ShipShaper: Falconeer Chronicles allows players to take custom-built vessels out of the drydock and directly onto open water through its World mode sandbox. Sailing requires transitioning from editor view to world view, where navigation is handled through cursor-based pathfinding, dedicated WASD steering, and authentic speed telegraphs for both sails and mechanical engines.
Entering World Mode and Basic Navigation Controls
Testing a creation at sea begins inside the shipbuilder interface. Once your hull, steering gear, and propulsion systems are placed, you can immediately test how the design handles water displacement, wind, and inertia.
- Click the World view button located in the editor interface to launch your ship into the ocean environment.
- Select your preferred steering method: click directly onto the water surface for cursor-guided pathfinding, or toggle the keyboard control option to steer manually using the W, A, S, and D keys.
- Manage vessel speed by clicking and setting the speed telegraph dials located on the interface.
- Press the Spacebar at any time during navigation to hide or show the user interface while maintaining active sailing controls.
- Press the Esc key or click the Editor button to immediately return to construction mode to adjust your hull shape or weight distribution.
Propulsion Systems: Managing Sails, Engines, and Oars
ShipShaper separates wind-driven propulsion and mechanical power into two distinct control telegraphs modeled after historical marine instruments. Under the game's realistic physics calculations, engine power and sail thrust do not simply add together; the stronger system drives the vessel's primary forward momentum.
| Propulsion System | Interface Controls | Operating Modes and Settings | Design Modifiers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sails & Rigging | Dedicated sail telegraph dial | No sails (bare poles), storm sails (reefed lower sails), fighting sails (cleared lower deck, roughly 2/3 speed), full sail | Square sails perform best running downwind; fore-and-aft sails excel across the wind. Storms add up to 20% wind load. |
| Steam & Combustion | Marine telegraph dial with reverse | Full astern, stop, slow ahead, half ahead, full ahead | Boilers, haystack boilers, funnels, and deck machinery boost horsepower. Engine reverse acts as an active brake. |
| Rowed Oars | Synchronized to engine telegraph | Quarter speed, half speed, stop (oars raised), astern (reverse stroke) | Features dedicated rowing acoustic audio instead of engine sounds; oars physically adjust timing to telegraph commands. |
Long, narrow underwater hulls achieve higher top speeds, whereas short, wide hulls hit terminal hull speeds regardless of how many engines or paddle wheels are added. Funnels and deck boilers add physics weight to the superstructure while boosting total propulsion output.
Camera and Interface Controls at Sea
Navigating shallow coastal reefs and testing maneuverability requires adjusting your perspective around the vessel:
- Hold the middle mouse button and drag across the screen to orbit and tilt the camera around the moving ship.
- Use the arrow keys or press Alt while holding the right mouse button as secondary fallback camera rotation controls.
- Broadside gun ports open dynamically and guns track your cursor across the water, though low-mounted gun ports will seal automatically in heavy swells to avoid deck flooding.
- Horns and war drums can be triggered to sound sequentially from bow to stern. Pitch and volume scale with the size and length of the placed horns.
Physics Modes: Easy vs. Full Physics
ShipShaper includes two simulation toggles: Easy Physics and Full Physics. Easy Physics keeps ships unsinkable regardless of extreme designs, while Full Physics subjects the hull to real-time buoyancy, weight, and center of gravity calculations.
Managing Roll, Trim, and Stability
In Full Physics, every placed part has assigned mass. Heavy components such as triple-gun turrets, armored blast shields, and high superstructures create top-heavy hulls that can heel over, flood low decks, and capsize during tight turns or beam winds.
- Ballast keels placed along the centerline beneath the hull add low-hanging mass to lower the vessel's center of gravity and keep tall rigs upright.
- Keel fins and twin keels resist rolling motion without adding excessive deadweight.
- External leeboards and hull-mounted diving rudders provide lateral resistance and dampen hard heeling in rough surf.
- Downwind sailing behind another vessel casts a wind shadow, temporarily reducing the trailing ship's sail power.
Advanced World Mode Features
Beyond standard surface navigation, specific ship components unlock unique sandbox tools and interactions:
- Submarine diving: Fitting diving rudders to the hull automatically adds a Dive and Surface button in World mode, allowing vessels to submerge beneath wave physics.
- Squadron operations: The squadron interface allows loading up to four vessels into the world at once. Follower ships utilize autonomous AI pathfinding, form lines, and interact through intra-ship collision and ramming mechanics.
- Salvage operations: Equipping a vessel with a giant pedestal crane enables wreck-recovery gameplay. Sailing up to sunken squadron ships allows the crane to latch onto attachment points and haul wrecks out of the water.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my ship instantly capsize or list to one side when sailing?
In Full Physics mode, guns and turrets represent the heaviest parts in the game. Placing heavy artillery off-center or mounting large superstructures without sufficient hull beam or underwater ballast keels will cause the ship to overturn. You can switch to Easy Physics to prevent sinking, or widen the hull and add keel fins in the editor.
Can I reverse a ship in ShipShaper?
Yes. Engine-powered vessels can use the marine telegraph to select full astern. Shifting into astern while moving forward functions as an active brake before propelling the ship backward.
How do I submerge a ship underwater?
To dive, you must attach diving rudders to your ship in the editor. Once equipped, entering World mode exposes dedicated Dive and Surface buttons on the sailing interface.
