Ports of Call is a phenomenal game. A highly polished logistics simulator that remains as impressive today as it did way back in 1987. You can still buy it on Steam today and have a lot of fun with it. Yet while the original remains beloved and widely-available today, many of its sequels haven't fared nearly as well. For example: Haven Tycoon.
Releasing in 2008, Haven Tycoon was originally called Ports of Call 2008. It was developed by Astragon Software, who'd later take the game's formula to develop a rival franchise called TransOcean. In many ways, Haven Tycoon is a remake of the Amiga classic with enhanced features and 3D elements. Yet in doing so, it reveals why its simplicity was pivotal in making Ports of Call such an enduring game.
The actual objective of the game remains the same. You have to manage a shipping company by purchasing and maintaining a fleet of container ships. You sail these around the globe, picking up charters and delivering goods wherever they need to go. All while dealing with surprise events and managing all the risks that shipping entails. From bad weather and deadlines to criminal activity and war.
After purchasing your first vessel, gameplay becomes a matter of managing your time at any port. You can refuel or repair your ship to keep it in good shape, or take on charters that see you shipping goods. A big improvement over the 1987 game is that you can now take on multiple charters at once, even when those take you to entirely different locales. It's no longer a case of calculating what single contract gives you the best profits. Now you can combine multiple smaller contracts to the same location or make stops along your intended route. This becomes an immensely satisfying puzzle as you try to figure out how to most profitably utilize the full capacity of your ship. Especially when luck is on your side and you get to pick up even more contracts to your final destination along these midway stops.
Where its menu-driven gameplay and wholly-practical design made the classic game efficient, Haven Tycoon feels like navigating the worst corporate software imaginable. The game's interface is entirely grey. Constructed from dull windows filled with input fields, checkboxes, and poorly-formatted selection fields. Every process feels inefficient, yet you're obliged to go through the exact same motions every time. Lest the program spit in your face and take some of your money away for daring not to intuit its workflow.
For example, picking up charters has you scrolling through a window way too small for the number of options presented in it. You can sort by clicking on the header fields, but this doesn't always work. You then need to double-click each option to add it to your contract, but double-clicking it again doesn't take it out—there's a separate button for that. When you have made your choices, you can't just click Load and get on with it. You HAVE to first calculate the distance to any location before loading. Even when you only have 1 location to go to. Also, keep in mind that clicking anything after calculating the distance resets it, so you need to run those numbers again before proceeding.
Through completing charters you acquire more money, which you then invest into more ships to make even more money with. As you buy more ships, this increases your status within the industry. Basically your current level. This status then determines whether you can buy some of the newer and better ships available. So even if you have the money for the sexiest boat currently on the market, you may not be allowed to buy it if your status is too low.
Breaking up the management gameplay are the various mini-games. Most prominently having to manually navigate your ships through ports in top-down, 2D game. This was a prominent feature of the original and I was initially glad to see it return. Yet here too Haven Tycoon falls short by trying to up the scope.
The 2D maps are far, FAR bigger now. To the point that each instance of the mini-game now takes several minutes to complete even if you do it perfectly. It's way more finicky to control as well and demands a level of precision that is just not fun to strive for. Like I'd spend minutes navigating my way out of a maze-like port full of hazards, only to then fail because I didn't exactly cross over the arrow before going into the open seas.
Also keep in mind that you'll be entering and leaving ports all the time once the game really gets going. Once you have a bunch of ships going all over the globe, it's likely that one will be arriving at a port every 10 seconds at most. Unless you're willing to pay for tugboats, you're going to see this mini-game a lot. So often it might end up haunting your dreams at night.
I do admire the extra level of jank you can go through by making Haven Tycoon interface with Pocsim3d. A separate program with entirely different system requirements, which can be used to turn any harbor mini-game into a full 3D experience. Running it is a pain in the ass, but it's so cool when you get it working. Not to mention, it's the biggest update the game has over the original. It's certainly more impressive than the stock broker mini-game that every German company is required by law to include.
Haven Tycoon is a game I return to often. Cleverly managing different charters and watching my profits soar as a result is a fantastic experience. In that regard, Haven Tycoon still shines brighter than its spiritual successor TransOcean. Presenting a practical, fast-paced game with much more freedom. Though TransOcean certainly has a place besides it, if only because it doesn't require a separate program to play the 3D segments.
Yet while I often return to Haven Tycoon, my play sessions tend to be short. Its gameplay loop soon becomes repetitive, while the frustrations presented by its mini-games and tedious menus gets worse the longer you play. If you like management sims about logistics, then I still recommend giving this game a shot. Just don't expect to be playing it for hours on end or to get a structured campaign like in TransOcean.
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