Strategies ? Opinions? [Archive]

ArchiveGuest

Aug 7, 2004, 12:57 AM

(This post was originally by toast42)
I've played this game for a couple of hours and here's my questions/comments...

1. I can't figure out why one would get involved with fighting the pirates. I did one game where I fought constantly, but it required me to buy a ton of guns which limited my trading abilities. As the bartender says, everytime you win a battle, the next one will be as hard, or most likely a little harder. Sure you get some money when you win, but it doesn't seem to be worth the risk of running into a dozen enemies when you're heading to a port with no shipyard. In a different game, I always ran away, and the pirates were _always_ 2 junks -- so even if I didn't get away, I could easily take a few hits without worrying about losing any ships. Just seems like in the long run, messing with the pirates just works against you.

2. When are new ships available? I can't seem to figure out when they become available and also what determines the type (junk/sloop/etc) that is offered to you.

3. The docs mention that you can upgrade your craft to make them faster ... I couldn't figure out how this was doable. Perhaps not available in the demo ?

4. It would be nice to be able to give different targets to different ships. Perhaps even order damaged ones to flee while others stay behind to fight.

5. The ship sailing animation is cute the first dozen times, but is a huge annoyance after ten minutes of gameplay. It doesn't add anything to the game. Map good, ship sailing animation bad.

From what I can tell, using the other characters wouldn't add much to the replayability of this game. I was hoping this would be a successor to the (free) Space Trader game, but IMO, this comes up short.

Cheryl

Aug 7, 2004, 04:35 AM

The other characters add to the replay value. Each one adds a new challenge to overcome... keeps things interesting :)

Janet

Aug 7, 2004, 11:55 AM

1. I can't figure out why one would get involved with fighting the pirates.

Remember you do not get any loot or bounties if you run away!

2. When are new ships available? I can't seem to figure out when they become available and also what determines the type (junk/sloop/etc) that is offered to you.

Randomly! Keep checking in the shipyards.

3. The docs mention that you can upgrade your craft to make them faster ... I couldn't figure out how this was doable. Perhaps not available in the demo ?

You can't upgrade your ships to be faster. You can only upgrade them to have more cannons.

4. It would be nice to be able to give different targets to different ships. Perhaps even order damaged ones to flee while others stay behind to fight.

The combat in Tradewinds is deliberately simple to keep the game moving.
To target individual enemy ships, deselect the ones you don't want to fire at by tapping on them. This allows you to concentrate fire on more dangerous enemy ships.

5. The ship sailing animation is cute the first dozen times, but is a huge annoyance after ten minutes of gameplay. It doesn't add anything to the game. Map good, ship sailing animation bad.

Tap the screen to speed up this section.

From what I can tell, using the other characters wouldn't add much to the replayability of this game. I was hoping this would be a successor to the (free) Space Trader game, but IMO, this comes up short.
Sorry you don't like it! I hope you like our other games. Have you tried Strange Adventures in Infinite Space? The combat is considerably more complex in that game.
The other characters in Tradewinds have each got individual strengths and weaknesses. For instance, Gossamer starts with a very powerful ship, the "Black Dragon", but it can only be repaired in Shangri La. He also gets raided by the authorities looking for illegal goods more often then the other characters. Since you like the strategy of fleeing from most battles, you might enjoy playing as Petra Gale, who has a better chance than the others of escaping from a battle. There are many different details like this for each chararacter.

Marvin

Aug 7, 2004, 01:30 PM

I really like this game, it does remind me of Pirates on the Commodore 64 about 15-20 years ago....

Played it for a few days, tried three characters (all except Gossamer) and there clearly is a big difference.

My experience is that Petra Gale plays easiest. To have Shangri La in the picture is a big advantage and the fact that she is usually not disturbed by Gossamer makes the game a lot easier. I managed to retire after only a few hours of playing in total and in 10 years game playing time.

Madame Tso for me is the most difficult, she starts with a lot of small ships without real power, you really need mercenary captains. Not knowing where shangri La is makes it more difficult because there are less trading opportunities.

Same for Douglas, but at least he starts with a decent ship...

With Pirates on the C64 you could always see what your or your crew status was. In this game it would be nice if there was a way to find out how your status with Gossamer is at the moment so you have a rough idea when you or your warehouse can get robbed, it is bit too random for me. It could be simple like Bad, Tense, Indifferent, Good, and then mainly depending how often you give him money for his temples and so... If your relation is Bad you know that and you need to buy a lot of guards.

Few small questions : It seems like your warehouse can still be robbed although there are guards. Why is that and when you buy guards you can renew them straight away, does that help? Personnaly i would like to buy 1,2,3 of more guards just like the cannons, that would make it more fair. For example if you have 1 guard there is 50% chance you get robbed if your relation with Gosammer is Bad and with 2 only 40% or something like that.

Is there a way you can run into Gossamer? Would be nice that you run into him if you reach a certain status (well over 1 billion or maybe after 25 years or so) and that you can have an ultimate battle with him. And if you play Gossamer maybe you can run into the other characters as well.

Great game, still a lot to do to get to retirement in all 4 characters!

Marvin

USNAVYSEAL

Aug 7, 2004, 04:14 PM

PhillipEarl

Aug 7, 2004, 04:16 PM

INSIDIOUS! That's what this game is! INSIDIOUS!

Since I bought it, I've been all but addicted to it. My wife is on the verge of confiscating my Tungsten. Why? BECAUSE SHE'S ADDICTED, TOO! Registation codes should come with some sort of Surgeon General's warning (or the British equivilant). ;)

The four different characters definitely add replayability. If you haven't played as Gossamer, you should give him a try! The "Black Dragon" is easily the most powerful ship in the game, but is balanced out well by the fact that none of the shipwrites will work on her or sell her cannons (except, of course, for the one in Shangri-La!)

I can't say enough what a bad idea it is to run from the pirates every time! Sure, it works okay in the beginning, but as you amass more wealth, faster ships attack you, and you DON'T want to give them the chance to get the first shot if you fail to get away! My advice for successful combat? Well, I'm no pro at it, but I'd wait until I had about thirty thousand dollars, buy the first sloop that came my way, and equip her with about eight to ten cannons, giving all ships more as you gain more money. In combat, target the bigger ships first. Don't waste eight shots on a single junk until you've taken out any ships the enemy might have that can fire multiple cannons!

I love this game, can you tell? Keep up the good work, Astraware!

USNAVYSEAL

Aug 7, 2004, 04:31 PM

I just tried this game and it is great! I love it, it is very addicting! I think I'm going to buy it. I played for about 5 minutes and ended up dying (I got 17,900 gold and survived for 6 months and was a merchant). I figured out how to play it pretty fast too, I like this game!

Kitfox

Aug 8, 2004, 01:47 PM

I've checked the game menus and every link from the Tradewinds for Palm page. Searching for Tradewinds in Help gets 0 results. All I'm looking for are the basic rules and explanations (beyond the pop-up tips).

I've found out a lot by playing, but not everything. No matter how much gold or ships I get, I never achieve a higher score, so I can't figure out what earns points in this game.

For example:

1. What does the red circle with a black dot in the middle, below the bank balance, mean? I thought it might be Points, as in score, but it doesn't seem to relate in any way to your described status (Beggar, etc.), and it certainly doesn't show up in the high score table if you die.

2. What do you have to do to increase status? How is it that I have 1,666,851 gold on hand, 13,842,334 gold in the bank, over a billion in "Points", and the largest possible fleet (15 ships), yet my status is Beggar and my "accumulated wealth" is 0? How do you get a high score in this game? Is it based entirely on how much you have in warehouses?

3. The possibility of "retirement" was brought up previously in this thread. Maybe you never get a higher score than 0, or a higher status than Begger, until you retire? What do you need to retire? There were several concepts mentioned in this thread that were never mentioned in all the game instructions I could find.

I'm very sorry if I've missed something obvious - I hate to waste your time! I'll keep looking for clues, but so far nothing has helped.

Kitfox

Aug 8, 2004, 01:50 PM

quote:

1. I can't figure out why one would get involved with fighting the pirates.

Remember you do not get any loot or bounties if you run away!

--------

I've noticed that the loot never seems to cover the cost of repairs. Bounties are generous, though, so it's worth fighting the notorious pirates.

Marvin

Aug 8, 2004, 02:21 PM

If you buy Tradewinds you get all the rules. This is the part about the scoring:

Tradewinds does not have to end once you reach 1,000,000,000 gold! You can continue playing after that point, but may retire at any time by selecting the "Retire" option from the Game menu (just below the "Abandon Game" option.) The "Retire" option will only be available after you reach 1,000,000,000 gold!

Your final score at retirement or defeat is calculated as follows: (Cash + Bank Account - Debt) / Months In Game

Make the most of the advantages and disadvantages of your character! Each have some bonus or benefit that helps them in some way, such as Douglas McGowan's cheaper ship repairs or Petra Gale's ability to escape combat more easily.

Further loots can get a lot higher then repairments costs (also depends on combat skill obviously..) It also depends on character, i am currently playing Gossamer, 8 playing years, halfway retirement and sometimes get loots well over $100.000.

DA6030

Aug 8, 2004, 07:32 PM

1. What does the red circle with a black dot in the middle, below the bank balance, mean?

Kitfox:
I think answering your first question will take care of all the rest:
The red and black icon you describe (it's supposed to be the same coin icon used to represent your "gold in cash", except red) is your debt!

Your debt will go up exponentially if not repayed to the moneylender, so I probably don't need to explain any further why this results in the rank and wealth being so low. :P

Hope that helps!

Janet

Aug 9, 2004, 10:30 AM

I really like this game, it does remind me of Pirates on the Commodore 64 about 15-20 years ago....

With Pirates on the C64 you could always see what your or your crew status was. In this game it would be nice if there was a way to find out how your status with Gossamer is at the moment so you have a rough idea when you or your warehouse can get robbed, it is bit too random for me. It could be simple like Bad, Tense, Indifferent, Good, and then mainly depending how often you give him money for his temples and so... If your relation is Bad you know that and you need to buy a lot of guards.

I'm glad you like this game Marvin!
I think it might be nice if Gossamer had an office in Shangri-La where you could find out what your current status was and pay your dues. An idea for the future..

Few small questions : It seems like your warehouse can still be robbed although there are guards. Why is that and when you buy guards you can renew them straight away, does that help? Personnaly i would like to buy 1,2,3 of more guards just like the cannons, that would make it more fair. For example if you have 1 guard there is 50% chance you get robbed if your relation with Gosammer is Bad and with 2 only 40% or something like that.

Hiring guards reduces the risk of warehouse robberies, and so does paying protection money to Gossamer. Both together reduce the risk to zero, but if you only have one there is still a risk of robbery. If you are a pirate (Petra or Gossamer) then you only have to hire guards for complete security.

Is there a way you can run into Gossamer? Would be nice that you run into him if you reach a certain status (well over 1 billion or maybe after 25 years or so) and that you can have an ultimate battle with him. And if you play Gossamer maybe you can run into the other characters as well.
This is a very interesting idea! If you won, he couldn't bother you any more.

Janet

Aug 9, 2004, 10:46 AM

I haven't had a chance to try this yet, but from what I have read here it seems kind of fun. What are some differences in the game compared to SAIS? I did not like SAIS all that much (it was fun, but only for a short amount of time...). I will try it out sometime this weekend when I have time.

Well, Tradewinds is not much like SAIS at all, but it seemed like Toast42 wanted something with in-depth combat, and SAIS certainly has that!
Tradewinds is a trading game. You buy goods cheap in one port, and sell for a profit in another. Pirate fleets attack you on the high seas, and sinister crime cartels menace you in dock.
Tradewinds has got a lot of detail compared to other trading games. Each character you can play has very different advantages and disadvantages, depending on their background and personality. For instance, Douglas McGowan is a Scotsman like the shipwright, so he gets discounts on ships and ship repairs. Gossamer is the pirate king, and starts off with a Juggernaut of a ship. There are different random events in game depending on which character you play.

Marvin

Aug 9, 2004, 10:53 AM

Jan,

Great idea to have Gossamer in Shangri La, he could be the Port Authority there! Hope that will be in the next update....

This weekend retired as Gossamer (also after 9-10 years). Gossamer and Petra are a lot easier to play than the other characters. So if you are new to the game try these characters first. I think it will take a lot more time to retire playing the other characters.

Marvin

USNAVYSEAL

Aug 9, 2004, 06:37 PM

If you have the registered version, that is. ;)

TheoParke

Aug 10, 2004, 12:18 AM

I reached the billion-dollar mark tonight .. I chose not to retire. I was having too much fun with a fleet full of dust looking for that $24,000 market. I worked my way up to four Brigantine class ships (guns to the gills) and handfuls of heavy and light cruisers. (I did find it amusing that the game seems to recycle ship names .. I had two "HMS Pinafore"s for a while there.) Once you reach 15 ships, the game doesn't let you add any more, but that goes for pirate ships too so you can pretty much decimate most enemies that happen along. I finally did drop my cargo of dust for $24,000 a case and made over 20 million in one transaction. It was worth it.

Is there any way you can find out your score without leaving the game? Just curious.

Kitfox

Aug 10, 2004, 01:05 PM

Okay, I've got it all figured out now. My problems with scoring were all due to not knowing that the red dot means "debts", and the instructions are in an HTML file that comes in the download ZIP.

Sorry for posting such simple questions, but I guess I'll leave them just in case another reader comes along who's as clueless as me.

Thanks so much for your help, everyone!

Janet

Aug 10, 2004, 05:10 PM

Janet

Aug 10, 2004, 05:17 PM

kitfox, I think all your questions have already been answered by everyone else, so I am probably going to repeat things you already know.
The red circle with a black dot in the middle, below the bank balance is your debt, which counts as negative money for the purpose of determining score and rank. Pay your debt back to the Moneylender as soon as you can! He charges the ruinous rate of 10% a month!
You get full instructions in the .zip file when you download the game. You do not have to buy the game to get the instructions.
I have also written a "Strategy Guide" for the game which goes into more depth about how to play and win the game. This should be available soon.

TheoParke

Aug 10, 2004, 05:50 PM

Can't wait to see the strategy guide!

Also, to my disappointment I discovered last night that the game DOES NOT allow you to play past the two billion mark. Why not? I was having a horrorshow good time tearing up the seas ....

Once one has a billion in the bank, the interest kicks up pretty quickly so there is actually very limited play until one's wealth balloons to two billion. This sudden interruption of play was jarring and frustrating.

PhillipEarl

Aug 10, 2004, 06:32 PM

Retired McGowan yesterday.... After having my main ships sabotaged, having been robbed, and having my warehouses robbed (even after paying tribute), I'd like to echo a past enhancement request: I REALLY would like the chance to sink my teeth into that sea rat Gossamer! He deserves a little payback!

Likewise, now that I'm playing Gossamer, I'd like to sink my little rat teeth into that stuffy merchant McGowan! ;)

Buttoneer

Aug 11, 2004, 11:04 AM

I'm playing as McGowan basically sailing between the two ports with shipwrights and killing all the pirates I meet in an attempt to get the location of Shangri La.

I've done this dozens of times now and I'm begining to think that nobody will tell me.

Am I right in thinking this is the only way to get a smuggling ship? And am I right in thinking I should be doing something differently in order to get them to talk?

Janet

Aug 11, 2004, 11:27 AM

I'm playing as McGowan basically sailing between the two ports with shipwrights and killing all the pirates I meet in an attempt to get the location of Shangri La.

I've done this dozens of times now and I'm begining to think that nobody will tell me.

You have to kill 10 pirates to find this out. If you are in a hurry, pay your menace money to Gossamer and then spend a lot of money at a bar. Someone will eventually tell you. Alternately, play as Gossamer or Petra - they always know where Shangri La is!

Am I right in thinking this is the only way to get a smuggling ship?
It is not the only way but it is the best way. All the ships sold at Shangri La are smugglers. But sometimes other shipyards sell smuggling ships.

Buttoneer

Aug 11, 2004, 11:33 AM

Do you mean ten pirate ships or have ten encounters or kill ten 'named' pirates?

I have killed many many more than ten pirate ships, certainly had more than ten encounters but I'm maybe a little way away from killing ten named pirates.

Janet

Aug 11, 2004, 12:01 PM

Do you mean ten pirate ships or have ten encounters or kill ten 'named' pirates?

Now that I look at the relevant bit of code, it looks slightly buggy to me. It only counts "unnamed" pirates. This is wrong and will be changed in the next update. It should count all pirate encounters.

Buttoneer

Aug 11, 2004, 02:07 PM

Does it also matter whether you chose to flee during the encounter?

I have occasionally 'fleed', escaped only a few of the ships, and then stood and fought. Does this count?

Buttoneer

Aug 11, 2004, 05:25 PM

OK I've just counted out 14 separate pirate encounters and still not been told where Shangri-La is.

I'm playing as McGowan and have refused to pay anything to that crook Gossamer on the basis that it costs less to replace a ship than he demands from me (actually that shouldnt be right - the 'insurance' money should be low enough to make me think twice).

And yet despite killing all those ships nobody had decided to tell me where the place is. It's driving me nuts because I just want to go and buy a smuggler ship.

Cheryl

Aug 11, 2004, 05:42 PM

I'm playing as McGowan and have refused to pay anything to that crook Gossamer on the basis that it costs less to replace a ship than he demands from me (actually that shouldnt be right - the 'insurance' money should be low enough to make me think twice).

You must not have been robbed yet.

PhillipEarl

Aug 11, 2004, 05:56 PM

You must not have been robbed yet.

Whenever I can (and it's not always possible) I leave all my money in the bank precisely so I don't get robbed. I'll withdraw it at the next port to make a purchase, then put it back.

Of course, that doesn't apply when I'm heading to Shangri La or Edamame! ;)

istara

Aug 11, 2004, 11:21 PM

Re: fleeing pirates

This is still a much easier strategy than killing them. Because they get harder and harder, and it starts to limit your destination choices: if you have to go to a destination with no shipyard, and there is named pirate on it, that means you'll get:

Going
1. Named pirate
2. Unnamed pirates

Returning (to shipyard port)
3. Unnamed pirates

It appears to be rare - playing any character - to not get any pirates en route. You could reload and reload and reload - but I've tried this and it's boring.

Fleeing pirates is great because they never get harder: even when you've nearly got a billion in the bank, fifteen fat ships, etc - they will still be two tiny junks, max 3 cannon shots between them.

It is ALSO great because you can sell off all your cannons at the start, giving you a much better starting purse - AND much more cargo room. Whenever you buy a ship, don't forget to sell off its cannon.

Cheryl

Aug 12, 2004, 03:05 AM

I guess my luck is not so good. 9 out of 10 times when I try to flee the pirates I don't make a successful getaway.

istara

Aug 12, 2004, 09:09 AM

Just keep trying. As long as you have never fought them, the pirates will be no more than two small junks. Even if they hit you ten times, you'll suffer very small damage.

Also: they always seem to target your biggest (and therefore strongest/most "hit points") ship. So if you're playing as Madame Thing, buy a bigger boat than a junk asap, and they'll target that.

I wasn't very clear above, but what I meant was even a really massive, powerful fleet with loads of cannons is going to find it tough to face three massive, powerful pirates fleets before getting to a shipyard. And trying to escape massive powerful fleets is just not possible: they kill you while you try. So don't let them get powerful: just never fight them in the first place.

(Though in my opinion this is somewhat of an exploit/cheat, however I am still doing it!)

Buttoneer

Aug 12, 2004, 09:14 AM

This is certainly my experience with McGowan, though the pirates all but wiped me out on one trip and their fleet size returned to small at the next encounter to compensate.

Still, I've not yet been told where shangri-la is and I strung together over thirty successful pirate encounters.

And as for robbing, yes I've been robbed but Inever carry more than $100,000 with me at any one time - just enough to buy me a new ship.

Janet

Aug 12, 2004, 10:00 AM

Still, I've not yet been told where shangri-la is and I strung together over thirty successful pirate encounters.

It looks like there may be a bug there. I've put it on the list for looking at for the next update.
The best workaround is probably to pay Gossamer next time he asks you, then buy lots of drinks until someone tells you where Shangri-La is.

Marvin

Aug 12, 2004, 10:07 AM

Played a few years as McGowan yesterday and somebody told me where shangri la was after a few encounters, looks rather random when they tell you. Totally agree with Jan, if you keep buying drinks someone will tell you in the end, sometimes you need to buy about 10 rounds but if you have a few million who cares? Wish i had that luxury in real life....

Kitfox

Aug 12, 2004, 01:15 PM

I tried the strategy of never winning a fight with pirates unless they're notorious, and it works very well. (I was playing McGowan.)

It seems that all you have to do to keep the pirates from getting too much stronger too quickly is to lose the battle, so you can take out the biggest pirate ships first to save yourself some damage, then start trying to flee. With only one or two small pirate ships left, you can attempt to flee over and over before succeeding, without racking up much repair cost.

Also, you only have to win the battle to get the bounty on a notorious pirate, so you can attempt to flee in the hopes of outrunning some of the pirate ships, then blow up the last few. It's hard to know when it's best to try this, but it's often effective and relatively safe when you're facing a large group of small pirate ships.

There is one major disadvantage to the "notorious only" strategy - as Jan noted, you'll never find Shangri-La that way, at least until the program has been updated.

istara

Aug 12, 2004, 02:30 PM

I haven't tried that. I've only trying fleeing ALL the pirates - notorious and anonymous.

If you fight the notorious ones but flee the anonymous ones, do the anonymous ones still get harder?

Buttoneer

Aug 12, 2004, 02:51 PM

Well I just had my fleet of 15 ships completely destroyed while trying to flee a powerful enemy random fleet.

I had no cargo on board, had something like 3 Brigantines, 8 2-mast, and one 1-mast and the rest were smuggling ships.

All blown away in four flee attempts because it only allowed me to outrun three ships at a time (and they were probably the junks).

In my view the combat can and should be changed to add flexibility.

1. Less encounters
2. Some encounters where the pirates get the first shot in (this can only work if there are less encounters)
3. Some battles where even if you decide to flee first, you still get to have a shot immediately afterwards should you not be able to get away from more than, say two or three ships out of 15 (it is way too damaging otherwise).
4. The pirates should have the option of fleeing too should you get the upper hand.
5. It appears to me that one of your ships will only ever target one of theirs. So, if it has 30 guns and sinks the enemy on the fifth shot, the remaining 25 are not fired. I may be wrong, but it's how it appears when I am faced with ten junks against my five gig boats they will only ever wipe out 5 junks. The ships on both sides should be able to re-aim against up to a maximum of one other ship.

Kitfox

Aug 12, 2004, 03:50 PM

Quote:
If you fight the notorious ones but flee the anonymous ones, do the anonymous ones still get harder?
-----

As far as I can tell, your pirate encounters get harder each time you win a battle. So, yes, the anonymous pirates do get stronger after you defeat a notorious pirate.

It's a compromise strategy - taking a little bit of damage in exchange for a lot of bounty money. The pirates get stronger very slowly if you never defeat any of the anonymous ones - and don't go looking for the notorious ones. I never actually lost a ship using this strategy, even when I encountered several sets of pirates between repairs. (Luck will vary, of course.)

My fleet got stronger much faster than the pirates got stronger, so I always had a major advantage in battle, even though I was facing tougher ships. That gave me the ability to choose exactly which pirate ships I wanted to blow up and when, which keeps it interesting.

Besides, I don't like fleeing EVERY time, even though that keeps the pirates at the two-junk level. The game is a lot more fun for me if I can at least blow up SOME of the pirates! :-)

Janet

Aug 12, 2004, 05:48 PM

Also, to my disappointment I discovered last night that the game DOES NOT allow you to play past the two billion mark. Why not? I was having a horrorshow good time tearing up the seas ....

Score is calculated as money/months played, so since you gain money quickest at the end of the game, the best strategy would be to play on to maximum possible money (999,999,999,999). But this might get dull after a while as after about 2 billion there isn't much more to achieve (apart from that fleet of 15 Brigantines of course!)
But I suppose it could freeze your score at that point and let you carry on playing. I'll give it a think.

crakerz

Aug 19, 2004, 04:44 PM

Janet

Aug 19, 2004, 06:12 PM

I noticed that I when I declined to retire after $1 billion, I didn't get the option in the menu as is described. However, after exceeding $2 billion, I was forced to retire by the game :(
Are you sure? It should have been in the drop-down game menu under "Abandon Game"

ArchiveGuest

Aug 26, 2004, 06:39 AM

(This post was originally by drdeath)
^^ Also every time i load a save now with Gossamer it asks me if I've reconsidered my feelings of not retiring. 1892 and going strong (yes I did record my highscore when I first reached the 2bil mark so I've got it both ways)

Here's my get-rich quick tips:
As soon as you can, buy the warehouses, don't buy gaurds though until you're ready to put stuff in them of course.
When you find a cheap enough price on DD, fill the warehouse with it THEN buy your guards. do quick back-and-forth trips until you get a good selling price and voila; easy money
Now that you don't need cargo space, convert all of your ships into full-on gunboats. My Gossy fleet consists of 455 guns (jug + 14 brigs all maxed)
Now even the mightiest pirate will be reduced to lifeboats in no time flat.
Finally, most important tip of all.. use the bank and keep as much money as you can (minus a bit of a float to get by on of course) in the bank making you money.

Battle tips:
Use the save trick to find out the strength of your fleet measured in the number of brigs you can down at once. Then at the begining of a fight select this number of brigs, plus a 2-mast or 1-mast just in case you have some extra cannons not firing.

Sorry for writing half of any strategy guide out right there, but oh well

Janet

Aug 30, 2004, 01:14 PM

Here's my get-rich quick tips:
As soon as you can, buy the warehouses, don't buy gaurds though until you're ready to put stuff in them of course.
When you find a cheap enough price on DD, fill the warehouse with it THEN buy your guards. do quick back-and-forth trips until you get a good selling price and voila; easy money

This is a very good way of getting rich. Guards are always cheaper if Dream Dust is cheap, and that is when you really need them!

persoffa

Aug 30, 2004, 07:42 PM

This is the way I do it, i don't think that it's THAT efficient, but anyways, here it is! Put all your cash in a bank, sail A LOT, fight pirates, get bounties, and keep on putting cash. Your cash will multiply pretty quick!

Kitfox

Aug 30, 2004, 09:47 PM

I'm having a major problem getting my crew to obey orders! In certain circumstances, they always fire on ships I've told them to ignore.

Specifically, if the pirates have 4 or less junks left, with no bigger ships, and I try to deselect one of the remaining junks, my ships fire on it anyway, causing me to win the battle unintentionally.

Was gunner disobedience ever supposed to happen?

Pursuant to Previous Posts:
I'm beginning to change my mind about being able to fight some of the notorious pirates without losing too much of the advantages of never fighting. Even when I don't seek out the notorious pirates, winning just a few battles builds up the pirates over time enough to become expensively dangerous long before I get near a billion. I've played with no fighting at all, and I have to admit it's a lot easier to win with a high score that way. I'm still working on the best balance for playing with some fighting, though, because I find it much more fun with sea battles in the game.

TheoParke

Aug 31, 2004, 04:10 AM

How do you not fight? Do you just keep hitting "Flee" until it lets you? Or does the game always let you outrun the two junks?

When I finish my current game, I will have to try playing this tactic .. at the moment I'm playing Gossamer and building up my fleet by just sailing from ShangriLa to Edamame and Jia-Ching, destroying all who defy me and buying the best ships in the shipyards. It's not a very profitable adventure but it is fun, and the money in the bank just keep racking up ...

fssia

Sep 15, 2004, 10:25 AM

I have tried fleeing but it ain't as fun and as challenging as combating. Ok I'm saying this when I played the 3 characters except Mdm Tso. I still have trouble with her. Well, lets say I have not played as Mdm Tso since I was sank down more than twice.

It's interesting to read all the comments and suggestions here. Over at 1src.com, ppl has not really noticed this "new" game. Wish I have come over earlier. ;)