Hacker News

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

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/

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!

I started a thread if others want to show their AI coded games. -> https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48509243

maybe it becomes a monthly thing, maybe not.

Unfortunaly only a demo of the ship combat system of Pirates :)

The actually interesting part for me was the historical setting, exploring the Carribean geography, watching the world evolve, all the while trying to keep the ship crew under control :)

Also we still need a proper 2D remake (the 3D-ified game console version from 2004 didn't really age all that well and has too many QTE gimmicks).

One fun unintended mechanic: Because sailing off screen loops you around Pacman style, and because a browser window is dynamically resizable, you can use this to your advantage teleporting behind the enemy and taking them by surprise.

Love this!

Lovely! Thankfully no one (AFAIK) has done a similar work with Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon Deluxe... Otherwise I would be easily spending tens of hours playing it. One of the games I have loved the most in my life!

Sid Meier's Pirates on the iPad was a great experience. Bummer it isn't supported in modern iOS.

I remember playing Pirates on my 8086 in the 1980, mono-chrome screen, and I was amazed a a kid. Sid Meier's games were always a step above, and so immersive feeling for their day. I started a project from that too (one of many I suppose). I also was inspired by the KOEI games on SNES - Uncharted Waters.

It needs polish, content and more work but the kids like it.

https://ship-voyage-4zn.pages.dev/

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 :)

I'm actually building a boat game for my 5yo son. We're building it together. I decided on using Love2d as the framework and I'm basically distributing a DMG to family and friends to run it and test it.

Great game!

Reminds me very much of Overboard for the PS1 back in 1997.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71accvNZ0aA

Really enjoyed this and it brought back many memories of the Amiga, great job.

Two suggestions,

  - The sailing is a bit too nimble, it's possible to turn naturally.
  - It's currently possible to sail over/under the other ship.

I first played Pirates on C64. There was a paper version of the map that was a lot of help when you played and tried to find some locations.

Super fun! I'd add the ability to restart the same battle once its finished, kinda tedious to go back through and select the settings I want.

A product of my laziness heh

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.

For some reason this made me think of Pirates Constructible Strategy Game [0]

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirates_Constructible_Strategy...

This is exactly like a much older Apple 2 game called Old Ironsides fwiw.

On the Apple 2 it was 2 player only but a lot of fun back in the day. With an added ability to ram ships (pointy front into flat side one if you landed it before they sunk you).

How to shoot? I can't figure it out. Perhaps made harder by typing on Colemak.

Edit: OK, spacebar shoots, but it's hard to see the cannons flying due to low contrast. And it shoots in the direction of the enemy.

Illustrates the importance of 'crossing the T' in naval warfare before there were turreted guns. :)

“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/

What's the key to fire? I've tried everything

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)

make it multiplayer, I dare ya >:)

(if you need this kind of motivation)

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?

Fun. Maybe you could add some random features for a bit more variety. Shallows, islands, fog banks etc.

Nothing is moving on the screen for me :/ ! I can't pick the ship.

Console shows no error.

Please adjust the color contrast. I can hardly see the cannon balls.

I feel like difficulty progression would help.

Good but too easy

Well done - that was a fun little distraction :)

Cute but I won first time on all 3 sizes

I am the greatest

Pirate hunter in the world.

Fun but should have difficulty levels!

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 :)

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

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.

Is there an unskipable minigame thats crucial to winning that majorly objectifies women and is beyond obnoxious with terrible animations and sound effects?

Because if not, I’d love to check this out… but never again in my life will I subject myself to that mini-game!

this game is crazy fun