Pirates!

JT Wrote:

Have you guys played Sid Meier’s Pirates! (the 2004 remake)? That game has an excellent faction allegiance system not unlike the one you’re describing here.

I picked up a copy and really enjoyed it. It has many of the ideas I wanted to see end up in Torn Stars. I am delighted that there is a game with a free form model we can all have in common (Space Rangers is another, but many did not like the 2D interface in a space game).

Has anyone else played it? What are your impressions?

There are some really interesting concepts in there.
The trade system is limited in the cargo it will sell you (like Torn Stars) but also limited in the cash each town has to purchase. You can get around that with an exploit, but the idea is cool.

I like how towns grow larger and more prosperous, unless attacked, then they get plundered and get poorer. You have good reason to fend off invasions, pirates, and indian attacks from the wealthy towns.

I also like how every ship in the game has a purpose. Each one implements part of a very simple meta game. They might be spawned at random, but they are still important. I played a “conquer the Spanish” strategy for fun. It was cool to race up and down the spanish main, intercepting troop supply ships and escorting pirate and indian raiders to soften up the town defenses.

The game seems to track town population, wealth, and troop strength. There are also “new warships” that travel to ports and I don’t know, but guess that those become escorts or pirate hunters.

The sailing simulation is excellent. I was in a Barque hunting a treasure ship, and not watching the wind closely enough. I put my ship into irons (pointed nose directly into the wind, dead stop) directly off the treasure ships broadside. I sat there, backing slowly, no helm, for two broadsides then exploded. Wonderful!

The crew moral was a brilliant invention to prevent “buy everything and become super powerful” which happens in all these free form games. It is like a mini-restart that keeps the game challenging.

And I like the fact that you cannot die. You just lose most everything. There I sit on my desert isle, thinking “dammit, you know better than to attack a well armed ship from leeward (downwind). You deserve to sit here and rot!”