Retrieving the Torch feature - Pirates of the Caribbean: New Horizons mod for Pirates of the Caribbean

<!-- New Horizons Diary of Carmen A.

It be necessary at this point to list and prioritise my various commitments to the New Horizons project and piratesahoy.net website, for their needs are many and there be only 24h a day.

I fear that while there are many intriguing affairs of maritime history and fantasy to indulge in, there be nae progress if we succumb to the temptation of letting our minds wander forth too much. And yes, I just joined this great community at the Pirates Ahoy! forums. Which gives me all the more reason to focus on productivity and let the mod management sort the rest out!

My commitments herein include:

1. The New Horizons official manual, of which shall be a complete manuscript; with technical details, strategy guide and project history therein.

2. Regular contributions to the news and blog pages of PiratesAhoy website, such that we may garner additional traffic from passers-by, and more importantly, to put us in the limelight of those who still hunt for tales pertaining to historical seafaring and naval warfare.

At this point there exists several minor commitments that have sprouted forth from my exploration of the forums and my own interests, but the priority of these shall remain secondary to those aforementioned.

In more detail, I lay forthwith my stratagems for completing these projects;

1. The New Horizons Manual

The manual has gotten off to a flying start during the Islamic holidays at the end of November. Subsequently, I had taken a week off this endeavour to attempt a rapid prototyping effort in the Secrets of the Far Seas translation project.

Over the first week of December, I had noticed a significant change of pace from the usual 'sleeping giant' facade of the PA.net community; contributions and constructive feedback was now commonplace where there was none before, and so the manual I neglected sprouted many a new chapter whist I was indisposed. This necessitates my reallocation of time and resources to bolster this burgeoning effort lest it be squandered, never to return.

This waning interest is the killer of many a community project and I have seen enough of it. And so we have a quite significant discussion on documenting our current project, and making it more accessible to new players of this little-known genre.

2. Maritime history and philosophical blogs
(You'll see a lot of these here)

This may be considered an indirect advertising effort for New Horizons and the PiratesAhoy.net community itself; a response, if you may, to the generally waning interest in maritime history in our times, and an attempt to mimic the great historical discussions as found on other sites related to naval simulation. Such as the excellent CombinedFleet.com.

I shall make little mention as to my speculations on social psychology, but let's just say a lot of folks are more drawn to the scandals of pop culture, than the history of our great nations and the story of their continued survival.

Most think games are all about blowing things up in the fastest possible manner and with the grandest pyrotechnics! Oh how wrong they are, when you consider the science and the heritage; the real world cultures and technology in a harsh reality in the past or present that have all been, mercifully, translated into a more palatable format for our enjoyment.

With this note in mind, would it not be desirable to find out about the physics driving a sailing ship, the reasons for her form and function; the heritage of her armaments - and how all of them had created, eventually, the art and science of modern naval engineering!

Indeed, it is surprising what inspirations can be gleaned from such epic efforts such as the New Horizons project, and I be determined not to let that stout decade-spanning determination go to waste!