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Infamy Points and Crew Morale
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The campaign game has the player sailing for a pirate faction called
the Golden Buccaneers. With limited funds, a sub-standard ship and
the vast majority of the map uncharted, the player must turn their
fortune around and strive to gain Infamy Points. These points reflect
a player's overall effectiveness as a pirate captain and once the
campaign is completed, their Infamy total will be recorded in the
Pirate Hall of Infamy.
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The Swift Class Buccaneer ship
"Kraken's Fancy"
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A player's Infamy, however, slowly ticks away over time. So the longer
a player takes to complete missions or the more times they fail to
complete them, the lower a player's Infamy total will drop. The rate at
which the Infamy drains away is determined by the morale of the ship's
crew. When morale is high the crew are more inclined to give their captain
a second chance, but when morale is low... they'll be reaching for "the plank"
and herding their captain toward it at cutlass point.
A crew's morale level is manageable though - complete missions
successfully and morale will improve; fail and it will fall.
Ultimately though the crew are pirates, so a well timed
rum ration or the sharing of some plunder will have them back in
line in no time.
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The hub of the campaign game is the player’s Home Port at
Cutlass Bay. At port a player can assess their current levels of
Infamy, Gold and Crew Morale as well as the state of their ship.
The port provides a pirate captain with a safe haven where they
can repair, re-arm and modify their current ship or even purchase
a new one if they have sufficient funds.
There are a number of key areas in the port that will provide the
player with all the support they need to complete the campaign.
The Dockyard, The Shipwright, The Chart Room, The Tavern and The Library.
Details of each area can be found below under the relevant section.
As well as giving access to the key buildings, the Home Port also
gives a player a chance to relax, as Infamy Points do not tick away
while the crew are relaxing at the inn. Progress can be saved too, but
comes at a price! To save a current campaign position, a player is
required to pay for the privilege and must sacrifice valuable Infamy Points
or hard-fought plunder. Players who save the game before every mission are
hardly worthy of the Pirate Hall of Infamy - whoever heard of
Captain Henry the Timid or Benjamin Brackett the Overly Cautious?
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Perhaps the most important area at Cutlass Bay is the Dockyard, where ships
can be repaired and re-stocked with gunpowder. At the Dockyard screen a player
can see their current levels of both ship "health" and ammunition and can
purchase either partial or full repairs, depending on available funds.
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The
"Doom Rose"
in for repairs and refit
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The Dockyard is also where ships can be upgraded to improve their overall
performance. Speed, Firepower and Durability can all be improved by the
addition of heavier calibre cannons, better quality sails or thicker hull armour.
Each area of the ship has three available upgrades, rated at Bronze, Silver
and Gold - so a ship upgraded to Gold in all areas has reached its maximum potential.
Crew Morale can also be improved at the Dockyard by paying for a Rum Ration or by
Sharing Plunder. A ration of grog will improve morale by a single level, while
throwing gold at the crew will increase their level of happiness to maximum, thus
slowing Infamy Point loss down to a minimum.
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Once a player has accumulated some Gold, they may wish to trade in
their old ship for a new one. This is done at the Shipwright, where
all currently available ships are listed for sale. Initially the
selection will be limited, but more vessels will become available as
the campaign progresses.
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The choice of vessels will range from the fast and lightly armed to
very heavy ships bristling with cannons. Generally the more expensive
a ship is, the larger and more heavily armed it is. Size isn't
everything though and depending upon a player's preferred style of
play, an upgunned lighter vessel may prove more effective than a
leviathan of the sea - especially if you are chasing down merchant shipping.
And remember: Infamy Points are constantly ticking away, so the
bigger and slower a ship is... the longer it will take to reach its target!
For a closer look at some of the vessel types available to a player in
Buccaneer, check them out in the
Ship Classes section of the website.
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The Buccaneer Chimera Class Sloop
"Baron's Folly"
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The Chart Room contains maps of all the areas currently known to the player.
At the beginning of the campaign this knowledge will be limited to the sea
surrounding the Home Port at Cutlass Bay, otherwise known as "The Bowl". But as
the game progresses and missions are completed, new areas will be added to
the main map. Each new area has its own map (like the one pictured below left)
that contains a number of missions.
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Map chart of
"Sir Henry's Basin"
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Players can attempt missions in any order they wish from any of the regions
revealed on the main chart. However, many newly discovered areas will be too
difficult to complete until the player owns a larger and more powerful ship.
Once a mission is successfully completed it will become locked and unavailable
for selection from the charts. The exceptions to this are the Merchant Shipping
missions, that are always available and may be played repeatedly. These latter
missions are designed to give a pirate captain the chance to accumulate wealth,
should they "need a bigger boat".
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Once a campaign is completed a pirate captain becomes infamous and
their name is known to all of their pirate brethren. And what better
place to brag about their exploits than at the local alehouse.
Visit The Tavern to check the Pirate Hall of Infamy, where a "high score"
table of Infamy is posted for all other pirates to view with envy and scorn.
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Taking command of a pirate ship is a daunting prospect for even the
hardiest of nautical freebooters. As a result, much of the knowledge
required to succeed as a Buccaneer has been documented and is available
for research at the Library.
So for all questions relating to the operation of the Dockyard, the
Shipwright and the Chart Room, the Library contains all the answers an
inquisitive pirate may need answered.
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