Name: Uncharted Waters II: New Horizons
Platform: Sega Genesis / Mega Drive
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Gamepad
Genre: Role Playing Game
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1994
Developer: Koei
Publisher: Koei
Players: 1
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In the first Uncharted Waters game, it was the 15th century and the New World was discovered. Now in New Horizons, it is the early 16th century and the age of exploration and sea trade is underway. Players choose from any one of six adventurers (scenarios), each with their own distinctive but intertwining plot, to embark on a quest of sailing, seamanship and exploration. The six characters are:

- Joao Franco is the son of Duke Leon Franco, the hero of the first Uncharted Waters game and an influential man in Portugal. His father wants to make him into a strong man and so decides to send him out to sea. Young Joao is tasked with learning the skills of the sailor (he is the only character who starts at level one) and embarking on a quest of discovery; reaching the far east and eventually looking for the secret of Atlantis.

- Catalina Erantzo is a Spanish naval officer who believes her beloved and her brother were both murdered by the Portuguese armada. Vowing revenge she turns to a life of piracy and soon becomes a red haired scourge of the seas.

- Pietro Conti is a indebted man, having inherited the financial woes of the Conti family. When the Duchess Franco hires him to spy on her son, he accepts the job and obtains a ship. Pietro hopes to use these resources to seek out valuable treasure and clear up his family's debt.

- Ernst Von Bohr is a geographer who is teaching classes in Holland. But he yearns to leave the classroom and sail the high seas, living a life of adventure that he has only read about in books. When his friend, Mercator offers to finance his initial voyage in exchange for cartography information about the world, Ernst is given the opportunity to live out his dream.

- Ali Vezas is a poor orphaned child living in Istanbul and serving others. He dreams of becoming his own master and making his own fortune across foreign lands. A twist of fate aides in providing him with small loans, with which he is able to afford his first ship and sail out with a cargo hold full of goods...

- Otto Baynes styles himself a Royal Knight of the British Empire, in the service of his majesty the king. Promoted to Admiral of the British fleet, the kingdom is worried about the increased naval power of Spanish fleets. Otto is given a letter of marque by the king and ordered to terrorize the Spanish Fleet. Equipping himself simply at first, Otto strives to become a great Privateer in the name of King and Country.

Regardless of the character chosen, Uncharted Waters: New Horizons is a top-down sailing simulation. At sea, players control the direction of their ship, where speed is affected by the number/health of the crew, the wind and the currents. Players can navigate anywhere there is water (though some ships are not ocean worthy) and discover interesting landmarks and new ports. Upon landing at a port, the view is also top-down and the player can enter different buildings, each with unique services and goods. These include: The Inn, the Item Shop, The Shipyard, The Tavern, The Castle, The Guild Hall, The Church, The Merchant and the Harbor. It's up to the player to earn enough gold to keep the crew fed and financed and keep the fleet repaired. Primary methods of earning money are through sea trade, accepting jobs from the guild, gambling and battle with other ships.

During naval combat, the game becomes a turn-based top-down strategy game, with the player moving ships in order to obtain trajectories needed to fire cannons at enemy ships, or run alongside enemy vessels in order to board them. If the player's flagship attacks the flagship of the enemy fleet, they can challenge the opponent to a duel. If accepted, the game changes to a side-view of the two captains engaged in a fight. During this sequence, the player can only choose which fighting maneuver (strike, thrust, parry, lash) they wish to engage in.

Hints:

- Less attacks -
Enter Black Beard as a name.

- Faster battles -
Hold Y at the battle screen when it is your opponent's turn.

- Black market -
Wait until 2:00 a.m. and go to the item shops at the ports. The Crusader Sword may be found at the shop at Timbuktu.

- Easy money -
Accept the Collect Debt job in the Venice guild after starting a new game. Get the five gold ingots, deposit in the bank, and return to Venice. According to the banker, you have failed the job and reduce your fame, but the gold will remain in the bank.

- Easy experience -
Locate the weak pirate in Tunis and bombard him when he leaves. Challenge him to a duel and weaken him to 50 hit points. After the duel ends, challenge him again to another duel to gain more experience. Repeat this as needed.

- New ship types -
Place $50,000 a month for five months in the Bristol shipyard to gain additional ship types, including a barge. Place $50,000 a month for five months in the Hamburg or Antwerp shipyards to eventually get the full-rig ship.

- Better ships -
You can find better ships to fight with in Sakai and Nagasaki. The easiest way to get there as soon as possible is to trade carpets and arts until you have around 10,000 gold pieces. Then, buy glass beads in Venice and sell them at the port of Madeira. The beads will cost 2 or 3 gold and can be sold them for about 50 gold. In Madeira, buy sugar for 12 gold and sell it at the port of Santa Cruz (1 day of sailing south of Madeira). Buy flax from Santa Cruz and sell it in Amsterdam. From there you can buy glass beads and repeat the process. Do this until you get to 20 gold ingots. Then get some balm in Barcelona and cruise to the far east with a small ship (preferably with rows like a LaReale) with high velocity (such as a Caravella Redonda). First, stop in Nagasaki and invest 50,000 gold at the shipyard. You should do this when you reach the end of a month, as it is faster that way. When the month changes, you should find an Atakkabunde (cheap and efficient). Buy it and remodel it to only support 30 crew members and no cannons. If you have mates that can pilot ships, then buy a couple to speed up things. In Nagasaki, buy silver and sell it in Changan, Zeiton and Sakai. These ports have silk items; buy some to sell in Nagasaki. If there is no silver, buy porcelain. You will get fair price for porcelain in India -- the clove and pepper are cheap in India and sell for ten times higher in the Far East. Five months in a row, invest 50,000 in Sakai or Nagasaki. When they reach 1000 points in the shipyard, you will find a new boat: Tekousen. This is the ultimate battle ship. It is row powered, which is good when the wind dies, and can reach up to 20 knots in speed. Remodelling the Tekousen only permits you to hold 300 crewmen and up to 100 cannons. Another trick: buy a used Tekousen. It will hold 360 crewmen and 80 cannons. It is easier to maneuver in battle, and it has more speed than a Venitian Galeas. It also has as much cargo capacity as a full-rigged ship or even a barge.
Information in this section was contributed by ZEROFREAK.

- Errol's Plate armor -
Go to the Black Market in Copenhagen to get Errol's Plate. That is the star class armor, which is even better the Pull Mail Armor.
Information in this section was contributed by John Bowman.

- Crusader's Armor -
Go to Naples at 2:00 a.m. and purchase the Crusaders Armor. It is also star class armor, but it is a lot better then the Errol's Plate, which is cheaper.
Information in this section was contributed by John Bowman.

- Carronades -
Head towards Bristol and invest in both Shipyards and Trade Market. Keep them both invested with the same amount of money, $50,000. After you have gotten the Barge ship, invest once more in the Shipyard and Trade Market. Return next month and remodel your ship's guns. The message "Your in luck, we have a new specialty today" or something similar should appear. If this does not happen, leave the Shipyard menu and keep returning to remodel guns. The new gun is Carronades. Its attack power is as strong as a Cannon, and its range is as far as a Culverin. This is the most powerful guns in the game.
Information in this section was contributed by Peter Xiong.

- Merchant discounts -
The Merchant will always discount the price of his goods at the rate of 75.0% of the full price. For example: If you were buying Porcelain for 108, do not pay more than 81. You will be able to get this discount even if you do not have a good bookkeeper. The key to getting this discount is to make sure the port is allied with your country (and also not a neutral port). You do not have to have a Tax-Free Permit, but it will reduce your price even more. Also, if you have a bookkeeper, they will do all the work for you. This is a rather short list of the bookkeepers: Esteban Ortega, Jacob Walweik, Antoine Fitch, Benito Gomez, and Tristan Seillo.
Information in this section was contributed by Ben Campbell.

- Shipbuilder discounts -
Any Shipbuilder will always give a you discount of 83.6% of the full price. For example, if a ship costs 10,000 to build, you should not pay more than 8,360. He will accept the price.

http://www.mobygames.com/game/genesis/uncharted-waters-2-new-horizons
http://www.gamewinners.com/snes/UnchartedWatersNewHorizons.htm