The Ancient Art of War at Sea

The Ancient Art of War at Sea is a computer game developed by Broderbund and released for Macintosh and MS-DOS in 1987 as a sequel to The Ancient Art of War.

The Ancient Art of War at Sea
Developer(s)Evryware
Publisher(s)Broderbund
SeriesThe Ancient Art of War
Platform(s)Macintosh, MS-DOS
Release1987
Genre(s)Real-time strategy
Mode(s)Single-player

Plot

The player commands a fleet of ships in this naval-combat simulation which takes place in the late 18th-century.

Controllable ship types include the 44-gun frigate with 250 crew, 74-gun (including 10 carronades) ship-of-the-line with over 600 crew, and the 130-gun (including 22 carronades) flagship with 875 crew.[1]

The player faces one of six opponents, each of which employs a different strategy against the player. Five are historic: the Duke of Medina Sidonia (1588); Martin [sic] Tromp (1639); Blackbeard (1718); John Paul Jones (1779); Horatio Nelson (1805); and a fictitious opponent Thor Foote.[2]

Reception
"The United States Frigate "President" Engaging the British Squadron" (1815) by Fitz Henry Lane is featured on the box art.

Computer Gaming World in 1987 stated that The Ancient Art of War at Sea "offers a powerful editing system and an enjoyable, playable game"[3] that was superior to its predecessor, with excellent documentation.[4] In 1990 the magazine gave the game three out of five stars, warning that gameplay favored single ships as opposed to fleet actions when fighting enemy fleets.[5] In 1992 the magazine gave the game two stars, stating that it "plays wells as a game, but not as a serious study" and regretting that it was the only Age of Sail game for DOS.[6] Compute! in 1988 also praised the documentation and editor.[7] The game was reviewed in 1988 in Dragon by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in their "The Role of Computers" column. They agreed that War at Sea was better than its predecessor and called it a "must have", giving the game five out of five stars. They particularly enjoyed the ship-to-ship combat.[8]

References
  1. Apple Manual: The Ancient Art Of War At Sea - Manual.
  2. "Download The Ancient Art of War at Sea -- My Abandonware". My Abandonware. Utopiaweb. 2010. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  3. "Christmas Buyers Guide". Computer Gaming World. Golden Empire Publications. November 1987. p. 21. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  4. Carey, Regan (November 1987). "The Ancient Art of War at Sea". Computer Gaming World. Golden Empire Publications. p. 28. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  5. Brooks, M. Evan (October 1990). "Computer Strategy and Wargames: Pre-20th Century". Computer Gaming World. Golden Empire Publications. p. 11. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  6. Brooks, M. Evan (June 1993). "An Annotated Listing of Pre-20th Century Wargames". Computer Gaming World. Golden Empire Publications. p. 136. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  7. Ferrell, Keith (January 1988). "The Ancient Art Of War At Sea". Compute!. p. 32. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  8. Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (January 1988). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (129): 36.

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