posted 06-21-99 01:39 PM ET        

Just a huge smiley on my face . Okay, all forum pirates: lets bring in the pressure... Let's nag Firaxis to death or make the whole team walk the plank unless they obey. Raise the flag, boys!!!

posted 06-21-99 02:13 PM ET            

A hold city for ransom option would be nice for those times when the cowardly wretches hide their gold - Dig up 10,000 in gold or jewels, or we'll torch the town. - This should trigger a more aggressive military response by the colonial power, but also a longer lasting increase in Notoriety or Infamy! ratings.

Also, there was an AI weakness in Pirates! and PG where you could repeatedly hit cities like Panama or Cartagena, and wear down their military garrison, which wouldn't recover for years, although the gold kept pouring in. I used to make annual collection trips to Panama, Havana and Cartagena, after cutting down their garrisons to size - since my last trip, they'd add a paltry 40-50 soldiers, but 40,000 to 60,000 gold. The number of soldiers should go up, not down, as more gold comes in.

Chasing the Treasure fleet at sea would be more fun if you had the possibility of cooperative (for the moment) human player pirates in MP play, and multiple enemy combat. You could give engage or disengage orders to your other ships, which might or might not be obeyed, and only directly control your own ship, which would not only go after those big galleons, but have a pesky war galleon or two to deal with.

Another cool feature for advanced levels, when you have multiple ships, is having an AI officer you have to pick from a pool to command your other ships. IF one decides to mutiny, he takes his ship, one or more follower ships, and takes off with a division of plunder and a large crew. As a storyline item, you might hear of his exploits (or hers, giving credit to Anne Bonney and Mary Read) in the taverns and from other ships. If you hunt him down quickly, you get a long term boost to your reputation, but as he becomes more successful, and stays independent of you longer, you get a permanent handicap in the form of a reputation for cowardice and a stain on your honor.

Reputation should also be divided into a few categories, which have different specific effects within the game depending on the specific value. Good categories would be Honor (effect in diplomacy and getting ships to strike their colors), Ruthlessness (effect in diplomacy, crew discipline, and enemy aggression and will to fight), Monetary success (effect in crew recruitment), Combat success - i.e. casualty rates (effect in crew recruitment and enemy aggression) and Courage (effects on all the above, with significant negative acts creating permanent limiters on all your other attributes.)

posted 06-21-99 03:54 PM ET            

I'll sign the petition of to add this to the new project ideas list!

posted 06-22-99 01:28 PM ET         

Damn you all
LONG LIVE GUYBRUSH THREEPWOOD

posted 06-23-99 02:49 PM ET            

MikeH II: Saw that, looks pretty promising. I remember some time ago when BR firmly stated(posted) in here that we shouldn't draw any conclusions that Firaxis ain't gonna do an earthbound civ. Now, it turns out they're going to make Civ 3. Seems we shouldn't take those kinds of leaks from Firaxis with just a grain of salt. Could be some truth in it...

Anyway, I'm just here to say one more thing really:

posted 06-23-99 03:33 PM ET         

FIRAXIS!! I demand you make Multiplayer PIRATES!

posted 06-24-99 02:02 PM ET         

Hell, It sounds like a direct rip-off of Pirates, but they use something that looks like a C&C interface for the ground combat.

They say it be out before the end of August.