Sid Meier's Pirates, and everyone else in the game, are aware of the date...
from mox@lemmy.sdf.org to games@lemmy.world on 19 Sep 08:22
https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/22547941

I recently started a game of Pirates! When I sat down to play today, the pirates were no longer the only ones spicing up their speech with arrs and ahoys. The merchants were doing it. The military were doing it. The nobles were doing it (awkwardly). The barmaids were doing it. Even the user interface was doing it.

I thought at first that it might have always been that way, and just escaped my notice, but that seemed unlikely. Next I thought I might have accidentally enabled a game option for it, but I didn’t remember reconfiguring anything.

Then another possibility came to mind. It seemed like a long shot, but just in case, I looked up today’s date. Sure enough, today is International Talk Like a Pirate day. This 20-year-old game apparently knows it, and switched every bit of its dialogue and writing into pirate speak to honour the occasion.

I love this.

#games

threaded - newest

Tarquinn2049@lemmy.world on 19 Sep 08:48 next collapse

That’s awesome. Buncha nerds, hehe. I miss when games were made by a handful of friends, sure sometimes it meant they leaned a little too heavily on a mechanic that only played well in their opinion and stuff like that, the upsides were worth it though.

massive_bereavement@fedia.io on 19 Sep 10:13 next collapse

Crunch made sense then when all employees more or less owned the company.

I also like the fact that Sid Meier was never on board with having his name sticked on every product but the publishers pushed him to do so because of people like Peter Molyneux.

mox@lemmy.sdf.org on 19 Sep 20:19 next collapse

To be clear, I think the original Pirates! actually was Sid Meier’s work. I’m not sure about this remake.

massive_bereavement@fedia.io on 20 Sep 08:37 collapse

Yep, I also think so. My comment was mostly on an old interview he explained about dropping out the Sid Meyer's part on new titles.

ReeferPirate@lemy.lol on 20 Sep 20:41 collapse

I read somewhere it was actually Robin Williams that convinced him it was a good idea. There a ton of c64 shovelware and brand recognition is a powerful tool if you can build something worthwhile

WarlordSdocy@lemmy.world on 20 Sep 08:46 collapse

You can still get that by just playing very small indie games. There’s tons of small games out there being made by just a handful or even one person that have these kinds of little fun things scattered throughout them. They are harder to find by their nature but that culture is still very much alive in the indie space.

Rumbelows@lemmy.world on 19 Sep 08:56 next collapse

I loved this game. There was a pretty good iOS port a few years back but sadly it’s no longer supported.

Flamekebab@piefed.social on 19 Sep 09:12 next collapse

Yarr, almost slipped me notice that today be 19th o' September!

makingStuffForFun@lemmy.ml on 19 Sep 11:32 next collapse

I could have sailed and sailed and sailed. Lived it. Loved it.

Never knew about the Easter egg. Nice find!

Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world on 19 Sep 12:52 next collapse

I never forget Talk like a Pirate Day! It’s my daughter’s birthday! 😁

njm1314@lemmy.world on 19 Sep 13:04 next collapse

Happy birthday to her then!

Lemminary@lemmy.world on 19 Sep 15:42 collapse

May she plunder the shores and claim herself fair wenches across the seven seas!

RebekahWSD@lemmy.world on 19 Sep 13:39 next collapse

Goodness I loved that game. Then it wouldn’t run for awhile. Then it worked again. Maybe.

I’d love a new one but I’m not hoping anymore.

Zos_Kia@lemmynsfw.com on 19 Sep 15:46 next collapse

Same. I remember playing the original on an Amstrad in the 90s and it was already mind blowing. I was so happy they remade it, and even happier that they barely changed anything about it.

mox@lemmy.sdf.org on 19 Sep 20:03 collapse

Running it wasn’t exactly straightforward. My CD-ROM copy was a no-go, but I managed to get the GOG version working in a 32-bit Wine prefix with DXVK. (I’m on linux.) Remaining problems are lack of wide-screen support (so I run it in a full-height window) and pauses between various scenes (which I might be able to solve with an older Wine version). It’s playable already, though; I’m glad I put in a little effort.

Other linux users wanting to try it might want to use Lutris, which seems to have install scripts for it, or a console emulator. Or maybe the Steam version works fine through Proton? I haven’t tried it.

RebekahWSD@lemmy.world on 19 Sep 22:02 collapse

I am on windows, so I’m not quite sure why my steam version of the game just…stopped working one day. And the work around fixed it. Until it didn’t. But now it’s better? Maybe? I haven’t checked in a few months, maybe it’s back to Not Better.

Ahhhh computers.

Mithre@lemmy.world on 20 Sep 13:13 collapse

At the very least, my steam copy on windows 10 worked just fine a week ago on my yearly playthrough.

CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world on 19 Sep 14:19 next collapse

I just lost The Game :(

DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social on 20 Sep 00:06 collapse

It’s been twenty years.

xkcd.com/391/

SuperSaiyanSwag@lemmy.zip on 19 Sep 14:56 next collapse

Good find OP. This just might be my favorite gaming moment of this month.

blazeknave@lemmy.world on 20 Sep 05:43 collapse

Especially with 7 in the air!

FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world on 19 Sep 15:36 next collapse

That’s so cool.

I played the hell out of this game in the 90’s, and then again when they re-released it. How fun is it to actually have to sneak into town and complete a stealth mission when your pirate’s got a high level of notoriety?

Denjin@lemmings.world on 20 Sep 17:51 next collapse

Ooh I’d give that fair maiden a good dance sequence.

Lizardking27@lemmy.world on 20 Sep 18:26 collapse

Amazing game. Perfectly executed. This is an excellent detail and a testament to the care that went into this game.