I was thinking about adding an additional category to the game: Become a Squire. It would essentially be a race to get recognized by the King and get your first rank. The appeal of this is in how it doesn't seem clear at the onset what the quickest way to do this would be. It would also involve quite a bit of RNG, which could increase the replayability.

Any thoughts?

I am going to attempt this, but my mastery is MS-Dos. I hope to follow thru with this.

Ok, upon further research, this game is not the same as the console. The king require NINE steps to save princess on MSDOS version.

He requires 4 on console according to the current WR.

I sense a game split is needed.

I think the current WR on NES definitely does more than 4... you can skip the last 2 ranks in it but it's random each time at the end whether you get the king quest or another one. I think both Gilmok and I had decided to reset if we got a bad one there... which I don't think he needed to (I know I had to in at least one attempt, but cannot recall if it was my current pb). I don't know if it's the exact same on MSDOS or not... only know about this precisely in the NES version because Gilmok cracked the game to learn it.

Even so, we have variables attached for each individual platform so that each one has its own leaderboard for each category.

Actually, to add on this, there are a number of differences in each version that make playing on them all rather unique. The NES and SNES versions tend to lag a lot while sailing (NES especially when other ships are around), while the Genesis version just flies. The SNES version has the vastly superior music engine. The NES version has quicker battles due to faster animations and lack of cutscenes, and also generally can handle town interactions faster as well. I haven't played the DOS version much at all aside from figuring out how to quickly game over (lol), but I have a feeling it's likely an even more different experience. It's actually pretty strange for one game to play so differently on different consoles (and why I never did the full game speedrun on SNES... because I know it'll be hours slower, ha).

Im actually curious, is there even one playthrough of the msdos version on the internet? I cant find a single one... but I dont know where to look other than google.

No clue here

My issue now is this. I dont think the current structure works for this game. on msdos. See, I can skip a month in a matter of seconds. Time delay isnt part of the console design? if it is... why isnt it used? Ive watched everything I can find, and now that you replied to that, I might just put one on twitch with emulation acceleration to just have SOMETHING. I just cant do the same gameplay with similar results.

I don't know what you mean when you say the current structure doesn't work on MS-DOS. You can "skip time" in the console versions (either by sitting in land in the "overworld" for a number of days or just staying at the lodge), but it's by and large pretty time-consuming, so it's really only used when you want the king to pop a quest or reset to a new quest.

But it wouldn't surprise me if the strategies used in one console don't work in another. It's kind of surprising that things work as well as they do right now across NES/SNES/Genesis, but I wouldn't be surprised if MS-DOS turns out something rather different.

BTW - LIfe pro tip - When you start the game, buy ONE SAKER. It sells the other 10 culverin at 50%, and you gain overall.

Im going to request we create 3... maybe 4 categories for mid game achievements.

1. Battle level 50
2. Sail Level 50
3. Every Guild item obtained.
4. Defeat every original fleet that isnt allied?

Mates list!

I extracted info from MS-Dos.

Starting levels, stats, and locations if known. Numbers are - Battle/sailing and Auth/Judg/Int/Cour/Str.

First 3 are your sailing stats, as the sailing speed of your fleet is determined by some formula that Values Sailing LEVEL and Sailing STATS. Exact number unknown, but you can see the effect very clearly on MS-Dos UI when changing your captains. Last 2 stats are battle stats, so far, the only direct correlation to in game calculations is Gun damage is higher if your battle stats are higher even at low levels. The benefit is never more than 100% above the worst damage tho, so its on some form of scale at least.

2 Categories, Static - Never changes ports, Roamers - Travels monthly, with small % to stay put.

Effectively, this list is best to worst.

STATIC In order of lowest ship speed stat.

Roberto 1/1 76/88/100/48/55 Marseille

Aljeuna 5/1 81/83/75/79/72 Calcutta

Miguel 1/1 86/64/66/86/91 Algiers

Francisco 1/1 62/74/86/49/32 Alexandria (lowest str in game)

Ammul 2/1 61/65/72/55/73 Hormuz

Marco 1/1 55/72/64/79/53 Lisbon

Oswaldo 1/1 65/52/62/59/58 Venice

Conrad 2/3 61/52/55/89/94 Genoa

Nicolas 1/1 49/80/98/38/47 Antwerp

Rinaldo 1/2 25/23/17/44/60 Mumbasa (LOLBAD)

ROAMERS

Fernando 6/5 92/80/75/80/75 Roams Europe

Christopher 8/6 88/79/73/82/74 Roams Caribbean/Europe

Alfonso 10/10 85/72/75/80/68 Roams Europe

Americus 7/7 74/75/69/63/66 Roams Europe

Regis 4/7 72/75/67/81/62 Roams Europe

Benedetto 5/4 79/83/65/74/69 Roams Europe

Cyran 3/2 65/59/68/75/80 Roams Indian Ocean?

Vicente 5/6 62/70/58/62/73 Roams Europe

Jose 1/1 51/83/95/44/41 Roams.

USELESS

Diaz 26/26 BAD. Dont recall stats exactly, but they are BAD. Nothing over 70 if I recall... and takes way longer than normal game play to grind the levels needed to get him on your crew. Dont bother.

NOTE - If you can kill them all off, and you recieve a mission that requires a mate that isnt on your crew, it will CREATE a new mate, place them at the Bar, and once you get them drunk and complete the quest step, they are available in the FIND MATES page. This is the only known way to get new mates to spawn in the game. But I have never managed this without literally putting every mate I have no intention of using on a caravel with no crew and going to sea one at a time killing them off.