You will get that error if you launch Maelstrom.exe and it does not know where the start.ini or Program folder for a mod.  You must either copy the engine files to the file directory you placed the GOF 2.5 files (not recommended but it works), or launch Maelstrom with a shortcut, where the 'Start In' property of the shortcut is the path to the GOF 2.5 directory (this is the recommended way) that contains the start.ini and Program/RESOURCES folders.

What we discovered when we added many "PGG" characters (those are the "hero" characters you can select to start a new game) is that the original COAS had a feature where the other heroes you did not select travel the map to the different colonies while you play and they consume both store goods and tavern crew resources.  So now that we have so many in ERAS, that often depletes the availability of things like store powder and ammunition.  We have not changed or disabled this feature.  The workaround is to capture prize ships and take their powder and ammo.

There is no colony management and the only benefit is for the tax money.

This change was to improve the camera so it doesn't view outside walls.  It does not require any new game.  All updates are cumulative, so you only need the most recent one and it will include all previous changes.

Yes, you can just copy/replace Maelstrom.

Yes.  Itch platform takes care of that, where any updates are free for any software you already paid for.  Just sign in with the same account.  It's much easier to manage with the Itch client installed on your machine so it will take care of updating only files that are changed each update, rather than downloading the entire thing each time.

There is no way to make Pirates friendly toward each other.  The closest to such a thing is that in the Tortuga area, nations are neutral to Pirates.

I have tried to keep ERAS save-compatible since 2018.

It may be a problem with the animations for a specific model.  Send me a save and I will investigate.

I was adding a modification for convoy merchants for several companions, instead of just one and I think I accidentally uploaded some of that modification a couple days ago, but not the full modification, which probably caused this problem.  Today I uploaded the full convoy modification, so that should solve the problem.

Sorry for the trouble.

The update should have no impact on anything other than specifically "passenger" quests; nothing else was changed except just that side quest.  Did you talk to Goodley outside and he does not run to the tavern and appear?  If you have a save in the Puerto Principe town, send it to me and I will take a look.  Email is chezjfrey@hotmail.com.

ERAS is the best mod for COAS.  It has many characters where most of them are real historical figures.  It has the most ship options.  You can bury treasure if you find a spade and caching chest.  Can repel boarders, choose a personal flag from over 100 options.  Sound reverb option.  HUD scaling option.   Some items increase chance that if you are sunk at sea, you can sometimes survive, wash ashore and just resume play.  

It took some experimentation, but I found the problem.  It works fine if I fast travel to the tavern, but if I walk through the side door, then Froyla does not appear and he remains on the ship.  I fixed the problem and updated ERAS.  The same problem exists in COAS and GOF too, so I fixed it in all of them and now, if you walk through the door, the extra passenger appears in the tavern; the problem exists because of a lack of sufficient "goto" locators in the tavern for a larger number than 3 passengers for the same tavern location.

Probably Corsair or Commodore difficulty.  Although I must admit that these difficultly levels are unchanged from City of Abandoned Ships (COAS) settings and therefore are also prone to some things still not ideally balanced, but I think they are the closest to providing a proper level of difficulty to most situations.

Also, even though I do recommend the ERAS II mod, we have fixed most of the problems in our version of both GOF 1.2 and COAS too, if you'd like to try them.

I tried several times and they all 4 teleport to the tavern when I go there and they are all removed from the passenger list.  The only passenger that remains is the prisoner, because there were originally 5 passengers where 4 of them were the missions, and one is a prisoner that still remains.

I am near certain that it is impossible for the skeletons to spawn in an area you can't reach.  If I remember correctly, there is a hole in a wall or gate that is easy to overlook and not notice that you can walk through where it will give you access.  One trick to find it is if you have any fighters with you, you can give them the "Charge" command (key "C") and they will run directly to it and you can follow them.  You can also send me the save file to chezjfrey@hotmail.com and I will find that hole that I mentioned; I'm pretty sure if I am placed in that dungeon I will eventually remember how to find that spot.

I will require a save probably while you were traveling with them, before you reach the destination port.

Got your save.  I see it and fix is now uploaded.

I still suspect you are using an old version of Maelstrom and it needs to be updated.  I notice that you don't even have "FileVersion" listed in the system.log and that is something that has been added to the output for over a year.  Example from 64 bit:

FileVersion: 4.2.8.22

But what is the type of ship?

Sorry, my fault.  I accidentally copied an ERAS line to the character screen in GOF 2.0 that should not be there, which causes it to not run and that is why F2 does nothing for you.  I just uploaded the corrected script.

The problem is in Program\INTERFACE\character_all.c, Line 1145, deleted/removed this line because it is for ERAS:

CharacterCheckEquipAll(&Characters[iChar]);

Are you sure it's the Goleta?  I loaded one and this is what I see:

Your system log shows incorrect Maelstrom and that won't work with current ERAS mod.  The correct versions will show the following.

DirectX 8, 32 bit:

Maelstrom Engine™ 2.8.1 (32 bit)
FileVersion: 2.3.3.34

DirectX 9, 32 bit:

Maelstrom Engine™ 2.8.2 (32 bit)
FileVersion: 3.3.3.34

DirectX 9, 64 bit:

Maelstrom Engine™ 2.8.4 (64 bit)
FileVersion: 4.2.8.22

I don't know what to tell you.  I have no control what Avast says.  I also tested at www.virustotal.com and none of them indicate, including Avast:

Please send me one of those example saves.

The default key to raise/lower sails is W.  Tap it twice if your sails are up, to lower them to full sail.  Use A and D keys to turn left or right to make sure you are not pointed directly into the wind.  Some ships sail better or faster upwind, depending on their sail type.  A square sail does not move very fast heading into the wind direction.

The "sail to" command only works for points of interest/mooring  within a certain radius, so only nearby ports/ships will appear as options.

As oldtimer mentions, you can also use the Worldmap command to enter the worldmap where keys W A S D work for forward, left, right, stop, and return back to sea mode.

You can also sail directly in sea mode, but it will obviously take much longer; worldmap time moves much faster.  The Age of Pirates - City of Abandoned ships contains the original manual for the game and is provided in .pdf format.

There is no actual anchor.  The anchor icon you see on the screen simply means you are allowed to port your ship in that area and enter land.  If your ship is not moving, it can be a variety of factors that include:

1. You are sailing too directly into the wind, instead of across or with the wind direction.
2. Your sails, hull, or both are damaged enough to greatly slow your potential ship speed.
3. Your sailing skills are too low for the class of ship, which might also greatly slow your potential ship speed.
4. Your cargo is overloaded, which might also slow your potential ship speed.
5. The current wind is very low.

You might actually be moving, but just very little.  Check all of the above factors.  If you want me to verify there are no problems, you can also save the game while in the harbor that is giving you trouble and send me the save file and I will verify there is not some other problem.  You can email me at chezjfrey@hotmail.com

Has wrong deck.tga.tx texture.  I found a correct one and it will be fixed next ERAS update.

I found the problem.  It will be fixed in the next Maelstrom update.  However, in the meantime, a simple workaround is to load different ammo, like cannonballs (which you don't have any, but that is no matter), then reload the hotshot ammo that you have.  It will start the cannon loading process.

I did discover a flaw in the save-load process, where if you saved with specific conditions, it would not properly recognize the state of your cannon load and that is why it fails to render the cannon icons.  I fixed that, but again, you can force the issue by reloading, but the scripts prevent you reloading ammo it thinks you already loaded, so just change type, then reload the ammo type you were having trouble.

Send me the save game.

If it is too difficult to make a short cut where Target = <path to where Maelstrom.exe is on your computer> and Start in = <path to where you downloaded the mod>, then you can just copy everything inside the DirectX9_64bit directory and paste it into the ERAS directory and just launch Maelstrom.exe directly by double-clicking.

However, that also means that if Maelstrom is updated with a future fix or feature, you will have to again copy it, every time.

Do the same thing for the Start in: value.  Find where you downloaded ERAS, copy that path in the shortcut Start in:

The ERAS files should include the Program directory, RESOURCE directory, start.ini, etc.  The Start In: for this example would be E:\ERAS2.8

The target is the path on your machine to wherever you downloaded Maelstrom.

Open a Windows file explorer and find the directory where you put the Maelstrom download:

In my example, it is E:\Maelstrom.  There you will see several versions of Maelstrom:  DirectX8_32bit, DirectX9_32bit, and DirectX9_64bit.  If you have a 64 bit OS, like Windows 10, then double-click that directory and you will see this:

The Maelstrom.exe is in E:\Maelstrom\DirectX9_64bit directory, so the Target is E:\Maelstrom\DirectX9_64bit\Maelstrom.exe that you can see highlighted.  If you have spaces in your directory names, you will have to put double quotes around it:  "E:\Maelstrom\DirectX9_64bit\Maelstrom.exe"

ERAS has no .exe.  From https://chezjfrey.itch.io/gentlemen-of-fortune-historical-eras-module-2

"This download contains the script mods and game assets.  In order to play, you must use the newest Maelstrom Engine"

After Maelstrom and ERAS download, make a Windows shortcut:

Target: is your computer's path to Maelstrom.exe

Start in: is your computer's path to the ERAS folder where you downloaded the ERAS mod and contains Program and RESOURCE directories and start.ini

Nothing much.  I removed a log trace from AIShip.c that is not needed.  I also changed the option screen for enabling/disabling gamma settings when Windows supports the settings.

Send me a game save file standing in front of the shipyard that has the problem.  Also, enter the shipyard, and when the screen goes black, find the system.log and error.log file (if there is one) and send me those files too.  Email is chezjfrey@hotmail.com

They are fixed on an individual basis, so I need to know which weapon to fix them.

That is a request made my MK a long time ago. When crew is low, below a threshold, they are harder to hit during musket volley.

Assassin Dagger will be fixed in next update.

Recently, some tweaks for New Horizons compatibility and I think a bug fix for potential problems sent from scripts to Character messages.  You do not need a new game.  If you use the Itch client to manage Maelstrom, you don't have to install because if you launch the Itch client, it will synch up the new files.  If you do not use the Itch client, just download Maelstrom to the directory you keep the Maelstrom app files.