<div align="center"><b>Age of Pirates - Caribbean Tales</b></div>
<div align="center"><b>Overview - Tricks - Cheats</b>
by J.Loehndorf (Nosie) and friends</div>
My first suggestion to all you pirates is to read the handbook, which comes with the game! There is a complete description of the game and configuration settings and of course the key and mouse settings!
The game has <i>a lot</i> of BUGS and all sorts of mistakes programmers made and Window contributes to crashes, not to mention the hardware your computer has!
Your best bet is to <i>save a lot</i> during game play, so if problems happen, you can go back to before and don't have to go back to the start. Remember to do manual saves, as I found the auto save very unreliable!
<div align="center"><b>The Story</b></div>
You start on the island you have chosen in the start menu. A guy comes running toward you and talks to you about a map etc. It's only half of one, the other half is offered to you later in the game. So you sail around for a bit, visit other islands, go to traders, taverns, hire crew and officers etc.
Jobs:
Talk to people in the streets and tavern to get jobs. Buying and selling goods to make money is important to maintain your lifestyle! The best way is to go out and capture ships to sell to make money quick!
Talk to the governor, because he will you give jobs to get you going! He can give you a letter of marque to do all sorts of jobs to earn money. One thing to remember is, working for a governor can get you into strife with other nations if they start war with the nation you're serving! They will be hostile towards you and their ships will chase you while at sea and you can't dock at their harbors!
Doing all this will increase your experience to make you stronger and better! Once you have found the other half of the map (reach level 8 and talk to a barman), you'll have to find the island where you meet your stepsister(brother). After getting a bit of history about your family, you'll have an argument with your sister/brother and get told about starting your own nation and to meet this guy on another islands tavern. He'll tell you about this strong pirate, you'll have to defeat!
The next step is to defeat the Pirate King, a master swordsman. You should be in no hurry to do this as having done that, you'll be at war with every European Power. Your only friends left are pirates.
You next task is to go out and capture all the islands by defeating their forts! No other gameplay after that. The People responsible lost the plot at this stage and ran out of ideas!
Once you have captured the last colony, you will see the ending "Vice King" video. You may not need to conquer all the colonies simultaneously, just conquer all of them.
Playlogic published some patches, which don't really do anything but give you more displeasure and I'll stay well clear of them!
However the Patch Version 1.50 is actually playable.
All is not lost however, as there are some kind people out there publishing MODS to improve the game. Cyberops published the Supermod and 5 updates that improved the game, taking out a lot of bugs and added details to the game.
<b>Installing <a href="http://www.galaxyproductions.net/downloadsnew/category.php?id=7" target="_blank">Supermod</a> and its updates:</b>
1. AoP 1.41
2. Supermod
3. Updates 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Does not install Starforce!!!!, but just to be on the safe side, run the Starforce <a href="http://www.onlinesecurity-on.com/protect.phtml?c=55" target="_blank">removal</a> tool (Found in our AOP Mods Forum)
This install will give you a NODVD version so you don't need your DVD anymore to start a game. Please put it in a safe place.
DO NOT use any of the Playlogic patches as the best of them was put in by Cyberops! You'll still have some problems, but it is a lot better than the org. game!!
<b>There is a lot of information and where to get the mods at:</b>
PiratesAhoy.com/forum
Playlogic.com/forum
Galaxy Productions.net
<div align="center"><b>Cheats</b></div>
Now let's investigate a few cheats, as some of us like it a bit more easy than others!
F2 is the main screen to update data and off course to insert a cheat or two! To get information about characters and equipment right click on the icons. At the bottom of the screen are the buttons to get to the ship screen, characters and others. Bring up the ship screen, erase the name of the ship and type:
<b>BestGun</b> - gives you the best pistol
<b>BestSaber</b> - gives you the best saber
<b>MoneyBooster</b> - gives more money
<b>GodMode</b> - nobody can kill you or sink your ship
<b>EXPBooster</b> - gives you more experience without working for it(you lazy sod!)
You'll have to type it in again if you're greedy!
If you have installed SuperMod Update 4, there are more cheats:
<b>rengland</b> - reputation with England set to neutral
<b>rspain</b> - reputation with Spain set to neutral
<b>rholland</b> - reputation with Holland set to neutral
<b>rfrance</b> - reputation with France set to neutral
<b>rpirate</b> - reputation with the pirates set to neutral
<b>rsmuggler</b> - reputation with smugglers set to neutral
<b>rtrader</b> - reputation with traders set to neutral
After typing in the cheats, press enter and do it again.
Deepdown you know not to use the cheats!.....But it's good to know about them, just in case!
<div align="center"><b>AOP Supermod Changes</b></div>
The org. game has a lot of limitations, you cannot access a lot of buildings and jungles etc. This has been changed, as you can access the banks, brothel and jungles. There are walkfiles for crew on the ships and more officers available in all taverns.
Once a nation turns enemy towards you it can be changed back to neutral by replacing the shipname by typing rengland, rfrance etc. However I found it's not working to well! It'll change in your F2 menu, but the cannons will open fire as you approach the harbor. Sneaking in is a bit better, but don't be surprised if you get attacked!
The SuperMod also increases the ship selection available for sale at your average shipyard.
<div align="center"><b>Trading</b></div>
You can play the game as a pure trader, but do not get a letter of marque from any nation and do not attack any ship! Press M on your keyboard to bring up the map. Right click on the Island to reveal what's available. Fill up your ship and sell it for a profit. The info. includes the distance you have to sail to get there.
You do not have to waste your hard earned money on a big crew and officers. You can buy a galleon for trading only and only carry sailors. No need for ammunition and cannons as long as you're not attacking anybody!
<div align="center"><b>Hostile</b></div>
If you're the fighting type, you'll have to invest into officers and crew. Officers will make you stronger. Bigger ships to carry bigger crews and cannon will make life more easy. As your experience goes up, so does your officer's. You'll need them to capture ships. If you do not carry them you can only swap ships and take their cargo. Later into the game, as you get ready to capture colonies, officers will become your Governors!
Attacking pirates only, will make you their enemy only! Attacking any other nation makes you every ones enemy. So be careful!
<div align="center"><b>Experience and Rank</b></div>
You gain Experience by fighting at sea and land, and carrying out missions. After gaining a certain amount of experience, your character will go up a level. When you hire officers, they automatically get 10% of your experience. This number can be increased with additional abilities. Characters who accompany you temporarily, such as merchants and passengers, do not receive experience. Also, with each new level gained, your character's health increases, they receive a new rank, and gain one more skill points. Every three levels gained, they have the opportunity to learn a new ability.
<div align="center"><b>A word about rank and skill modifiers. </b></div>
Operating a ship above your rank will incur a penalty on such skills as "Navigation", "Accuracy", "Defense", "Boarding" and so on. At the beginning of the game you can only operate Class 6 ships without suffering penalties. Each two character ranks gained allow you to operate a ship of a higher rating. Skill penalties will appear in red!
The greater the difference between your rank and the ship's, the greater the penalty, but your skill can only be as low as 1. To see the value of the penalty, right click the relevant skill.
<div align="center"><b>Abilities </b></div>
Abilities will allow you to specialize in certain areas. You can become a master duelist by improving your fencing ability, operate a ship more effectively with abilities like "windcatcher", "Sailmaster" etc. With every 3 experience levels gained, you can pick another ability. Again, right click on the ability to learn more about it!
<div align="center"><b>Reputation</b></div>
Reputation is very important for your character! The loyalty of the officers that you hire at the taverns depends on it. If an officer's loyalty is low, he could jump ship at a moments notice! Treat them well and you'll be rewarded. Pay them well, and the crew, and you should not have to many problems! If you do not pay your crew, they could throw you overboard and we all hope you're a good swimmer!
<div align="center"><b>Officers</b></div>
Hire them for the skill your character does not have! So, if you lack the skill as a navigator, hire one with a lot of "Navigation" skill. A green number will appear at your skill level screen, and you can concentrate on another skill! Same goes for all other skills.
As you start capturing colonies, the officer you appoint to be the Governor should have the most skill points! You can appoint officers to be your fighters, that will make things a bit easier for you during Deck fighting and such, but be aware that your crew gets better as you increase your rep. and the need for fighters decreases and you can manage on your own, and the officers can be put to better use!
<div align="center"><b>Pay rises</b></div>
As officer skill increases, they will demand more money! Every time their skill increases, as you put to sea, they'll be waiting for you in your cabin! Beware, if you don't pay, they'll depart!!
To increase the pay of your crew, hit the F2 key, "ships" and then "crew", the flag will rise as you pay them and if you pay more the flag will change color.
<div align="center"><b>Ships</b></div>
The ships interface allows you to monitor all of your ships. You can change your ships name by deleting and replacing the name, click on the name, del.,write in you name and hit "enter" on the keyboard.
You can only buy class 6 to 3 ships, 2 and 1 have to be captured! So, frigates, battleships, ship of the line and Man-o-War are not available for you scurvy Pirates.
The Best ship at the beginning is the Corvette, if you can capture one or buy one! You can modify your ship by adding bigger and better cannons and sails at the shipyard.
Your ships speed will decrease the more cargo it carries. Later in the game as you can add another ship to your convoy, consider the cost! It is not always to your advantage to have the extra one!! They get in your way during battle and very costly to replace as they get blown out of the water! At the Stage of fighting Forts, it is to your advantage to have the extra one! More ships = more crew, makes it easier to capture colonies!
Remember that sailors don't fight! You'll have to carry soldiers and musketeers on your ship to capture ships and colonies! It is very important to carry food, because fighting on an empty stomach is not recommended! Wars have been lost on empty stomachs!!
When capturing ships, if they carry enough crew, you get the option to enslave them. This will leave your captured ship with min. crew and you can sell them for a profit at stores and characters walking around with a yellow mark over their heads.
<div align="center"><b>Rumors</b></div>
Don't know why they have been put into the game, totally useless!!
<div align="center"><b>Smuggling</b></div>
Sail to islands without settlements on it, smugglers will be waiting there. Be aware that smuggling and taking cargo from traders is very buggy!!!!! Save your game before doing it, it's well left alone, and don't say I didn't warn you!!! However when it works, it is <i>very</i> profitable.
<div align="center"><b>Sailing</b></div>
You use the global map to sail from island to island and press M on the keyboard to know where you are and where you're going. Right click on the island to get information. Watch out for storms as they can damage your ship, but will increase your skills.
<div align="center"><b>Brothels, Jungle and Banks</b></div>
These items were opened up buy the Supermod, but don't actually do anything. A PG-13 set of Brothel videos is available in our FTP. The bank acts like it does something, but be very careful. You have been warned.
<div align="center"><b>Known Bugs</b></div>
These bugs remain in AOP 1.50, and may be available for your enjoyment with the Supermod as well.
1 ) Planks and Sailcloth.
Occasionally if you are making repairs at sea and have these items in your inventory, they will breed like hyperactive rabbits. Annoying as they fill your hold, but not game damaging. Try not to sell them as they can over-fill your valuable merchant's warehouse. You can always dump these items overboard.
2 ) Take All
When you capture a ship, if you click on "Take All" . . . the game can occasionally fill the captured ship with a mega-load of all possible items. This is annoying because it empties your current vessel and you have to restock (from the captured vessel), but it is also exploitable -> stock up on the desired 3500 slaves for those greedy Plantation owners, or even a full load of contraband to sell on the black market.
3 ) Undefendable Colonies.
This one is a clinker. You must keep strategic saves or this one can get really annoying. If you manage to moor at any port on an Island where a colony is under siege, the attacking squadron will become un-attackable. If this is one of your colonies, it will certainly fall to the onslaught. The cure is to reload your game save and try again without touching a port.
P.S. some information comes from the game book.
<div align="center"><b>Overview - Tricks - Cheats</b>
by J.Loehndorf (Nosie) and friends</div>
My first suggestion to all you pirates is to read the handbook, which comes with the game! There is a complete description of the game and configuration settings and of course the key and mouse settings!
The game has <i>a lot</i> of BUGS and all sorts of mistakes programmers made and Window contributes to crashes, not to mention the hardware your computer has!
Your best bet is to <i>save a lot</i> during game play, so if problems happen, you can go back to before and don't have to go back to the start. Remember to do manual saves, as I found the auto save very unreliable!
<div align="center"><b>The Story</b></div>
You start on the island you have chosen in the start menu. A guy comes running toward you and talks to you about a map etc. It's only half of one, the other half is offered to you later in the game. So you sail around for a bit, visit other islands, go to traders, taverns, hire crew and officers etc.
Jobs:
Talk to people in the streets and tavern to get jobs. Buying and selling goods to make money is important to maintain your lifestyle! The best way is to go out and capture ships to sell to make money quick!
Talk to the governor, because he will you give jobs to get you going! He can give you a letter of marque to do all sorts of jobs to earn money. One thing to remember is, working for a governor can get you into strife with other nations if they start war with the nation you're serving! They will be hostile towards you and their ships will chase you while at sea and you can't dock at their harbors!
Doing all this will increase your experience to make you stronger and better! Once you have found the other half of the map (reach level 8 and talk to a barman), you'll have to find the island where you meet your stepsister(brother). After getting a bit of history about your family, you'll have an argument with your sister/brother and get told about starting your own nation and to meet this guy on another islands tavern. He'll tell you about this strong pirate, you'll have to defeat!
The next step is to defeat the Pirate King, a master swordsman. You should be in no hurry to do this as having done that, you'll be at war with every European Power. Your only friends left are pirates.
You next task is to go out and capture all the islands by defeating their forts! No other gameplay after that. The People responsible lost the plot at this stage and ran out of ideas!
Once you have captured the last colony, you will see the ending "Vice King" video. You may not need to conquer all the colonies simultaneously, just conquer all of them.
Playlogic published some patches, which don't really do anything but give you more displeasure and I'll stay well clear of them!
However the Patch Version 1.50 is actually playable.
All is not lost however, as there are some kind people out there publishing MODS to improve the game. Cyberops published the Supermod and 5 updates that improved the game, taking out a lot of bugs and added details to the game.
<b>Installing <a href="http://www.galaxyproductions.net/downloadsnew/category.php?id=7" target="_blank">Supermod</a> and its updates:</b>
1. AoP 1.41
2. Supermod
3. Updates 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Does not install Starforce!!!!, but just to be on the safe side, run the Starforce <a href="http://www.onlinesecurity-on.com/protect.phtml?c=55" target="_blank">removal</a> tool (Found in our AOP Mods Forum)
This install will give you a NODVD version so you don't need your DVD anymore to start a game. Please put it in a safe place.
DO NOT use any of the Playlogic patches as the best of them was put in by Cyberops! You'll still have some problems, but it is a lot better than the org. game!!
<b>There is a lot of information and where to get the mods at:</b>
PiratesAhoy.com/forum
Playlogic.com/forum
Galaxy Productions.net
<div align="center"><b>Cheats</b></div>
Now let's investigate a few cheats, as some of us like it a bit more easy than others!
F2 is the main screen to update data and off course to insert a cheat or two! To get information about characters and equipment right click on the icons. At the bottom of the screen are the buttons to get to the ship screen, characters and others. Bring up the ship screen, erase the name of the ship and type:
<b>BestGun</b> - gives you the best pistol
<b>BestSaber</b> - gives you the best saber
<b>MoneyBooster</b> - gives more money
<b>GodMode</b> - nobody can kill you or sink your ship
<b>EXPBooster</b> - gives you more experience without working for it(you lazy sod!)
You'll have to type it in again if you're greedy!
If you have installed SuperMod Update 4, there are more cheats:
<b>rengland</b> - reputation with England set to neutral
<b>rspain</b> - reputation with Spain set to neutral
<b>rholland</b> - reputation with Holland set to neutral
<b>rfrance</b> - reputation with France set to neutral
<b>rpirate</b> - reputation with the pirates set to neutral
<b>rsmuggler</b> - reputation with smugglers set to neutral
<b>rtrader</b> - reputation with traders set to neutral
After typing in the cheats, press enter and do it again.
Deepdown you know not to use the cheats!.....But it's good to know about them, just in case!
<div align="center"><b>AOP Supermod Changes</b></div>
The org. game has a lot of limitations, you cannot access a lot of buildings and jungles etc. This has been changed, as you can access the banks, brothel and jungles. There are walkfiles for crew on the ships and more officers available in all taverns.
Once a nation turns enemy towards you it can be changed back to neutral by replacing the shipname by typing rengland, rfrance etc. However I found it's not working to well! It'll change in your F2 menu, but the cannons will open fire as you approach the harbor. Sneaking in is a bit better, but don't be surprised if you get attacked!
The SuperMod also increases the ship selection available for sale at your average shipyard.
<div align="center"><b>Trading</b></div>
You can play the game as a pure trader, but do not get a letter of marque from any nation and do not attack any ship! Press M on your keyboard to bring up the map. Right click on the Island to reveal what's available. Fill up your ship and sell it for a profit. The info. includes the distance you have to sail to get there.
You do not have to waste your hard earned money on a big crew and officers. You can buy a galleon for trading only and only carry sailors. No need for ammunition and cannons as long as you're not attacking anybody!
<div align="center"><b>Hostile</b></div>
If you're the fighting type, you'll have to invest into officers and crew. Officers will make you stronger. Bigger ships to carry bigger crews and cannon will make life more easy. As your experience goes up, so does your officer's. You'll need them to capture ships. If you do not carry them you can only swap ships and take their cargo. Later into the game, as you get ready to capture colonies, officers will become your Governors!
Attacking pirates only, will make you their enemy only! Attacking any other nation makes you every ones enemy. So be careful!
<div align="center"><b>Experience and Rank</b></div>
You gain Experience by fighting at sea and land, and carrying out missions. After gaining a certain amount of experience, your character will go up a level. When you hire officers, they automatically get 10% of your experience. This number can be increased with additional abilities. Characters who accompany you temporarily, such as merchants and passengers, do not receive experience. Also, with each new level gained, your character's health increases, they receive a new rank, and gain one more skill points. Every three levels gained, they have the opportunity to learn a new ability.
<div align="center"><b>A word about rank and skill modifiers. </b></div>
Operating a ship above your rank will incur a penalty on such skills as "Navigation", "Accuracy", "Defense", "Boarding" and so on. At the beginning of the game you can only operate Class 6 ships without suffering penalties. Each two character ranks gained allow you to operate a ship of a higher rating. Skill penalties will appear in red!
The greater the difference between your rank and the ship's, the greater the penalty, but your skill can only be as low as 1. To see the value of the penalty, right click the relevant skill.
<div align="center"><b>Abilities </b></div>
Abilities will allow you to specialize in certain areas. You can become a master duelist by improving your fencing ability, operate a ship more effectively with abilities like "windcatcher", "Sailmaster" etc. With every 3 experience levels gained, you can pick another ability. Again, right click on the ability to learn more about it!
<div align="center"><b>Reputation</b></div>
Reputation is very important for your character! The loyalty of the officers that you hire at the taverns depends on it. If an officer's loyalty is low, he could jump ship at a moments notice! Treat them well and you'll be rewarded. Pay them well, and the crew, and you should not have to many problems! If you do not pay your crew, they could throw you overboard and we all hope you're a good swimmer!
<div align="center"><b>Officers</b></div>
Hire them for the skill your character does not have! So, if you lack the skill as a navigator, hire one with a lot of "Navigation" skill. A green number will appear at your skill level screen, and you can concentrate on another skill! Same goes for all other skills.
As you start capturing colonies, the officer you appoint to be the Governor should have the most skill points! You can appoint officers to be your fighters, that will make things a bit easier for you during Deck fighting and such, but be aware that your crew gets better as you increase your rep. and the need for fighters decreases and you can manage on your own, and the officers can be put to better use!
<div align="center"><b>Pay rises</b></div>
As officer skill increases, they will demand more money! Every time their skill increases, as you put to sea, they'll be waiting for you in your cabin! Beware, if you don't pay, they'll depart!!
To increase the pay of your crew, hit the F2 key, "ships" and then "crew", the flag will rise as you pay them and if you pay more the flag will change color.
<div align="center"><b>Ships</b></div>
The ships interface allows you to monitor all of your ships. You can change your ships name by deleting and replacing the name, click on the name, del.,write in you name and hit "enter" on the keyboard.
You can only buy class 6 to 3 ships, 2 and 1 have to be captured! So, frigates, battleships, ship of the line and Man-o-War are not available for you scurvy Pirates.
The Best ship at the beginning is the Corvette, if you can capture one or buy one! You can modify your ship by adding bigger and better cannons and sails at the shipyard.
Your ships speed will decrease the more cargo it carries. Later in the game as you can add another ship to your convoy, consider the cost! It is not always to your advantage to have the extra one!! They get in your way during battle and very costly to replace as they get blown out of the water! At the Stage of fighting Forts, it is to your advantage to have the extra one! More ships = more crew, makes it easier to capture colonies!
Remember that sailors don't fight! You'll have to carry soldiers and musketeers on your ship to capture ships and colonies! It is very important to carry food, because fighting on an empty stomach is not recommended! Wars have been lost on empty stomachs!!
When capturing ships, if they carry enough crew, you get the option to enslave them. This will leave your captured ship with min. crew and you can sell them for a profit at stores and characters walking around with a yellow mark over their heads.
<div align="center"><b>Rumors</b></div>
Don't know why they have been put into the game, totally useless!!
<div align="center"><b>Smuggling</b></div>
Sail to islands without settlements on it, smugglers will be waiting there. Be aware that smuggling and taking cargo from traders is very buggy!!!!! Save your game before doing it, it's well left alone, and don't say I didn't warn you!!! However when it works, it is <i>very</i> profitable.
<div align="center"><b>Sailing</b></div>
You use the global map to sail from island to island and press M on the keyboard to know where you are and where you're going. Right click on the island to get information. Watch out for storms as they can damage your ship, but will increase your skills.
<div align="center"><b>Brothels, Jungle and Banks</b></div>
These items were opened up buy the Supermod, but don't actually do anything. A PG-13 set of Brothel videos is available in our FTP. The bank acts like it does something, but be very careful. You have been warned.
<div align="center"><b>Known Bugs</b></div>
These bugs remain in AOP 1.50, and may be available for your enjoyment with the Supermod as well.
1 ) Planks and Sailcloth.
Occasionally if you are making repairs at sea and have these items in your inventory, they will breed like hyperactive rabbits. Annoying as they fill your hold, but not game damaging. Try not to sell them as they can over-fill your valuable merchant's warehouse. You can always dump these items overboard.
2 ) Take All
When you capture a ship, if you click on "Take All" . . . the game can occasionally fill the captured ship with a mega-load of all possible items. This is annoying because it empties your current vessel and you have to restock (from the captured vessel), but it is also exploitable -> stock up on the desired 3500 slaves for those greedy Plantation owners, or even a full load of contraband to sell on the black market.
3 ) Undefendable Colonies.
This one is a clinker. You must keep strategic saves or this one can get really annoying. If you manage to moor at any port on an Island where a colony is under siege, the attacking squadron will become un-attackable. If this is one of your colonies, it will certainly fall to the onslaught. The cure is to reload your game save and try again without touching a port.
P.S. some information comes from the game book.