User Guide

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Book Three Sid Meier’s Pirates!
®
Weather Glass and Barometer
These special items will help you avoid storm damage while sailing
near or through storms. A mysterious traveler might have one of
these items for sale, from time to time.
Ship Encounters
There are many ships sailing on the Caribbean - merchantmen bring-
ing goods to wealthy cities, treasure ships carrying wealth untold back
to Europe, fishing vessels loaded with cargo, mighty warships looking
for the enemy, and of course pirates and privateers. As you travel about
you will inevitably encounter other vessels - how you interact with
them will in large part determine your ultimate success or failure.
Seeing Other Vessels
A lookout atop a ship’s mast can see a surprising distance - some-
times for miles, depending upon time of day and weather condi-
tions. Whenever a vessel comes within your lookout’s sight range it
will appear on the map. You can tell quite a lot about a ship by its
appearance.
Each ship displays a coloured stripe and flag showing its nationality:
In addition, a vessel’s hull-type tells you something of its purpose:
dark hulled vessels are warships, while lighter-hulled vessels are
merchants.
Each vessel-type has its own unique model.
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Sid Meier’s Pirates!
®
Book Three
Note that the ship’s nationality and type are also displayed when you
roll your cursor over the vessel.
Communicating with Other Vessels
Some vessels may have messages for you as you approach. Enemy
vessels might order you to stand clear, or they might demand that you
stand and fight. Neutral or friendly vessels might pass along the lat-
est news or gossip.
If a ship has anything to say, the message will appear once the vessel
has gotten fairly close to your fleet. The message is also displayed
when you roll your cursor over the other ship.
Attacking Other Vessels
Once you are close enough to initiate an attack against another ship,
you can press the Attack key (number pad 5) or run into the ship to
begin the battle.
Attack Confirmation Pop-up
The Attack Confirmation pop-up allows you to specify which ship
you are attacking, if multiple targets are within attack range. It also
allows you to change your flagship (if you are sailing with two or more
vessels). Finally, it allows you to cancel the attack if you’ve thought
better of things.
Being Attacked by Other Vessels
It is quite likely that you will make more than a few enemies during
your career. If you attack a nation’s shipping, that nation may send out
a warship to put an end to your depredations. If you’re carrying
enough loot, any pirate passing by might decide that you’re a juicy
target. And if you steal a pirate’s buried treasure, he’ll attack you on
general principles.
Dutch
English
French
Indian
Missionary
Spanish
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