Captured The Pearl

[Ben Coats]

i ended up getting a great ship, when i was attacked by a spanish patrol of 4 ships, this was one of them: "The Black Pearl"

 

[modernknight1]

You're obviously having fun! That's what this game is all about. You're obviously proud to have her - so I say congratulations!

I too love the Pearl!

We made her a bit rare in GOF as she should be. However in GOF Historical Eras, she will be even more rare.

You will only encounter her as an Armed English Merchantmen of 1685 with white sails and a slightly different skin, or you can find her in pirate patrols. If you want black sails, you will have to get them yourself at the shipyard.

MK

 

[Ben Coats]

ive noticed u can get black sails @ the bermuda shipyard, but they dont last long, cuz i get them, sail out to ruin shore, then go to map and start sailing toward say tortuga, and run into spanish or pirate ships, i have black sails thru out the battle but once i go from map screen to open sea again i have white sails, after spending 10,000$ for the sails for only a short period.

right now im doing morgans favor trying to find edward low and seem to not be able to every where i go....but yeh i really enjoy it. to bad the totem u need for one of the rooms is the only one that turns off the firetrap as well.

 

[HundertzehnGustav]

http://piratesahoy.net/threads/need-help-repairs-cause-colored-sails-to-be-removed.19535/

check this!
made it for me...

 

[modernknight1]

to bad the totem u need for one of the rooms is the only one that turns off the firetrap as well.

You know mate that you can collect two and even three of each Totem if you keep looking at the little town vendor stands for them. The only one that is restricted to ONE ONLY is the last one that you find in the Temple in Tenochtitlan while swimming in the labyrinth. In this video:

MK

 

[Ben Coats]

i didnt know there was on there, i thought the one that turned off the firetrap was the one you also needed for the temple floor, in the 1st room? IDK, ive yet to complete it.

 

[modernknight1]

I never take on the Tenochtitlan adventure until I have two of each totem - except the last one obviously. You also need a totem to get out of the temple after you defeat the God of Death - unless you want to run back out the way you came in like an idiot - like me - I did that very thing in my video and had to back later for the sacrificial knife that open the round shaped temple so you can get THE SHOTGUN....

 

[Post Captain]

Do you know if they (meaning any European) even used black sails all that often? I've seen dark red sails on old vessels, but all the black sails I have noticed are on modern "tall ship juniors." I figured that if anyone here would know it would be MK...

 

[modernknight1]

Interesting question PC and one I've thought about and researched a little in the past.

I won't go into my normal long dissertation mode on this one, but it would make a good research topic in one of my upcoming books - so a short dissertation....

Were there black sails? - YES - as you said, some far eastern navies were known to use colored sails to include black. Even in European history there are some vague mentions of black being used by the Turks as well as some Spanish and Italian squadrons during combined operations against the Ottoman Navy in the Mediterranean. This was a century or two before the British navy used the Blue, Red, and White naval jacks to identify the Van, Main and Rear squadrons of a fleet in action. So similar things were being done with sail color in the Med while fighting the Turk.

So a couple of things to consider - (1) colored sails would had to have been continually maintained. They would have faded quickly if used often, and this could have only been done with consistency by a fleet or naval organization with the manpower and funds necessary. Dyes were available, but would have had to have been purchased in immense amounts to cover the sails of that time. If you've looked at the size of a galleass's or large carracks sails, that's a lot of dye. That would have been quite an expense. Very doubtful that pirates would have gone to the trouble.

(2) Anyone that has been to sea knows that dark objects show up very well on the horizon. A ship with black sails would be much easier to spot and keep your eye on in all types of conditions, than one that has white sails - except at night of course.

Would the pirates have preferred to attack at night using the black sails as stealth? That I think is rubbish. If the unknowing - stalked ship had a watch/guard on duty, he would still have seen and heard the ship approaching - even at night. Once it started bumping up to its opponent, the "jig would be up" - and boarding was not an instantaneous thing. Not to mention that fighting in the dark is such a clumsy affair with room for so many errors. Its not like they had night vision back then. We still have fratricide issues now. I can't imagine what that would have been like then.

In standard naval fleet actions as far back as the late 16th century, the established practice was to break off the action at night and retreat or resume the following day. There are occasions when the fighting continued, but they are rare exceptions. No I'm quite certain the pirate would want everyone around him to believe that he was just another honest happy ship going about his business. Stealth for him would be ordinary white sails - until he got close enough to size up his prey and run up the black flag.

Last I would just mention something I've thought about, but can't prove. I have found some mentions of slovenly practice aboard ships in old songs and poems, but have yet to find an actual anecdote that mentioned the lack of maintenance on a pirate vessel. I know that anecdote is out there. I need to find several to make this more than an assumption or theory. If slovenly practice was followed with sails never being aired out or cleaned - in the tropics........a little thing called mold and rot would occur. I have often wondered if that's where we have been handed down the notion of pirates having black sails.....they were simply moldy and rotten. LOL I don't know - but its what I think could be possible??? So the Black Pearl's sails look kind of cool black and all, but I myself think of them as rotty moldy sails. It would be neat to have a "soiled" sail texture for pirates instead of black if you think of this the way I do. MK

 

[Post Captain]

Thanks! That really clears things up.

The point about soled sails made me think of two more factors. One is related to the appearance of black sails, and the other is just an strange fact.

1: Masts used to be slushed to allow the yards to move up and down more freely (It actually makes a huge difference on the force needed to raise a yard), and to help preserve the masts. I believe the material used in the past was an animal-fat derived substance. If it's anything like the petroleum jelly commonly used today, it would inevitably get quite filthy over time, eventually turning black and leaving dark grey marks down the middle of the aft side of the squares'ls. I've seen those stains on the backs of most squares on traditional vessels:

Spoiler

Unfortunately the best image I had. It doesn't quite show the color accurately.

The marks are more evenly distributed on brailing loose and free-footed trapezoidal sails.

Spoiler

When your furling trys'ls, your pants also tend to turn black wherever they touch the mast. It asolutely will not wash off.

This could never cause an entire sail to appear black, but it could certainly add to the factors you stated above. On a lateen sail rigged to an unpainted mast, these marks should occur on both sides of the sail, since the gaff could be moved from port to starboard, or starboard to port.

2: It was common for dog feces to be mixed with water and spread over sails to provide UV protection. I don't know when that practice started, but it did work to an extent. That resulted in a light yellow-brown colored sail. That wouldn't cause a sail to appear to be black, but it is interesting.

 

[Ben Coats]

question,....why are my sails getting blown away easier now in combat, even by class 5/6/7's my sails dont last long, and i have to fight boarding actions. i used to be able to hit their sails with chainshot, and knock theirs off, so i could get away if i was being pursude by more than several ships (aka bounty hunters w/5 ship squads), now they're just eating me to pieces before i can flee.

 

[modernknight1]

@ Ben Coats: I haven't actually played 2.0 yet, but just a guess on my part - is that you are facing opponents that are at higher skill levels. When you sink their ships - is there a boat left behind with their captain? That's a sure sign of higher skills.

This is one area I don't like about COAS that some others really like. As you level up higher, you face opponents of higher levels more often. Yes it continues to make the game challenging, but the curve should favor your advantage a little as you progress. It seems to stay even. Lower difficulty settings however seem to negate this. You should play lower than Captain difficulty if this really bothers you.

@Post Captain: Interesting to note. I love that I learn something new every day. You taught me my lesson for the day. Are you actually serious or pulling my leg.

I made a point to research your comment and can't find any references - on dog feces sail treatments. Do you have a source? I would love to use this fact. Do you know when the practice started? ....or are you pulling my leg.

I wouldn't have wanted to be the tar that administered that treatment. It would've taken an awful lot of turds to cover that much space. Where did they get their supply? Was it boiled in a vat with other components and applied in coats while the sail was laid out?

I knew about the slushing and greasing of the parrels for mast lube. It makes sense that it would add stains to the sails. So now we have pirate sails that were greasy, moldy, rotten and shi&*y. LOL I guess they might be getting kind of black in places - but more likely a poopey brown. MK

MK

 

[Post Captain]

I am serious- My leg-pulling is reserved strictly for new Pilgrim recruits*. I received that bit of information during a lecture that touched briefly on it a few years back. Unfortunately I don't recall an era being given. I'll try to find the reference sheet I received that I remember as listing sources, and I'll send you the information if I do manage to find it, since I'm currently going through all my old papers. It may take a few days. If not, I'm afraid it will be hearsay unless I run into the guy who delivered the lecture again. It is possibly that I will, and I'll ask him about it if I do.

I have two separate hypotheses:

1. The treatment was used on a relatively small scale, probably on small coastal traders and fishermen. I want to instinctively say that it was used during the 1830's or later but I have absolutely no idea why I'm inclined to think that.​

2. The treatment was used on vessels that remained under sail for very long periods of time.​

The rabbit skin on a furled sail (a protective layer of canvas on the top foot or two of the after side of the sail) should​

provide sufficient UV protection when the sail is not in use, making such a treatment less necessary. Sails not in use were commonly unbent in many situations. I only see such a treatment being worth the application process on sails that were constantly left in the sun.​

As far as I know, it would result in this kind of a color or lighter (that was touched upon in the lecture), and was probably fairly thin: more water than feces. (A guess.) A nice wetting would probably do the trick.

Again, if I run into the guy, I'll try to find his reference. He's not one for making things like that up. When he's messing with us, he makes it very obvious, and he took his lectures very seriously.

* "that right there is a jib-line hank splice..." You wouldn't believe how well that one works. My favorite made up knot, however, is one that I created myself: the racking jubilee. I do tell them the real answers to their questions eventually.


And here comes the second tangent... During last year's sail, we convinced a new crew member that she had to walk the captain's dog during the dog watch. We actually got her to walk into his cabin and announce she was there for that reason. New guys are so silly.

 

[Ben Coats]

i wasnt expecting this, bout a treasure map, that sent me to the cave near belize, when i got there and found the spot, it gave me a torn map (see screenshots), where do i find the rest of it?? i fought the skeletons, and searched 'em all thinking they'd have a couple of pieces, but they didnt. any one got any help with this???

 

[Post Captain]

Unless it said that the other half of the map was in the cave, it could very well be anywhere in the game world. Possibly even sold in taverns.

 

[Ben Coats]

nope it didnt, so its got to be anywhere. smh. going to take forever to find.

 

[Ben Coats]

now im getting little agrivated, i swam the labyrinth just like in the vid didnt miss a turn got to the end and still drownded, my player never came up out of the water.

 

[modernknight1]

There are two labyrinths on each side of the city. One gives you nothing and the other one a totem and lots of other stuff I wont mention. The route patterns for getting through them are slightly different. Keep trying - you will get through. MK

 

[Ben Coats]

thats what im doing, trying to get the totem, and im swimming the right one (i think) from the vid shown, cuz i wrote the turns down, get to the end and my character doesnt exit the water, IDK, but ill keep trying. OK nvrmind, i made it thru and got the totem to bad bout the 2000 aztec coins -20 on luck. bummer. ok another question, i took all the aztec gold coins (the ones from POTCCBP) so what can i do with them? nothing or just keep them even tho they're -20 in luck.