Recently, Mikhail Naritsa and Maxim Kulakov conducted two streams on the game “Corsairs: City of Lost Ships,” the penultimate part of the cult pirate game series. In this blog I will tell you about the latest installation of the saga - “Corsairs: To each his own!”
For the sake of atmosphere
First, let's take a short historical excursion for those who are unfamiliar with the series. "Corsairs" is an Action/RPG with strategy elements in an open world. The series has five official games, as well as a number of additions.
The first game in the franchise, developed by Akella, was released in 2000 and became a commercially successful project for the Russian company. Moreover, in North America the game was published by Bethesda, and in Europe by UbiSoft, which is very, very commendable. The second game was related to the first Pirates of the Caribbean film and was released in 2003 to lukewarm reviews and comments. The third part was released in 2005 and was almost universally criticized by both critics and players for being buggy and having a weak plot.
Then the series came under the development of the company Seaward, which had previously worked on fan mods for the second and third games. And strange as it may seem, two worthy games came out of the hands of amateurs - “Return of the Legend” and “City of Lost Ships” (both 2007). The latter was a global revision of the previous part and brought the game mechanics to mind. According to the developers' promises, the fourth "Corsairs" was supposed to be a revolution, but the financial crisis and lack of budget buried the project, and it was never released.
In 2012, “Corsairs: To Each His Own!” was released. (KKS for short), developed by BlackMark Studio, which previously worked on fan-made additions. And, in fact, this is the patient of our review and analysis. KKS is a light attempt to rethink the “City of Lost Ships” (CC for short), introducing a number of new features to the basic game mechanics, which will be discussed now.
Gameplay "Corsairs"
The gameplay consists of three modes. The first is land. In it, the hero, under the control of the player, runs through cities, jungles and caves, fights while boarding and plundering colonies. In this mode, the hero explores the land, communicates and fights with non-writings.
The combat system is interesting and challenging. The player can perform different types of melee attacks depending on the situation. Enemies surrounded - a circular strike, the enemy sat in the block - a piercing strike. In addition, the hero can equip firearms - both muskets and pistols. The former are more powerful, but take longer to recharge and are useless in close combat, the latter recharge faster, but are weaker. Recharge is automatic. In addition, the hero can equip amulets that will give bonuses to his skills.
The second stage is tactical. In this mode, the hero controls a ship, participating in naval battles with other ships and forts.
The ships are divided into 7 classes: from the tiny tartan to the giant manowar. Ships have three “health” scales: plating, sails, crew. Damage to the hull will sink faster, damage to the sails will slow it down, and on command will force you to reload guns, control the sails more slowly, and will also reduce the number of fighters during boarding.
The third allied ship is not visible, because God knows where it is due to a bug
Even ships of the same type are not of the same type and may have different characteristics. Among them are guns that differ in type and caliber. The larger the caliber, the greater the damage and weight of the guns; the type affects the range and reloading.
The movement of a ship is affected by the wind; some ships move better with the wind, others perpendicular to it. In calm weather, naturally, everyone swims slowly.
The third mode is strategic, in which the hero travels on a global map, which is a Caribbean archipelago with part of mainland America. The player encounters encounters that are pirates or ships from one of the four nations; in addition, the player can get caught in a storm. If the player enters into a confrontation (both with NPCs and with the elements), he is transferred to the tactical mode, which in turn, in the event of a boarding, goes into the land mode.
Leveling up characters
Characteristics are represented by the PIRATES system: Strength, Perception, Reaction, Leadership, Learning, Endurance, Luck. They affect the character’s skills, giving an increase to certain points. A strong hero hits harder and carries more things; a leader has a better-behaved team and officers.
In this part, the characteristics affect only the initial stages of the game, since it has an extensive plot and does not focus on freeplay. This means that the developers are forcing you to be a terminator, both land and sea. Which in turn gives little space for roleplaying, since the plot is set on rails, which, however, sometimes offer the player a very serious choice.
Abilities are divided into land and sea. The first are responsible for all sorts of increases in stamina and health, are responsible for the ability to handle pistols, and so on. Upgrading ship abilities allows you to open up new opportunities in naval combat. Boarders will allow you to capture ships from a great distance, inflict preliminary damage to the team with a musket salvo, carpenter skills will allow you to effectively repair a ship in battle, and so on on the list.
However, before using ship skills, you need to hire the appropriate officer with the same leveled skill. Have you upgraded your cannon damage bonuses? Be kind enough to appoint a gunner with the appropriate ability to the position. In addition to the gunner, the ship has the following officers: a navigator (speed, maneuvering), a boatswain (boarding), a doctor (protects the crew in battle), a treasurer (trade), a carpenter (repair) and three boarders who accompany the hero on sea and land. Officers can combine up to three positions on a ship with appropriate skill. In addition, the ship can transport passengers and prisoners.
And finally, the hero’s skills. They are also divided into personal and ship. Personal ones are responsible for handling different types of bladed weapons and firearms, and are also represented by secrecy (responsible for successful forays into an enemy fort under a false flag), charisma (reputation and leadership) and luck.
Even with 100% luck, the game trolls you like the first Witcher
The ship's officers are responsible for: navigation (control of ships of different ranks and the ship as a whole), accuracy and guns, boarding, repairs, trade and defense. Skills are upgraded as in the TES series - with practice.
Difficult? Enough. But, like contour maps, it is not as incomprehensible as it seems at first glance.
The player can complete quests, most of which are repetitive tasks. They can be issued by prominent figures of the colony: merchant, moneylender, shipbuilder, port manager, priest, governor. In the city, NPCs may approach you with a request: to transport or accompany you somewhere, to find someone. As a reward, the player receives pesos or doubloons, an increase in skills during the completion of the task. Quests also affect the character's reputation: failed tasks will lower it, which in turn will not allow you to do some things in the game (playing cards with governors, for example), and can also incline officers to mutiny if they have a reputation opposite to the player.
So, the very large introductory part is finally over and we can move directly to “To each his own!” where this blog started.
I must say that I played the game back in the year it was released, in 2012, and then it was, to put it mildly, a disaster. The developers clearly went too far with the hardcore, and as usual for the KKS series, they had a bunch of bugs at the start. Now it’s 2018, and it would be nice to check not only the presence of qualitative changes in the game (fortunately it is still supported), its strength, but also the series’ compliance with the realities of current game design standards.
KKS is almost no different from GPK in terms of the basic part of the gameplay. All the same three modes, the same Storm Engine, which overclocked the very first part. However, there are still changes.
Craft appeared. The player can make potions and other useful items such as amulets, paper cartridges, and means of determining latitude and longitude. Crafting is simple and quite useless, it does not affect the balance in any way and is used, often only because of the periodic need to determine the location.
And there are probably grenades here too
By the way, about this - new mechanics after all. During quests, sometimes you need to find an island hidden on the global map, or some specific meeting place, which is helped by an astrolabe, compass and chronometer. Such an innovation fits in well, does not cause any particular rage because of its crookedness and, most importantly, looks appropriate and authentic.
They reworked the concept of amulets. In their current form, they do not operate together from the hero's inventory, but only when they are directly equipped on the character. Moreover, their action is limited in time. Again, this is not a serious innovation and does not have a significant impact on the gameplay, because you can do without them. They are rather a small bonus, which is not significant for a pumped-up hero.
But a more or less significant innovation is the new currency in the game - doubloons. They are more expensive than pesos and, unlike them, have weight, so it won’t work to carry thousands of them. The new currency is used mainly in quests and is of little use in freeplay, since pesos are generously poured in both for quests and for boardings. Doubloons, it seems to me, were introduced only for the sake of extra spokes in the player’s wheels. Like many things in this game.
Compared to the GPK, the KKS ship fleet has expanded slightly. New items were added, some colonies came into the possession of another power, and a little more random events and quests appeared. The F2 window has been slightly changed. In short, the developers touched on a little of everything, without touching any vital organs. Almost.
KKS, following the second “Corsairs” (the same as “Pirates of the Caribbean”), made a big story campaign. And it is the main innovation of this part. The main advantage and the main disadvantage at the same time.
Main quest and game problems
Walkthrough of the plot “To each his own!” Taking into account additions, it takes about 70 hours. Not counting saves/louds.
The second half of the 17th century, the heyday of piracy in the Caribbean, the era of a collision with the unknown and not yet known, the struggle of the powers of the Old World for the redistribution of the New. A young nobleman, Charles de More, arrives from Paris to the French colony of Martinique - a typical rake who wasted his life senselessly in high society until he was 25 years old. He was called to America by family duty - it was necessary to rescue his half-brother Michel de Montpey from the French prison in which he was imprisoned for a debt of a million pesos by Governor General Philippe de Poincy.
Naturally, everything will not be so simple, even after the protagonist’s brother is free. But we still have to go before that. The game starts with a fairly detailed introduction, in which you complete simple quests and become familiar with the game mechanics. As a result of the starting tasks, you will have control of a ship, a crew, possibly first officers and, most importantly, experience in doing business in the Caribbean.
Then the macroquest begins, during which the hero actually earns the coveted million pesos in one way or another. This is one of the few tasks in the game that asks you to choose a side in the conflict. In this case it is: Holland, as well as two different options for England. And here both the advantages and disadvantages of putting the plot at the forefront begin to emerge.
As already mentioned, the plot is very large, sometimes it even seems endless. The plot itself does not shine with some kind of genius; the player is more interested in participating in local fights, getting from one adventure to another, which is why a crowd of characters flashes in the narrative, whose names (if not their existence) you will forget when completing the next quest. The tasks, although well-developed, are quite similar. But, it seems to me, this will not stop the Corsairs lover, since the gameplay itself is the same beloved and unique Corsairs.
Sometimes the game wants to fuck you
But what is a problem is the saves/lows mentioned above. I can’t even guess how many times I rebooted in this game, if you believe the statistics at the end of the game - 419, and this doesn’t even count the fact that I had to replay some moments.
If earlier the game had troll encounters and troll storms, then troll wind and troll time were added to them. No, they were also present in the Civil Procedure Code, but here they lead to complete exhaustion.
The game now has an indecently large number of quests that require completion within the allotted time. And everything would be fine, but the wind troll puts the spokes in the sails every time, so failure of quests as a result of being late due to unfavorable wind is a common occurrence. There are often times when you seem to be completing a quest and find out that it has already been failed for a month (in my case it was “The Pirate Saga”) because you were late. And no one tells you that there was any time limit - load an earlier save, start a few hours of the game again.
And no one is stopping developers from increasing the time it takes to complete a quest or one of its stages by several days. No one is stopping you from adding more notes in the ship’s log in the spirit of “we need to hurry.” And in the end, instead of hardcore, this results in nothing more than crooked game design. Something like a lite version of troll games.
We are no longer talking about directly completing quests. The game has an indecently vulgar number of situations like this: the hero is left alone with a crowd of enemies - fight them. And in the end, it’s not interesting, but again crooked and even funny at times, especially if you play with shoot-and-run tactics. The only thing missing is the music from “Benny Hill” or “I Got You Babe” if this episode is replayed several times. Or something more authentic, like a cut of Chuvash anger.
And you think that's all? Damn it, the game can bring surprises, for example, force you to collect some amulets or dueling pistols throughout the archipelago. And if the latter is even more or less excusable (no), then the first is a facepalm. And then they will force you to look for all sorts of plates, large pearls and candles. And yes, all this is not something impossible and hardcore, it is rather infuriating with its absolutely dull and unoriginal routine.
No, I'm serious, clearing locations alone is complete bullshit.
Let's return to the plot, which I will now mercilessly spoil. The fact is that it was interesting for me to go through the main quest as a fan of this series, but as a person interested in all sorts of cinema and other subjects, the game began to disappoint me from the second half.
Why? Because there is no problem or idea in the story. In fact, this is just another game on the theme “the boy was on his way to success,” and that’s all. The change in the main character and the revelation of his inner qualities are shown quite well. That's all. And the story does not have any core around which the game is built. The hero spends more than half of the plot in subplots, solving other people's problems over and over again. Therefore, it turns out that the story is not about two brothers, but about how one of them wandered around the Caribbean for months, so that then the second, with one dialogue, sent him on another voyage.
And besides, after crossing the equator of history, the paranormal actively begins to invade the plot. First we have a terrible curse that keeps the pirate on the ground. The woman herself, naturally, died a long time ago, and now exists in the form of an almost indestructible corpse that revives other skeletons. Is this not enough for you?
How do you like an entire Indian island made up of dead people? Cool? How do you like the fact that the plot descends into Indian game related to the rebirth of gods and time travel? Amazing? Of course, this is so in keeping with the spirit of pirate adventures, which are made quite realistically, and most importantly, presented with a serious tone.
And as a result, as I progress through the story, I have a double feeling. It seemed like it was not bad, and it was quite exciting to go through all this; I was pleased with the rare opportunity to have different options for completing the quest. But the crookedness of the game design and the occasional wildness in the plot make the gameplay almost unbearable at times. The main distinguishing feature of the game turns out to be its weakest feature.
What besides the plot? Yes, the same endless “corsair” freeplay, in which the player entertains himself, and which I have already written about in sufficient detail above. By the way, the developers decided to get rid of the national quest lines due to the vastness of the plot.
DLC for the game cannot offer anything significantly new - they are macro-quests for several hours of playthrough, with all the disadvantages and all the advantages of the main game. It makes no sense to talk about them in more detail, and it seems to me unnecessary.
Results
These are the elaborate, contradictory, complex, crooked and unique “Corsairs” they are. What can you say about “To Each His Own”? We can say that the mechanics of the game in 2018, although they still look fresh and interesting, reek of the budget game development of the early 2000s. By the standards of the series, the gameplay was, in general, the same as in 2003 and 2007, and it remains the same. And for a modern gamer, this is, by and large, a death sentence, because KKS does not forgive the player at all. And some old people or even those who have played before may simply get tired of playing the same thing.
The immortal Storm Engine produces graphics that are, by and large, ten years old (at the time the game was released), periodically bugs in such a way that it can ruin the save or crash, and is also not friendly with minimizing; and I’m not even talking about the periodic appearance of crooked scripts, when something didn’t happen as it should, and in the end you can’t leave the location because everything is locked. And, of course, we should not forget that the dialogues are not voiced, and the gameplay sometimes amounts to ten minutes of reading the text at the bottom of the screen, and even if there is no voice acting, then what can we say about the production.
The plot, which started out sounding good with realism, slipped into a paranormal shambles, which, to be honest, was not very fun to go through in the finale due to hackneyed techniques in the spirit of the same crowd of enemies for one player. However, this is still a good adventure that will captivate a fan of such games for dozens of hours.
"To each his own!" can offer the same unique pirate experience that no other game has been able to provide so far. “Pirates” by Sid Meier and AC IV: Black Flag are light arcade games, in comparison with which any part of “Corsairs” seems like a real simulator of the life of a sea wolf.
Therefore, I would advise doing this. For beginners and those unfamiliar with the series, I advise you to completely forget about the plot in the first playthrough and engage exclusively in freeplay. And only then, having gained experience, begin the plot. I wouldn’t advise old-timers to hope for some kind of revelation, but I would recommend playing it in view of the fact that there is simply nothing like it on the market - and this game, with all its ambiguity, is capable of satisfying a feeling of nostalgia and giving at least something new.
And the best “Corsairs” are still “The City of Lost Ships”.
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General discussion and questions about the passage
The eldest was a smart kid. The youngest son is this way and that. In general, he was definitely a fool.
Ahoy, brave sailors and lovers of adventurous adventures! Welcome to our little tavern at the end of the world! Grab yourself a pint of select rum and make yourself comfortable. We have a long and pleasant evening ahead of us in the company of port women, gambling, as well as incredible stories about the adventures that await us, ordinary corsairs, on the way to legendary treasures! Don't mince your words! Share your experience with green cabin boys who have not yet smelled the smells of sweat and gunpowder! Those who have not yet known the joy of a fresh sea breeze after a prolonged calm! Help choose a ship for a trip around the world or suggest a couple of tricks that will help a young corsair become a sea legend. Relax, have fun, and remember: after all, the parrot is alive!
Plus, the developers went too far with the quests during which the main character loses his ship. You have to replay, change the game, leaving the main ship laid up in the port, and sail on some kind of tartan or lugger for the mission.
Compared to other parts, the player is very tied to time. He has little time left to engage in piracy, trading and completing side quests for his own pleasure. The success of completing timed tasks depends on simple luck with a tailwind, plus there is a bug when using the command “swim to...” it takes much less time than swimming to the same point on the world map.
The only thing that pleased me about this game was the trading. It really became possible to make money on it.
I recently deleted this game, although I also played for several months, then abandoned it, I didn’t like the too nerdy leveling of fencing, which, along with other Persian skills, increases very slowly, and accordingly, personal abilities are earned less often.
But with ship skills it’s more difficult. I still use the skills of navigators. Fortunately, quest officers have a high level of skills.
In general, the game is incredibly difficult. The time limits on quests are too steep, the opponents are crazy at first (only with the help of forts can you crush them), and from the very first minutes of entering the open sea at the beginning of the game you immediately encounter entire squadrons of the enemy. Natural tin. Moreover, what infuriates me is the inability at the beginning of the game (until you improve your flag-raising skill or you can’t buy a West India Company patent) to carry out missions to deliver some passengers and ships to the Spanish shores. And almost all the characters I met at first (at least in my case) ask exclusively to go to the Spanish colonies. But the story dragged on. The plot is good, compared to the old parts.
Yes, I don't like that either. I know that this should happen as the game progresses. In the same Kaleuch, in my opinion, everything is based on this. But I haven't met yet. I don’t know yet whether each officer will have to buy a Luger in order to preserve them. Because from the passage I saw that only one of them survives. That is, Mary or Rumba, depending on who you take. And yes, it’s a pity that you can’t take both.Plus, the developers went too far with the quests during which the main character loses his ship. You have to replay, change the game, leaving the main ship laid up in the port, and sail on some kind of tartan or lugger for the mission.
I liked the game, especially the story. He is above all praise. There are so many variations of the passage, literally everything is thought out to the smallest detail. The writers really did a great job, especially when, through dialogue alone, they gave all the NPCs real, living characters. I think even Stanislavsky would not have found anything to complain about.
Bright, dynamic battles that even at the end of the game make you tense and sweat. Although for a beginner (like me, for example, who had only played the first Corsairs before) the game will seem too difficult even on an easy level. However, you can adapt, you just need to devote more time to passing.
However, there were some downsides. The Storm engine is insidious and merciless, it always starts to malfunction at the most crucial moment. Although, oddly enough, I experienced crashes less often than others.
On older versions, I remember, this was actually possible. In the latest version, such a freebie was cut off. Skills are pumped up, but extremely slowly; only on missions do you gain experience.Personal skills are upgraded quite quickly. In general, fencing can be upgraded by stupidly making your way overland to a Spanish fort (while the noble hidalgos treat the character no better than a piece of unsavory stuff) and cutting down everything and everyone on the way. A couple of hours of real time, and your skill is already at a hundred. It’s better not to approach pirates with such things.
In fact, there is an opportunity to take both, although not forever, and even then with restrictions.
There is nothing complicated, just replay the entire Pirate Saga.
Spoiler
In order to take Mary back for a second visit to the OS, we must make sure that the prophecy of the gypsy woman that Helen talks about is not fulfilled. That is, you must either not return the chest with doubloons, or name Helen after her adoptive father, MacArthur, and not Sharpe. In this case, Mary agrees to board the ship and both girls will travel with the GG on the ship until the end of the Saga. Helen leaves at the end. Naturally, you won’t be able to choose between the two of them, only Mary.
For me personally, there are much more positives in this part than negatives. The work of the developers is visible in every aspect of the game, which cannot be said about many AAA projects that are driven by commerce and not by ideas. The only thing worth criticizing is the engine, which, unfortunately, is not always able to function normally on XP+ systems.
The speed of leveling up fencing depends directly on the style of play. It is logical to assume that if the player is constantly at sea, his sea skills will improve. As for me, this system is quite understandable and playable. I would like to add that skills increase faster when completing a quest, be it generator/plot/side quest.
That’s right, there is very little time for free play, except perhaps only at the stage of collecting a million pesos (if you collect these pesos not through the “Dutch Gambit” quest, but through trade and piracy).
Three months to collect one million pesos is a convention that can be broken several times. Also, after completing the Pirate Saga, you can freeplay for at least ten game years, which will not affect the plot in any way. How much more free?)That’s right, there is very little time for free play, except perhaps only at the stage of collecting a million pesos (if you collect these pesos not through the “Dutch Gambit” quest, but through trade and piracy).
If, for example, we take the standard system from the GPK, where the GG immediately after respawn is engaged in free play, of course, there are differences, but they are not as critical as they seem at first glance.
Yeah. It's not viable at all, to be honest. Like a zombie. It seems to be moving, but who knows when something will fall off of it.
Not only does the system have a right to life. So she's absolutely awesome! She is logical and consistent. Just by doing what you're supposed to do, you improve your skill. True, lately I have been resorting more to the help of gypsies. Because Some skills I still don’t understand how they are upgraded. For example, the same secrecy. And for some quests, this stealth is a really necessary skill.The speed of leveling up fencing depends directly on the style of play. It is logical to assume that if the player is constantly at sea, his sea skills will improve. As for me, this system is quite understandable and playable. I would like to add that skills increase faster when completing a quest, be it generator/plot/side quest.
Can. But it’s very difficult to be honest. And the plot doesn't let me go.Compared to other parts, there are story quests that require completion over time, but this does not mean that you cannot choose the right moment for free play during the break between these quests
Fencing improves faster than other skills. Moreover, local bandits are not so rare. And I more often try to board an enemy ship than to sink it. Well, during secret visits to the Spanish colonies, I simply cannot resist going inside the settlement and knocking out a couple of noble conquistadors. As a result, my fencing and shooting skills have been fully upgraded. But with the rest, everything is less rosy. Some haven’t even reached 50% yet.That’s right, fencing used to be great during boarding battles in fights with captains and the enemy team, but now to do this you need to generate quests for duels in cities using save/load and organize a hunt for local bandits, and fencing is barely growing.
Gentlemen. As a fan of the series with 7 years of experience (it’s scary now) I read your posts with interest.
First I’ll say a few words about how this game even appeared. There was (and still is) such a team of enthusiastic players, Black Mark Studio, which made a global modification for “City of Lost Ships” (the previous game in the series) - mod-pack 1.3.2 Adventure Tales. In parallel with the modification, they made a fan-made addition to the game - in fact, “To Each His Own.” Some addon ideas (for example, generated quests) were tested on a mod pack. The add-on was supposed to have three main characters (Charles de Maur, William Paterson, Diego Montoya) with three storylines connected to each other. When Akella, as the copyright holder of the series, saw what was coming out in the end, she decided to publish this project as a separate game. This is how “Corsairs: To Each His Own” appeared. In the first version of the game there is a plot only for Charles de Maura, since there was no time to refine the other two. Actually, the entire corsair community is waiting for the remaining two GGs and their lines to be added to the game. So far, the developers have released two relatively small DLCs ("Kaleuche" and "The Last Lesson"), and the third is coming - "Under the Black Flag".
Here's the thing. The previous game in the series, City of Lost Ships, was focused mainly on freeplay. Actually, the players had a lot of fun playing. The developers of KKS decided to shift the focus to the plot component. At the same time, freeplay as such has not gone away - between story quests you can have fun as the player wants.
Well, this game feature was known, again, back in GPK
But this surprised me. It is believed that in KKS freeplay the emphasis is on piracy and generated quests. Trading has become more difficult than in the Civil Procedure Code.
In one of the updates, leveling up of soldiers in the fort was cut down. Especially, as part of the fight against stupid people. As the developers explained, leveling up the hero is quite possible during side and generated quests - and this reveals the game more fully than endless slaughter for the sake of skill points.
In fact, the main character objectively does not need most of the ship's skills and abilities, because they are covered by hired officers (key positions are navigator, gunner and boatswain). You definitely need the ability to raise foreign flags (allows you to penetrate enemy cities), it’s worth leveling up the navigator abilities branch - its final perk allows you to ignore unnecessary skirmishes on the global map.
What’s good is that the plot of KKS is organically intertwined with the plots of, perhaps, all previous games in the series. With the second, third and GPK - exactly.
When it's pirates drowned ships? It's not profitable
It's strange why. Due to unique goods, rich capital is earned by trading simply. I'm talking specifically about free trade by the player, and not about quests from shopkeepers. We take goods where they are exported and sell them where they are considered unique. And if there is also an officer with advanced trade, then everything is great. Trade is made more difficult by the fact that there are many diplomatic obstacles in the game.
After completing one story quest, in almost all cases you are immediately given the next one. And if we take into account the fact that completing the quest is limited by a time frame, then there is simply no time left for freeplay.
Why doesn't Tichingitu fire his musket?
To try to fix the bug, try the following sequence of actions: take back the musket, go to another location and give the musket to the Indian again. Go to the new location again, and then equip the weapon on your character. If the musket is equipped, but Tichingitu does not load it, then you need to check what ammunition was specified for use. The default should be bullets with gunpowder, but perhaps you changed the parameters and selected, for example, “paper cartridge”.
How to improve the Stealth skill?
You have several options that will allow you to improve your Stealth skill:
- Deceive enemy ships by raising allied flags.
- Deceive enemy soldiers by raising allied flags.
- Deceive DU and OZK.
- Sneak into enemy cities by deceiving the patrolmen.
- Complete tasks related to the transportation of diplomatic soil.
- Get involved in smuggling deals.
- Drink in a tavern, but, however, it is better to avoid such actions.
- Periodically give money to the gypsies.
How to find Skeleton Reef without instruments?
Open the map of the archipelago, find Santiago in Cuba and nearby Cayman Island. Connect Santiago and the center of Cayman Island with a segment, and then divide this line into three parts. About two-thirds of the way from Santiago towards Cayman you will find Skeleton Reef.
How to find Crab Island without instruments?
Open a map of the archipelago, find the city of Port Royal in Jamaica, and Santo Domingo in Hispaniola. Draw a straight line horizontally that will pass through the city of Port Royal. Next, draw a vertical line through Santo Domingo. So at the point of intersection of these two lines there will be approximately the location of Crab Island.
How to find the meeting place with Cromwell's squadron without instruments?
Open a map of the archipelago, find us west of Santo Domingo on Hispaniola, and also find the city of Belize on West Main. Draw a vertical line through the cape west of Santo Domingo, followed by a horizontal line through Belize City. At the intersection of these two lines, approximately, is the hidden island of Isla Mona, where you will meet the squadron.
Where can I find Colonel Fox?
To find Fox, go to the first floor of Governor St. John's residence and search several rooms. This is in Antigua. In one of them there will be a colonel. On the other hand, if the character does not return from the exercises, then complete the task further, go through another stage, and from time to time visit that same residence.
If you are looking for Fox as a result of the quest "Turtle Soup", then be sure to do this before starting the quest "The Treacherous Island of Xochitem". If you don't do this, the game may freeze.
In some cases, a message may appear indicating that the journey has been interrupted and that something is about to happen in this location. What is this?
This message indicates that there is a character nearby with whom the main character must communicate. This could be a sailor randomly generated by an NPC in a random quest. Look around the city, wait in place - perhaps he will even come up on his own. It may also happen that the character will not be found, and you will be able to leave the location.
What causes disadvantages in a character's characteristics?
Disadvantages in characteristics may appear for several reasons:
- Character overload.
- You drank a lot.
- The character's ship cannot be used by him due to navigation - it gives minuses to all attributes.
- Jessica Rose cursed the hero.
- The character has an amulet or totem that reduces attributes.
- The hero's backpack contains a cursed object, which can be a vampire wing, bone, etc.
Igor Patrin
Hello everyone, you are on a blog about fantasy and science fiction! Sometimes there are issues here that are not related to science fiction, but this is not the case. There is plenty of devilry in these “Corsairs”. In all senses.
The game turned out to be made on the engine of the previous corsairs, that is, from the same bearded year. Even then, they were squeezing out of him everything that his senile powers were capable of, so the picture cannot boast of anything new. Except that some splash screens, character models and icons were redrawn. A couple more videos have been added.
However, I am quite comfortable playing like this.
So, the game. We don't have a choice of characters, you can only play one - a Frenchman named Charles de More. Next, we select parameters, focusing on fencing, handling heavy weapons, pistols and muskets, or trade and oratory. In my opinion, it is better to choose one of the first two options. I settled on rapiers and swords.
Attention! Under no circumstances set the difficulty higher than Level 2! For all but the most hardcore nerds, play on the lowest difficulty setting. Masochists who are confident in their chosenness of God can choose the second difficulty. In different versions of the game, this is either the Boatswain or the Brave Privateer.
The game is incredibly difficult, and if you felt confident on the “Captain” difficulty in “City of Lost Ships,” then set the difficulty to minimum here and put all possible concessions in the menu next to it.
If you played on “Admiral” and it was more or less tolerable for you, then you can risk setting the second difficulty.
If you choose a higher difficulty level, you will quit the game after a few hours, cursing the developers and the whole wide world. I'm serious.
No, you will swear and scream in any case, even on the minimum difficulty, but then at least there will be a chance that you will not quit the game, but will go to the Internet for tips and a manual.
Important! This game must be played exclusively with a detailed manual! This is due not only to the prohibitive complexity of the game, but also to bugs - without knowing where the catch is, you will not have a chance to avoid a fatal bug. I will give a link to one of these at the end of the article.
Okay, difficulty has been selected, everything is set, let's go!
I did this: Z – shot, Q – active action key, C – power strike and parry (instead of the wheel). It's quite convenient to play this way.
First impressions
They're great. We are introduced to the game in detail, led by the hand a little, talking about the buildings and gaming capabilities. It seems that the game is also designed for new players unfamiliar with the previous parts of the franchise. Don't be fooled by this!
The first difficulty is that over the past time I’ve pretty much forgotten the controls in battle, and here no one is in a hurry to explain which keys to press. Therefore, to understand the types of strikes, feints and parries, go either to YouTube or to thematic sites. For those who are familiar with the earlier parts, I will briefly explain the innovations:
1) A new parameter for melee weapons is balance. It is very important, and is closely related to two factors: the type of weapon (rapiers, sabers or broadswords), weight, type of blow.
For a rapier, the ideal balance is 0.0. In this case, lunges (by default, right mouse button) deal maximum damage. Chopping and power strikes are not for light weapons.
Sabers perform well with a balance closer to 1.0. They can chop, stab, and carry out power strikes. The problem is that the saber doesn't do any of this very well. In Corsairs: City of Lost Ships, the saber was the most convenient weapon for me. They're kind of clueless here. I do not advise.
Broadswords and axes. The balance is closer to 2.0. Slashing and power strikes. It hits hard, but consumes a huge amount of stamina.
It was not possible to find out how weight affects damage. Most likely, the same as balance - the greater the weight, the greater the damage of a slashing weapon. In this case, it is better to choose rapiers that are as light as possible.
2) Pistols can now explode when fired. This happened to me with Combat and Dueling pistols. Multi-shot muskets and shotguns did not explode.
3) New types of charges: in addition to bullets, there are shot, harpoons and nails. There is also a hand mortar with grenades.
New is good, but there is a big but. The shot hits only one target, thereby completely devaluing itself. My Combat Buckshot fired shot at the crowd (although if you believe thematic forums, this shouldn’t happen), but the damage there is ridiculous.
The “berserk” skill, which was white in the previous part, was removed. On the one hand, it’s correct - the thing was absolutely cheating, turning any duel into nonsense, but I somehow got used to it. And with her, the local quest duels wouldn’t tear up one place so much.
First quests
The first serious problems you will encounter are in Guadeloupe - when you need to go to Fadey.
Important! Yes, these problems will only appear first if you play according to the manual. Otherwise, you will still be stuck in Martinique. Play only according to the manual!
I still don’t understand how Fadey’s quests work. If you take them in the wrong order, you will easily break some scripts, and he will not give you the assignment that your brother talked about.
If you have the patience to deal with all this, then you will have to choose a side - the quest “The Dutch Gambit”.
I played as the Dutch - there are tricky restrictions on level, reputation and skills. The Dutch are unpretentious to this.
To play as England you must be: positive reputation, level below a certain value (it seems to be different in different versions, mine was less than 12th).
Secret organization: negative reputation, all weapons have been upgraded to a certain level (about 30+).
Difficulties await you here. Time-limited missions, mind-blowingly difficult duels and other amenities. But if you have played the previous parts, you will be able to master all this.
And I'll move on to the icing on the cake.
Quests that break the player
This joy is called “Pirate Saga”. This is a global, mandatory and plot-interesting quest. Made by complete sadists.
The first difficulty is that you will need to save one girl - Rumba, aka Helen - in 16 calendar days. This will be at the very beginning of the quest line. And if you fail this rescue, you will fail the entire line.
The first difficulty is that there is not a word about deadlines in the task log.
The second difficulty is that even with a tailwind, you will not have time to sail to Antigua on time. No way.
What to do? Go out to the battle map and sail along it, periodically going out to the global map to check the direction.
How do you like this game design?
There are many more complexities in The Pirate Saga, but I’ll move on to the next extravaganza of the absurd:
Two naval battles in a row. First, you must deal with a corvette and a frigate on a half-acre (3rd class ship). And then, on the same half-acre, board a heavy frigate. And it’s just brutal even on the second difficulty.
Then, in many places, scripts can be broken to hell if you complete quests in the wrong order, and there are many other exciting things.
Impression
Due to the really interesting storyline, I can’t even call it a bad game. I got a huge amount of pleasure from it. Yes, it was a somewhat perverse pleasure, especially until I thought of burying myself in the manual, but still.
Large, varied and interesting plot. This is cool, and great respect to the developers for this.
A good partner is Mary Kasper. But if you don’t play according to the manual in life, you won’t know what to do to get her to join your team. Yes, you may not even meet her. Despite the fact that the location of the Island of Justice is not that big. But confusing...
Ship characteristics have been reworked. Now corvettes are useless troughs. Otherwise, the rebalance is good.
Bottom line
If you are well versed in the game series, then you should arm yourself with a manual and a detailed walkthrough and play “Corsairs: To Each His Own.”
If you are more or less fluent in Corsairs, then you can try your luck on the minimum difficulty. Again with the manual and walkthrough. But be prepared to suffer.
If you haven’t played Corsairs before, then starting with “To Each His Own” is a worse idea. “City of Lost Ships” was once called the most difficult game in the series, and “To Each His Own” was 5 times more difficult...
It’s always like this: a good plot just doesn’t want to get along with good game design. You almost always have to choose one thing, especially in more or less independent projects like this one.
Play at your own risk. I'll finish the game until the end. Now I brought 3 church relics to the inquisitor, and took a long pause to calm my nerves.
The walkthrough I used: Beginning of the Walkthrough. On the same site there are detailed manuals for later quests.
See you soon!
By the way, “The Witcher: Blood and Wine” was declared better than the RPG 2016 🙂 Yeah, an addon. I have it on the site, for those who haven’t played or haven’t seen all the endings, I recommend checking it out. There are also links to 2 other articles on the world of The Witcher.
Corsairs To each his own Characteristics Personal skills
Charisma is the ability to persuade and captivate people. Affects the outcome of game events in situations related to the character’s personal charm or reputation. Depends on Leadership and Learning (A*0.9+T*0.1)
Rapiers and swords. Ability to handle rapiers, swords and other small tools at hand. Depends on Reaction and Perception (R*0.9+1*0.1)
Sabers and cutlasses. The ability to handle sabers and similar curved cutting and piercing weapons, which require not only strength, but also a certain dexterity. Depends on Strength and Reaction (P*0.6+R*0.4)
Broadswords and axes. The ability to handle heavy broadswords, axes and rare swords requires remarkable physical strength. Depends on Strength and Endurance (P*0.9+E*0.1)
Pistols and muskets. The ability to use personal short-, long- and multi-barreled firearms requires dexterity and a certain amount of luck. Depends on Reaction and Luck (R*0.5+S*0.5)
Luck. Fortune. She's luck. Needed everywhere and by everyone! Depends on luck.(S)
Stealth. The ability to slip past enemy guards, evade pursuers in the endless ocean desert, or, like a bolt from the blue, fall upon a careless enemy. Depends on Luck and Perception (S*0.5+1*0.5)
Corsairs To each his own Characteristics Ship skills
Navigation. Ability to navigate a ship through storms and thick fog. Ability to use navigational instruments and manage squadrons. The largest and most formidable ship will fly like a bird, easily obeying the firm hand of an experienced skipper. Depends on Perception and Learning (G0.2+T*0.8). To operate a vessel of a certain class, a corresponding minimum level of Navigation is required: Class 1 requires 95 Navigation, Class 2 requires 80 Navigation, Class 3 requires 65 Navigation, Class 4 requires 45 Navigation, Class 5 requires 25 Navigation, Class 6 requires 01 Navigation. A lack of Navigation skill leads to a decrease in all the skills and characteristics of the hero (the so-called “minuses”, the appearance of negative penalty points in the characteristics). The penalty value is determined as the difference between the current and required Navigation value, in classes. For example, you have a navigation skill of 50 and a personal skill of broadswords and axes of 35, you start using a 2nd class ship, all your skills are reduced by 30 points, now the skill of broadswords and axes is 5 points.
Accuracy. One of the most necessary qualities for those sailing the sea. A real captain will not waste ammunition trying to scare away all the fish in the area. Every zapp is on target! You can’t do without Perception and Luck here (l*0.8+S*0.2)
Guns. Deftly equip the gun and, while the echoes of the shot have not yet died down among the bulkheads, fire, equip, aim again, not forgetting to douse the barrel with water in time, cool it down... nothing more - load, pickle, salvo! Depends on Learning and Strength (T*0.6+P*0.4)
Boarding. As carefully as possible, bring the ship to the enemy side, throw the grapples the first time and fall like an avalanche on the trembling enemy, sweep across the decks like a hurricane, etc. take the enemy ship with a well-deserved prize with minimal losses! All this requires considerable skill and experience, but the rich loot will easily repay all the efforts. Involves Reaction and Learning (R*0.7+T*0.3)
Protection. Day after day, the crew gets used to the ship, and now every sailor is worth a dozen newbies. Protecting your people during battle and preventing them from dying stupidly and senselessly is the task of a good captain and a clever strategist. Endurance and Leadership are equally important when mobilizing the crew to defend the ship! (E*0.5+A*0.5)
Repair. When the cannonballs fall on the ship like a merciless hail, they smash the sides into splinters and turn the sails into rags, when the tired hull trembles and groans under the blows of the merciless elements, and the wind tears the rigging like threads, Repair becomes the most important of the ship's skills. Endurance is crucial, then Perception
(E*0;8+1*0.-2)
Trade. The ability to profitably sell tomorrow what you bought yesterday on occasion. Knowledge of profitable trade routes, business acumen, careful accounting and a strong, spacious hold are always in the hands of an enterprising person. Learning and Leadership decide everything (T*0.8+A*0.2)...
Reputation. Reputation reflects society's attitude towards a character. The reputation of ordinary characters remains unchanged throughout the game: it is believed that their character has already been established and they are rather monotonous in their behavior. The main character is distinguished from everyone else by Authority, Fame and Honor. The hero's fame fades over time, and his actions are erased from people's memory. Bad things are forgotten more quickly, good things are forgotten faster. If you do not commit any serious actions, then the hero will be perceived by others as an “unknown adventurer.” Authority, Fame and Honor distinguish the main character from all other game characters. Authority is the assessment of the hero by his entourage (primarily the crews of the ships in the protagonist’s squadron). If the captain’s Authority has fallen critically, he is presented with a Black Mark and asked to resign voluntarily or forcibly. If Authority is high, the crew united around the commander can withstand any test with faith in the future! Fame shows what the popularity, celebrity, fame of the main character is. Any doors will open for a famous person, fans seek his attention, and opponents tremble at the mere mention of his name! A true hero cannot escape his nobility of spirit, altruism and high aspirations. From God's commandments and human laws. Honor shows what your hero most often leans toward. Honor grows as he saves the world and its inhabitants. Or it falls to the ugliest depths, from broken promises, committed violence and villainy. Honor depends on the character's actions and, in turn, affects how other characters in the game perceive him. However, if the hero leads a monotonous and measured lifestyle, chooses the least risky solutions, travels alone in deserted seas, his Honor and Fame slip away like sand through his fingers, striving for a neutral and uncomplicated middle. In the game, community memory is short and on average does not exceed half of the game year.
Corsairs To each his own Guns, culverins on your ships
| 3 pound guns Deck guns equipped with a turret. They have the greatest mobility and, due to their small size, the least power and range of destruction. They are often equipped with a replaceable breech, allowing for quick reloading. Range - 350, damage - x 1.0, reload - 10 sec. |
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6 pound guns Small guns, very popular on courier and merchant ships due to their light weight and ease of maintenance. Range - 450, damage - x 1.5, reload - 19 sec. Weight 6 c. |
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12 pound guns The main guns of a small navy, capable of firing at high elevation angles, which significantly increases the effective combat distance. They have high reliability. Range - 550, damage - x 2.0, reload - 31 sec. Weight 11 c. |
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16 pound guns Modern guns of the French type. Thanks to their progressive design, they cause more damage and at a greater distance, compared to ordinary half-guns, being slightly inferior to them in loading time, reliability and slightly superior in weight. Range - 600, damage - x 2.5, reload - 40 sec. Weight 16 c. |
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20 pound guns Guns of the highest caliber, allowing the use of red-hot cannonballs on the ship, which significantly increases the damage to the enemy. However, the length of the barrel leads to a noticeable increase in their weight. Range - 650, damage - x 3.0, reload - 48 sec. Weight 20 c. |
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24 pound guns The most balanced guns in terms of the main technical indicators. They are deservedly popular on military and expeditionary ships. Range - 700, damage - x 4.0, reload - 56 sec. Weight 29 c. pack 1 pc. |
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32 pound guns Large-caliber heavy guns, suitable for bombarding fortifications. Causes crushing damage to the body. Range - 650, damage - x 5.0, reload - 61 sec. Weight 40 c. |
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Half-culverins Long-barreled 8-pound guns on a special machine with a powerful frame and solid wood wheels... They have an increased firing range. Usually used to conduct a barrage Range - 700, damage - x 2.0, reload - 35 sec. Weight 16 c. |
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Culevrins Medium 18-pounder guns with extended range, suitable for use on relatively small ships. Despite the amazing combat distance, they are distinguished by the incredible weight and durability of the equipment. Range - 850, damage - x 3.0, reload - 52 sec. Weight 32 c. |
Ballistics diagram for all guns. To try and compare culverins and 32 pound guns in battle, you will see that range is not as important as lethality.
