OK. I've decided to split. Here's the first part of the first update. Enjoy!
The Galleon Theft
Let's get started, shall we?
At the start of the game, you get a prompt to change the main character's name. I think Catalina is fine as it is.
This is the city screen. In the top-right of the screen we can see that we're currently in
Seville, the capital (?) of Spain, in the region of Iberia. Under that are the information about the port. I'll explain those later. In the top-left is the current time. Finally, your fame and wealth are displayed in the bottom-left. Fame gives you various bonuses and is necessary to progress in the story. Gold coins and gold ingots are the currency in this game. One gold ingot is equal to 10,000 gold coins. Right now, Catalina is completely broke.
The small building right north of us, the one with an anchor sign, is the harbor. Let's go in!
Hmm. Gotta find the headquarters then.
Let's walk around in the port a bit. In ports you can find wandering NPCs that speaks something when you bump into them, as well as various buildings, though not every kind of building is present in every port.
Some buildings, like this one, are just for decoration. You can't actually enter them. Generally speaking, the buildings without signs near the door are decorations, though there are exceptions.
By the way, one of the cool things about this game is that
every port has a unique, hand-made layout. There aren't many ports with big lakes like this one, but Seville is one of them.
In all capital cities you can find a huge building in the northern parts of the city. That's the palace.
Unfortunately, since Catalina isn't of nobility, the guards won't let her in. All other characters can eventually become nobles by raising their fame, but Catalina can't ever become noble for reasons that will soon become apparente.
Anyway, the headquarters is located in the northeastern corner of the city. It could take a while to find.
"The Commander? Is it about my missing brother?"
"Well... I think you should hear it from the Commander."
"Well, I have some news about your brother, Michael. We lost contact with his fleet on April 10, 1522, off the coast of Santo Domingo."
"My brother... I just can't believe it. He's one of the best sailors in the navy. Besides, he has Hernan in his fleet."
"Yes, Michael was a capable man. His first mate, your fiance Hernan, was also a brave man. But we got a report this morning from a fleet we sent to investigate the matter. All they found were the remains of a shipwreck. The entire fleet was terribly damaged, and there was no one on board. The cause of the destruction is unknown. It could have been a storm, or perhaps someone attacked them..."
"But this flag was found on the wreck... It's Michael's. I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but I'm afraid he didn't make it."
"I... He didn't... but..."
"I understand your grief, but I'm sure he would want you to be brave at a time like this. Lieutenant Sanude, please escort Lieutenant Erantzo safely to her quarters."
"I'm so sorry, Catalina. It's all so sudden... he was my commanding officer as well as my best friend. I vow to find out what happened. Let's go to the pub. I'll buy you a glass of wine."
The pub is the building with a goblet sign.
Also, there's
always a dog in front of a pub.
"Two glasses of wine, please."
"Emilio, it just doesn't make sense. I just can't believe my brother would be lost in a storm."
"I agree."
"And I can't believe that a Spanish fleet would be attacked."
"It could be the Carribean pirates that attacked the fleet. They'll regret it! As long as I'm in the navy, they'll never rest."
"What are you going to do now?"
"I'm a naval officer, Catalina. I'll do some investigating whenever I stop at a port, and eventually I'll find out what happened to them. Actually, those men are talking about that very thing, right now."
"Hey, Giovanni, have ye heard the latest gossip?"
"Aye, a Royal Naval Fleet disappeared in the Carribean sea. There's whispers that Black Beard did it."
"Aye, but I hear 'tis only a yarn. One of me mates says some Portuguese salts are involved. He says that they set fire to the fleet when it was resupplying in Santo Domingo. Rumor has it that the attacking ship was flying a flag with the red cross of the Malta Knights."
"What? That's the flag of Duke Franco's private battle fleet!"
Hmph, that sounds like something that Leon Franco would do. He probably did a lot of piracy back in UW1 after all
"Arrrgh, ye never can trust those Portuguese."
"Excuse me, but could you repeat that?"
"Who in the blazes are ye?"
"I'm a lieutenant in the Royal Navy. Are you sure that what you just said is true?"
"Well, I don't know for certain, but the rumor is spreading like wildfire among my men."
"Come on Emilio, I want to tell Commander Ezequiel about this."
"And?"
"And I'll request permission to seek out and destroy the Francos."
"What is it, Lieutenant?"
"I know who is responsible for the attack on my brothers fleet."
"O RLY?"
"It's Duke Franco of Portugal. Please give me a battleship and soldiers to avenge Michael and Hernan. Please, Commander, I'm begging you! I must have my revenge!"
"Lieutenant Erantzo, do you have any idea what you're saying?"
"W, Well..."
"I don't know where you heard that rumor, but one thing is clear: Attacking the Francos will cause a full-fledged war between Spain and Portugal. Forget your absurd ideas of revenge. Return to your duties, at once."
Catalina was then kicked out from the headquarters. When she attemped to enter again:
"Then what should I do?"
"I can't tell you to give up, but..."
But what? Let's go to the pub again.
"I'm going to quit the Navy."
"What?!"
"As long as I'm in the Navy, I can't avenge the loss of my brother, or my fiance."
"But the Francos are powerful. It's impossible for a mere civilian to defeat the Duke of Portugal!"
"It's so easy to give up now, isn't it?"
"Who are you?"
"Nobody important. But I don't like your attitude. Give up without trying? Run away because you can't win? Is that how honourable Spanish Naval officers behave?"
"Who IS this guy? Catalina, let's get out of here. He's just another crazy drunk."
"Wait, Emilio. I've finally made up my mind."
"What? What did you decide?"
"Emilio, I need your help."
"I'll do whatever I can."
"Then come with me to the harbor."
At the harbor:
"I'm going to take a ship from the Spanish Navy."
"Are you crazy?!"
Oh, don't worry, Emilio. If there's anything that the Gundam series has taught me, it's that stealing powerful military prototypes carries practically zero risk. 
"No, not at all. I just remembered, you have a ship - the ship carrying gold from the New World."
"But that's treason! Commander Ezquiel will wring my neck, have me fired!"
"Afraid of a little danger, Lieutenant?"
"Don't move, or I'll shoot. I don't want to hurt you. I just want a hostage, right now. I'll drop you off at a neutral port. Until then please cooperate with me, Emilio! I'm really sorry to get you involved, but I have no other choice."
"Alright, Catalina."
"What?"
"I'll join your mission. But you'll have to command that ship. The ringleader of a treachrous act has no hope if he, or she, gets caught. But an accomplice may be able to get away with just a simple prison sentence."
"That's more like it! Now, let's talk strategy."
"Well, you're the commodore. Name your flagship."
"Hmm... What do you think of 'Rebel?'"
"Rebel, huh? Why, I can't think of a more suitable name for the flagship of a lady pirate."
"Then, let's get our rebellion started!"
"Wait a minute. There must be some gold bars left on this ship. We should sell the gold bars and get some spending money first."
"That's a good plan. I'll have to remember to sell them when we get a chance."
...And now we have a ship!
Before we can sail out, we must first buy supplies at the dock. Food and water are necessary for your crew to survive. Lumber is used to repair your ship. Shot is needed to fire guns. The Rebel already has 150 units of food and water on board, plus 50 units of cannonballs.
Let's dick around in the port a little before we sail out. Note that since it's now dusk, the scenery is a bit darker than before.
First, let's talk a look at the four command tabs on the right side of the screen. The first tab is Fleet.
Fleet Info gives us an image about our fleet. Right now there's only one ship in our fleet.
Ship Info gives more detailed infomation about our ships. Most characters start the game with a lame-ass small ship. However, Catalina gets a bitchin'
Galleon to start with (and Otto also gets one shortly after starting), allowing her to start pirating right away.
Cargo Info gives info about, uh, our cargo. Log of Goods also does that, and tells us where we should sell the goods. But since we don't have a bookkeeper, it's useless.
The second tab is about Crew.
Change Job Duty allows us to assign our mates to one of the three jobs. Emilio is assigned to First Mate by default, and he'll likely remain this way.
The Assign Crew command is
very important. It allows us to change the number of crew doing each job.
Crew assigned to Navigation determines the speed of our fleet. Lookout determines our field of vision. Combat determines how well we do in combat.
Crew assigned to Combat are completely useless outside combat, and crew assigned to Navigation and Lookout are completely useless in combat. As you might guess, this leads to a lot of micromanagement.
The Wage command allows us to increase the wage of our mates to make them more loyal to us. The plot-critical mates, such as Emilio, are always perfectly loyal.
The Ration command allows us to decrease the rate at which our crew consume the rations - for a price. I've never actually used this command because it's very rare to run out of foods or water.
The third tab is about various infomation.
The Mate Info command displays information about our mates, including the protagonist. Some explanations: the "Loyal to X" line is about the character's nationality. Catalina is a bit of a special case; she's not loyal to any of the countries, and her nationality is instead shown to be "Piracy". The seven attributes are shown on the left. Frankly, I don't remember what they do, how do I raise them, or if they could be raised at all. The "Rank" line shows Catalina's rank of nobility. For obvious reasons, she'll never become a noble, so this line is useless for her. Navigation Level determines how fast our fleet can go, and Battle Level determines our ability to kill dudes. Finally, Catalina also knows the Gunnery skill, which makes her gunshots more deadly. Unfortunately, guns in general are rather underwhelming in this game, so it doesn't actually help her much.
Here's Emilio's character sheet. He knows the
Celestial Navigation skill, which allows him to use sextants as well as enabling autosail.
Hero Info tells us about our wealth, fame, and our standing with the nations. Note that there're 3 types of fame. Trade fame is raised by investing and doing quests, Piracy fame is raised by, well, piracy, and Adventure fame is raised by discovering stuff. Having a high fame gives various benefits, and is also necessary to progress in the story. Note that Joao, Pietro and Ernst needs Adventure fame, Otto and Catalina needs Piracy fame, and Ali needs Trade fame to progress in the story.
The Chart command lets us take a look at the world map. At the beginning of the game, only the area surrounding Mediterranean and Northern Europe has been mapped out.
You can also click on the map to get a zoomed-in look at the selected area.
Port Map does what it says on the tin.
The fourth tab, Navigation, mostly contains commands that are only useful on sea. However, we can also save/load games or adjust game options here.
Here's the config menu.
The NPCs in a town often gives helpful advice.
By the way, let's take a look at another portion of the port.
Rather than giving gameplay advice, some NPCs will instead talk about historical stuff.
The old man in the front of the lodge will always tell you about the speciality of the port you're in.
More random images.
We can receive quests at the guild.
The available quests are randomly generated each month.
Hmmm... I think I'll take the transport goods one.
The market is where we do merchantly things.
The Market Rate command tells us the price index of each particular category of goods. It's not quite the same as the "Price Index" part on the right part of the screen, which also affects the price of ships, repairs, supplies, etc.
There're 10 gold bars on Rebel. I don't think you get a much better deal selling them at another port than just selling them in Seville, so I'm gonna sell them right now.
We sold the gold for 10400 gold coins. The market dude was unsuspecting. (Fun fact about UW2 economy: gold coins and ingots always have the same value, but gold bars doesn't)
We could also buy various goods here, but I chose not to.
Let's visit the Church. The church is an important place, because it's related to the protagonist's luck. Luck is a hidden attribute that is randomly decided at the start of the game. AFAIK, the only way to raise one's luck is to pray or donate in a church.
Right now Catalina doesn't have much money, so she'll just pray. Praying is free, but it barely affects your luck at all. Donating raises luck much faster.
Speaking of luck, let's pay a visit to the local fortune teller.
The fortune teller's service is very cheap.
Divination about "Life" gives you a general idea of your current luck score.
Divination about "Career" tells you how many experience you need to reach the next navigation and battle level. It's not too useful.
Divination about "Mates" tells you about a mate's luck and loyalty to you.
It's nighttime now! All the NPCs are gone, and most buildings have closed down.
Let's go to the lodge and sleep. We'll set off tomorrow. I'm sure nothing will go wrong.
Huh? Maybe we should visit the pub before we go to sleep.
Let's meet the people here.
Emilio didn't say anything particularly noteworthy.
Oh, hey! You're the guy spreading rumors before!
Let's gossip a bit first.
Hmmm. Interesting.
Now let's buy him a drink and try hiring him. This guy probably has crappy stats, but more mates - even crappy ones - are very helpful for a pirate character.
Your success in recruiting a character is determined by many factors. I'm entirely sure how it works, but I think it's related to your level and stats. Also, if you met someone in a pub, always buy him a few bottles before trying to hire him. If he said "You ship? No thanks", that means you haven't treated him enough drinks, so buy some more and try again.
However, if he says this, then you're simply not good enough to hire him. Better give up now.
This is the other guy we met in the pub earlier.
Sadly, he too wouldn't join our fleet.
We went back to the lodge and slept. The night passed uneventfully.
Time to sail put at last!
Turned out that we have too many crew and too little supplies to last for long. Maybe we should resupply.
We loaded 150 units of food and water each. If you're going to adventure, it's generally a good idea to have slightly more food than water. It's not terribly important though.
Seems much better now. Off we go!
Immediately after leaving Seville, our crew on lookout discovered the port of
Ceuta. Most of the ports in this game are hidden at the start, and only becomes visible after your outlook has seen it once.
Anyway, let's take a look at the navigating interface. Most of the stuff are fairly intuitional. "Range" is the vision range of our outlook, and "Health" is the general health of our crew. Health begins to drop rapidly when your fleet has run out of foods and water, and when health hits 0 the crew start dying. On the right side, "Wind" shows the direction and power of the wind at the fleet's current position. Wind has a major impact on the fleet's speed, especially for ships that are mostly wind-powered. Current also affects the fleet's speed, albeit the effect is much less notable. Speed is the current speed of the fleet, measured by
knots.
By the way, now that we're on the sea, some more commands from the four submenus become clickable. Let's first take a look at our journal. It's not terribly intersting right now, and will probably never be.
Here's the navigation menu. Auto Sail does what it says on the tin. You can only autosail to ports you've already discovered, and you can't autosail unless you commodore or first mate knows the Celestial Navigation skill. I've almost never used this function. The View, Gossip and Battle commands are used to interact with NPC fleets.
By the way, remember when I said that Catalina's starting Galleon allows her to start pirating right away? Well, I did mean
right away - we're going to pirate right now! Let's park our ship at the Strait of Gibraltar and wait for some unlucky sucker to show up...
Ah! Here it comes! Yellow sails detone an NPC fleet.
How lucky - it's a Portuguese fleet, too! These Portuguese scums are about to taste the wrath of Catalina!
Always assign all crew to combat before going into a battle! The ship speed in combat is completely unaffected by the number of crew assigned to navigation (even though it probably should), so there's literally no reason to ever leave anyone assigned to navigation or lookout before going into combat. This is the biggest combat exploit in the game.
No. I'm afraid you're not anymore.
TO ARMS! DEATH TO THE PORTUGUESE!
Hmph. That fucker thinks he has the advantage!
...Though to be perfectly honest, he kind of has a point. Our fleet is heavily outnumbered, both in ships and crew.
Raphael's fleet consists of five Flemish Galleons and two Light Galleys. The Light Galleys are pretty unimpressive. The Flemish Galleons, on the other hand...
Holy shit! Every single of them has 180 crew aboard! Out fleet, on the other hand, only has a meager 120 crew in total.
Will Catalina be able to win the battle despite the overwhelming odds? Find out in the next part of the update!
totally not gay at all.
