r/todayilearned • u/DueNeedleworker5036 • 4h ago

TIL that the Civilizations games (and others) include creator Sid Meier's name in the title because Robin Williams joked that it would help sell more copies of 1987's Sid Meier's Pirates.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_Meier#MicroProse
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u/SaturnCITS 3h ago

It probably still holds up, which is crazy for how old it is. I'm not aware of any pirate game covering the same niche that has dethroned it from the top of that genre. Black flag is obviously great too but it's a completely different genre.

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u/Mosselpot 47m ago

It's insane that this exists, Ubisoft having black flag, and Ubisoft going with skull and bones instead of using the blueprint of Sid Meier's pirates!... They could have had such a hit...

Also was about to abbreviate to SM Pirates, which also would be a hit but for other reasons

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u/Darth_stilton 43m ago

The worst thing they did for skull and bones was the free weekend/demo. Ive been desperate for a good pirate game for years. A sort of sea of thieves for adults that was more fleshed out. Ive never been so dissapointed by a game, atleast they saved me £50. 

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u/MoffKalast 9m ago

There are so many unnecessary rereleases, remasters and whatevers of like 5 year old games these days, but this one would be a genuine masterpiece if brought up to modern standards. Such a no brainer.

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u/Obvious-Lake3708 3h ago

Winward is the closest but it still pales against Pirates

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u/SaturnCITS 3h ago

I hadn't heard of it and looked it up. The world being procedurally generated alone sounds way worse.

I don't dislike procedural in all cases, like Minecraft and Valheim can churn out some insanely beautiful worlds, but most of the time exploring hand crafted worlds is way better.

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u/Obvious-Lake3708 3h ago

Yeah it doesn’t compare to Pirates but is the closest at least looking wise.

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u/okaycompuperskills 2h ago

Uncharted Waters 2

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u/LarryCraigSmeg 2h ago

Also a great game. I played the shit out of it on Sega Genesis.

I won’t claim it’s better than Pirates! But if you liked Pirates! and want something similar, give it a try.

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u/Boogada42 2h ago

Pirates! 1987 does still hold up.