YAC (Yet Another Cheat)

[Sea Scourge]

You say you're tired of the cowardly bilge rats you've been getting as recruits from cruises? You say more unskilled captives have washed ashore or been dumped on you by a patron than you know what to do with? Do this then:

1) Set the cruise option to walk the plank. With the update you still get the rich and skilled captives.
2) Go to the captive demographic screen and find a high courage, high leadership captive.
3) Save the game.
4) Send the press gang out and shanghai your candidate.
5) If he doesn't meet your high standards restore and try again. Sooner or later you should get a quality pirate.

If you object to the cheat of save/reload at least you'll have a pirate worth educating. No more recruits for me. Over the side with 'em even if I have to raid settlements for captives.

[blackbeardscurse]

 ???That's a little confusing.

[Sea Scourge]

That's a little confusing.

What part don't you understand If you get high quality recruits as a result of cruising then I guess it wouldn't make much sense but my experience has been that I wind up with recruits with level 1 courage and below average all round skills that I'd like to kick off my island.

[blackbeardscurse]

Oh OK now I get it.

[Severous]

Just a thought...each pirate recruit comes with $75 in his purse and contributes to the island score - both as an additional pirate and due to their high happiness score.

My recuits are fully happy...its releif at being captured by a leader needing overseers and not at being captured by the unsrcupulas cheating pirate peasant SeaScourge.  He has a notoriety, thoroughly deserved on his 300 cruises, of walking planks and tying crew by their bootstraps to those surplus cannons and sending them to Davey Jones locker .

[Coffeebean]

I've been doing "a cheat" but I don't know if it makes any difference or not. Perhaps I should test it.

When I place a farm, if it is surrounded by trees I build roads all round which takes out the trees. Then I demolish all the extra road, leaving a nice green tree free area for planting.

Has anyone noticed if the farmers have to remove trees before planting and if this takes them time?

[Severous]

Coffeebean

Farmers dont touch the trees, plants or rocks in Trop2 but work around them.  Had a hundred year sample long enough to confirm it.

The trees will die out of their own accord over time - but not so the plants (and rocks). Big black dead tree is not a tree for this purpose but a plant that like the others will never disappear.

Use the delete vegetation button to manually clear out the obstructions?  Roads work for this purpose but careful not to pave over a crop square.  

I used roads to remove some crop squares once.  Wanted to replant them using better skilled farmers and delete vegistation doesnt work on crops.

[Sea Scourge]

He has a notoriety, thoroughly deserved on his 300 cruises, of walking planks and tying crew by their bootstraps to those surplus cannons and sending them to Davey Jones locker .

Aarrrr,  they doesn't call me Sea Scourge for nothin'. Death! Destruction! Spitting on sidewalks! Really, really bad things!
If I need $75 I just go steal it.
As you pointed out, getting the pirates you want on ships can be a real pain so I've decided to try recruiting only pirates with high courage and leadership to start with. If my plan works it won't make much difference which pirates wind up where cos they'll all be good.

I was wondering about trees around farms. It seems like when I clear the trees the farmers have planted there anyhow so I wasn't sure whether to clear or not. From what you said I take it it's best to clear?

[Severous]

SeaScourge - Try this link to another thread on trees and plants.

http://dynamic3.gamespy.com/~tropico/cafe/index.php?board=18;action=display;threadid=7214

My advice if you dont mind a bare island: clear out all the plants and rocks.  Leaves more space for farmers and maybe, just maybe, more space for natuaral trees to reseed themselves.

[Coffeebean]

Use the delete vegetation button to manually clear out the obstructions?

I should probably look this up on another thread and I'm a bit embarrassed about not knowing of this button before, but could you tell me what it is?

[Severous]

Heres your button..but dont tell LotEf..not a very green thing we are doing.  

[Coffeebean]

ARF!!!!    
I'm even more emarrassed than I was before!
I thought using roads to clear trees was a cheat - and there's a button for it in the game! When you referred to "the delete vegetation button" I assumed it was a cheat code!

*hides head in shame*

[Clever duck]

When I place a farm, if it is surrounded by trees I build roads all round which takes out the trees. Then I demolish all the extra road, leaving a nice green tree free area for planting.

  (18 months later...)

  The remove vegetation tool (in the update) when used with CTRL for multiple removal switches off if you don't click on a tree.

  Quicker tree-clearance:  build timber camps over trees (building roads for them if necessary) then demolish them.