Privateer of my dreams

K

Kalfor

Spaceman
I've seen another thread comparing Priv 1 and 2 and what 'was wrong' and people thinking of creating their own version of it. So, here I am to ask you: what would be the perfect privateer game? Consider it an online game.

What HAS to be in it? What CANT? Features, possibilities, ideas, etc.

Let the brain juice flow!
 
The original Privateer really has it all. While some features of Priv2 are nice (hiring of cargo ships, wingmen, etc) I think the first one really nailed everything on the head.

The "perfect" Privateer would combine the best features of both while avoiding the overkill of Priv2 (I mean who remembers any of the Priv2 ships except your final loadout?)
 
In the original Privateer universe there was not to much of any one thing. This trend sadly was not the case in the following game of the series nor in the games that tried to continue the style. A durandal mentioned in the post above. Priv 2 started this trend and Freelancer and the others continued on it, sending it farther and farther out of whack.
 
Mmm let me think if this is the right direction, then

the perfect privateer has:
* several planets and stations where privateers may land
* trade on goods,
* join guilds
* take missions on a computer or with NPCs
* talk with NPCs for info
* A plot that may (but does not need) to play out with the freelancer as main character
* factions that react to you depending on how/what you do
* random encounters
* Interesting ship options, but not an overkill
* Ship equipment customization
* Hire other privateers
* Patrols, attack missions, transport missions, etc
* Exploring new areas and finding hidden things

Am I on the right track here? ;)

Does it mean a P1 revival with more content would be a great hit? I wonder what changed in the last decade or so related to what players want in a game like that.
 
Waxman said:
In the original Privateer universe there was not to much of any one thing. This trend sadly was not the case in the following game of the series nor in the games that tried to continue the style. A durandal mentioned in the post above. Priv 2 started this trend and Freelancer and the others continued on it, sending it farther and farther out of whack.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if it was so much the ammount of selection but rather that everything pretty much had the same function. If there was more distinction between fighters and their roles they'd have been more memorable. In the original privateer you could pretty much augment each ship to similar levels but certain ones had cargo or armament advantages over the others. The other option - besides making the fighters visually distinct - is to maybe not limit the fighters but to simply limit what is available for the player to buy.

In P2 you could hire a cargo ship so that pretty much negated the very gameplay-centric choice of choosing an Orion over a Centurion. If there were a few more options along the lines of the original games choices with potentially more unique roles in addition to a mere handful of multipurpose fighters then I'm sure they'd be more memorable.

As an example, maybe there's some contract work you can choose to be on an SAR team... but you need a specific fighter with certain characteristics that are only available with a certain class ship? IF you want those missions you have to fly a certain kind of fighter... maybe some of the cheap light and fast fighters in the game are incapable of mounting tractor beams. Or maybe it's a space requirement in the cargo hold for what ammounts to the equivalent of modifying a truck to be an ambulance... Rushing ejected pilots or survivors of an attacked ship to a hospital ship or medical station of sorts while under fire could be fun.
 
With a bit more tweaking Renegades Legends could be your privateer of your dreams. That game has a lot of options going for it. you should check it out does have a demo as well. I love the modular ship design and you can totally make your ship custom. And it is a seemless universe so there is no jumpgates/wormholes and no load screens when descending on to or off a planet :)
 
(sorry for disapearing. Im at San francisco attending the game developers conference... the most exciting and tiresome week of my life ;))

I cant remembet anything of Renegade Legends... whats it like? Can you direct me somewhere for info? (I google it, but didnt get anything other than a hockey team ;P)

AD> much of the same is always a serious issue. One that many games just stick to because it works (to some level). Tachyon the fringe had some different missions that worked well in it. So maybe a SAR quest type could fit in on something different, but as long as it is not the only thing. It will get boring just like 'go and kill x enemies' nth times.

I guess variety is the key word here, not only for quests but for everything

Cmon, people! What else? What about plot? Do you think you need to be part of something huge or be allowed to 'create your own story'? Or a little of both? P1 has a main plot and the mission computers/guild that allowed you to 'create a story'. P2 had the main plot and several secondary plots that designed a story in itself. Which works best for you? Or better: what works best for you?
 
TThe story should be something that speaks to you the creator, play some other games and go off what you liked and what you did not like. Play and as you are playing look for things the game lacks and add it to yours. Find a style you want and run with it.

As for mission type, try not to lock a player into a certain role, Not many will play a Privateer style game where the player is not the boss.

As for a fan of storyline missions, I say run with all the missions you want, be it main or subplot.
But keep in mind repetitiveness. don't make them cookie cutterish.
 
the privateer of my dreams has level editing tools. Because right now it's hard to make much of anything without the tools to do so. That said Priv1 vs priv2. p2 falls down because of the lack of cockpits. All the ships feel samey because the loadouts are very similar, but also because the ships don't differ enough by stats. Prophecy I guess had a compromise where rather than taking time to create very detailed/time consuming to make art. They threw together frames that made ships look/feel distinctive.
 
DarkOne said:
With a bit more tweaking Renegades Legends could be your privateer of your dreams. That game has a lot of options going for it. you should check it out does have a demo as well. I love the modular ship design and you can totally make your ship custom. And it is a seemless universe so there is no jumpgates/wormholes and no load screens when descending on to or off a planet :)
Click to expand...

Do you mean Renegade Legion?
 
Waxman> Ah, Its not an issue of what story I should make or how to do it... I dont think that is (or could) be the issue for me (considering what I do for a living ;)). What Im asking if how you as a player think story should play out in that privateer of your dreams. If its freeform, if it has a storyline (like a main plot), if its a mix of both, etc.

Darkmage> repetitive design was Freelancer's sin. Now, what WCP has of interesting (well, I think all wc games) is that each ship has a definite role. WCP has it in a higher level as it has fighter-bombers, interceptors, heavy bombers, multi-role fighters, superiority fighters, etc. It helps a lot defining the difference between ship types. As Durandral said, the issue with P2 was having too many ship models that were mostly more of the same

st3lt3k> I remember the game cover and reading about it, but never played it. Was it interesting? How did it play out?
 
Hi guys,

Privateer was my first love... played P2 as well, never finished it... it just didn't feel right. (for one movie audio was utter CR@P.)
Too bad though there's some slight bashing of freelancer... IMO the overall feel was very good.

Haven't played X universe yet - but have done extensive reading on it - mainly cause 'they' say storyline is somewhat euhm, not well done shall i say. Freeform in it is good though i read. So with some modification i believe could make a candidate for the title.

The mix of freeform and (mainly) story in freelancer kept me coming back. Although without the story it wouldn't have been half as good i guess.

I'm trying to express my opinion in as few words as possible (which i'm failing at horribly already but hey...) so i guess what this post comes down to is atmosphere... which was great in P1, ok in P2 but other elements made it less 'playable', freelancer was IMO very very nice, darkstar one could have been good as well, but the lack of anything to do even though you can go anywhere really only makes it a qucik fix for like 15min to 1/2 an hour at a time. (i mean hey, jump gate => tradestation is about all it has. everything happens in a 'confined' space. And freelancer feels way more 'open'.)

If freelancer was just slightly less arcady, had longer storyline, base missions weren't so repetetive and ships were more distinct from each other (distinct roles), dynamic economic system, well then i think it would be a great candidate for ultimate privateer game. Cause i loved flying around 'discovering' shipwrecks and leaving the known routes. I mean it has all the elements there, just not all polished... but again thats because it's quite arcady... But the atmosphere was half the fun.

And the atmosphere in P1 was spot on! So as far as Privateer of my dreams P1 still rules.

maybe a modern day mix of P1, freelancer and X would do the trick...

ps. I know i just bashed freelancer in far more detail than the other posts.
And yet I'm a slight freelancer fanboy... which (i hope) strengthens my 'atmosphere' advocation.

greetings from dutch daragman
 
I actually like Privateer 2 the best. The reasons include:

-Great graphics for the locations. They're really exotic, and have a lot of backstory (all the great text in the database).

-Randomly triggered cinematic non-plot missions. The way this was done, it made me play on and on because there would sooner or later come one more exciting mission to do and video to see.

I also never had a problem with the fact that there are so many different ships. When playing the game, you would get a new ship as your balance progresses... about 4 times until you're in the top league. I like how it gives you the chance to really make a decision: There's not just one mid-tier ship but a lot to choose from. Don't see this as overkill.

I like the outlandish atmosphere the most of all the space piloting games there are. Maybe there could have been a little more depth, like more cinematic missions (there's never enough) and the Priv1 concept of being able to become friends with factions that are your enemies when you start.
 
Difficult question. In fact, I consider the first Privateer one of the best games of all time.

The problem is, I can't really describe why. I've always wondered what makes it special, and could only boilt it down to "atmosphere". The thing is, I can't say what makes it so incredible atmospheric. I can only find cues, hints - things that lack in other games. Or that are too much in other games.

X³ comes pretty close to that Privateer feeling - I really love that game, but it has a few flaws. Luckily, those really are minor flaws, the game is highly enjoyable.

Things I like:

-Landing on planets. I really miss it in X³. Remember New Detroit? It sends shivers down my spine. The never ending rain, the hover cars like in Blade Runner, the landing pad on a highrise... what an idea! What a setting! You could use it as a filming location!
Planets can be made so much more unique than space stations. And I loved the feeling of "coming home".

-Moving around space stations / planets. I don't mean ego-shooter style, it could be just a few screens like in Privateer. That makes New Constantinople so different from Perry. Those stations had flair, they were unique. Truly unique.

-Which leads to the next point: Different things should take place in different locations, not just by pulling up a new menu on the main screen. Ship Dealer? Walk there. Look around. Even though you can't move, no matter. Just don't put me on the landing pad and let me pull up a menu.

-Graphics. I love graphics. That's why I play a game and don't read a RTF file. I can mount a new gun? Let me see the illustration! Let me see my ship! Show me the gun mounted on my ship! I loved that part in the equipment screen in Privateer. Each item was illustrated. And heck, I could see where it's mounted on my ship! In X³ I can only try to find out where a gun is mounted, I can mount it in space (which makes it quite easy), and I don't know how the gun looks like.

-What I love about X³ is the possibility of owning several ships. It's totally worth it.

-Also great in X³: the vast universe.

-The overall designs of the old Privateer rocked. The looked simply real. Let me put it this way:
3d graphics tend to look too "clean". Now the old Privateer had only "painted" images, yet they looked more realistic, than some 3d scenes. Uh, I think this post gets pretty confusing, especially for a first post. I better stop here, sort my mind and post something better later.
 
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