From: jd@nai.net (JD)
Subject: Age of Sail ships database

Guys,

	As promised, here is the ship data best as I can figure. The data
file is called MAIN.OOB. It's a plain text file... I was able to edit
it with WordPad <without conversion>, but DOS EDIT should do fine as
well. Each line in the file represents one specific ship. Below, I
have included the entry for Britannia. Unfortunately, the line is
going to wrap in this editor, but keep in mind that this is all one
line in the .OOB file.

0 2500 32 32 34 24 34 18 8 12 10 32 2 12 2 32 780 111 700 6 25 1 700
700 700 1 1820 120 Britannia, Britannia

There are 30 positions, such that:

0 = nationality <see below> 
2500 = hull strength <apparently the actual displacement> 
32 = # of guns on 3rd deck <eg this would be 0 on a two decker>  
32 = size of guns on 3rd gun deck 
34 = # of guns on 2nd deck 
24 = size of guns on 2nd gun deck 
34 = # of guns on 1st <upper> deck 
18 = size of guns on 1st gun deck 
8 = # of guns on quarterdeck 
12 = size of guns on quarterdeck 
10 = # of carronades on quarterdeck 
32 = size of carronades on quarterdeck 
2 = # of guns on forecastle 
12 = size of guns on forecastle 
1 = # of carronades on forecastle 
32 = size of carronades on forecastle 
780 = crew size 
111 = # of marines 
700 = max speed <ie, 700 = 7.00 knots> 
6 = freeboard <in feet from the waterline to the lowest gun port> 
25 = I believe this is the ship's draft!!! 
1 = Rate <determines ship graphic> 
700 = foremast <I think these numbers represent strength> 
700 = main mast 
700 = mizzen mast 
1 = turn ratio 
1820 = year of availability 
120 = gun rating as reported in dialogue box> 
Britannia = name of ship in dialogue box 
Britannia = name of ship in game <ie, when SHIFT is pressed> 

Nationality
0=England 
1=France 
2=Spain 
3=Holland 
4=Naples 
5=Portugal 
6=Sweden 
7=Denmark 
8=Russia 
9=US 

As to which characteristics to use for your ships, all of the data
appear to be empirical, with the exception of the turn ratio and the
mast strengths. That makes it easy to recreate your favorite ships.

One interesting thing to note here is that if I am right and one of
those numbers is for draft, then water depth was either in, or planned
to be in, and may still be included in a patch. Maybe we need to hound
them a bit on that one? It _is_ rather important. <g>
 
		Regards, JD