Introduction

I consider myself an author. Not that I have ever published anything that I have written.

If I'm not mixing up my timelines, Sid Meier's Pirates! was the basis of my second unfinished novel. It was the story of a 17th century French sailor, thrust into the world of piracy as he searched for his long-lost family while trying to acquire a new one by courting the beautiful daughter of the mayor of Caracas. In the end, the only family that he managed to find was the band of rowdy pirates that he captained across the Caribbean.

This might sound like a good story, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't. I would have been ten, maybe nine years old at the time. I knew very little about family dysfunction, romantic love, or the age of piracy. I understood next to nothing about the demands of narrative style or structure. I simply played the game on my Commodore 64 and wrote down what was happening to me.

So, Sid Meier's Pirates! has been a fairly big part of my life. I have not only played the game (many times), but I have spent a considerable amount of time thinking about it. I could even say that, through the act of creative imagination, I have lived it. It is certainly part of my identity.

And yet, I have never finished the game. Just like my early novel's fictional French captain, I have never found all of the missing family members. And while I have retired many of my characters, I have never been hugely successful in the outcome. I have never reached an ending that I would consider definitive.

Just like I have never published anything that I have written.

And this is exactly the type of game that Pirates! is. It is an open world game in the truest sense of the word: it gives you a world to live in, to sail in, to plunder and fight in, to look for treasure and lost family members in, to court beautiful daughters in and to change the course of colonial history in. But it doesn't give you any definitive goal. The journey in Pirates! matters far more than the destination. Because there really is no destination.

Just like in my writing.

Or perhaps also in life, you could say?

The Gameplay Loop

Sid Meier's Pirates! is a collection of systems that harmonise rather beautifully. It is one of my favourite game designs.

You start by selecting the era in which you want to play, a choice that determines what the world looks like and how it behaves, and some details about your character. You are then given a ship and a crew, and off you go. You can read the incredibly detailed manual, and you really should because it's wonderful, but you don't have to. It's quite an intuitive game.

Your crew expects you to provide for them. Their loyalty is for the plunder and the plunder alone, and it is up to you to make them rich. If you don't have enough gold for them, they will begin to mutiny. The bigger your crew is the easier it is for you to plunder, but the more of them there are, the smaller each individual member's cut is, and therefore the unhappier they are. And the longer you wait until you divide the gold with them, the less happy they will be with you. There is this constant push and pull, which is at the heart of many of the game's systems.

And here is the catch: every time you divide the plunder, time progresses. The game gets more difficult, not only because you can change your difficulty level at this juncture, and not just because you lose much of your crew and fleet, but because your characters ages. And the older you are, the more difficult fighting becomes. Them old bones won't be so flexible.

You cannot die, though. If you are captured at any point, you go to the gallows. It's not game over, but you lose possessions and time, as you age in prison.

And at some point, you will just be too old. Continuing the life of a pirate makes sense no more. Age has defeated you. Piracy is a young man's game and it is time for you to retire. And when that happens, the game looks at your possessions and other accomplishments, and tells you what your character's life in retirement will look like.

Within this overall frame, the game loop itself is basically a collection of mini-games: navigating the Caribbean winds, making decisions in towns, arcade-style ship combat, a light strategy game for land battles, a fighting game for sword fights. And, in a later edition, a rhythm game for dancing that many didn't warm to. You can look at maps and search for lost treasures, hunt for other pirates, do heists on silver trains (for some reason removed from later editions), build your reputation, court governors' daughters, conquer cities, trade goods, micro-manage your fleet and crew, and so on.

Underneath it all, most events are random, which makes each time you play the game unique. This includes everything from smaller details to the larger geopolitical reality that is happening around you in the Caribbean. Nations go to war, make peace with each other, cities change hands, all without caring one bit about your plans or needs.

It really is as close to a perfect game that I can think of.

History, Versions & Availability

Sid Meier's Pirates! was designed and programmed by the industry legend that is Sid Meier. Although Meier was a co-founder of MicroProse and had already created around twenty games, Pirates! was the first game to feature his name in the title; something that comedian Robin Williams had apparently suggested that they should do. Or alternatively, as Meier himself remembers, the marketing department came up with the idea to try to get people who loved Meier's flight simulators to give a chance for this otherwise impossible-to-sell pirate game that Meier had insisted on creating. Whatever the reason, it started a trend. Later on, we would get titles like Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon, Sid Meier's Gettysburg!, Sid Meier's SimGolf, Sid Meier's Starships, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, Sid Meier's Colonization and, most famously, a game and series called Sid Meier's Civilization. Not all of them always led by Meier, but always given his stamp of approval.

The game was something of a departure for the designer, as he had mainly worked on flight simulators and other war games until then. Interestingly, Meier programmed most of the game in BASIC, which means that a lot of the code for the original Commodore 64 version is openly readable. If you'd like to learn more, this 8-Bit Show And Tell video is a really interesting dive into the code.

Platforms & Versions:

Sid Meier's Pirates! has had a long history after its initial Commodore 64 release. I personally count five major versions and say that you can decide which one you want to play based on which version of our previous pirate game, The Secret of Monkey Island, you preferred:

• Sid Meier's Pirates! (1987, Commodore 64 and others, sailing screenshot, governor screenhot, duelling screenshot): This is the original game and, for me, the "authentic" Pirates! experience, if played on the C64. But of course it is, because this is the version I grew up with. The art design is minimalistic, clean and crisp. It is also the blockiest of the versions. Choose this if you, like me, insisted on the original EGA (or CGA!) version of The Secret of Monkey Island without voice acting. A DOS port of this is included in the Pirates! Gold Plus release, where you will probably want to choose EGA graphics, even if the loading screen is in CGA. Make also note of the "Pirates! Cheat Sheet" pdf file in your game's bonus content directory, as you'll need those dates to answer the copy protection question correctly.
• Pirates! (1990, Amiga and others, sailing screenshot, governor screenshot, duelling screenshot): This isn't really a different version as much as a port. I don't think Meier had much personal input on this one. It's quite similar to the original but with softer graphics designed for more developed systems. Some like them, I'm sort of ok with them. Consider this if you chose the updated VGA version of The Secret of Monkey Island without voice acting. Although I don't think this one is on sale anywhere.
• Pirates! Gold (1993, DOS and others, sailing screenshot, governor screenshot, duelling screenshot: This is a full remake with improved graphics and tweaked gameplay, again without Sid Meier leading the development. Play this if you went through The Secret of Monkey Island with the VGA graphics and voice acting. Many seem to consider this the definite experience, but I don't quite see the allure myself as in many ways it sits a little uncomfortably between the purity of the original and the modernisation of the 2004 remake. This is inluced in the Pirates! Gold Plus release.
• Sid Meier's Pirates! (2004, Windows and consoles, sailing screenshot, governor screenshot, duelling screenshot): Subtitled Live the Life, this is a full Sid Meier helmed remake (notice that his name is again part of the title) that streamlined the game, made it more modern, switched to 3D rendered graphics, added some story bits, and notoriously introduced a dancing mini game. I think it's ok, although I feel some of the identity and charm was lost with the newer cartoony graphics and sounds. In this one, I sadly don't taste the saltiness of the sea anymore. It feels more like a game. But you may want to choose this if you were happy to play the remastered edition of The Secret of Monkey Island with its new graphical style and streamlined user interface.
• Sid Meier's Pirates! Mobile (2008, mobiles): This is a mobile port that I don't think is available any more and that I have never played. I think it's largely based on the 2004 remake?

Genre(s):

Open world, action-adventure, strategy, Sid Meier

Links:

• Moby Games (1987 version)
• Moby Games (1993 version)
• Moby Games (2004 version)
• Wikipedia (1987 version)
• Wikipedia (1993 version)
• Wikipedia (2004 version)

Stores:

• Steam - Pirates! Gold Plus (1987 & 1993) (on sale until May 3rd!)
• Steam - Sid Meier's Pirates! (2004)
• GOG - Pirates! Gold Plus (1987 & 1993)
• GOG - Sid Meier's Pirates! (2004)

Game Setup

The main purpose of this topic is to get people up and running with the game. As such, it's recommended that you:

• Share which version of the game you're playing

• Share what hardware you're playing it on

• Share if there are any tools/mods that you recommend

• Share anything you think is important for people to know before they start the game

• Ask questions if you need help

Another purpose of this topic is to revisit the game and its time period:

• Do you have any memories or associations with this game itself?

• What about its system or era?

• What aspects of retro gaming were common at the time?

• What other games from the same time period are you familiar with?

• What are you expecting from this game in particular?

Finally, this topic is the beginning discussion for people starting to play it:

• Post updates sharing your thoughts as you play.

• Ask for help if you get stuck.

• Offer help to others.

It is recommended that you reply to your own posts if you are making consecutive updates so that they are in the same thread.

Important

• Any links to the game should be legal distributions of the game only. Please do NOT link to any unauthorized copies.

• Put any spoilers in a dropdown block. Copy/paste the block below if needed.

<details>

<summary>Spoilers</summary>

Spoiler text goes here.

</details>

FAQ

My knowledge here is about a decade out of date so I would like to ask for some advice and recommendations. I am looking less for a specific model to buy and more for personal experiences and general tips on what to look at or good review sites or knowledge bases.

Ideally I'd want a general purpose midsized flat monitor with higher refresh rate.
Mostly what I find are either gamer branded items usually without chain linking or data interface or office ones with 60hz though I'll work around of what is available. The image quality is the important part.

What price ranges and display technologies should I be looking at to get a generally good image without too many compromises?

What have you been doing lately for your own fitness? Try out any new programs or exercises? Have any questions for others about your training? Want to vent about poor behavior in the gym? Started a new diet or have a new recipe you want to share? Anything else health and wellness related?

The blaze has officially ignited!

(and May has officially mellowed, for those going the chill route)

• Quicklink: Backlog Bingo

Etiquette:

• It is fine to make multiple top-level posts throughout the week.

• It is also fine to respond to your own posts.

• If you are playing Backlog Bingo, you can share your table either by markdown or through screenshots.

Gameplay guidelines:

• Goals for this event (if any) are entirely individual and self-determined.

• Playing Bingo is optional and not required.

• You do NOT need to finish games unless you want to. The point is to try out games and have fun, not force ourselves to play things we're not interested in.

Backlog Burner FAQ

Backlog Bingo FAQ

Important: All data for your Backlog Bingo card is stored on your device, not the server. Clearing your browser data will delete your card. You can use the export feature to make backups or move your card between devices.

Iranians right now are using a javascript based proxy to access the internet somewhat, it's what i'm using to access tildes.

I thought it'd be interesting to share, we don't have access to script.google.com but we do have access to www.google.com, so there's another method to access it and set it up.

Someone wrote a quick android app for it. link

It's limited from google's side as they've put a 20,000 requests daily limit on scripts, but it gets us online somewhat and... feels nice, to be able to have a way through.

We're also using github actions to download files to private repo's and download them from there (releases is still blocked, raw is not) which also seems to have a 2000 minute monthly limit.

From one side google colab also has Iran sanctioned so we can't access that, but that would be another way to get online aswell.

From another side we're also using DNS servers to tunnel traffic, but they get blacklisted after the user count goes up.

What have you been listening to this week? You don't need to do a 6000 word review if you don't want to, but please write something! If you've just picked up some music, please update on that as well, we'd love to see your hauls :)

Feel free to give recs or discuss anything about each others' listening habits.

You can make a chart if you use last.fm:

http://www.tapmusic.net/lastfm/

Remember that linking directly to your image will update with your future listening, make sure to reupload to somewhere like imgur if you'd like it to remain what you have at the time of posting.

I recently visited Albuquerque and spent almost a full day at their botanical gardens. It was awesome and made realize how much I love bioparks.
Of all the attractions a city may have, they always delight and never leave me conflicted like I feel at zoos and aquariums.

So I ask the people of Tides: where are the best bio parks and what makes them great?

As part of a weekly series, these topics are a place for users to casually discuss the things they did — or didn't do — during their week. Did you accomplish any goals? Suffer a failure? Do nothing at all? Tell us about it!