Copyright: Helpfile Generated by VB HelpWriter!


Table Of Contents
Arrrggh! - The Pirate Game

© 1996 Lost Shaker Productions, Inc.

Introduction

General Concepts

Islands

Islanders & Alignments

Species

Species Reference

Game Sequence

Setting up a Game

Selecting Players

Changing A Specific Player

Selecting A Map

Playing The Game

The Main Screen

The Toolbar

The Main Game Area

The Phase-Specific Area

Phase-Specific Screens

Buy & Place Screen

Fate Screen

Movement Planning Screen

Movement Rollout Screen

Island Conquest Screen

Loot & Pillage Screen

Strategy

Credits/Technical Info

Getting Help

Copyright 1996 by Lost Shaker Productions, Inc. - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Introduction

Arrrggh - The Pirate Game is a Windows-based game that allows you to play

the role of a pirate in a fantasy world populated by Humans, Elves, Dwarves,

Goblins, Giants, Wizards, Druids, and Wraiths.

During the game, you will compete against one to five other players, played either

by human beings sitting in the same room or by the computer itself.  The computer

players play by the same rules you do, with absolutely no unfair advantages.

The goal of the game is to have the highest score at the end of a fixed number of

turns.  Points are accumulated by conquering islands and destroying enemies.

The more islands you conquer, the more gold you receive.  Using your gold, you buy

ships, load them with pirates and/or mines, and move outward to conquer unowned

islands, or to take them from other players.

Copyright 1996 by Lost Shaker Productions, Inc. - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Islands

Some of the islands have native inhabitants, and some are uninhabited.

Each island, once conquered, yields a certain amount of gold each turn, which

you can use to build new ships, hire pirates, and buy deadly mines.

Some of the islands are primitive, and are only useful for generating income.

Others are advanced enough to be considered Ports, which means that you can

create ships, buy mines, and hire pirates on them.  On the default map, there are

twelve ports to start with, but you can convert an inhabited island to a port if

you have enough money.

Once you take an island, you own it until another player comes along and takes it

 from you.

To learn about the people living on the islands, click here.

Copyright 1996 by Lost Shaker Productions, Inc. - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Islanders & Alignments

All of the islanders in the game have prejudices for and against the different species,

which influence their behavior in certain situations.

For example, on one island, the islanders may love Wizards and Druids, feel neutral

about Elves, Dwarves, Wraiths, and Giants, and hate Goblins and Humans.  Feelings

towards the various species may change throughout the game, as players influence

the islanders with propaganda spells.

The islanders' feelings cause them to either fight to defend their homeland when a

player attempts to conquer the island (if they hate the player), or to welcome them

with open arms (neutral or loving feelings).

Also, in the case where a second player tries to conquer an island that is already

under the control of another player, the islanders may side with the defending player,

the attacking player, or they may stay completely out of the conflict.

Double-clicking on an island reveals the number of islanders on it, as well as their

feelings towards all eight species.

Copyright 1996 by Lost Shaker Productions, Inc. - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Species

Each player chooses a species to play.  Each of the species has certain

advantages and disadvantages, and different strategies are needed for each

species to really play a successful game.

The species are as follows:

Human - The base to compare all other species with.  No special traits.

Elves - Their ships are very fast, but only carry a limited number of pirates.

Dwarves - Their ships are slow, but carry many more pirates than normal.

Goblins - Goblins squeeze more money from each island they own.

Wraiths - Their ships can pass right through mines without any danger of exploding.

Giants - Strength and power give Giants the ability to kill 10% more troops than normal.

Wizards - They have the ability to magically move their ships any distance.

Druids - All islanders feel positively about Druids.

To get more detailed information about exactly what the abilities of each species are,

look in the quick reference table listed here.

Copyright 1996 by Lost Shaker Productions, Inc. - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Species Reference

Species  Max Pirates  Ship  Moves Per  Species

 Name     Per Ship    Cost    Ship     Notes

Human      100         10       3      None

Elves       70         11       4      None

Dwarves    150          9       2      None

Druids      90         10       3      All islanders either like

                                       or are neutral to them.

                                       Each turn there is a 30%

                                       chance of each of their

                                       ships going off course.

Wizards     90         11       3      Each turn they can move

                                       one ship without using

                                       any movement points.

                                       Unfortunately, half of

                                       these ships never make it.

                                       Also, they are prevented

                                       from using mines.

Goblins    100         11       3      Each turn, Goblins pick

                                       up 2-5% new pirates on

                                       each island they own,

                                       free.  Also, they collect

                                       35% more gold from each of

                                       their islands per turn.

                                       Unfortunately, all

                                       islanders either hate

                                       them or are neutral to

                                       them.

Wraiths     90         11       3      Wraiths can move through

                                       enemy mines without any

                                       damage.

Giants     100         10       3      Giants kill an extra 10%

                                       of the enemy during

                                       battles.  Because of

                                       their size, they must

                                       spend one sack of gold

                                       per 85 pirates each turn

                                       in extra supplies.

Copyright 1996 by Lost Shaker Productions, Inc. - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Game Sequence

Each game of Arrrggh is split into turns.  A game can be 7, 12, 20, or any number of

turns long.  The winner of the game is the player with the most points at the end of

a game.

Each turn is (in turn) split into six distinct phases.  All players go through a phase

before everyone moves on to the next phase.

There are two special phases that all players participate in simultaneously.

Here are the phases, along with a brief description:

Buy & Place

This is the phase where each player buys ships, hires pirates, and buys deadly mines.

Normally, the only place you can place any items you buy is on a port that you own.

Since no one owns any islands at the very start of the game, a home row is set for

each player.  Any cell of the home row can have items placed into it.  Note that this

only applies to turn 1.  Every turn after that, all items must be placed onto an owned

port.  Also, you can transfer troops between ships and/or islands (in the same cell)

during this phase.

Fate

This phase, which doesn't start until turn 2, proceeds in one of two ways.  Half of the

time you will gain a new magic scroll that you can use later in the game.  The other

half of the time something bad will happen to you, like someone steals some of your

gold, or there is a breakdown in communications during the movement phase of this

turn.  Note that some of the scrolls are phase-specific, as are some of the bad things

that can happen to you.  If a scroll or fate event are specific to a phase, the results of

the scroll or event will wait until the next occurence of that phase.

Movement Planning

This phase allows you to plan the path that your ships will take this turn.  Each

player plans their movements, and then all of the movement is rolled out

simultaneously.

Each turn, at the start of Movement Planning, you will receive a number of Movement

Points equal to the number of ships you own times the number of points per ship for

your species.  Moving a ship from one cell to another uses one Movement Point.

You are not allowed to move into a cell that has a reef in it.

You can move your ships in any order you like, and you can distribute your Movement

Points in any way you wish.  You are not required to use all of your Movement Points.

Like Buy & Place, you can transfer troops between ships and/or islands (in the same cell)

during this phase.

Movement Rollout

This is the first of two phases that are done only once, for all of the players at the same

time.  All of the planned movements are done simultaneously.  During this movement,

if enemy ships enter the same cell, they fight to the death.

Island Conquest

This phase allows you to conquer any islands you have non-empty ships on.  If there are

islanders on the island, they will either fight against you, with you, or not care about

you, depending on their alignment towards your species, and, if another player already

owns the island, the species of the island owner.  All fights for an island are to the death.

Loot & Pillage

Finally, this phase collects all of your taxes from each island you own, and adds them to

your supply of gold.

Copyright 1996 by Lost Shaker Productions, Inc. - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


The Toolbar

The toolbar has the following functionality:

Copyright 1996 by Lost Shaker Productions, Inc. - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


The Main Game Area

The Main Game Area is your window onto the game.

You can zoom in or out as much as you want by choosing the Zoom options on the

View Menu, or by using the Zoom options on the Tool Bar.

Another method of zooming in is to hold down the mouse on the Game Area, then

drag it across the screen, which will create a rectangle.  When you release the mouse

button, the rectangle will be the area you zoom to.  Notice how the rectangle keeps the

same proportions as the Game Area itself.

Double-clicking on a ship in the Game Area displays the contents of that ship.

Double-clicking on an island in the Game Area displays information about the island.

Copyright 1996 by Lost Shaker Productions, Inc. - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


The Phase-Specific Area

The Top of the Area

The left side of the screen holds all of the information you need for a specific

phase.  The top of the area contains the phase title, the current player number,

the current player species, and the current player score.

Double-click on the phase title to get information about all of the phases.

Double-click on the species name to get information about all of the species.

Double-click on the player number to get a quick summary of all of the players

in this game.

The Bottom of the Area

On the bottom of the Phase Specific Area, you will notice three buttons, labelled

DONE, UNDO, and SCROLLS.

These three buttons are usually available, depending on what has happened at

this point in the game.

The DONE button is always used to indicate when you are done with a particular

phase of the game.  Additionally, it is used to unpause the game when it has been

paused.  Depending on the circumstances, the program may ask you if you are sure

before it goes ahead.

The UNDO button is used to undo the last thing you've done.  The exact actions

depend on which phase you are playing.  For example, in Buy & Place, UNDO causes

the last purchase you've made to be refunded to you.  In Movement Planning, it

undoes the last move of the last ship you moved.  The UNDO button is always

grayed out when there is nothing to undo.

The SCROLLS button is used to give you access to your scrolls at any point of the game.

Click on it to give you a list of the scrolls you currently own.

Copyright 1996 by Lost Shaker Productions, Inc. - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Buy & Place Screen

This screen is displayed only during the Buy & Place phase.

This help topic talks about how to perform various actions during Buy & Place.

For information about the phase itself, click here.

Buying Ships, Hiring Men, or Buying Mines

To buy an empty ship, click on the ship picture.  To buy a fully loaded ship, right-click

on the ship picture.

To hire 10 pirates, click on the pirate picture.  To hire a ship's complement of pirates,

right-click on the pirate picture.

To buy a mine, click on the mine picture.

Once you click on one of these pictures, your cursor will change to a bulls-eye, and the

text above the pictures will change to tell you how much gold remains, how many ships,

pirates and mines you have, and how many items you are about to place.  You can click

on one of the pictures over and over to buy multiple items at once.

Placing the Items

At the beginning of Buy & Place, all of the valid places you can place new items are

selected.  For turn 1, this is your home row.  For all other turns, it is all of your ports.  You

can place new items on tiles or on an island only if the cell in which the tile or island resides

in is highlighted.  If you have no selected cells, you cannot place any items, and therefore,

you cannot buy any either.

Place the cursor on the Main Game Area, over the cell or tile you wish to place the items in,

and click.  If you have placed the item in an incorrect cell, simply click on the UNDO button.

To add pirates to an island or ship you own, simply drop the pirates onto the existing tile or

island.  Use the same procedure for placing mines on a ship.

Once you buy, if you decide you do not wish to place the items, click on the UNDO button,

or anywhere else in the general Buy & Place area.  The items you purchased will be returned,

and your money will be refunded.

Copyright 1996 by Lost Shaker Productions, Inc. - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Fate Screen

This screen is displayed only during the Fate phase.

This help topic talks about how to perform various actions during Fate.

For information about the phase itself, click here.

During Fate, you will either gain a new scroll, or you will have something bad happen

to you.

If you find a new scroll, you will be notified of this.  Click on the SCROLLS button to see

your new scroll.

If something unfortunate happens, the description will be shown in the large white box.

If other things need to be shown (for example, if an island you own is spied upon), the

additional information is usually shown in the Main Game Area.

Copyright 1996 by Lost Shaker Productions, Inc. - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Movement Planning Screen

This screen is displayed only during the Movement Planning phase.

This help topic talks about how to perform various actions during Movement Planning.

For information about the phase itself, click here.

At the beginning of this phase, all of your ships will be selected.  Simply click on one of

your ships to select it.  Once a ship is selected, the picture of a pirate and a mine in the

Movement Planning Screen will have numbers associated with them, indicating how many

pirates and mines are aboard the selected ship.

Once a ship is selected, all of the valid cells it can move to are highlighted.  Move by

left clicking in one of the highlighted cells.  To plan the dropping of a mine, click with the

right mouse button in a highlighted cell, or in the cell your ship is currently in.  This will

indicate dropping a mine without moving.

You can switch between ships at any time, simply by clicking.  You can undo movement

planning by using the UNDO button.  You can undo moves for the selected ship at any

time.

If you are playing the Wizards, or you have played a Magic Movement scroll, you can

move one of your ships to any cell on the board.  Simply select the ship you wish to

move, and then click in the cell you want the ship to move to.

Copyright 1996 by Lost Shaker Productions, Inc. - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Movement Rollout Screen

This screen is displayed only during the Movement Rollout phase.

This help topic talks about how to perform various actions during Movement Rollout.

For information about the phase itself, click here.

Since Movement Rollout is an all players phase, the player number, species and score at

the top of the screen is not shown.

A step-by-step description of this turn's movement is presented in the text box in the

Movement Rollout Screen.  Simply scroll up or down to view the history of this turn's

movement.

Copyright 1996 by Lost Shaker Productions, Inc. - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Island Conquest Screen

This screen is displayed only during the Island Conquest phase.

This help topic talks about how to perform various actions during Island Conquest.

For information about the phase itself, click here.

At the start of Island Conquest, all of the islands that are candidates for conquest are

selected.  An island is eligible if you have one or more non-empty ships on it.

To get information about an island, click on it.  The Island Conquest Screen on the left

will display information about the yields and population of the island.  If there are

islanders, their attitudes towards you (and, optionally, towards the current owner of the

island) will be highlighted.

To try and take an island, choose how many pirates you wish to commit to the conquest

by using the slider control, then click on Try To Take Island.  There will be a battle if the

island is owned by someone else, or if the islanders hate you.

Copyright 1996 by Lost Shaker Productions, Inc. - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Loot & Pillage Screen

This screen is displayed only during the Loot & Pillage phase.

This help topic talks about how to perform various actions during Loot & Pillage.

For information about the phase itself, click here.

Since Loot & Pillage is an all players phase, the player number, species and score at

the top of the screen is not shown.

The graph shows each player's total gold, which is broken down into gold reserves,

and gold received this turn in taxes of the owned islands.  The total height of each

bar in the graph indicates the amount of gold available for next turn's Buy & Place.

Copyright 1996 by Lost Shaker Productions, Inc. - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Strategy

Much of the strategy you play with in Arrrggh! depends on your species, as well as

the species of the other players.  Since there are many thousands of these combinations,

what we offer here are some general tips to improve your game:

Ports are absolutely crucial to success.  The beginning of the game should be

devoted mostly to moving through islands as fast as possible, looking for a port.

Without a port, any gold you collect is relatively useless.

Since ports with enemy ships on them are not eligible for placing items during

Buy & Place, it is imperative to keep your ports free of enemy ships.  Do this by

placing enough ships of your own to fight off any enemies that may arrive.

Mobility is important in Arrrggh.  Be sure to buy lots of ships to get the Movement

Points.

Since the winner of the game is the player with the most points, it pays to focus on

high-value islands, like ports or islands with high yields.  Sometimes the player

with the most islands will actually have less points than another player.  Also, since

you get points for combat, it never hurts to try and take an island on the last turn,

whether you have a chance of taking it or not.

Scoring is handled as follows:

100 points per sack of gold yield for each island you own, once per turn

100 points for each enemy ship you destroy

1 point for each enemy pirate or islander you kill

Copyright 1996 by Lost Shaker Productions, Inc. - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Credits/Technical Info

Credits

Arrrggh! was designed by Greg Sommerville and Ashley Backus.

All programming, graphics and sound work was done by Greg Sommerville.

Testing, tuning, and balancing by Ashley Backus.

Play testing by William Watt, Andy Pedersen, John Concini, and Paul Kopcak.

Moral Support by Mary Anne Pedersen

Technical Info

Arrrggh was written entirely in Microsoft Visual Basic 3.0 (Professional).

It's roughly 18,000 lines long, and took about a year and a half of nights

and weekends to finish.

Graphics were done using POV-Ray, a great freeware ray tracing program.

Check out www.povray.org for more details.

Copyright 1996 by Lost Shaker Productions, Inc. - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Getting Help

Registered owners of Arrrggh! are eligible for technical support.  Contact us at:

Lost Shaker Productions, Inc.

317 S. Division

Suite 45

Ann Arbor, MI 48104

Or by e-mail, to:

gsommer@dial.cic.net

Obviously, e-mail is much quicker.

Copyright 1996 by Lost Shaker Productions, Inc. - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Selecting Players

This screen allows you to choose which species you will play, as well as the number

and species of your opponants.

Clicking on a player's button (the long buttons) will take you to the

Player Information Screen for that player.

Clicking on the OK button takes you to the Select A Map screen.

Clicking on the Random Species button will randomly assign species to all computer

players in this game.

Copyright 1996 by Lost Shaker Productions, Inc. - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Changing A Specific Player

This screen allows you to choose the species you wish to play, the name under

which you will be known, and your color.  Choosing a species will show you

information about that species, including how many pirates you can place on a

ship, the cost of a ship, and any special traits they may have.

Note that only three of the species are available in the shareware version of the

program.  These three are Human, Elves, and Giants.  To obtain the other five

species, please see the information about registering under the help menu in the

game.

Copyright 1996 by Lost Shaker Productions, Inc. - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Selecting A Map

The final stage in starting a game of Arrrggh! is to select a map to play.

Select a map by clicking on the map name on the left, then clicking on OK.

This will start the game.

The available maps are all files that end in .ARM (Arrrggh Map Files) that are

in the Arrrggh game directory.

The shareware version of the game does not allow you to play any maps,

other than the default map.  By purchasing the Registered version of the

game, you will receive twenty-four new maps, as well as a map editor program,

which allows you to create your own maps.

Copyright 1996 by Lost Shaker Productions, Inc. - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.