Released by KOEI in 1990 for the PC, and in 1991 for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Uncharted Waters puts you in the role of Leon, a young Portuguese man who is in love with adventure, the ocean, and, most importantly, the princess. After your father dies in a storm at sea, your father's First Mate manages to find his way home to you to let you know what happened. Between a desire to prove yourself, and a note from your father telling you to never give up on your dreams, you decide to become the most famous captain of the seven seas. Whether that fame is gained through discovering new ports, trading rare goods, buying the allegiance of different cities, searching for lost treasure, or just engaging in long naval battles that set you up as the most feared captain of the oceans, is up to you.
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With a relatively simplistic control system (the entire game can be played with just a number pad on a keyboard), Uncharted Waters offers nearly endless replay value through random chance, an entire globe to traverse, and a multitude of unique characters and quests.
Controls
For the most part, this is all you will need to play the game (though you can optionally use the Y and N keys at certain points.
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The directional pad moves your cursor around town and in shops, and changes your direction when sailing. (note: you do not "move" with the keypad on the ocean. You move the compass direction. Then, based on wind and current, your ship goes in the direction you pick)
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Enter and 0 are Yes and No, respectively. Sometimes the two are inverted, however, so beware.
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When shopping, the number keys become just that, numbers.
Character Creation
When starting up the game, you can choose whether or not you'd like to use a mouse. I've never seen a point to doing it, but it is entirely up to your play style.
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Either way, the place to start is through Character Creation. When you start a new game, you'll be asked to input your name. If you just hit Enter without selecting a name, "Leon" will be chosen for you. (you can put any name you like, but know that your portrait, that of a 15-year-old redheaded boy, cannot be changed)
Once you have verified your name, you will be taken to the next screen where five Attributes: Authority, Judgement, Intellect, Courage, and Strength, along with an extra category of Bonus Points, will be shown with random numbers. For the five Attributes, the numbers range from 40-69. The Bonus Points range from 40-134. If you do not like the setup you are given, hit N or Enter to get a new set of random numbers. This can be done as many times as you like until you get a setup you like. By adding up all the numbers, you can get a good idea of how good of a character you're going to be. (you need 400 total points to get every attribute up to 80)
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Authority (called Leadership in the NES version) - Determines your ability to lead your crew (basically the higher this is, the slower the Loyalty of your mates drops, and the more it increases when you pay them)
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Judgement (called Wisdom in the NES version) - Demonstrates your ability to stay on task. From a gameplay point, it seems to increase the odds of when people in the tavern will give you information.
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Intellect/Intelligence - Your decision making ability. It affects how well you sail, including speed, course, and avoiding hazards.
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Courage - How brave you are in combat. Combined with Strength, it seems to determine how much damage your ship does to other ships with weapons like cannon, and reduces how much damage you take.
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Strength - The other half of Courage. Used to determine how much damage you do in Combat. Seems to add more damage with hand-to-hand fighting, and reduces damage you take.
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All of the stats max out at 100, but it's a good idea to spread around your Bonus Points.
Once you have your Attributes distributed, you are asked to name your Flagship. This is the first ship in your fleet, and, realistically, it is the first ship you will sell later on once you buy new ships (we'll talk about that another time). If you don't give your Flagship a name, and simply hit Enter, it will automatically be named the Hermes.
Finally, you will be given a summary of all the choices you made, and asked if it is correct. If you say Yes, you'll move into the game and start playing. If you say No, you will be booted back to the home screen of the game, and will start over. It doesn't ask you which part you want to change. It's either this works for you, or it doesn't.
When all is said and done, you'll start the game in Lisbon, where a whole new screen is set up for you to explore (which we'll talk about on another page).
