Update:Adding A New Skill: Sailing Core Gameplay (2024)

We’re on to the next stage of our Sailing refinement journey: core gameplay!

We’re back with our next Sailing refinement topic, and it’s another really important one. Now that we’ve learned how Navigation will work, we can move on to the systems and gameplay loops that will form the bulk of our new skill. Let’s ‘dive’ in!

We've also partnered with GentleTractor to provide a visual representation of our design blog. Use the arrows on either side or the dots below the image to see all 8 images!

Topic #2: Core Systems

Most skills in Old School RuneScape are simple. They all have a basic underlying system which gains you XP. In Slayer, you get XP for killing creatures. In Firemaking, you get it for burning logs. In Sailing, you’ll get XP any time you interact with the facilities on your ship, whether they be sails, harpoons, the crow's nest, or any number of other things!

For now, let’s take a look at the most obvious Sailing interaction you can have: fastening the sails.

As mentioned in the Navigation blog, wind is a dynamic mechanic that you’ll need to react to while exploring the high seas. Keeping your sails down and moving with the wind will increase your ship’s speed, but every so often your sails will luff and you’ll need to turn them to catch the wind again! Luckily, this is a simple process – just click the sails, and your character will fasten them correctly.

Luffing occurs at regular intervals while you’re Sailing, creating a rhythmic pattern for you to follow as you interact with the ship. This is similar to other skills where you have to click occasionally to proceed. For example, when Mining, you frequently have to click new rocks when the old one is depleted. In Sailing, the pattern will be much more predictable – approximately every 30 seconds of travel time. This time isn't set in stone and we'll absolutely need to see how it feels should Sailing proceed into development.

Failing to fasten the sails will result in your ship losing its speed boost until you fix them again – and of course, you won’t get your XP. An experienced sailor will be able to maintain steady speeds by quickly reacting to the winds, and with even more experience, you’ll be able to hire an NPC crewmate to take care of this task for you. Offloading tasks to NPCs will give you more time to use other facilities on the ship.

You can compare the facilities on your ship to different tools in other skills. They’ll behave the way Fishing Nets, Fishing Rods and Harpoons work in Fishing – each tool has a specific purpose.

Training Methods Framework

Of course, we don’t expect you to hit 99 by fastening your sails alone (although we’re sure at least one Ironman will try it!). For a skill to feel complete, it needs a good variety of training methods.

We’ve created a framework for thinking about different types of training methods:

• Primary gameplay covers training methods that only train the skill.
• Secondary gameplay covers training methods that also grant XP in other skills.
• Tertiary gameplay is additional gameplay that relates to the skill but works as standalone content. Notably, there’s some crossover here with the skill’s reward space.

Let’s see what Fishing would look like in this framework:

• The core system of Fishing is using a tool to catch something in the water, which rewards the player with resources and XP.
• Primary gameplay involves interacting with a Fishing spot to catch anything from Shrimps to Monkfish. This gets players Fishing XP.
• Secondary gameplay involves using tools gained through different skills, like a Cormorant or your bare hands, to catch fish – like in Aerial or Barbarian Fishing. This gets players Fishing XP as well as XP in the other relevant skill.
• Tertiary gameplay involves minigames like Tempoross and Fishing Trawler, which gets players Fishing XP as well as fantastic rewards.

Now that you understand our thinking, let’s see how we can apply this framework to Sailing!

Obtaining a Ship

Oops! Before you can even start to train Sailing, you’ll need to obtain a ship – just like you’d need to obtain a Net before you can start Fishing.

Players can buy, build, or even steal a ship. This won’t grant you any Sailing XP, but it’s a necessary step in the training process – and no matter how you obtain your ship, you’ll be able to upgrade and customise it to your liking.

Primary Gameplay

Once you have a ship, you can engage with some primary gameplay! We’ve defined this as activities with strong Sailing themes that grant Sailing XP. Here are some examples:

Charting the Sea

Explore the seas of Gielinor and document the mysteries you uncover! Exploring and noting down memorable locations in your captain’s log will give you one-time rewards of Sailing XP. Make it your mission to document as much of the sea as you can – where the currents are, the threats you encountered, the location of different islands, and more! Expanding your captain’s log will prove invaluable, as it can lead you to uncover hidden places you never even considered!

• Click Intensity: Low
• XP/HR: Low to Medium
• GP/HR: N/A

Shipwreck Salvaging

Turn someone else’s misfortune into your profit as you delve into abandoned shipwrecks and reap the rewards. Harvest valuable shipbuilding resources, recover sunken cargo, and even find lost treasure! Shipwrecks will randomly appear on ocean tiles, making the world feel alive.

This is a relaxed gathering method. Shipwrecks will sometimes spawn in various locations out at sea and will last for a set amount of time before sinking below the waves. To make use of them, you’ll need to install a Salvaging Hook facility. Navigate to the shipwreck, click on your Hook, and wait for it to recover the goods – then remove your salvage and repeat the process. You’ll gain XP every time salvage is added to the cargo hold.

We know from community consultation that many of you are looking for low intensity, social training methods - Shipwreck Salvaging fits the bill!

Salvage can be identified and converted into specific materials at any port. You’ll learn more about this in the Rewards blog!

Players with a special interest in shipwrecks can pick up rumours at port about ships that never reached their destination. Follow the directions in the rumour, and you’ll find one of the many shipwrecks out at sea!

In terms of intensity and XP these are quite low. There’s the possibility of giving up to a medium level of rewards for these as we feel it should be worth stopping to salvage them when you find one.

• Click Intensity: Low
• XP/HR: Low
• GP/HR: Low to Medium

Port Tasks

Help NPCs by delivering goods from one port to another, locating lost shipments, or completing any number of other nautical tasks!

To get started with Port Tasks, you'll need to check out one of the Task Boards at ports around the map. You'll get to choose from a huge variety of tasks with a multitude of different requirements and rewards. Completing a task will earn you some Sailing XP, and there'll be plenty of opportunities to earn more XP during the task.

At launch, you'll be able to try all kinds of different tasks - but for now, here are three broad examples.

Courier Tasks involve working for a merchant alliance to transport goods from one port to another. While that sounds simple enough, you'll also get the opportunity to pick up precious cargo en route. Carrying this kind of cargo could make you a target for pirates, and even sea monsters, so you'll need to be prepared for a fight if you plan to make it back to port. You'll also want to set up your ship to hold plenty of cargo to make such deliveries worth your while.

Protection Tasks involve protecting trade routes from danger, saving ships in need of help, or clearing out dangerous areas of the sea. You'll need to prepare your ship for a lot of combat if you choose this kind of task!

Investigative Tasks involve... investigating! Take it upon yourself to track down a lost merchant vessel and transport its cargo to the intended destination. You'll need to locate the ship, salvage the cargo, and transport it safely to collect your finder's fee. But be careful - there's a reason the ship got lost in the first place! For these kinds of task you'll want a ship with plenty of cargo space, a salvaging hook, and lots of combat facilities - you never know what you might find!

Available tasks will scale with your Sailing level, becoming more complex with better rewards as you progress through the skill. Only the most skilled captains will be trusted with the most valuable tasks!

• Click Intensity: Low to Medium
• XP/HR: Low to High
• GP/HR: Low to Medium

Ship Racing

Blast, dodge, ram, and weave your way through the most perilous of ocean routes in an action-packed race against the waves to prove your status as a legendary captain!

Ship Racing is the ultimate test of your navigation skills. A faction of thrill-seeking sailors, The Barracudas, are taking on a series of dangerous challenges around the sea. Do you have what it takes to beat their best time? Race through the routes without capsizing to find out!

Beware - this activity is more than just clicking around the sea in the most efficient way. They'll feature all kinds of crazy obstacles, so you'll need to make sure you're prepared for anything, be it blasting through with your cannons or carefully moving an undersea obstacle with your salvaging hook.

There will be multiple routes around the world, and the starting line for each will always be in the same place. However, the contents of the route change each time you visit - so stay on your toes! Routes will also become more complex as you gain Sailing levels - and of course, higher levels will let you access routes in progressively higher-level areas of the sea.

When you've gained confidence as a speedy sailor, you can even challenge the racers to a head-to-head race! To make things even more exciting, we're also offering global leaderboards so you can see how you measure up against your friends!

Completing a race alone or against others will award Sailing XP upon completion. Besting the racer for that course will offer even greater rewards, from unique shipbuilding materials to specialised facilities, or even a map leading to an undiscovered part of the sea!

• Click Intensity: Medium to High
• XP/HR: Medium to High
• GP/HR: Low

Combat

Defend yourself from pirates and defeat fearsome sea monsters – it’s time to man the cannons for combat!

Obviously, ship combat is not the same as swinging a sword, casting spells, or even shooting a bow – so you won’t get regular combat XP. Instead, you’ll gain Sailing XP for successfully engaging in naval warfare. Note that if your character is the one fighting, even on a ship, this is still considered regular combat for XP purposes. In short: firing a cannon at a pirate ship is Sailing XP, but fighting a pirate who’s boarded your ship is combat XP. As the Core Gameplay Loop of Sailing awards XP for interacting with facilities on your Ship, firing a weapon also awards Sailing XP, and not Combat XP. We realise this is a bit weird, considering that the Dwarf Multicannon awards Ranged XP, we don't think this one example should dictate how we approach the skill. If you feel strongly one way or the other though, you'll get the chance to voice your opinion in the survey!

As you can probably tell, ship combat is a huge topic that we’d like to cover in more detail at a later stage. For now, though, we can tell you what the average encounter might look like.

To attack a sea monster (or anything else you might encounter) you need to install a weapon facility on your ship, and enough ammunition to use it. If you have those things, you can initiate combat by getting into range with your ship and clicking your weapon. The initial click will load it with ammo, and the second click will activate ‘Firing Mode’, where you can attack whatever foe has shown up simply by firing at it. You’ll get Sailing XP for every successful hit.

• Click Intensity: Medium to High
• XP/HR: Medium
• GP/HR: Low to High

Please note that ship combat is optional – you don’t have to engage with it to train the skill. We’re also looking into what functions weapons might have outside of combat - firing a projectile as a deterrent, for example.

Secondary Gameplay

In line with our framework, activities that give Sailing XP but also involve other skills are considered secondary gameplay. Since these activities impact the rest of the game as well as this one skill, we’ll poll them separately once Sailing passes the greenlight poll. Accordingly, they’re subject to change – which is why we haven’t included the XP and GP per hour rates.

Deep Sea Trawling (Fishing/Sailing)

Use your ship to haul significantly larger catches than you can get from land, including rare species of fish! Sell them for profit, or dish them up yourself! Most importantly, break free from Murphy’s tyranny and run your own trawler!

To trawl, you’ll need a trawling net installed on your ship. Better trawling nets will require higher Fishing and Sailing levels to use but can gain you rarer and more valuable resources.

You’ll then need to locate a shoal of fish, indicated by leaping fish in the water. Deploy your net over the shoal and follow it carefully as it moves about. The more accurately you follow it, the bigger your catch will be! Once you’ve reeled in your goodies, you can store them in a chilled cargo hold. You’ll also receive both Sailing and Fishing XP for your efforts.

Back at port, you can either sell your catch to a Fishmonger or keep the whole lot for yourself!

Deep Sea Trawling will not replace existing Fishing methods, as we plan to introduce lots of new fish with the Sailing skill.

Click Intensity: Low to Medium

Mineral Dredging (Mining/Sailing)

The seabed is full of precious rocks, gems and ores uniquely formed by deep-sea pressure. Ships kitted out with a weighted dredging net will be able to haul these precious resources up from the water - and make a tidy profit to boot.

Just as with Deep Sea Trawling, better dredging nets will require higher Mining and Sailing levels to use, and reward better loot.

To dredge, you’ll need to find a mineral-rich area of the seabed – not the easiest feat! Experienced sailors will be able to install an enchanted metal detector to help them out. It will lead them to areas where ore can be found, and there’s also a chance that it’ll find other metallic valuables lost on the seafloor.

Higher-level dredging nets will be able to reach deeper parts of the sea and dredge up greater quantities of loot. Successfully dredging will award both Sailing and Mining XP.

Again, this won’t replace existing Mining methods.

Click Intensity: Medium

Sea Monster Hunting (Hunter/Slayer/Sailing)

We know that some of you have one mission and one mission only – to find the biggest, baddest creatures of the sea and slay them! Be it for money, fame, or just the thrills, the sea will have plenty of dangerous creatures for you to track down.

This isn’t just ‘Slayer at sea’, of course. You’ll have to track these monsters to the deepest and most dangerous parts of the ocean in an elaborate hunting process. Study your target and learn its weaknesses, find its rough location in the vast ocean, lure it to the surface, and then engage in intense ship-based combat.

Naturally, upgrading your ship’s weapons will help you out here. You’ll also want to reinforce the hull. Lastly, your regular combat stats will contribute to your success. Defeat the creature, and you’ll receive unique rewards and resources, as well as a boatload of Hunter, Slayer and Sailing XP.

Click Intensity: High

Were you actually really looking forward to ‘Slayer at sea’? Don’t worry – we still plan to introduce a number of unique Slayer monsters either at sea or on islands only reachable by Sailing!

Lastly, if you're wondering about the difference between Ship Combat and Sea Monster Hunting; Ship Combat is the underlying system allowing you to engage in combat at sea, whereas Sea Monster Hunting is an activity where you'll hunt down and defeat dangerous sea creatures. The landlubbing equivalent is the difference between the combat system as a concept and using your combat abilities to complete a Slayer Task.

Coral Farming (Farming/Sailing)

Discover various types of coral, cultivate them and use them as a new resource for Herblore, Fletching and Crafting!

First, you’ll need to anchor your ship and dive down into coral reefs to locate rare coral. Use your Farming skill to break off a few pieces for yourself and take them back to the mainland to cultivate in your very own Aquarium. Harvesting coral will require Farming levels and will give Farming and Sailing XP. Access to reefs with higher tiers of coral will require higher Sailing levels.

The Aquarium is our concept for a new Farming method. It works much like a regular Farming patch; a piece of coral will grow in a dedicated location, like a plant. We’re not 100% sure how corals will be used for Herblore, Fletching and Crafting, but we would love to hear your suggestions for new potion effects, coral-tipped bolts and arrows, and (if you’re up for it) an armour set made of coral!

Click Intensity: Low

Tertiary Gameplay

Sailing activities that are especially complex, feel like stand-alone pieces of content, or simply feel more like a reward than a training method will all fall under the category of tertiary gameplay.

Since this kind of content is normally on the large side, we can’t release too much of it in time for launch. That said, it’s a natural way to expand the skill once it’s already in the game! We’d look to poll tertiary gameplay activities separately and would really like to know which ones you like the sound of so we can go ahead with your favourites. Consequently, these currently have much less detail than the ones for primary and secondary gameplay.

Expeditions

Instanced, randomly-generated areas of the sea or individual islands. While smaller than a raid, expeditions have a similar premise. You’ll venture into an enclosed space to undertake a series of challenges before emerging with a reward.

Ocean Raids

This has been a popular player suggestion. We love the idea of getting together with your friends to take on a series of challenges at sea, and while the proposed Sea Monster Hunting activity captures some elements of this, we think we could go even bigger. The sky’s the limit when it comes to ocean raids, so we’d love to hear your ideas!

Ship PvP

Another popular suggestion – if a somewhat controversial one. Parts of the sea are so far out that the laws of the land don’t apply any more. Sink other players’ ships and claim their bounty, or fight back against opportunistic pirates to defend your own loot.

The big opportunity here is to introduce a new kind of PvP that's completely different from the Wilderness combat we know and love. Instead of fast-paced gameplay that relies on a mastery of the combat triangle, Ship PvP would be determined by how well you and your crewmates operate your ship.

Just like other kinds of PvP this activity would be completely optional. We realise it’s not everyone’s cup of tea!

Treasure Hunting

An ocean-based expansion to the Clue Scroll system. Follow the map, find the X that marks the spot, and dig up the treasure!

Aquariums

We’ve already mentioned Coral Farming, but we think the Aquarium system could be expanded to include rare fish and a way to show off your Sailing achievements when you’re back on land.

What other Sailing-related activities would you like to see? Let us know!

Gameplay Scenarios

Phew! All that information is a lot to process, so to help you visualise a typical gameplay session we’ve come up with the following scenarios. Let’s see how our imaginary sailors train!

Peter's First Voyage

Peter has just completed the Sailing tutorial and is preparing for his first voyage. As a newer player, he doesn’t have high enough Thieving to, uh, ‘commandeer’ a ship, so he buys a cheap, small vessel from Port Sarim.

Remembering his lessons from the tutorial, Peter crosses the gangplank and lowers the sails so his ship can move. Then he moves behind the wheel to control the ship. The adventure begins!

Peter decides to head to Karamja and see what he can find. After a little while at sea, the wind changes direction, so he fastens the sails before continuing and gets a little bit of XP. As he pulls up near Musa Point, he sees a shipwreck poking out of the water – but he hasn’t got a salvaging hook, so he can’t make use of it.

After sailing around Karamja and fastening the sails a few times, Peter has racked up a fair bit of Sailing XP - including a few chunks that he gained while discovering marine landmarks around the island. Satisfied with his first voyage, he heads back to Port Sarim to see what kinds of upgrades he can get.

Anne's Mobile Experience

Anne’s on the bus on her way home from work. She’s already reached level 60 Sailing, but because she’s playing on mobile, she’s looking for a laid-back way to train while she travels.

As an experienced player, Anne has enough Construction levels to have built her own ship. She’s upgraded it with various facilities, too. She enters her ship from Port Khazard and sets sail towards the east coast of the Feldip Hills, where her Captain’s Log says there are some precious minerals to dredge.

Anne’s trusty NPC crewmate ensures the ship doesn’t luff at all on the way, so she doesn’t earn XP for fixing the sails. They pass a Ship Racing course on the way, but Anne thinks that’s a bit too high intensity for the bus, so she sails on.

As she approaches the coast, Anne’s enchanted metal detector tells her the minerals are right beneath the ship! She raises the sails to stop the ship and lowers the dredging net. Every now and then the net indicates it has some loot in it, so she reels it in, gaining both Mining and Sailing XP each time.

Before Anne reaches her stop the metal detector stops indicating, showing that there are no minerals left. Satisfied with her haul, Anne heads back to Port Khazard with her loot, as well as a Sea Treasure Trail the dredge net picked up. She can take a look at that when she gets home!

Bob's Adventure

Bob’s an experienced sailor looking for some more interactive gameplay – a good sea monster hunt would do the trick! He already has a small ship, but he thinks it’s time to upgrade to a larger one.

Conveniently, when he gets to Port Piscarilius there’s a large ship on the dock with nobody around to guard it. Using his Thieving skills, Bob steals the ship and heads eastwards at pace - hoping to avoid the angry NPC who just found out that their ship is missing!

With no crewmates on board, Bob has to fasten his own sails when the wind direction changes, and gets a bit of XP for doing so. Out at sea, he comes across a half-eaten sea serpent, indicating that something much bigger and more dangerous has recently passed by. He knows this is the starting point for a Sea Monster Hunt. From the crow’s nest, Bob can see another corpse further north. He heads that way, and for each clue he finds, he gets Hunter and Sailing XP. On the way, he quickly stops to salvage a shipwreck before continuing the hunt.

The trail leads Bob to a hidden cove he’s never seen before. He quickly clicks his Captain’s Log to record the find, gaining a chunk of Sailing XP. As he approaches the cove, the enchanted lantern facility on Bob’s ship shines brightly, luring out a giant sea monster!

Bob angles the ship to the side and loads the cannons. An intense battle ensues as Bob navigates away from the monster’s vicious attacks while firing cannonballs at the beast. A couple of times he’s even able to use the ship’s harpoon to incapacitate the monster, making it easier for him to get some shots in. In the end, he barely manages to defeat the creature but emerges victorious, gaining Hunter, Slayer and Sailing XP.

The monster dropped plenty of supplies for Bob to repair the ship, as well as a mysterious Pearl. Bob rushes to the nearest port to find out what it’s worth.

Ship Customization

You’ll have noticed that participating in many of the Sailing activities requires you to have certain facilities on your ship. As you progress through the Sailing skill, you’ll unlock bigger ships with more room for facilities – You’ll also get the chance to upgrade your ships to keep them in fighting shape as you face tougher challenges at sea.

Upgrades

Ship upgrades are linear – a new upgrade will always be better than the previous one. They typically require resources you’ve gained at sea. Here are some early examples of how upgrades might work:

Hull/Keel: Affects sturdiness. Improves durability, meaning that your ship is less likely to take damage and can take more damage before sinking. Passing over reefs improves durability, meaning that your ship is less likely to take damage, and can take increased damage before sinking. Also lets your ship pass over the more dangerous reefs.Sails/masts: Affects speed. Better sails can better utilise the wind to go faster and are less likely to get ripped in storms. They also luff less frequently.Rudder/wheel: Affects turning. Better rudders improve turning speed. They also let you utilise currents more easily and can make perpetual movement better.

Facilities

While upgrades make your ship better in general, facilities are swappable parts that allow you to access new activities at sea.

We expect players to customise their facilities depending on the activities they’d like to try – different tools are better for different situations. The different facilities spots will look similar to the hotspots in the Player Owned House, and will behave similarly, letting you choose different things to build from a catalogue of options.

Here’s how many facilities we plan to cram into each size of ship:

Please note that these figures are rough estimates and subject to change.

We have a few different kinds of facilities in mind, loosely grouped into skilling, utility, and combat facilities.

Skilling

• Salvaging station/crane: For Salvaging sunken ships and other supplies picked up from the water.
• Fishing station: A place for traditional fishing. You may be able to attach Rods or Fishing Nets here.
• Harpoon: Used for Sea Monster Hunting.
• Enchanted metal detector: For locating minerals at the bottom of the sea.
• Weighted Dredging net: For Mineral Dredging.

Utility

• Range: For cooking food while at sea.
• Personal storage chest: A personal Inventory to store a few belongings while at sea.
• Crow's nest: Lets you scout a given distance away from the ship in any direction. Only available for large and colossal ships.
• Lantern: Grants special effects such as letting you find your way through fog, repelling enemies or luring out certain sea creatures.
• Cargo hold: A place to store resources and loot gained at sea that won't fit in your regular Inventory.

Combat

• Spear/ram: Allows your ship to deal melee damage to enemies.
• Ballista: Ranged weapon. Accurate and long-range.
• Cannon: Primarily a ranged weapon that could be upgraded to other damage types. Very strong, but low range.

It’s likely that we’ll add more facilities when we start developing the Sailing skill properly. In addition, we haven’t covered purely cosmetic facilities – ways to show you’ve completed difficult achievements, and ways to represent your clan!

FAQ

Upcoming Events & Survey

Take part in our dedicated Core Gameplay Loop Survey to tell us what you think about the design so far!

Stay involved in our upcoming events throughout refinement, and make sure to join the Discord to stay up to date if times change:

That’s all, folks – at least for Core Systems and Gameplay Loop. We know many of you were worried about Sailing not having clear-cut training methods, and we hope that this blog has alleviated some of those concerns.

Remember, specific training methods will be polled if Sailing passes the greenlight poll, so if there are specific activities you don’t find appealing, you’ll have plenty of chances to have your say about them later on.

For now, please let us know how you feel about the proposed gameplay! We’re excited to hear your thoughts.

The next refinement stage is Rewards Space, where we’ll talk about all the cool stuff you can get from Sailing. In the meanwhile, please do leave us your feedback in all the usual places, and if you haven’t yet, do check out our Discord Stages talks. They’re great fun, and the best place for you to hear all the latest information about Sailing.

Anchors aweigh!

You can also discuss this update on our official forums, on the 2007Scape subreddit, the Steam forums, or the community-led OSRS Discord in the #gameupdate channel. For more info on the above content, check out the official Old School Wiki.

Mods Abyss, Arcane, Archie, Argo, Ash, Ayiza, Boko, Bruno, Chilly, Crystal, Curse, Daizong, Dylan, Ed, Elena, Errol, Fed, Gecko, Gizmo, Goblin, Grub, Halo, Harold, Hend, Hornet, Husky, Jalo, Jerv, Keyser, Kieren, Kirby, Kurotou, Lenny, Light, Mack, Manked, Markos, Maylea, Meat, Moogle, Morty, Necro, Nylu, Other, Pumpkin, Redfield, Regent, Rice, Roq, Ry, Sarnie, Shroom, Sigma, Skane, Skylark, Sova, Squid, Starry, Stevew, Surma, Sween, Tide, Titus, Torrance, Tyran, Veda, Vegard, West & Wolfy

The Old School Team.