High Seas Trader

High Seas Trader is a 1995 naval business simulation video game. The player runs trade routes, fends off pirates, collects artifact and offers transport to fellow countrymen in need, all for the sake of climbing up the game's ranking ladder, which in turn allows the player to buy bigger ships, more firepower and larger cargo holds to progress quicker in the ranks.

High Seas Trader
Developer(s)Impressions Games
Publisher(s)Impressions Games
Designer(s)Christopher J. Foster
David Lester
Programmer(s)Chris Gurski
Artist(s)Chris Beatrice
Composer(s)Jeremy A. Bell
Jason P. Rinaldi
Platform(s)MS-DOS, Amiga
Release1995
Genre(s)Business simulation
Mode(s)Single-player

Gameplay

Starting out

The game is set in 1650. The player starts out with the most basic ship, Fluyt, and 5000 (5k) gold.

Nations

The player chooses a nation at the beginning of the game. Consequences lie in relations between nations, which nations declare war/peace will determine which ports the player can access at given times, and which ships will open fire on them at sea. The options are:

  • Dutch
  • English
  • French
  • Portuguese
  • Spanish

Ships
  • Fluyt (Crew of 100. Cargohold of 300t. 4 banks of 1 cannon. Price: 4k)
  • Corvette (Crew of 100. Cargohold of 150t. 4 banks of 2 cannons. Price: 8k)
  • Merchant (Crew of 200. Cargohold of 500t. Price: 14k)
  • Frigate (Crew of 200. Cargohold of 350t. 4 banks of 4 cannons. Price: 16k)
  • East Indiaman (Crew of 250. Cargohold of 700t. Price: 21k)
  • Fourth rate (Crew of 300. Cargohold of 600t. Price: 27k. 4 banks of 8 cannons)

Titles
  • Peddler (Fluyt and Corvette)
  • Journeyman (Merchant and Frigate)
  • Tradesman (East Indianman and Fourth rate, Small estate - 2 treasures max)
  • Merchant (Medium estate - 4 treasures max)
  • Master Merchant (Large estate - 6 treasures max)
  • Viscount (end of the game)

Guild ladder

Climbing up the ladder ranks grants the player titles, access to bigger ships, and bigger estates. The player can gather points in the categories, then cash them in for a title. Once they're granted a title, the points in the categories reset, allowing them to do it all over.

Ammo
  • Round (Long range ammunition)
  • Chain (Short range ammunition, tears up sails leaving attacking ships dead in the water)
  • Grape (Short range ammunition, leaves big holes in attacking ships) Note: The actual purpose of grapeshot is to reduce the enemy crew. It's like firing a huge shotgun filled with grape sized balls of steel.

Cannons
  • Swivel-gun (0.3t)
  • Saker (1.0t)
  • Demi-culverlin (1.2t)
  • Culverlin (2.0t)
  • Demi-cannon (2.5t)
  • Cannon (3.0t)

Banks

Players can place money in banks for safe keeping. This is useful if they ever lose a battle at sea, as they can start over with their savings. However, your savings are reduced by the interest rate over time, as you are paying for security.

Reception

The game was reviewed in 1995 in Dragon #221 by John Brunkhart in the "Eye of the Monitor" column. Brunkhart gave the game 2 out of 5 stars.[1]

Next Generation reviewed the PC version of the game, rating it three stars out of five, and stated that "Although the subject material may be a little too dry for some gamers, High Seas Trader is definitely a must for strategy fans."[2]

See also

References
  1. Jay & Dee (September 1995). "Eye of the Monitor". Dragon (221): 115–118.
  2. "Finals". Next Generation. No. 7. Imagine Media. July 1995. pp. 74–75.
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