Anyone ever try Port Royale?

[GhengisFarb™]

I've heard some good stuff about it and wondered if anyone here has tried it.

[Sharpe]

The demo is downloadable at IGN.com and other sites if you want to try it. (Reasonable size about 98 MB)

I have downloaded it but haven't tried it yet.

[Standup]

I bought it, played for an afternoon and then put it to one side. I think its when i found myself making a spreadsheet to help me track prices in ports that i decided to go back to something else. I wouldn't say its a bad game - i just got bored.

Bascially you start out with a small ship and trade goods in a small local area and slowly expand. The economy reponds to your trading and there's plenty of commodities and ships to choose from. Bit of combat and even a vague story line. I just found i wasn't in the mood for keeping track of the numbers and you need to pay attention or you'll soon run out of money.

It had enough potential to keep on the hard drive though.

[Sarxis]

I've got it installed. Still haven't played it, and I'm rather mad at myself:

my intention was to see Pirates of the Carribean, and then give the game a go.

Darn.

[GhengisFarb™]

I got and started playing it. Its VERY addictive. Like Pirates!, only better. You don't have to keep track of prices, they have the base price in the book and all you have to do is buy when their close to that and sell when you see them above that.

Very fun if you like trading, naval combat, pirate type games.

[Standup]

I think that's were i didn't have enough patience - i found it frustrating to have to sail to towns to then find out there was no demand for wood/rum etc or to wait for prices to rise above my purchase price. Hence the spreadsheets to aviod wasted trips.

There are different types of towns which have different demands and i think if i play longer the supply/demand would become more obvious.

[rah]

Keeping a few notes doesn't bother me, but elaborate spreadsheets make me wonder why I paid for the computer version of a game.
If I wanted pen and paper, I'd have bought the board game.

[GhengisFarb™]

Its fairly simple, there are several Port Royale related websites where you download a list of the production cost of each commodity. Then when you drop in a port and see a low price you buy it and when you go to a port that has a higher price than you paid (it shows how much you paid for each cargo item to the right) you sell.

And the map that came with the game lists the goods each city produces.

[rah]

Heck, that doesn't sound like much work.

[GhengisFarb™]

Originally posted by rah
Heck, that doesn't sound like much work.

It isn't. Its the funnest game I've found it quite awhile. You CAN get all technical with spreadsheets and prebuilt automated trade routes, but lazy people like me can still play the game. Just doesn't maximize my money as much as the number crunchers...........

[Skanky Burns]

http://downloads.ign.com/game/546239.html

[rah]

Originally posted by GhengisFarb
Just doesn't maximize my money as much as the number crunchers...........

I doubt there is that much difference.

[Skanky Burns]

Why bother with the trading? Just get a bunch of men with cutlasses and muskets, arm your ship to the teeth with cannon and buy lots of scatter-shot. Clear the enemy ships of sailors and then board them. Sell off any excess shipping and make much profit.

I installed the demo today, and in one expidition captured 3 barques and a brig, using my own 3 brigs. Back in town, I sold off all the new cargo, all my brigs and filled the 3 barques with maximum cannon and sailors. With all the cannon I had captured, I ended up having to sell many just to get my numbers down to the maximum. 'Tis quite fun, and I am making quite a bit of money.

Repairs for my 3 ships cost around $4500. Selling my brigs brought in around $9000 each. Cargo and excess weaponry selling also increased the profit.

[rah]

How is the combat? That's what usually differenciates these types of games. Is it fun? Is it easy? Is hand eye coordination involved?

[Skanky Burns]

There are 3 different ways to do combat. The first is auto (where presumably the biggest side will win automatically, never really tried that one). The second is manual, where you right-click with a ship and press shift to fire when you think your cannons will hit their ship.

The third way is to just right-click on the enemy ship and have your ships attack it automatically. They fire at will and all you need to do is select ammo type and when to attempt boarding them. It is actually quite fun, easy, and virtually no hand-eye coordination. Pausing is allowed too.

The overall strategy is still challenging though, and different ammo is useful for different situations, so combat is not a cakewalk.