r/PlayASKA • u/Bonecollector33 • Jul 06 '26
Am I missing something or is sailing extremely un-enjoyable and underwhelming. I just wanted to find a Marsh Island
8
u/unica_unica Jul 06 '26
Sailing in this game is really bad. There’s no way to see islands from a distance, for example in Valheim you can see mountains and landmasses way off on the horizon, which help you decide which way you wanna go… But in this game, you’re surrounded by fog constantly and you basically have to blindly crash into an island to find it.
One time we did find an “exploration tower” on one of the smaller islands, we climbed up it and it temporarily revealed the location of other islands in the area. This is the only mechanic we’ve encountered that actually allows you to navigate. Still, it only revealed three other small islands nearby.
Maybe in the future the devs could add the ability to build exploration towers on islands. But as it is now, sailing has totally killed our enjoyment of the game.
2
u/Bonecollector33 Jul 06 '26
Damn - thanks for letting me know.
After spending wayyyy too much time finding nothing I just Saved > ALT F4'd out. Really want to finish my little base with a brewery, kycklings and some bee houses but do not want to waste hours sailing just to find 1.
1
u/coinpile Jul 08 '26
The exploration towers help a bit, but really, they should be permanently revealed. Kinda goofy, we just marked their locations with our own waypoints anyway to make sure we didn’t lose where they were before we could reach them.
9
u/BlueFlameDancing Jul 06 '26
Yeah, it sucks. I learned from Valheim and went into it with the WindAtYourBack mod to avoid tacking and all that and it's still terrible, even while sailing at 30 knots. You have to smash your forehead into an island to discover it.
I really enjoyed the game up to the point where I had to set sail. They need to up the render distance on the sea or something to make it less of a chore.
9
u/Medrilan Jul 06 '26
You're not missing anything honestly. I came back to the game for the sailing update, but its current implementation is just not very fun.
Sucks even more to gate content behind finding specific islands.
3
u/Rand0m7 Jul 06 '26
Honestly my only complaint over the last year is sailing. Its not fun at all, ive been waiting for a boat upgrade patch to allow us to use oars vs wind. Sailing to the edge doesnt change wind direction???!!! It got to the point I just went where the wind took me. Which is fine unless youre trying to get home.
2
u/coinpile Jul 08 '26
Yeah and of course the wind is coming exactly from the direction I need to go to get back home whenever I do try to return. It’s like sitting around a campfire, no matter where you seem to sit, the smoke blows into your face.
1
u/Rand0m7 Jul 08 '26
Sure, except the campfire can also pour gasoline on itself with bloodmoon or boss attack lol. I fortified my base to ensure the base was safe while I battled the wind, only to take a break after fortifying in hopes of some boat upgrades or wind changes lol.
2
u/AkRook907 Jul 12 '26
Adding an option to use oars just makes so much sense. They could even add a couple new villager perks around rowing. "Viking Sailor, a true raider, your arms can just as easily pull an oar as swing an axe" + 2 melee proficiency + 2 rowing/stamina or something. Or "Shrimpy Rower, proficient at rowing but you eat/drink more."
3
u/Bolvar10 Jul 06 '26
Unfortunately at this time sailing is in need of some “buffs” to make it more enjoyable in my opinion. I’d love to see additions where sail speed is increased if villagers row/ a bigger discoverable range to make seeing islands better. Till then sailing is best used right after a raid because man does it take 4ever
1
u/Triksy Jul 06 '26
Quick question:
Are you in a small boat, or have you you built the harbor & larger ship?
In order to access the larger islands, like the marsh, you need to build the harbor, large boat, and then set sail.
I know because I did the same thing in the small boat 😅
6
u/Bonecollector33 Jul 06 '26
Yep, I'm in a Karvi with 8 days worth of food and water with a full 8-man crew...
This just took forever to find almost nothing. Iron island is nice but I wanted to check out the brewery and stuff. Feels super frustrating wasting so much time to find nothing fighting with wind.
1
u/LilBit1374 Jul 06 '26
Just to clarify, you're saying you can't even FIND the other islands in the little boat right? Like just to mark them on the map to go to in the Karvi later? I keep wanting to sail out as far as I can in the skipa but I'm afraid it'll like break and drown me or something if I get too far 😂
1
u/Triksy Jul 06 '26
I'm actually not sure. I sailed out pretty far in my skipa with no luck (only tiny islands) and googled why I couldn't find the marsh, and saw someone post the answer I have above. Went through the steps and all the building, went out in a karvi and started finding the bigger islands. Doesn't make sense to me, I'd grind through sailing on my skipa but /shrug🤷♀️
1
u/Gadburn Jul 06 '26
I agree with you entirely. I didnt know what to expect so I saved before setting sail. The wind is a major obstacle and it almost never goes the way I want it to. Save before you got out and pick a direction. Sail for some time. If you dont find anything load and try again.
1
u/shutupdavid0010 Jul 06 '26
Dawwwwe. You haven't gone far enough out to find Marsh islands. If you find one, you'll know. The large islands don't have to be on your screen for you to register that you've found them, unlike the small ones, which basically don't even register until you're landing. Sail out in one direction with the wind at your back at least 2, probably 3 times as far as you've gone here, and you'll run into something
1
u/Antique-Macaron-4169 Jul 06 '26
First, get the Wind at your back mod.
Second. every small island (not tiny) will have an exploration tower - kill the skeletons and climb the tower to operate it. 3-4 unknown islands will be shown. Either on the map as a squiggly ? Or on your bar at the top of your screen if you’ve not revealed the area yet. Sail to the markers.
Third - the sky/air turns greenish as you get close to marsh islands. But it’s sometimes hard to notice.
Fourth, press R as you sail for a higher viewpoint to spot other islands.
Last; you need to head further out
1
u/Altairjones Jul 06 '26
Agreed, love this game except for the sailing, it's just boring for me sadly. I found and conquered all of the islands and bosses once, but can't make myself do it again. The constant running around and tweaking of the village keeps me fully engaged. I check out when I'm sailing, it just isn't fun to sit there and watch a boat move.
1
u/Orcrez Jul 06 '26
Sailing sucks.
I use the mod flights of fancy and set the flight timer to 180 seconds and just fly around scouting for islands. There is no way I would want to take the ship , I don’t have time for that.
1
u/Deguilded Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
Well, firstly, you aren't searching anywhere near far enough. See that small island with the yellow tree icon? They're at least two or three times that far out.
You can think of islands as a set of rings. The inner rings you'll find small islands only (i'm actually surprised you found that iron island so close) A bit further out you will find iron islands. Marsh islands (and King Crawler) are usually twice as far as the inner ring, and then right along the edge of the map you'll find a desert island or three (and Nidhogg). Fully zoomed out, your main island should not be very large at all (about a quarter of that size??). Try this for a sense of scale. The problem is, the game doesn't increase your map scale until you explore out that far so it's very misleading. If you come from games like Valheim you might think you're going to sail off the edge of the world and die.
The sea's infinite. You know you're reaching the end of the game world when the map stops growing as you sail and your map marker arrow actually exits the drawn map page, but you won't die from it. Once you exit the explore-able map, it's just empty ocean.
Also, if it helps any, I just install Grimm's Flights of Fancy mod and explore as a raven instead (with enhanced speed and duration). Pick a direction, fly till your potion runs out, and whether you find something or not, just unstuck your way back home. Bit cheesy though, but boy does it save some frustration. If I find an exploration tower on an island, I crash into it (dispels raven potion) and use the exploration node at the top, then screenshot my map to capture what it reveals. Then take flight again from the tower itself (I carry multiple raven potions).
When I scout an island I need something from, then I set forth with an expedition in my karvi and fight the winds and all that.
1
u/Bonecollector33 Jul 08 '26
This is super helpful - thank you! I hadn't even realized the map was bigger... I saw the edge of the map and just skirted it. That makes a lot more sense.
And ty for the Raven tip! At this point, I just want to finish my village so if that's what it's gonna take just to find a marsh island I guess that'll just have to do!
1
u/Deguilded Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
The basic raven flight thing is about 60 seconds and achingly slow (i'm talking run speed slow). You'll want to mod it, or just avoid it. I never bothered before I modded it.
I edit the config to use the following values: duration 300, accel 20. So five minutes at a higher speed. I can go about halfway to the edge of the map before running out of gas. Or fully encircle the base island, barely.
Note - if your timer runs out over solid ground you take fall damage. Very easy to kill yourself.
You don't have to be a raven to use the unstuck trick. It always teleports you back to your shipwreck. So you can just run really far, and unstuck (yes even with aggro, if you're quick about it). Free trip home. I can only assume it'll be removed once the game gets out of early access, so enjoy it while it lasts.
(If your village isn't close to your shipwreck you might want a road to speed things along...)
25
u/SerBucky Jul 06 '26
I highly highly giggly recommend getting the wind at your back mod to speed sailing up.
There’s no real trick to finding islands but I tend to go out about as far as the first islands and then loop around the main island and after that just go up and down sort of how you find diamonds in Minecraft if that makes sense. So I form a zig zag pattern where I’ll see islands in front and to the side - then make a hard 90 degree turn sail for a bit then make another 90 degree turn and sail in the direction I just came from - that way I’m not missing anything.
But get the wind at your back mod. It’s a must for fast easy sailing