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    Maelstrom New Horizons


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errr... How do you purchase new ships?

OKay... you caught me. Though I never did "fire" a shot. I did, however take a french merchantman and a dutch east indiaman, by boarding them <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" /> Then I dumped the sloop due to crew per cargo capacity ratios. In the original, when you chose dutch as a starting nationality, it actually started you out with a cargo fluyt, which I thought was cool. Not that way in this version, at least not in the 1660 era.

One thing about doing this, you can start out at a higher difficulty level, pick navigation as your skill (to make you sail faster). Since all you are doing (for the most part) is sailing back and forth, buying low - selling high - the combat parts of the game are not as much an issue. Makes your lack of special items or easier difficulty less critical. It's kinda neat. But, you have to divide the plunder at some point, which puts you back at one ship. So, you have to "borrow" another during your next cruise to get more room. Also, if you are around St Kitts, there are lots of ports in a small area, so you can carry hardly any food since you are only out for a few days each time.
 
^^ Yeah, that was what I was trying to convey, that if you want to play a completely legitimate merchant trader, then you can't unless you stay with the ship you are given. I havnt tried it yet, but from the play I've done so far what with selling the booty that I've brought in from attacking other ships, the payment in the towns hasn't been all that great, and trying to keep your men happy long enough to gain 40,000 seems near impossible to me. Maybe it isn't, I guess I'll have to try to be sure. But it just seems that the value of goods is so low and the men get disatisfied so quickly, that you couldnt make enough in trading in the amount of time before your men get tired of working for you and mutiny occurs.

But like I said, I've not tried this method yet.
 
It's strange, but the last game I played (today) my crew was happy most of the time, and I rarely had much money on the boat. I just plundered, bought personal items, plundered another ship, bought another personal item, and that way my gold stayed below a couple of thousand. But they were happy, nonetheless.

I think there's more than just gold that makes the crew happy. If they're having fun, or if you have luxuries, and enough food. I'm not entirely sure exactly where the line goes, but at least it seems you CAN have only a small amount of gold and keep them happy.
 
Kuplo - it all depends on the prices of the goods. I had a situation where St Martin was selling sugar for 6 and St Kitts was buying it at 20 something. So, buy up 60 tons of sugar and a few days sail turns a profit of 840 gold. Rinse and repeat. You can also track the prices of the other goods and turn a bit more profit there too. But, you have to do it in an area where the towns are close.. like the Antingua area. Of course, every time you restart the game, the ports get reshuffled so it's possible to have some lousy prices in that area. But, it can be done. And remember, keep a SMALL crew and them boys will be happy with a profit 840 every couple days.
 
Ahhhhh, I think I understand now, if you keep a smaller crew then the amount of gold that you need to bring in is decreased towards keeping the crew happy. So it's kind of like real time in that it's not a matter of when you divide and plunder, but rather the game figures things when you are doing them. So if you have 400 crew on your gallion, and are only bringing in 800 gold, then the crew can be rather disgruntled, but if you have only 13 crew and bring in the same 800 gold, then the crew would be happy. So it's calculated in a more realtime fashion then the divide and plunder would be calculated.

Thanks,
 
It's really just the base equation of piracy. The less crewmen you have, the larger share each man gets. In Cutthroats I used to have a crew of several hundred, which I used to amass a fortune in gold. Then when I was ready to divide I would just ditch the extra ships of men. Granted it made my Infamy rating soar, but I got RICH.
I have to give credit to Ed Teach for that one....the ol' scoundrel! <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/par-ty.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheers" border="0" alt="par-ty.gif" />
 
Seems as in this game the happieness is based on atleast 3 things.
Money.
Time.
Fighting.

At the end of my game I had the money from 3 lost cities, montalabans money, some random other money and stuff like that and I had well over 200k and they where still unhappy, Though I had been out for about `5-6` years without splitting the loot (Stupid retirement <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":(" border="0" alt="sad.gif" /> ) and I hardly ever randomly attacked at the end.
 
If you want to be a trader then try playing "Merchants and Smugglers - 1600" and then try playing either Dutch or English. Check the descriptions in the manual (page 87). <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/bookish.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":mm" border="0" alt="bookish.gif" />

It does seem rather silly that you cannot purchase small to medium merchant class vessles. While having to take or be granted large mechants or any warships. <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mybad.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":facepalm" border="0" alt="mybad.gif" />
 
`5-6` years is an awfully long time to be at sea. Look at it this way. You got 300 crew. You get 50k and divide the plunder after a year and they get to go whoring and drinking with their spoils. You can do that every year and they'll be happy for the most part. If you hold those poor buggers up on the ship for 6 years and only have 220k, their cut is much less per ratio of time out at sea. The men need to blow off steam.

If my guys have been out for a year or two, once they get unhappy, it's darn hard to swing their mood back to happy. Unless I know I am about to score a huge plunder (Lost City or Villian Gold), I'll divide them up and put together another cruise.

Oh yeah, and they need action too. These guys are warriors mate. If they don't get to terrorize a few merchants every once in a while, they start to wonder about the place in the world <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

Yep, money, time at sea, gold and action are the factors to a happy crew.
 
I'd recommend getting a Treasure Galleon (140). Trade Galleon (120), East Indiaman (140), Large Merchantman (120), Royal Galleon (130), West Indiaman (120) since they're the ones that holds the most cargo. Number in () are the amount of cargo it can hold.
 
EDIT: I stuck this in the wrong thread I think, and now I cannot remember where I was going to put it, so here it shall rest unless/untill someone kills it. <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":(" border="0" alt="sad.gif" />

I start with a Royal sloop and 187 men, then travel from east to west on the Spanish main gathering large cargo ships. At times I will take over a town and install a Governor. Then I use my vast armada to buy everything in that town and sale it elsewhere, giving the new town much needed income. I will then sail to the nearest settlement talk to the mayor and escort him back to the new town. The town will prosper, have troops sent to it and have a better chance of surviving an attack.

At some point I will have 7 Trade Galleons full of cargo and extra men from sailing over them or taking them when they volunteer to join after I board. I stop at every friendly settlement/town/haven/village to repair and to sell cannons and food, making more room for the other cargo.

When I finally cannot take anymore cargo, I will check the map and sail to the town that has the most wealth icons or to the towns that are closest together with the most wealth icons so that I may sale.

Currentlty I am at;
Wealth: 19534
Land: 74250 acres

Gold: 968151
55 years old in failing health
Been at see for 268 months
crew is very happy
I am a duke in every nation except Spain, there I am a mere Capt.
Found all my relatives and all the lost cities
married to a beautiful lass
captured Montalban. as well as all the pirates and found all their gold

I am just going to keep playing without Dividing THE Plunder, (do not know why people type divide AND Plunder). <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mad.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":c" border="0" alt="mad.gif" /> And see how long I will live.
 
<!--`QuoteBegin-Arigard`+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Arigard)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Am i missing something? Every port i go to the shipright only offers to fix and upgrade my current ship. How do i buy new ones?[/quote]

That´s very easy in times of the free market. You sail friendly to the ship you like. Than you say to the enemy captain. <b>I´d like to buy your ship. Unfotunatetly I can´t efford it. Will you lend me the money or have I take from you? Thank for your coorperation. Nice doing business with you. See you again on your next ship when you have left these small isle. </b> <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/par-ty.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheers" border="0" alt="par-ty.gif" /> <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="icon_wink.gif" /> <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_mrgreen1.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheeky" border="0" alt="icon_mrgreen1.gif" />
 
If you start in 1600 as Dutch you get a Fluyt, as English a Merchantman. I tried being a trader once. I forget when I started but I committed one act of privateering (NOT piracy) and took an enemy Dutch fluyt then dumped the sloop. NEVER did a shipwright offer to sell me anything. I had a fluyt, and only a fluyt, for the entire game.

If someone once said you could buy ships I think that has been changed.
 
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