Great old childhood game and still fun.



"1. First step...
...is make the game playable. (Otherwise it won't even start in Windows 10.)

Go to your default game directory. Usually;
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Port Royale 2
Right-click on PR2.exe -> Properties
On Compatibility tab, check "Run this program in compatibility mode for:"
Select "Windows 98 / Windows ME"

2. Game is working but...
...it's so pixelated and sea texture is messed up. To prevent this, open AMD Radeon Settings.

On Gaming tab, find Port Royale 2 profile and click.
Most of these settings are turned off by default. We're gonna turn them on.
- Anti-aliasing Mode -> Select "Override application settings", than select "8xEQ" from Anti-aliasing Level.
- Anti-aliasing Method -> Select "Supersampling"
- Morphological Filtering -> You can toggle on this setting but i didn't see any major differences.
- Anistrophic Filtering Mode -> Select "Override application settings", than select "16x" from Anistrophic Filtering Level.
- Texture Filtering Quality -> Select "High"
- Keep "AMD optimized" for Shader Cache and Tessellation Mode

3. Sea texture is fine now and...
...there is only one problem left. Everything is pixelated. To use anti-aliasing settings enabled, we need one last retouch.

Open Port Royale 2 configuration
Check "Execute in full-screen mode" (This option is a necessity, otherwise anti-aliasing won't applied)
Check other options too, except "Use colored hardware mouse cursor".

And voilà
Just like the old times."

While the game is brilliant, it should be made known that it isn't really compatible with anything over Windows XP.

This was working for me on Windows 7 64bit using an ATI gfx card but since updating it past 14.1 the game no longer works.
I can get the game to boot onto the main menu screen but none of the selectable menu buttons are visable.

On the Port Royale 2 fansite they state there is two option available, either play it on XP or buy the 'Reloaded' version.

I guess Steam doesn't have that version.

I have since managed to get the game working, here's how:

1) (Possibly optional) Try setting your launch options as "-32bit" (without quotations)

2) Select browse local files for Port Royale 2 from the Steam menu, scroll down and right click PR2.exe and select Properties and then select compatibility mode for Windows 98/Windows ME, then click apply.

3) Finally change your desktop resolution to 1280x720 (this is the key part). You may also find that simply by changing your desktop resolution to 1280x720 that you won't have to bother with the other options.

There is no better economic simulator that exists that I know of. There are many good City Sims and Tycoon style games that wish they had the economic engine behind this game. Every one of the 65+ cities in this game have unique features and needs based on a complex mix of random events and your ability to supply them. I could go on and on about the complex yet easier to comprehend industry and economic simulation in this game, it is that engrossing and one of a kind. I am actually upset PR3 was so terrible compared to this gem.

On top of the amazing economic simulation, there is a pretty decent ship-ship, ship-shore, & shore-shore combat engine. It is no Pirates! but for the game being more a trading sim that a ship combat sim it add a whole new dimension when the trading gets a little stale. Chasing Pirates and Taking over cities for a friendly Viceroy is not a bad pass time either.

I actually wrote the first comphrehensive walkthrough for this game back in 2005. Under the name (GeneralNic) it will get you up and running and getting a few trade routes on auto-trade so you can focus on ship combat or setting up another zone of the trade and dominating another resource.

(Hint) once you have a few lucrative trade routes set up, but a book on the space bar and leave it over night, I woke up with 2 Billion gold and had no trouble taking the Carribean in the name of the Dutch!

Confirmation that Port Royale 2 works fine on Windows 8.1 64 bit if you play it in Compatability mode (Win 98 / Win Me)
Steam\SteamApps\common\Port Royale 2\PR2.exe
Right click on the EXE and select properties
Select the Compatibility Tab
Tick Run this program in Compatability Mode & Select (Win 98 / Win Me)

One of my favourites with many hours played in my old non steam version.

A very engrossing and very deep 17th century economic simulator. You start as a small time trader with a small ship, a warehouse, and a purse of gold. From there you buy goods cheaply at one port and sail off to other ports and hope to find one that will buy those goods at a high price. Once you obtain enough capital you increase in rank. Rank increases allow you to hire more captains to have separate fleets, and obtain more building permits in different ports.

The economic depth is amazing. Each port is capable of producing 5 different goods. Some goods production is dependant on having a supply of another good, and that's where you the trader comes in. Do you want to buy rope from Port A? Then they need a good supply of hemp from Port B. Furthermore, once you obtain a building permit in a particular port you can become a greater part of the local economy by building your own warehouse and then manufacturing facilities. If you are smart enough and have the gold you can buy basic crop plantations in one port, produce that good cheaply, haul the goods to your advanced manufacturing facility at another port to cheaply produce the finished good and sell it for a massive profit. For extra profit you can also build housing for the new workers for your faciliteis and have them pay you rent. You also make money buy shipping in surplus workers from other ports to the port that now needs those workers.

Not that there aren't plenty of obstacles to stand in your way. When the game starts out in free play there are no pirates active and no nations are at at war. As the game progresses the four nations, Spain, France, England, and the Netherlands can and will end up at war with each other. You can attempt to stay friendly with each nation and continue selling to all sides or offer to help one side over the other by raiding ship, blockading ports, and attacking ports. Doing so rewards you, but at the cost of not being able to do business with the other nation until you repair your status with them.

Piracy is your other main concern. Pirates start off weak, with a single ship, but quickly grow to a major problem. They will sack ships, and invade ports. The sacking of ports is of great concern if you have a warehouse in that town as they will steal all of your stored goods, otherwise it is a great opportunity to sell the newly ravaged port fresh supplies. You can mitigate the risk of having your favorite port raided by pirates and enemy nations by donating cannons and paying for soldiers at your personal expense, and it is VERY expensive, so don't bother until you are wealthy and have something worth protecting. You could try to kill the pirates, but the game will not let you attack the pirates base until it randomly shows up on the map. Once you do know the secret location you must have a both a massive (expensive) battlefleet and a letter of Marquee allowing you to attack them. Why you need permission to kill non-Marquee Letter holding pirates is a bit of a mystery. That is about as historically accurate as all the white guys who work on your sugar plantations that you pay wages to.

While the game is incredibly deep, it suffers from having ZERO in-game help or tutorials. It took me three full days of playing to realize I could have my warehouses auto-buy goods when they were cheap so that I didn't have to micro manage them. The same is possibly with your trade convoys but I haven't been able to fully figure it out yet. Finding an online guide is a must for full enjoyment.

There are even deeper aspects of the game and economy, but it would take a book to get in to them all. If you are a lover of deep economic sims this game is 100% for you.

Got this game to work properly 2022 on PC with Windows 10 and NVIDIA GPU (RTX 3060).

See my guide below:

Best bang for buck entertainment on Steam? Bought my copy on Steam for less than 1 Euro.

It's a fun trading game. Supposedly the best Port Royale title.

To get the game working on a newer computer, you need to follow a step-by-step guide that was posted by one of the previous reviewers (TinnitusFabi) here on Steam, and maybe google a little if that doesn't help fully. Here's my summary in a simplified 3-step guide:

1. Use file explorer and go to:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Port Royale 2

There are two crucial ".exe-files" in the Port Royale 2 Steam game folder. These files are called "PR2.exe" and "PR2Config.exe". Both (!) files needs a compability adjustment in properties (right click on each file and select properties -> Compability) and select "Windows 98 / Windows ME".

2. Then you follow the guide written by the previous reveiwer (TinnitusFabi) and set the suggested GPU-settings. There are guides both for AMD and NVIDIA (Check that review's comments for NVIDIA settings).

3. Lastly you open the PR2 Configuration utility program and either check or uncheck the box that says "execute in fullscreen mode", depending on if you have an AMD or NVIDIA GPU. As a NVIDIA user, I keep the box unchecked.

Best of luck!

I can't be the only person who's gotten a pirate ship or spaceship and spent all their time hauling junk around to sell. There's something quietly gratifying about buying low and selling high, and so there should be no surprise there are games that exist to scratch that itch. Port Royale 2 does just that on the surface, and then surprises you with several more layers of fortune-seeking options.

You play an aspiring merchant in the Caribbean of the 1600s, starting with little more than a sloop and some sacks of money. Your ship will get you around to the many ports, each modeled in simple, charming Stronghold-esque 2D. The buildings that comprise each town determine what goods they produce from a list of about two dozen, and the rate at which they consume them. Your job, then, is to learn which towns need which goods, and where the best place to buy them up is.

It's not as simple as finding a town that makes shirts and a town that grows cotton, though. Each location is constantly producing and consuming goods, and their prices are determined by dynamic supply and demand. So, if you bring a huge load of cotton to shirt town you might make a pile of money, but turn around and do it again and that cotton might be worthless because they haven't used up the first load yet. Success in the mercantile business means making circuits around the sea, picking up whatever you can at bargain-basement prices and unloading it at whatever port happens to need it. The world map helpfully displays what good a town needs the most at the time, but there are plenty of other traders who can beat you to the punch.

The dynamic, living world of Port Royale is what keeps it fresh and entertaining, because not only will demand flip on you, you can be the agent of that change. Strike enough deals in a town and they'll grant you building permits to set up your own farms and workshops, allowing you to add new production sources across the map. With enough capital you can move away from buying and selling random goods and instead working your own supply chains for pure profit. You can have enormous merchant fleets at your disposal, moving around huge loads of goods or broken up across the Caribbean to beat the other traders to the punch.

Somehow the developers didn't think that was enough, so if you want to eschew the merchant life for full privateering, even that's an option. Any ship can be designated a warship and outfitted with cannon and sailors to take on pirates or merchants of other nations, or even besiege and ransack ports. Governors in major towns will even give you missions to eliminate particularly troublesome captains if you need guidance. There's real-time combat between ships that's functional but basic compared to other high-seas simulators, and comes with the odd handicap of letting you command one ship at a time while your opponents have their full fleet.

Still, the combat is an engaging and welcome addition atop the robust economic simulator, and it isn't even the only one. You can also choose to ferry around settlers and construction materials to help grow towns, gamble in the many taverns of the world, piece together treasure maps, and more. A series of four extensive tutorial scenarios will help you get a grip on the game, and then you have four challenge scenarios or the wide-open freeplay mode to enjoy. The chunky 2D graphics might not have aged very well but they certainly don't detract from the relaxed atmosphere, and the soundtrack is exactly what you'd want in a low-key trading sim. Anyone with even a passing interest in being a high-seas merchant is sure to find something to enjoy here.



Did you enjoy this review? I certainly hope so, and I certainly hope you'll check out more of them at https://goldplatedgames.com/ or on my curation page!

This used to be one of my favourite games in my pre-Steam days so I thought i'd buy it on Steam too.

Well, i can't even get it working and according to the forums, many people have the same problem.

At least now I've learnt to check the reviews before buying any game on Steam as they even sell stuff that doesn't work.

This game does not work in Windows 10. Wish I had tried playing it within 14 days so I could get a refund.

That the sellers of this game do not make this compatibility information clear on the store page is reprehensible.

i started the game with high expectation, because many veteran reviewers commented favorlably.

I'm a senior old gamer, so retro graphic is ok, merchant part is repetive? it's no problem.Rather, it's fun.
Buy low and sell high and build facilities to produce goods.......all fun.

But one thing i can't put up with......WHY MUST I FIGHT ENEMY FLEET WITH ONLY ONE SHIP?

i can build a fleet up to ten ships.
But when battle begins, only JUST ONE of my ships fights while enemy fleet attacks with 5 ships.
when the first ship was defeated(got sunk), you swim back to another ship and challenge again.

Is this a joke?
sadly, i couldn't notice this fatal system until 4 hours playing, so i can't request refund.

Maybe some old fans say, "Hey, it's an old game" or "This is not a naval combat game, but a trading game."
But i was very dissapointed at the joke-like sea battle system.

Somewhere i read the concept of this game "make money, bulid fleet, conquer the caribbean economically and forcefully"

Well, at least half of it was a lie.