Sid Meier's Pirates!

[Goodsport]

Sorry, not enough credit. To be fully certified, you must spend 2 grueling hours watching Cutthroat Island with Geena Davis.

Hopefully I can substitute that with Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest, which I did watch.


-G

 

[Goodsport]

Now that Take 2 Interactive has taken over the rights of this game (and other games) from Atari, you can now find the game's website here, and can download the 1.02 patch from here.

In any case, I just started playing this game again for the first time in a while, and oh man does it still rock!

Actually, it rocks even more than before after the solution occured to me to the mistake I kept making the first time I played:

Before, I'd (as the pirate captain) immediately spend our hard-earned money on ship upgrades to improve our chances of not sinking or going down in battle, on food so that the crew wouldn't starve out at sea, etc., yet I'd notice that crew morale would sing rapidly anyway (sometimes to Mutinous levels).

It seems that the crew only really cares about the gold that'll eventually be divied up between us, and any spending of that gold (even on essentials) lowers how much they'll eventually get. They're kinda like children in they don't appreciate what needs to be spent on food, shelter, clothing and such... they just want their toys, even at the expense of those necessities.

So once I started paying closer attention to keeping the crew's morale up while still purchasing what was necessary, I was able to sail longer. That led me to attack more ships (thus far, mainly other pirate ships) to supplement the necessary food and cargo while not having to spend the gold (as a matter of fact, to gain more gold and other cargo) further led me into the truer spirit of the game, and the rest of the game-experience flowed from there.

Other aspects include no longer being afraid to battle other established pirate captains, finding buried treasure often and courting governors' daughters.

It seems that this game has a lot more depth than I'd previously realized, and I'm having more of a blast playing this now that I know what I need to do to survive and thrive as a pirate/privateer. I can't wait to play this game again soon.


-G

 

[Goodsport]

yet I'd notice that crew morale would sing rapidly anyway (sometimes to Mutinous levels).

Oops... that was meant to be "sink", not "sing".

What's also cool is that the game does have a backstory and an overall quest: to find your pirate captain's family and to get revenge against the evil Spanish nobleman who had abducted them ten years earlier.

You can either follow the clues to the quest or simply go off to do your own thing - or both. But your time isn't unlimited as you do age over time in the game.


-G

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Oops... that was meant to be "sink", not "sing".

What's also cool is that the game does have a backstory and an overall quest: to find your pirate captain's family and to get revenge against the evil Spanish nobleman who had abducted them ten years earlier.

You can either follow the clues to the quest or simply go off to do your own thing - or both. But your time isn't unlimited as you do age over time in the game.


-G

No, I am afraid that it was sing.

The Auld Grump

 

[Goodsport]

My pirate captain/privateer/admiral/etc. just got married to the beautiful daughter of a Spanish governor, after having rescued her from the clutches of Captain Mendoza.

I can't recall another game I've played where my character got married (did it ever happen in any of the Final Fantasy games?). It was a pretty neat touch.


-G

 

[Goodsport]

Has the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (due in theaters on May 25th) whetted your appetite for this game and/or vice versa?


-G

 

[Matchstick]

You might want to check out http://www.burningsea.com

 

[Goodsport]

You might want to check out http://www.burningsea.com

Will it be better than Pirates of the Caribbean Online?

 

[Keldryn]

My pirate captain/privateer/admiral/etc. just got married to the beautiful daughter of a Spanish governor, after having rescued her from the clutches of Captain Mendoza.

I can't recall another game I've played where my character got married (did it ever happen in any of the Final Fantasy games?). It was a pretty neat touch.


-G

Your character got married in Phantasy Star III (Sega Genesis). Twice, actually...

Your first character in the game, Rhys gets to choose between two women at a certain point in the game. The game then picks up 20ish years later with you playing the son of either of these two marriages. Then at the end of that generation, you get to make the choice again, giving you four possible different protagonists for the last part of the game.

 

[Goodsport]

Your character got married in Phantasy Star III (Sega Genesis). Twice, actually...

Your first character in the game, Rhys gets to choose between two women at a certain point in the game. The game then picks up 20ish years later with you playing the son of either of these two marriages. Then at the end of that generation, you get to make the choice again, giving you four possible different protagonists for the last part of the game.

That's pretty interesting.

But would you lose the game if you chose wrong?