Navy Field
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| NavyFIELD | |
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| Developer(s) | SD Enternet |
| Release date(s) | February 8, 2006 |
| Genre(s) | MMORPG Naval Simulation |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
| Platform(s) | Windows |
| Media | Download |
| Input | Mouse, Keyboard |
Navy Field (more specifically NavyField America) is a naval combat MMOG set during World War II. The game is developed by SDEnternet, a South Korean company and has been operational in Asia since 2002. It was made available to Western players as a free open beta in late 2004, and in commercial form from February 2006.
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[edit] Servers
When players start the game they are given the choice to log into one of two official game servers, and one unofficial server. Data saved on one server may not be used on any other server, meaning that most players play only on one server, which they choose when they first create their account.
[edit] Arizona
The "oldest" server, Arizona is comprised of the old Bismarck and Prince of Wales servers, which were the two oldest beta servers. Before Bismarck and Prince of Wales, the oldest servers were Seattle and Vancouver. As a result, Arizona has many high-level and experienced players.
[edit] Missouri
Made up of the relatively newer Iowa and Yamato servers, both of which came after Bismarck and Prince of Wales. Has a smaller and, in general, newer playerbase than Arizona, due to its two previous servers having been formed only months prior to the game going retail. However, Missouri does have many experienced players who have transferred to it; this is explained below.
[edit] Server Balance
To balance server populations and strengths, Arizona is periodically closed to new players; during these periods, new players can only join the Missouri server. "Player transfers", the transfer of player account data, has also been periodically granted to a limited number of Arizona players who wish to play on Missouri instead for various reasons. Several TNF moderators (explained later) are also former Arizona, Bismarck, or Prince of Wales players.
[edit] Test Server
An "unofficial" third server, the developers periodically test new features on this server. It is generally brought online whenever the two main servers are shut down for maintenance, which usually occurs on Wednesday nights (the shutdown times are given on the main site in Pacific Daylight Time). Experience, points, and credits regularly given on the two official servers is multiplied by a factor of ten in the test server. Players are forewarned, however, that the server may be reset at any time, and any data on it along with it.
[edit] Gameplay
Gameplay takes place in individual battle rooms located in 25 different 'Areas' on the game's 'Battle Map.' Each room can hold up to 128 players divided into two teams. Players take command of a 'Neutral' nationality ship at the beginning of the game and progress through levels to access larger and more powerful vessels. There are two main types of ships that a player can command in the highest levels of the game; Aircraft Carriers (CV) or Battleships (BB). Battleships may be armed with the largest guns in the game and can hold the most powerful armor, while aircraft carriers have the best striking range along with lethal accuracy depending on the skill of the player. Up to 6 different ships of a single nation can be purchased at a time and can be armed and equipped with multiple variations of naval guns, aircraft, fire control systems, powerplants, and armor. The game uses two forms of currency; "Credits" and "Points" which are used to purchase ships and equipment and promote sailors, respectively.
Battles are played in real time using isometric graphics. Ships rotate and elevate their guns to try and land shells on target, launch torpedoes, and use aircraft to scout and to attack enemy ships and aircraft.
[edit] Game Balance
The four nations in the game all have their weak and strong points, explained later. Some ships and weapons in the game are noticeably strong or weak compared to the ships and weapons of other nations at similar levels; this also applies to other important areas, such as support crews, aircraft, and armor. Balance is an ongoing and hotly contested issue among players.
[edit] Ships & Designations
The game uses the United States Navy's hull classification system to classify most ships in the game. In the game, the following types of ships are available:
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Small, fast, lightly armed, lightly armored ships. Their small size makes them hard to hit, and their high speed allows them to reach action faster. They can mount little to no armor, and their weapons are suited to fighting other frigates. All frigates are Neutral; there are no National FFs. |
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Medium sized, fast, lightly armed, lightly armored ships. Larger than FFs, but still small enough to avoid gunfire, they are slightly slower than FFs, but can mount small amounts of armor. They can also mount heavier weapons than FFs, as well as dual-barrelled turrets. There are both Neutral and National DDs. |
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Medium sized, fast, medium armed, medium armored ships. Their medium size and slow turning rate makes them easier to hit, but they can achieve speeds similar to DDs, which makes them harder to chase and hit. They can mount light to medium amounts of armor, and their heavier weapons are suited for combatting other light cruisers and some heavy cruisers. There are only National CLs. Some CLs may carry Scout Planes. |
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(Armored Cruiser) |
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Large, well-armed, well-armored ships. Their large size and medium speed make them easier to hit than smaller ships. They can mount enough armor to shrug off DD and CL attacks, and they can mount heavy guns suited for fighting cruisers. All CAs may carry scout planes. German PanzerShiffes are classified as CAs. |
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Large, very well-armed, armored capital ships. Their large size means that other ships will rarely miss them. They are not as fast as CAs, but can outrun BBs, and their heavy armor allows them to withstand attacks from cruisers, but not battleships. Their heavy guns have enough penetration to easily kill cruisers. All BCs may carry scout planes. The United States Large Cruiser is classified as a BC in the game. For the sake of balance, BCs are grouped with BBs during gameplay. |
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Huge, heavily-armed, heavily-armored capital ships. Their huge size makes them easy to hit, and their slow speed makes them the least maneuverable ships in the game. However, they can mount the most armor out of all ships in the game, and can easily withstand attacks from all other ship classes except carriers. They can mount the heaviest guns in the game, capable of sinking any other target with enough shells. All BBs (except the Nelson class battleship) may carry Scout Planes. |
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Variable-sized, variable-armored, slow capital ships. A CV's size ranges from small Escort Carriers (such as the Ōyodo Class hybrid) to large Fleet Carriers (such as the Shinano Class carrier). Their generally slow speed leaves them trailing behind in the battlefield, and the amount of available armor is dependent on strength of carrier; escort carriers can be sunk as easily as CLs, while fleet carriers can sometimes take as much punishment as BCs. They have little firepower in guns, against both ships and planes, but have the ability to attack other ships and planes using their own planes. All CVs may carry Scout Planes, Fighter Planes, Dive Bombers and Torpedo Bombers. |
[edit] Sailors
Each player can own up to fifty Sailors. Each Sailor represents a group of officers and enlisted crewmen who are (usually) specialised in a particular role. Sailors have ability in various aspects of running ships. They rise in level as they gain experience through battles, growing in ability and gaining the option to control bigger and better ships, guns and aircraft.
[edit] Classes
All Sailors begin as a level 1 Neutral Sailor with no special class, and the ability to control Neutral ships and fire small guns and torpedoes. To gain other abilities, the Sailor must be converted first to a National Sailor, and then to one of four main roles, each of which lead to more specialised roles later:
- Bridge Operator
- Armament Sailor
- Support Sailor
- Special Forces
All National ships require a Bridge Operator of an appropriate level to command them. Bridge Operators cannot be further classed. As they increase in level, they gain access to more powerful ships to command. This is explained in detail later. Their Operating ability dictates the ship's sight-range, ability to mark where shells land, and the distance at which enemy torpedoes are spotted.
Armament Sailors control and fire the weapons on a ship; the higher their level, the more accurate they are and the faster they reload. Armament sailors are among the most diverse sailors that can be classed, ranging from turret gunners, to torpedomen, to anti-air gunners.
Support Sailors repair damage that is done to a ship while it is in battle, as well as manage the engine of the ship. They also contribute the most to Soft Defense, which is discussed in detail later. Currently, they can be classed to become Repairers, Restorers, or Engineers at higher levels. The Accountant class for the USN, RN, and KM is currently disabled.
Special Forces perform many roles. For the most part, they are classed to become pilots for use on aircraft carriers, though they can also be classed to become Marines or Airborne for use in Harbor Assault, which is discussed below. There are currently two disabled classes for Special Forces sailors, the Ground Crew (except in the case of KM, which does not have a Ground Crew class) and the Drill Trainer.
A Sailor can also be converted into two other minor roles:
- Radioman: allows the player to send and receive in-game messages, as well as join squadrons and fleets. At higher levels, the Radioman can be further classed as a Radio Officer at level 26, and an Officer of Naval Operations at level 50; this allows players to form their own squadrons and fleets, respectively, for a certain amount of credits and, in the case of the fleet, only after their squadron possesses a certain number of players.
- Seaman: increases the various support abilities of all sailors on the ship, making the ship harder to sink. Many players debate its usefulness. The Seaman can also be classed as a Medic, which helps to reduce crew death in the event of critical hits (explained below).
All Sailors, with the exception of Bridge Operators and Radiomen, can be traded to and from other players in return for credits or points.
The combination of these conditions is intended to prevent a player from simply buying the ability to control a high level ship; he or she must raise their own Bridge Operators to the appropriate levels. Additionally, they can't buy a high level Neutral or National but unclassed Sailor, and then convert him to a Bridge Operator. While Neutral Sailors can be bought and sold, this only applies so long as the sailor in question is at or below level 11.
[edit] Skills
Each Sailor has 11 statistics that govern how well they perform in each respective area. As a Sailor is classed, he gains growth in certain abilities and loses growth in others.
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Governs several factors. For Bridge Operators, it dictates how far the player can see through the fog of war, the distance at which enemy torpedoes are spotted and marked, and the distance at which a player can see his or her shells land. For Landing Forces and Airborne, it dictates their ability to lower a harbor's DP in Harbor Assault. Also affects the various abilities of currently deactivated classes. |
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Dictates how far from the intended spot that a shell lands after it is fired from a gun. As the Accuracy ability improves, the "spread" of the shells tightens, landing within a smaller area. Important only for gunnery sailors. |
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Governs how quickly a gunner is able to reload the gun between shots. While arguably not as important as Accuracy for naval gun operators, this skill is very important for AA gunners, where volume of fire is more important than accuracy. Another important skill for gunnery sailors only. |
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Limits how quickly torpedoes can be reloaded into their launchers after firing. For certain IJN ships, this skill becomes very useful. Only important for torpedomen. |
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Dictates the accuracy of the automatic anti-aircraft machine guns mounted throughout the ship. The higher the total rating is, the more often they'll be able to hit enemy aircraft. The closer an aircraft to the ship is, the higher the probability it will be hit. Important for all sailors. |
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Governs the ability of a ship's sailors to repair damage to a ship as it is damaged in battle. The higher it is, the faster a ship's durability is repaired. In most cases, it is impossible to repair a ship back to full strength; however, the maximum amount of durability that can be restored is dictated by another skill, Restore. Important for all sailors. |
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Increases the maximum allowed durability of a ship that can be repaired as it sustains damage. At its highest level, ships with good Repair rates can be repaired almost to full strength. Important for all sailors. |
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Improves the engine capability of a ship. The higher the level, the more extra speed is added to cruising speed and overheat speed, and the longer a ship can be put into overheat. Important only for sailors in a ship's support slots. |
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Dictates how easily an airplane can avoid enemy AAW and enemy fighter attacks. The higher it is, the less the chance is that the plane will be hit by the enemy AAW or fighters (it is impossible to evade enemy AA flak shells). Important only for pilots. |
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Governs a fighter pilot's ability to hit enemy planes. The higher the rating, the more times it can hit an enemy plane with a single attack. Very important for fighter pilots if they are to be able to shoot down enemy planes. |
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Controls how quickly a pilot can increase or decrease his plane's altitude. For dive bombers, this dictates how long they stay within AAW range of a ship as they dive towards their targets, and for torpedo bombers, this dictates how quickly they pull up after releasing their torpedoes. |
[edit] Recruits, Experts, and Veterans
As said above, each Sailor represents a group of officers and crewmen. The maximum size of this group rises as the Sailor gains level. The group is composed of three types of crew, in decreasing order of skill:
- Veterans
- Experts
- Recruits
Each individual crewman that composes a Sailor contributes towards the Sailor's effectiveness. The amount of contribution is dependent on the crewman's type. A Sailor with a large number of veteran crewmen has significantly more effectiveness than a Sailor with the same number of crew but fewer veterans.
A Sailor's effective ability is calculated from the total ability that he has earned from gaining levels, modified by the effectiveness that comes from the crewmen that compose him. A Sailor with relatively low level or low ability but with a high proportion of veterans could have equivalent effective ability to a Sailor with a high level and high ability, but few veterans. Veterans and experts are therefore very important to a Sailor's performance.
Crewmen can be lost through battle damage, particularly critical hits. Recruits can be freely purchased (for points, of course) up the number needed to fill the Sailor's group of crewmen to its capacity. Recruits are promoted to experts automatically during battle, particularly when the ship that they are crewing delivers a critical hit, or shoots down enemy aircraft. Experts can be promoted into veterans through a "gambling" process. The player pays a certain amount of points and attempts to promote 10 experts. If the conversion is successful, the 10 experts become veterans. If it is not, the 10 experts are lost and must be replaced with recruits. The chance of successful conversion is not shown, and the formula for calculating it is unknown, but the chance of conversion is low. Many players estimate the percentage chance of a successful conversion to be around 10%.
Alternatively, players can purchase guaranteed veteran conversions, although these cannot be used if the Sailor already has at least 100 veterans, or if 40% or more of his crew are veterans. This process costs $1 per veteran conversion. Beyond that point, conversions must be gambled for as normal.
[edit] Nations
When a new player creates an account, he or she receives four Sailors with balanced ability all areas, fifty thousand credits and thirty two thousand points to spend on purchasing a neutral ship and more crew. Players may also buy or sell naval guns, torpedo launchers, and other equipment using credits, or trade with other players for ships and crewmen.
Beginners are advised to battle in the "Beginner" area to level their Sailors up. Once a Sailor has reached level 12, he may be assigned to one of four nations:
[edit] Royal Navy
RN - Royal Navy - British Empire
The RN has the most effective armor, the best support crews, a large variety of fast battleships, as well as the hardest hitting guns. However, RN guns lack a fast reload speed (due to the system used to class their gunners), their armor is heavy and expensive, and RN torpedoes are the slowest and have the shortest range. Players gain access to battleships and heavy cruisers at lower levels than the other navies.
[edit] United States Navy
USN - United States Navy - USA
The USN is presented as a balanced all-around choice, with good fighter pilots, good CVs, good Flak AA, extremely potent AAW, and powerful light cruisers. United States heavy cruisers are considered to lack range compared to those of other nations, and its early-to-mid game battleships, the Nevada class, Alaska class, and New Mexico class, are generally considered to be weak. However, its mid-to-late game battleships, the (North Carolina class and South Dakota class), are easily the fastest battleships in the game, yet field potent firepower.
[edit] Kriegsmarine
KM - Kriegsmarine - German Reich
Naval guns of the KM typically have the greatest range of all the four navies, but they generally do the least damage. However, their speed makes up for the damage as they can 'snipe' the other ships while running away from them. Some KM ships lack the displacement required to hold large amounts of armor, yet others can stop 16-inch HE shells. Typically, the KM's gunships have excellent anti-aircraft weaponry and its carriers have powerful fighter aircraft. Most of the ships available for Kriegsmarine are Z Plan projects which were never built or commissioned.
[edit] Imperial Japanese Navy
IJN - Imperial Japanese Navy - Empire of Japan
The IJN is the only nation that can use "Long Lance" oxygen-fuelled torpedoes and it has some of the fastest ships in the game as well as a large assortment of aircraft carriers. The earlier Japanese Battleships are usually considered hard to use, and their armor is generally considered to be quite weak; hence, the IJN is mostly a CV and torpedo nation. However, the IJN does have access to the Yamato class battleships, the largest and most powerful battleships ever built in history, wielding 18.1 inch main batteries and powerful anti-aircraft weaponry.
[edit] Weapons
[edit] Naval Guns
The large majority of ships in the game carry Naval Guns, which they use to fire shells of various calibers at other ships in order to damage them. As a player's gunnery sailors rise in level, they gain access to larger and more powerful guns. Each gun can fire various types of shells (certain guns are limited in this choice, however):
- High Explosive (HE) Ammunition: This type of shell explodes on contact, and is very effective against poorly armored ships. It comes in three variants, Light, Normal, and Heavy. Light shells travel farther but do less damage, while heavy shells travel a shorter distance but do more damage.
- Armor Piercing (AP) Ammunition: This type of shell is designed to break through armor, and is effective against heavily armored ships. It is believed by some players that AP shells cause more critical hits, and thus kill more of their target's crew. However, this has not been proven.
- Anti-Air (AA) Ammunition: Designed to shoot down airplanes, AA comes in two varieties: AAA and AAC. AAA shells do more damage against airplanes but each bind comes with fewer shells, while AAC shells do less damage against airplanes but each bind contains more shells. AA shells do no damage against ships
- Fireworks (FC) Ammunition: Fireworks do just as they say: they create fireworks when fired into the air. For the most part these shells are useless, though some players sometimes attempt to use them as a blinding and distracting tactic, while others use them for celebrations.
[edit] Torpedo Launchers
Generally considered as a secondary armament by most players, Torpedo Launchers (sometimes shortened to simply Torps) are used to drop torpedoes into the water. Torpedoes then travel in a straight line until they either contact a ship or land, or run out of fuel, at which point they detonate, doing splash damage to all ships nearby. While torpedoes take far longer to reload than naval guns, they also do far more damage. Some ships, particularly those of the IJN, are designed specifically to use torpedo launchers as their primary weapons. In order to combat torpedoes, players may mount bulge armor (explained below). When launching torpedoes, players may choose to fire them in a tight or wide spread, and to set them to a fast or slow speed. Wide spreads allow the torpedoes to cover a wider area, but lower the chance that a larger number of them will hit the same target; fast torpedoes give enemies less time to dodge the torpedo, but run for a shorter distance overall.
[edit] Armor & Defense
[edit] Armor
Ships can be armored. Armor reduces the damage that the ship will take, but also reduces its speed due to the extra weight.
- Deck Armor: This armour protects against long range and high angle fire, and dive bombing aircraft.
- Belt Armor: Belt armor protects against direct shots from close range which hit the side of the ship.
- Bulge Armor: Bulge armour protects against torpedoes, both ship launched and from torpedo bomber aircraft. Unlike other armour, bulge is ablative; it will stop a certain amount of torpedo damage completely, but then will not protect from any further torpedo damage.
- Bulkhead Armor: Ameliorates the reduction in speed that occurs when a ship is badly damaged, as well as strengthens your overall defense power. It should also be noted that bulkhead does not protect against crew death, contrary to popular belief.
[edit] Soft Defense
Soft Defense is another feature that helps to reduce the visible damage done to a ship, which in effect increases the overall durability of the ship. Soft Defense is calculated based on the number and level of all sailors on the ship, particularly support crews. When a ship takes damage, a percentage of the damage is translated into "burning damage" instead of immediately subtracting from the ship's visible durability; this gives the support crews the chance to repair the damage while the ship is burning. The higher the Soft Defense value, the more damage is translated into burning damage, the less immediate damage is done to the ship. The highest current possible value of SD is 900; at this level, only 10% of the damage done to a ship is translated into immediate damage, and the remaining 90% is converted to burning damage.
[edit] Airplanes
As in real naval combat, airplanes are very potent weapons and tools that can as easily turn the tide of battle as having an extra BB on your side. In order to use airplanes, players must first have at minimum a Rookie Pilot sailor on their ship. Their ship must have the ability to carry planes. In general, all ships CL and above are able to carry airplanes, though most Tier-1 CLs do not possess this capability. Furthermore, only CVs have the ability to carry planes other than scouts.
[edit] Scouts
Scouts are considered the eyes of a fleet. Most CLs, all CAs and BCs, and most BBs (the Nelson class battleship being the only exception) are able to carry scouts. Scouts have a very wide range of view; however, they possess very little firepower with which to defend themselves, are comparatively slower than most other planes, and are easy to shoot down. For this reason, most ships are able to carry more than one scout, in the event that one is lost in battle. Scouting is a very important tactic in the game, since it gives each team information regarding the whereabouts of enemy ships, and allows BBs to shoot targets farther than their sight-range allows.
[edit] Fighters
In order to protect their fleets, CVs may carry and launch Fighters from their flight decks. The role of the fighter is to intercept and destroy enemy planes that pose a threat to all friendly ships and, in the case of enemy fighters, a threat to friendly airplanes. While fighters are very useful in destroying enemy airplanes, they cannot attack enemy ships, which can shoot them down with AA. Fighters are very fast and have considerable firepower, but have the shortest flight time of all planes and rely on friendly ships and scouts in order to see around them, as their sight-range is very poor. Using fighters to shoot down planes also yields the most credits.
[edit] Torpedo Bombers
One of the primary anti-ship weapons of CVs, Torpedo Bombers (TB for short) are used to attack enemy ships. Like scouts, they are slow and vulnerable to enemy attack, and they, like fighters, have very limited sight-range. However, they have the ability to attack enemy ships by getting close and dropping torpedoes into the water, which then run towards enemy ships and detonate. They are very useful for destroying ships that have little to no bulge armor, such as DDs, and also for wearing down BBs, which cannot move quickly enough to completely dodge torpedo salvoes. Because they have to drop altitude in order to release their torpedoes, torpedo bombers are very vulnerable to ships' automatic anti-aircraft weapons.
[edit] Dive Bombers
The second primary anti-ship weapon that CVs field, Dive Bombers, or DBs for short, are used to attack and destroy enemy ships. Similar to TBs they are vulnerable to attack and cannot see very far, but like TBs, they have the ability to destroy ships without putting the CV in danger. Dive bombers attack by flying over their targets, diving downwards, and dropping their bombs onto the decks of ships. Because they directly attack a ship instead of its bulge, they are very useful for wearing down a ship for others to finish off with shells. Furthermore, because they do not have to drop altitude to release their ordnance, they are less vulnerable to automatic AAW. However, because they have to fly directly over a target, they are more vulnerable to flak.
[edit] Ships
Not all ships of a nation are available to a Bridge Operator of that nation, even if he has the required level to use them. Instead, ships are arranged into ship trees. The trees consist of decision points where a Bridge Operator must select which ship type he wishes to use. Once the choice has been made, the Bridge Officer is committed to that "line" of ships, and may not select ships from alternate lines. As well as diverging, the ship lines also rejoin at some points.
For example, a German Bridge Operator at level 12 can only select the Z1 destroyer as his chosen ship. No choice is available. When he reaches level 17, he is given the option of choosing the Z31 line. If he does so, he can command the Z31 destroyer and its remodels. If, however, he does not choose to go down the Z31 line at level 17, then at level 20, he can instead choose the D38 line of ships. A single Bridge Operator cannot command both a Z31 and a D38; he must choose between them.
However, regardless of his earlier choices, he is given the option to command the Z99 type destroyer when he reaches level 25. At this point, the Z31 and D38 lines converge again.
Further choices of this type are offered to Bridge Operators of all nations throughout their careers. Choices are irrevocable once made; a Bridge Operator cannot switch between mutually exclusive ship lines. However, for a fee of $20 USD, a Bridge Operator's ship choices can be entirely reset, allowing him to make all of his ship tree choices again, and try different lines of ships.
Ships can be re-modelled. This involves spending credits to change a ship into a different variant. A Bridge Operator that has control the basic ship can control all re-models of that ship, if he has the required level for them. Remodels can be relatively minor, such as the Atlanta / Juneau II / Oakland light cruisers, or more significant, such as the Agano light cruiser re-modelling into the Ōyodo aircraft carrier.
The ships avaialable in the game (but not their ship lines) are:
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Fletcher Lvl.12; |
O Class Lvl.12; Q Class Lvl.16 |
Z1 Class Lvl.12 |
Kagero Lvl.12; Akitsuki Lvl.16; Akitsuki-Kai Lvl.22; Fubuki Lvl.19 |
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Gearing Lvl.17; Gearing DDR Lvl.22 |
Tribal Lvl.19 |
Z39 Class Lvl.17; Z46 Class Lvl.22; Z52 Class Lvl.23; Spähkreuzer D38 Lvl.20 |
Tatsuda (Fictional) Lvl.25; Simakaze Lvl.32; |
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Timmerman Lvl.24; DDX Project (Fictional) Lvl.26 |
L Class Lvl.24 | Z99 Class (Fictional) Lvl.25 | Tsukikei (Fictional) Lvl.24 |
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Omaha Lvl.26; Atlanta Lvl.30; Juneau II Lvl.33; Oakland Lvl.34 | Emerald Class Lvl.26; Dido Lvl.28; Sirius Lvl.34 | Spähkreuzer D40 Lvl.27; Emden Lvl.25; Köenigsberg Lvl.30 | Yubari Lvl.23; Agano Lvl.28; Kuma Lvl.38; Kuma-Kai Lvl.42 |
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Brooklyn Lvl.38; Cleveland Lvl.43 | Edinburgh Lvl.35 | M Project Lvl.37 | Kitakami Lvl.52; Mogami 1938 Lvl.39 |
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Texas Lvl.36 | Tiger Lvl.32 | Bayern Lvl.38 | Dhonburi Lvl.33 |
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Northampton Lvl.38 | York Lvl.37 | Admiral Hipper Lvl.48; Deutschland Lvl.45 | Myōkō Lvl.47 |
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Baltimore Lvl.48; Portland Lvl.44; New Orleans Lvl.46 | Surrey Lvl.44; County Lvl.43 | Prinz Eugen Lvl.54; P Project Lvl.53 | Mogami 1941 Lvl.51 |
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Pensacola Lvl. 51 | Furious Lvl.48 | Moltke Lvl.58 | Asama Lvl.55 |
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Alaska Lvl.54; Guam Lvl.59; Nevada Lvl.57; New Mexico1930 Lvl.65; Pennsylvania 1930 Lvl.65; Tennessee1941 Lvl.66 | Renown Lvl.52; Revenge Lvl.56 | P Project II Lvl.59; Scharnhorst Lvl.62 | Kongō Lvl.59 |
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New Mexico1945 Lvl.70; Pennsylvania 1943 Lvl.69; Tennessee1943 Lvl.70; Colorado Lvl.70 | Repulse Lvl.60; Queen Elizabeth Lvl.65; Hood Lvl.69 | Gneisenau Lvl.70; O Project Lvl.68 | Fusō Lvl.68; Ise 1937 Lvl.67 |
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South Dakota Lvl.75; North Carolina Lvl.74 | Nelson Lvl.70; King George V Lvl.74; Prince of Wales Lvl.80; Vanguard Lvl.83 | O Project II Lvl.80; Bismarck Lvl.80 | Nagato Lvl.77 |
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Iowa Lvl.89 | Lion Lvl.89 | H39 Project Lvl.89 | Yamato Lvl.90 |
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Montana Lvl.103 | Lion II Lvl.103 | H44 Project Lvl.103 | Super Yamato Lvl.103 |
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Bogue Lvl.50 | Attacker Lvl.50 | Seydlitz Lvl.55 | Ōyodo Lvl.33; Hōshō Lvl.46; Mogami 1944 Lvl.51 |
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Independence Lvl.55 | Collosus Lvl.58 | (NONE) | Ryūjō Lvl.53; Junyō Lvl.60; Ise 1943 Lvl.73 |
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Yorktown Lvl.65 | Courageous Lvl.66 | Graf Zeppelin Lvl.67 | Hiryū Lvl.66; Unryū Lvl.72 |
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Essex Lvl.79 | Illustrious Lvl.73; Ark Royal Lvl.85 | Graf Zeppelin II Lvl.80 | Taihō Lvl.83; Akagi 1927 Lvl.78; Akagi 1938 Lvl.85; Kaga1928 Lvl.93; |
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Lexington Lvl.99 | Malta Project Lvl.98 | Europa Lvl.98 | Kaga1935 Lvl.96; Shōkaku Lvl.95; Shinano Lvl.103 |
[edit] Payment
There are three classes of player account:
- Free: No cost, but as soon as the player has any crewman of level 30 or above, he or she receives a penalty to the amount of experience, credit and point gain per battle. SD EnterNet claim that this penalty is a 40% reduction; some players claim that the amount received is 40% of the normal amount, i.e. a 60% reduction. Still others contend that the penalty is closer to 80 or 90%, leaving a free account player earning 10 to 20% of the amount of experience that a basic subscriber earns.
- Basic Subscription: Costs $7.99 USD for 30 days. This removes the reward penalty above level 30, allowing full gain of rewards.
- Premium Subscription: Costs $11.99 USD for 30 days. This removes the reward penalty above level 30, and adds a 1000 bonus to experience, credits and points for each battle in which the players stays for 5 minutes.
All players, regardless of subscription type, also have the ability to purchase "Premium" ships, which are vessels that are designed to be the best ship in its class for its nation. For example, a Premium CL ($2.99 USD) can mount guns normally used on a CA while Premium CA's ($4.99 USD) often carry battleship guns.
Players may also purchase guaranteed veteran conversions for their crewmen, at $1.00 USD for 10 guaranteed conversions. Similarly, "Premium" sailor improvements are available ($2.49 for one) that will improve a sailor's ability in all areas by 20%. It is not uncommon to find players that have spent upwards of $150 on their crews through "Veteran" and "Premium" improvement alone.
[edit] Historical Accuracy
Navy Field is an interpretation of WW II naval combat, not a simulation. It contains many abstractions and some speculative ships and weapons.
The visual designs of the ships, guns and planes are very detailed. However their behavior can be significantly aberrant from the real vessels. In particular:
- The scaling of ships is very large compared to gun ranges.
- The majority of ships in Navy Field can travel at speeds well in excess of their historical maximums.
- Ships turn "on their axis" rather than turning by the stern; this sometimes allows players to dodge bombs dropped by dive-bombers, since the ship rotates about its center.
- Guns fire at a substantially increased rate.
- The accuracy of guns can become unrealistically high, in some cases allowing them to fire with perfect accuracy out to their maximum range, popularly called a "block shot" by players.
- Damage is greatly abstracted; until 21st September, 2006 the only effect of damage was to slow ships down until they eventually sank; it had no other effect. Now, BBs and BCs which are below 30% of their DP have their "Turret Drive Acceleration" disabled, which forces them to move their turrets at a slow pace.
[edit] Game Modes
There are four types of battle in Navy Field:
- Normal
- Great Battle II
- Blitzkrieg
- Missions
The common theme for all game modes is that the battle is between two teams (fleets), each of which has a flagship. Damage done to friendly ships produces an experience penalty to discourage the practice of team killing (which is also now a bannable offense). All games are "hosted"; ships join a hosting zone and join or are assigned to teams. When all ships are ready to play, the game proper commences.
In Normal battles, there are no restrictions on the number of each ship type. Each ship earns experience based only on the damage that it inflicts. Credits and points are awarded primarily based on personal damage inflicted, with a small proportion coming from the fleet total. Each ship chooses its own side and decides when to become ready to play.
In Great Battle II battles, all ship types are allowed, though a maximum of 10 BBs and 6 CVs may participate. Experience, credits and points are awarded based on both personal and fleet performance, making team play and in particular escorting and defending friendly ships more significant. Great Battle II games are played to a time limit. The game splits ships between the two sides, attempting to balance them, then the room host can move ships between sides. The room host decides when the game starts.
In Blitzkrieg battles, only DDs and FFs may participate. Experience, credits and points are awarded based on both personal and fleet performance. The game is played to a time limit. Hosting is performed as per Normal battles.
Missions are played either solo or in small fleets against computer controlled ships. They represent training opportunities or historical scenarios. Rewards for missions are generally very low, although repeated play of them can be used to turn crewmen's recruits into experts (called "Mission Whoring" by many players). There is only one (player) side in missions, and all ships must become ready to play before the game starts.
[edit] Upcoming Features
[edit] Harbor Assault
A new game mode, Harbor Assault, is currently in open beta for all players to test. The goal of Harbor Assault, which has been under development for well over a year, is to "capture" one of the four national harbors (the Neutral harbor, Busan, cannot be attacked). Harbors may only be captured by fleets. Once a fleet holds a harbor, all fleet members receive discounts on ships purchased in that harbor, and a "tax" is levied on all purchases by non-fleet members in the harbor; non-fleet members are not charged any extra credits, rather, a certain percentage of the purchase is generated and given to the fleet. The percentage discount and tax are set at the same value, and is dependent on how many credits the fleet invests in the harbor's productivity.
Furthermore, fleet members who have Bridge Operators of the same nationality as the harbor are able to "rent" Unique Ships from the harbor. Currently, the only Unique Ships available are upgraded versions of high-level battleships of the various nations, and are vastly more powerful than the original ships, possessing far more range and damage. However, Unique Ships may only be used three times in battle, and the rental cost is not returned afterwards. To rent a Unique Ship, a player must be part of the fleet that occupies a harbor, and must have a Bridge Operator of the same nationality at level 40.
To participate in Harbor Assault, a player must be part of a fleet whose commander has a Chief of Naval Operations, a level 80 Radioman. However, alliances may be formed between fleets, though currently that feature is still under development.
[edit] New Battleships
Currently, there are four new battleships under development by SDEnternet: the Dunkerque, the Andrea Doria, the B-65 Project, and the Sevastopol (which may be the Gangut class battleship or the later class of battleships). Screenshots of the Andrea Doria and the Dunkerque have been revealed, but little else is known.
[edit] SD EnterNet
NavyField is designed and developed by SDEnternet, a small South Korean company that specialises in making online games. The game engine for Navy Field is available as for licensing to other developers.
[edit] Team Navy Field
Team Navy Field, or TeamNF, or TNF, is the group of game administrators and moderators TeamNF can be split into two different groups.
[edit] Game Masters
Game masters are the employees of SDEnternet, and any employee who works at SDE who makes an appearance in the game or the NavyField forums is always labeled a game master. Only 3 known game masters are directly involved with NavyField America:
- TeamNF mk1, whose real name is Yuno. Yuno is the director of NavyField America and in control of all operations within this version of the game as well as in charge of all TeamNF members.
- TeamNF mk2, whose real name is Randy. Randy is a SDE employee based in the US/Seattle, Wa. He maintains both game servers and performs technical support roles.
- "NFGM", whose real name is unknown to the public. NFGM is a dedicated technical support worker and also dedicated to account recovery and bans.
[edit] Game Moderators
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Game moderators are unpaid volunteers, players of the game who are chosen based on merit. Moderators are located all over the world; including the USA, Canada, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. They are decidated to providing basic technical support to the players, general help and guidance as well as working as consultants for the game masters. Advanced technical support, including modifications to accounts, has to be performed by the Game Masters. The game moderators are organized with a Head Moderator in charge of overall moderating, a Server Head and Server Commander on each server, and several Veteran, Expert, and Recruit Moderators on each server. The current list of moderators is at right. 
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[edit] External links
[edit] Official Sites
[edit] Third Party Sites
- Trainworld.us - English NF Data Store
- NF-Guides.com - Guide page about various things in the game
- Tarrif.net - English Data/Tool Place
