Pirates amiga manual

Navy warships are on patrol, Letters of Marque are harder to find, governors are less tolerant. Enjoy this era while you can, for it is the end of an age. This period is somewhat tough for novices but interesting and challenging for all others.

Specific roles available vary from period to period no Dutch role is available in The role you choose determines where you start, what ship s you have, the size of your crew, your initial wealth and reputation, etc.

Your initial nationality does not require you to support that nation many of France's admirals in the Caribbean during the s were Dutch buccaneers! Your acts speak for you: if you deeds please a nation, a governor may reward you.

If you anger a nation, a governor can order his harbor forts to fire on you! English is often a useful nationality. This nation supports privateers into the 16th Century, and just as generously supported private colonization ventures in the next Century. French is the second classic Nationality for pirates. Although this nation provides less support to its sons overseas, it also gives them more independence and more freedom of action.

Furthermore, the growing 17th Century French colonies on Western Hispaniola and Tortuga are ideal pirate bass. Dutch is an exciting and different nationality. Except in the s, the Dutch sailed as traders to the Caribbean, not as warriors. Of course, once in the Caribbean, more than a few supplemented their trading with more violent and profitable pursuits. As a rule, Dutch traders tried to stay on the good side of the French and English, although this was not always possible. Spanish is the most challenging nationality.

As a Spanish renegade you start in a weak position, although in you can play the interesting role of Costa Guarda - the Spanish Caribbean coast guard who often acted liked pirates themselves! In either event, Spanish origin is a pleasant change and refreshing challenge.

Your Name - Type in any name you wish, but you are limited to nine characters. Press the 'Return' key to finish your entry. This gives you the easiest and most helpful environment for learning.

Apprentice gives the player maximum "aid" from expert subordinate officers on board the ship. This makes play easier, but whenever the party's loot is divided, all these experts take rather large shares, leaving little for you.

Journeyman is moderately easy. The player's subordinates are less expert although still quite good , but your share of the loot is larger. Adventurer is moderately difficult. Your subordinates are mediocre, but your share of the loot is very good.

Swashbuckler is extremely difficult. Your subordinates are 'drunken gutter swine' of precious little value. Of course, your share of the loot is the largest possible. Apprentice difficulty level insures that all activities are fairly easy. Skill at Fencing gives you well-trained reflexes that make enemy actions and reactions seem sluggish by comparison.

Skill at Navigation make travel on the high seas faster and easier. Skill at Gunnery aids you during naval battles, making your broadsides more likely to land on-target. Wit and Charm is useful when dealing with governors and others of high station. Skill at Medicine helps you preserve your good health longer, and to suffer less from injuries. As a result, your career can last longer.

The itinerary varies from year to year. The itineraries appear in chronological order later in this document. Be sure you have the correct year, and don't mistake the Treasure Fleet for the Silver Train, or vice versa. If you answer the question correctly, then events will unfold to your advantage. If you answer incorrectly, you are warned about an unpromising start. Heed the advice and start over, otherwise you'll find your situation most bleak. In both cases it is inaccessible to you.

You'll have to wait until it reappears in the Caribbean area. Spain's solution adopted informally in the s, was to "convoy" ships together in one powerful fleet. Each year the fleet "flota" sailed from Seville in Spain, carrying passengers, troops, and European trade goods to the Spanish colonies of the new world.

However, its principal purpose was returning silver from the mines in New Spain Mexico and Potosi Peru to the Spanish government in Europe. This vast wealth made the returning fleet a tempting target. Privateer and pirate ships frequently followed it, hoping to pick off stragglers.

This was a dangerous business, since a well-handled war galleon could and sometimes did turn the tables and capture a pirate! Similarly, the mule train roads along the coast of Terra Firma South America moved silver and other goods toward the major ports of Cartagena, Nombre de Dios, and Puerto Bello. These trains carried produce and specie destined to be loaded aboard the treasure fleet.

You discouraged thieves, righted injustice, protected your family, and maintained your honor with a sword. Whether challenged to a duel, or fighting your way through a tavern brawl, skill with cold steel was simple survival. If not, see the "Captains Broadsheet" for your equivalent controls.

You are on the right side of the battle scene, your opponent is on the left. To Attack, push the stick left, toward the enemy. Push high for a high attack, horizontal for a mid-level attack, low for a low attack.

Hold the trigger before and during the attack for a slower but more powerful slashing attack. To Parry, do not push left or right. Just push up to parry high attacks, leave centered to parry mid-level attacks, and push down to parry low attacks. To Retreat, push the stick right, away from the enemy.

You parry while retreating, and like normal parries, these can be high, mid-level, or low, depending on stick position. To Pause, press the pause key. To resume fencing, press it again. For all three weapons, a slash is twice as effective as a normal attack, should it hit.

Of course, slashes take longer to execute. Your opponent also has different weapons. The color of your opponent's shirt indicates the weapon he carries. The rapier is a long, thin, flexible weapon with a sharp point. It can be maneuvered easily and thrust into a target with accuracy.

It has a longer reach than any other weapon, but its strikes do the least damage that is, you must hit more often to defeat the enemy. The cutlass is a short, heavy, curved cleaver with a mean edge but short reach. Cutlass hits can be devastating twice as damaging as a rapier making it a popular weapon among untutored fighters. The longsword is a classic weapon of medium length longer than a cutlass, shorter than a rapier.

Its attacks do more than a rapier, but less than a cutlass. Attacking and defensive movements, including wrist, arm, body, and footwork are as automatic as throwing or kicking a ball. Put together, these motions form "combinations" that allow you to attack, parry, or retreat in various ways. Each combination takes one to two seconds to execute. In battle, victory depends on selecting the best combination.

If you recognize an attacking combination fast enough, you can block it with a defensive combination, or counterattack with a combination that exploits his attack. A "hit" occurs whenever an attack connects. You'll see a flash and a hint of blood when you hit. Each hit weakens your enemy and demoralizes his followers. Retreat from battle is easy. Just select retreat combinations until you move off the screen.

This ends the battle. Of course, you lose whatever you were fighting over and your reputation suffers. On the other hand, when facing a skillful enemy, retreat is often better than defeat! It also occurs in large battles when a leader's forcer are reduced to just one man, and then he is hit. Striking a man who surrendered is an unchivalrous deed that may inspire him to rise and fight on.

Novices are advised to select a cutlass and just keep attacking, high, low, and middle, relying on the large damage done with each hit. However, if you'd like to defend yourself with some parry combinations, a weapon with more reach, such as a longsword or rapier, is recommended. As a fencer, you select a combination and your body automatically makes the appropriate moves. All attacking combinations include forward-moving footwork.

Therefore, to advance against your opponent, select an attacking combination. Similarly, all retreating combinations cause you to back away from your opponent.

Slashing High takes the longest period of time to execute, but has an extra- long reach. If it hits, this combination does twice the damage of a normal attack. Slashing Mid-Level is a faster slash, but slower than normal attacks and parries. If it hits, this combination does double the damage of a normal attack. Slashing Low is the fastest slash, but has a slightly shorter reach. If it hits, this combination does twice as much damage as a normal attack. Attacking High is a moderately fast attack that exploits the point rather than the edge of a weapon.

It has a longer reach than mid-level or low attacks and slashes. If it hits, this combination does half as much damage as a slash.

Attacking Mid-Level is the second-fastest attack. It also emphasizes the point, rather than the edge. Therefore, if it hits this combination only does half as much damage as a slash. Attacking Low is the fastest attack, but has a slightly shorter reach than normal. Like high and mid-level attacks, it uses the point. Parrying High counters any high combination, attack or slash. As high attacks are slower developing than mid-level or low, defensive fighters rarely stand "on guard" in a high parry.

Parrying Mid-Level counters any mid-level combination, attack or slash. This is a classic "on guard" position to which many swordsmen return. A fencer can move from this position to any other position very quickly. Parrying Low counters any low combination, attack or slash. Experienced swordsmen periodically stand "on guard" in a low parry, since low attacks can develop very quickly. Most of the time you are leading your stalwart crew against the enemy. As you duel the enemy leader, your crewmen are also fighting.

Morale: Your hits against the enemy leader, and his against you, change the morale of each side in battle. Morale levels run from WILD! Number of Men: As you fight, a battle rages around you. The rate each side suffers casualties depends on their strength and their morale. If morale is fairly equal, a force with superior numbers will inflict more casualties.

However, an inferior force that has high morale can avoid casualties and inflict serious losses on a larger force with very low morale. Therefore, morale can be more important than numerical comparisons. Surrender occurs when you inflict sufficient hits on an enemy leader in "panic" or when you've reduced the enemy to just one remaining man and then hit the leader regardless of morale. Of course, the same could happen to you. Unschooled in fencing, he'd carry a sharp cutlass and swing away, knowing that a spine-splittin slash do'd more than a half dozen rapier thrusts.

I hear Blackbeard himself, who always used a cutlass, was run through several score times by a rapier before he fell. He'd not lasted so long with a cutlass in his gizzard, mate! Well, I'm no fencing master, but I had some schoolin' in the art of cold steel.

I'd use a cutlass to terrify poor, inept merchant Captains, slashin 'em up and chopin' 'em down quick as a slipped anchor.

Toledo steel it was, with a fine balance and nice edge. In a serious fight I'd not slash much, since it slowed me down and exposed me too long.

Now I know rapiers are all the rage now, and their extra reach is right handy. But it takes too bless'd long to do in the opposition with an overgrown pin! Now if'n I 'twas leadin' my men 'gainst greater numbers, me tactics did change. I remember bein' boarded by a war galleon commanded by an Admiral or Count or somethin'.

Long fancy name, he had. But outnumbered as we were, I had ta' strike quick like, get the battle goin' our way, or me mates would've been slaughtered up right quick. So I's grabbed a cutlass and charged that Don, howlin' like a demon. I shrugged off a couple rapier pricks and got right in eye-to-eye, slashin' at 'is legs.

That took some stuffin' out of him right quick! With them papists all shaken and panicy like, it didna' take long to polish 'em off. A man protected his own property and person against thieves and banditry, since the kingdom often could not. It was the rare man who went without some weapon. Noblemen settled disputes "quietly" in duels, rather than through open warfare a medieval practice the Crown frowned upon.

Commoners used staves, clubs, crude spears, large knives and such. Where available, the heavy cutlass was an ideal weapon for a stout but untutored fighter.

The Colonial Frontier: Life in the colonies was even more unruly than the homeland. This was This was especially true of the English and French colonies, largely populated with convicts, fortune hunters, deadbeats, religious fanatics, and other people the homeland was happy to see off. Furthermore, in the colonies the landholder might be absent or nonexistent. In Europe every square inch of land was part of some nobleman's demise, and he or his family usually lived just up the road, ready to enforce ancient feudal custom and law.

Firearms existed in this era, but were still newfangled weapons of slow speed and dubious reliability. Throughout the s firearms were fired with a slow-burning match. Reloading was a long, laborious process that required two minutes or more, complicated by the need to handle loose gunpowder while you held a lighted match!

The flintlock and trigger invented in in France was used by hunters, sportsmen, and probably buccaneers by However, it was not reliable enough for military use until In battle you might carry a loaded pistol or three, but you relied upon your sword, not your guns.

Note that the musketeers of Dumas' Three Musketeers based on events in the s generally used their swords, despite being members of the most elite firearms unit in the entire French army! Idyllic tropical islands and lush jungled shores contain in its steady currents. Stretching over three thousand miles, the water is a broad highway between mainland ports, island towns and hidden anchorages. Continue Travels returns you to your previous activity. Party Status shows what your group owns and the attitude of your men happy, pleased, unhappy, or angry.

Beware of mutiny if the men remain angry too long. Expect defections if you run out of food. Personal Status shows your standing with each nation, and personal details about your age, health, wealth and reputation.

If your health is poor, you will be forced to retire soon. Ship's Log recaps your activities and travels, with notes about special information you found. If you're confused about recent events, consult your log. Maps is a file of all your map fragments to buried treasures and other hidden locations. Initially you have none. You'll find that all maps have the objective buried treasure, hidden plantation, etc.

Unfortunately, it's a secret map, so parts may be missing. Cities provide all available information about the various towns and cities in the Caribbean. Just point to a name and press the joystick trigger, mouse button or return key as appropriate to see more information. If an important event such as a pirate attack or a new governor radically changes information about a town you'll find "no information available" until you either visit the town or purchase new information from a traveller in a tavern.

Take a Sun Sight allows you to spend the day plotting your position with the astrolabe. An explanation of this technique is found later on in this document. Search means you'll spend a day searching for treasure or other hidden things at your present location. If you're in the right spot, and have the appropriate map fragment, you'll find what's there.

Without a map fragment you always find nothing. This option is not available if you are at sea or in a town. Save Game allows you to save the game in progress. This option is available only if you are in a town. He can tell you with whom his nation wars and allies. He may make special offers or awards. With luck and sufficient prestige, you may meet his daughter. However, the governor does not spend much time entertaining coarse sea dogs like you.

Once you have visited the governor of a town, don't expect to gain admittance again soon. Visit a Tavern: Taverns are a place where you can recruit additional men for your crew, hear the news, purchase detailed information from travellers, and perhaps meet new and interesting people.

You can visit a tavern again and again, drowning your sorrows in drink while time passes. Trade with a Merchant: This option is explained in more detail below.

Divide up the Plunder: As Captain, you get a fixed percentage of the party's wealth the percentage varies with difficulty level. The remainder is divided among the crew. Furthermore, not only is the plunder divided, but also the ships, stores, goods and cannon on them. The crew always disperses with their newfound wealth, leaving you with just your flagship and its share of the provisions and armament.

After refitting your ship which takes a few months you'll have to rebuild your band from scratch. Check Information: This shows information about you, your party, and the current situation see the preceding subsection for details.

Leave Town: Your party departs from the town, ready to either set sail or march away overland, as you prefer. They can repair or buy ships and cannon, but almost never have any for sale. To buy or sell any item, move the pointer up or down to select the line with the proper item. Then move the pointer left to move items onto your ship the appropriate amount of gold is automatically given to the merchant. Move the pointer right to sell items to th merchant the appropriate amount of gold id automatically moved from the merchant to you.

When items are bought and sold, the amount of space left in your hold is also adjusted automatically. In addition, if you have more than one ship, you can sell the extras. If you have any damaged ships, you can pay for their repair. In this case you must sell at least enough items to bring the space up to zero. See your "Captain's Broadsheet" for a detailed description of the controls.

Set Sail: If you ship is on the coastline and your party of men is touching it, you can set sail. Use the Set Sail control to select one of the eight possible directions to set sail.

Sailing: Once you have set sail,, controls change. You will remain on course if you do not change the controls. In addition, you can turn right starboard or turn left port as you desire, like a real ship. Speed: The speed of a ship depends on how the wind blows against it. Travelling directly into the wind is always slowest. Travelling with wind coming diagonally from the rear is generally the fastest.

Each type of ship has a different "point of sailing" the wind position at which the ship develops maximum speed. What with shifting winds and periodic storms, sailing requires more than a little judgement and skill. If you have a fleet of many ships, the entire fleet travels at the speed of the single largest ship.

Pause: To pause your travels to deal with the minor details of life outside the Spanish Main press the Pause key. To resume, press it again. Weather: The clouds travelling overhead indicate the direction of the wind, which varies significantly. Clouds are storm fronts that provide strong, fast wind if you are near, but may trap our ship if you sail too close.

If you pass over these, one of your ships could lose its bottom. Pinnaces and sloops have a very shallow draft, allowing them to sail across the hazards without risk. Anchoring: You can only anchor in shallow, coastal water. Do this by sailing directly up to the coast. The ship automatically stops and your crew disembarks. If you anchor at a town, you have special choices see Arriving at a Town, below. Minimum Crew: It takes at least eight 8 men to sail a ship.

If you have fewer than eight men per ship, your men will abandon one. See your "Captain's Broadsheet" for details on controls. Of course, the land is mostly trackless jungle, swamps and mountains, making overland movement very slow. When moving on land your party can carry only as much as you can fit into your ships. This option is available only if you arrive at the town by sea. If the town is guarded by a fort, the fort may open fire on your ships if that nation is hostile.

If the nation is wary, the fort generally will not fire unless the governor personally dislikes you. March into Town means that your entire party walks into town openly and peacefully. This option is available only if you arrive by overland travel.

Attack Town has different effects, depending on whether you arrive by land or by sea. If by land, you will attack the town overland.

If the town has a fort with a large enough and brave enough! Naturally, this is rather dangerous, what with the fort's guns firing at you! Sneak into Town means that you hide your ships in a nearby cove and creep into the back streets at night with a few trusted men.

If you are afraid of fire from the forts, this is an excellent way to get inside and do some quiet business. However, if your reputation is large, you may be recognized and attacked. If that happens, you must fight your way out of town, or be captured and imprisoned.

When you sneak into town, the need to keep your identity secret prevents you from recruiting men in a tavern.

In addition, the party's loot is left behind in the ship, preventing you from dividing the plunder. Leave Town returns you to travelling about the Caribbean. A latitude scale appears on the side of your map of the Caribbean for easy reference. Controlling the Astrolabe: See the "Captain's Broadsheet" for information on how to control the Astrolabe. It can be moved left or right, and it's platform can be moved up or down.

Using the Astrolabe: your goal is to move the astrolabe beneath the sun and raise the platform so it just touches the bottom of the sun. To get an accurate reading, you must do this at noon when the sun reaches its highest point. Many Captains take multiple sunsights during a day, to insure they get a good noon sighting. Note that cloudy weather makes sun sightings difficult. Dead Reckoning Longitude: Longitude east-west position can be found only through dead reckoning.

If you're an apprentice captian, your expert sailing master provides a dead- reckoning estimate. Otherwise, you must make your own guess, based on how fast you've been travelling east or west. I'd just order the course and we'd sail there. If'n I was uncertain about our position, we'd take a sun sight, d'ye see, and the sailing master'd reckon out Longitude nice as you please.

But come time to divide the plunder, and I found my officers were getting three pieces o' eight to my one. No profit in that, thinks I, and go 'venturing next time with fewer officers. Well, it took me a bit o' times to learn better those chores that'd come so easy before.

But 'twas all worth it, the time I sailed from Port Royale to Curacao, sou' by sou'east, and made a dead perfect landfall! But bi'god a long tack to windward, to the Caribbees say, 'twas always a tiresome bit.

After we'd got Providence isle back from the Dons, I'd just hold onto me handy sloop. A quick refit we'd be off upwind to Barbados, see, with not one square-rigger to slow us down!

And I got right sneaky about getting what I wanted at ports. As any sailor knows, any ol' anchorage'd do for repairs; but to move plundered sugar and goods, my favorite device 'twas sailing to some big, wealth port, then sneak in to talk trade with the merchants. Spaniards weren't much for this in the rich towns, but narry an Englishman, Frenchman, or Dutchman lived who'd not do business wi' honest Capt'n Sydney!

Let 'em sense a profit, and they'd be at yer rail and hand what the gov'ner thought! And mate, I remember those times I'd visit the gov'ner hi'self. Got the true lowdown on war and allies and the like, sometimes even a dinner, or a nice rank if'n he liked me. Aye, and his ugly daughter, all religious like Well, I'd a more sense than marryin' the dear, let me tell ye!

Ah, well, then I got famous, and had ta' stop al this sneakin' bout. I was too well known. If the gov'ner took a dislike ta' me face, one step into town and guards'd be swarming. Price of success, mate, took half the pleasure out of life. The water surrounding the islands stays a constant 77 degrees F. This steady sea temperature maintains a pleasant climate on the surrounding land, although weather and elevation cause notable variations.

The most extended period of bad weather occurs in the summer and fall, from June to November, with hurricanes not uncommon in the later part of this season. In all seasons, the prevailing winds are trade winds coming from the east. Of course, local, temporary variations are not uncommon. Along this route the Florida Channel was the point of maximum danger. Unwary captains could be driven upon the Florida coast, or tack too far upwind and become lost in the treacherous Bahama shoals. Your first sighting of an enemy ship is its sails and masts coming over the horizon.

Continuing your voyage is a nearly foolproof way to evade any encounter. Investigating the sail means you automatically close on the other ship. Ship in View: If you investigated the sail, you'll now see the whole ship. If you sail away now, you may evade contact, but maybe not. Instead you can continue investigating, which closes the range further, allowing you to determine the ship's nationality.

See Her Colors: After the other ship hoists its colors, you can try to sail away peacefully, come alongside and talk over the latest news, or attack her. If the ship is a pirate or pirate-hunter, it may recognize you and attack, regardless of your choice. Select Your Flagship: if a battle occurs and you have more than one ship, you can select which will be your flagship. The ship you select fights the battle.

Winds are light. Which ship will sloops one damaged , and a you command? Any one of these can be Merchantman your flagship. Consider your choice Sloop carefully, since the type of ship Sloop damgd you're sailing can be important in Pinnace battle. If your flagship is small, you'll find the number of men and guns limited by the capacity of the ship.

Furthermore, it takes four 4 or your crewmen to man each gun. If your crew is too small, you may have fewer than the maximum number of cannon available.

The ship you select remains your flagship until the next battle. The color of a ship's hull matches the color of it's name below. See the "Captain's Broadsheet" for specific control information. Sailing: Maneuvering in battle is similar to travel by sea.

You can turn right, turn left, or remain on course. Change Sails: You can either Set Full Sails for maximum speed in battle, or Reduce to Battle Sails for lower speeds with much less risk of rigging damage. You begin battle with battle sails set. Fire Broadside: Push the Fire Broadside key to shoot. Your gun captains automatically fire the side of the ship nearest the enemy.

Remember, your guns are mounted along the left and right sides of the ship. Therefore, to aim your guns, you must turn the ship so its side faces the enemy. After a broadside is fired the gun crews reload as fast as possible.

Reloading speed depends on morale of your crew. A happy crew loads faster than an unhappy one. Enemy reloading speed depends on the quality of their crew warships, pirate-hunters, and pirates have better quality crews than peaceful merchantmen and cargo fluyts. Reloading is temporarily halted if you change your sails - the gun crews are needed to aloft to handle the sails.

The effect of gunfire varies with the number of guns firing, and the size of ship hit. For example, an broadside from a gun ship into a galleon may have little effect while the same into a pinnace might leave her a flaming wreck. Pause: Press the Pause key to halt the action, and again to resume it. Escape From Battle: To escape from a naval battle, sail away from the enemy. Once the distance between ships is large enough, the battle ends automatically.

Microprose as its best, on the Amiga. Alot better then the C64 version even though the C64 version is pretty good This had it all great GFX, sound and gameplay. I still have my original of the game and i still enjoy playing it to this very day.

One of the classics that is simply the best on the Amiga and NO other version tops it. Great game one of the best!!!! That makes the game even more realistic. I have spent hours and hours in front of my monitor with the map of Caribbean besides me. True Legend! View all comments 3.

The only flaw is that the wind is always blowing in the same direction, making it frustrating as hell to sail east! The recent remake is crap by comparison - nice looking, but far too easy.

Belongs among the top 3 titles ever released on the Amiga. Possibly only bettered by it's C64 brother.. Great music also - this is the version to play - forget the Gold version - it's drawn out and dull by comparison and as for the latest version released on the PC - forget it.. Gimme this version anyday m8ties! But then I have never ever played it actually! Now I've outed myself for hundrets of Amiga Fans!

The rest of the game was a hoot although I found the difficulty curve to be a bit mental- you could either rule the seas on easy or be crushed to matches on the others. Didn't matter though- l loved it. What can I say that hasn't already been said. The amount of time I spent playing this for the past 15 years is incredible. Must have spent This game never gets old. Still find myself going back to it along with the updated PC version. How's this for replayability, got my friend hooked on the Amiga version only 2 years ago.

It was all she wanted to play when she came over. While this is basically the same brilliant game, it's just that rough charisma the Amiga version is missing. The Amiga version of Pirates blows the original 64 game out of the water so to speak! Thankfully the Amiga version graphics have been redone to take advantage of the the Amiga, so you get the best of both worlds, great graphics and great gameplay!

Sail your ship, fight sword fights, attack forts, engage in trading, rescue long lost family members, and if you're successful enough, marry a beautiful lady! Must be played to be appreciated. Incredibilty immersive for game with such unimpressive graphics even at the time, they were nothing to write home about. Great gameplay, an all time favourite! In case someone forgot to mention that this game is the best game ever in the whole history of the whole world of the history of best games evers, I think I should.

The recent PC remake, "sid meyer's pirates", is quite good too. No matter the platform it's been played at - it was marvelous and it shined! It still is. Unfortunatelly PC version of this Amiga title hasn't been as good as this one is It's the feeling of it.. That should every experienced gamer know. Now I'm not saying that the C64 version is better then the Amiga version.. But its equally the same game.. Jams I am so tired of people saying that the C64 versions is so much better especially about this game.

What's so good about crap graphics? I loved the mixture of adventure, strategy and action although not for too many days in a row. Even the manual was entertaining and informative! Not many games can offer the same amount of freedom that pirates can. You want to be a merchant? Go right ahead. You want to kick ass for your country? You got it! You want to kick everyone's ass just for your own amusement?

There's a whole new world here, a world full of adventure and ripe with plunder. Rich, fat treasure ships carry South American silver and gold back to Spain, and French, Dutch and English vessels carry booty only slightly less valuable.

The boisterous buccaneer towns teem with lusty pirates seeking a bold commander to lead them to wealth untold. Constantly at war with one another, the Great Powers are always in search of doughty privateers to take to the seas and do their fighting for them.

Those who succeed will achieve great fame and personal wealth - the bones of those who fail will forever lie in Davy Jones's locker. Greetings to our new players! Do not be alarmed at the size of this manual - though Pirates!

Then dive into a new game. In the meantime, please bear with us for a moment while we talk to some old friends, and then we'll have you at sea in no time at all! To fans of original Pirates! Gold - welcome back! In this version of Pirates! Insufficient Crew: In the old version of Pirates! If you had not enough men to fire all of your cannon, the unmanned cannon never fired.

If you did not have eight men to sail a vessel, that vessel surrendered or had to be abandoned. You can sail a vessel with fewer than its minimum effective crew, but the ship will be much slower and less manoeuvrable. The ship can fire all of its cannon in battle, but it will take far longer for the reduced crew to reload the guns after firing. If you attack either of these vessels, your flagship will have to fight both of them at the same time.

If you attempt to sneak into an unfriendly city, the scene will change to display an overhead view of the city. You then have to guide your pirate through the streets, avoiding or knocking out the patrolling guards until you reach your destination.

Speaking of which…. Special Items: During the game your pirate may be given or allowed to purchase a number of special items. There are many such items available and the pirate may collect them all. These include cooks, gunners, sail-makers, and so forth. Each specialist will assist you in important ways: the cook keeps your men happier during long journeys at sea; the sail-maker repairs sail damage after a battle; and so forth. The introductory movie and title screens will appear.

Watch them through, or press any keyboard button or click a mouse button to. The main menu contains the following entries,. You can select an entry using your mouse or keyboard. Pick this if you want to begin a new game of Pirates! Resume a game that you began earlier. You can access games that you saved manually as well as auto-saved games. You will also find an exciting community of fellow pirates as well as player-generated content, game hints and tips, and other cool.

View the Pirates! Hall of Fame, where your top game scores are recorded. You can choose from several historical game-eras available.

For your first few games we suggest that you choose the default era : The Buccaneer Heroes — is the only era available on Apprentice difficulty. There are four nationalities to choose from. It is not unknown for a pirate to turn on his own nation if he gets a better offer from somebody else!

English is one of the easiest nationalities to play in the default era The Buccaneer Heroes You start the game with friendly ports in highly useful locations, and since England is almost always at war with Spain, you can usually gain quick English promotions by attacking Spanish vessels and cities.

This is not the easiest nation to play. The Dutch have far fewer ports than the other nations though Curacao makes a fine base for trading with or attacking Spanish cities on the Spanish Main.

Further, the Dutch are not quite as often at war with their neighbours, so Dutch promotions can be hard to come by. This may be the toughest nationality to start with.

Spain has by far the most ports on the game, which leaves you fewer targets to attack a problem only if you wish to remain loyal to Holy Spain. On the other hand, Spain is nearly always at war with somebody - privateering can be extremely profitable. The difficulty level affects a number of aspects of the game. The higher the difficulty level, the tougher your opponents in action sequences - ship battles, dueling, and so forth.

In addition, it is harder to recruit crewmen and keep them happy at the higher levels. On the other hand, as the difficulty level rises you get to keep a larger portion of the booty when you divide the plunder.

Once in the game you can raise or lower the difficulty level only when you divide the plunder. The scene changes, and you find yourself at sea, just outside of a port of your nationality. This screen displays a portion of the Caribbean. The view remains centred on your ship at all times. Your Ship: Your ship appears in the centre of the map.

Other Ships: Other ships will appear on the map when they get within sight of your vessel. Each ship has a coloured strip, sail emblem and flag denoting its nationality: black for pirates, yellow for Spain, Orange for the Dutch, red for England, and blue for France. Cities: The map displays the cities currently in sight.

Shoals: Shallow rocks which might damage large vessels if the ships sail over them. Clouds: These indicate heavy winds. You can use them to speed your journey. Storm Clouds: These are dangerous storms which frequently appear in the Caribbean, particularly during hurricane season. These storms are accompanied by heavy winds a cunning sailor can use to speed his journey; however, if you get too close to such a storm you risk serious sail damage to your vessel. Landmark: Landmarks like these dot the Caribbean.

Pirates often refer to such landmarks when drawing treasure maps. Certain landmarks are visible only by land parties on shore. The higher the fame rating, the more successful the pirate. Food Indicator: This displays how much food your crew has available. Crew Size Indicator: This tells you how many men you have in your crew. Wind Speed Indicator: This indicates how fast the wind is blowing. Quest Icons: These provide links to any current quests, missions, and treasure maps you have.

Use the Helm Control keys number pad 4 and 6 to steer your vessel. As every pirate knows, port is to your left when you are standing on a vessel facing forward. Starboard is to your right. Your sails can be in one of the two configurations: full sails or reefed sails. A ship with full sails has spread as much canvass as possible to move as quickly as possible; reefed sails slow the ship down but improve her handling in tight waters.

Push the Full Sail number pad 8 and Reefed Sail number pad 2 buttons to switch between the two configurations. You need a certain minimum number of sailors to man your ship at peak effectiveness. If you have fewer than that number of crew, your ship will be slower and your crew will take longer to reload cannon during combat.

If you have multiple ships in your fleet, you need enough crew to meet the crew requirements for all ships. Note: You usually begin a game of Pirates! You need eight crewmen to sail and fight this ship effectively.

A vessel's hull design and sail configuration determines its sailing characteristics. In general, ships with square sails such as the frigate or merchantman tend to perform best when sailing "large" - that is, running before the wind for instance, in a running broad reach.

Ships with triangular sails such as the pinnace or barque tend to perform best when sailing "by the wind" -- that is, running roughly perpendicular to the wind say, in a broad beam reach. To enter a port city just steer your ship into the city. You then have the options to sail away, attack the town or sneak in.

Steer your ship into a point on the shoreline where you want to disembark. This is what being a pirate is all about! See below for details on ship encounters and combat. Press the Attack button number pad 5 or run into ship to initiate an attack against a nearby vessel. You can zoom in to get a closer view of your ship, or zoom out to see a larger expanse of the Caribbean.

Use the mouse wheel to zoom in and out. Press the Change View button number pad 9 to toggle between chase and regular views. When you begin a game of Pirates!

You can change your flagship via the Change Flagship button Tab or by going to the Fleet Status screen. You can have up to eight ships in your fleet including your flagship. Each vessel in your fleet requires a minimum number of crewmen to sail at peak performance. If you have fewer than that number, your sailing speed and combat performance will suffer.

If you have more than the minimum number of crewmen, the additional sailors take part in any sea battles you get yourself into. In general, your fleet sails approximately as fast as your flagship in the present wind conditions. The best way to get rid of a ship is to put into a city and sell it to a shipwright. You can abandon ships only from the Fleet Status screen see next page.

There are a variety of information screens available to you while at sea. See the Game Controls pages to learn how to access them.