Author Topic: A Tragic Impossibility  (Read 32286 times)

Offline Poetic Pariah

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A Tragic Impossibility
« on: January 09, 2016, 02:55:45 am »
This, as far as I can tell, will be my first post.  I've owned the game for quite some time and only got to playing it recently.  Which is good, I was wanting to play this and immerse myself in this world.  I'm even more excited with Adventure Mode coming, which means I need to look into the factions.

That being said, I wanted to make an RP-able character with a heavy Spanish influence.  Captain of the Galleon named La Magnífica (accented "í" not withstanding as current game does not allow accents at this time).  Essentially, Sky Zorro to put it shortly but hoping to be not Zorro, if that makes sense.  However, wanting to do a Spanish thing, I've learned that the six factions are kind of vague as to which cultures are grouped where.  Originally I thought the best bet would be the Guild, which sounded like it would have been a Merchant Republic common in nation states of Italy, Southern Europe.  Spain is often grouped with Southern Europe, being Mediterranean.  However, I read in another thread that they are based off Russia, Romania, and Japan.

I was very surprised, but this is fine because from what I can tell this is like a century or so after the First World War.  Tribes have risen to forge nations, cultures reinvent themselves and airships would make expansion happen far faster.  I guess I'll just base him off my Fallout New Vegas character and have him live in the past, finding remnants and getting attached to what was so I can keep the name of the ship.  Just got to figure out where Spain is.

Then I see the map.

It APPEARS to be in the Northern Hemisphere... however, even with global warming going berserk and entire ecosystem suffering.  However, it still isn't that large of a map considering there is no southern hemisphere. Combined with the fact that the center body of water is referred to a gulf rather than a sea hints that the world is far larger and this is simply a regional conflict zone.  The outer body of water isn't an ocean, either.  It's a sea, which helps supports the idea that this is only a small segment of the map.

That being said, I'm starting to get the feeling that this isn't an alternate history of the First World War.  Rather, this doesn't even take place on Earth but an Earth like planet.  If the new nations were to feed off the scraps of the nations they once were, their inspiration and design wouldn't vary as much as it does.  And, perhaps most importantly...  The First World War didn't begin in 1917.  It began in 1914.  Yet the infamous Great War that reset all society and ended up killing like half the world's population, maybe more happens to have started in 1917.

If you were to take a map with estimates of what the world would look like with melted ice caps, nowhere would really fit for the map provided.  Worse yet, the Yesha Empire which is based off far Eastern culture happens to be on the Western portion of the map.  The Guild, being based off Russia and Romania is based in the North.  If you recall earlier in this wall of text, I said it appears the map for Adventure Mode was for the Northern Hemisphere.  However, the truth is, that may not be the case at all.  Considering the world's turmoil and rediscovery, would it be wrong to imagine that the southern hemisphere is the host of all these air battles?  That North is now South and vice versa?  That's assuming the geomagnetic poles didn't shift, either.  If so, the new axis could be offset due to the potential massive weaponry used in the Great War.  For all we know, South America could be the new Antarctica.

But, this all just a theory conjured from about a few hours of research.  What do I know?  I only REALLY started getting into the game recently.  What do you think?

Offline Helios.

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Re: A Tragic Impossibility
« Reply #1 on: January 09, 2016, 12:44:46 pm »
the long and short of it is that the map as we see it isn't on earth. the northern part of the map is a frozen tundra, and the southern part has a blazing desert, so that gives us some idea of scale. the ecological damage during the huge war that set the stage for much of our current conflict also affected the climate a lot. this has caused some of the great bastions of the old world to become covered in ice (see the anglean republic thread for more details of the people who now live in those ruins.)

if you want a spanish-y nation, you might be happy with the mercantile guild, they are largely based on Venice (their biggest ship is called Dandolo, named after Enrico Dandelo, a very important doge of the Venician trading republic.) if italy is close enough to Spain for you, then great!

the mercantile guild is a somewhat mixed bag though, they had a huge plague and all went looking for a cure all over the world, and they eventually found it, and along the way they also got a huge network for trade and such. They created the network while trying to help their country and their fellow people, so they play some lip service to being servants of the public, but are also ALARMINGLY wealthy, especially at the top. this is reflected in not flaunting their wealth in public by wearing ostentatious clothing. the clothes are obviously way expensive, but you aren't going to find them dressing with gold bangals like pirate kings.

the southern parts of spain have a moorish influence, and the desert people of the arashi league might therefore have something for you. they, along with the fjordlanders, value personal honor very highly, but while the arashi are incredibly individualistic, the fjordlanders have a royal feudalistic hierarchy that they cleave strongly to.

Offline HamsterIV

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Re: A Tragic Impossibility
« Reply #2 on: January 12, 2016, 06:41:50 pm »
Welcome to the community. As far as I can tell the Guild occupies the South Eastern part of the world map.


Mechanically the galleon is a slow and cumbersome ship that is best used to control a static area. If you are looking to showcase your daring and skill, like Zorro, you may want to fly a squid. However since you seem fairly new, you should fly a goldfish or pyramidion until you understand how the game mechanics work.

The worst experiences I have had with Guns of Icarus have been either on in the crew of a novice galleon pilot or a captain in the same fleet as a novice galleon pilot. What ever you do, don't fly a galleon in a live game until you have won a few games using more conventional ships.

Offline Helios.

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Re: A Tragic Impossibility
« Reply #3 on: January 15, 2016, 08:46:59 pm »
the map is not accurate, the arashi are further to the west, but i really like the way the map looks

Offline Helios.

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Re: A Tragic Impossibility
« Reply #4 on: January 16, 2016, 12:38:50 am »
the galleon is aa ship created as a flagship or heavy fire support for the yeshan empire to the west, they are basically the tool used to break enemy formations. with escort ships or clever piloting keeping the enemy ships from escaping into its blind spots uncontested, it is incontestable. the yeshans also create the goldfish, the pyramidion.
in terms of style vs craft, id think that the suggestion that the style of play that would most be reflected in the fast nimble dashing about that zorro does woudl be the squid.

Offline Carn

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Re: A Tragic Impossibility
« Reply #5 on: January 16, 2016, 11:19:33 am »
The Squid isn't an overly complicated ship to fly honestly. Just have to watch your speed. Gat mortar is always a good setup. If your feeling risky go for a muid (mine Squid), though you have to be at least semi-insane to fly it. I personally love it.

Offline Helios.

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Re: A Tragic Impossibility
« Reply #6 on: January 16, 2016, 01:42:33 pm »
its easy to fly, its trick is where to fly. to stay out of the arcs of all the every enemy ships at once is no simple trick.  if you cant, its not tough enough to survive if you cant do that. because of this, it is the hardest ship to fly, because to do it well, you have to know EVERY ship, and what they can do, and on top of that you have to be in the enemy pilot's head so you can stay one step ahead of them.

Offline BlackenedPies

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Re: A Tragic Impossibility
« Reply #7 on: January 16, 2016, 02:09:20 pm »
It's the hardest ship to fly and crew. The most common mistakes are disorganized repairs and not enough pilot tools. The right side engi is in charge of both right side engines by jumping up to hit the top and continuing to the bottom. The front is on the top position with the two engines when they're not shooting, and they can help the hull. The main engi needs to master both types of engine jumps: falling through the top struts, and jumping up to hit the left engine. The main engi will never stand still

Buffs are very important on squid, and if possible don't engage until you have the balloon and top engines buffed. The top squid pilots bring both hydro and chute vent, but hydro kero claw is effective and my first choice. Never be afraid to burn kero. The enemy will be burning their engines so you need to keep burning and outmaneuvering them. Spanner repairs twice as fast as kero does damage but you can't slack on engine repairs. Practice switching between full forwards and reverse as fast as possible (I recommend mouse button throttle)