Games PC SID MEIER S-PIRATES-ERAS AND POINTS OF CALL User Manual

18

The world, as reflected in the Caribbean, was changing very quickly in the 17th century. The
conflicts of Europe were simultaneously playing out in the blue seas of the Americas.

The ebb and flow of these conflicts was reflected in the number and status of all the
major European outposts in the Caribbean, and this constant alignment and realignment
shaped how privateers could make a living.

In Sid Meier's Pirates!, you may start your game in any of the five eras of the 17th century.
Each era dictates how many ports there are, how many belong to which power, and with what
kind of ship, crew, and cannon your pirate will begin.

This chapter outlines the political landscape in each era.

NOTE

If a port is highlighted in bold, it means it was not present in the previous era.
If it's in italics, it means the port existed previously but appears no longer.

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Eras and Points of Call

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Start Dates

1600—MERCHANTS AND SMUGGLERS

Dutch Ports: 1

English Ports: 2

French Ports: 2

Spanish Ports: 22

TOTAL: 27

Ports

Caracas (Spanish)

Cartagena (Spanish)

Coro (Spanish)

Cumana (Spanish)

Eleuthera (English)

Florida Keys (French)

Gibraltar (Spanish)

Grand Bahama (English)

Gran Grenada (Spanish)

Havana (Spanish)

Maracaibo (Spanish)

Margarita (Spanish)

Nombre de Dios (Spanish)

Panama (Spanish)

Puerto Bello (Spanish)

Puerto Cabello (Spanish)

Puerto Principe (Spanish)

Rio de la Hacha (Spanish)

San Juan (Spanish)

Santa Marta (Spanish)

Santiago (Spanish)

Santo Domingo (Spanish)

St. Augustine (Spanish)

St. Martin (Dutch)

Tortuga (French)

Vera Cruz (Spanish)

Villa Hermosa (Spanish)

Starting Ship, Crew, and Cannon

Country Ship Crew Cannon

Dutch Fluyt 20 12

English Merchantman 50 12

French Sloop 40 8

Spanish Pinnace 20 8

20

1620—THE N

EW COLONISTS

Dutch Ports: 2

English Ports: 3

French Ports: 3

Spanish Ports: 24

TOTAL: 32

Ports

Starting Ship, Crew, and Cannon

Country Ship Crew Cannon

Dutch Brig 50 8

English Brigantine 40 10

French Barque 40 10

Spanish Pinnace 20 8

Barbados (English)

Campeche (Spanish)

Caracas (Spanish)

Cartagena (Spanish)

Coro (Spanish)

Cumana (Spanish)

Curacao (Dutch)

Eleuthera (English)

Florida Keys (French)

Gibraltar (Spanish)

Grand Bahama (English)

Gran Grenada (Spanish)

Havana (Spanish)

Maracaibo (Spanish)

Margarita (Spanish)

Nombre de Dios (Spanish)

Panama (Spanish)

Petit Goave (French)

Puerto Bello (Spanish)

Puerto Cabello (Spanish)

Puerto Principe (Spanish)

Rio de la Hacha (Spanish)

San Juan (Spanish)

Santa Marta (Spanish)

Santiago (Spanish)

Santo Domingo (Spanish)

St. Augustine (Spanish)

St. Martin (Dutch)

Tortuga (French)

Trinidad (Spanish)

Vera Cruz (Spanish)

Villa Hermosa (Spanish)

Seafaring and Crew Morale

Pirates live and die on the high seas, but just having a ship to call your own doesn't make
you a successful or famous pirate. Fame requires sailing the seven seas with skill, purpose,
and a deft navigational hand, taming the winds, knowing your ship, and being ready for
everything.

It also requires something not so obvious: a strong and loyal crew. Without them, you
might as well just be floating around on a plank of driftwood for all the good it'll do ye.
Keeping a crew happy and loyally serving your purposes is a matter of feeding their morale.

This chapter will explain everything about riding the Caribbean waves and becoming a
leader of strong, salty men who say "Yar!"

Seafaring

Running a tight ship is one of the keys to a productive pirating career, and the key to that
elusive skill is knowing how ships function.

U

SING THE WIND

Ships of the time were, of course, driven by the wind. Since wind tends to blow in only one
direction (rather than the more convenient but meteorologically impossible many directions),
where your ship can go and how fast it can travel are at the mercy of the breeze.

Still, the shipwrights of the era were pretty smart cookies, and they devised ways for
ships to travel in several (though not all) directions relative to the direction of the wind.

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36

Which ways a ship can sail
is a matter of at which
"points of sailing" it
travels best. Points of
sail are 16 directions
relative to wind
direction as shown
in the image below.

Sailing in the same
direction as the wind is
blowing is referred to as "running
before the wind," while sailing perpen­dicular to the wind is called "beam reach." Sailing "into the eye
of the wind" (or in the opposite direction of the wind) is always a bad idea; it will bring your ship
to a standstill as your sails helplessly luff (or, at higher difficulty levels, drive it backwards).

The points of sailing

TI

P

The direction of the wind is represented by a red arrow on your compass
in the lower left of the screen. It can also be observed, perhaps more
informatively, by looking at the long, narrow flag flapping from your
flagship's main mast. This flag always blows in the direction of the wind.

Seafaring and Crew Morale

Though you might think every ship
would sail best with the wind at its back,
that's not always the case. In general,
ships with square sails sail best with
their backs to the breeze ("before the
wind") or up to about 45 degrees in
either direction ("running broad reach"
and "broad reach"). Triangular-sailed
ships, on the other hand, sail best angled
between 45 ("broad reach") to 70
("broad beam reach") degrees from the
wind's direction.

Every ship has its own favored points of sail, so look to the tables in chapter 4 for your
ship's vital stats.

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Point your ship in its best point of sailing relative to
the direction of the wind. Compare, therefore, the
red wind direction arrow (on the compass) or your
flagship's long flag to the direction of your ship to
find the correct point of sailing.

TI

P

Experiment with your ship to see which directions work best relative to
the wind. Try, whenever possible, to travel in your ship's best points of
sail (see the table in chapter 4), especially on long journeys. The less time
you spend between ports, the better use you'll make of your time at sea
and the less frequently you'll need to scrap an unhappy crew by dividing
the plunder. Proper use of points of sailing is one of the keys to a long
and prosperous pirating career.

56

What's a pirate without his trusty ship? Just some rum-soaked weirdo in the corner of the
tavern, that's what.

This chapter offers up all the vital stats on every ship in the sea, what you can buy to
make them faster and more powerful, and where you can find people to make your life at sea
easier and more successful.

How to Get Ships

You begin the game with a ship of your own,
but it might not be what you want for your
long-term goals. See chapter 2 for a list of the
ships given for each start date and nationality.

TI

P

Ships can be renamed in
the Fleet Status screen.

The only way to get a new ship is to win it in
combat and make it your new flagship.

57

Ships, Upgrades, and Specialists

primagames.com

Ships cannot (except in one situation) be bought; they must be won. If you wish to upgrade,

you're going to have to do it at someone else's expense.

Ship Economics

The expenses involved with running a ship are:

Food: The more crew your ship needs, the more expensive the ship will be to
own. A smaller crew can go farther on the same amount of food as a large one.
Having a cooper on board will reduce this cost.

Repairs: Upgrades and repairs are more expensive for larger vessels, but they are
a necessary cost of doing business. Higher ranks discount and eventually eliminate
the costs of repair in ports held by the nationality that bestowed the rank.

Upgrades: To acquire an upgrade, a ship must either come with it or you'll have
to pay to add it. Try to target upgraded ships to save yourself some gold.

NOTE

The shipwright will only offer a ship for sale if you sell all your warships. The
sale is completely out of pity, so you'll get only a lowly sloop.

NOTE

The best ships for plundering are won, not surprisingly, from the nine
named pirates.

58

Ship Directory

Every kind of ship is unique in its combination of attributes:

Size: The physical size of the craft.

Turning Radius: The ship's ability to turn over short distances. Can be

tightened by purchasing the Copper Plating upgrade.

Classification: The customary use for the ship. Typically, warships have
less cargo space, have more gun ports, and are faster than merchant ships.

Minimum Crew: Crew needed to run the ship at full speed and reload guns
effectively (though not optimally).

Maximum Crew: The maximum number of crew the ship can hold. Can be
increased with application of the Triple Hammocks upgrade.

Maximum Cannon: The maximum number of cannons the ship can hold.

Maximum Cargo: The maximum tonnage of cargo the ship can hold. This

figure must include the weight of food and cannons.

Speed: Velocity of the ship at all points of sailing. This rate can be further
increased with the Navigation skill or the retention of a Navigator
specialist.

Best Point of Sailing: The direction relative to the wind at which the ship
sails at top speed. See chapter 3 for details.

65

Ships, Upgrades, and Specialists

primagames.com

COPPER PLATING

Copper plating provides increased maneuverability for all ships,
even at full sail. Sharp turning is very useful if you make a habit
of ramming and boarding rather than engaging in full sea
battles. Nimble maneuverability allows a ship to avoid cannon
shots, easily navigate behind an enemy ship, and close the
distance to a target quickly and safely.

COTTON SAILS

Cotton sails increase a ship's speed at all points of sailing.
When they're combined with the Navigation skill and a
Navigator specialist, you can get from Cuba to the Spanish
Main in the blink of an eye.

FINE-GRAIN POWDER

This higher-end gunpowder increases range for all types of
shot. If your foe lacks this upgrade, you can fire round shot
from a distance with complete impunity.

Copper Plating upgrade

Cotton Sails upgrade

Fine-Grain Powder upgrade

66

GRAPE

SHOT

Grape shot is a close-range antipersonnel cannon
ammunition. It can damage sails and hull, but its primary
purpose is to reduce an opposing ship's crew. If you plan to
board a ship with a significantly larger crew and want to
avoid damaging the ship itself, get in close and pepper it with
grape shot. Once the crew matchup is more even, go ahead
and board.

Keep in
mind that you must
steer your ship quite
close to fire grape
shot, so using it can
be risky against a
ship with a large

battery of guns.

Grape Shot upgrade

Grape shot takes out crew but only from close range.

Contents

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A PIRATE'S LIFE FOR ME:

GETTING STA RTED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

ERAS AND

POINTS OF CALL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

SEAFARING AND

CREW MORALE . . . . . . . . . . . 35

SHIPS,UPGRADES, AND SPECIALISTS . . . . . . . 56

SPECIAL ITEMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

OF BAT TLEFIELDS,BALLROOMS, AND
B

ACK A

LLEYS

:SPECIAL MODES . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

E

ARNING FAME AND

FORTUNE . . . . . . . . . . . 138

P

ROMOTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

PIRATES DEFEATED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

TREASURES FOUND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

ROMANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

RELATIVES RESCUED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

VILLAINS AVENGED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

LOST CITIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

2

The Prima Games logo is a registered trademark of
Random House, Inc., registered in the United States and
other countries. Primagames.com is a registered trademark
of Random House, Inc., registered in the United States.

© 2004 by Prima Games. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or
retrieval system without written permission from Prima Games. Prima Games is a division of Random House, Inc.

Product Manager: Mario De Govia
Editor: Fernando Bueno
Designer: Kari Keating

Sid Meier's Pirates! © 2004 Firaxis Games, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Pirates!® is a U.S. registered trademark.

Firaxis Games® and Pirates! ® are Registered Trademarks of Firaxis Games, Inc.

Sid Meier’s Pirates! is a trademark of Firaxis Games, Inc.

All products and characters mentioned in this book are trademarks of their respective companies.

Please be advised that the ESRB rating icons, "EC", "K-A", "E", "T", "M", "AO" and "RP" are copyrighted works and
certification marks owned by the Entertainment Software Association and the Entertainment Software Rating Board and
may only be used with their permission and authority. Under no circumstances may the rating icons be self-applied or
used in connection with any product that has not been rated by the ESRB. For information regarding whether a product
has been rated by the ESRB, please call the ESRB at 1-800-771-3772 or visit www.esrb.org. For information regarding
licensing issues, please call the ESA at [phone]. Please note that ESRB ratings only apply to the content of the
game itself and does NOT apply to the content of this book.

Important:
Prima Games has made every effort to determine that the information contained in this book is accurate. However, the
publisher makes no warranty, either expressed or implied, as to the accuracy, effectiveness, or completeness of the
material in this book; nor does the publisher assume liability for damages, either incidental or consequential, that may
result from using the information in this book. The publisher cannot provide information regarding game play, hints and
strategies, or problems with hardware or software. Questions should be directed to the support numbers provided by the
game and device manufacturers in their documentation. Some game tricks require precise timing and may require
repeated attempts before the desired result is achieved.

ISBN: 0-7615-4584-0
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2004109811

The Prima Games logo is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., registered in the United States
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