AOP 2 gentlemen of fortune vs Blood and gold: Caribbean

[Tearfulstab]

so i have been watching this for a while, i really enjoy Age of pirates 2 with gentlemen of fortune mod, anybody know if this is better or worse?

[Anndy578]

this is basically M&B with ships.

[Peregrine]

And awesome cannons

[Obese Geese]

This mod has some amazing things that no other pirate game ever did, like the land battles, the combat, the complex boarding actions, the items, the sieges, the quests and the cannons and a couple of other things, with decent although not too complicated and fairly straight forward yet fun ship combat. When you get massive fleets going its a spectacle to behold. It also has cavalry.

Gentlemen of Fortune mod for Age of Pirates is one of the most complex and rich, immersive pirate experiences ever made that you could possibly play. Anything from the Sea Dogs franchise is, really. Modded or no.

There you can expect some top notch dialogue and immersion. Its the ultimate Carribean RPG and it feels truly alive. While B&G is immersive as well its depth lies in different things that i mentioned before. No pirate game does ship combat as well as the sea dogs franchise, and the chain story quests that tie in to the sandbox are just spectacular. The music, the clothes, the armors, the weapons, the ship roles, from jungles to abandoned ruins... Its immersive and so well done. The only downside is (arguably) that the combat isn't the behemot that M&B's combat is. Even so it is IMO still pretty nice. No big land battles there however, but you will find just about everything. Due to its depth its harder to get into however.

Want a challenge, depth and longevity? Get Gentlemen of Fortune (AoP with the mod)
Want to be an army as well as ship captain, still be sufficiently challenged yet get mighty ships of the line quicker? Get Blood & Gold. Note however that it isn't really polished.

[Ernst Zündel]

Just because of this thread I bought Sea Dogs: City of Abandoned Ships/Age of Pirates 2. I also included the mod Gentlemen of Fortune. I wanted to compare the quality and gameplay of these two games and see wich was the best Age of Sail-themed role-playing game. AoP2 or B&G.

It is true that AoP2 has more RPG qualities (not player character-wise, however). It also harbors a larger variety of ship classes and items. Something that called my attention was the depth of commodity trading in AoP2. While in B&G you have rather "basic" commodities to trade, like. for example, spices, iron, silver and wood, AoP2 has a larger variety of items, like paprika, ebony wood, sandal wood, chilis, cinnamon, sailcloth, cannons, as well as tobacco, cotton, sugar, etc. Even african slaves are a commodity to be bought and sold! However, in AoP2 you may be at most a freight captain, while in B&G you can literally build an economical empire.

Other interesting aspect of AoP2 is the naval officer hiring and especilization. In B&G you can at maximum grant a ship command or perhaps a Governorship to your followers. In AoP2 you can decide who is the ship's bosun, doctor, artillery officer, navigator, etc. Also, it appears to me that the officers-to-be-hired that appear inside the taverns are procedually generated (name and stats), so there is a virtually infinite diversity of people to choose from. In B&G, on the other hand, there is a set number of possible companions.

From my experience, the combat mechanics of B&G, like M&B, is superior and unmatched by anything AoP2 can offer. Seriously, the combat in AoP2 sucks big time - it is also not realistic, even with mods, I should point out. The naval combat, especially with the added realism of the mod Gentlemen of Fortune, can get really boring sometimes, particularly when you're sailing against the wind with only one mast left and unable to reach the "fast travel world map" because there are other ships around you. The boarding system of B&G is also much better.

In terms of controls, B&G honors the legacy of M&B's user-friendliness and fluidity. The controls of AoP2 take some time to get used to, and may appear confusing to some players.

The interior building architecture, room details, sea and terrain elements of AoP2 are much better looking than B&G. In AoP2 you can travel alongside a coastline on the world map and then see the mountains and treetops in the distance when you go down to the ship camera. It actually reminded me of Silent Hunter III. The jungles have more vegetation and details, albeit the trade-off is loss of openness and the free-world feeling, thanks to its area-based mechanics on dry land. The real open world feeling is at sea. The cities in AoP2 are smaller in size and more compact. B&G has larger city scenes, but with less things to do. I didn't check, but I also think that AoP2 has a larger number of settlements.

The ship designs of AoP2 look great seen from distance and also sport a unique 3D model for each class. AoP2 also has more vivid ships, with crewmen moving to and from, movement of ropes and sails, and the possibility of inspecting other decks and ship rooms. The ships in B&G are also good looking, but only get livelly during boarding actions. B&G also lacks in ship model diversity. I say "model", not "class", because the same ship 3D model is shared among different classes of ships (for example: the 6th Rate Frigate, the Light Galleon and the Pinnace)!

Something that B&G has that AoP2 really lacks are the possibilities of player character editing. Like M&B, in B&G you can freely alter in-game the face and name of your character, as well change the physical appearance and even some stats of NPCs. In AoP2, the player is unable to customize the physical appearance of your character, and you can not even change the clothes!!! Seriously! Instead, you are forced to choose from just 3 character models to play as (vanilla version)! The mod GoF adds more options, even female and movie (Pirates of the Caribbean) characters. The maximum character customization of AoP2 rests on choosing his (or her, with the mod) vocation, nationality and the perk distribution. That's it! This limitation actually reduces immersiveness. It hinders the role-playing proposal of the game.

Overall, in terms of details, quests and ambience, Age of Pirates 2 is an awesome game. It also has better, epic, music and sounds, even in vanilla. In terms of gameplay, combat, freedom of action and character customization (that is, genuine role-play), B&G is undoubtly your game of choice. Really, all the potential of Age of Pirates 2 is wasted on awfull gameplay, confusing controls and scarce customization options. It has a great atmosphere, cool adventures, item and ship diversity, but little of the same freedom Blood & Gold: Caribbean gives us.

I just wish the developers or modders of Blood & Gold could include some of the best aesthetic elements of AoP2 into the game, like denser jungles, trade commodities, more ship designs, better music and more things to do in cities. Quantity is a quality of its own. If they, in the future, make a larger world map, then I would like to see the same amount of settlements of Tortuga: Pirates of the New World (over 60), besides other points of interest.

I wish you all a great game and... Yo ho ho a bottle of rum.