SSummary
ummary
22BBefore p
efore pll
aying
aying
2
2
1.1 Introduction 2
1.2 Installation 2
22Bas
Bas
ic princip
ic princip
les
les
3
3
2.1 Object of the game 3
2.2 Learn to play in 5 minutes 3
33Det
Detaa
iled instructions
iled instructions
4-3
4-300
3.1 Interface 4
3.11 Main game screen 4-7
3.12 Interface Bar 7-10
3.2 Sailing 11-13
3.21 Field of vision 11
3.22 Selection of ships 11
3.23 Move a ship 12
3.24 Manœuvre the sails 13
3.3 Trade and trans shipment of merchandise 14-17
3.31 General points 14
3.32 Trade of merchandise 14
3.33 Transshipment of merchandise 15-17
3.4 Naval combat 17-20
3.41 Fire the cannon another ship 17-19
3.42 Fire the cannon against an enemy port 19
3.43 Combat in armada 19-20
3.5 Boarding 20-24
3.51 Resolution of a boarding 20-24
3.6 Crew management 24-25
3.61 Your reputation 24
3.62 Recruitment 25
3.7 Management of ports and principalities 26-29
3.71 A port’s buildings 26
3.72 Trade of marchandise and ships 26-27
3.73 Spies 28-29
3.8 Pirate hideouts 29
3.9 Treasure islands 29-30
3.91 Hide a part of one’s treasure/isolated islands 29
3.92 Look for a treasure 30
44Miss
Miss
ions
ions
330
0
4.1 Principles 30
4.2 Messages 30
55Reference Guide
Reference Guide
3311-36
-36
5.1 List of ships 31-33
5.2 List of merchandise 34
5.3 Alarms 34-35
5.4 Keyboard shortcuts 36
1
v
v
Cor
Cor
sa
sa
ir
ir
s M
s M
anu
anu
al
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1 B
1 B
efore p
efore pll
aying
aying
1.1 Introduction
1.1 Introduction
W
elcome to the world of Corsairs, a world of adventure, of freedom, where
the exhilaration of sailing, gold fever, the sound of cannons and the
fierceness of boarding are combined.
You will soon embody one of these corsairs, who, devoted to the cause of his
nation, will do anything to make that nation prosper and shine in the four
corners of the world, from the Caribbean to the coast of Australia...
During numerous missions, you must:
- Sink or capture enemy ships.
- Capture enemy ports.
- Protect your nation’s ports.
- Sink or capture pirates, like the terrible Blackbeard.
Moreover, whether by lucrative trade or by the force of weapons, you can also
grow richer for your country’s benefit...and your own!
And as your exploits, conquests and feat of arms go by, your reputation will
not cease to grow and you will soon possibly be even more admired than your
king and more dreaded than the most ferocious pirates!
1.2 Inst
1.2 Inst
all
allaa
tion
tion
System Requirements:
Computer: PC or 100% compatible
Processor: P133 minimum, P200 recommended.
Memory: 32 MB of RAM recommended
Minimum hard disk space required: 100 MB minimum.
Speed of CD-ROM drive: X4
Video card: All cards are supported by Direct X
Keyboard and mouse 100% Microsoft compatible
Game installation
Insert the CD Corsairs in your drive and wait a few seconds for a window to
appear on screen.( If the window does not pop up, double click on “Work station”
and then on “CD ROM”, and finally on “AutoPlay.exe” )
Choose Installation, then follow the instruction on screen. A message will tell
you if the installation was successful.
2
22Bas
Bas
ic princip
ic princip
les
les
22.1.1Object of the ga
Object of the gamme:e:
Y
ou are a corsair, devoted to the nation that you have chosen.
In the adventure mode, you must perform a series of missions entrusted to you
by your king, and at the same time improve your reputation as much as possible.
You objective will thus be to successfully complete all of your missions, while
in addition obtaining the best possible score. Your “score” will be directly
dependent on your reputation.
In the tutorial mode (training), the object of the game is simply to successfully
complete a mission.
22.2.2Learn to p
Learn to pll
ay in 5 minutes
ay in 5 minutes
I
n order to quickly absorb the basic principles of the game, you are offered 4
tutorial missions.
These 4 missions are meant to familiarise you with all of the important aspects
of the game.
Mission 1: Explorer ’s certificate
Mission 2: Gunner ’s certificate
Mission 3: Boarding certificate
You must board a ship and capture it.
Mission 4: Corsair ’s certificate
You must place a spy on board an enemy ship.
You must capture the enemy port.
At the launching of the game, choose “Sail” then “Tutorial Missions” then
“Explorer’s certificate”. Then you just follow the instructions displayed on screen.
3
3 Det
3 Detaa
iled instructions
iled instructions
Convention used in this manual:
“Click” means to click with the left button of the mouse.
33.1 Interface
.1 Interface
33.11 M
.11 Maa
in ga
in gamm
e screen
e screen
W
hat do we see?
1- The ship:
The flag it bears designates the nation to which it belongs.
4
5
4
2
1
6
89
7
3
10
2- The cursor of selection of your ship:
You can see several facts summed up in it:
1,2,3 and 4 are the conditions of the ship.
When the colour is green, there is no problem.
When the colour is orange, the ship is damaged.
When the colour is red, the damage is significant.
1: Condition of the sails
2: Condition of the hull
3: Various facts:
u The background is the colour of the nation
(Blue background = French...)
u The head:
l Jolly Rogers (skull & cross-bones): 2 cases
s You have selected a ship from your nation: the corsair
is not located aboard this ship.
s You have selected an enemy ship: representation by
default. This does not mean that the corsair is not
located aboard this ship.
l The corsair’s head: the corsair is located aboard the selected ship.
l The eye: You have a spy aboard this ship. If a special character
(enemy corsair for example) is located aboard this ship then
you see the head of the character blink in alternation with
the eye.
4: Percentage of men aboard the ship in relation to the maximum capacity that
the ship can hold.
Note: When you select an enemy ship you cannot control it. If a spy is
aboard you can study the hold of this ship and will possess all information
concerning this ship.
3- The ship-info window:
It displays various facts about the ship currently selected, like the cargo
breakdown, the condition of the hull, etc. We will explain it in detail a little
further on in this manual.
5
4
3
2
1
4- The port:
The group of buildings and structures which make up the port.
If it belongs to your nation here you can:
Repair or build ships.
Build, repair or improve buildings.
Tranship resources from one ship to another,
anchored in the same anchoring zone.
Sell or purchase merchandise.
The flag that the port bears designates the nation to which it belongs. It is not
possible for a ship to anchor itself in a port’s anchoring zone unless this port
belongs to its nation. If the ship attempts to anchor itself in a foreign port, the
port’s defences engage in combat against the intruder.
5- The compass rose:
Permanently displayed on screen, it allows the direction of the wind to be
known at all times.
6- Anchoring zone:
The zone of light blue sea indicates that your boat can drop anchor here.
7- The mini-map:
It shows the whole of the maritime region concerning the current mission.
By clicking with the right button of the mouse on the mini-map, the main game
screen displays this zone.
8- Alarm icons:
These icons inform you of all important events that unfold outside of the main
game screen.
Moreover, an event’s direction is indicated by the position of the icon around the screen.
You can centre the game screen on one of these “events” by clicking on it with
the right button of the mouse, or simply find out about the type of event by
clicking on it with the left button.
The alarm icons are explained in detail further on in this manual (Cf. chapter 5.3).
6
9-Unknown zones:
The zones displayed in light yellow indicate the zones beyond the view of all
friendly ports or ships.
10- The cursor:
By default, its form adapts to that which it is pointing.
33.12 Interface Bar
.12 Interface Bar
(no ship s
(no ship s
elected)
elected)
T
he illustration above represents the interface bar permanently situated to the
right of the screen.
It is split into 2 parts:
1: The fixed interface, which always looks the same.
2: The contextual interface, whose appearance varies according to the
manipulations executed in the fixed interface or the context (example: the ship is
anchored to a port)
7
1
1
1
1
2
2
33.121
.121TT
he f
he f
ixed interface
ixed interface
L
et’s examine the above illustration and explain in detail each numbered
element’s function:
Unless otherwise specified, we consider that a ship is selected.
8
32 4
1
5
8
97
10
6
12 13 14 15
11
1 Indicates the amount of treasure aboard the ship.
If no ship is selected, it indicates the cumulative total of your fortune (total
treasure of all your ships and secret hideaways).
2 Allows you to adjust the sail level, the ship’s type of cannonballs.
3 Allows you to consult the condition of the sails and the hull of the selected
ship.
4 Allows you to consult in detail:
- The ship’s cargo ( quantity of: Cannons, Munitions, Rum, Provisions,
Freight, Precious freight, Special objets )
- The personnel aboard the ship ( number of corsairs, captains, sailors,
special characters )
5 Location for the contextual interface.
6 Allows you to access a list of all the cities classified by nation. When you
click on the button you unroll the list of cities.
You have the name of the city and above it 2 figures. These 2 figures
correspond to the price of the selected resource.
On the left = price for which you will purchase this resource
On the right = price for which you will sell this resource
The cities are classified by nation.
Cities Button : classification by city name.
Sale Button : classification from the most expensive to the least
expensive in Sale mode.
Purchase Button : classification from the least expensive to the most
expensive in Purchase mode.
Scroller page : By clicking on this button you unscroll the pages.
Scroller Nation : By clicking on this button you unscroll the Nations.
If you click with the right button of the mouse on a city, you centre the
screen directly on this city.
If you click with the left button of the mouse, the selected boat goes to this city.
7 Allows you to reread the objective(s) of the mission.
8 Allows you to reread the objective(s) of the mission.
9 Allows you to consult the list of messages.
10 Mini-map: It represents the whole of the maritime region concerning the
current mission, and allows you to localise at a glance the “visible” ships
and ports of each nation (visible = within the of sight of a friendly port or
ship or also a ship with a friendly spy aboard). It also allows you to quickly
display any part of the map on screen.
9
11 Contextual interface’s port icons. Although a part of the contextual
interface, this series of 4 icons (13,14,15,16) is so frequent on screen that it
is important to know them well. They appear on screen as soon as the ship
is anchored to a port or a principality.
12 Repair or build a ship in a port.
Purchase or sell a ship in a principality.
13 Repair or build a building.
14 Tranship merchandise from one ship to another.
15 Trade with the port or a principality.
10
33.122 T
.122 T
he contextu
he contextu
al interface
al interface
T
he contextual interface varies according to the manipulations executed in
the fixed interface or the context (example: the ship is anchored in a port)
The working order of the contextual interface will be explained in detail in the
chapters concerned (Example: the working order of the Way-points will be
explained in detail in the Sailing chapter)
33.2 Sa
.2 Sa
iling
iling
33.21 Field of vis
.21 Field of vis
ion
ion
33.211 P
.211 P
rincip
rincip
le:
le:
Y
ou cannot see everything that happening on the map.
Your field of vision is limited to the line of visibility of:
n Your ships
n Your ships
As such, an enemy ship will not appear unless it sails into the field of vision
of one of your ships or ports (or also if you have a spy aboard an enemy ship.
See “Spies” chapter)
Everything that you cannot see is displayed by a yellow beige parchment,
on screen.
33.212 Discovery of the zon
.212 Discovery of the zone:e:
O
n the mini-map as well as on the game screen you can distinguish the yellow
beige zones. This zone is not yet known and is represented in the form of a
parchment. As in the past, this parchment is not very precise: it is possible that
certain islands do not appear or that the islands are not situated at the location
indicated on the parchment
33.213 R
.213 R
ange of vis
ange of vis
ibility
ibility: :
E
ach ship possesses a range of visibility. So you cannot see enemy ships
evolve unless one of your ships is located close at hand. However, one can
also see them pass in proximity to your ports by placing a spy aboard them
(Cf. 3.73 Spies)
33.22 S
.22 S
election of ships:
election of ships:
B
efore being able to operate a ship, and in particular to move it, you must
first select it.
To select a ship, just click on it with the left button of the mouse.
To select several ships, you have 2 possibilities:
n Include the ships in a square drawn with the mouse. To do this, the left
button of the mouse must be held down and the cursor moved so as to
draw the square.
n Click on the icon of the interface bar to select all of one’s ships.
11