It would seem relatively easy to tie speed to the direction the boat is facing. The more perpendicular you are to the 'wind direction' the faster you move. Or make the fastest velocity 45 degrees from wind direction, for a bit more realism. Basic sailing physics can add to the fun.
This 100% has the "vibe" of the original game but should include that if you sail "into the wind" it slows you down.
Also, I've been trying to make a remix of SMP but with a princess theme for my daughters. Been experimenting with making other games to practice building out game mechanics and stumbled into making a game where you manage a Soviet Tractor Factory [0].
I'm interested to see if developing parts of Game A lead to Game B which in turn lead you back to interesting ideas for Game A (or maybe better Game C).
my kid has 50+ hours in sid meier's pirates and told me they stare at the world map in their classroom and try to locate towns and ports in the caribbean when they're bored. i will show your game to them, though i am certain the first thing they will ask for is chain shot.
not to discourage your good work, but here's another project worth checking out if sid meier's pirates is your thing. https://tinywind.io/
Love it! I remember fondly playing pirates as a kid this is great!
I recently built https://navalstrike.app to scratch my naval warfare itch. Happy to share how I did lightweight p2p multiplayer with a super lightweight server handshake if you want :)
That was fun, but the AI and the balance need some work.
It's too easy to win as the small boat. You just stay ahead of your opponent and then turn back and strafe periodically.
It would be much more challenging if you added wind and realistic sailing dynamics. If wind direction vs sail orientation mattered to your speed and boat characteristics weren't as simple as smaller = faster then I think it would be much better balanced and way more fun/challenging!
On further play, really the only match up where I had any trouble was large vs large. (As a side request, it would be nice to be able to choose your opponent!)
With both small and medium, you can just strafe back and forth in front of your opponent if you're faster than them. With medium and large, you can just circle them and absorb more punishment than them when you're larger than them.
Multi-player would solve the AI problem -- especially if it was more than 1v1 -- and then it would be more challenging.
But I would still request realistic wind and sailing dynamics. That strafing maneuver isn't really possible with real wind dynamics, because you slow down as you swing around and that allows the opponent to catch up to you and return fire. You could have a little arrow in a corner of the screen that shows the wind direction. You don't even have to make the sails movable, you could just have your speed be proportional to how orthongal your sails are to the wind direction in the simplest implementation.
It would add a whole new element to it that would make it much more challenging! :)
Highlighting that game mechanics are hard - I struggled with your strategy but found it too easy to be the tank. Turn in a circle and shoot and rely on the higher HP + cannon loading.
The cannonballs should have randomized elevation as well so that "raking" the bow and stern is more likely to get hits than hitting the side. Hits on the bow and stern should also do more damage. Cross the T!
That's interesting, because I found it trivial to win with the largest boat. Tank one hit, lead your target, blast away. I remain undefeated with the largest boat.
By contrast I found winning with the medium boat required the most skill, and lost the first few times I tried.
“the emperor wishes to see you posthaste!” This immediately reminded me of the 1980s Apple game Taipan and of course it is playable online: https://www.taipangame.com/
Nice job! Sid Meier's Pirates is one of my favorite games, wish they brought it back (I still play it occasionally, can't believe it never got a remake)
Love the original. Some key tactics you need to pick up are: use a small ship, because if you are fast with the right technique nobody can hit you, and you can cross vast distances quickly without starving. Keep food stocked and limit large ship acquisition to a phase of the game in which you need large numbers of pirates for town invasions / large ship fights. Always sell extra cannons. Always buy the goodies from the bar. Upgrade ships religiously: you want all upgrades. In swordfighting, prefer rapier (speed with good reach) over larger weapons in most cases. Obtain new letters of marque. Obtain land after performing state-aligned duties by talking to the governors: this builds your long-term wealth. The easiest victim (given all other letters of marque) is the dominant state in the era (different eras have different mixes, but it's usually the Spanish). To catch the military payrolls, sink the escorts then damage to near 'strike their colors' before closing in for swordplay. Change to buck shot to reduce opponent count before swordplay without risking loss of vessel hull. Remake on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3920/Sid_Meiers_Pirates/
This is pretty cool as a prototype, nice job! I'd say it needs some progression (one-on one to one-on-multiple, think 1xL against 2xS, etc.), as well as some more map variation (channels, islands, hazards like a giant whirlpool, kraken, the works). As a final shape, multiplayer would be pretty cool, but of course that's quite a bit more difficult... But I for one would be there for it :)
It would seem relatively easy to tie speed to the direction the boat is facing. The more perpendicular you are to the 'wind direction' the faster you move. Or make the fastest velocity 45 degrees from wind direction, for a bit more realism. Basic sailing physics can add to the fun.
This 100% has the "vibe" of the original game but should include that if you sail "into the wind" it slows you down.
Also, I've been trying to make a remix of SMP but with a princess theme for my daughters. Been experimenting with making other games to practice building out game mechanics and stumbled into making a game where you manage a Soviet Tractor Factory [0].
I'm interested to see if developing parts of Game A lead to Game B which in turn lead you back to interesting ideas for Game A (or maybe better Game C).
0 - https://alexpotato.com/games/tractor47/?l=hn
If people have feedback on the game, would love to hear it on the below link: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48503530
Really enjoyed this and it brought back many memories of the Amiga, great job.
Two suggestions,
When will it be possible to intercept and have a sword fight? :)my kid has 50+ hours in sid meier's pirates and told me they stare at the world map in their classroom and try to locate towns and ports in the caribbean when they're bored. i will show your game to them, though i am certain the first thing they will ask for is chain shot.
not to discourage your good work, but here's another project worth checking out if sid meier's pirates is your thing. https://tinywind.io/
Love it! I remember fondly playing pirates as a kid this is great!
I recently built https://navalstrike.app to scratch my naval warfare itch. Happy to share how I did lightweight p2p multiplayer with a super lightweight server handshake if you want :)
That was fun, but the AI and the balance need some work.
It's too easy to win as the small boat. You just stay ahead of your opponent and then turn back and strafe periodically.
It would be much more challenging if you added wind and realistic sailing dynamics. If wind direction vs sail orientation mattered to your speed and boat characteristics weren't as simple as smaller = faster then I think it would be much better balanced and way more fun/challenging!
On further play, really the only match up where I had any trouble was large vs large. (As a side request, it would be nice to be able to choose your opponent!)
With both small and medium, you can just strafe back and forth in front of your opponent if you're faster than them. With medium and large, you can just circle them and absorb more punishment than them when you're larger than them.
Multi-player would solve the AI problem -- especially if it was more than 1v1 -- and then it would be more challenging.
But I would still request realistic wind and sailing dynamics. That strafing maneuver isn't really possible with real wind dynamics, because you slow down as you swing around and that allows the opponent to catch up to you and return fire. You could have a little arrow in a corner of the screen that shows the wind direction. You don't even have to make the sails movable, you could just have your speed be proportional to how orthongal your sails are to the wind direction in the simplest implementation.
It would add a whole new element to it that would make it much more challenging! :)
Highlighting that game mechanics are hard - I struggled with your strategy but found it too easy to be the tank. Turn in a circle and shoot and rely on the higher HP + cannon loading.
Fair!
I just went into a circle and shot, won every time for every boat
The cannonballs should have randomized elevation as well so that "raking" the bow and stern is more likely to get hits than hitting the side. Hits on the bow and stern should also do more damage. Cross the T!
That's interesting, because I found it trivial to win with the largest boat. Tank one hit, lead your target, blast away. I remain undefeated with the largest boat.
By contrast I found winning with the medium boat required the most skill, and lost the first few times I tried.
Please adjust the color contrast. I can hardly see the cannon balls.
“the emperor wishes to see you posthaste!” This immediately reminded me of the 1980s Apple game Taipan and of course it is playable online: https://www.taipangame.com/
I am not sure if my memory is mixing with 4D Boxing (!?) but I think if you took too long your pirate would be quite old and weak, or?
Sid Meier's Pirates on the iPad was a great experience. Bummer it isn't supported in modern iOS.
I did not know that, I have an old iPad, going to look for it
removed from app store, sadly
Great game!
Reminds me very much of Overboard for the PS1 back in 1997.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71accvNZ0aA
I am the greatest
Pirate hunter in the world.
Illustrates the importance of 'crossing the T' in naval warfare before there were turreted guns. :)
Nice job! Sid Meier's Pirates is one of my favorite games, wish they brought it back (I still play it occasionally, can't believe it never got a remake)
It was remade in 2006
Nothing is moving on the screen for me :/ ! I can't pick the ship.
Console shows no error.
Same here, using Firefox 151.0.4
did you try arrow keys and space bar?
make it multiplayer, I dare ya >:)
(if you need this kind of motivation)
Yup totally support that.
Fun. Maybe you could add some random features for a bit more variety. Shallows, islands, fog banks etc.
Love the original. Some key tactics you need to pick up are: use a small ship, because if you are fast with the right technique nobody can hit you, and you can cross vast distances quickly without starving. Keep food stocked and limit large ship acquisition to a phase of the game in which you need large numbers of pirates for town invasions / large ship fights. Always sell extra cannons. Always buy the goodies from the bar. Upgrade ships religiously: you want all upgrades. In swordfighting, prefer rapier (speed with good reach) over larger weapons in most cases. Obtain new letters of marque. Obtain land after performing state-aligned duties by talking to the governors: this builds your long-term wealth. The easiest victim (given all other letters of marque) is the dominant state in the era (different eras have different mixes, but it's usually the Spanish). To catch the military payrolls, sink the escorts then damage to near 'strike their colors' before closing in for swordplay. Change to buck shot to reduce opponent count before swordplay without risking loss of vessel hull. Remake on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3920/Sid_Meiers_Pirates/
For me the watercolor imagery and music were half the game (Pirates Gold). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOPdsiOp5R0
This is pretty cool as a prototype, nice job! I'd say it needs some progression (one-on one to one-on-multiple, think 1xL against 2xS, etc.), as well as some more map variation (channels, islands, hazards like a giant whirlpool, kraken, the works). As a final shape, multiplayer would be pretty cool, but of course that's quite a bit more difficult... But I for one would be there for it :)
Cute but I won first time on all 3 sizes
Good but too easy
Well done - that was a fun little distraction :)
Thanks!
Fun but should have difficulty levels!
At first I was frustrated because I didn’t know what the controls were. The arrows were moving, but nothing seemed to shoot.
Then I realized the space bar was shooting. You just can’t see the bullets because they are tiny black dots on a dark blue background.
Thank you for the feedback! I'm going to address both points tonight when I get back home.
this game is crazy fun
Thanks!