Ign has just come up with the goods and it appears that Firaxis will be releasing a new version of Pirates! I've quoted the article here to save you the click. ;) The original is here (http://pc.ign.com/articles/401/401956p1.html). Perhaps they'll get around to releasing a working version of PTW now then?


E3 2003: Pirates Sequel at E3?
Avast ye mateys! The rumor cannon has fired, and now we're in search of a golden treasure.

May 12, 2003 - We've known that Sid Meier and the Firaxis team have been working on a new game to be unveiled at E3 this year for quite some time. Rumors abounded as what it might be. A sequel to Alpha Centauri perhaps? Civilization IV? Colonization II? Something completely new? Our minds were racing as to what the possibilities may be.

While we've already secured an appointment to see Firaxis' next big project at E3, we still didn't know exactly what it was...until today. When we checked our mail this morning, we found a scroll that gave us all the answers, and it appears one of our all-time favorite games may be getting a facelift for the 21st century. The invite we received today clearly points to what the announcement is going to be: a sequel to Pirates! appears to be in the works.
From our Top 25 PC Games of All Time story we ran back in 2000:
The greatest tribute to Sid Meier's greatness was Pirates!, a naval strategy/adventure game that even now has never been approached in its subtlety and ability to entertain. You started the game as a citizen from one of four different nationalities (English, Spanish, Dutch or French) with a long lost sister to rescue (a foreshadowing of the X-Files if I've ever seen one) and a thirst for adventure. After outfitting your ship with a crew, food to feed them and guns to fire at your enemies, you set to the sea in search of adventure. You could either play the game as a raw pirate sliding from island to island looking for any ships you could loot and sink or you could ask the various governors that you encountered for letters of cachet that would reward you richly for sinking their enemies. The latter tactic could lead to gold, titles of nobility and better and better marriage prospects. The game also featured several different forms of combat (all equally entertaining) which allowed captains who preferred hand fighting to lock with their enemies as quickly as possible and those who favored traditional naval battles to dance nimbly out of range while peppering their foes with their cannons. If you were really lucky, you could discover a treasure map that would lead you to a fortune or you could get information that would lead you to the treasure fleet (although the latter wouldn't give up its gold without a fight). One of those rare games that managed to give something to everyone.

http://mediaviewer.ign.com/ignMedia...Dpartner

Notice the map of the Caribbean? Notice the pirate ships on the left side of the map? Notice the big red "X" that marks the spot? Notice the obligatory "shiver me timbers" pirate speak? Notice the promise of free cocktails? There's no doubt in our minds now that Firaxis' announcement is going to be Pirates II, a rebirth of a classic. While we don't have any gameplay details at this point, you better believe we're already excited about the prospect of taking to the high seas again.

Booooooooooooooooooooooo ;)

Avast ye mateys! Pirates 2 be commin'!

I spent 20 years in the Navy and I never heard anyone talk like that.

Awesome! I loved that game. I was hoping they'd remake it but I didn't think there was much chance.

Cool! Would have prefered an X-Com Sequel, but Pirates will be awesome!

Great! Pirates was one of my favourites. Let's hope Pirates 2 will be just as good. :)

I'm happy this game is being revamped for 21st century.

My days playing this where very joyful but I wonder and hope thats not all their going to release.

Unfortunately I have never played the first Pirates! You should all pity me. ;)

I will be sure to play this one though, sounds like fun.

Hopefully the marriage prospects won't be voxels.

I had never even heard of pirates before joining this forum :(

It sounds interesting enough. What type of game is it?

Excellent, I still fondly rememeber playing it with my mates on the amstrad. The time where I ambushed and captured 3 spanish galleons from the Spainish treasure fleet, all the many sword-fights where I lead my crew to victory against all the odds at the end of my cutless. *goes on misty eyed nostalga trip*

Man, I was hoping the Great Sid would do a remake of this game! LOVED IT!! I have 'Sea Dogs', a good game by a different company, but it just didn't quite do it for me. Arrrrgh, me bucko's! I'm keepin' me fingers crossed! Dang, now I'm doin' it!;)

Pirates ruled. I still have the Sega Genesis version and routinely pop it in every year or so. I'm definitely digging the idea of a super suped up Pirates 2. This is the game that got me hooked on Sid Meier and his creations... great, great news.

Now... Civ4 next year or PLZ DIE :die:

Here is a link to a Pirates II site; but it's not running yet....?http://www.geocities.com/Nashville/Stage/7473/pirat2pg.htm
*EDIT* Above link is for the Pirates Gold (aka Pirates II)

I love that game. I played on the old C64 and then purchased the Pirates Gold!

I really can't wait!

Originally posted by YNCS


I spent 20 years in the Navy and I never heard anyone talk like that.

Well unless you were in the Navy with Nelson I don't find that surprising :)

I am SOOO happy they are remaking this - I played it on my mate's Amstrad at uni, but haven't played it since - but I can still see it now!

While I'm waiting, anyone know where I can get hold of the original for nostalgia's sake? (And to get my hand back in :) )

I have an original -- but I am keeping it. 5 1/4 disckettes I will never be able to use again..... but, :)
I also have Pirates Gold on CD, and a 3 1/2 version.... but it doesn't like Windows 2000....

x-com rules

what were you guys thinking........ pirates schmirates

aliens are way better for blowing into small peices with their own weapons

Nonsense, My good man. Pirates! was an amazing open-ended swashbuckling good time. If they are going to update this classic, then I can't wait for the release. This fall promises to be quite good - Lords of the Realm III, Railroad Tycoon III, Pirates! II...

anyone know of a site with pics of the game and a bit of a description about it? i looked for a bit and couldnt find anything.

i never played Pirates, (hell, it came out when i was born) what was it like?

Shivver me timbers and pull me pants down, but I've never played the or seen the first pirates. Arr!

Originally posted by Supernaut
While I'm waiting, anyone know where I can get hold of the original for nostalgia's sake? (And to get my hand back in :) )

You can get it here. (http://www.abandonkeep.com/games.php?GenreID=all&ListLimiter=p) Just scroll down a bit. Pirates! and Pirates! Gold are both there free for download. :D I don't think either of them ran to well on my comp though. :(

I had Pirates! on my first computer (a C64) and loved playing it. When I upgraded to an Amiga, I got it again to play. One of the best games ever. Can't wait to walk the plank to get my hands on a copy.
Even now, I occasionally get the Pirates! out to play on my PC.

For those who haven't seen or played the original, it was a game set around the islands of Caribbean Sea around the 1600's. You were a young pirate captain. Your goal was to become wealthy and retire. Along the way, you could find lost relatives, find buried treasure, capture Treasure fleets and if you were rich enough, you could marry a beautiful woman.

There were four main aspects to the game:
Sailing around the map where you would encounter other ships, which you could choose to fight. Fighting resulted in a naval battle between your flagship and the enemy. You had to allow for the wind in your attacking strategy. To win the battle, you could either sink their ship or attempt to board to enemy.
Boarding would result in the second aspect of the game, swordfighting.
Swordfighting could be done at two times, when boarding ships as mentioned and when attacking cities. Swordfighting involved you and the enemys leader squaring-up in a duel. Each hit to your enemy would result in a reduction in his armys morale. When morale got too low, they would surrender and you would win.
The third aspect was land battles. You could enter (and sometimes this was the only option) enemy cities by land rather than by sea. This would result in a land battle between your crew and the enemy troops. Skillful maneuvering of your crew would get them to the enemys fort and a swordfight would then ensue.
The last aspect of the game was trading. You could successfully play a game without lifting a finger in anger if you were so inclined. You could buy and sell certain provisions (food, sugar, cannons, I think) as well as repair ships in friendly towns. Prices of goods were higher in some towns than in others, so knowing where to sell items was important.

While Im looking forward to it, I still cant get myself overly excited about it. The pirate mystique just never really does anything for me. I think the only time I found pirates interesting where in the first two Monkey Island games :)

Here you go ipris. This otter do it......
http://frigate.free.fr/index.html
The game looks lame by todays standards; but was cool in the day.

I downloded pirates! its graphics look bad, but i dont care much about that, i like a game with a better theme than an awful game with great graphics, i am also downloading the gold version, any difference??

KingWilly did a good job of describing the game. It was truly played on about 4 different levels with a couple of themes throughout that created something of a storyline for each game. For its time (what was it? mid-80's? I seem to remember playing it on my 286 machine) it was incredibly complex and detailed. It's about the only game I've played that I actually missed once it got to the point where I really couldn't play it properly on a newer computer. I'm looking forward to a new Pirates!
BTW, Leningrado, when the game was released, those graphics pretty much raised the standard for computer games by a couple of notches.

Originally posted by Leningrado
I downloded pirates! its graphics look bad, but i dont care much about that, i like a game with a better theme than an awful game with great graphics, i am also downloading the gold version, any difference??
Remember, 10 years ago it was the best graphics. 10 years from now Civ. III will lok like crap. :eek: Did I just say that!??! I'm sorry! Don't ban me for such blastphamy!!!:cry:

Gotta agree.
In its time, Pirates! had amazing graphics. That was probably one of the selling points when I originally got it. Even when the Amiga version came out, the enhanced graphics in that version were amazing. They'd probably still score a pass in todays market.
Can't wait till the new Pirates! comes out. It will definitely be on my 'most anticipated releases' list.