Wait, there is no drift or changing wind in this game ?
Well, I admit a bit of a hyperbole on my part. There is drift and changing wind of course (only thing it doesn't simulate is high tide/low tide, but I've seen a mod do it).
So, you can wake up and find out you're on a sandbar (which is a bitch to get off, having to push the boat off by hand. I'm eyeballing the anchor mod which lets you toss it around and use it for maneuvering because od this),
or you hit a rock (no damage is implemented thankfully, I've been... rather enthusiastic in my port approaches),
or you wake up and the changing wind has spun you way out of course (or you forgot to lock the rudder) and set you back.
Yeah, on some waters you will want to properly moor if you want to sleep (not sure if it's a bug, but the game threw me off the boat once) and pay attention.
This also depends on the sail setup (some require more attention than others), I could easily sleep and sail on the basic cog, but once I switched to different setup based on a large lateen sail
for main propulsion and a small brig square sail at the front. I really like now they play together, if I ever get caught upwind, I can manipulate the rudder and the square can push the boat
towards a more "legit" angle for the lateen to get going again. And downwind, the motherlover just goes. Nearly cut down my travel time by half on some routes,
but needs constant attention and course adjusting.
It also depends on the region. The one labelled with hard difficulty has winds changing all the time and frequent storms, I also swear the game can sense your destination and will
summon the most obnoxious wind there is. The other archipelagos seem to have more stable weather patterns.
Now, that said, when you have everything set, the course and the sails, and the weather is also good...
I once hit the hammock and woke up with the bow casually boinking against the harbor.
But when shit hits the fan, you get into a storm or near a harbor with a tricky approach, the game will want your full attention.
Also how long takes the average trip ?
Average trip length depends. In a densely packed archipelago like Al'Ankh (african/arabian themed) you just might hit two islands per day, inshallah.
In Astrin (europe/mediterranean themed), the islands are more or less one day apart from each other, and if the winds are favorable you can make the trip in half day.
If the winds and tides get really bad, the same trip in the opposite direction might even take me twice as long.
You can easily plan out routes in any way you want, longer ones obviously pay more, so it's entirely up to you how you optimize your earnings.
Each archipelago has its own "ecosystem" of sorts, with some routes being more optimal than others. Learning it is part of the fun.
The game has basic survival elements, as in you need to watch the three bars for rest/drink/food. It's very basic and serves its function well - you need plan for provisions
and rest time or else you pass out and get towed back to the nearest port, this loses some money in the process, but the cargo should be intact, I think?
I only lost some things when I foolishly set out into the open waters with no prep and considered it a fair punishment.
It's not incredibly tedious, only thing you need to really be careful for is water cause it depletes the fastest and immediately knocks you out.
Another thing entirely is taking the high seas to sail between archipelagos (the three starting locations and a few other locations to discover)
this easily take a week or more and needs lots of prep and skill.
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