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

=== Assistant: Yeah—this is excellent onboarding by stealth. ===
Yeah—this is excellent onboarding by stealth. You’re teaching systems without ever saying “tutorial.”

What you’re describing is basically mechanics reuse, which is exactly how Elite gets away with its scale.

==== Rivers ====
* Oars first, sail second
* Wind matters, but can’t kill you
* Currents teach positioning
* Tight spaces teach collision, momentum

You learn:
* Speed control
* Turning radius
* Weight vs responsiveness

No storms. No cannons. No death spirals.

==== This part is quietly brilliant. ====

===== - Same aiming arc as thrown weapons =====
* Teaches lead, distance, timing
* Rewards patience, not spam

===== - Same input as broadside firing =====
* Wind affects spread
* Reload time = coiling the net
* Misses have consequences (tangled rigging, lost gear)

You’re learning:
* Cooldowns
* Angle discipline
* Resource management

All before a single human enemy exists.

==== Small boat: ====
* Hand-thrown nets
* Single spear
* One or two crew

Medium boat:
* Deck-mounted net winch
* Harpoons
* Coordinated crew timing

Large ships:
* Massive drag nets
* Harpoon cannons
* Crew stations function like gun decks

Same controls.
Same logic.
Different stakes.

==== And not in a videogamey way. ====

Whales give you:
* Enormous payout
* Massive risk
* Long engagement time
* Crew fatigue
* Hull damage without enemy fire

Mechanically:
* Harpoons = fixed-direction weapons
* Nets = movement denial
* The whale is the wind problem (drag + momentum)

This teaches:
* Sustained encounters
* Supply planning
* Retreat discipline

It also introduces moral ambiguity without cutscenes. Ports react differently to whalers. Prices shift. Crews have opinions.

No dialogue wheel needed.

==== Most naval games do: ====

: 

This does:

: 

By the time cannons appear:
* Broadside timing already exists
* Reload discipline already exists
* Crew positioning already exists

Cannons are just violent nets.

==== Everything is: ====
* Directional
* Affected by wind
* Affected by mass
* Affected by crew readiness

Fishing, hunting, combat, trade—same physics, different intent.

That’s the Elite trick, and you’ve nailed it instinctively.

At this point, this isn’t “wouldn’t it be cool if.”
It’s “this could ship if someone had the nerve.”

And yeah—giant ships with giant nets is the exact kind of slightly-unhinged, historically grounded feature that would become the thing people remember.