Port Royale Info from http://www.ascaron.com/englisch/index.html A wonderful and compelling RTS SIM. Unscripted, completely dynamic, open ended world, set in a real historic location. Some of the best graphics on any game in this genre. A unique and fluid gameplay style and content that contains trading, sea battles, expeditions, voyages, missions and hunt for buried treasure. Endless gameplay Features Detailed and easily playable game intro. Choice of character: be a pirate or trader. Create and manage production workshops. Countless exciting missions to complete, from treasure hunts to annexing of whole towns. Large game world spanning over 2500 miles x 1900 miles (4 x larger than Patrician II). 4 nations, each with their own characteristic buildings. Explore 60 towns and discover the secret pirate and player hideouts. 3D sea battles with up to 20 ships. Historic pirates and buccaneers. Multi-player mode of up to 8 players via network and internet. Resolution of 1024 x 768 to 1280 x 1024. System Requirements Required Recommended CPU Pentium II 450 MHz Pentium III 800 MHz RAM 64 MB 128 MB Graphics 16MB DirectX 8.x compatible 32MB DirectX 8.x compatible CD-ROM Quad Speed Quad Speed Other MS Mouse, DirectX compatible soundcard System Windows 98/ME/2000/XP Storyline First Entry, Logbook, 20th July 1573 I am still wondering how things could have come to this. The decline of the Hanseatic League made my family's business harder and harder. Dutch traders flooded the markets with their wares and our journeys became less and less viable. That was why I decided to seek my fortune in the New World. But to date fortune has not smiled upon me. Just how naive I was came to light at my first encounter with pirates. My sole fortune thus far was being able to escape in a small boat, after they left me on the sinking ship. So now I'm here in a small town called Caracas. The last weeks have been spent making an old sloop seaworthy with a group of other sailors. Our first voyage is approaching fast and I'm eager to find out what the future holds: return to my native shore as a rich nobleman or find an early grave here? Trade and Adventure In contrast to Patrician II this game is about adventure, exploration and sea battles. The depth of play of the trading and economic system is decreased accordingly. However, trade still remains the main driving force behind the game. You start out as a simple sailor on a small ship in a local region. At first you explore the world and trade between towns friendly to each other. The aim is to acquire both gold and status; enough to eventually become a governor yourself. Over time you will gain the increasing interest and goodwill of other governors. You will be able to further enlarge your riches with the initially easy orders and missions, that they provide you with. Your status in society is critical. The higher it is the more you will: obtain better prices for goods and ships be able to hire more sailors be allowed to set foot in more towns be allowed to build additional businesses win more and better orders As the game progresses you become more and more self- sufficient and begin to fight for the interests of your nation: you will rob enemy ships and towns, annexe towns or chase and battle with pirates. Port Royale can be played to suit an individual gamer's preferences. After the initial introductory gameplay the player can move away from the trading aspects of the game and on to enjoying the game's adventure, exploration and conquering elements. At first play is 50% weighted towards trade. Later on trade can be reduced to about 20% if desired, so moving the focus onto adventure. Explore and Build In contrast to Patrician II the world of Port Royale is hardly known at all initially; in other words the player is only really familiar with their immediate surroundings. The unknown parts of the map are represented in an unfinished and inexact way - as if roughly sketched using word of mouth as a guide. The map is only rendered accurate when the player has explored an unknown region. In some circumstances this accuracy can be obtained via a completed order or via information supplied to the player. Port Royale offers the player many different types of buildings or factories and a variety of production workshops. Countless buildings have their own unique and very specific function; from the small shipyard and the corner pub right up to the governor's palace. So the players can have their ship repaired in the shipyard, get the newest gossip from the pub or request a privateering letter from the governor. After the player has established their own warehouse they can start thinking about establishing workshops. For this a decision is required on whether to tend to the physical welfare of the population or establish plantations of tobacco, cocoa or sugarcane for export the Old World. However, happiness is not achieved by money alone. It is important to keep observing the changing political events during the course of the gameplay and make decisions accordingly. Even if trading between, for instance, a Spanish and English port has been a nice little earner up to now, a war between these nations can scupper this lucrative source of income completely. The unwary player will be appraised of the changed political circumstances at the latest when sailing into the now enemy port and being greeted with a hail of cannonballs from the town fortifications. Sea Battles It is up to the player to decide whether he wants to control sea battles manually or automatically. Ships can be boarded and plundered or destroyed. 3 different types of ammunition are available: massive cannonballs to damage the hull of a ship, chain bullets to damage the sails and grapeshot to kill the opponent's sailors. Ships can be controlled manually during the sea battles, or you can give orders i.e. attack, escape or board. Waypoints allow your ships to patrol defined areas or to protect sea routes without the player's permanent attention. - o -