Author:  Jim Cobb

Mystery fiction has a genre called “cozies”. These books have regular characters readers know well and fairly predictable storylines; innovation is kept to a minimum. After several patches and a major re-write that changes play significantly, East India Company with the Designer’s Cut edition and add-on Privateer is almost a “cozy” for fans of trading games. The game covers the period 1600 – 1750 when European trade companies competed for the African and South Asian markets. The system has some interface innovations but suffers serious stability problems.

A British ship is outward bound.

 

Lush Graphics

The strategic graphics show the unusual combination of glamour and clarity. The 3D terrain has convincing green plateaus and hills as well as snow-capped mountains; too bad all action takes place on the coasts. The graphics hit a sweet spot, lending an air of authenticity that gives cities the right look. Each city appears has a period feel and geography that one would expect to find for its locale. Port views have nice examples of period architecture. Trade item icons and numeral for dates and money are clear. Wave action is convincing. Ships’ routes are seen as dots that are color-coded for mission type. The mini-map is crisp and very useful, showing ports, major trade items, and view ranges. The globe game info menu yields clear and helpful data on trade, diplomacy, mission accomplishment, and finances. Ocean sounds are very soothing but the frequent bell ringing is something I found annoying.

Status of mission goal.

A pleasing feature are videos showing special events such as auto-resolved battles and port attacks. Players have the option to skip these.

The start of a battle video.

Tactical battle graphics are also impressive. Vessels are nicely detailed with rigging, crew, and guns. Banners stream with the wind and waves reflect wind strength with both swells and ship motions. Sails are hoisted and furled realistically. Guns blast and ship parts fly when struck. Misses cause water spouts. Sails become ragged, fires rage, and masts fall. Time of day is also depicted very well with battles in pitch-dark night, foggy dawn, and bright day. Islands affect maneuver. A mini-view displays friendly and enemy dots. Gun arcs show range of different ammunition. A battle cam inset provides different views. Views can be zoomed and moved vertically but not horizontally. Sound effects and voiceovers are effective.

Going into harm’s way at dawn.

These graphics may have a downside. Graphic intensive games demand large amount of computer resources and, even when the recommended hardware is used, the game crashes, the screen jumbles, and systems lock. An odd point is that, the more the game is played, the less frequently they happen.

Learning the game is slightly confusing. The original introductory narration was comprehensive, but changes made in the Designer’s Cut made it obsolete. The new tutorials in Privateer are divided into strategic and tactical. The strategic one was simply edited and left out trading mechanics. The tactical one is not narrated but explains play well through text boxes. The 44-page manual also omits these critical functions. Players who didn’t buy the original version and will probably become confused on trade and may need to buy the Prima downloadable guide. Tooltips and help screens flesh out many points. Most of the customizable hotkeys must be viewed at the options screen.

Ah, the Orient.

 

Buying the Orient

The Designer’s Cut has four campaigns: the Grand Campaign 1600 – 1750, one from 1650 – 1700, and one 1700 – 1750. In addition there is a Sandbox campaign. Each of these games has economic and imperial goals which must be met. The Grand Campaign starts players from one of eight European countries with two small fleets and no foreign ports; the smaller campaigns start with several fleets and ports. Players can choose between an innocuous Easy level, the Normal level where ugly random events like warehouse fires, disease, and pirate attacks happen, and Hard where every hand is turned against the player. The Sandbox campaign is like the Grand Campaign but without goals that end the game if they’re achieved.

A ship picks up cargo.

 

Goods for export to the world.

Trading is the key to this game. Home ports are the source for most exports and the easiest market for imports. Players choose from the goods on hand but should check the game info screen to seen price trends for items at home and the availability and price of export and generic trade items in foreign ports. Other factors to be considered are available cash, cargo capacity, and distance to be traveled. Time is money and maintenance money for crew and captain salaries as well as ships and buildings are deducted from all trades so a long journey with a convoy containing a slower ship can cause cash flow problems. Conversely, a small, fast ship’s short trip yields minimal cash regardless of the profit margin. Fleet commanders’ skills can lessen these problems. Players can increase their fleets by buying one of five trade ships or six warships. However, most ships require a hefty unlock fee to develop with more money needed to build each vessel. Most designs are not unlocked until after the 1600s.

Buying a nice addition to the fleet.

On leaving port, a fleet’s mission is assigned. Trade missions can be a simple trip via right-click on another port. Returns can be made easier by using the “To home post” icon. Trading at hostile ports is impossible, but smuggling is an option. Auto-trade routes can be set by clicking on the appropriate icon and a destination. These routes relieve players with many fleets of micro-management, but surpluses at home and dwindling stocks in foreign parts can render them loss leaders if unwatched. Ships, usually warships with marines, can be ordered to patrol areas with CTRL-RMB waypoints or to attack ports. Ships’ behavior can be set to one of four stances which range from utter avoidance to attacking any other ship in range.

Voyages can be long; the slowest green dots crawl across the mini-map. Ships stop repeatedly en route to re-supply at friendly ports, Players may be tempted to overuse the highest of the four speeds; such a temptation should be avoided. Time-sensitive messages containing lucrative missions can be left unread in the mail box along with plague warnings. Easy targets can sail out of range. Game speed management can turn into a burden for players. An odd omission for such a detailed game is the lack of storms and shoals in a period when longitude couldn’t be calculated.

Stopping for re-supply.

Battles occur when enemy vessels come into view. Players can choose the fast auto-resolve or manually controlled tactical battle described below. Defeated foes cannot be looted with auto-resolve but commanders can gain levels and some of the nineteen skills. Commanders with several skills already achieved shouldn’t be sacked but players should be wary as experienced commanders can die suddenly of disease.

Port stays and views can involve something more than trading. Warehouses allow storage of goods until prices climb. Garrisons and forts can be improved with material and money, staving off native revolts and attacks by other players. Higher amounts of goods come from improved trading posts. Crews, marines, and commanders can be bought and replaced in port, although replacing crew members can adversely affect performance. Ships can either be repaired automatically or manually but always at a cost.

With nice balances in their account and a few ports, players can try their hand at diplomacy. Choices for offers are money, ports, pacts, and alliances in return for the same and promises to declare war on a competitor. Pacts and alliances allow trade at partners’ ports. Even more interesting is the by-play between opponents. These companies make and break pacts, grab ports and make war at bewildering rate. Maintaining a number of fleets allows players to take advantage of diplomatic shuffles. The AI handles money and routes well while grabbing ports aggressively, loading profitable goods from the player’s nose.

Negotiating.

 

“To Glory We Steer”

Privateer provides three kinds of play. The two short campaigns are similar to the Grand Campaign. Players can trade and build fleets but cannot take ports and only observe diplomacy. To make good money, players will have to attack the foes of his company or go to the “dark side”, attacking anything. Battle can be auto resolved but that’s boring. Tactical combat is the heart of play here. Battles in the campaign game start as they do in Designer’s Cut. Privateer provides two additional options: Battles and Quick Battles. Battles allow players to create fleets for both sides from eleven ship types and forts. Length of game and several environmental factors can be adjusted. Quick Battles yields potluck.

Players create battles from here.

Fighting begins in RTS mode with the usual select-move-here mechanics. Players click on icons to toggle automatic firing, ammunition selection, fording, flee, and surrender functions. Ships react realistically to wind and weather, Crew morale drops when the battle goes badly. A group of ships can be selected with the “lasso” technique and ordered into line. The AI handles fire well by itself. Voices and floating numbers make damage clear. The AI acts historically and well.

A fleet forms battle line in RTS mode. Note the captain’s skills.

 

Players can get up close and personal by taking direct control of a ship. Course is determined by WASD and sail state by icons, Broadsides are fired by icons or hot keys with accurate reload times. The functions available in the RTS mode are here also. An important function is commanders’ battle skills. Divided into passive which are in use continually and active which are temporary and activated by a click.

Multiplay includes LAN and on-line server modes the on-line site has many active one-on-one and team games to join.

Despite its frills, Designer’s Cut brings nothing intrinsically new to the trader genre. The graphics and easily accessible information is offset by mediocre documentation and continual time management. Connoisseurs of trading games would feel at home with it if the game was stable. Confusion reigns whether players need to re-install the original East India Company to take advantage of the more stable newest patch and if that patch would require reloading Privateer. Privateer itself is a very good game; pity it requires the parent product.

 

 

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