History VideoGame / SidMeiersPirates

* CombatByChampion: Subverted with duels between captains, while it is possible to win a battle by defeating the enemy duelist, there is also an ongoing battle between the crews, and if you are utterly unnumbered it becomes impossible to defeat the duelist (at least in 1993 Gold version).
** In the new version, being the last man standing means that you automatically surrender to the opposing captain the next time you're hit, regardless of how well you were doing in the fight beforehand. Theoretically, though, it ''is'' possible to win a battle with only yourself as the remaining boarder/defender; you just have to avoid being hit at all. This is not as easy as it sounds, as once your crew is completely wiped out, the enemy captain will become extremely aggressive and be able to dodge attacks you were connecting with just moments before.

'''''Sid Meier's Pirates!''''' can refer to any of three related games. The original game was released in 1987; an UpdatedRerelease called ''Pirates! Gold'' came out in 1993; and the latest game in the series (reverting to the original title) was released in 2004. The basic premise of the games is the same: You start out as a new {{Pirate}} captain in the [[WelcomeToTheCaribbeanLuv Caribbean Sea]] with a Letter of Marque issued to you by one of four nations (England, France, Spain, or the Netherlands). The game is a WideOpenSandbox, allowing you to take a wide variety of actions: Go the traditional pirate route and attack other vessels for [[PirateBooty loot and plunder]], [[TheCasanova romance]] [[LoveInterest governors' beautiful daughters]], search for other pirates' buried treasure using {{Treasure Map}}s, clear the high seas of all rivals who would stand in your way, or even [[ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything go the boring]] [[AnEntrepreneurIsYou "peaceful trader" route]]. One notable feature of the game is that the protagonist can never actually ''die''; defeat in combat (or failure in other regards) generally leads to being either thrown into a CardboardPrison or marooned / cast away on a desert island, both of which you can eventually escape from. Also, [[NoStatAtrophy unlike many other games]], age ''does'' affect your character; his fencing and dancing skills decline noticeably with age.

'''''Sid Meier's Pirates!''''' can refer to any of three related games. The original game was released in 1987; an UpdatedRerelease called ''Pirates! Gold'' came out in 1993; and the latest game in the series (reverting to the original title) was released in 2004. The basic premise of the games is the same: You start out as a new {{Pirate}} captain in the [[WelcomeToTheCaribbeanLuv Caribbean Sea]] with a Letter of Marque issued to you by one of four nations (England, France, Spain, or the Netherlands). The game is a WideOpenSandbox, allowing you to take a wide variety of actions: Go the traditional pirate route and attack other vessels for [[PirateBooty loot and plunder]], [[{{Casanova}} romance]] [[LoveInterest governors' beautiful daughters]], search for other pirates' buried treasure using {{Treasure Map}}s, clear the high seas of all rivals who would stand in your way, or even [[ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything go the boring]] [[AnEntrepreneurIsYou "peaceful trader" route]]. One notable feature of the game is that the protagonist can never actually ''die''; defeat in combat (or failure in other regards) generally leads to being either thrown into a CardboardPrison or marooned / cast away on a desert island, both of which you can eventually escape from. Also, [[NoStatAtrophy unlike many other games]], age ''does'' affect your character; his fencing and dancing skills decline noticeably with age.

'''''Sid Meier's Pirates!''''' can refer to any of three related games. The original game was released in 1987; an UpdatedRerelease called ''Pirates! Gold'' came out in 1993; and the latest game in the series (reverting to the original title) was released in 2004. The basic premise of the games is the same: You start out as a new {{Pirate}} captain in the [[WelcomeToTheCaribbeanLuv Caribbean Sea]] with a Letter of Marque issued to you by one of four nations (England, France, Spain, or the Netherlands). The game is a WideOpenSandbox, allowing you to take a wide variety of actions: Go the traditional pirate route and attack other vessels for [[PirateBooty loot and plunder]], [[{{Casanova}} romance]] [[LoveInterest beautiful governor's daughters]], search for other pirates' buried treasure using {{Treasure Map}}s, clear the high seas of all rivals who would stand in your way, or even [[ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything go the boring]] [[AnEntrepreneurIsYou "peaceful trader" route]]. One notable feature of the game is that the protagonist can never actually ''die''; defeat in combat (or failure in other regards) generally leads to being either thrown into a CardboardPrison or marooned / cast away on a desert island, both of which you can eventually escape from. Also, [[NoStatAtrophy unlike many other games]], age ''does'' affect your character; his fencing and dancing skills decline noticeably with age.

* MasterOfNone: The Brig of War is not nearly as popular as it might be, despite being the game's quintessential LightningBruiser, because players tend to fall into two different camps on tactics: "ram them quick and start a sword fight" or "pound them into splinters with your guns, then board." The former prefer Royal Sloops (or for the truly elite or crazed, [[FragileSpeedster Mail Runners]]), while the latter go for the Ship of the Line, leaving the Brig of War without a particular niche.

* SuddenDifficultySpike: Playing at any of the four (originally three) lowest difficulty levels isn't terribly difficult. Sure, Rogue (the second highest) is hard, but it's not impossible. But when you're no longer satisfied with a scant 30% of the plunder, you decide to bump it up to Swashbuckler for that 50% share and discover you have entered ''Hell itself''. Storms will rip your ships apart when before they did little damage. The captains of Mail Runner ships (the smallest, least defended ship) will fight as if they were captaining a fleet of Brigs. Land combat, previously difficult, will become nigh impossible. The wind will change constantly, and ''always'' against you in naval battles. Swordfights will become a test of luck rather than skill, as apparently everyone you cross swords with trained specifically to defeat ''you''. Suffice to say, Swashbuckler difficulty is excruciatingly hard, never lets up, and makes sure you ''earn'' whatever ending you get.

* ExactlyWhatIAimedAt: Used amusingly in the duels with the "named" pirates.

* FragileSpeedster: The Pinnace and Pinnace class ships, from Mail Carriers to War Canoes.

* ArtificialBrilliance: If you start greatly weakening a faction's overall presence in the Caribbean, they ''will'' start launching a number of naval invasion fleets to recapture their colonies.

* FactionCalculus: The land battles in the 2004 version have different unit types for the Pirates (Subversive) and the European Defenders (Powerhouse).

* DefeatMeansFriendship: [[spoiler:After the final battle with Montalban, he will hand over a ''ton'' of gold and any specialists you're missing in exchange for his life. He also becomes your cabin boy.]]

* DefeatMeansFriendship: [[spoiler:After the final battle with Montalban, he will hand over a ''ton'' of gold and any specialists you're missing in exchange for his life.]]

** In the new version, being the last man standing means that you automatically surrender to the opposing captain the next time you're hit, regardless of how well you were doing in the fight beforehand. Theoretically, though, it ''is'' possible to win a battle with only yourself as the remaining boarder/defender; you just have to avoid being hit at all.