The Challenge Thread!

[Guru]

Different challenges has been made throughout the history of Hooked on Pirates, and they all add to the replay value of Sid Meier's Pirates!

I will try to collect the best of these in this thread, to make it easier to find a challenge fitted for your style of play. If you're really competitive you may try to finish all the challenges to get that little extra respect from your fellow pirates!

I'll add a few of my own challenges, and feel free to add your own, the more the merrier I hope this thread will make some of the old veterans give Pirates! another go, as your usual game gets a little dull after some months...

I will add the links to the main challenges of the past, with a summary of the rules you need to follow to finish a challenge.

If you're attempting a challenge, please post your progress in this thread, it's always instructive and fun to hear about other pirates' successes and failures. And post some pictures if you experienced something unusual, a particularly hard fight, sea-battle or land battle, or if you just want to share something that just happened

Well, on with the Challenges:


The Fluyts of War by Captain Squid
http://hookedonpirates.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2687&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=contest
-get 126 fame points
-preferably adventurer difficulty or higher
-any starting age
-use any kind of Fluyt as your pirating vessel
-get the Fluyt within 6 months of starting the game, it must be the first ship you capture
-if you get "de-Fluyted" you got another 6 months to catch a new Fluyt, but not any other kind of vessel in the mean time
-no dividing the loot until retirement


The Costa Guarda Challenge by Areandbee
http://hookedonpirates.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3214&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=
-Start as Spanish
-Get as close to 126 Fame Points as possible
-any starting age
-preferably swashbuckler difficulty
-must attack on sight any ships from nations at war with the Spanish
-not allowed to attack ships from nations not at war with the Spanish, except when defending a vessel you are escorting
-you cannot promote the development of any non-Spanish city (transporting immigrants, plants, governors etc.)
-must attack all pirates on sight
-if you capture a city, you must make the governor Spanish
-no dividing the loot until retirement


Purely Piratical Challenge by loki59
http://hookedonpirates.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5339&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=challenge
-preferably adventurer difficulty or higher
-start in 1660
-with Fencing skill
-no sailing into cities with a governor
-sell cargo only at Pirate Havens, Settlements with a mayor, Jesuit church or Indian village
-you may sack cities, but not install a new governor. afterwards you may only visit the tavern
-you may sneak into town, but only to visit the tavern
-must defeat all named pirates
-must find all pirate treasures
-must rescue all family members
-must vanquish Montalban
-must get at least 68 Fame Points
-retire as young as possible


The Fastest to Marry by Salty Dog
http://hookedonpirates.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3086&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=challenge
-marry as fast as possible (Tom Pullings is the current record-keeper at April the 17th, first game year)
-any starting age
-any difficulty


The Well Rounded Pirate Challenge by Tom Pullings
http://hookedonpirates.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4774&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=challenge
-get 126 Fame Points
-preferably swashbuckler difficulty
-have the highest number in every of the "Top Ten Pirates"-categories
-plunder at least 1000k in gold
-get all special items
-have as your remaining flagship a Ship of the Line
-your crew must be very happy
-conquer every city for the nation you first signed up with, except for the city of your spouse, which must be of another nationality
-In the romance quest, your entire courtship of your ultimate spouse must be by sneaking into a hostile city
-preferably no dividing the loot until retirement


The Adventures of Guybrush Threepwood by headrock
http://www.hookedonpirates.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3656&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

Phase 1: A Pirate Wannabe
-start in 1620
-preferably rogue difficulty or higher
-defeat all 9 named pirates
-find all treasures
-not allowed to enter or attack any city
-may sneak into town, but only to visit the tavern
-not allowed to speak to any mayor
-may only attack named pirates and unescorted merchants, smugglers and treasure ships
-must keep the named pirates' ships, sinking any duplicate
-must sink every other ship you capture
-aou must divide the plunder once you have defeated all named pirates and found all treasures, keep Henry Morgans Large Frigate

Phase 2: Four Map Pieces
-be wanted for 50k gold from each of the nations (one at the time)
-rescue all relatives
-find Montalban's hideout
-capture a Ship of the Line
-not allowed to enter or attack any city
-may sneak into town, but only to visit the tavern
-not allowed to speak to any mayor
-may not attack pirates, indians or immigrant ships
-may not attack warships, except when they are escorts, are rumoured to carry more than a 1000 gold, are pirate hunters or are Ships of the Line
-may keep merchant vessels, but must sell them at the first port, even if it requires dumping cargo
- you may divide the plunder once you have acquired a Ship of the Line, rescued all relatives, found a lost city and been wanted for 50k gold from each of the nations

Phase 3: The Bloody Rampage of El Pollo Diablo
-eliminate the Spanish
-defeat Montalban
-set up three separate "sectors" of control for the three remaining nations:

English (south): Barbados, Caracas, Cartagena, Coro, Cumana, Curacao, Gibraltar, Maracaibo, Margarita, Nombre De Dios, Panama, Puerto Bello, Puerto Cabello, Rio De La Hacha, Santa Marta and Trinidad.

Dutch (centre): Petit Goave, Puerto Principe, San Juan, Santiago, Santo Domingo, St. Martin and Tortuga.

French (north): Campeche, Eleuthera, Grand Bahama, Gran Granada, Havana, St. Augustine, Vera Cruz and Villa Hermosa.

-may not attack governor or immigrant ships
-may attack any hostile city
-may not talk to any governor
-not allowed to speak to any mayor
-all enemy warships (not including military payrolls) must be sunk, it is not allowed to board any of them

Phase 4: GuyBrush Goes for the Gold
-get all the governors' daughters kidnapped at once (31 Mendoza clones sailing the caribbean at the same time)
-defeat all the Mendoza clones
-get 8 Ships of the Line


The Starting Ship Challenges by Guru
-preferably adventurer difficulty or higher
-use the starting ship as your pirating vessel
-must sell captured ships at the first port, even if it requires dumping cargo
-get as close to 126 Fame Points as possible
-if you lose your starting ship, sail to the nearest port and retire


The Fast Galleon Challenge
-start in 1680 as Spanish
-use the Fast Galleon as your pirating vessel

The Barque Challenge
-start in 1620 as French
-use the Barque as your pirating vessel

The Merchantman Challenge
-start in 1600 as English
-use the Merchantman as your pirating vessel

The Fluyt Challenge
-start in 1600 as Dutch
-use the Fluyt as your pirating vessel


Beating Henry Morgan by Javi
http://hookedonpirates.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2581&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=
- any starting age
- preferable Rogue difficulty or higher
- you may not attack Henry Morgan's Large Frigate "Queen Anne's Revenge"
- you may not attack ships sailing near Henry Morgan
- beat Henry Morgan's number of captured ships in the "top ten pirates" screen


It could be worse (or could it?) by Tom Pullings
-start the game with one of the savegames under
- sail into Nevis. Sneak into town and approach the first guard you see. You will be thrown into prison, giving you these starting conditions: a nearly sinked Fluyt, no gold, no food, no guns, Wit and Charm as your skill and a price on your head with every nation.
-must vanquish Montalban
-must rescue all family members
-must marry the beautiful daughter of Guadelope
-must get at least 103 fame points
-must retire in Nevis

Adventurer difficulty
http://www.divshare.com/download/1063591-4a9
http://www.hookedonpirates.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5233&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=


Swashbuckler difficulty
http://www.divshare.com/download/1052727-963
http://hookedonpirates.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5234&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=


The Greedy Crew by jlangsdo

Whenever your gold on hand passes 50,000, you must immediately divide the plunder. Your goal is to have the most gold banked before you are forced to retire.



Well there's a few to start you off, good luck! And don't be too strict on yourself regarding difficulty levels, these challenges are made for fun
_________________

[MCSmarties]

Here is probably the longest and most torturous challenge I found on the forum to add to your list:

A Legendary Quest:
The adventures of Guybrush Threepwood, a Mighty Pirate. by headrock

http://www.hookedonpirates.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3656.

Here's a summary of the rules (gathered from the thread) he put down:

PHASE I: A Pirate Wannabe
goals:
- defeat all 9 named pirates in ship to ship combat
- find the buried treasure of all named pirates

rules:
- start in 1620 at rogue difficulty.
- not allowed to enter or attack any CITY except by sneaking in to visit the tavern
- not allowed to accept any escort assignments (ie cannot speak to any mayor)
- can only attack NAMED pirates and UNESCORTED merchants, smugglers and treasure ships
- not allowed to attack any warships (other than pirates) or any escorted merchants
- must keep the famous (named) pirate ships (sink duplicates) while sinking any other ship. No prizes allowed!

ending the phase:
- phase ends once all pirates are defeated and their treasures found.
- divide plunder before beginning the second phase, keeping Henry Morgan's Large Frigate

PHASE II: Four Map Pieces
goals:
- be wanted for 50'000 gold from every european nation (one at a time)
- rescue all 4 lost relatives
- find the lost city of the Incas
- capture at least 1 SOL

rules:
- still not allowed to enter or attack cities, but may still sneak to the tavern
- not allowed to enter settlements (in other words, may only enter pirate havens, indian villages and missions!)
- must rescue all 4 family members by chasing down Raymondo
- find all map pieces to the lost Inca city (cannot search for the city before having all 4 map pieces)
- may now attack escorted ships
- may NOT attack Immigrant ships
- may not attack warships (except escorts) unless they are rumored to carry more than 1000 gold, are SOL or are pirate hunters
- may take merchant ships as prizes but MUST sell them at port even if it requires dumping cargo
- may not attack pirates and indians

ending the phase:
- phase only ends once all 4 goals are accomplished
- must divide the plunder, keeping an SOL.

PHASE III - The Bloody Rampage of El Pollo Diablo
(these are the modified rules)

goals:
- eliminate the Spanish completely from the map
- defeat the Marquis of Montalban
- set up 3 separate "sectors" of control for the other 3 nations:

South to the English: Barbados, Trinidad, Margarita, Cumana, Caracas, Puerto Cabello, Curacao, Coro, Maracaibo, Gibraltar, Rio De La Hacha, Santa Marta, Cartagena, Nombre De Dios, and Puerto Bello.

Center to the Dutch: St. Martin, San Juan, Santo Domingo, Petit Goave, Tortuga, and Santiago.

Nort to the French: Eleuthera, Grand Bahama, St. Augustine, Havana, Campeche, Villahermosa, and Vera Cruz.

The LANDLOCKED Spanish cities, Puerto Principe, Panama and Gran Granada will be left alone.

rules:
- all ships are now fair game, including pirates and indians , EXCEPT new governors and immigrants
- may attack any hostile city
- may NOT meet with the governor
- may accept escort assignments
- all enemy WARSHIPS (not merchants, military payroll or treasure ships) must be SUNK, boarding is NOT allowed. This includes SOLs!

Phase IV: GuyBrush Goes for the Gold
goals:
- get all the governor's daughters kidnapped at once (ending up with 31 Mendoza clones sailing the caribbean!)
- dispatch all the Mendozas and return the daughters to their respective fathers
- amass 126 points (therefore must defeat Montalban, find all lost cities and get married to the beautiful daughter, Elaine Marley)
- get 8 SOLs!

rules:
- do not defeat a Mendoza before having had all the daughters kidnapped
- other than that, anything goes!

the end:
If you don't want to read the entire thread about this adventure (which I would highly recommend, headrock did a fabulous job!), here is a summary of the Challenge as he completed it: http://www.hookedonpirates.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=51414#51414

[Guru]

Wow, that is one sick challenge!
Looked like a joke, but seems insane, will read the thread tomorrow, after some rest... I'll add it to the list though.

Tomorrow i'll be adding the simple Barque challenge i'm playing, hope you'll join me in attempting some of these challenges, MCSmarties
_________________

[sparticus]

[Guru]

[Guru]

Here's my first challenges, they're pretty basic, and has probably benn attempted before, but i decided to clarify the rules anyway:

The Starting Ship Challenges by Guru
-preferably adventurer difficulty or higher
-use the starting ship as your pirating vessel
-must sell captured ships at the first port, even if it requires dumping cargo
-get as close to 126 Fame Points as possible
-if you lose your starting ship, sail to the nearest port and retire


The Fast Galleon Challenge
-start in 1680 as Spanish
-use the Fast Galleon as your pirating vessel

The Barque Challenge
-start in 1620 as French
-use the Barque as your pirating vessel

The Merchantman Challenge
-start in 1600 as English
-use the Merchantman as your pirating vessel

The Fluyt Challenge
-start in 1600 as Dutch
-use the Fluyt as your pirating vessel


The challenges are ranked by difficulty, you should attempt them in this order:

-Spanish Fast Galleon (1680), max crew = 240
-French Barque (1620), max crew = 150
-English Merchantman (1600), max crew = 187
-Dutch Fluyt (1600), max crew = 75

The main tests in these challenges is on:
-your ability to fence with a lesser crew (against Montalban especially)
-your ability to navigate in naval battles
-your ability to play faultless, as even the least misjudgment may cause your ship to sink or make you lose a swordfight
-your ability to fight land battles with a small crew

[Guru]

[Tom Pullings]

Great thread, Guru. Will definitely be back to check this out. I started a similar collection effort in a thread that got locked (I tried to add each link as a separate post, and that ended up violating forum rules on successive posts). But there was some good stuff in there, some of which you have found too. I will track it down and post a link. Headrock's challenge is truly twisted - excellent stuff.

Ok, here is the link - includes another truly insane idea - trying to surpass Henry Morgan in ships captured WHILE he is still sailing.

http://hookedonpirates.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5458

[HarveyCrimmins]

The accounts in The Fluyts Of War challenge were some of the funniest things I've read on this forum.

Excellent. Just excellent.
_________________
Yarrrrghhh! Ha-Harrrgh!

[HarveyCrimmins]

Captain Avon Barquesdale of the Good Ship Stringer Bell?

Your home port wouldn't be Charm City would it?
_________________
Yarrrrghhh! Ha-Harrrgh!

[Guru]

[Tom Pullings]

This is an old one that I have come back to. I am trying to do it now without getting marooned or dividing the plunder (which is harder than you might think).

http://hookedonpirates.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5234

Some who are still around will remember this, it is not as epic as Headrock's challenge (see above), but it is perverse - you start in prison with an almost sinking fluyt, no money, no food, no guns, a price on your head with every nation, and wit and charm as your skill. Get to 103 points, enough to retire as governor of Nevis, where you are first imprisioned, rescue your family, defeat Montalban, and wed the beautiful daughter of Guadeloupe. The link above leads to a save game for swash. There is another for Adventurer.

http://www.hookedonpirates.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5233&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

I have edited both to clean up some corrupted text.

One tip I have discovered in trying to get a new ship without getting sunk: go for a pirate ship as many of those will accept a straight on bow to bow boarding without exchanging shots.

[Guru]

I've updated the top post with the Beat Henry Morgan challenge by Javi and the It could be worse (or could it?) challenge by Tom Pullings.

[ExtraCrispy]

Do you have the honest merchant challenge in there?

[Guru]