower deck cast in the great foundries of Liege. These were the largest marine guns of the time. Only the large bombards found on War Carracks prevalent in the previous century were larger.
Her flags also tell us a great deal. She flies the Royal Spanish flag with arms and the Cross of Burgundy behind from the mainmast. Below this flag flies (probably) a Catholic religious pennant. She sports a solid red flag from the stern which means that she has just come from battle, she is the flagship of a squadron or fleet, OR, she has a Spanish Admiral or Royal aboard. A simpler common Spanish naval flag with the Burgundian cross flies from the foremast, and a small naval jack from the sprit topmast as well.
From NMMC “There is considerable activity both on the ship and in the rigging as they secure the ship and make ready to go ashore. One figure is climbing the foremast. The artist has paid particular attention to lively details. Small craft are shown in the surrounding water. The barge rowing towards the left, in the foreground, has three sets of oars. As well as what appear to be hinged deck sections over a small cargo space in the stern. The deck sections are raised and three men, including the helmsman, are standing or sitting within the small cargo space. In the distance, to the right, a small ceremonial barge with a canopy in the stern is going past the anchored ship. Another ship at anchor, probably flying the Dutch flag, can be seen in the distance. The bay is full of activity and shipping. Figures are standing on the balconies and terraces of the lighthouse. While others line up on the quay beside it. Figures can, also, be seen standing with fishing rods on the rocks. At the landing steps below the quay, in the bottom right corner, men with oars are standing in a second barge. The mooring lines of the ship at anchor are clearly visible on the steps. In contrast with this busy scene are the three larger figures, in the foreground, which cast long shadows on the cobblestones. Two are shown wearing swords and in European dress…”
What an awesome painting. I just wish I go into it and see the great Golden Age for myself. Reading awesome books on the subject, looking at wonderful paintings, and playing super historically immersive video games set in this time are the only ways we have of doing this unfortunately. This image can be found as a transition/loading screen in GOF ERAs2. Many of the Spanish cities of the Caribbean were large cosmopolitan cities with huge forts and imposing lighthouses at the same time as this was painted. In fact the painter Willearts has spent a couple years in Brazil which had been a Dutch possession from 1630-1661. In fact Piet Heyn took San Salvadore during the Dutch conquest. Many of Willearts’ paintings illustrate the bustling and well developed colonies. These were not rural backwaters as so often depicted in movies, media and games. Many Spanish colonial cities boasted impressive Cathedrals and even Opera Houses during the Golden Age.
The original of this painting is in the Ingram Collection and Prints of this painting can be found in the British National Maritime Museum Collection Archive in Greenwich, UK.
National Maritime Museum Collections
MK
Picture of the Day: 05 January 2015 (The Binnenhof)
Some of you might recognize this image from the intro video in the GOF Historical Eras Module2. Today’s painting is of the Binnenhof, painted by Bartholomeus van Bassen in 1651. Looking at the painting one might well assume that Spaniards are in the great hall or that it is located in Spain. However these numerous hanging Spanish flags are the captured trophies of the Dutch military, taken from Spanish regiments and ships both on land and sea over 80 years of bloody conflict with Spain in the war for Dutch independence – which had only ended some three years before this painting was finished. Looking at the flags some are aged and burned and decades old – and others almost perfect.
Indeed these spoils of war are an excellent historical record of Spanish banners from this time. Notice the many embattled Crosses of Burgundy. Also notice the Pillars of Hercules – symbol of the Spanish Crown with the motto PLVS VLTRA below. The most interesting one in my opinion is the Spanish version of the Bloedvlag (Bloodflag). This is the red flag with an extended arm with sword. This version has the arm coming out of a cloud which reflects it is a divine arm. This flag probably came from a Spanish or Dunkirk privateer. Indeed our own logo here at Buccaneer’s Reef is a version of the Bloedvlag. This type of flag was used at sea to let people know that the ship was sponsored and on a mission – a mission to hunt for pirates or counter privateer against the other side’s privateers (Sea Beggars in this case). These ships would be fast, well armed, and well manned.
Dutch squadrons hunting Dunkirkers or Barbary Pirates would all carry large Bloedvlags from their taffrail. The Dutch version usually carried the arm and scimitar quartered towards the upper left. Later this symbol of legitimate pirate hunting and counter privateering was adopted in many different configurations by pirates themselves. I will be doing an upcoming historical article on the Bloedvlag soon. Look for it as an upcoming feature.
Just a few short years ago I had the privilege of working on a technology project close to the Hague. I made it a point on my off time to go visit the Binnenhof. I was so hoping that it would still look like the picture above. Indeed it does look almost identical to the picture with the same large wood rafters above. Unfortunately all of the flags are now long gone. I suppose they disintegrated or were taken down centuries ago. So I stood there and remembered the picture and imagined myself there during the Golden Age when all of the War Flags would have still been hanging from the rafters. I could almost see them.
MK
Picture of the Day: 29 December 2014 (The Four Days Battle)
The Four Days Fight of 1666 by Abraham Storck. This battle was the second largest battle of the age of sail with each side fielding over one hundred warships. Only the Battle of Lepanto in 1571 was larger and even then most of the ships were oar powered as well as sail powered – so many historians say that the Four Days Battle was indeed the largest battle of purely sailing ships in history.
The battle was part of the Second Anglo-Dutch War and the Dutch scored a significant victory over the English in this decisive battle. Although there are several paintings of the battle, this one is my favorite. The layout is exceptional and I love this part of the battle showcasing the duel between the flagships HMS Prince on the right and DeRuyter’s famous Zeven Provincien to the left center. The Prince was heavily damaged in this engagement. In fact the English Admiral Sir George Monck was forced to change flagships three times. In all three English admirals lost their lives including the famous Sir Christopher Myngs.
This battle illustrated the superiority of the Dutch 36 pounder bronze guns over the English 32 pounder. Some anecdotes go so far as to say that Dutch rounds would penetrate completely through the English ships out the other side. So the Dutch ships may have been smaller and have less guns, but they were faster, more maneuverable and had larger guns.
MK
Posted in History of the Golden Age, Maritime Paintings, Uncategorized and tagged Hanging, Historical, Pictures, Pirate by modernknight1 with comments disabled.
The Future of the Storm 2.8 Game Engine
Hi All, MK Here,
Well today I want to talk about something near and dear to my heart. The Future of the Storm 2.8 Game Engine.
I have heard it criticized time and time again by numerous people. However, I really think these same people actually have very little knowledge as to how game engines or simulations core software work in the first place.
Let me give you a little background. I have been responsible for a lot of old sims software professionally over the years. Just because something is old, does not mean its bad. On the contrary, the military often will keep very good and efficient software around for decades. Think about a hot rod. If the core design is really really good and does most everything I want it to, I may just upgrade the motor to a new cutting edge higher horsepower version and add some modern electronics and gauges to the dash and interior. However, the core design of the car is still there.
It’s largely the same with sims software and game engines. Some of the best sims I’ve worked with were thirty plus years old – however at their core they were extremely reliable, mathematically much more complex, detailed and even more elegant and beautiful than their modern counterparts. They always produced “repeatable” results which is something that a lot of modern engines and sims cores cannot do – because they simply are not “mature” enough yet. So we simply upgraded those old sims, sometimes taking over a year to build a version in a different computational language even. To say that they will not support modern graphics is just ignorance. Good solid source code can always be expanded upon to support better physics or more modern graphics – its just simply a matter of know how.
A few of us in the small Age of Sail/pirate video game community have said that the Storm 2.8 engine has never been brought to its full potential. There is so much more that can be done with it. PO:TEHO is another example of this. It is vastly different than its predecessors and cleaner with many more things that can be done. When one looks at the shatter effects on the ships and masts alone, you can clearly see the improvements. When video of PO:TEHO was first released critics from PA! immediately pounced, exclaiming critically that it was still using DX9 graphics.
Lets examine this from a marketing perspective. If I knew that a majority of my customer base were still using older computer platforms, would I upgrade the engine to support newer graphics? They were going after their own national market first and the global and western market last. Face it, these kinds of games just aren’t as popular in the west unfortunately.
Lets look at the Naval Action effort. They are clearly targeting the western market with an MMO. Therefore they know that the majority of their customer base is going to have the best equipment out there that can support the newest graphics.
I see no impediments in the future to modern upgrades to the Storm 2.8 engine that would allow it to support many more functions to include modern graphics. Who knows if there could be even more Storm 2.8 engine based games offered in the future by Russian developers. I think it is very possible and hope it happens. I would love it if the next game in the pipeline simply blew the minds of its critics and especially a certain community that “threw out the baby with the bathwater”.
To illustrate visually the points I was making above, please take a look at the following videos of enhancements made to the STORM 2.8 Game Engine. I think the future is VERY bright indeed for the Storm 2.8 Game Engine!
MK
Posted in Uncategorized by modernknight1 with comments disabled.
Latest developments in the GOF Eras 2 mod
20 OCT 2014: Hello All. Here is this weeks progress. I have mainly been reskinning and reclassing Merchant vessels to better balance encounters. Flickr.com I am also working on a couple more Spanish warships. The Neptune is coming along really nice and I am more proud of her than anything I have done yet. You will see my work on her later this week. This adds a distinctly mid 17th century Spanish warship to the game. When I get my
Dutch Yacht finished in Maya I think I may take on the “Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion”. Flickr.com https://www.flickr.com/photos/49225014@N05/sets/72157646545564043/ I have found excellent surviving plans and models of her. She is HUGE and VERY GOLDEN AGE/17th century.
The pics up right now are of the new merchants. The version of the Pinnace that I made to represent that type of ship in continental merchant fleets really turned out nice. One of the skins I call “El Sol”(the Sun) turned out so nice and is an homage to the late famous tattoo artist Greg Irons. I added his famous picture from the Pirate Book on Flickr so that people can compare. Iron’s Pirates Flickr.com I think I did pretty good. Flickr.com
So I made some really interesting discoveries on my contining research of 17th century ships. Once again relying on Spanish sources rather than English I discovered a neat little ship called a “Zabra”. Over the course of history in the New World there were quite a few times when the Terra Firma and New Spain Flotas (Treasure Fleets) would be so damaged by storms or threatened by enemies in the area that the King of Spain would order the Flotas to stay in place and make repairs or wait. When the fleet was very heavily crippled which happened quite a few times it could take a year to repair and get on its way. This was not acceptable to the Spanish Crown that relied so heavily on the income from the treasure fleets. So the King would dispatch small fleets of Zabras. Zabras were of a specifically Catalonian design with a Flemish influence. Often these ships were commissioned to be built by the King himself and constructed by the best Catalonian and Flemish ship builders available in the employ of the Spanish Crown.
Zabras were already used as couriers and could make the Atlantic passage in as little as 20 days. This is remarkable when one considers that the treasure fleets took three to four months to make the passage. The Zabra was not only one of the fastest ships in the Spanish Navy, but she was also well armed for her size which averaged around 250 tons (vice the average galleon that weighed between 500 to 1000 tons). By sending fleets of 3 to 12 Zabras, the King could get a sizeable amount of treasure in his coffers in less than two months time from the moment he gave the order to sail. So I gathered as much information I could find about the Zabra and found that she had the lines of the Flemish/Dutch pinnaces combined with features of the English and Spanish fast galleons. She was in use from the middle of the 16th century up to the last quarter of the 17th century. So I chose a model that would look most like her 17th century incarnation. I will probably eventually model one based on some woodcuts I found, but for now thought she most resembles the little Pinnace from POTEHO that I morphed and called English Pinnace. So here for your pleasure is my now Spanish version of her called the Zabra. I hope you like her. I made her very fast, distictly Spanish flavored and I think she is a pretty little vessel!
So now as to why I have not put the website up yet and distributed the mod out to you all? – you ask! So the primary reasons are that I have been very busy. Things have not been going as well as I would like. I have been travelling more than usual and I have not only been very engaged with personal and professional responsibilities, but on top of it all I have been injured…again! All this to say that I have been delayed with getting the mod finished and the website finished (although it IS almost ready!).
There have been good things happen as well. I have added several really cool new items. I fixed a bothersome bug with the Indian(Erikson) showing up instead of a new skeleton that I made for the encounters with Flying Dutchman raids on towns. Everything is fine now and you will never again see that pesky unrealistic Indian in the game ever again. I also fixed a bug with the additional fighters. I have tested four successfully and am now pushing to get five fighters.
I think four may be enough though. That extra fighter really gives you an advantage in quest fights. Two additional may be a little much.
I still very much appreciate your encouraging emails but I have to comment that negative nagging does not help me to finish. Also please do not say that I made promises or broke promises because that is just not so. I will remind everyone that I made this mod for ME and my closest family and friends. The only promise I have ever made is that I will get a website up and will release the ERas mods to you. I will honor that promise, but I have a problem meeting projected timelines and probably always will. I always have the best of intentions but I get sucked into so many distracting responsibilities or problems. I am sorry its not ready yet however I want to remind my fans of some reasons why I will not release yet….
*** When I initially released the mod I was still heavily involved in some transitional code involving
flags, weather, and sound. I should have never released it until I had it sorted out. It is of course
perfect now and does not crash during large battles, you have a better variety of flags than ever before than any pirate game existent, and there is no further graphical glitching or anomalies. However, becaue I felt so pressured by fans, I released anyway. What a mistake! While so many of you enjoyed it anyway, there were others that just raked me over the coals. In fact one of the staff members at PA! who I regarded as a
friend (Hylie) called it a “buggy mess”. That really hurt. So all that to say that I will not release it
until I have it just right and you guys will be in heaven when you play it. We are very close!
So on to the website, It is so close, but there are still a couple of subject areas I am trying to get
finished up and I am trying to finish one of my stories as well so that you will have the whole thing up
front.
I also plan to very prominently display a statement of forgiveness to all those that wronged me at the top of the site that explains the reasons why I was driven to create this new site in the first place. When all
that business was happening I told them there was no reason we couldn’t cooperate but they weren’t
interested….now they will see what a true Historical Pirate Genre website SHOULD look like!!! LOL! I know
many of you that are my friends or fans, left PA! after what they did to me and I appreciate your loyalty.
I also must apologize that I have not got the new site up and running yet so all of you COAS junkies like me will have a new Forum home.
Even though I still feel horribly wronged and unfairly villified – and those of you who know me, know that
I am who I have always said I am. I am a retired US Army Colonel and sims/ enterprise expert. I am not a hacker – never have been – and I am not at all a bad person – OR all of these other people that I have been accused of being – (any person who really wanted to take it upon themselves to dig for the actual truth, could see who is me and who is not based on IPs and location traces.). They banned all of my interested
relatives and friends that I had encouraged to join and contribute and had at one time or another used my netbooks (IPs) or my main 10 port CAT5 router IP. Most of those folks just signed up on PA! as a favor to me and it was really no big deal to them, but it hurt me anyway and it especially deeply hurt me personally
because of all the time, effort and love I put into PA! for so long – and – as I don’t think I deserved
that kind of treatment after so much contribution….I will say again that I was never warned.), I am still going to offer the statement of forgiveness regardless and offer the olive branch because I want to see our hobby grow (why can’t we all just get along) and the interest in our great game COAS to expand.
I’m not a monster…I am a dedicated Age of Sail and Pirate historian, afficionado, and video game
hobbyist. Otherwise why would I have this blog page and my Flickr site? Why would I spend so much time writing on this subject and crafting a historically authentic mod with correct period ships, characters and weapons? Would a troll and hacker do that? No…but a dedicated hobbyist would…..which is what afterall….I truly am…..and anyone with a brain in their head can clearly see that.
I think I can safely say that everything will be up and running and ready to go (and the mod released)
before Christmas(probably much sooner), but I DON’T WANT to MAKE ANY PROMISES. OK???
I will make one limited offer however….while I have my new modeller friend hard at work on some things that we will enjoy next year, for ANY modellers (including guys I already know) that want to join me or contribute new models to my effort, once I have received an agreement with you – and new model(s) have been received, I will give you a working link to the current working version of ERAS2 to play. So just contact me at my email and lets talk!
PAX, my friends! MK
9/26/14: Good week! Lots of new screenshots on Flickr Flickr.com These are some good ones. I continue to reskin ships on my improvement list and they are just getting constantly better! I have played to level 43 with no problems or issues. Everything is working great in Eras2. I have played through all the quests personally except Austin. They all work. I have found a few small bugs along the way and fixed them. Your emails have not fallen on deaf ears. I will find a way to release Eras2 publically when the website goes up in a couple of more weeks. A way which will ensure only interested people get it and my content is safe. I almost have a solution. Just wait till you see the new site!!!
9/15/14: More breakthroughs! Good week. Many more photos like the ones above posted to Flickr! Flickr.com
9/02/14: Many more pics posted to FLICKR Flickr.com Thank you for all of the supportive emails after the last announcement. Not one negative one! I can’t believe it. A new modeler has joined me and he is more talented than any I’ve ever seen. So I am hoping for great things!!!!
8/30/14: IMPORTANT UPDATE: Most of you will not like what I’m about to tell you but I must. I have had a GREAT year concerning my personal life and my professional life. Lots of new opportunities have presented themselves and I have sailed oceans, climbed and skied mountains, floated rivers, hiked trails and seen many people I love dearly. ====
However, one of the companies I was working with has gone back on our original understanding. Instead of developing a commercial Age of Sail Game they want me to go in a different direction and I am not interested. So the gaming division that I have built will continue on without me in the driver’s seat. The good news is that much of the support, backing and talent I have put together are only interested in my original ideas. Having said that I will very likely start my own Gaming Development Company next year at some point.
As far as the new website is concerned and my hobby of video game modding goes, these things will continue, however not as I originally intended. The website will be stood up and offer the best content on the web with regards to historical articles about the Golden Age, the latest Age of Sail news, models, simulations/games, trivia, etc. Mods will also be offered. I will offer mini mods for members.
HOWEVER, I am sorry to say that GOF Historical ERAS Mod 2 will only be offered to a select few that are trusted friends, Beta testers, and family. There are some very important reasons I am taking this drastic decision. The primary reason is all of the character assassination of myself and accusations made by individuals on other web sites that work in the genre of video game modding. I have been accused of taking ships and material without permission. I can assure everyone that 99 percent of ERAs content was taken with permission and 100 percent of the content has been recognized giving credit to where it came from.
Now let me explain myself concerning the 1 percent I took without permission. Everything I took was from mods or material that was offered on the web for free. Everything I took was modified, often extensively from its original form. The people I took these items from had taken items from versions of the CMV and from GOF without asking permission from the GOF modders, so I followed in turn thinking that we had an open understanding considering they had taken content from us. Considering that Luke159 and myself are the only members of the original CMV and GOF team left around, permission should be asked of one of us…..but it hasn’t been! So if they make these accusations at me, then I turn them right back around on them.
So what does this mean??? Well it means that I will be releasing many mini mods of my Characters, my Items, and my retextured and morphed Ship models. However I will not release ERAS2 publically because I do not want to give away my best secrets. My new harbor clutter behavior implementation will remain secret, my multiple fighters implementation will remain secret, my dozens of new islands and new locations capability will remain secret, my new multiple sail texture implementation will remain secret, my new multiple flag implementation will remain secret and my lower boarding deck implementation will remain secret. The way I implemented the multiple flags and the lower decks is much different than how it was done in POTC New Horizons or in the Russian mods, so no one is going to figure out how I did it.
The good news is that when my new website comes up public, you will be able to DL many of my new characters and ships for any version of GOF. However, since everyone in the community seems to have become so prudish and selfish I will follow suit. Anyone who wants to use any of MY content in their mods must have my express permission before they can use it. On top of this I will upload GOF ERAS Mod3 (the late era) on the new site. Since this mod will not have any new ships in it, I will allow complete downloads of it since it does not have any of the AWESOME breakthroughs in it yet that I achieved for mod two. It has a bunch of new late period characters that I have made that I don’t care if people steal them from me anyway. So the encounters will be all late era ships that look correct for each nationality just like in ERAS2.
I must apologize to my fans for such drastic action, but the pirate game community has been very unfair to me this year and this is the result. I have been accused multiple times by several individuals of attacking and hacking. I will state to everyone that I AM NOT, NEVER WAS, AND NEVER WILL BE A HACKER! In fact on the contrary I am the one that has been attacked, banned unfairly without warnings, and hacked by several members of these communities that I have been able to trace and identify because of my background and through some of my friends in the industry. Only one of these attacks was successful and it did not set me back that much.
All of this is really unfortunate because I was hoping to work with some of these people when my website went public and I was even going to prominently showcase the German work there. Oh well, what a shame. The good news is that I have made many new Russian friends and the Russians are doing such great work. The future of the Storm Games is still very clearly with the Russians and I will promote and help them all I can on my new site.
The only way my decision on this stand will change is if some of these people come forward to work with me and reconcile with me. However, I very much doubt this will happen because 1) they don’t care, and 2) they have formed cliques that are only concerned about a couple of little pet projects. Many of these folks have become prudish, judgmental, selfish and are really simply just hypocrites. They have NO interest in sharing or working with others to really make some great stuff. So if you want to blame someone, don’t blame me – blame them. If they wont openly share, then neither will I and that is why only my most trusted friends will continue to have access to ERAS2. I will continue to post pictures of my work on Flickr and I will continue to make all of my sets available to the public even though I know some of the people I just spoke about have used these same pictures as reference in helping them to construct ships which they do not wish me to have access to. Hypocrisy I say.
These pictures will continue to visually show off my progress but unfortunately for most will only remain “eye candy” unless something changes. I would like to thank all of my fans for their many views on my FLICKR Photostream as my FLICKR photo sets just reached 1.4 Million views as of last month! WOW! I never thought I would reach so many people! Thanks and I am really sorry to have to do what I must. Sorry Folks. Keep your stick on the ice. MK
8/26/14: Hi all. Very busy. I posted a few new screens here and a bunch on Flickr. Flickr.com More will be going up soon and I am happy to say I have some new videos as well. So I will be opening my YouTube channel back up again soon once the remaining PA! content is stripped out.
For testers waiting on the latest dump I am sorry I have been delayed but when you see the few new ships and items you will think its worth it.
I have to comment that my occasional surfing of PA! always gives me such a laugh. No one can answer COAS questions and the comments by POTC moderators and admins continue to offer no guidance and are often laughable. I’ve heard them say that they have all the best ships in New Horizons and that couldn’t be further from the truth. Hilarious, but they don’t even know because none of them play or are familiar with COAS mod work.
I also find it very humorous that they have switched their HOO effort to Unity and they are now soliciting donations. What hypocrites! LOL! I recommended both of those courses of action at the beginning of their discussions but was shot down. Too funny. Their deletion of a fine modelers work that I commissioned to build the Zeven Provincien has driven him underground. Yeah so I paid him a thousand bucks. Big deal…I was planning to share the model with everyone – and it was almost done. What a shame! I still have all his files so I could finish it later as I continue to progress in modeling or find someone else to take it on.
Due to heavy work and family commitments the website is delayed to September or October. I could go public now and I am tempted to because of all of the COAS questions that don’t get answered. It such a shame that folks think they still can’t buy this game. For those that read this, Micro Center in Kansas City, MO, USA (look them up on the web) has hundreds of very cheap copies of this game ready to go. There are other sellers as well.
When the site goes up people will set up and take notice – simply because of the rich historical and subject content that is already very mature and ready to read – as well as the fact that the site will offer 50 times the surfing enjoyment for the Pirate and Age of Sail aficionado than PA! offers. So just stay tuned a while longer.
For those fans of my stories, the ones that were unfinished will be picked up again and there are new ones as well. Also I will return to offering a serial episode of the latest story every week again.As far as Eras2 goes it looks better and plays better than ever and we will continue to grow and expand it into its full potential.
7/26/14: I will continue to post progress screens of what I believe to be the best and most historically accurate Golden Age of Piracy Simulation on the planet: Flickr.com
Beta-Testers have been selected and contacted. Two I have been unable to contact successfully. Beta-testers: The link for the mod will only stay up for 48 hours so please Download immediately as soon as you receive your link. Keep in mind that the link is protected and you can only unlock the mod link by providing the email address that you provided to me when you asked to become a beta tester. Please do not share the link or the mod with anyone.
With stability now near perfect, all major bugs fixed and all quests now working, I am looking at this point in time to root out all small bugs so that the game will be polished to near perfection. I am also looking for recommendations on additional characters, ships, items, weapons, etc. I think I have figured out quests enough that I am finally ready to start implementing my own unique quests. So we can discuss these ideas as well.I am very busy for the next couple months. Our progress here will determine if and when I release the mod to the general public.
Posted in Uncategorized by modernknight1 with comments disabled.