Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

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Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by jztemple2 »

Port Royale 4 (Steam page) launches in less than a day and since there is a 10% off pre-order price on Steam I thought I'd post about it today.

From the Steam Page:
Set sail and join the colonial powers of Spain, England, France and the Netherlands in their fight for supremacy of the Caribbean in the 17th century.
In ‘Port Royale 4’ you will take control of a colony as a young and ambitious governor who is eager to learn what it takes to manage and grow his small settlement into a bustling trader city.

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Develop production chains connecting multiple islands and create complex trade routes across the Caribbean, covering the ever-growing needs of the respective cities. Make use of the detailed sea map to avoid stormy weather regions, cliffs or shallow waters. Fulfill tasks for your nation’s viceroy, earning more fame to unlock town buildings, ships and more. Conquer the cities of rival nations or hunt down their fleets with a letter of marque while also keeping a keen eye out for pirates and other privateers.

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For the first time in the series, naval battles will be turn-based, with up to 8 ships battling at one time and tactical captain maneuvers that can turn the tide in even the most hopeless of situations for a glorious victory.

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I played the beta a bit during the the summer but didn't really spend a lot of time on it, as I was wanting to play the complete game. If you've played any of the previous Port Royale games you'll know a lot of what to expect, but there are some changes. Among the most significant changes is making tactical combat turn-based. It was real time in the previous edition which I didn't like. Turn based ought to give me a fighting chance!

Another change is to the map. Previously when you went from the large strategic map into a port, the game reloaded with a map that just covered the port area. And to look at the strategic situation you had to select the Caribbean map again. Now the map is seamless, you zoom in to look at a port, zoom out as much as you want to look closely at the local situation or zoom all the way out to see the whole Caribbean at a glance.

There also are more tools and automation for trading. This could be busy work in the last game, keeping track of when to sell and when to buy. Now there are trade "bots" to take away some of the mundane work. There is, to me at least, more of an emphasis on building your mercantile empire.

This is rather a niche game so won't appeal to many people. In fact I thought I'd rather lost interest in these business games but this series and also the Patrician series seem to appeal to my interest in ships and history. I will admit that I'm much more attracted to the game for the merchant aspect than the pirating one.

This also might be helpful for folks to understand the game:


Some more eye candy
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Last edited by jztemple2 on Thu Sep 24, 2020 2:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by Daehawk »

You steam link leads to a blank OO page.

I thought I played this on NES in the very early 90s but couldn't find a listing online anywhere.
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by jztemple2 »

Daehawk wrote: Thu Sep 24, 2020 2:44 pm You steam link leads to a blank OO page.
Thanks for the info, link fixed. I usually preview any links I put in a posting, but of course wouldn't you know it, the one time I don't test a link... :roll:
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by Lorini »

I'm off Caribbean exploitation games for 2020. Maybe when they finally bring the indigenous people into the game I'll pick it up.
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by jztemple2 »

Lorini wrote: Thu Sep 24, 2020 2:51 pm I'm off Caribbean exploitation games for 2020. Maybe when they finally bring the indigenous people into the game I'll pick it up.
You mean, adding slavery to the game? Because that's pretty much what most of the European powers did with the indigenous people of the region. Those of course they didn't slaughter outright. No, I can only think of a couple of older PC or even board games which involved the New World that actually addressed slavery. In this day and age there's not a publisher that would come within a hundred miles of touching on that subject.

And it is, of course, a game not intended to be thoroughly authentic, just with the window dressing.
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by LordMortis »

I wishlisted it. I can't do $45 for what looks on the surface to be mostly a facelift to Port Royale 3.
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by jztemple2 »

LordMortis wrote: Thu Sep 24, 2020 3:07 pm I wishlisted it. I can't do $45 for what looks on the surface to be mostly a facelift to Port Royale 3.
Well, there are some significant changes like I mentioned above, but otherwise it certainly is very much like Port Royale 3 in many respects. I'll post impressions when I have time to play the game, but it has been a long time since I played PR3 so I'd be hesitant to try to make too many comparisons.
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by Daehawk »

Color me surprised. I didn't know there were any indigenous people in the Caribbean before whites and salvers brought blacks and other there. I thought they were all uninhabited until then. I see now they came from the Americas to there first. Neat.
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

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Daehawk wrote: Thu Sep 24, 2020 4:00 pm Color me surprised. I didn't know there were any indigenous people in the Caribbean before whites and salvers brought blacks and other there. I thought they were all uninhabited until then. I see now they came from the Americas to there first. Neat.
You may not remember your playing of Sid Meier's Colonization (assuming you played it). One of the features of the game was the inclusion of a number of the indigenous cultures in the New World, each of whom played differently. The Taínos and the Caribs were among the Indian/indigenous/First Nation/Native American (use whichever phrase that offends you least) peoples found in the area.
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by Lorini »

jztemple2 wrote: Thu Sep 24, 2020 2:58 pm
Lorini wrote: Thu Sep 24, 2020 2:51 pm I'm off Caribbean exploitation games for 2020. Maybe when they finally bring the indigenous people into the game I'll pick it up.
You mean, adding slavery to the game? Because that's pretty much what most of the European powers did with the indigenous people of the region. Those of course they didn't slaughter outright. No, I can only think of a couple of older PC or even board games which involved the New World that actually addressed slavery. In this day and age there's not a publisher that would come within a hundred miles of touching on that subject.

And it is, of course, a game not intended to be thoroughly authentic, just with the window dressing.
No, I don't mean adding slavery to the game. Did you play Anno 1800? That game begins in Europe and then includes the Caribbean. The Caribs are your trading partners, not your slaves. They supply goods and you help them build factory chains to satisfy their needs. The whole game is an awesome depiction of what games can do in the Caribbean. Port Royale wants you to trade with invaders and thieves. No thanks.
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

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Myself I never played either of those games.
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by jztemple2 »

Lorini wrote: Fri Sep 25, 2020 10:16 am
jztemple2 wrote: Thu Sep 24, 2020 2:58 pm
Lorini wrote: Thu Sep 24, 2020 2:51 pm I'm off Caribbean exploitation games for 2020. Maybe when they finally bring the indigenous people into the game I'll pick it up.
You mean, adding slavery to the game? Because that's pretty much what most of the European powers did with the indigenous people of the region. Those of course they didn't slaughter outright. No, I can only think of a couple of older PC or even board games which involved the New World that actually addressed slavery. In this day and age there's not a publisher that would come within a hundred miles of touching on that subject.

And it is, of course, a game not intended to be thoroughly authentic, just with the window dressing.
No, I don't mean adding slavery to the game. Did you play Anno 1800? That game begins in Europe and then includes the Caribbean. The Caribs are your trading partners, not your slaves. They supply goods and you help them build factory chains to satisfy their needs. The whole game is an awesome depiction of what games can do in the Caribbean. Port Royale wants you to trade with invaders and thieves. No thanks.
Anno 1800 is just as fictional as Port Royale 4, they are both games. If the concepts in Port Royale 4 bother you, then don't play it. By the way, the Caribs were no peaceful culture either. They would raid neighboring islands, just as pretty much most every indigenous nation in the New World did to its neighbors. There was already warfare and slavery in the New World before the Europeans showed up.
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Thanks Sid

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Is there a dancing simulator?
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Post by jztemple2 »

The Meal wrote: Sat Sep 26, 2020 11:17 pm Is there a dancing simulator?
That took me a few seconds to figure out... :mrgreen: :dance:
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by hitbyambulance »

jztemple2 wrote: Fri Sep 25, 2020 11:32 am
Lorini wrote: Fri Sep 25, 2020 10:16 am
jztemple2 wrote: Thu Sep 24, 2020 2:58 pm
Lorini wrote: Thu Sep 24, 2020 2:51 pm I'm off Caribbean exploitation games for 2020. Maybe when they finally bring the indigenous people into the game I'll pick it up.
You mean, adding slavery to the game? Because that's pretty much what most of the European powers did with the indigenous people of the region. Those of course they didn't slaughter outright. No, I can only think of a couple of older PC or even board games which involved the New World that actually addressed slavery. In this day and age there's not a publisher that would come within a hundred miles of touching on that subject.

And it is, of course, a game not intended to be thoroughly authentic, just with the window dressing.
No, I don't mean adding slavery to the game. Did you play Anno 1800? That game begins in Europe and then includes the Caribbean. The Caribs are your trading partners, not your slaves. They supply goods and you help them build factory chains to satisfy their needs. The whole game is an awesome depiction of what games can do in the Caribbean. Port Royale wants you to trade with invaders and thieves. No thanks.
Anno 1800 is just as fictional as Port Royale 4, they are both games. If the concepts in Port Royale 4 bother you, then don't play it. By the way, the Caribs were no peaceful culture either. They would raid neighboring islands, just as pretty much most every indigenous nation in the New World did to its neighbors. There was already warfare and slavery in the New World before the Europeans showed up.
not sure if you intended it this way, but this response comes off as petulant and a bit dickish...
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by jztemple2 »

hitbyambulance wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2020 1:06 am not sure if you intended it this way, but this response comes off as petulant and a bit dickish...
I thought about that and I do apologize if my responses came off that way. Certainly Lorini has been a real help to me among others on this forum and if I have caused offense to her(?) I am truly sorry. I didn't mean to be an ass, although my wife will confirm that sometimes I come across that way :roll:. I guess I was trying to make the point that PR4 is just a game after all, a result of designers decisions to make a game that uses some historical references but certainly isn't meant to be realistic or a real mirror of what happened. And certainly if someone chooses to play a game, or not play a game, is an individual choice. If I play or promote Port Royale 4 it certainly doesn't mean I endorse the imperialistic and genocidal behavior of the Europeans in the Caribbean (which I don't), it is just that this is an interesting genre of game to me and I post about it in case someone else might be interested. That to me is kind of the reason for this forum anyway.
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by Lorini »

I felt it was a little petulant but no biggie. I appreciate the apology. We're all grown people here and in no way was I trying to tell people not to play the game. I wanted to express why I didn't want to play the game and also bring some awareness to the issue. This isn't as big a deal in video games as it is in euro-style board games and I was kind of channeling that I think.

I prefer the Guild series of games myself, as well as Anno of course. The Guild is also a trading game but it's set in Europe and I think represents trading in a more comfortable way for me. I heard the latest Guild wasn't good, but I think it's still in Early Access and if the 1.0 version is good, I'll get that.
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

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hitbyambulance wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2020 1:06 am

not sure if you intended it this way, but this response comes off as petulant and a bit dickish...
Disagree. The other person brought a political POV into the thread and JZ simply replied. It's not wrong to say white people didn't invent slavery or murder. Making him feel like a petulant dick because his post doesn't fit the facebook instagram narrative of the world...comes of ass as.....well....you said it best.

Anyway. I have this on my wish list but it's most likely a Christmas 50% off purchase. I feel like I always put these types of games on my list, but rarely invest the time in them. Maybe my tastes have changed since the days of other Port Royale games and Uncharted Waters.
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by jztemple2 »

Lorini wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2020 10:18 am I prefer the Guild series of games myself, as well as Anno of course. The Guild is also a trading game but it's set in Europe and I think represents trading in a more comfortable way for me. I heard the latest Guild wasn't good, but I think it's still in Early Access and if the 1.0 version is good, I'll get that.
I played the earlier Guild games as well and I thought they were quite interesting. I've had The Guild 3 on my wishlist for ages. I just looked up the game and I can't believe it's been in Early Access for three years now :?. At least the devs are still busy at work on it.
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by hitbyambulance »

Citizen wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2020 10:28 am
Disagree. The other person brought a political POV into the thread and JZ simply replied. It's not wrong to say white people didn't invent slavery or murder. Making him feel like a petulant dick because his post doesn't fit the facebook instagram narr
the point here is to not take someone's position(s) as a personal offense and responding as such.

for my part, i have reconsidered and should not have used the term 'dickish' (tho i still stand by 'petulant'), but given the recent past history of unwarranted passive-aggressive behavior by certain (other) individuals, i needed to direct attention here.
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by jztemple2 »

OK, time for me to post about the game! :D
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The game offers ten tutorials, which are scripted lessons to learn the details of the game. The lessons are given by Sammy, which sadly is not the parrot!
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Sammy appears in the lower right corner and both audibly narrates and also displays the lesson text. I've done half the lessons so far and they are very good in walking the player through the aspects of the game mechanics.
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After the tutorials you can proceed in two ways. One is to play the campaign, which consists of four different nations to play. Spain is the only one available at first and once you "beat" that campaign it unlocks the others (or maybe it just unlocks another nation and you have to progressive unlock it).
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The other way to proceed is the Free Game. You choose a nation to play, each nation having unique attributes, like "Faster work in shipyards" as shown below. Also each nation has two unique vessels.
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Then you choose between four characters, The Adventurer, The Merchant, The Buccaneer and The Piratess. Each has unique advantages and disadvantages.
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by jztemple2 »

Something new in Port Royale 4 is the turn based tactical combat. PR3 had real time combat and while some folks liked it, some folks (like me) found it a bit too much of a clickfest and not enjoyable. In PR4, this system has been replaced with a turn based tactical combat which is abstracted to a degree. Now it is possible to forego doing the combat entirely, the game will run the combat automatically for you. But what fun is that?

If you choose to fight manually, you first a preview of the combat. You can choose to surrender if you think that winning is unlikely, you'll lose your cargo but your ship will survive.
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If you choose to fight it out yourself you click the manual button which takes you to the below screen. Basically the combat is fought in rounds. Each ship gets a turn, turns alternating between the two sides. As you can see, you select where you wish your ship to go. Each ship has a number of movement points to expend in movement and turning within its hex (called a "field" in the game). You can move one hex at a time or expend all your movement points at once.
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Each ship can fire a broadside from each side during its turn, and can do that fire at any point of its movement. So you can sail one hex, fire off your port broadside at an enemy, then move two hexes and fire off your starboard guns at another. You can fire round shot or canister, or even attempt to board another ship.

Additionally at the top left you can see a box called "Your tactics". These are similar to the special abilities you'd see in XCOM 2 or Phoenix Point, where a unit can do something special, then there is a cooldown period. The difference here is that those tactics are available to any ship; think of it as the special abilities of the captain in charge of the fleet.

Now folks who played some board games with ship movement will recognize the above system, in fact it isn't that different than playing chess. I think a lot of the dislike I see being posted is because it is something different than in previous games and people tend not to like change. I played through the tutorial, which quit holding my hand after a couple of rounds and let me fight the battle myself and by the end I could see the advantages of this system. It is rather actually pretty clever and has nice touches like that if you have a captain with special tactical abilities those translate to tactics you can use during a battle.
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by Freyland »

Please let us know how you feel about combat over time, as well as the economic aspects. The latter were reportedly shallow in the beta.
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by jztemple2 »

Freyland wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2020 7:18 pm Please let us know how you feel about combat over time, as well as the economic aspects. The latter were reportedly shallow in the beta.
Will do!
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by jztemple2 »

This post in the Steam forums might answer some questions people have: Port Royale 4 FAQ
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by jztemple2 »

And that's it for me now... :cry:. There's a bug that wasn't in the beta but crept into release. Previously when a convoy reached a destination a little bell would chime. Now most of the time it doesn't, which means you must keep hitting Tab to jump through all your convoys or otherwise you'll have a ship sitting there doing nothing. So it's on the shelf until a patch is released :(
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by Lassr »

Thanks for the info. I remember playing Port Royale 3 but it was missing something and I just couldn't get into it, keep going back to Sid Meier's Pirates. (Still hate the dancing sim though. Keep expecting another remake of it but maybe not)

The turn based ship combats sounds great, I played Broadsides and Boarding Parties board game with my kids, and it kind of sounds like those mechanics.
The only reason people get lost in thought is because it's unfamiliar territory.

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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

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jztemple2 wrote: Mon Sep 28, 2020 12:37 am And that's it for me now... :cry:. There's a bug that wasn't in the beta but crept into release. Previously when a convoy reached a destination a little bell would chime. Now most of the time it doesn't, which means you must keep hitting Tab to jump through all your convoys or otherwise you'll have a ship sitting there doing nothing. So it's on the shelf until a patch is released :(
I'm playing this on the PS4 and yes, this is not a great release so far. Noticed that there isn't a notification for arrival (didn't know it was a bug) and switching through convoys does not work on PS4. Also, parts of the menus are in German (luckily, not a problem for me).

Once you are back to the game, I would be interested in some tips regarding trade routes. I set one up with the automatic buying but my convoys end up full of crap no ones buys ...
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by jztemple2 »

The devs replied to my post saying that they are aware of my issue and a fix is coming.

Did you play the tutorial on trade routes?
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by hitbyambulance »

Lassr wrote: Mon Sep 28, 2020 9:03 am Keep expecting another remake of it but maybe not)
given it was being re-made every decade, it is past due for the 2010's update... ah, the rights were bought out by another company in 2013.
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by jztemple2 »

Promised major update has been released: Port Royale 4 – Update 1.1 available now

Hi everyone,

Port Royale 4 has just received its first big update, 1.1 on Steam. This adds improvements to warehouses, adjustments to the difficulty settings and makes money a much more valuable resource. You can find all the details in the changelog below.

Port Royale 4 – Changelog – Update 1.1

New features

Warehouses
  • Introduced a difficulty setting to Free Game allowing you to choose between the current warehouse system and that found in previous titles in the series. The latter will require you to first build a warehouse before being able to build production buildings.
  • From now on, to have your warehouse auto-sell goods to a town, you will first need to hire an administrator
  • Reduced cost required for warehouse upkeep and split this between the warehouse itself and the upkeep for a warehouse administrator

    Tweaks to money
  • Removed trade license requirements for towns belonging to your nation
  • Decreased starting funds as you no longer need to buy trade licenses from the start (this should make money feel more valuable)
  • Tweaked price curves to reduce price plateaus during trading
  • Increased the cost of buying ships, making ordering them a viable option again

    Difficulty settings
  • Revamped difficulty settings for Free Game, adding a new difficulty screen and making each option much easier to understand
  • Added more difficulty-related options such as choosing between the new and the old warehouse systems
  • You can now choose between 3 pre-set difficulties or a ‘Custom’ option so to customize the game’s difficulty to your liking

    As starting difficulties, we recommend ‘I Want A Relaxing Game’ for new players, ‘I Want A Decent Challenge’ for those familiar with trade simulators, and ‘I Am The Ruler of The Seas’ for those wanting to put their skills and trading acumen to the absolute test

    Small adjustments
  • Player-owned non-convoy ships anchored in the harbour
    When anchoring ships in a town via the lighthouse, these will now show as anchored in each town’s respective harbour.
    Please note: this visual indicator is capped at a specific amount for each town.

    Bell chime for manual convoy
  • Each player-controlled convoy will now trigger a bell chime when arriving in a harbour, regardless if it is selected. Automated convoys will only play the chime when selected.
    Swapped trade route menu buttons
  • Swapped the position of the ‘Assign Route’ and ‘Create New Route’ buttons in the trade route menu and adjusted the spacing between the buttons.

    Quick link to assigned trade route
  • When assigning your convoy to a trade route, you can now click on the name of the trade route via the ‘Trade Route’ tab of the convoy window. This will open the respective trade route in its respective window.

    Bug fixes and optimization
  • Update 1.1 also arrives with bug fixes and general game optimization

    Known issues
  • Once hired, you cannot fire an administrator. This function will be added in the next update
  • When choosing the ‘Warehouse: Mandatory’ option, you cannot build in your town prior to constructing a warehouse. Please note: this restriction applies only to production buildings
  • In Tutorial Chapter 4, the arrow is not currently pointing at the ‘Create New Route’ button due to the button positions being switched.
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
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jztemple2
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by jztemple2 »

Potentially useful article: 9 Things I Wish I Knew Before Playing Port Royale 4
Port Royale 4 isn’t for everyone, this incredibly deep trading simulator set in 17th century Caribbean has a great deal of depth and you need to spend a lot of time learning how things work in order to be successful. If you’re prepared to put in the work, however, there is a great deal of fun to be had here.

I’ve spent far too long playing Port Royale 4 (according to the wife anyway) and have learnt a lot as I’ve progressed. If you want to know what we thought about the game check out our Port Royale 4 review. To help newer players out I’ve pulled together a few bits and pieces of info that would have proved helpful for myself.
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
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jztemple2
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by jztemple2 »

Playing PR4 has been a challenge for me, I've found myself struggling to get into it, however after starting the Spanish campaign for the third(!) time I've got a better handle on it and am enjoying it more. To help me I've used a couple of Port Royale 4 Steam Guides:

Production Costs (100%)
Port Royale 4 Production Costs at 100% using balanced price for materials
Warehouse Guide
Wonder how to properly use warehouses? Frustrated that you can't sell and unload into the warehouse at the same time, or visa versa? Well then this is the guide for you, to walk you through how to utilize your warehouses. This doesn't go into deep discussions about utilization and maximizing trade routes and warehouses, but rather to do what the game doesn't and show you how to actually use warehouses
Also on Reddit Port Royale 4 there is a post with lots of info, Economy Info and spreadsheet. Honestly I haven't gotten that deep into the game to be working out to decimal points my profit and loss strategies, but currently in my game I'm making a nice health 3500+ gold a day. More on this in my next post.
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
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jztemple2
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by jztemple2 »

So, playing the Spanish Campaign. I'd recommend doing this rather than going right into Free Play since the game will give you tasks and hints and ease you along. These are the things I did that seem to be working out for me.

First, you start with three convoys, two with two ships. I broke down the two ship convoys into two individual ones each so I have five convoys. There's really no need for large capacity convoys early in the game. As you can see in the Journal (the Book looking thing at the top) your first tasks are to improve the area around your home town of Seville, including getting the satisfaction of Seville up to 90%. One way to be sure to figure out how to do it is look at the Tips and Information section of the screen that pops up when you click on the town on the map.

Second good hint, don't bother with trade routes any time early. You are going to need to be selective with what you are buying and selling and deciding on the fly if something is worth carrying. You'll have plenty of uses for trade routes once you start your own businesses. With the 1.1 update you'll now hear a little chime when a convoy reaches a port, so you won't need to be wasting time constantly clicking the tab button to follow all the convoys.

Finally, stay away from warehouses early on. Even with the 1.1 fix that lowers their daily cost to 250 gold, that's a lot of money to be burning. Wait until you have businesses and use warehouses in the same town to store your goods. The Viceroy will be asking you to set up some businesses early on and that is when you can think about warehouses.
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
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jztemple2
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by jztemple2 »

Oh, and there is a bug about your businesses. On the town screen, the second tab Production will show your businesses. When you first start a business there is a checkbox on the lower right that will show checked, but that's the bug, you need to click it to turn off the enable checkmark, and then click it again to Enable the business. The way you can tell it is working is that the business will be employing workers.
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by jztemple2 »

Don't know if people know this, but on the Steam store page there is a link to the game manual which has some more info on a number of topics.

As I mentioned above, manual controlling your convoys rather than setting up trade routes is more efficient early in the game, but can be a chore to manage. The system I've figured out that's best for me right now is to use scratch paper. We have hundreds of old 8.5x11 sheets printed on one side from our tax assistance work, my wife never threw out anything. So we use it as scratch paper. I've been tearing the sheets up into four quadrants and I use those to give "job tickets" to each convoy. I note where to go and what to buy and sell and as the game moves on I scratch out the old info and jot down new assignments and other stuff. When the note page fills up I discard it and start another. I tried using full sheets but with six convoys running right now that can be messy on my desk. Using the smaller pieces of paper is a good compromise.
My father said that anything is interesting if you bother to read about it - Michael C. Harrold
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ChuckB
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by ChuckB »

jztemple2 wrote: Thu Oct 08, 2020 1:27 am Don't know if people know this, but on the Steam store page there is a link to the game manual which has some more info on a number of topics.

As I mentioned above, manual controlling your convoys rather than setting up trade routes is more efficient early in the game, but can be a chore to manage. The system I've figured out that's best for me right now is to use scratch paper. We have hundreds of old 8.5x11 sheets printed on one side from our tax assistance work, my wife never threw out anything. So we use it as scratch paper. I've been tearing the sheets up into four quadrants and I use those to give "job tickets" to each convoy. I note where to go and what to buy and sell and as the game moves on I scratch out the old info and jot down new assignments and other stuff. When the note page fills up I discard it and start another. I tried using full sheets but with six convoys running right now that can be messy on my desk. Using the smaller pieces of paper is a good compromise.
Thanks a lot for the tips - the first patch for the PS4 was just released and I plan to pick this up over the weekend - sounds like your tips are exactly what I need to get going! Will report back ...
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LordMortis
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by LordMortis »

Game is $23.99 right now. I'm hankering for a new game. This might the right game at the right time. I'm in cheap mode right now in life though and will have to figure out if I want to spend $24 for a new game this weekend when I should be doing fall outdoor work...
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by Daehawk »

Did this come out on the NES back in the late 80s / early 90s? If so I played a PR game on it. Used to like them.
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Baroquen
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Re: Port Royale 4 - Trade and Piracy in the 17th Century Caribbean

Post by Baroquen »

LordMortis wrote: Thu Oct 28, 2021 12:38 pm Game is $23.99 right now. I'm hankering for a new game. This might the right game at the right time. I'm in cheap mode right now in life though and will have to figure out if I want to spend $24 for a new game this weekend when I should be doing fall outdoor work...
I've been tempted by the Steam Traders and Merchants bundle (that PR4 is a part of currently). But I have a few of the other games in the bundle, and I'm pretty sure PR4 would sit in my backlog for a long while. So I've avoided pulling the trigger so far.
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