Travel
TODO: Info on encounters, travel times, etc.
Unlike some online games, the world of Darkwind is not a single, contiguous area. In other words, it is not possible to physically drive your vehicles from one town to another. Rather, by following the instructions below, you set your vehicles on a route, play any encounters that may occur, and after the requisite travel time your characters and vehicles arrive at their destination minus whatever fuel was expended. Obviously, if there were combat encounters along the way vehicle damage and ammo levels will also be indicated.
While this may be disappointing to some, it is probably the most practical way to cover large distances given the turn-based nature of Darkwind, as driving 300 miles 1 second at a time would be an extremely time consuming (and boring) process, in my opinion. :-)
How to Travel
You will first need to create a squad:
On the Darkwind website, select Gameplay -> My Gang -> Squads
Under the box marked "Create New Squads" you will be shown a list of towns in which you have gang members. Initially this will only show Somerset. Click "In Somerset" to create a squad there. You will be prompted to enter a name for the squad as well as a password. The password can later be given to other players who can then also join your squad. Once your squad has been created, you will need to add vehicles to it. The last box says "Member Vehicles." In that box is the option to add vehicles to the squad. You will need to select from the list of available vehicles and click the "Add" button. Make sure all of your vehicles have drivers and passengers assigned. Clicking on the name of the vehicle will bring up the vehicle information to the right. Scrolling down near the bottom of the vehicle info, you can assign drivers and passengers. The first passenger added is the driver by default.
NOTE: It is highly advisable, that you check the Auto Truce all Traders checkbox when traveling. This will eliminate the need for you to log in to the game client solely to truce an encounter with traders.
There are two methods to set your travel destination, and start traveling.
New, Super-easy Method
On your squad's information page, click the Travel button. A popup menu will appear listing all the destinations reachable from the squad's current town. Select one of the destinations, and click the Do it! button.
Destinations that are beyond your squad's fuel range will appear in bold in the list. Selecting one of these destinations will display a message about your squad not having enough fuel to reach the destination.
Old, Less Easy Method
In order for the squad to travel to another town, you will need to go to Gameplay -> Map.
Your squads will be represented as gray flags on the map. You can select a squad by either clicking on the flag or clicking the name of the squad under the heading "Your Squads" on the right. The selected squad flag will then be displayed in blue. Selecting a squad will open up a small window on the map. To travel to another town, click "Select Travel Destination." Click on the town you wish to travel to. If you cannot travel, either because vehicles in the squad are being repaired or the squad does not have enough fuel to reach the destination town, you will receive a prompt stating the reason you cannot travel. If you are able to travel, you complete the trip by clicking the "Open Squad Page" and using the appropriate buttons in the squad page that appears below the Evan Map.
Traveling
After clicking the Do it! button the web page will refresh, and you will be presented with either a message indicating all encounters have been processed and your squad will arrive at its destination at the specified time, or a button indicating you have to process an encounter.
You may be given the option to return to the city that you are traveling from. Note that if you take this option, any scout skill points that were awarded during the travel will be subtracted from your character, and you may still have encounters on your return.
Travel Encounters
Travel encounters are just like wilderness scouts. You log in to the game client, enter the event when it spawns, and play it as you see fit. When traveling this usually means running away to at least 350 meters, rather than fighting. You should always attempt a Truce/Bounty (using the game menu).
If you do not escape at 350 meters, you can run to the 'auto escape' distance of 500 meters. This has the advantage of possibly giving your driving character a small skill boost in Driving.
When traveling there is the possibility of at least three (3) encounters:
- Gate Exit -- an encounter as your squad leaves the gates of its starting town
- Travel Encounter -- an encounter while your squad is on the road between the towns
- Gate Arrival -- an encounter as your squad reaches the gates of its destination town
NOTE: When traveling to Firelight it is not unheard of to have three (3) Travel Encounters, for a total of five (5) encounters over the duration of the trip.
After all encounters have been processed you will receive a message that your squad will arrive at its destination at the specified time.
Travel Time
The table below shows how long it takes to get from town to town. While it may take your squad 10 hours to reach its destination, you can play any encounters when it is convenient for you. After you have processed all the encounters it is just a matter of waiting for the squad to actually arrive.
If you do not process any of the encounters before the arrival time passes, you will see a message similar to "The squad's arrival is imminent, but encounters must be processed before it can reach its destination.", and you will have a Process Encounter button.
Fuel and Travel Distances
Seems based on old Values, will ask Sam, need to be modified.
The correct one is more near : Range= (Tank size * 135000) / Vehicle Weight ) : To be edited, there seems to be a rounding error somewhere in the calculation
Exemples below are based on older value of 90900 : to be modified. (or removed and use only the squad travel)
Travel Distance available for a squad is based on the average mileage and total fuel for the entire squad (not the lowest vehicle in the squad). A vehicle's fuel tank can be filled at each town's mechanic shop (Jake's in Somerset, for example). Upon entering the shop, you will need to select your vehicle, scroll down to the fuel tank and select "Refuel."
Mileage for vehicles seems to be based entirely on the weight of the vehicles, with engine size and chassis types having no discernable effect. Below are sample mileages from various vehicles in MPU (Miles per Unit). Note that the addition of passengers and/or cargo adds to the total weight and will reduce mileage accordingly.
| Chassis | Weight | MPU |
|---|---|---|
| Buggy | 1011 | 74 |
| Dustup | 1620 | 50 |
| Mercenary | 3421 | 25 |
| Vampire | 3449 | 25 |
| Buccaneer | 3570 | 25 |
| Phoenix | 3925 | 21 |
| Mercenary | 4184 | 20 |
| Windsor | 5530 | 15 |
A vehicle's range is based on its weight and fuel tank size. The equation for determining range is:
Older value : Tank Size/(.0000111*Vehicle Weight) = Range
The Buggy from above with a 5 unit fuel tank would have a range of (667) 370 miles, while the Windsor with a 2 unit tank would have a range of 30 miles.
Squad Travel
A squad's range is not the average of the individual vehicles' ranges. Rather, it is the result of the following:
Where
w = total squad weight
mpu = miles per unit of fuel
sf = squad's fuel
sr = squad range
mpu = 90900/w
mpu = 135000/x
Where x = (chassis weight) + (passengers) + (installed and cargo weapons) + (installed and cargo tyres) + (armour weight) + (installed and cargo engines) + (bulk goods) + (ammo) + (fuel in fueltanks)
NOTE: A grade armour gets a special exemption from being included; it's assumed to be more aerodynamic.
sf = (fueltankunits + (fuelcans/0.12))
sr = sf * mpu
OR,
sr = ( (fueltankunits + (fuelcans/0.12)) * (90900/w) )
Fuel as Cargo
Additional fuel can be carried outside of the tank in the form of cargo. Gas cans can be purchased in each town's Marketplace and must also be loaded into the vehicle there. Each gas can takes up 10 capacity and provides just over 8 additional units worth of fuel to the vehicle or squad. Three cans provide 25 units.
Alternatively, instead of carrying gas cans as cargo, a dedicated support vehicle with a very large fuel tank (40+ units) may be added to a squad to increase its overall range. A pickup is ideally suited for this role due to its relatively small size and large capacity. Additional ammo for the squad can also be stored in the support vehicle and distributed as needed to other vehicles in the looting phase after a successful battle.
Travel Routes
The available travel routes and the distances are:
| Somerset | Elmsfield | Gateway | Badlands | Texan | Sarsfield | Morgan | Firelight | Shantyville | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Somerset | -- | 301 | 381 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Elmsfield | 301 | -- | 481 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Gateway | 381 | 481 | -- | 499 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Badlands | -- | -- | 499 | -- | 808 | 1159 | 630 | 1019 | 404 |
| Texan | -- | -- | -- | 808 | -- | 628 | -- | -- | 404 |
| Sarsfield | -- | -- | -- | 1159 | 628 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Morgan | -- | -- | -- | 630 | -- | -- | -- | 591 | -- |
| Firelight | -- | -- | -- | 1019 | -- | -- | 591 | -- | -- |
| Shantyville | -- | -- | -- | 404 | 404 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Travel Times
Travel between towns currently takes a fixed amount of real time and squads travel through the wilderness at roughly 30 miles per hour.
| Somerset | Elmsfield | Gateway | Badlands | Texan | Sarsfield | Morgan | Firelight | Shantyville | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Somerset | -- | 10h | 12h | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Elmsfield | 10h | -- | 16h | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Gateway | 12h | 16h | -- | 17h | -- | -- | 18h[1] | -- | -- |
| Badlands | -- | -- | 17h | -- | 27h[1] | 39h | 21h[1] | 34h | -- |
| Texan | -- | -- | -- | 27h[1] | -- | 21h[1] | -- | -- | -- |
| Sarsfield | -- | -- | -- | 39h | 21h[1] | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Morgan | -- | -- | 18h[1] | 21h[1] | -- | -- | -- | 20h[1] | -- |
| Firelight | -- | -- | -- | 34h | -- | -- | 20h[1] | -- | -- |
| Shantyville | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |