TIPS, HINTS, and SUGGESTIONS for playing "PIRATES! GOLD"
                         by Microprose            (Part 1)

                - as told by David E. Hanson -
                 Taken from the Public Domain
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NOTE:
These hints were based on my game play in the time period known as
the Buccaneer Heroes. Most tips should apply to other periods, but
I haven't tried them yet. These are just my own personal
observations, so there may be better ways of doing things. The best
that I was able to do in one game was to get nine promotions by my
host country (to Duke), 370000 personal gold pieces, 1400 acres of
land, rescuing four relatives, finding four ancient treasures and
two small ones, and retiring as an Advisor to the King.

Here's some tips that I'll pass on to you:


A. STARTING AN EXPEDITION:
     1. Save your game.
     2. Go to the Tavern- get info from the Bartender and the
     Traveller (if present). Buy map from Map Seller if present
     (if the map is useless, ie.- no coastline, you can restart
     from the saved position and try again. If you already have a
     good map piece don't buy another... it's not a new map, just
     another piece of the one you already have). Hire all the
     Sailors (if the number offered will fit on your ship). You
     want to start with as large a crew as you can.  It helps to
     end an expedition in a major port, as big cities have more
     men in the tavern for the following expedition.
     3. Go to the Governor- find out who your current allies and
     enemies are. You may receive payment for a hostage (I usually
     take any offer over 900 gold pieces). You may also hear news
     of where to find "The Evil One". (Write down that info.) If
     you are offered an expedition, decline. (Wait until later in
     the expedition when you have accomplished some goals and have
     some free time.)

     4. Look at your logbook's party status and at your globe, and
     plan on which direction to take after leaving the harbor.
     When ready, leave town.

B. DURING AN EXPEDITION:
     1. In the beginning, use your large number of men to go sack
     the biggest prospering/wealthy enemy town that your men can
     handle.  Unless you are very good, avoid towns with 3 or 4
     forts. Try to accumulate more men and some cargo ships while
     going to the town, so that you will have room for all of the
     plundered goods. If given the choice, install a governor of
     your nationality.
     2. When you've sacked 1-3 towns and your number of men is
     significantly reduced, do your personal journeys, such as
     accepting a mission or hunting for the Evil One or relatives.
     Accumulate as many ships as you can and still maintain decent
     combat ability (as judged by the number of cannon you can
     fire). If you get more than eight ships, keep the most
     expensive. If you have only one ship, it should be a frigate.
     If only two ships, a frigate and a merchantman/galleon. Only
     three ships: the same as two, plus a small quick ship (sloop
     or barque).
     3. Save finding the major ancient treasures for later in the
     voyage, when your crew is growing unhappy. When meeting ships
     at sea, investigate all sightings, and attack all pirates and
     non-allied ships. Avoid frigates if you are severely
     unmanned. Take on a few new crew members occasionally to
     offset combat losses, except near the end of a voyage when it
     will make your crew unhappy. Enter ports to save your game
     occasionally (sneak in if you have to).

C. ENDING AN EXPEDITION:
     1. When ready to divvy, try to do so in a major port of your
     own nationality.  You can also get into sea battles prior to
     entering the divvy port, and purposely take a few hits so
     that you can whittle your crew down to the minimum number, so
     that the shares will be larger.
     2. Save the game when you enter the divvy city. Go see the
     governor.  Sell EVERYTHING at the merchant. At the shipwright
     sell all ships but your flagship, and most of your cannon.
     Get news and info at the tavern. Divvy at the bank as the
     last thing you do.

D. SHIP COMBAT:
     1. I never had any problem with this. I just kept my ship
     either directly ahead of or directly behind my opponent,
     putting shots into him as I tacked back and forth. In this
     way I could hit him without being shot at.  You may take a
     shot or two when you are initially getting into position, but
     after that, no problem. It doesn't matter how much more
     powerful your opponent is, as long as there is no
     hand-to-hand combat. I preferred a frigate for all battles at
     the easier skill levels, and a 18-gun barque for fighting
     small ships at the harder skill levels. I wish the game was
     more realistic in this section, as it was absurd how quickly
     the ships pivoted in place at slow speeds, and when they
     accelerated or decelerated drastically depending on a change
     in the wind. Oh well.


E. SWORD COMBAT:
     1. I never got good at this. I just selected Skill at Fencing
     when creating the character, and always pressed the attack,
     not wasting time on defence .  In this way I always won my
     swordfights, except when I was old and in poor health and
     tried to take on an army much bigger than my own.

@~To be continued next issue











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