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About this mod
These are custom flags (41) and sails (27) that I enjoyed creating in Photoshop.
The themes range from music to movies and other fun stuff I happened to think of in the moment that might look cool flying on top of a pirate ship.
- Permissions and credits
- Changelogs
Instructions: Decompress the files and copy them into the "custom" directory of Pirates.
I am playing the Steam version recently downloaded (2/2022) For me the file location is
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Sid Meier's Pirates!\custom
Flag and Sail Themes: Star Wars, Star Trek, Terminator, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Nightmare before Christmas, US Navy, Nations, Led Zeppelin, Rush, Iron Maiden, The Who, Queen, Blue Oyster Cult, Slipknot, Metallica, Grateful Dead, Emojis.
I had a lot of fun making these. The flags are more simple than the sails, since they don't require a transparent background.
Make Yer Own Flags and Sails Matey!
First off you need an editor that will work with DDS files. I used Photoshop 2022 with an extension that allows me to work with DDS file. I found it in this video on YT. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG17FyyW_gY&t=80s
Some general rules & tips:
1. Flags and Sails need to be perfectly square. If not, the game will not recognize them and will show up as a light blue square in selection.
2. The file naming conventions are:
flag_NAME.dds
ship_sail_emblem_lrg_NAME.dds
3. For flags I used 256 x 256 pixel resolution. For Sails it was 512 X 512. I found these resolutions worked well, and also displayed nicely in Pirates! when you go to select them.
4. Images need to be in RGB format to save in the DDS format. In Photoshop this can be easily done from Image>Mode>RGB.
5. For Sail logos to display nicely over the Sail you have to make the image background transparent. Here the tutorial I used for that from Photoshop to create an Alpha channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4z4tug1w44
6. If developing and tweaking a bunch flags and sails consider cut and pasting all existing flags and sails to a different subdirectory temporarily. You can always add them back later. This will make developing new ones a lot easier since you will only see the ones you are working on when you load them up to check them...and you will be doing that a lot.
7. Arrrgh...Now go make some cool flags and sails!
I am playing the Steam version recently downloaded (2/2022) For me the file location is
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Sid Meier's Pirates!\custom
Flag and Sail Themes: Star Wars, Star Trek, Terminator, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Nightmare before Christmas, US Navy, Nations, Led Zeppelin, Rush, Iron Maiden, The Who, Queen, Blue Oyster Cult, Slipknot, Metallica, Grateful Dead, Emojis.
I had a lot of fun making these. The flags are more simple than the sails, since they don't require a transparent background.
Make Yer Own Flags and Sails Matey!
First off you need an editor that will work with DDS files. I used Photoshop 2022 with an extension that allows me to work with DDS file. I found it in this video on YT. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG17FyyW_gY&t=80s
Some general rules & tips:
1. Flags and Sails need to be perfectly square. If not, the game will not recognize them and will show up as a light blue square in selection.
2. The file naming conventions are:
flag_NAME.dds
ship_sail_emblem_lrg_NAME.dds
3. For flags I used 256 x 256 pixel resolution. For Sails it was 512 X 512. I found these resolutions worked well, and also displayed nicely in Pirates! when you go to select them.
4. Images need to be in RGB format to save in the DDS format. In Photoshop this can be easily done from Image>Mode>RGB.
5. For Sail logos to display nicely over the Sail you have to make the image background transparent. Here the tutorial I used for that from Photoshop to create an Alpha channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4z4tug1w44
6. If developing and tweaking a bunch flags and sails consider cut and pasting all existing flags and sails to a different subdirectory temporarily. You can always add them back later. This will make developing new ones a lot easier since you will only see the ones you are working on when you load them up to check them...and you will be doing that a lot.
7. Arrrgh...Now go make some cool flags and sails!