MarkQuinn
Powder Monkey
Hi. I'm looking for a mod, or at least someone to tell me how to do it myself, which reduces the aggressiveness of pirates. I started replaying this game after a long time and chose the English. This comes on the heels of playing a LOT of Sid Meier's Pirates! and the gameplay between that and AOP is strikingly different. In Sid's game I really feel like a pirate. I'm the hunter, not the hunted. It's a game about getting as much loot and fame as you can before you get too old to fight. Your real enemy is time. Whereas in AOP, your enemies are everywhere. I can't tell you how tired I am of sailing around with these pirate ships chasing me like they're radar guided missiles. I know I could just try to increase my disposition with the pirate faction but really I don't want to have to bother with that every time I play a new game. I've been a strong critic of Akella's total disregard for realism in every one of their pirate games since Sea Dogs, and this one is no exception. Well, at last, they removed the Portuguese who had no business in Caribbean waters, they finally actually GAVE us a Caribbean (sort of), but the sea is so teaming with pirates that it's just not any fun for me (and yes I have reduced encounters). When a pirate chases you every single time you leave port, it kind of desensitizes you to them altogether and the game takes on the frantic pace and feel of a first person shooter. If piracy existed to the extent that it does in this game, there would be no commerce whatsoever in the real Caribbean and everyone in the west today would derive from some independent petty pirate kingdom.
I've scoured the files in my AOP folder but can't find anything that would help. Whatever it takes, I'll do. I'm willing to reduce pirate agression to nothing if I can. I'm willing to reduce pirate spawning if I can. If all else fails, and if it wouldn't destroy any major quests, I'm willing to remove the pirate faction altogether.
Can any of this be done? Can AOP be turned into a true pirate game where we, the main characters, are the hunters, not the perpetually hunted?
Being hunted by a nation after you've wrong them is one thing, but the pirates really need to be toned down.
Could someone please, please help me? I really want to like this game --- I truly do --- but as it stands now the pace of constant fighting and running from pirate fleets simply undermines any ounce of realism Akella created with (yet another) lovely and realistic sailing engine. And yes, I know that removing pirates or reducing their agression would take much of the challenge from the game. A shame Akella couldn't have presented other challenges, like managing a crew and keeping them happy, instead of relying on the tird old philosophy of ganging up on you with a neverending avalanche of spawning enemies. When I want to be challenged on the high seas, I'll load up Silent Hunter IV. For now, I'd just like a much more relaxed, toned down "age of pirates".
I've scoured the files in my AOP folder but can't find anything that would help. Whatever it takes, I'll do. I'm willing to reduce pirate agression to nothing if I can. I'm willing to reduce pirate spawning if I can. If all else fails, and if it wouldn't destroy any major quests, I'm willing to remove the pirate faction altogether.
Can any of this be done? Can AOP be turned into a true pirate game where we, the main characters, are the hunters, not the perpetually hunted?
Being hunted by a nation after you've wrong them is one thing, but the pirates really need to be toned down.
Could someone please, please help me? I really want to like this game --- I truly do --- but as it stands now the pace of constant fighting and running from pirate fleets simply undermines any ounce of realism Akella created with (yet another) lovely and realistic sailing engine. And yes, I know that removing pirates or reducing their agression would take much of the challenge from the game. A shame Akella couldn't have presented other challenges, like managing a crew and keeping them happy, instead of relying on the tird old philosophy of ganging up on you with a neverending avalanche of spawning enemies. When I want to be challenged on the high seas, I'll load up Silent Hunter IV. For now, I'd just like a much more relaxed, toned down "age of pirates".
