Pirates, a naval warfare game inspired by Sid Meier's Pirates

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iiweczek about 5 hours ago 63 commentsRead Article on piwodlaiwo.github.io

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Discussion (63 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews

alexpotato•about 2 hours ago

This 100% has the "vibe" of the original game but should include that if you sail "into the wind" it slows you down.

Also, I've been trying to make a remix of SMP but with a princess theme for my daughters. Been experimenting with making other games to practice building out game mechanics and stumbled into making a game where you manage a Soviet Tractor Factory [0].

I'm interested to see if developing parts of Game A lead to Game B which in turn lead you back to interesting ideas for Game A (or maybe better Game C).

0 - https://alexpotato.com/games/tractor47/?l=hn

alexpotato•about 2 hours ago

If people have feedback on the game, would love to hear it on the below link: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48503530

tgsovlerkhgsel•about 1 hour ago

That link doesn't work, so I'll respond here: My impression is that my ship always has a better turn rate than the other ship, so if I ever manage to get into the enemy ship's e.g. 4'oclock position, I can keep turning towards it, it will (slowly) turn towards me while consistently shooting behind me, and I can consistently hit it.

LearnYouALisp•11 minutes ago

Well, have you dogfooded it and how many times?

I have hundreds of turns on it now, at least.

JMiao•about 2 hours ago

my kid has 50+ hours in sid meier's pirates and told me they stare at the world map in their classroom and try to locate towns and ports in the caribbean when they're bored. i will show your game to them, though i am certain the first thing they will ask for is chain shot.

not to discourage your good work, but here's another project worth checking out if sid meier's pirates is your thing. https://tinywind.io/

iweczek•44 minutes ago

Nice, I still remember that map even though I haven't played the game in decades :) tinywind looks very cool, thanks for sharing.

dbingham•about 3 hours ago

That was fun, but the AI and the balance need some work.

It's too easy to win as the small boat. You just stay ahead of your opponent and then turn back and strafe periodically.

It would be much more challenging if you added wind and realistic sailing dynamics. If wind direction vs sail orientation mattered to your speed and boat characteristics weren't as simple as smaller = faster then I think it would be much better balanced and way more fun/challenging!

dbingham•about 3 hours ago

On further play, really the only match up where I had any trouble was large vs large. (As a side request, it would be nice to be able to choose your opponent!)

With both small and medium, you can just strafe back and forth in front of your opponent if you're faster than them. With medium and large, you can just circle them and absorb more punishment than them when you're larger than them.

Multi-player would solve the AI problem -- especially if it was more than 1v1 -- and then it would be more challenging.

But I would still request realistic wind and sailing dynamics. That strafing maneuver isn't really possible with real wind dynamics, because you slow down as you swing around and that allows the opponent to catch up to you and return fire. You could have a little arrow in a corner of the screen that shows the wind direction. You don't even have to make the sails movable, you could just have your speed be proportional to how orthongal your sails are to the wind direction in the simplest implementation.

It would add a whole new element to it that would make it much more challenging! :)

iweczek•36 minutes ago

Thanks for playing and the feedback. I plan on adding wind dynamics very soon. Letting you choose opponent instead of random should be easy. Multiplayer with more than 1 would be interesting, I like that idea!

carpo•about 1 hour ago

If I remember correctly, the original was like this too. I always used the sloop and would often beat much larger ships.

chongli•about 1 hour ago

Yeah so the other factor missing is gun calibre and ship hull reinforcement/design. The reason sloops didn’t dominate against ships of the line came down to these factors, as well as sheer number of guns.

A sloop’s guns were generally so light the balls would bounce off the hull of a ship of the line. The sheer weight of firepower in return would shred a sloop to pieces. Add on to that the fact that heavier guns can achieve longer range when trained at the right angle, and a sloop can’t really get anywhere near a ship of the line and live to tell the tale.

iweczek•41 minutes ago

I plan on adding wind dynamics. The largest ship has 1 more cannon, do you think I should add more? or perhaps longer range on the larger ship cannons?

iweczek•42 minutes ago

yes, i also always chose the Sloop and would usually win.

Mtnh2o•about 3 hours ago

Highlighting that game mechanics are hard - I struggled with your strategy but found it too easy to be the tank. Turn in a circle and shoot and rely on the higher HP + cannon loading.

dbingham•about 3 hours ago

Fair!

matthewfcarlson•about 3 hours ago

I just went into a circle and shot, won every time for every boat

idontwantthis•about 3 hours ago

The cannonballs should have randomized elevation as well so that "raking" the bow and stern is more likely to get hits than hitting the side. Hits on the bow and stern should also do more damage. Cross the T!

stackghost•about 3 hours ago

That's interesting, because I found it trivial to win with the largest boat. Tank one hit, lead your target, blast away. I remain undefeated with the largest boat.

By contrast I found winning with the medium boat required the most skill, and lost the first few times I tried.

franze•about 1 hour ago

I started a thread if others want to show their AI coded games. -> https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48509243

maybe it becomes a monthly thing, maybe not.

pinchydev•about 2 hours ago

Love it! I remember fondly playing pirates as a kid this is great!

I recently built https://navalstrike.app to scratch my naval warfare itch. Happy to share how I did lightweight p2p multiplayer with a super lightweight server handshake if you want :)

theropost•41 minutes ago

I remember playing Pirates on my 8086 in the 1980, mono-chrome screen, and I was amazed a a kid. Sid Meier's games were always a step above, and so immersive feeling for their day. I started a project from that too (one of many I suppose). I also was inspired by the KOEI games on SNES - Uncharted Waters.

It needs polish, content and more work but the kids like it.

https://ship-voyage-4zn.pages.dev/

HiroProtagonist•about 4 hours ago

Sid Meier's Pirates on the iPad was a great experience. Bummer it isn't supported in modern iOS.

iweczek•about 3 hours ago

I did not know that, I have an old iPad, going to look for it

JMiao•about 2 hours ago

removed from app store, sadly

Daviey•about 2 hours ago

Really enjoyed this and it brought back many memories of the Amiga, great job.

Two suggestions,

  - The sailing is a bit too nimble, it's possible to turn naturally.
  - It's currently possible to sail over/under the other ship.

When will it be possible to intercept and have a sword fight? :)

itintheory•about 1 hour ago

For some reason this made me think of Pirates Constructible Strategy Game [0]

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirates_Constructible_Strategy...

alt227•about 3 hours ago

Great game!

Reminds me very much of Overboard for the PS1 back in 1997.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71accvNZ0aA

CrimsonCape•about 2 hours ago

It would seem relatively easy to tie speed to the direction the boat is facing. The more perpendicular you are to the 'wind direction' the faster you move. Or make the fastest velocity 45 degrees from wind direction, for a bit more realism. Basic sailing physics can add to the fun.

iweczek•31 minutes ago

Thanks for the feedback, adding wind dynamics is on top of my list :)

supertroop•about 2 hours ago

“the emperor wishes to see you posthaste!” This immediately reminded me of the 1980s Apple game Taipan and of course it is playable online: https://www.taipangame.com/

itintheory•about 1 hour ago

Huh. I remember playing a very similar game on Apple II, but I believe it had a Dutch / European theme, and was called something like "Ooperhoofd". I can't find any reference to it online. Maybe it was a 'modded' version of this? That one, and Odell Lake[0] were the best disks in the library computer lab in middle school.

[0] https://classicreload.com/apple2-odell-lake.html

lencastre•about 2 hours ago

I am not sure if my memory is mixing with 4D Boxing (!?) but I think if you took too long your pirate would be quite old and weak, or?

iweczek•28 minutes ago

omg, thanks for reminding me about 4d boxing! that was so much fun

ceuk•about 1 hour ago

What's the key to fire? I've tried everything

diabllicseagull•about 1 hour ago

Space key

Jeema101•about 3 hours ago

Illustrates the importance of 'crossing the T' in naval warfare before there were turreted guns. :)

cbarrick•about 2 hours ago

Please adjust the color contrast. I can hardly see the cannon balls.

iweczek•27 minutes ago

thanks, will do!

inasio•about 3 hours ago

Nice job! Sid Meier's Pirates is one of my favorite games, wish they brought it back (I still play it occasionally, can't believe it never got a remake)

kevinmchugh•about 3 hours ago

It was remade in 2006

ms_menardi•about 3 hours ago

make it multiplayer, I dare ya >:)

(if you need this kind of motivation)

sudo-rsingh•about 3 hours ago

Yup totally support that.

fabiensanglard•about 3 hours ago

Nothing is moving on the screen for me :/ ! I can't pick the ship.

Console shows no error.

toxicunderGroov•about 2 hours ago

Same here, using Firefox 151.0.4

iweczek•25 minutes ago

on a mac, windows, or linux? I have tested it in both browsers only on the mac but I don't see any reason why it would not work on a different OS since it is only HTML5 canvas

san_dimitri•about 2 hours ago

did you try arrow keys and space bar?

hermitcrab•about 3 hours ago

Fun. Maybe you could add some random features for a bit more variety. Shallows, islands, fog banks etc.

iweczek•22 minutes ago

Thanks for playing! That's an interesting idea, thanks.

RobRivera•about 2 hours ago

I am the greatest

Pirate hunter in the world.

wolttam•about 3 hours ago

Cute but I won first time on all 3 sizes

ez8•about 3 hours ago

Good but too easy

mgc8•about 2 hours ago

This is pretty cool as a prototype, nice job! I'd say it needs some progression (one-on one to one-on-multiple, think 1xL against 2xS, etc.), as well as some more map variation (channels, islands, hazards like a giant whirlpool, kraken, the works). As a final shape, multiplayer would be pretty cool, but of course that's quite a bit more difficult... But I for one would be there for it :)

monkeywork•about 4 hours ago

Well done - that was a fun little distraction :)

iweczek•about 3 hours ago

Thanks!

k2xl•about 3 hours ago

Fun but should have difficulty levels!

iweczek•20 minutes ago

Love the feedback, just wondering how to implement that. More difficult means your ship moves slower? you reload slower? your hits cause less damage? Need to think about that...

contingencies•about 2 hours ago

Love the original. Some key tactics you need to pick up are: use a small ship, because if you are fast with the right technique nobody can hit you, and you can cross vast distances quickly without starving. Keep food stocked and limit large ship acquisition to a phase of the game in which you need large numbers of pirates for town invasions / large ship fights. Always sell extra cannons. Always buy the goodies from the bar. Upgrade ships religiously: you want all upgrades. In swordfighting, prefer rapier (speed with good reach) over larger weapons in most cases. Obtain new letters of marque. Obtain land after performing state-aligned duties by talking to the governors: this builds your long-term wealth. The easiest victim (given all other letters of marque) is the dominant state in the era (different eras have different mixes, but it's usually the Spanish). To catch the military payrolls, sink the escorts then damage to near 'strike their colors' before closing in for swordplay. Change to buck shot to reduce opponent count before swordplay without risking loss of vessel hull. Remake on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3920/Sid_Meiers_Pirates/

esafak•about 2 hours ago

For me the watercolor imagery and music were half the game (Pirates Gold). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOPdsiOp5R0

Apreche•about 4 hours ago

At first I was frustrated because I didn’t know what the controls were. The arrows were moving, but nothing seemed to shoot.

Then I realized the space bar was shooting. You just can’t see the bullets because they are tiny black dots on a dark blue background.

iweczek•about 3 hours ago

Thank you for the feedback! I'm going to address both points tonight when I get back home.

zuzululu•about 4 hours ago

this game is crazy fun

iweczek•about 3 hours ago

Thanks!