Editing Openai/69728748-107c-8007-83d4-ee546c3d316f (section)

=== Assistant: Yeah—this is exactly the part where the idea stops being “romantic pitch” and starts being very implementable. ===
Yeah—this is exactly the part where the idea stops being “romantic pitch” and starts being very implementable.

What you just described is literally Elite’s progression loop, just wet and wooden instead of vacuum and metal.

Let’s map it cleanly.

==== Elite: ====
* Sidewinder → Cobra → Python → Anaconda
* Bigger = more cost, more upkeep, more capability, more risk

Your piracy version:
* Rowboat - River cargo - Fishing - Smuggling small goods - No combat, no ocean travel
* Small sailboat (2–3 crew) - Inter-island trade - Coastal runs - Light smuggling - Run from fights
* Sloop / Brig - Cannons - Escorts or ambushes - Privateering contracts
* Frigate / Galleon - Convoys - Fort sieges - Nation-level consequences - Huge upkeep, mutiny risk

That ladder is already balanced by reality. Designers wouldn’t even need to invent constraints.

==== Elite abstractions: ====
* Jump range
* Fuel scooping
* Mass penalties

Sailing equivalents:
* Wind direction = jump vector
* Sail plan = efficiency
* Cargo weight = speed penalty
* Hull damage = max speed cap

You don’t need hardcore sailing sim:
* Wind is a strategic modifier, not a skill ceiling
* “Upwind = slower but safer”
* “Downwind = fast but predictable”

That’s the same decision-making as fuel routing.

==== This is the killer part—you don’t gate content artificially. ====

Small ship:
* Fishing
* Courier jobs
* Smuggling letters
* River contracts
* Mapping coastlines

Medium ship:
* Trade routes
* Escort jobs
* Blockade running
* Light piracy

Large ship:
* Convoys
* Nation contracts
* Port sieges
* Economic warfare

No “now you’re level 20 so pirates spawn.”
The ship itself is the level.

==== Elite modules: ====
* Power plant
* FSD
* Weapons
* Shields

Pirate equivalent:
* Navigator (routing efficiency)
* Boatswain (repair speed)
* Gun crews (reload + accuracy)
* Surgeon (crew survival)
* Quartermaster (morale, supplies)

Lose crew → ship still floats but performs worse.
Same system, humanized.

==== Mechanically? You’re right: 80% is solved. ====

What stops it:
* Publishers fear “slow games”
* Piracy implies moral ambiguity
* No lasers, aliens, or sci-fi marketing hooks

Which is ironic, because the fantasy of:

: 

…is stronger than space trucking.

==== What you’re describing is basically: ====

: 

The missing piece isn’t gameplay.
It’s a studio willing to say:
* “Yes, the first 10 hours are boring”
* “Yes, wind matters”
* “Yes, not everyone gets to be Blackbeard”

That’s a guts call, not a design problem.

If you want, this model can:
* Sketch the exact starting 5-hour loop
* Design the first three ships in detail
* Or explain why rivers are actually the secret weapon for onboarding players

Because you’re not pitching vapor—you’re outlining a game that could exist.