\ \ / / | | | | | | \ \_/ /__ | |__ ___ | |__ ___ | | \ / _ \| '_ \ / _ \| '_ \ / _ \| | | | (_) | | | | (_) | | | | (_) |_| |_|\___/|_| |_|\___/|_| |_|\___/(_) '########::'##::::'##:'########:'########:'##:::::::'########: ##.... ##: ##:::: ##:..... ##::..... ##:: ##::::::: ##.....:: ##:::: ##: ##:::: ##::::: ##::::::: ##::: ##::::::: ##::::::: ########:: ##:::: ##:::: ##::::::: ##:::: ##::::::: ######::: ##.....::: ##:::: ##::: ##::::::: ##::::: ##::::::: ##...:::: ##:::::::: ##:::: ##:: ##::::::: ##:::::: ##::::::: ##::::::: ##::::::::. #######:: ########: ########: ########: ########: ..::::::::::.......:::........::........::........::........:: '########::'####:'########:::::'###::::'########:'########::'######:: ##.... ##:. ##:: ##.... ##:::'## ##:::... ##..:: ##.....::'##... ##: ##:::: ##:: ##:: ##:::: ##::'##:. ##::::: ##:::: ##::::::: ##:::..:: ########::: ##:: ########::'##:::. ##:::: ##:::: ######:::. ######:: ##.....:::: ##:: ##.. ##::: #########:::: ##:::: ##...:::::..... ##: ##::::::::: ##:: ##::. ##:: ##.... ##:::: ##:::: ##:::::::'##::: ##: ##::::::::'####: ##:::. ##: ##:::: ##:::: ##:::: ########:. ######:: ..:::::::::....::..:::::..::..:::::..:::::..:::::........:::......::: (thanks to FrankGrimes for the link to the FIGlet software!) A FAQ for the average pirate by Michael Segekihei with Laura Kishimoto and other contributing writers credited as necessary Version History: v1.00 (March 8, 2004): Added the four other puzzles and brought this puppy to completion! Booya! Booya! Who da man!? Who da man!? (ahem) Sorry. /me resist the temptation to dance...oh, forget it, /me dances the night away...Thanks to Laura for helping with Nav! I also fixed a couple omissions in the sword list and added some more questions to the FAQ section. v0.90 (March 7, 2004): Fixed a few omissions and added guides for Swordfighting, Brawling/SBS, and Drinking. Wow, where did the time go? v0.80 (February 5, 2004): Added Sailing, Carpentry, and Bilging information. Added placeholders for Puzzles not completed yet. v0.70 (February 3, 2004): Everything but Puzzles added. More stuff will be added later on, but this is a good start for today, eh? v0.00 (February 3, 2004): FAQ started. Production begins! DISCLAIMER: I do not own Puzzle Pirates or Three Rings. This is an unofficial FAQ. Puzzle Pirates belongs to Three Rings, Inc. Also, while I'm at it, the presentation of this FAQ is mine. Oh, and this FAQ only has permission to be stored at www.gamefaqs.com and elemental.50megs.com for now, although permission will be given to www.puzzlepirates.com, if they ask...(wink wink?) If it is ever seen anywhere else, let me know, and lawsuits will follow as needed. ;-) +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Okay! Okay! Now's your time. But please, ASK before you take. | | Remember, copyright law still applies on the internet, and I will | | take legal action aganist theives...it's sege @theazureknights.com| | (remove the space) and ask. | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ Ahem, now onto the TABLE OF CONTENTS ***Find what you need! Do a search for the code immediately prior to ***the topic and you'll jump immediately to that topic! To search, ***use your "Find" feature (typically under Edit in the browser ***menu). ~A~x~: What is Y!PP? ~A~1~: Frequently Asked Questions ~A~2~: Designers ~A~3~: Who the heck are you? ~B~x~: The Basics of Pirating ~B~1~: Main Controls ~B~1~1~: Moving About ~B~1~2~: Chatting ~B~2~: Who is Who? ~B~2~1~: OceanMasters ~B~2~2~: Greeters ~B~2~3~: Pirates ~B~2~4~: Greenies ~B~2~5~: Swabbies/Special Players ~B~3~: Jobs, Jobbing, and Crews ~B~3~1~: Jobbing with the Navy ~B~3~2~: Jobbing with a Crew ~B~3~3~: Joining a Crew ~B~3~4~: Starting your own Crew ~B~3~4~1~: Crew Government ~B~4~: Rules of Conduct on the Seas ~C~x~: Puzzles ~C~1~: Sailing ~C~2~: Carpentry ~C~3~: Bilging ~C~4~: Navigating - TO BE COMPLETED - ~C~5~: Drinking ~C~6~: Swordfighting ~C~7~: Distilling ~C~8~: Sea Battle ~C~9~: Multiplayer Brawling/Sea Battle Swordfighting (SBS) ~C~10~: Gunnery ~D~x~: Odds 'n' Ends ~D~1~: The Forums ~D~2~: Contacting the Author ~D~3~: Credits ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~A~x~: What is Y!PP? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~A~1~: Frequently Asked Questions In this section, I'll answer any and all questions that you may have about Puzzle Pirates. Feel free to submit more to my e-mail listed at the end of this FAQ under Contacting the Author. Q: What is this game? A: Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates is a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, or a MMOArrrrPG. (a cricket chirps) ...moving on. Everyone is a little pirate, and you can sail around the seas on ships by performing puzzles. The puzzles include Sailing, Carpentry, Bilging, Navigating, Drinking, Swordfighting, Sea Battle, Distilling, and Multiplayer Brawling, with more puzzles to come in future releases. The game has thousands of players from around the world in all time zones. Q: Where is the game located? A: The game is downloadable at www.puzzlepirates.com. Q: I have to PAY? A: Yes, Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates is a pay-to-play game, but there is a free trial available. You will have 10 free sessions to play. There are certain limitations, though: - Ye cannot start yer own crew. - Ye cannot advance above Cabin Person. - Ye cannot wear all clothes or use all swords. These are really the only limitations on non-subscribers, and aside from those, it's full access. Subscription costs, in US dollars: - Monthly: $9.95/month - Quarterly: $19.95/first quarter, $24.95/quarter after that (average of $7.90/month over your first year) - Yearly: $74.95/year ($6.25/month) Q: Do I have to work in shops to earn money? A: No! As of this writing, there is no need to do any puzzles in a shop to earn wages, except in a distillery. They will be added soon, but until then, ye'll get wages for doing nothing. Cool, huh? Q: Swordfighting...that means there's blood! Right? Right? A: Ehh...no. The game is designed to be family friendly, although a few pirates might have a sailor's mouth. The game has a built- in filter for those occasions. Q: this game sux evrquest is so bettr!!!11 (DISCLAIMER: That's a real comment I recieved. I'm not stereotyping Everquest players as 1337sp33k3rs.) A: Well, if you don't like it, don't play it. The game is designed to make the player actually think while playing, as your performance in the game is determined by your skill, not your stats. If you don't like that, feel free to play something else. No one is forcing you to play. Q: What is a 'hearty'? A: A hearty is a friend. The hearty list in Puzzle Pirates is like a buddy list online. It tells you when your friends are online. Q: How do I get money? Q: how get job Q: What do I do first? A: See the section on crews below (~ B~3 ~) minus the spaces. Q: Why can't I buy anything in black? A: Black cloth is very rare and very expensive, and therefore pirates ye see wearing it are very successful in what they do. Q: I have something not answered in this FAQ! Help! A: You have a few options. 1. You can e-mail me at sege@ theazureknights.com (remove the space) and ask it. 2. You can go in game and ask anyone with a pink name above their heads. They're greeters. (Note: Only if your name is still green.) 3. You can ask anyone in game with a blue name (OceanMasters and Developers). ~A~2~: Designers The people who made this game are obviously dedicated people. A group of software engineers and artists started Three Rings, Inc. based in San Francisco, CA. They are: Daniel James, CEO of Three Rings. In-game, he is Cleaver. Michael Bayne, CTO of Three Rings. In-game, he is one-eyed Jack. Rick Keagy, Head Artist. In-game, he is Bluebeard. Ray Greenhead, Engineer. In-game, he is Peghead. Jon Demos, Artist. In-game, he is Nemo. Eric Lumberg, Engineer. In-game, he is Red. Gene Rozenburg, Sound Technician. He is not in-game. Chris Kimbell, Sount Technician. He is not in-game. ~A~3~: Who the heck are you? Hehe. Well, I'm Michael Segekihei, a fourteen-year-old from Boston, Massachusetts. I'm Segekihei in-game, a greeter, and a Senior Officer in the Uno Fish, and Prince of the Tenacious Band. I'm often online when I'm not writing this FAQ, and I've been playing since September 2003, back in the beta stages. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~B~x~: The Basics of Pirating ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~B~1~: Main Controls The Puzzle controls will be detailed in their sections, but here I will cover the main controls for moving about and talking, along with some chat commands. ~B~1~1~: Moving About To move, use your mouse to click on where ye want to go. To get into a building, click on the building or the yellow arrow at the door of the building. You can also use the mini-map of the island ye are on to move about. Click the mini-map in the upper right hand corner of your screen to open the island overview screen, and click on the name of the shop or building ye want to access. To get information on a pirate, click on them and pick one of the commands that comes up. Ye can get information about them, challenge them to a bout of Drinking or Swordfighting, trade with them, talk to them privately, ask them to be yer hearty (the buddy list in the game), ask them to job for yer crew (officers and up only), or ask them to join your crew (officers and up only). ~B~1~2~: Chatting This game is very social, so you'll need to know how to chat with other pirates. To join a chat circle on an island, move up to someone and click at their feet. (Note: This may not always work, as sometimes there may be no room to form a circle, or there may be no room to expand the circle that already exists.) You can then chat by using the dialog box at the bottom of your screen. On a vessel, you'll be heard by the entire ship by using the /vessel chat, which is the default selection. CHAT COMMANDS: /speak: Normal speech. It shows up in a chat bubble. Only works in shops and in chat circles. /think: Thinking. It shows up in a thought bubble. Only works in shops and in chat circles. |-/emote: Emotion. Appears in a curvy rectangle box, and | /em: inserts your username immediately before it. Example: | /e: "/me does something" would become "Segekihei does |-/me: something". Works only in shops and in chat circles. The four commands are interchangeable. /shout: Like speak, except heard by all on screen. Works anywhere. Only available to subscribers. |-/tell: Add a username of a logged-on user after /tell and type |-/msg: a message to be sent privately to them. /crew: Speaks to your crew only. Appears in orange. Works anywhere, provided ye are in a crew. /jcrew: Speaks to your jobbing crew only. Appears in purple. Works anywhere provided ye are jobbing with a crew. /vessel: Speaks to the pirates on yer vessel only. Appears in white in a ship-like shape. Usable only while on a vessel. /fofficer: Sends a message to all officers in yer flag. Works anywhere, provided ye are an officer and in a flag. /royalty: Sends a message to all royalty in yer flag. Works anywhere, provided ye are royalty in yer flag. /fbroadcast: Sends a message to the entire flag. Works anywhere, provided ye are royalty in a flag. /who: (no username provided) Shows who is currently logged in and who is at sea in what ships. (with username) Shows link to information about said pirate, where they are if they are logged in, and when they logged in last if they are not logged in. /fwho: (no name provided) Shows who is logged on in your flag. (name provided) Searches for flag names, provides link to information about them. /cwho: Searches for the crewname given after /cwho. /vwho: Searches for the vessel name given after /vwho. |-/afk: Add a messsage after /afk or /away to auto-respond to all |-/away: /tells with said message. /back: Clears /away or /afk message. /blackspot: Can only be dealt by officers or up, places a tag on jerks in game. They must be on screen and online to do so. Used for things that aren't necessarily a violation of game rules, but still slimy. /complain: Useable by everyone, you can /complain about a violation of the game's Terms of Service. Don't use it lightly. /bug: Add a description of an in-game bug that you have discovered and it will be sent to the developers for logging. /clear: Clears the screen of all chat bubbles for clarity. /gwho: Shows all greenies and greeters currently logged on. /job: Jobs the pirate with the username used after /job. Only useable by officers and up. /mute: Silences the pirate listed after /mute. /unmute: Allows chat from pirate listed after /unmute. /plank: Throws a pirate off a ship. Requires that ye and the pirate listed are on the same ship. Officers and up only. ~B~2~: Who is Who? There are many people in the seas...Time for ye to figure out who is who! ~B~2~1~: OceanMasters OceanMasters are developers and moderators who are there to regulate the seas and keep order. They are the people to go to if you are: - In need of assistance - Have a question - Have a problem with another pirate - Have an issue with the game The OceanMasters' names will appear in BLUE. The main OceanMasters are: - Eris - Cleaver - Nemo - Poseidon - Mnemosyne - Hermes - Demeter - Artemis ~B~2~2~: Greeters Greeters are pirates specifically hand-picked by OceanMasters to assist new players in game. Greenies are the only ones who can see their pink names. Come to them if you have: - questions about the game - questions about crews - questions about anything! Greeters' names appear in PINK, but only to Greenies. There are numerous Greeters, too many to list here. Look for them when ye log on. ~B~2~3~: Pirates Pirates are subscribing players. They have YELLOW names. ~B~2~4~: Greenies Greenies are unsubscribing players on their free trials. They are slightly limited on ranks, clothing, and sword selection. They can see Greeters. They have GREEN names which gradually fade to YELLOW as their free trial runs down. Some Greenies are subscribers who are still on their first ten sessions. The green will fade into yellow soon enough. ~B~2~5~: Swabbies/Special Players Swabbies (also called Non-Player Pirates, or NPPs) are computer controlled pirates who can work on ships as replacements for actual human players, lounge at the inn, tell where player ships with lots of items are, and be challenged for swordfights and drinking bouts. They have WHITE names. Also in this section are special players who are given WHITE names as well. These players are either: - Second or third players of OceanMasters - Players created for certain events - Sub-OMs, players who are OM-like, but not an actual OM. The main difference between Swabbies and Special Players is that Swabbies' names consist of an adjective and a first name, while Special Players' names are normal player names (one word). ~B~3~: Jobs, Jobbing, and Crews What good is this game if there's nobody to play it with? Join a crew! Take a job! Jobbing is working temporarily with a crew or navy to make money with no permanent commitment. ~B~3~1~: Jobbing with the Navy Jobbing with the Navy is the very first thing many pirates do. To job with the navy, while on the docks, click the Notice Board. This is near the dock, and is a small column with paper attached to it. Look in the middle section that appears (Navy Vessel Jobs) and apply for one of those jobs. Ye will be whisked out to the vessel where ye will work on that ship as it sails. Easy as that! There is minimal human interaction, however, and the pay is not extremely high, as players usually do not attack navy ships. If no place is hiring, though, feel free to job with the navy to make a quick buck. ~B~3~2~: Jobbing with a Crew Jobbing with a Crew is another important part of the game. When you feel like sailing, and noone in your crew is on, job with a player crew! To do so, go to the Notice Board and look at the bottom section (Jobbing for a Crew). Apply for one of those jobs and a message will be sent to that ship. If they want ye on the ship, they will respond with an invitation. Click "Accept" and ye will be whisked off to their ship to work with them. NOTE: Only apply for one job at a time, and wait ten to fifteen seconds in between applications. Only one invitation can go through at a time, and it takes roughly ten to fifteen seconds for a crew to respond to a job notice. ~B~3~3~: Joining a Crew If ye've jobbed with a crew and ye feel like they are a good place to work, join them! While jobbing with the crew, ask the head officer to offer ye a job. If they offer you a job, click "Accept" and ye will be hired into the crew as a Cabin Person. Ye can advance the rankings through the crew's advancement policy, which varies by crew. NOTE: Ye can only be part of one crew at a time, so when ye permanently join a crew, ye'll leave your previous crew, if ye were in one. Ye can still job with other crews, though; that's a temporary situation. ~B~3~4~: Starting your own Crew Feel like making it on yer own? Start yer own crew. To do so, however, the requirements are stricter than to merely join one. - Ye must be a subscriber. - Ye must be at least Narrow in ranking in Sailing, Carpentry, Bilging, Navigating, and Sea Battle. - Ye must own a ship. If ye meet all three requirements, ye can start yer own crew! First, leave the crew ye're currently in. You can do this by going into the CREW tab on the right-hand side of the screen and scrolling to the bottom of the listing of crew members. Click "Crew Info" and move to the bottom. Click "Leave Crew" and confirm the decision, and you'll be out of that crew. Next, go to the CREW menu on the right-hand side of the screen and click "Create a Crew". On that screen, ye can organize the crew's name, description to be publicly shown, information to be privately shown, your pay rates to different ranks, and your crew cut. When created, ye will become captain of that crew. Ye now have full authority to do whatever ye want with yer crew. ~B~3~4~1~: Crew Government There are three different ways to run a crew: - Democratic: Everyone Pirate-rank and up votes on all issues. - Oligarchic: Senior Officers and Captain vote on issues. - Autocratic: Captain decides issues. The easiest way to run a crew is Autocratic. This way, as long as you remain active, the crew remains active. Oligarchic is harder, because it requires a voting majority amongst the SOs and Captain. If an SO goes inactive, they can't vote, and if enough go inactive, nothing can happen in the crew. This happened with an old crew of mine (which is now on the rebound, apparently) when the Captain and three Senior Officers went inactive, leaving the two active SOs to do nothing. ~B~4~: Code of Conduct This game is a family game. There is a swear filter that ye can toggle on and off. However, ye can still be banned from several reasons. - Swearing (no filter) in public. Typically, dropping an f-bomb or an s-bomb without a filter in public (i.e., not on a ship/ in a shop/in a tell) will get you banned pretty fast. - Harassing other players. They're real people too! - Having an obscene username. This is a family game, remember? - Being annoying. Some people have a short patience for really irritating people, and the OMs can hear about these things pretty quickly. If ye are banned as a Greenie, typically there is no chance that the ban will be overturned. Ye didn't lose anything except for the experience of the game, which is a pretty big loss. If ye are a paying customer who is banned, though, you can appeal and plead yer case, since your money is on the line. There are no refunds in the event of banning. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~C~x~: Puzzles ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ahh, puzzles! The heart of the game! In the following section, I will give you information about how to play each puzzle available in the game. Guest speakers will come in as needed. A link will be available to a website owned by a friend that features visuals and strategy after each entry. ~C~1~: Sailing Sailing, sailing, sailing...it's one of the basic duty puzzles that every jobber should know. The basic idea is taking 2x1 blocks of spheres and placing them, according to color, on targets on platforms. There are three to five targets on each board. You can also form rows of four or more to clear those pieces. This is something to be aware of when placing pieces in targets. Also remember that blocking the enterance of the pieces will end the current board and will signifigantly reduce your performance. Controls: Left and Right arrow keys: Move piece left and right Up and Down arrow keys: Rotate piece left and right Spacebar: Drop piece down Combinations are key in Sailing, as breaking rows of four can set off chain reactions of pieces. The combinations go like so: Single (no notification) Double (score x2) Triple (score x3) Bingo! (score x4) Donkey! (score x5) Vegas!! (score x6) Vegas!! (score x[6+1 for each additional Vegas after the first]) It is very hard to set up a Vegas!!, and you will rarely get a chance to use it. However, if one is successful, your performance for that league will skyrocket up. The meter for how you are doing is a small ship rocking back and forth in the upper-right corner of the game screen. If the sail is down and blue, it is "sad", and you are not contributing to the performance of the ship. If it is fully up and golden, it is "happy" and you are adding lots of speed to the ship. There are stages in between designated by the sail's color and position. For visual aid on Sailing and some advanced strategies, go to http://www.elemental.50megs.com/sail.html ~C~2~: Carpentry Carpentry is yet another important feature of sailing a ship. Carpentry is repairing holes in the ship to reduce damage. Damage can be created by cannon shots in battle, natural sailing, or running into rocks while in sea battle. Every good jobber should know either sailing or carpentry. CONTROLS: (interchangable) Mouse: Left click: Select Piece/Drop Piece Mouse Wheel: Rotate piece 90 degrees Right click: Flip piece Keyboard: Arrow Keys: Highlight piece/Move piece C Key: Rotate clockwise Z Key: Rotate counter-clockwise X Key: Flip Piece Enter: Select Piece/Drop Piece The object is to place pieces effectively by not overlapping other pieces or the sides and not leaving gaps. Each piece is made of five squares arranged together touching a flat side of another square (i.e., not diagonally). Every hole starts out with the possibility of being completed perfectly. If you neglect to fill a square with anything, it will begin to flash red. First slow, then the next turn faster, then the next turn very fast. Finally, if you haven't placed anything after the third very fast flashing, it will expand by one square, making it impossible to complete correctly. Also, if you neglect to add another piece to a hole, it will start to shake. First slowly, then faster. After it is shaking the fastest, if you don't place a piece there, the last piece placed with pop off the hole. There is a unique piece which is very rare called the "Putty Bucket". The Putty Bucket will fill any hole from one to five squares in size, but is very rare. Try to use it on holes of five instead of smaller holes. There are ratings that appear when ye fill a hole. They depend on how many times ye overlapped a piece. - A Masterpiece! (never overlapped a piece, everything fit perfectly, best ranking) - Craftmanship! (overlapped a few pieces) - A Fair Job. (overlapped quite a few pieces) - Sloppy Work. (overlapped many pieces) - A Pig's Breakfast. (overlapped virtually every piece, worst ranking) A unique feature is that you can "stack" Masterpieces to gain more points. Completing several masterpieces in a row makes A Masterpiece!^2, A Masterpiece!^3, A Masterpiece!^4, etc. Making a non-Masterpiece hole, having a piece pop out due to negligence, or having an empty hole expand will stop your count. Each Masterpiece is progressively worth more. A little known fact about Carpentry is that if you misplace a piece, you can quickly fix it if you click that piece again. You can reposition it and move it around, but only by one square in each direction. This way, if you accidentially misplace a piece if your mouse slips, you can fix it and keep the game going. Your performance is visually shown through a hammer. If the hammer is brown and not moving, it is "sad" and you're not doing a good job. If the hammer is moving very quickly and golden, it is "happy" and you're doing incredibly good. For a visual guide to piece frequency, go to: http://www.elemental.50megs.com/carp.html ~C~3~: Bilging Bilging, personally, is me favorite puzzle. It takes after Tetris Attack and Bejeweled. Bilging is used to clear water which reduce speed from the ship. CONTROLS: Mouse: Mouse Movement: Move Cursor Left Mouse Button: Swap Pieces Keyboard: Arrow Keys: Move Cursor Enter: Swap Pieces The object of this puzzle is to swap pieces into rows or columns of three or more to reduce water levels in the ship. Typically, you want to start off with at least a 3x3 (clearing two lines of three simultaniously), since that will give you a good start. You will want to use one move to make rows and columns most of the time. Rarely use two moves, and almost never use more. Each move you make that doesn't clear something costs you rating. There are three special pieces in the game: - The crab. These stubborn critters refuse to be swapped with anything. Move them up and above the water level to clear them and get a bonus. - The blowfish. When you swap these, they get scared and puff up, destroying the eight squares around them and removing themselves from the board. Effectively, this makes a 3x3 hole that will be filled with pieces from below. NOTE: Crabs and jellyfish can be destroyed too. - The jellyfish. These, when swapped, will remove all blocks of the color that they were swapped with. This can be very effective when there seems to be no more moves. There are combos that can be made as well: - 3x3! (clearing two rows of three at the same time) - 3x4! (clearing a row of three and a row of four) - 3x5! (clearing a row of three and a row of five) - 4x5!! (clearing a row of four and a row of five) - Bingo! (clearing 3x[3/4/5]x[3/4/5]) - Sea Donkey! (clearing 3x3x[3/4]x[3/4]) - VEGAS!! (clearing 3x3x[3/4/5]x5) VEGAS!! is very hard to perform, and most bilgers won't ever have to use it. For more strategy and visual aid, go to: http://www.elemental.50megs.com/bilge.html ~C~4~: Navigating Navigating is a puzzle only officers and up can freely do, although if you're ordered to do it, you can. Basically, you have a navigation wheel, with three rings of eight spaces. There are five different colors, and your main objective is to clear constellations. CONTROLS: Left Arrow Key: Rotate ring counter-clockwise Right Arrow Key: Rotate ring clockwise Up Arrow Key: Move to higher ring Down Arrow Key: Move to lower ring Spacebar: Drop Piece Constellations are small circles that are outlined in the color piece that is needed there. When all circles are filled with their respective colors, they disappear and you get a bonus. If a piece falls onto a piece in the upper-most ring, it's a booch, and the booch is announced to the entire ship, and the ship turns around with a loss of some speed. Not your proudest moment, right? The better you do at this puzzle, the more the others' effects are "amplified" on the ship. Doing incredible on this will boost the ship's performance in almost everything. Thanks to Laura Kishimoto for bailing me out here! For more information and visual aid, go to: http://www.elemental.50megs.com/nav.html ~C~5~: Drinking Hoo boy. Hard puzzle. And...oh, great, swordfighting after this. Great. Eh, I'll forget swordfighting is next anyway and be surprised that it's next after this, right? Right. Moving on. Drinking is a game where ye place drinks on a 7 by 7 grid to try to make rows that contain more pieces that ye put down than your foes. When ye place a piece, ye stain the square behind it. You must place a piece either horizontally or vertically to another piece of the same color or shape. Point system: - 10 points: placing a piece. - 100 points: clearing a row on a pre-stained piece - 100 points: bonus for clearing two or more rows simultaniously - 200 points: clearing a row on a non-stained piece - 200 points: having the most stained squares (end of game bonus) Points can be split amongst multiple players if needed (i.e., a tie in a row clearing, etc.) The colors and containers vary (colors from 4 to 8, and containers from 4 to 12). There are also two special pieces. - Fries: Every good drinking session *must* start with fries. These are wildcards, and can be placed next to any piece, regardless of color or shape. - Hook: This piece lets ye remove a piece from the board. If ye cannot place a drink, ye must drink it yerself. Now, this is some pretty powerful alcohol, so three shots will have ye flat on the table. Ye can also voluntarily take a drink if ye want to. After ye pass out, ye will be skipped for three turns, and then return with a light "hangover" of one drink. When the board is completely stained, the round ends. Whoever has more points at the end wins the round. There can be anywhere from one to three rounds. Happy drinking! ~C~6~: Swordfighting Oomph. Two hard puzzles to describe? (sigh) All right, I'm obligated to give ye folks a lesson, and I'll do it. ...after I get some Cheetos. Okay, let's get down to business. (munch munch) CONTROLS: Left Arrow Key: Move block left Right Arrow Key: Move block right Up Arrow Key: Rotate block clockwise Down Arrow Key: Rotate block counter-clockwise Spacebar: Drop block In swordfighting, you are given a grid six blocks wide. Blocks drop in from the fourth column in pairings of two. There are four block colors; red, yellow, green, and blue. For the color-blind, there is also four distinct shapes within the blocks that will clarify their properties. The objective is to fill up your opponent's board before they fill up yours. To do this, you send strikes. Strikes come in two forms: - Sprinkles, which are little grey blocks that will transform into normal blocks after two turns - Swords, which are large swords that crash down, destroying blocks below them equal to the swords' width, which will turn into normal blocks in three turns To make swords, connect blocks of the same color in groups that form squares or rectangles. The bigger the block, the bigger the sword sent. In order to send these swords, you must use breakers. Breakers are swords that are bare--i.e., not a full rectangle, just the inner pattern. When a breaker connects with a block of the same color, it'll destroy the block and any similarly colored blocks touching that one, and so on down the line. What your opponent recieves depends on what you send as well: - For every two non-grouped blocks you send, one sprinkle will be sent. - For every group you send, a sword (equally sized as the block, except in combos, which I'll detail in a moment) will be sent. - Breakers are not counted as part of a group, but they will count as a sprinkle if you're sending any over. The actual blocks that are sent depend on the sword that you are using. There are numerous different swords, and there is really no one "best sword". The swords are: - Stick (recieved only when your other swords are gone) - Foil - Dirk - Stiletto - Scimitar - Skull Dagger - Cleaver - Rapier - Cutlass - Poinard - Long Sword - Short Sword - Saber - Falchion The swords all have sword patterns that illustrate how they are sent, but it's quite complicated. Basically, the more varied the sword pattern in blocks, the better. The stick, for example, has a sword pattern of something like this: RRRBBB RRRBBB YRRBBG RRRBBB RRRBBB YRRBBG This is a bad pattern, because there is very little variation, and any swords sent in the second, third, fourth, or fifth columns are very easy to counter, as all you'll need is one breaker of the right color. Anyway, combos. When you break a block, if there is a breaker above the blocks that are broken, and it falls and breaks more blocks, that's a combo. The combo system works like this: - Single! (no notification, x1) - Double! (that strike x2) - Triple! (that strike x3) - Bingo!! (that strike x4) - Donkey!! (that strike x5) - VEGAS!!! (that strike x6) - VEGAS!!! (that strike x6+[total Vegases to that point - 1]) It's difficult to organize VEGAS!!!es since your opponent is always trying to mess you up with strikes, and many people will not achieve it. I know I haven't. ;-) That's the basic rundown on swordfighting.For more information and visual aid, go to: http://www.elemental.50megs.com/sword.html (phew) Okay, I'm saving now, I'm NOT re-writing that. ~C~7~: Distilling I hate-hate-hate-hate-HATE this puzzle with a vengeance!! But, none-the-less, in my quest to help you, I shall assist loyally. Hey look over there! /me runs away Okay, back, let's work on this. CONTROLS: Mouse Movement: Move Cursor Left Mouse Click: Select Piece Left Mouse Click + Drag: Swap Pieces Right Mouse Click: Send Column Basically, distillery is the movement of pieces into columns that will, after a time period demonstrated by the furnace below the column, rise up (to the drink) or down (to the furnace) pending whether you have more positive factors or negative factors. Positive factors: - White pieces: Very good. Try to send up rows of just these with spices. - Spices: Red pieces. Adds a nice flava. Non-swappable. Neutral factors: - Brown pieces: Neutral. Goes either way. Bad factors: - Black pieces: Bad-bad. Two or more of these in a row of good pieces will usually crash it. - Burnt pieces: These are white pieces sent to the furnace. Very bad. Swaps like a white piece. Swap groups: - Group 1: White/burnt pieces. Swaps with black pieces above them, and brown pieces below them. - Group 2: Brown pieces. Swaps up with white/burnt pieces, swaps down with black pieces. - Group 3: Black pieces. Swaps up with brown pieces, swaps down with white/burnt pieces. - Group 4: Spice pieces. Don't swap. You need to send 12 pieces up to the brew in order for the puzzle to end. You'll then be ranked and labor will be added to the appropriate orders, if possible. For more information and visual aid, go to: http://www.elemental.50megs.com/distill.html ~C~8~: Sea Battle Oomph. Distillery, then this? Sheesh! I'm really killing myself tonight. Okay, okay, here goes. CONTROLS: Left Mouse Click + Drag: Move Movement Token/Gun Token Left Mouse Click: Select Radio Button Sea Battle is initiated when two ships engage on the seas. They are taken to a board that is sectioned off into squares. You are represented by a ship outlined in light blue. Your enemy is another ship outlined in either grey or red (depending on whether ye are neutral or at war with them). There are four types of spaces: - Clear sea. Solid blue. Regular space, ho hum. - Wind gust. A little white curly arrow of sorts. Moving here pushes you in that direction one space after each movement token. - Rocks. Cause damage to your ship. Two forms: big rocks (can't shoot over them) and little rocks (can shoot over them) and both do equal damage. - Whirlpool. A 2x2 hazard, it spins your ship around as if it were doing an anti-left turn. You have movement tokens which ye can use to move yer ship. - Straight. One space forward. - Left. You move one space forward and one space to the left, ending facing the left. - Right. You move one space forward and one space to the right, ending facing the right. - Guns. Not exactly a *movement* token, but can be used in association with one to fire a cannon. Cannons travel three spaces and automatically pick the correct side to fire off of. They stop if they travel three spaces, hit big rocks, or hit the target. Movement tokens are generated by pirates clearing targets in sailing, and gun tokens are generated by pirates loading guns in gunnery. You can choose where movement tokens are assigned by clicking the radio button below the token space. Management of tokens is key to survival on the seas. +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ | REMEMBER! You move as if you were on the very front of the ship | | facing the sea ahead of ye! Keep this in mind when ye move! | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ Sorry, I can't count how many times someone's misunderstood that. Anywho, getting hit by cannons or hitting rocks causes damage, which: - can be fixed by carpenters - increases the bilge level in the ship, which can be fixed by bilgers Colliding with the other ship will initiate a Sea Battle Swordfight (SBS), which is documented in Swordfighting and the SBS section below. That's really all ye need to know, just make sure to keep tokens up and keep someone on guns, and ye'll do well... Maybe. :-) For more information and visual aid, go to: http://www.elemental.50megs.com/seabattle.html ~C~9~: Multiplayer Brawling/Sea Battle Swordfights (SBS) Brawling! Yarr! Gettin' smashed and fighting it out! It's every pirate's paradise... This is almost exactly like swordfighting, except for one key difference: It's not just 1v1. The main thing ye must do in a brawl or SBS is target. This selects who ye are sending yer strikes to. In 1v1 fighting, this is no big deal, because there's only one person to kill. In SBS and brawling, though, ye must choose who ye want to attack. Usually, in SBS, a commanding officer will shout out who to target in the chat dialogue box. Watch for this, and follow their instructions. A good rule of thumb is to make teams of two or three, unless it's mathmatically impossible (i.e., 4v1, etc.). To target, click an enemy's face or game box and you will send strikes to them. Alternatively, you can use the [ and ] keys to scroll up and down through the list. Make sure to pay attention when ye're doing this! Each crew will have different rules about targeting, so make sure to ask. For more information and visual aid, go to: http://www.elemental.50megs.com/sword.html ~C~10~: Gunnery Gunnery is the practice of loading guns to fire in sea battle. To do so, you must wash out a cannon, and line up pieces inside of it to load it. The pieces are bouncing around the board, being dispensed by a barrel which rolls across the deck with ship movement. The pieces are: - Bucket of water, which clears out messed up cannons and misplaced pieces. - Gunpowder, found in red bags, first thing to load. - Paper, found as a white ball, second thing to load. - Cannonball, found as a big black ball, last thing to load. If the pieces are loaded in the correct order, you will seal that cannon, and it's ready to fire. CONTROLS: Mouse: Move: Move piece Left mouse click: Place piece Left mouse click + Drag: Change direction of piece, then place Keyboard: Arrow Keys: Move piece Enter: Place piece W Key: Change direction to up S Key: Change direction to down A Key: Change direction to left D Key: Change direction to right When a piece runs over an arrow, it will move in that direction. Cannons, when fired, will leave a black residue that must be washed out before re-loading. Also, misplacing pieces in cannons requires a washing as well. To get a new set of cannons after loading the four given, just dismiss and re-enter the puzzle. If they are all loaded, then every cannon on the ship is either manned by someone else or loaded. Happy gunnin'! For more information and visual aid, go to: http://www.elemental.50megs.com/guns.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~D~x~: Odds 'n' Ends ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~D~1~: The Forums To access the forums, go to www.puzzlepirates.com/community and log in. Your username and password are the same as your Y!PP name and password. ~D~2~: Contacting the Author To contact me, send an e-mail to sege@ theazureknights.com (remove the space) with the subject "Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates." ~D~3~: Credits I wanna thank Three Rings for making this game, FrankGrimes for hunting down the link to the ASCII software, FyreFaerie for helping with the navigation section, and everyone at the community for submitting questions for the FAQ section! Woo! Also, major kudos to Diamondblade for letting me link to his site, Elemental, on all the puzzle documents. Thanks! This FAQ (c) 2004 Michael Segekihei. All rights reserved. Puzzle Pirates (c) 2001-2004 Three Rings, Inc. All rights reserved. That's it, I'm done. (phew) Anyone know a guy who can fix Carpel Tunnel Syndrome?