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Interesting 19th century naval trade simulation with good ideas and strategic ideas let down by some really annoying technical glitches.

'1869' starts strangely not in that year but in 1854. The object of the game is to establish your shipping firm as the main world tradeing force against 7 other computer controlled firms. To do this you must establish a base in one of 5 ports worldwide, build a fleet and trade goods between around 40 different ports worldwide. Each location has certain items that you can trade on for maximum profits at another world port. These mirror closely real life distribution of resources at the time. For example you can buy sugar cheaply in Havana and resell at a large profit in northern Europe. Unfortunately unless you have a large fast ship you’ll lose money at the start on many routes as crew salariues, warehouse fees and interest on your loans will eat away at your profits.

The simulation of trade is very well done and right from the start you have to cope with some tricky questions. Should you get a loan out to buy a better ship at the outset ? Should you round up the dregs of the port to crew your vessel for cost over quality ? How about a spot of risky but profitable arms dealing ? Lots of interesting decisions to be made and the game is extremely challenging at the outset as you try to consolidate your empire. I went bust within 3 years for the first couple of times I played the game and if you like business orientated games and a good challenge then “1869” will reward your efforts.

The problem with the game is that while the ideas are good the execution is often extremely annoying. The graphics are charming and easy on the eye but the interface is tricky to use and gets extremely annoying after a while. Worse still the version I downloaded didn’t seem to have a working “save” function so I could never continue my efforts. Finally the game would often end with a caption of a peg legged sailor begging informing me that I was useless without giving me any reason. Pirates ? Bankruptcy ? Mutiny ? You never got to find out.

Max Design the game’s designers went on to do some great trade flavored games and this one has its good points but the glitches make it an annoying experience.

Like many other games this one has its good points as well as bad one. The game is based around trading around the world with your own ship, in the second half of the 19th century. The player has a choice of several starting locations for your future trading empire. When you select a location you will need to buy a ship from the local shipyard, and hire a crew to sail it.
The game is set in an interesting time period. When you start the game the Crimerian War has been going on for about the year, and heaps of other events that happened during this time frame will affect how you play your game. You can try to run a blockade, or to pull into port in an unstable part of the globe, it's all up to you.
There are a fair number of items you can trade. The trading system is very logical, so that Europe will demand strange tropical goods, while exporting machines, textiles, etc. The graphics in the game are very decent, and will generally improve the experience that you will get from playing the game. Like many of these old games, 1869 allows you to interact with the game world many funny ways. For example the player can have a drink with the fellows at the docks, to find our any hot news that’s been going around. The game play is interesting enough to keep you occupied for a while at least.
Finally the closing word is that the game is a little difficult at the beginning, but if you try to scout what the surrounding ports import and export, you should be able to locate a profitable trade route. One important thing to remember is to always take care of your ship and crew, they are your best friend as well as your worst enemy.
Happy sailing sailor!

1869, es el nombre de un juego basado en la fundación y posterior gestión de una compańía internacional de comercio. En este juego tu eres el gerente, y tu compańía comienza con un almacén (la primera sucursal) en una ciudad costera centroeuropea. Desde allí tienes que conseguir tu primer barco y comenzar el comercio entre distintas ciudades. En cada ciudad hay ciertas productos a la venta y demanda de otros, cada uno a un precio diferente. Puedes abrir un almacén o no, puedes pedir créditos, ir al astillero donde comprarás o encargarás barcos, también contratar tripulaciones...Así hasta crear un emporio comercial marítimo mundial. El juego comienza en el ańo 1869 y sigue a lo largo de los ańos que escojas, influyendo en él los acontecimientos políticos.

El manejo del juego es un poco difícil, tardas en familiarizarte, no tiene sonido, pero tampoco se le echa de menos y los gráficos son aceptables.

A mi el juego no me gustó demasiado, pero el que le guste un juego basado en el comercio avanzado puede estar interesado en él

The product of Austrian game developers, this intriguing release is one of the many games based on some form of freight. In this case, the medium is shipping with 17th century sea vessels. While there is no laying of tracks, the game is comparable to Railroad Tycoon in the sense that one must identify and exploit lucrative routes while remaining alert for opportunities to earn bonuses by dealing with special shipments. Setbacks sometimes occur in the form of random events, but there is little one can do in the way of planning to deal with those problems. The game offers a multiplayer mode, but competition remains confined to the economic level. Even so, it is an excellent addition to collections that include similar games like Machievelli: Merchant Prince or Air Bucks.

Prosta gra w której wcielamy się w postać kapitana statku handlowego, a zarazem przedsiębiorcy, który dąży do zbudowania imperium handlowego oplątującego cały świat :).
Gra polega na kupowaniu towarów i następnie odsprzedawaniu ich w innych portach z zyskiem. Nie zawsze się to udaje, bo albo w porcie docelowym nie kupują danego rodzaju towaru lub kupują, ale mają akurat wystarczającą jego ilość w magazynie, ostatecznie mogą kupować ale za cenę niższą niż go kupiliśmy. Dodatkowo zmagamy się z plagami: sztormy, bunty załogi (jak na czas im nie zapłacimy), wojny między państwami, niepokoje społeczne w portach do których zawitamy. To wszystko powoduje, że gra ma dużo ścieżek którymi możemy kroczyć. Aby dodać smaczku w grze istnieje możliwość kupowania nowych statków a na dodatek można sobie zamówić całkiem nową jednostkę wg. 'naszego projektu'. Można budować magazyny w portach docelowych po to aby tam złożyć nasze towary i sprzedać je gdy będzie na nie popyt. W tym czasie możemy wieźć do innego portu kolejne dobra.
Gra jest ciekawa mimo prostego interfejsu, ale w końcu chodzi o dobrą zabawę a nie o grę w której klikamy i reszta sama się toczy :)