I'm able to get Privateer up and running, but I... can't do anything in my ship O_o

[KSOT]

I joined the merchants guild and accepted a mission, but when I launch, the only things I can do are turn and shoot missles. It says I have no laser, even if I buy one at the wepon shop. I can't use afterburner. I can't even accelerate. Nothing on the keyboard seems to work either.

I think maybe something isn't working control-wise. I use a USB controller with joy2key for most functions, but I rely on the keyboard for things like navigation, communication and weapon switching. Everything worked perfectly in WC1 and 2. What might the problem be here?

 

[KSOT]

Ok, I figured out the controls, but I'm still confused about the missions. Why are there 9 nav points for ever mission I choose? Why do I run into jump points if I can't jump yet? Where am I supposed to go? Which nav point is my base and how do I land on it? Every choice in the communications menu seems useless. Why can't I eject if I just want to end a mission?

Why do the graphics look worse than WC1? Why is the game so choppy? Why is the view from your first ship so small? Less than half of what you see is space.

Blah!

 

[luminon]

OK, let's go through your questions one by one.

Why are there 9 nav points for ever mission I choose?

Because at the beginning of the game you are in the Troy system, which always has 9 nav points. You will continue to launch in this system until you buy a jump drive and jump into another system, which has different nav points and bases.

Why do I run into jump points if I can't jump yet?

The jump points are always visible so you know where they are, but you can't use them until you buy a jump drive (and press J while in a jump point). Some people may not like the fact that you can always see them, but i think it is useful if you are fighting and want to quickly jump out and are looking for the jump point.

Where am I supposed to go?

Privateer is not like the other wing commander games as in there is no one fixed path you must follow. You go wherever your current mission takes you, whether that is out-system or not. But if you are talking about getting onto the story missions, then you must jump to New Detroit and talk to a fixer there to get started.

Which nav point is my base and how do I land on it?

Again, privateer is not like the other wing commander games. There is no one base which is YOUR base. Just go to where you are required to go during a mission. To land on a base you just have to fly close enough to it and you will land automatically.

Every choice in the communications menu seems useless.

The communications may seem useless just because you are used to people always responding to you in the other WC games, but they do work in privateer. You can actually use the comms to sweet talk an enemy into not attacking you (but you have to be persistent) and you need them during some story missions.

Why can't I eject if I just want to end a mission?

I don't think you can eject in privateer. I may be wrong but I have never ejected myself. You can, however, eject your crago. I think you press CTRL+X.

Why do the graphics look worse than WC1?

Actually, the graphics are supposed to better than WC1. I believe the bitmaps used in privateer are higher quality. This just depends on your opinion. I personally prefer privateer's graphics, but others may think otherwise.

Why is the game so choppy?

I'm afraid I can't answer this. The game obviously isn't meant to be choppy, but there must be something about your system that privateer doesn't like. Maybe you could tell us how you are running privateer? Are you using DOSbox in winXP or running it from win9x/ME? Or are you running it in real DOS?

Why is the view from your first ship so small?

Your first ship, the tarsus, is the worst ship in the game and you should upgrade as soon as possible. The ships you can buy in privateer are not miltary ships, so the visibilty is poorer than usual. The only dedicated fighter you can buy is the Centurion, so if you want better visibilty, save up 200,000 credits to buy one.

 

[BradMick]

did you by chance play the remake before you played the original? i've a sneaking feeling by your questions, more than likely. the remake took a lot of......liberties in their presentation of the ol' classic. for me, none of them were good, but hey....i'm a purist to the core for the most part too.

 

[Death]

Your first ship, the tarsus, is the worst ship in the game and you should upgrade as soon as possible. The ships you can buy in privateer are not miltary ships, so the visibilty is poorer than usual. The only dedicated fighter you can buy is the Centurion, so if you want better visibilty, save up 200,000 credits to buy one.

Alternately, save money on new ships for a bit, and upgrade your (generic "you") current ship to its highest potential, then save funds until you can upgrade the next ship you get to a reasonably decent level. A "hot shit" ship with crappy gear is what some folks refer to as "target drone".

 

[WCFan59]

Actually this sounds a lot like the original under Dosbox based on the graphics seeming worse than in WC1 and WC2. So to answer the questions a little further as to the missions. Only Nav Points and Jumpoints and Bases that appear in Red are mission related.

So if you have a cargo run between the base you are currently on and another base in the Troy system the destination base will appear as a red box in the Nav Map. So you would fly from the base you're at to the new base and fly towards that base until the Automatic Landing message plays in the comm window and you land on that base. Upon landing the mission amount is placed in your account. If you land at any other base than the one specified in the mission for the cargo run the mission will be considered incomplete and you won't get paid and the mission will disappear from your mission list.

If you have a patrol mission all the Nav points and Jump points will appear as red circles etc... Fly to all Nav and Jump points and get within 1200 m of the Nav or Jump point to get credit for hitting the patrol area. The point will change to either a green or blue circle from the red circle in the Nav Map once you are close enough. You should actually be very near or in the Jump point for Jump points and fly through the Nav point for the Nav Point. Once all the points have been patrolled then land at any base to collect the money.

For a bounty mission fly to that Base, Jump or Nav Point and kill the enemy usually a pirate or retro one or more ships. Check the status of the ship by attempting to communicate once the ship is targeted by pressing the "C" key. A list will show up of who you want to communicate with, if it says pirate or retro then shoot it. If it shows up as militia or Confed or Merchant don't shoot it, unless you want to be on everyone's enemy list. If it's Confed or Militia or a Merchant talk with them, but be nice. The more often you communicate with them the more likely they will be to become friendly.

Oh, don't accept any missions outside of the Troy system until you do get a jump drive because you only get a maximum of 3 missions from a combination of the Mercenaries Guild and/or Merchants Guild and/or the Mission Computer. Your mission computer has 3 missions then you can't take any more until you complete the ones you already have.

Cargo missions fall off your computer/mission list as soon as you land on any base so don't take cargo missions to more than one base at a time or you'll get paid for the ones to the base you land on and not for the base you didn't land on.

Patrol missions are still active until you land on a base in the system or systems you are currently in, the same for bounty missions. They stay with you until you enter the system and only complete once you have completed all of the objectives.

The reason to communicate initially with who ever you target is because your initial radar scanner only shows grey dots for everything so your radar scanner won't tell you what's an enemy and what's friendly until you get one of the other 2 scanner types. Be careful with those purchases, some have target lock and some don't. Without target lock you can only use dumbfire missiles and guns not heatseeker, IR or FF missiles. I hope this helps.

 

[Darth Roel]

Why can't I eject if I just want to end a mission?

You can use CTRL+D to blow up your ship and get back to the main menu, from where you can load a saved game.

 

[Alch]

OK, guys! I am experiencing the same keyboard control problems found by KSOT a couple of years ago. ¿Does anyone know how to solve them?

KSOT, are you still there!?