Cheating to find these "really" lost cities or rel

[The Aberdonian]

I hate it if you come across one of these cities in the middle of nowhere and the only chance left is walking along a grid for years. That is why I cheat to get a proper map. Not that I am a fan of cheating but walking with peg-legged seapeople across an entire continent to find a cabin by chance has nothing to do with reality either. So that is why I decided to cheat on the maps. Further to that I do not like to have the same story over and over again each game (each of the relatives is alone with no food in a cabin and each has only one part of the map, a governors daughter has another part of exactly that map....

Also it makes no sense to hunt down some idiot who knows where your sister is (or who could lead you to whoever knows) and he only gives you a part of a map. No, you would get the guy talking....

Anyway. That is how you can get the parts. Find whoever knows where your sister is, cut his sails with chain shot so he surrenders. Then switch to grape shot and while he stopped shooting you kill his crew down to one and sail away into the direction he was originally sailing towards. Save the game. On the sea map you easily find him (as you know where he is goint to) not far away and you attack again; as he has no sails and one man he will surrender immediately and you board the ship, defeat him and check if you get a piece of map with a coastline or part of a landmark's name (indicating a coastline is near). If no, reload, reboard and see if you get lucky this time. No fighting is involved so this happens quite quickly. No cheating as it is unlikely that parts of the map sail on different ships around the Carribbean.

Then comes the part where I might have crossed the line to cheating in your eyes or not but since my opinion would be that I get the full details of my sisters whereabouts out of these guys I consider it not cheating. I find the next guy who knows where my sister is and do the same (break his ship, sail away and save the game), reboard his ship until I have seen all four parts of the map (yes, you get different parts). I also use screenshots and Paintshop to get a full map with a landmark of my sisters cabin after having fought two evil guys.

Even easier for Montalaban's cachette. I find my sister, save before kicking in the door and reload until I have a map of which I am sure it is not inland. Save and reload and use Paintshop gives you the full map after the 2nd relative rescued.

Now I get where I personally think I would cheat and I stop (unless I am too old and want to retire or get bored with playing) but I could get on like this: I do not rescue my last relative. I rather dance with governors daughters to get the first part of a lost city and then save the game (Date X, Location Y). Then I can sink all ships except the fastest one, find my last relative and save/load until I have the map in Windows, load the first game and continue with a whole map on date X and location Y to find the city. Same with other lost cities (first part of the map was kindly provided by the ladies for dancing) while the rest comes from your uncle (he does not get rescued as you load the save game after dancing). He only gets rescued if you have defeated Montalaban and found all four cities.

Please vote : Where do you think the cheating starts ? I would not reload if I fail a dance but I would reload if I get a part which could be in the middle of nowhere.

The Aberdonian

[Tom Pullings]

Aaargh,, it only be cheating if it breaks the rules - and you choose the rules matey.

To me though, it be cheating.

[Capitan Incognito]

Aye! I agree it be cheating but we're pirates and pirates be cheaters! Arrr... Whatever makes the game more fun to play matey, make the rules, live the life, plunder, cheat and steal to yer heart's content.

[Roland]

I don't think I would do any of what you are doing - in part because I'm too lazy to repeat a scene multiple times to obtain all the map pieces and then cobble them together in a separate program - that doesn't strike me as fun.

Pirates is meant to be a flexible, open-ended game. If you establish how you are going to play before you begin a game and then stick to the rules you established, I don't think it could be called cheating. But if you introduce new exceptions to the rules after you start a game, then you are cheating.

[Capitan Incognito]

That's an interesting way of seeing things so if it's pre-planned cheating it isn't cheating at all... I likey...

[Fluffy Blue Egg]

Like Tom said - you make the rules in Pirates!, so you aren't cheating. I wouldn't do it though, I'd view myself as a cheater.

[Wolfwood]

Not for me either. I just collect all the map pieces if the first ones don't tell me enough about the location.

Patience is the key.
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It is much better to be armed with a sword that has two edges than with an estoc [...], which is nothing more than a stick with a point. (Rapier Master G. Morsicato Pallavicini, La Scherma Illustrata, p. 14.)

[Fluffy Blue Egg]

Yup, same here.

[Dave the Knave]

I don't think that there are too many unsolvable experiences in Pirates! If so, I would opt for cheating- or to be diplomatic, extra-game, player-favoring advantages.

Once, I had a treasure map for a Pirate Treasure north of Florida Keys. There was a body of water shown, and no landmarks. Even worse, no shoreline at all.

After wandering around a bit (Florida is pretty big!), I plodded around what must be Lake Okeechobee, and found the treasure.

It was an odd experience, but now I know where to search when I get similar maps...these maps do repeat themselves, as more veteran players than I can attest.


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Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves;
Britons never shall be slaves.

[Fluffy Blue Egg]

Yep - over time, you can narrow treasures down to a few spots in any general location.