The ocean, and the ship on it

A real simulated sea surface — FFT wave simulation on the GPU, not a scrolling texture. Swell, chop, foam forming where the water folds, reflections that fall away with distance so nights read as nights. The ship floats on four wave-height probes at bow, stern and quarters, so she bobs, pitches and rolls with the actual water under her hull.

Remaining: final tuning passes on real hardware.

Sail east far enough and you come back around. The world wraps east–west; north and south are walled by polar ice.

A dynamic sky that drifts through its states and drives real wind bands. Storms are dangerous: canvas left flying gets shredded, and riding one out means furling and taking the weather on the hull. Rain, spindrift, rogue swell and a slate sky all come up together as the storm builds. Night sailing is allowed — a captain's privilege.

Temperature by latitude and season. Hot waters drive the crew's water consumption up a quarter; cold cuts it.

Procedural terrain with coastal vegetation — trees, brush and rock scattered by region — and ship collision that follows the terrain you can actually see.

Remaining: sky treatment and a stronger dominant silhouette on the larger islands. The whole land pass is under ongoing art review.

Wind-relative sailing with a genuine no-go zone into the eye of the wind. Sails billow, flutter and luff with the wind on them, and furl when you call for it.

Remaining: a planned halving of top speeds, and the voyage-math re-check that follows.

Hand the wheel over and the auto-sail tacks and gybes for the best speed made good toward your mark, without cheating through the dead-upwind cone.

Place masts, guns and fittings on a hull and get a real ship out of it: true burthen, real cost, saved with your captain. Tier one is done.

Remaining: hull shaping and deeper structural work, both unstarted.

Any ship at hand can be taken to the yard: dye the sails, fit a carved figurehead, and choose a rig that genuinely changes the speed curve.

Paint your own flag pixel by pixel in the flag loft. One flag per captain; it flies from every masthead of every ship you own, waving on its own cloth simulation.

Worn canvas genuinely robs speed; the gun deck rates your batteries and magazine off the shot and powder in your hold.

Remaining: the damage model is groundwork waiting on combat to give it a full life.