Crew Mood Details

[Ahzrakhal]

Does lack of food deplete moral entirely or just act as a negative overall? Can it be canceled out with more money like any other moral issue?

With really big ships with lots of crew, usually for the sake of invading places, the point of failure becomes just feeding people. However I've never actually run into the issue of a starving crew, so I don't know what will happen.

Also, how major is the impact of crew mood affecting how well the ship runs?

[corsair91]

Reduce your Crew by attacking towns or boarding ships
Dead men need no rations


FAQ/Strategy Guide by Sashanan
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/915017-sid-meiers-pirates/faqs/34143

You may want to read the entire section

[4.2] CREW HAPPINESS

DETERMINING HAPPINESS
...

need to make sure you keep your crew fed

Running out of food is no fun - your crew can go from full happiness to full mutiny very quickly if you starve them.

Don't let it happen. If you're going on a long voyage with little food,
restock at settlements and villages along the way.
If you are really running low on food, attack any ship you see
to plunder their food stores.


CONSEQUENCES OF AN UNHAPPY CREW
...

If a crew becomes mutinous, some of them may abandon you while in port

You'll find it hard to recruit new crew anymore

At sea, only if you have more than one ship, mutinous crew may attempt to depart with one of your other ships. If they do, they take more than their fair share of cargo and gold along as well. You can, however, overtake and recapture your mutineers to get your gold back.

(apparently mutiny due to lack of food, doesn't apply to a single ship,
only with a fleet of more than one ship)


Unhappy crews are poorly motivated in ship battles etc


[7.9] CREW HAPPINESS CALCULATION
...

The rule of thumb of 1000 gold per crew member to never see a mutiny
is pretty accurate

[corsair91]

https://sidmeierspirates.fandom.com/wiki/Food

Food is an important part of management for your fleet.
It's necessary to keep a minimum amount of food to avoid crew insubordination.


This may be of interest

Phalzyr - Sid Meiers Pirates! PHTrainer v3.20
https://www.hookedonpirates.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8562

set to Bigpond/Trymedia SMP for Steam/GOG Game Releases
run as an administrator (create a desktop shortcut)
Run SM pirates game windowed recommended

PHTrainer featues include

Happy Crew - Keeps your crew happy as long as you have a descent amount of gold upon you. (rule of thumb of 1000 gold per crew member)

Keep Min Food At One Month Supply

[Roland]

There's an old thread here in the forum "General hints and strategies" called "Your share doesn't affect crew happiness", in which White Cat and Sashannan discuss the crew happiness formula. Unfortunately, this newfangled version of Windows won't show "Properties" in browsers, or I would post the direct link here.

[corsair91]

Your share doesn't affect crew happiness
https://www.hookedonpirates.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5677

White Cat & Sashanan


Content should also be in the

FAQ/Strategy Guide by Sashanan

[7.9] CREW HAPPINESS CALCULATION

Link previously in the thread