Summary

Work is still proceeding on the new graphics, but it's taking time (slow art development).

If you enjoy the game and would like to support its continued development, consider purchasing the "premium" version of the game, "Pirates and Traders: Gold!". Gold! differs from the regular game in two ways (only): ads have been disabled and you as the player have been given three additional vessels to select from as a starting ship (Pinnace, Coastal Barque, and Fluyt). The revenue generated from Gold! will be used to fund the next big update of the game which is planned to include a major graphical overhaul.

An updated list of bugs and planned changes is maintained on the MicaByte website (http://www.micabyte.com). Future updates will add more crew members, more missions, and we'll be aiming for a major graphical overhaul.

Version History

Version 1.4.15

Fixed a bug that allowed ports to be reduced below 1 in value.
The Governor should now correctly display the amount of gold to be paid back for a loan.
Tweaked the game balance; amount of goods generated is reduced by about 20%.
Fixed a bug that could cause Gold! users to not be able to access the high scores.

Version 1.4.14

The map icon on the top menu was causing a lot of confusion for new players. That game option has now been moved into the pop-up menu, and an on-screen BACK button has been added to the game.
Fixed a bug that could cause force closes when trying to access a random number between zero and zero.
Fixed a bug that allowed the player to continue indefinitely beyond year 1700, even when immortality mode was not on.
Rates for loan repayments now take into account the size of your remaining debt and how much money you have available. This should help prevent loans spiralling out of control.
Ports that have been attacked and sacked should now correctly have their values reduced.

Version 1.4.13

Fixed some debug code in the game setup. Players are not supposed to be able to start with Large Frigates in the game. This bug did not affect the Gold! version.
Fixed a bug that could sometimes cause a force close when entering a port without a governor.
The Pinnace now correctly starts with full crew in the Gold! version.

Version 1.4.12

Restored ability to install to SD card. A recent update had apparently removed that capability.
A player in good standing can now loan money through the governor.
Tweaked the port attack algorithm. Port attacks should now be somewhat more bloody and will now result in garrison size reductions more often.
Port Royal now has a starting garrison of 6, not 9.
Governor should no longer be accessible after a conquest. This should also fix the force close that occurs when visiting the governor after a conquest.
New Event: Arrival of a new governor. The event causes a new governor to arrive. In addition, the prices of several goods in the settlement are increased while awaiting the arrival of the new governor.
Fixed a bug that allowed the player to continue playing, even though the game model had been reset (this can happen if you switch out of the game and perform actions that use a lot of memory). The game should now return to the starting screen without overwriting the player's save game with the reset game model.
Fixed a rare bug that could cause a force close when loading a game after a battle.

Version 1.4.11

The cost of amnesty has now been significantly increased on higher difficulty levels. Purchasing a clean record is thus significantly more costly on these levels.
Tweaked the Flag Galleon stats to make it even more nasty.
Fixed a bug that prevented native warships from being spotted during native attacks.

Version 1.4.10

Fixed a bug that caused force closing if a game was saved/reloaded during a job conversation.
Fixed a bug that caused force closing if the game saved during a retreat from a port battle.
Bargaining for increased gold in jobs should now correctly result in increased payout for completion.
Governors are now named.

Version 1.4.9

Ship improvements are now saved and reloaded correctly. Savegames containing "corrupt" ship improvements could cause a force close in-game.

Version 1.4.8

Merchant view correctly shows supply and demand of goods again.
Fixed a bug that caused a crash when you tried to conquer a port.
Fixed a bug that caused the game to crash if you restored a savegame containing a port attack.

Version 1.4.7

Fixed a savegame bug that would occur with certain ships.
Fixed a bug that caused the game to crash during port attacks.

Version 1.4.6

Increased starting skills to 18. In addition, the player's skill now also increase by up to 18 points. In addition, standard game length (assuming your pirate survives) has been extended to 1700.
Changed the auto-save system slightly. The player now has the option to select between none, daily, monthly, or yearly auto-saves. Unless playing ironman, the game will not auto-save in the middle of a major storyline or event (such as, e.g., during a trial).
States no longer go from allies to enemies in one diplomacy change.
Map screen should no longer freeze when the game has been idle for a long time.
Rebuilt large sections of the game engine to make future debugging and extensions easier.
Fixed a bug that could prevent new game settings from being saved correctly.
Fixed a bug that could allow an empire to declare war on itself.
Fixed a bug that caused ships to carry inaccessible cargo (i.e., the player would be able to see capacity, but the goods carried did not match the numbers displayed).

Version 1.4.5

Tweaked the balance of missions a little bit. Minor bug fixes.

Version 1.4.4

Fixed Master Cook so that he correctly increases the purchase price of food (not both purchase and selling prices).
Tweaked the combat algorithms of war ships (should use broadsides more).

Version 1.4.3

Fixed a bug that caused savegames to force close.

Version 1.4.2

Gameplay: Added two new crew specialists: the Master Sergeant and the Master Cook.
Gameplay: Tweaked the appearances of crew specialists.
Gameplay: Increased the number of trading missions, tweaked the fees and frequency, and added the option to negotiate (success depends on your Charisma skill). These changes should benefit traders.
Fixed a bug that was preventing cargo missions from being available to players.
Fixed a bug that caused the game to crash when opening the change history from the title banner in the Gold! version.

Version 1.4.1

Rolled back a change in the graphics module that was causing some phones to force close due to slow graphical response.

Version 1.4.0

Gameplay: Tweaked the cargo ratings of all ships. Most ships can now carry more goods.
Gameplay: Crew Specialists have been added to the game. See the status window help for details on the specialists + their effects.
Gameplay: Gunnery has been added as a fifth skill. Gunnery affects your ability to fire cannons.
Gameplay: Skills can now be improved to level 12 (the underlying game algorithms have been tweaked slightly to compensate).
Gameplay: Player now continues gaining skills until 1665 (meaning you will have up to 30 skill points). The player starts losing his skill points in 1680 (an extension of the game length by at least 5 years). Since you have 5 extra points to lose, it will also generally take longer before you are forced to retire.
Gameplay: Tweaked the difficulty settings. The skill levels of the captains on the higher difficulty levels have been significantly increased.
Fixed a bug that was causing frequent force closes.
Fixed a bug that allowed the player to attack a port even when captured during a sneak attempt.

Version 1.3.8

Gameplay: Port attacks are no longer a beta feature.
Gameplay: Empires will now engage in invasions/assaults on each other's ports, independent of the player.
Gameplay: Empires will now respond to port attacks by putting naval squadrons on patrol around their ports. This will make campaigns of conquest much harder on higher levels of the game.
Fixed a bug where failing a smuggling mission could give you large amounts (20-60) Gems.
Updated the settings for the game to only be available on touchscreen devices.

Version 1.3.7

Fixed a force close error that could occur when searching for ships in sea-only areas.
Fixed a force close error that could occur if you encountered hunter ships in a sea-only area.
Fixed a force close error that would occur if you succeeded in plundering an "event" ship (such as the treasure galleon).
Fixed a force close error that would occur if warships sailed into a sea area.

Version 1.3.6

Gameplay: Revamped and (hopefully) cleaned the game event system. More frequent game events. An area can now have up to three game events/effects occuring at the same time (previously this was limited to one at any given time).
Gameplay: New events added; Warships can now chose to start blockades against enemy ports. A port that is blockaded will pay better prices for important goods such as food, rum, and weapons. Read the encounter help for more information on running blockades.
Port Attacks: The game "AI" will now prioritize building up stronger garrisons during gameplay.
Port Attacks: Port reinforcements may increase the garrison by more than a factor of 1 (this should also help rebuild garrisons quickly).
Fixed the port sacked description so that it is only displayed once.
Fixed a text glitch whereby native boats were described as having cannons when they have none.
Fixed a bug that was preventing immigrant ships and troop ships from showing up and being attackable.
Fixed the player log messages for port attacks.
Fixed the map file so that there is now indeed a connection between Petit Goave and the Carribean sea zone (as the map shows).

Version 1.3.5

Gameplay: Added a new mission (a new hitjob, the target: a pirate).
Port Attacks: Ports which have been plundered or damaged in the last couple of months have fewer goods and provide less plunder if attacked again.
Port Attacks: Reduced the plunder gained from port attacks.
Some minor restructuring of the code that should hopefully solve some force close problems with save games introduced in version 1.3.0.
Fixed a bug that could crash the game if you interrupted the Help view before it had finished loading.

Version 1.3.4

Updated help file for Port Attacks so that it is now readable.
Fixed a bug that caused a never ending loop (resulting in a force close for save games from a port attack). These should work now.

Version 1.3.3

Port Attack beta is now available to play (if you toggle on beta mode).
Gameplay: Fountain of Youth mode has been reinstated. It's only effect now is to void the aging mechanism - all other game mechanisms remain the same.
Gameplay: An additional rank level has been added: Flag Admiral.
Gameplay: Merchant ships should no longer surrender when the player is running away.
Interface: Two game options at start to select when to auto save.
Interface: Refresh of the New Pirate creation view.
Fixed a bug where the sails and rigging of your ship were not always being jury-rigged (restored to a minimum of 1) after a battle.
Fixed some minor bugs that could cause force closes.

Version 1.3.2

Fixed a FC bug that could occur if the game was interrupted/exited with the HOME button after a trial had been resolved with a death sentence.

Version 1.3.1

Gameplay: Trials are no longer certain death. You can now escape with only a few months in prison. Charisma is a vital skill for surviving trials.
Gameplay: Charisma no longer protects you from losing loyalty from your crew if they are starving.
Gameplay: Tweaked the boarding combat. The changes make boarding combat more bloody and less one-sided. If you have depended solely on boarding combat, you will also likely find that this makes the game more challenging. As a side-effect, it is now no longer possible for a battle to continue on as a draw indefinitely.
Gameplay: Tweaked the immigrant and troop ship frequency so that it occurs much, much less often. Diplomacy also occurs less often.
Gameplay: Tweaked the frequency of ship modifications to increase the number of modded ships.
Interface: Adjusted the length of time that notifications are displayed on the screen.
Interface: Game now asks for confirmation before deleting a saved game.
Fixed a nasty bug in the code for Carronades where using carronades to attack could decimate your own crew.
Fixed a bug which caused your own equipment list to show under the enemy ship in the plunder view.
Fixed a bug where stern chasers would fire at non-belligerent ships.
Fixed a bug where the ironman mode setting from the savegame was not being registered correctly.
Fixed a rare bug where the player could cause a force close by buying a non-existent rumor.
Added notification (instead of force close) if the loader detects problems with the save file.
Fixed a bug that could cause force closes on restarts of the game if it did not close cleanly.
Fixed a bug that caused ships to not get created with improved rigging.
Fixed a bug so that smugglers now actually can be found with contraband goods.
Fixed some text typos.

Version 1.3.0

Not savegame compatible with older versions.
Five new ships in the game (Canoe, Large Barque, Large Fluyt, Large Brig, and Large Frigate), for a total of 20 different ships!
New Game Event: Native attack. A location is attacked by Indian Warships. Defeat the native incursion to gain rank with the affected state.
New Game Event: Immigrant ship. Ship arrives with immigrants at a colony and increases its value.
New Game Event: Troop ship. New troops arrive at a location to reinforce the garrison.
Gameplay: Some game events may now spawn follow-on events. For example, native attacks may cause a Weapon demand.
Gameplay: Time is now accounted in days rather than months. For the full effect this has on the gameplay, please read the help page in the main game view.
Gameplay: The Masts rating has now been renamed to Sails. Improvements have been changed to match with the gameplay effects.
Gameplay: Enemy ships no longer automatically surrender when cannons are reduced to 0.
Gameplay: Ships always surrender when crew is reduced below 10.
Gameplay: Crew numbers are no longer multiples of 5.
Gameplay: Ship cargo is now affected by supply or demand in the region that you find the ship.
Gameplay: Smugglers can now also be found carrying contraband goods (previously they were generated the same way as merchant ships).
Interface: Increased font size in most views for better readability.
Interface: New high score view. Distinction between game modes, difficulty levels, and added new sorting options.
Interface: Game now asks for confirmation before you purchase a ship.
Interface: Game now explains why the player can not commandeer a ship in the plunder view.
Interface: Extended score information.
Interface: Score interface now permits clearing the game scores.
New savegame system. The player now has three save slots available.
The default gameplay style now allows players to go back and reload their games. Games are automatically saved every time you enter port.
"Fountain of Youth" gameplay mode has been deprecated until further consideration. The old "Apprentice" difficulty level has also been removed (since you can now reload old save games).
"True Pirate" gameplay mode is similar to the old "ironman" style gameplay. All game progress is saved and death/defeat is final.
Game should now support storage on SD card, if you are running on Android 2.2 or later.
Removed the MobClix ad module. This allows me to limit permissions to only internet usage for this version.
Tweaked the game a bit to hopefully reduce battery drain for those players who have experienced this problem.
Fixed a bug that caused port state to be restored incorrectly from saves.
Fixed a bug so that tavern jobs/missions are now saved correctly.

Version 1.2.8

Fixed a bug with the hit man mission that caused subsequent merchants to appear to be targets, unless the game was restored from a save.
Fixed a bug that caused the Help view to force close if you rotated the screen while the F.A.Q./help information was loading.

Version 1.2.7

Fixed a bug that caused the game to force close if you upgraded to the new version with an old savegame (any version prior to 1.2.3).
Interface: Game now refuses to load a savegame is clearly incompatible, rather than force closing on the Continue button.

Version 1.2.6

Version 1.2.5 experienced download problems. New version in case this is a problem with the file upload of 1.2.5.

Version 1.2.5

Game has been made available for low density (small screen) devices on the Android market. If you are using one of these and experience problems, please contact me by e-mail.
Gameplay: New mission - Ship Search. Note: you can not receive this mission if your reputation is harmless.
Gameplay: Patrol ships now behave as warships first (i.e., will attack enemy states and dangerous pirates) and inspection ships only second. This means that you should no longer surrender to a patrol ship if you are a wanted Pirate.
Gameplay: Contraband goods and illegal jobs should now be correctly handled when you surrender to an inspection ship after combat. Warships will now also confiscate illegal goods.
Interface: Changed the globe view to clear up ad confusion (user mistakenly believed the ads were covering up the non-existent action buttons).
Interface: Information about goods now show the base price of the good (a calculated average for the five port values) instead of the error-prone average cost.
Interface: Bow and stern chasers are now factored into the cannon numbers on the ship. They are however (currently) not destructible like regular cannons.
Finally cracked a bug that was causing force close errors when people tried to restart the game after it had been killed.
Fixed a bug where known rumors were not getting expired in the status view, even though they had expired on the map.
Stern chasers should now no longer fire on friendly/neutral ships.
Updated the MobClix ad module to version 2.1.0 (the new permissions are required by Mobclix).

Version 1.2.4

Gameplay: New mission - passenger transport.
Game should now correctly save game events (rumors).
Fixed a bug that kept time from passing between port visits and port state from being maintained across consecutive visits.
Fixed a bug preventing spice demands/shortages from registering correctly.
Fixed a bug that switched cunning and charisma when restoring savegames and during creation of a new pirate.
Fixed a bug where notoriety was not getting saved correctly.
Fixed a bug that caused information to be duplicated in the status view.

Version 1.2.3

NOTE: This version is not save game compatible with old versions of the game.
Gameplay: Minor tweaks to the combat AI.
Interface: Updated title interface. Added donate button.
Interface: Completely revamped the Status view. There is now a stats section and a captain's log section. This is still an early version; the functionality here will be extended in future releases.
Interface: The age of a rumor is now given in the status view.
Interface: The game now checks the version of the game when you try to load a new game and warns you if you are loading an old version.
Fixed a minor bug in the score saving code.

Version 1.2.2

Gameplay: New mission - smuggling.
Gameplay: Merchant mission is now no longer offered if your reputation is poor in a port.
Fixed a bug that allowed the player to increase skills above 10 when creating a new pirate.
Fixed a bug that resulted in the description of a player's scores not showing correctly in the high score table. The same bug also made the fountain of youth option work incorrectly.
Fixed a bug so that a port with goods surplus now always has at least 6 units for sale.
Fixed a force close error occurring as a result of a corrupt/invalid savegame.
Fixed a force close bug that occurred when resuming a game after it has been removed from memory.

Version 1.2.1

Interface: You are now prevented from leaving port if you are loaded above capacity.
Interface: You can now not take jobs if you do not have available cargo space.
Fixed storyline system so that your job/mission now uses cargo capacity correctly.
Fixed a bug that locked players in the closed port view with the only option being to sneak in.
A couple of minor fixes to prevent force closes from occurring when the game is shutting down.

Version 1.2.0

First version of the story infrastructure has been implemented. Currently, there is only two "stories" included in the game (Freight Run and Mutiny) - the coming versions will add additional stories.
Major changes to the underlying game interface structure. This will hopefully fix the save/restore bugs that some people have, but has probably introduced other bugs.
Gameplay: Mutinies are now detailed as a "story". This also means that mutinies can now end your game on "Apprentice" level (again).
Gameplay: Pirates no longer sink your ship if you resist their boarding attack.
Gameplay: Goods surplus should now not have less than 6 goods.
Gameplay: Treasure galleons contain more treasure.
Interface: Support for landscape mode. Note that there is still work required before it actually looks good in landscape mode.
Interface: Game now remembers all settings from your last pirate.
Interface: Fixed the annoying scrolling behavior in the new pirate view.
Interface: Text in treasure view now reacts correctly to changes in the share spinner.
Interface: Players are now always allowed to surrender in combat.
Interface: Tavern view now includes information about how much crew you require.
Fixed a bug that allowed the player to increase skills above 10 during the game.
Fixed the cargo generation on the Treasure Galleon such that it always contains treasure.
Fixed a bug where shipyards would not sell discounted improvements to the player if the player did not have gold enough to pay the full price.
Fixed a bug where non-player ships with the extended cannon decks upgrade were not equipped with their maximum number of cannons.
Fixed a bug in the plunder view that allowed players to switch to a ship with inadequate cargo holds.
Fixed a few punctuation errors.

Version 1.1.7

Fixed a nasty bug in the code for Carronades that caused ships defending with carronades to inflict casualties incorrectly.
Fixed a bug that prevented ships from carrying Chainshot/Grapeshot.
Fixed a bug that had player still able to buy letter of marque in peace time.

Version 1.1.6

Gameplay: Three new ship improvements: Carronades and Chase guns (Bow and Stern).
Gameplay: Non-player ships can now also be equipped with improvements. Touch the opponent ship during a battle to receive detailed information about its modifications.
Interface: Game will now ask for confirmation if you try to leave port with a badly damaged ship or very little food.
Documentation: Included explanation of international relations in Governor help.
Fixed a bug that allowed an empire to ally with an empire that it was already allied to.
Minor fixes to try and make the cargo price be more accurate.
Upgraded the ad module.

Version 1.1.5

Fixed a compatibility bug with the new Android OS 2.2 SDK that caused the game to force close on Android OS 1.5 phones.

Version 1.1.4

Gameplay: Governor will now (as intended) only perform one action for you during each visit to port.
Gameplay: Partial repairs are now more expensive than full repairs (currently: 80g per point as compared to 50g).
Interface: The player can select the exact ship element to repair for partial repairs.
Fixed a new bug in the promotion code caused by the previous fix.

Version 1.1.3

Gameplay: The shipyard will now also do partial repairs on your ship.
Fixed a bug that allowed players to buy a promotion even without having any money.
Fixed a bug that allowed an empire to declare war on another empire that it was already at war with.
Fixed a bug that set a very high price for rum in port when in fact the problem was that no rum was available.
Fixed a bug that caused enemy warships to attempt an invalid action during a battle.
Fixed a bug where a port with a good surplus event could sometimes have 0 of that trade good.
Fixed some presentation bugs in the governor view.
Fixed two situations where ship battles were not initialized correctly.

Version 1.1.2

Gameplay: Immortal gameplay mode implemented for those who prefer to play the same pirate indefinitely. Note that "immortal" pirates are not registered in the high score tables.
Gameplay: Extended basic gameplay mode by another five years.
Gameplay: Added the Treasure Galleon event.
Gameplay: Your ship will no longer automatically surrender when one of it's attributes reach 0. Check the encounter help for details of battle effects.
Interface: Made it possible to exit and view the game map without leaving port.
Interface: Game now warns if you try to start a game without allocating all skill points.
Fixed a bug that forced the player to retire after 1675. Forced retirement was supposed to come much later.
Fixed a bug that prevented the player from surrendering during a battle.
Fixed a bug to prevent players purchasing a ship with too little cargo space to carry their goods.
A minor bug fix to prevent a force close when loading an old game version save.
Removed the COARSE_LOCATION_ACCESS permission, as it does not currently serve any purpose.

Version 1.1.1

Gameplay: Pirates will now only plunder your goods - not your gold - if you surrender.
Interface: Game now remembers all settings (except for skills) that you used for your last completed game in the new game screen.
Interface: Shipyard now correctly names your location.
Fixed a bug that prevented player from leaving a closed port except through sneaking.

Version 1.1.0

Online (and updated) FAQ replaces hints and tips. Check in often.
Gameplay: Shipyard in ports can now offer to sell you a new ship.
Gameplay: You can now sneak into a port that is closed to you if your Cunning is good enough.
Gameplay: You can now purchase amnesty from a governor to cancel your criminal record.
Interface: When starting a new game, interface will default to the name, flag, and difficulty level of your last started game.
Interface: Game now runs in full screen mode.
Interface: Minor tweaks to many small aspects of the interface.
New difficulty level. Rookie is the same as the old Apprentice level. The new Apprentice level lets you play the game with only a small chance of getting killed. Good for beginners to learn the game or if you just want to test out stuff.
Heavy Cannons improvement has been replaced by Improved Gunpower Storage (game effects are identical).
Game map tweaked to adjust for ship purchases (wealth and garrison values).
Fixed a bug that prevented merchant from re-initializing goods correctly in some instances (thus leading to shortage of food and other goods).
New scores now also record the difficulty level played at.
Fixed a bug that saved sailing/fencing skills incorrectly.
Fixed a bug that allowed the purchase of a letter of marque even when it should not have been available.
Fixed a bug that allowed a player downgrading ship sizes to exceed the maximum cannon rating for his new ship.
Fixed a bug that allowed an unsuccessful mutiny to reduce crew size below 5.
Fixed a bug where plundered goods were shown in the cargo view when plundering a new ship with the name 0.0
Fixed a bug that prevented the purchase price for player's good being calculated correctly in some cases.
Fixed a bug that allowed an empire to be at war with its own ally.
Some code tweaks to prevent memory leaks in the code and further reduce memory usage/force closes.

Version 1.0.4

Added a hints and tips section to the title screen.
Gameplay: Your charisma now affects how quickly crew loyalty will fall when you are out of food.
Gameplay: You can now always enter a port as long as you have a letter of marque for that country.
Gameplay: Increased the benefits of Sailing and Fencing skills in combat. This will make the game easier on Apprentice level, but harder on the highest levels.
Gameplay: Extended the time before age begins to take its toll to 1675.
Gameplay: Countries that have given you a letter of marque are now much more belligerent, so there is less risk of long years of peace.
Interface: Added information about surplus and demand (rumors) in the description of goods in the cargo/merchant view.
Interface: Rank is now mentioned in status view.
Fixed a bug that prevented players from buying Rum for their crews in the Tavern.
Fixed a bug where promotions could be bought for free.
Fixed a bug that prevented ships from reaching maximum crew when having Extra Hammocks.
Fixed a bug that prevented ships from repairing fully when improved.
Fixed a bug where save/load would allow boost ship ratings above maximum.

Version 1.0.3

Fixed another savegame bug: the treasure stash was not saved correctly.

Version 1.0.2

Gameplay: Gems are now also contraband in French territory.
Fixed bug mentioned in previous version. Savegame corruption.
Fixed a very rare bug that could cause FC when closing down the game.
Implemented fix in drawing algorithm to hopefully reduce FC due to out of memory errors (sadly impossible to entirely eliminate on all phones).

Version 1.0.1

Fixed two bugs that could cause a force close if player located in an ocean region.
Workaround to prevent another force close error until I can figure out what the problem is.

Version 1.0.0

Initial release version.