Pirates

Sid Meier's Pirates! is a computer game created by Sid Meier published by MicroProse in 1987. The game is a simulation of the life of a pirate (more accurately, a privateer) in the Spanish Main in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. more...

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The game was widely ported from the original Commodore 64 version. It was ported to the Apple II (1987), as a PC booter (1987), Apple IIGS (1988), Macintosh (1988), Amstrad CPC (1988), Atari ST (1989), Amiga (1990), Nintendo Entertainment System (1991) and Microsoft XBox (2005). Released for XBox 360 via Xbox Live on February 11, 2007.

The Atari ST version featured a copy protection scheme requiring the player to identify the first privateer ship they encountered by their flag. The Commodore 64, Amstrad, Apple IIGS, PC and Amiga versions also used copy protection, in which the player had to confirm the timing of the different Treasure Fleets or Silver Trains by referring to the game manual. The Amiga and Atari ST versions featured the best graphics and audio of any of the original versions.

Description

Pirates! is a single-player game. The player does not in fact take on the role of a pirate at the start of the game, but rather that of a privateer, in the service of Spain, The Netherlands, England, or France (though his loyalties may change over the course of the game and he may turn to piracy at any time). Gameplay is open-ended; the player may choose to attack enemy ships or towns, hunt pirates, seek buried treasure, rescue long-lost family members, or even avoid violence altogether and seek to increase his wealth through trade. The game also has no predetermined end, although as time goes on, it becomes more difficult to recruit men for your crew. Also, as the player character ages, fighting becomes more difficult, and deteriorating health will eventually force the character into retirement. The game ends when the player retires, at which point he is given a position in his future life, from beggar to King's Advisor, based on accumulated wealth, land, rank, marital status, and other accomplishments.

The game tests a wide range of skills: hand-eye coordination during the fencing sections, tactical ability during the land and sea combat phases, and strategic thinking, for everything from choosing a wife to deciding when to divide up the plunder. Moreover, each game is likely to take a different course, as most events in the game are random, including the economic and political systems, and early in the game these can greatly affect future strategic options.

Like many Sid Meier games, Pirates! is fairly educational by computer game standards. Reading about naval tactics in the age of sail is one thing. In the course of the game a player may try to tack in a frigate in order to run down a smaller and faster pinnace, but was fortunate enough to have the weather gage. This may give the player a unique perspective on the challenges of naval combat during the era.

Read more at Wikipedia.org