Wikipedia

The Ancient Art of War at Sea

The Ancient Art of War at Sea is a computer wargame developed by Broderbund and released for Mac and MS-DOS in 1987 as a sequel to The Ancient Art of War. The game is a simulation of naval combat set in the late 18th century. However, the historical opponents which the players have to face lived between the 16th century and the early 19th century. These hostile game characters include Alonso de Guzmán y Sotomayor, 7th Duke of Medina Sidonia (the commander of the Spanish Armada), Maarten Tromp (called "Martin" in the game), Blackbeard, John Paul Jones, and Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson.

The Ancient Art of War at Sea
DeveloperEvryware
PublisherBroderbund
SeriesThe Ancient Art of War
PlatformsApple II, MS-DOS, Mac, PC-98
Release1987
GenreReal-time strategy
ModeSingle-player

Plot

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The player commands a fleet of ships in this naval-combat simulation which takes place in the late 18th century.

Controllable ship types include the 44-gun frigate with 250 crew, 74-gun (including 10 carronades) ship-of-the-line with over 600 crew, and the 130-gun (including 22 carronades) flagship with 875 crew.[1]

The player faces one of six opponents, each of which uses his own different strategy against the player. Five are historic: the Duke of Medina Sidonia (1588); Martin [sic] Tromp (1639); Blackbeard (1718); John Paul Jones (1779); Horatio Nelson (1805); and a fictitious opponent Thor Foote.

Reception

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"The United States Frigate "President" Engaging the British Squadron" (1815) by Fitz Henry Lane is featured on the box art.

Computer Gaming World in 1987 stated that The Ancient Art of War at Sea "offers a powerful editing system and an enjoyable, playable game"[2] that was superior to its predecessor, with excellent documentation.[3] In 1990 the magazine gave the game three out of five stars, warning that gameplay favored single ships as opposed to fleet actions when fighting enemy fleets.[4] In 1992 the magazine gave the game two stars, stating that it "plays wells as a game, but not as a serious study" and regretting that it was the only Age of Sail game for DOS.[5]

Jerry Pournelle named War at Sea his game of the month for December 1987. Despite "a couple of user-interface problems", he said that fans of wargames or Horatio Hornblower novels would love it.[6] Compute! in 1988 praised the documentation and editor.[7] The game was reviewed in 1988 in Dragon by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in their "The Role of Computers" column. They agreed that War at Sea was better than its predecessor and called it a "must have", giving the game five out of five stars. They particularly enjoyed the ship-to-ship combat.[8]

The game sold more than 100,000 copies.[9]

References

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  1. ↑ Apple Manual: The Ancient Art Of War At Sea – Manual.
  2. ↑ "Christmas Buyers Guide". Computer Gaming World. Golden Empire Publications. November 1987. p. 21. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  3. ↑ Carey, Regan (November 1987). "The Ancient Art of War at Sea". Computer Gaming World. Golden Empire Publications. p. 28. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  4. ↑ Brooks, M. Evan (October 1990). "Computer Strategy and Wargames: Pre-20th Century". Computer Gaming World. Golden Empire Publications. p. 11. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  5. ↑ Brooks, M. Evan (June 1993). "An Annotated Listing of Pre-20th Century Wargames". Computer Gaming World. Golden Empire Publications. p. 136. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  6. ↑ Pournelle, Jerry (December 1987). "The Old Shell Game". BYTE. Vol. 12, no. 14. pp. 199–212. Retrieved 28 April 2026.
  7. ↑ Ferrell, Keith (January 1988). "The Ancient Art Of War At Sea". Compute!. p. 32. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  8. ↑ Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (January 1988). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (129): 36.
  9. ↑ Kolcu, Orchun (1 June 1997). "Interview with Evryware (Part 1)". Games Domain. Archived from the original on 13 February 2002. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
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