Piracy

Akaoz · October 24, 2001, 15:46

I've seen some indications that Piracy will be included in Civ3. Is this true? And if yes, how will it be implimented?

-Alech

Stuie · October 24, 2001, 15:48

You will be able to build a Privateer unit that can attack other shipping without being at war. The Privateer will not be identifiable as belonging to your civ.

drake · October 24, 2001, 15:51

Arrrr! So basically you do your dirty work anonymously under the guise of piracy? Sounds neat

Jason Beaudoin · October 24, 2001, 15:54

I think I'll be building a crap load of those babies.

...and also a huge navy to counter theirs!

Akaoz · October 24, 2001, 16:07

Argh, me mates! That does sound like swashbuckling fun, but...

Will there be any loot?

-Alech

TechWins · October 24, 2001, 16:08

I'm sure the privateers will be very weak (for their time), though. Speaking of their time, I'm sure it will be around the Renaissance age or little after that.

Stuie · October 24, 2001, 16:10

I was wondering about loot as well. Will destruction of a unit with a Privateer yield some gold for the treasury? That would be cool. I tried asking Dan in another thread, but the question got lost in the deluge of other posts.

Pembleton · October 24, 2001, 18:34

Oh you mean *that* kind of piracy.

SteveJH · October 24, 2001, 18:44

Quote:

Originally posted by TechWins
I'm sure the privateers will be very weak (for their time), though. Speaking of their time, I'm sure it will be around the Renaissance age or little after that.

According to one of the AVault strategy essays it's a weakened firgate unit. It becomes available in the middle ages.

Skanky Burns · October 24, 2001, 19:21

I wonder if the naval combat is like in Colonization, where ships were mostly just damaged, rather than being destroyed. Not sure if this would work in Civ though.

Comrade Tribune · October 24, 2001, 19:28

Wait a moment. There is no more caravan. So what are the pirates supposed to be attacking? Warships? That was something historical pirates have always avoided. It was the warships that pursued the pirates, not the other way round.

The idea is thrilling, but for it to make sense, we would need a less abstracted form of trade. As it is, pirates should probably be active at the macrolevel, like spies.

Wernazuma III · October 25, 2001, 07:45

I really hope, Piracy won't be similar to piracy in CtP. It was so annoying that one single act of pirating could "kill" a whole trade route. And while the AI kept building and building new trade routes, it was way too much micromanagement to do likewise. therefore my economy was always down at the bottom. I really hope FIRAXIS did better work.

Jason Beaudoin · October 25, 2001, 08:12

I think it would have been cool to have the Barbarians be the pirates: You'd pay them to attack and harass your enemy.

This way, you wouldn't have so much control over them, just like real pirates.

cyril25376 · October 25, 2001, 14:55

IMHO, piracy is an interesting feature. But when using these units, there should be a small risk, that your opponents discover that you are supporting pirates and have the possibilty to declare war on you ...

Blaupanzer · October 25, 2001, 15:16

Privateers can go after transports (e.g., galleons) and sink them. Keeps opponents from transferring troops. But not an official act of war. Most likely, this is a way for the AI to harrass US, the players. Real pirates, in the form of sea transported invaders, have been a part of the two previous civs. Civ I also had "pirates" that emptied your food box if they caught one of your coastal cities without a defender.

Inverse Icarus · October 25, 2001, 15:18

oh, piracy in civ3. i thought you meant piracy of civ3, with razor. anyway.

i like the idea of comandeering goods. but do you actually get the resources? and do they get denied the resources? or do you just get money.

could you ruin a civ by placing privateers everywhere? and forcing them to break their resource related agreements?

is there a land-based pirate?

Footie Mad · October 25, 2001, 15:23

Will there be modern age or ancient pirates then?

Sandman · October 25, 2001, 15:26

Maybe privateers can plunder trade routes, instead of using the naval blockade command. For example, if civ A is selling silk to civ B for 10 gold a turn, then my privateer turns up outside his port and 2 of his gold goes to me!