User Guide

Enter City
To enter a port city just steer your ship into the city. Depending upon
conditions you might sail right in and anchor peacefully at harbor, or,
if the town is hostile, the city’s forts might open fire on you. You then
have the options to sail away, attack the town or sneak in.
Disembark onto Land
Steer your ship into a point on the shoreline where you want to dis-
embark. The game will ask you to confirm that you want to go ashore,
and your crew will then form a landing party (see “On Land,” below,
for more details).
Attack Ship
This is what being a pirate is all about! Over the course of the game
you’ll often find yourself wanting to launch an attack against some
other ship you encounter at sea. See below for details on ship encoun-
ters and combat.
Press the Attack button (number pad 5) or run into ship to initiate an
attack against a nearby vessel.
Pause
Press “Shift-p” to pause the game. Note that no time passes when a
menu is on-screen, when you’re in a city, and when you’re viewing an
information screen. You only need to pause the game when you’re at
sea, on land, or engaged in an action sequence (ship battle, dueling,
dancing, or in a land battle).
Zoom
You can zoom in to get a closer view of your ship, or zoom out to see
a larger expanse of the Caribbean. Use the mouse wheel to zoom in
and out.
Chase View
In “chase” view, the camera changes from the standard overhead view
to a position behind and just slightly above your ship. Press the
Change View button (number pad 9) to toggle between chase and
regular views.

Book Three Sid Meier’s Pirates!
®
Manning Your Ship
You need a certain minimum number of sailors to man your ship at peak
effectiveness. If you have fewer than that number of crew, your ship will
be slower and your crew will take longer to reload cannon during combat.
If you have multiple ships in your fleet, you need enough crew to meet
the crew requirements for all ships. If you don’t have enough, your fleet
sails slower and your flagship is less effective in combat.
Note: You usually begin a game of Pirates! aboard a sloop. You need eight
crewmen to sail and fight this ship effectively.
Best Point of Sailing
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Sid Meier’s Pirates!
®
Book Three
Using the Wind
A vessel's hull design and sail configuration determines its sailing
characteristics. In general, ships with square sails such as the frigate or mer-
chantman tend to perform best when sailing "large" - that is, running before
the wind (for instance, in a running broad reach). Ships with triangular
sails such as the pinnace or barque tend to perform best when sailing "by
the wind" -- that is, running roughly perpendicular to the wind (say, in a
broad beam reach).
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