Questions about some features

[ellmo]

Damn, just started playing... It's simply amazing. Reminds me of how did I lose hundred oh hours playing the original Privateer. Oh, did I say "lose" ? I didn't mean to... But I have questions to ask. I'm sorry tu put them in the forum, but I haven't seen any Manuals or FAQ's concerning the things I'd lik to ask. I also realise that these aren't final releases yet, but still I have to ask the following:

Space capsules, and the ejection thingy
It's very interesting, that I am now able to eject from my ship, and wander around the space in the ejection pod... but, how do I get back in my ol' Tarsus? I mean, I tried docking, but it docked me with the Achilles, not with the ship. I lauched again, and when I switched back to the ship, the capsule started moving away from me. Can I give orders to it? Can I give order to the ship while in capsule?. Last thing is - when I came back to the Tarus again - I could eject myslef again. I mean How many times can I eject from one ship? How many crewmembers do I have?

Respawning... isn't that a bit too Quake-ish?
What do you mean I can respawn after being killed? That takes all the fun away. Privateer had some missions, that were so tough to beat, that you sometimes had to reject them because of your ship's equipment... or the lack of it. I hope there won't be any "respawning" option in the final release

Afterburners... where have they flew away?
Where are they?I can't find them in any shop at Helen or the Achilles. Help! My Tarsus is retarded.

docking with stations
I understand why docking with planets can get the same no matter of the direction you approach the planet, but stations are different. Wouldn't it be damn fun, to force the player to come very close do that docking port and request for clearance, rather than just push D and land safely?

accesing personal computer while on planet
How do I do it? Used to be alt+C in the original Privateer, from there I could easily save/load/exit game, find info abot where am I, how much cash do I have and such. As far as I noticed, these features are only available at the Ship Dealer, or at the cargo hold.

 

[MamiyaOtaru]

how do I get back in my ol' Tarsus? ... and when I switched back to the ship

seems you answered your question. Being able to create a ton of ejection capsules this way is a bit of an exploit we are looking at plugging.

I hope there won't be any "respawning" option in the final release

Try it out. "Respawn" loads your last savegame. It could be renamed, true, but it is hardly something that needs to be removed.

Wouldn't it be damn fun, to force the player to come very close do that docking port and request for clearance, rather than just push D and land safely?

Probably not. But if you prefer that, change your difficulty to a higher level, and it is already so: you have to request clearance and move to the docking clamps. If you felt like it, you could edit lower difficulty levels to display the same behaviour.

Used to be alt+C in the original Privateer, from there I could easily save/load/exit game, find info abot where am I, how much cash do I have and such. As far as I noticed, these features are only available at the Ship Dealer, or at the cargo hold.

Correct.

 

[Lone Wolf]

Press "[" to switch to control of your Tarsus. Unless you have a tractor beam, you'll have to leave your ejection pod floating in space...

There is a manual, http://priv.solsector.net/downloads/manual.pdf

Respawning is the same as reloading, since it takes you back to your last savegame.

Not every dealer carries every item, try looking for afterburners somewhere else (tried Hector?)

Press "C" then "0" to request landing clearance.

Scroll the mouse cursor around untill the bottom of the screen says "Mission Computer." Then click.

 

[ellmo]

Nice... Seems like you people thought of nearly everything I first noticed while playing. thanks god there's no respawn, and good idea with those docking clamps. Sure I will edit lower skill levels for that (just how?). It's very realistic.

Thanks for the Afterburner tip as well. When I first noticed mining_base[merchant] written on top of the item selection window, I thought that every merchant type mining will have the same items, but It's good they don't.

Oh, have you noticed, that the afterburner sound is being played even when you don't have them?

 

[MamiyaOtaru]

and good idea with those docking clamps. Sure I will edit lower skill levels for that (just how?). It's very realistic.

Open up vegastrike.config in notepad (or whatever texteditor you prefer) and look for dock_to_area. It is true in easy settings, and false in hard settings. Make it false everywhere.

Thanks for the Afterburner tip as well. When I first noticed mining_base[merchant] written on top of the item selection window, I thought that every merchant type mining will have the same items, but It's good they don't.

Yeah, different bases of the same type will sometimes have different things. Heck, even the same base will sometimes have different things It is a bit random. Sometimes a base is just temporarily sold out of a certain item. Keep looking!

Oh, have you noticed, that the afterburner sound is being played even when you don't have them?

Yeah May be fixed someday but it is only an annoyance: gameflow is unaffected. At least you can hear the afterburner noise, I find it rather quiet sometimes

 

[Acimus]

Respawning is the same as reloading, since it takes you back to your last savegame.

Not exactly. It respawns your ship to the latest station/planet where you saved your game last time, with the same active missions and equipment etc. as you had when you saved your game.

But after respawning, if you go to that place where you were killed, you may notice all kind of stuff floating there from _your_ previous ship. Also the same enemies with same amounts of damage may still be around. So it really seems more like Re-Spawning...

 

[Lone Wolf]

But after respawning, if you go to that place where you were killed, you may notice all kind of stuff floating there from _your_ previous ship. Also the same enemies with same amounts of damage may still be around. So it really seems more like Re-Spawning...

True. In that way, it is like respawning. I think that is because of the way the Vegastrike engine is, not because of any intent on the part of the developers. One nice thing about that is you can keep respawning endlessly and defeat an infinetly superior force

 

[hellcatv]

well I could deallocate the old sectors...but I think there's something to be said about keeping your old place alive...

 

[Acimus]

True. In that way, it is like respawning. I think that is because of the way the Vegastrike engine is, not because of any intent on the part of the developers. One nice thing about that is you can keep respawning endlessly and defeat an infinetly superior force

And one small drawback is that if you're on defend/escort mission and die during it, the ship which you must protect also stay damaged after respawning but number of enemies seem to be magically restored...

 

[MamiyaOtaru]

It respawns your ship to the latest station/planet where you saved your game last time, with the same active missions and equipment etc. as you had when you saved your game ... Also the same enemies with same amounts of damage may still be around. So it really seems more like Re-Spawning...

Hmm, yeah. Unintended side effect of storing mission data in savegames.. Before that the enemies would still be there but the mission gone so it was rather pointless.