How do I set the game up to ransom/release enemy captain at a shore?

[Fluen]

If I capture an enemy ship and want to ransom its captain, I don't like the thought of sailing into an enemy harbour with an enemy fort - even under a false flag. I would much rather ramsom/release the captain at a shore of the enemy island.

I just don't understand the options in InternalSettings. Will someone please explain how to make the correct settings?

 

[Grey Roger]

Looking at that, I'm not sure if it's possible to set the game to ransom prisoners at all ports. But you don't need to go into an enemy harbour with a fort - good thing too, now that forts have a chance to see through your false flag!

Check the international relations table. Is there any nation which is allied to the prisoner's nation but not hostile to you? How about a nation which is neutral to the prisoner's nation and not hostile to you? Probably not, unless relations have changed due to your chosen starting year in FreePlay, or because a storyline has set them specially, or because relations have changed randomly in FreePlay. Otherwise the default state is Britain, Holland and Portugal allied; France and Spain allied; and the two power blocs at war. But if you can find a safe nation which is allied or neutral to the prisoner's nation, you can ransom him there. The ransom won't be as high, especially in a neutral port - if you want the big money, you have to take the risk to earn it!

There's one final option. You can ransom any prisoner at a pirate port, and Nevis Pirate Settlement has no fort. You'll also get even less ransom than at a neutral port, but at least you get something. Or you can release the prisoner for free, in which case you get +4 reputation.

 

[Fluen]

Do we misunderstand each other? I'm no asking for a neutral port. I'm asking for a desolate beach. Those don't tend to have forts.

In earlier builds, it was sufficient to sail to an island controlled by the nation, the captain belonged to, and release/ransom him at a desolate beach. Has that option been removed? I couldn't do that, when I tried. That's why I'm asking for help with the correct settings.

 

[DavyJack]

Go to Nevis on the pirate side. I remember ransoming all my prisoners there (mostly non-pirate ones).

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I don't like the thought of sailing into an enemy harbour with an enemy fort - even under a false flag

Don't think about it?

I just don't understand the options in InternalSettings. Will someone please explain how to make the correct settings?

I was honestly unaware the settings were wrong.
Anyway, InternalSettings.h contains its own explanations and has been designed to be largely self-explanatory.

Looking at that, I'm not sure if it's possible to set the game to ransom prisoners at all ports. But you don't need to go into an enemy harbour with a fort - good thing too, now that forts have a chance to see through your false flag!

The logic for this one is a bit murky.
Looking at it now, I can't quite decypher it myself in a hurry either.
And I KNOW who wrote it (spoiler: it was me; which is to say, @Maximus wrote it and I made MAJOR changes/additions).

The way I remember it, I tried to intelligently design it so that there would ALWAYS be a way.
But higher risk does also give higher reward.

In other words:
You can probably release prisoners in absolutely ANY port; and maybe even at SHORES.
However, doing it that way has exactly ZERO risk; and therefore, you get zero money.
On the other hand, bringing them directly HOME gets you the MOST money.
BUT that requires using a false flag to sail in right under the enemy forts' well-primed cannons.

Not even trying though has a risk as well: prisoners can escape at any time.
In that case, not only can you NOT ransom them anymore / bring them back home,
they might actually DIE out at sea and drowning to Davy Jones' Locker!

 

[Grey Roger]

I've been checking this. You can indeed sail to an enemy island, moor at a shore and ransom the prisoner. Or at any other shore. Or even a port hostile to the prisoner, or don't moor at all as you can ransom him on the open sea. What may be confusing is that the dialog goes like this:
You: "Ransoming you sounds pretty good. <insert price> golden piastres for me and a safe return to your family for you!"
Prisoner: "My family is hardly what you'd call rich. And I sincerely doubt my government will care about my capture."
You: "Well, what else do you want me to do with you? Making you walk the plank is always an option, I suppose...."
Prisoner: "Now don't overreact, captain! What would you say if I would offer you <insert offer> golden piastres right now? I managed to hide a sum of money when your cutthroats grasped me, see."

Don't be put off by the threat to make the prisoner walk the plank. You won't get the chance to carry it out. There is a way to execute the prisoner but it's a completely different dialog branch starting with "I'm afraid my crew longs to see ye as a bloody lump of meat."

The prisoner's offer is less than you'll get even at a pirate port, and there's no option to release the prisoner without ransom to gain reputation. And that is as it should be - if you want the big money or the reputation boost, you'll have to earn them!

What has changed relatively recently is quest officers. Previously you could not release them for big money or reputation, presumably because someone thought that if you released a quest officer, it might break the officer's quest. Snag 1 is that the block on ransoming the prisoner didn't extend to the above way of release anywhere for small money. Snag 2 is that the quest officer is dead anyway and you're talking to a clone. (*) Therefore, if the quest will break if the officer is no longer your prisoner then it's going to break anyway. And so the block on releasing quest officers for big money or reputation was lifted.

(*) This is due to the code that handles captured captains. Various sea battle quests end when one or more enemy captains are dead. To make sure they end properly even if the captains surrender, they're cloned and then killed. So the battle can end properly and the player is none the wiser as the clone has the same face, name and nationality as the original character. This did indeed mess up one quest. At the end of "Tales of a Sea Hawk", if you have captured Silehard, there's the option to hand him to the new governor for a cash reward. That didn't work because Silehard is dead and his clone is your prisoner. I managed to fix it so that the governor will accept the clone instead, so now you can get the reward.

 

[Fluen]

If the original method works, I must have messed up. I'll try again with a new officer.