I figured at first that I should post this in the Gameplay Tips section, but the last update for that was in 2017, so I decided to ask here; I hope that doesn't violate some kind of rule.
This is the first time I've made a forum account in a long time and it's just to ask for some help. This is just the kind of game I like, but I say with no embellishment that this is the most absolutely impenetrable game I've ever played. I've tried following the tips often passed around, like doing the merchant missions in taverns, and doing things for governors, but it just feels like I'm headbutting a wall. Inevitably I get ambushed by some enemy ship and annihilated with no hope of escape because I'm too slow. I shoot at the enemy and even on the incredibly rare situation when the cannonballs actually hit, it does no damage, even with bombs at point blank range. Boarding is out of the question since I haven't gotten to the point where I either have multiple competent fighters hired, or can even survive a single medium melee attack from an enemy pirate. Or, a storm comes out of nowhere and destroys my ship because I was trying to save money for officers and didn't repair my ship.
Either way, I'm irritated because I forgot to save and I quit playing. Then I start a new game, and repeat. I really wanna like this game but so far I hate it. I can tell there's a good game in here, but I just don't know what I'm doing and the materials are pretty limited. Sure, I could do Peter Blood's stuff to start with a decent ship and officers, but I really don't wanna sit through the prologue. Besides, he's supposed to be for the expert players. I'm starting with the beginner players, supposedly! I've played several times on both vanilla and GoF.
I've been playing on Captain difficulty because that's supposed to be normal mode, right? And I haven't really been having issues with combat or anything like that. But I feel like even if I was playing on the lowest difficulty, I wouldn't be getting anywhere. Am I wrong about that? I feel like if I'm not learning anything on Captain, I won't be on Sailor either. What rate of progress should I be expecting? Am I gonna have to keep doing these merchant missions forever? When am I gonna be allowed to actually do pirate stuff? You know, naval combat, boarding ships, what's supposed to be the good part of this game. Even against small, lone ships, I get destroyed. Do I really need a full team of officers before I'm even slightly competent at ship combat?
Sorry for all the text but I have been grappling with this game in my free time for the past week and it's really starting to piss me off. I remember having fun with this game a few years ago but I don't remember what I was even doing. Thanks for any help in advance.
This is the first time I've made a forum account in a long time and it's just to ask for some help. This is just the kind of game I like, but I say with no embellishment that this is the most absolutely impenetrable game I've ever played. I've tried following the tips often passed around, like doing the merchant missions in taverns, and doing things for governors, but it just feels like I'm headbutting a wall. Inevitably I get ambushed by some enemy ship and annihilated with no hope of escape because I'm too slow. I shoot at the enemy and even on the incredibly rare situation when the cannonballs actually hit, it does no damage, even with bombs at point blank range. Boarding is out of the question since I haven't gotten to the point where I either have multiple competent fighters hired, or can even survive a single medium melee attack from an enemy pirate. Or, a storm comes out of nowhere and destroys my ship because I was trying to save money for officers and didn't repair my ship.
Either way, I'm irritated because I forgot to save and I quit playing. Then I start a new game, and repeat. I really wanna like this game but so far I hate it. I can tell there's a good game in here, but I just don't know what I'm doing and the materials are pretty limited. Sure, I could do Peter Blood's stuff to start with a decent ship and officers, but I really don't wanna sit through the prologue. Besides, he's supposed to be for the expert players. I'm starting with the beginner players, supposedly! I've played several times on both vanilla and GoF.
I've been playing on Captain difficulty because that's supposed to be normal mode, right? And I haven't really been having issues with combat or anything like that. But I feel like even if I was playing on the lowest difficulty, I wouldn't be getting anywhere. Am I wrong about that? I feel like if I'm not learning anything on Captain, I won't be on Sailor either. What rate of progress should I be expecting? Am I gonna have to keep doing these merchant missions forever? When am I gonna be allowed to actually do pirate stuff? You know, naval combat, boarding ships, what's supposed to be the good part of this game. Even against small, lone ships, I get destroyed. Do I really need a full team of officers before I'm even slightly competent at ship combat?
Sorry for all the text but I have been grappling with this game in my free time for the past week and it's really starting to piss me off. I remember having fun with this game a few years ago but I don't remember what I was even doing. Thanks for any help in advance.