Does anybody remember this rather unknown little gem from 1999? When it came out I had quite the fun playing it and so I thought I'd test it as speed running material. I am a bit unsure about the technicalities though, so I thought I'd ask.
One starts out with a ship and some crew members and then has to collect money by trade or acts of piracy. When the player has collected enough money so every crew member gets a fair share (at least 500 bucks a person), one can retire, effectively ending the game (One can choose to start over with a new ship and a new crew or retire for good, the latter of course would be the actual ending). Would this count as "beating the game" in a SDA-sense?
edit: Since so far nobody has responded (maybe there is no interest, but it might just be that nobody knows/remembers the game) I took the liberty and scouted for what at first glance looks like the fastest route to end the game, though it is the worst of the possible endings (can one call this "beating" the game?)
I play on a very old notebook with XP on it. The game runs quite consistently there, but I can't record it. The route showcased in the video below (and described by the comments following the video) made a PB of 1:22. As I said, I cannot record on the XP-machine, so I installed a virtual machine XP on my Win7 notebook. There I can record, but the game is incredibly laggy and the battle screen runs way too fast (except when the lags kick in). So I can't show how this should be executed properly, but as a showcase, a pretty bad run of 1:41 or so:
Here are the chronological comments on what I am doing and why:
- Start in Tortuga 1625 (For all other starting positions/times there are either (1) no ships (in close proximity), (2) more than one ship, or (3) there is exactly one (as needed), but it has too many marines on board to conquer it quickly/at all or (4) to secure the ship one has not enough sailors from the get-go. Hiring takes time ofc.)
- Go to "Crow's Nest View."
- Attack the ship that is right there. (When on XP and playing the game "normally," one can click on the right position before the "Crow's Nest View" fully loaded, effective getting in battle screen while still in the harbour. This way, the battle starts much closer to the enemy ship and there is no real escape-way, making for a faster run. Clicking on the right spot very quickly in the loading transition is hard, though ;P )
- When in battle view, change ammunition to "Grape Shot" to hit people on the enemy ship, but (pretty much) nothing else (Don't damage the ship too much, it will sell for less and one can't finish the run with the intended route).
- Decimate enemy marine crew as soon as the cannons are loaded.
- Grapple and board the enemy ship. Wait for the marines to do their job.
- Secure the ship.
- Switch to the "Save Harbour Screen." (Since the current position is very close to the harbour, this is still possible, even though technically the ship left the harbour.)
- Go to the Shipwright and sell the new ship.
- Go to the Fleet Screen and drop off all marines and gunners. One could also drop one single sailor, but that is not necessary, so he should be left on board to safe time. The sailors that were needed to steer the second ship were dropped off automatically when the ship was sold.
- Go to the map and click on the thumb up which gives the go to start a voyage. Since by default the goal is the town one is already in, basically nobody moves (from Tortuga to Tortuga ... ), but this enables the player to "leave behind" the part of the crew he just dropped off to the dock.
- Click on "leave goods behind" (those poor bastards). Then click on "dock in port."
- Since there are barely any people left in the crew, the money can be divided up between the remaining crew members. The minimum requirement (500 bucks for a standard crew member) is met - even though just barely - and one can "successfully" end the career.
So, once again, it comes down to basically this question: Can this be considered "beating the game" or is the ending too bad? Do I need to collect enough money to get a better ending?
One starts out with a ship and some crew members and then has to collect money by trade or acts of piracy. When the player has collected enough money so every crew member gets a fair share (at least 500 bucks a person), one can retire, effectively ending the game (One can choose to start over with a new ship and a new crew or retire for good, the latter of course would be the actual ending). Would this count as "beating the game" in a SDA-sense?
edit: Since so far nobody has responded (maybe there is no interest, but it might just be that nobody knows/remembers the game) I took the liberty and scouted for what at first glance looks like the fastest route to end the game, though it is the worst of the possible endings (can one call this "beating" the game?)
I play on a very old notebook with XP on it. The game runs quite consistently there, but I can't record it. The route showcased in the video below (and described by the comments following the video) made a PB of 1:22. As I said, I cannot record on the XP-machine, so I installed a virtual machine XP on my Win7 notebook. There I can record, but the game is incredibly laggy and the battle screen runs way too fast (except when the lags kick in). So I can't show how this should be executed properly, but as a showcase, a pretty bad run of 1:41 or so:
Here are the chronological comments on what I am doing and why:
- Start in Tortuga 1625 (For all other starting positions/times there are either (1) no ships (in close proximity), (2) more than one ship, or (3) there is exactly one (as needed), but it has too many marines on board to conquer it quickly/at all or (4) to secure the ship one has not enough sailors from the get-go. Hiring takes time ofc.)
- Go to "Crow's Nest View."
- Attack the ship that is right there. (When on XP and playing the game "normally," one can click on the right position before the "Crow's Nest View" fully loaded, effective getting in battle screen while still in the harbour. This way, the battle starts much closer to the enemy ship and there is no real escape-way, making for a faster run. Clicking on the right spot very quickly in the loading transition is hard, though ;P )
- When in battle view, change ammunition to "Grape Shot" to hit people on the enemy ship, but (pretty much) nothing else (Don't damage the ship too much, it will sell for less and one can't finish the run with the intended route).
- Decimate enemy marine crew as soon as the cannons are loaded.
- Grapple and board the enemy ship. Wait for the marines to do their job.
- Secure the ship.
- Switch to the "Save Harbour Screen." (Since the current position is very close to the harbour, this is still possible, even though technically the ship left the harbour.)
- Go to the Shipwright and sell the new ship.
- Go to the Fleet Screen and drop off all marines and gunners. One could also drop one single sailor, but that is not necessary, so he should be left on board to safe time. The sailors that were needed to steer the second ship were dropped off automatically when the ship was sold.
- Go to the map and click on the thumb up which gives the go to start a voyage. Since by default the goal is the town one is already in, basically nobody moves (from Tortuga to Tortuga ... ), but this enables the player to "leave behind" the part of the crew he just dropped off to the dock.
- Click on "leave goods behind" (those poor bastards). Then click on "dock in port."
- Since there are barely any people left in the crew, the money can be divided up between the remaining crew members. The minimum requirement (500 bucks for a standard crew member) is met - even though just barely - and one can "successfully" end the career.
So, once again, it comes down to basically this question: Can this be considered "beating the game" or is the ending too bad? Do I need to collect enough money to get a better ending?
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