Sid Meier's Pirates!
Encyclopedia
Sid Meier's Pirates! is a video game created by Sid Meier
and published and developed by MicroProse
in 1987. It was the first game to include the name "Sid Meier" in its title as an effort by MicroProse to attract fans of Meier's earlier games, most of which were flight simulators. The game is a simulation of the life of a pirate
, a privateer
or a pirate hunter in the Spanish Main
in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.
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 Apple iOS (2011)
Pirates! is set in the Caribbean
. The Pirates! playing field includes the Spanish Main
(namely the northern coast of South America
), Central America
and the Yucatán Peninsula
, the entire Gulf of Mexico
, Florida
, and all Caribbean islands including Bermuda
. The player is free to sail to any part of the above mentioned lands, stopped by an invisible barrier southeast of Trinidad
, all the way north to just northeast of Bermuda.
game. The player receives a letter of marque
authorizing service as a privateer for Spain
, the Dutch Republic
, England
, or France
in the Caribbean
. The player's loyalties may change over the course of the game; he may also hold rank
with multiple countries and 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 crew members. 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 adviser, based on accumulated wealth, land, rank, marital status, and other accomplishments.
The era of play is one of the choices given to a player at game-start. Different eras provide a different challenge, as political and economic power shifts between the four fledgling European empires. Choosing 1560 (the earliest choice) as the starting year places the player in a Caribbean almost devoid of influence but that of Spain
, while 1680 (the latest choice) provides a mature Caribbean with many non-Spanish colonies and an overall higher degree of activity in the region. The other choices include 1600, 1620, 1640, and 1660, with progressive effect of reducing Spanish dominance in favor of the other nations, while increasing sea-faring traffic. Ship designs are also era-dependent, with some types of ships appearing more frequently in certain eras and less in others, and certain ship types being used near-exclusively by certain nations.
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. 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 must be fortunate enough to have the weather gage
.
One of the most innovative features of Pirates! is the introduction of a dynamic playing field. In Pirates!, many of the most important factors which affect player decisions are randomized at the beginning of the game, and continue to shift during gameplay. This not only creates a new experience each time the game is played, but also requires the player to remain flexible, and be ready to exploit possibilities when they occur. The most important random factor in the game lies in the diplomatic relations between the four nations laying claim to the Caribbean. Relations may differ greatly from game to game, and can shift in an instant, creating and removing opportunities, possibly even for long periods of time. The player generally benefits from periods of war between two or more countries, because any aggression towards a country's ships or cities, which occurs often if not specifically avoided, will gain recognition with its enemies, prompting them to bestow the player with land, titles, and other benefits. During peacetime, the player can only benefit from the capture of pirates on the high seas, which is seen as favorable by all nations, but is a rare occurrence. Cities are also dynamic, with statistics like wealth and population fluctuating constantly. The player has a list of cities in one of the game's menus, allowing him to see the statistics of any city. Some cities will show accurate statistics, especially if recently visited. Other cities may be colored differently on the list, and will show no data. This indicates that a city's statistics have changed since the last visit. Visiting taverns in cities may yield an encounter with a traveler who offers to sell information about cities whose statistics have changed. Knowing the statistics of a city helps the player plan ahead, especially with regards to trading or any desire to raid or conquer cities. Changes occur whenever time is passing, and are unrelated to player actions. In fact, in this earliest game in the series, random events do not have any graphical representation, and the player can do nothing to prevent them.
himself (Civilization, Railroad Tycoon
) and many others, notably Will Wright (SimCity
, The Sims
).
Pirates! won many awards at the time of its release, including Computer Gaming World
s 'Action Game of the Year' for 1988, as well as two Origins Award
s, 'Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Computer Game of 1987' and 'Best Screen Graphics in a Home Computer Game of 1987'. It has continued to earn accolades ever since, having been voted one of the top 20 games of all time by Computer Gaming World
(November 1996).
, DOS, Macintosh, and Sega Genesis in 1993 as Pirates! Gold. It was also released on CD for the Amiga CD32
in 1994 with enhanced CD audio tracks. The PC versions features a MIDI score and mouse support. They also contained a copy protection
scheme requiring the player to identify the flag of a pirate ship sighted on the horizon (similar to the 1987
Atari port). Sea and sea-to-land combat were played in real-time while land battles were done in turn-based strategy
. Sun sighting was not present in this version, and there were no special items. The game did, however, include several new features.
Then in 2004 it was converted into an enhanced remake for Microsoft Windows
as Sid Meier's Pirates! (2004)
. It was also released for Microsoft Xbox, Nintendo Wii and Sony PSP gaming consoles. Sid Meier's Pirates! Mobile was developed by Oasys Mobile
in 2008.
On July 21, 2011, the game was released for Apple's iPad tablet.
Sid Meier
Sidney K. "Sid" Meier is a Canadian programmer and designer of several popular computer strategy games, most notably Civilization. He has won accolades for his contributions to the computer games industry...
and published and developed by MicroProse
MicroProse
MicroProse was a video game publisher and developer, founded by Wild Bill Stealey and Sid Meier in 1982 as Microprose Software. In 1993, the company became a subsidiary of Spectrum HoloByte and has remained a subsidiary or brand name under several other corporations since...
in 1987. It was the first game to include the name "Sid Meier" in its title as an effort by MicroProse to attract fans of Meier's earlier games, most of which were flight simulators. The game is a simulation of the life of a pirate
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
, a privateer
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
or a pirate hunter in the Spanish Main
Spanish Main
In the days of the Spanish New World Empire, the mainland of the American continent enclosing the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico was referred to as the Spanish Main. It included present-day Florida, the east shore of the Gulf of Mexico in Texas, Mexico, Central America and the north coast of...
in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.
The game was widely ported
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
from the original Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
version. It was ported to the Apple II (1987), as a PC booter
PC booter
A PC booter, or booter, is a type of software for home computer era personal computers that was loaded and executed in the bootup of the computer, from a bootable floppy disk, rather than as a regular program; a booter thus bypassed any operating system that might be installed on the hard disk of...
(1987), Apple IIGS
Apple IIGS
The Apple , the fifth and most powerful model in the Apple II series of personal computers produced by Apple Computer. The "GS" in the name stands for Graphics and Sound, referring to its enhanced graphics and sound capabilities, both of which greatly surpassed previous models of the line...
(1988), Macintosh
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
(1988), Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
(1988), Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
(1989), Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
(1990), Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
(1991) and Apple iOS (2011)
Pirates! is set in the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
. The Pirates! playing field includes the Spanish Main
Spanish Main
In the days of the Spanish New World Empire, the mainland of the American continent enclosing the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico was referred to as the Spanish Main. It included present-day Florida, the east shore of the Gulf of Mexico in Texas, Mexico, Central America and the north coast of...
(namely the northern coast of South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
), Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
and the Yucatán Peninsula
Yucatán Peninsula
The Yucatán Peninsula, in southeastern Mexico, separates the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico, with the northern coastline on the Yucatán Channel...
, the entire Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, and all Caribbean islands including Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
. The player is free to sail to any part of the above mentioned lands, stopped by an invisible barrier southeast of Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
, all the way north to just northeast of Bermuda.
Gameplay
Pirates! is a single-player, open worldOpen world
An open world is a type of video game level design where a player can roam freely through a virtual world and is given considerable freedom in choosing how to approach objectives...
game. The player receives a letter of marque
Letter of marque
In the days of fighting sail, a Letter of Marque and Reprisal was a government licence authorizing a person to attack and capture enemy vessels, and bring them before admiralty courts for condemnation and sale...
authorizing service as a privateer for Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, the Dutch Republic
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
, England
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...
, or France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
. The player's loyalties may change over the course of the game; he may also hold rank
Military rank
Military rank is a system of hierarchical relationships in armed forces or civil institutions organized along military lines. Usually, uniforms denote the bearer's rank by particular insignia affixed to the uniforms...
with multiple countries and 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
Trade
Trade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...
. The game also has no predetermined end, although as time goes on, it becomes more difficult to recruit crew members. 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 adviser, based on accumulated wealth, land, rank, marital status, and other accomplishments.
The era of play is one of the choices given to a player at game-start. Different eras provide a different challenge, as political and economic power shifts between the four fledgling European empires. Choosing 1560 (the earliest choice) as the starting year places the player in a Caribbean almost devoid of influence but that of Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, while 1680 (the latest choice) provides a mature Caribbean with many non-Spanish colonies and an overall higher degree of activity in the region. The other choices include 1600, 1620, 1640, and 1660, with progressive effect of reducing Spanish dominance in favor of the other nations, while increasing sea-faring traffic. Ship designs are also era-dependent, with some types of ships appearing more frequently in certain eras and less in others, and certain ship types being used near-exclusively by certain nations.
Fencing
Fencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...
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. In the course of the game a player may try to tack
Tacking (sailing)
Tacking or coming about is a sailing maneuver by which a sailing vessel turns its bow through the wind so that the direction from which the wind blows changes from one side to the other...
in a frigate in order to run down a smaller and faster pinnace, but must be fortunate enough to have the weather gage
Weather gage
The weather gage is a nautical term used to describe the advantageous position of a fighting sailing vessel, relative to another. The term is from the Age of Sail, and is now antiquated. A ship is said to possess the weather gage if it is in any position, at sea, upwind of the other vessel...
.
One of the most innovative features of Pirates! is the introduction of a dynamic playing field. In Pirates!, many of the most important factors which affect player decisions are randomized at the beginning of the game, and continue to shift during gameplay. This not only creates a new experience each time the game is played, but also requires the player to remain flexible, and be ready to exploit possibilities when they occur. The most important random factor in the game lies in the diplomatic relations between the four nations laying claim to the Caribbean. Relations may differ greatly from game to game, and can shift in an instant, creating and removing opportunities, possibly even for long periods of time. The player generally benefits from periods of war between two or more countries, because any aggression towards a country's ships or cities, which occurs often if not specifically avoided, will gain recognition with its enemies, prompting them to bestow the player with land, titles, and other benefits. During peacetime, the player can only benefit from the capture of pirates on the high seas, which is seen as favorable by all nations, but is a rare occurrence. Cities are also dynamic, with statistics like wealth and population fluctuating constantly. The player has a list of cities in one of the game's menus, allowing him to see the statistics of any city. Some cities will show accurate statistics, especially if recently visited. Other cities may be colored differently on the list, and will show no data. This indicates that a city's statistics have changed since the last visit. Visiting taverns in cities may yield an encounter with a traveler who offers to sell information about cities whose statistics have changed. Knowing the statistics of a city helps the player plan ahead, especially with regards to trading or any desire to raid or conquer cities. Changes occur whenever time is passing, and are unrelated to player actions. In fact, in this earliest game in the series, random events do not have any graphical representation, and the player can do nothing to prevent them.
Reception
Pirates! was a groundbreaking game in its era. Although other open-ended games had already been released, the style of player-directed gameplay in Pirates! led it to be the spiritual predecessor of countless others since, both by Sid MeierSid Meier
Sidney K. "Sid" Meier is a Canadian programmer and designer of several popular computer strategy games, most notably Civilization. He has won accolades for his contributions to the computer games industry...
himself (Civilization, Railroad Tycoon
Railroad Tycoon
Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon is a business simulation game. There are five versions; the original Railroad Tycoon , Railroad Tycoon Deluxe , Railroad Tycoon II , Railroad Tycoon 3 , and Sid Meier's Railroads! .Railroad Tycoon was written by game designer Sid Meier and published by MicroProse and...
) and many others, notably Will Wright (SimCity
SimCity
SimCity is a critically acclaimed city-building simulation video game, first released in 1989, and designed by Will Wright. SimCity was Maxis' first product, which has since been ported into various personal computers and game consoles, and spawned several sequels including SimCity 2000 in 1994,...
, The Sims
The Sims
The Sims is a strategic life-simulation computer game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. Its development was led by game designer Will Wright, also known for developing SimCity...
).
Pirates! won many awards at the time of its release, including Computer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World was a computer game magazine founded in 1981 by Russell Sipe as a bimonthly publication. Early issues were typically 40-50 pages in length, written in a newsletter style, including submissions by game designers such as Joel Billings , Dan Bunten , and Chris Crawford...
s 'Action Game of the Year' for 1988, as well as two Origins Award
Origins Award
The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so the 1979 awards were given at the 1980 Origins.The Origins Award is commonly...
s, 'Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Computer Game of 1987' and 'Best Screen Graphics in a Home Computer Game of 1987'. It has continued to earn accolades ever since, having been voted one of the top 20 games of all time by Computer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World was a computer game magazine founded in 1981 by Russell Sipe as a bimonthly publication. Early issues were typically 40-50 pages in length, written in a newsletter style, including submissions by game designers such as Joel Billings , Dan Bunten , and Chris Crawford...
(November 1996).
Remakes
The game was released with minor improvements and better graphics for Windows 3.1Windows 3.1x
Windows 3.1x is a series of 16-bit operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers. The series began with Windows 3.1, which was first sold during March 1992 as a successor to Windows 3.0...
, DOS, Macintosh, and Sega Genesis in 1993 as Pirates! Gold. It was also released on CD for the Amiga CD32
Amiga CD32
The Amiga CD32, styled "CD32" , was the first 32-bit CD-ROM based video game console released in western Europe, Australia, Canada and Brazil. It was first announced at the Science Museum in London, United Kingdom on 16 July 1993, and was released in September of the same year...
in 1994 with enhanced CD audio tracks. The PC versions features a MIDI score and mouse support. They also contained a copy protection
Copy protection
Copy protection, also known as content protection, copy obstruction, copy prevention and copy restriction, refer to techniques used for preventing the reproduction of software, films, music, and other media, usually for copyright reasons.- Terminology :Media corporations have always used the term...
scheme requiring the player to identify the flag of a pirate ship sighted on the horizon (similar to the 1987
1987 in video gaming
-Notable releases:* January 14, Nintendo releases Zelda II: The Adventure of Link in January for the Famicom Disk System in Japan only. The game would go unreleased in America for nearly two years afterwards.* February 20, Konami releases Contra...
Atari port). Sea and sea-to-land combat were played in real-time while land battles were done in turn-based strategy
Turn-based strategy
A turn-based strategy game is a strategy game where players take turns when playing...
. Sun sighting was not present in this version, and there were no special items. The game did, however, include several new features.
Then in 2004 it was converted into an enhanced remake for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
as Sid Meier's Pirates! (2004)
Sid Meier's Pirates! (2004)
Sid Meier's Pirates! is a 2004 strategy/action/adventure computer game developed by Firaxis Games and published by Atari. The game is a remake of Sid Meier's earlier 1987 game, also named Sid Meier's Pirates!. Overall, the gameplay remains similar to the original game, though it features a 3D game...
. It was also released for Microsoft Xbox, Nintendo Wii and Sony PSP gaming consoles. Sid Meier's Pirates! Mobile was developed by Oasys Mobile
Oasys Mobile
Oasys Mobile is a leading mobile game developer and publisher. Oasys develops top-ranked franchise games and applications based on brands such as Mattel, Sid Meier's Civilization IV, Railroad Tycoon, Pirates!, Phil Hellmuth, AROD and Hooters Calendar...
in 2008.
On July 21, 2011, the game was released for Apple's iPad tablet.
External links
\- Images of Sid Meier's Pirates! package, manual and screenshots from C64Sets.com
- The Lost Tavern, Pirates! Gold fan site