What direction should I take this sailing game?

Here’s a clip of the game I’m working on:
https://i.gyazo.com/49a6065f55ccb2a5ec7166d1304f5cda.mp4
So right now, the player sails around in a procedurally genereated world. I’ve setup an inventory system so players can fish for items and collect treasure, and I’ve setup cannons so that I could implement a combat system. The problem is I’m not sure what to do with this game. Here’s a few ideas I’ve had so far:

  1. There is an exploration mode and a combat mode. In exploration mode, there is no combat so players can peacefully explore the procedurally generated world. Players can join crews to sail together and hunt treasure together and upgrade their ship. In combat mode (which will have a completely different map), players will fight each other using their ship that they’ve upgraded in exploration mode. Both modes will be in the same server instance. (this is the option I’m considering the most)

  2. There is one mode and players can fight each other in this mode. Players can hunt for treasure and team up with friends, but combat is enabled so the players will have to defend themselves from other ships. This style of gameplay is similar to Sea of Thieves. Because the map will be very large, players won’t often run into others often, meaning, for the most part, the combat system won’t be too annoying. However, I’m still worried exploration would be difficult with combat enabled.

I’m not sure which path I should take, which is why I’m looking for advice. If anyone’s interested, here’s a poll so I can get some feedback!

  • Option 1: Separate exploration & combat
  • Option 2: Integrate exploration & combat.
  • Neither

0 voters

If you have another idea or suggestion for the game, please let me know!

4 Likes

Maybe add a multiplier for those that are in Combat Mode and find in this mode treasures. This would be fair, because of the added difficulty.

4 Likes

I say this game should take inspiration from Sea Of Thieves, that could give you some ideas.

1 Like

I agree with @ActuallyLegendaryBro a combat PvP mode would be great with the cannon feature. You could also make explorable islands, that you can loot, find NPCs or other players, and obtain badges.

1 Like