More Privateer Predicaments...

D

Dralthi5

Spaceman
Okay, so I started again on Privateer tonight. But... I'm finding myself selling my shields and armor just to have enough money to buy a jump drive and sector map. I mean, I need the jump drive and the sector map to get anywhere in the game, but without shields or armor I'm instantly killed!

Why would the Privateer's Tarsus not have a jump drive? Did he just magically appear in the Troy System?

Anyway, I am just doing something wrong or is this how it's supposed to be?

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If I'm locked on, there's no such thing as evasive action!
 
Simple, fly some missions in the system you start out in, get some money, and then buy a JD. There's no need to go rushing to other systems to early.
 
Yes, that's how it's supposed to be. You don't have anything to begin with. I also recommend buying better weapons, armor and sheilds before you get a jump dirve. Hell, if you don't mind doing the same boring missions over and over, stay in Troy till you have a fully loaded Centurion.
 
I find the best paid missions are the ones which make use of the jump drive, eg cargo missions going to the same destination. Once you've got enough defences (like that's possible in a Tarsus) it'd be a good idea to go for the jump drive.
 
Remember, Dralthi5, that that Tarsus was essentially a pile of junk when Grayson inherited it. I'm sure there had been a jump drive, but it was FUBAR.

And you should definitely follow Earthworm's advice - don't rush into the other systems. Remember, there are no asteroids in Troy...

So, before you get a jump drive, buy a mass driver, afterburners, sell the laser and get another mass driver, buy the best armour, a missile launcher (or do you already have one?) and 10 IRs, some better engines, some better shields, and then get a jump drive.
 
Dralthi5 said:
Okay, so I started again on Privateer tonight. But... I'm finding myself selling my shields and armor just to have enough money to buy a jump drive and sector map. I mean, I need the jump drive and the sector map to get anywhere in the game, but without shields or armor I'm instantly killed!

Why would the Privateer's Tarsus not have a jump drive? Did he just magically appear in the Troy System?

Anyway, I am just doing something wrong or is this how it's supposed to be?
Click to expand...

IIRC the little story in the Privateer manual didn't mention much of anything beyond going to Troy system to pick it up.

As for jump drives, for now don't worry about it. Troy is tame, as far as star systems go, and with Mercenary Guild membership, it's relatively easy to rack up 3 seperate jobs for the same system patrol, where generally only 1 or 2 of the points will have any bad guys (not that you have to engage them to complete the mission, technically, but with a Tarsus running isn't terribly viable, even with afterburners).

Yes, out-system missions pay more, but generally involve longer trips with more engagements, which can eat into your profits. For an early-game ship (especially without a repair droid) the cost/benefit ratio is a rather low one. On just in-system missions, it's possible (if somewhat slow-ish) to work up to a fully equipped Centurion, especially after up-gunning the Tarsus to tachyon cannon fed by L1 engines and backed up by 2 launchers full of ImRecs (the most powerful guided weapon in the game).

Or, of course, you could be lazy and use a game editor...
wink2.gif


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SubCrid Death
Official Net.Nazi, LOAF's Merry Guild

[This message has been edited by Death (edited September 30, 2000).]
 
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Quarto said:
So, before you get a jump drive, buy a mass driver, afterburners, sell the laser and get another mass driver, buy the best armour, a missile launcher (or do you already have one?) and 10 IRs, some better engines, some better shields, and then get a jump drive.
Click to expand...

Unless it was sold, the Tarsus is equiped with one missile rack.

As for equipment, I personally don't worry about jumping out-system until having meson guns, if not tachyon cannon. While they both have a pretty healthy appetite for capacitor juice (though nowhere near as obnoxious as the plasma gun), they also kill quickly, assuming decent aim. (Mesons are more convenient earlier in the game, as they're only 2500 credits, vs the 20,000 credit cost of tachyon cannon.)

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SubCrid Death
Official Net.Nazi, LOAF's Merry Guild

[This message has been edited by Death (edited September 30, 2000).]
 
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Heh heh, out-system missions can have a very good cost benefit ratio IF you're good enough.
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But, yeah, the first few missions can be incredibly boring trying to upgrade your flying capabilities.

[This message has been edited by Wedge009 (edited September 30, 2000).]
 
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As for equipment, I personally don't worry about jumping out-system until having meson guns, if not tachyon cannon. While they both have a pretty healthy appetite for capacitor juice (though nowhere near as obnoxious as the plasma gun), they also kill quickly, assuming decent aim. (Mesons are more convenient earlier in the game, as they're only 2500 credits, vs the 20,000 credit cost of tachyon cannon.)
Click to expand...
I never used Mesons because I preferred the Mass Drivers, but that's just a personal preference. I agree about Tachyons though - they're excellent weapons, at least once you've upgraded your power plant.
 
It's not just a matter of being good enough, the Tarsus sucks. Engaging Kilrathi in a Tarsus usually ends up in a fairly long dog fight for me unless I use missles. You want to at least get that best stuff available for the Tarsus before trying to go beyond Troy.

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Mess with the best, die like the rest.
 
I know this will sound weird but my favorite ships to fly were the Centurion first, then the Tausus. I hated the Galaxy class ship, it was too big and since it lacked autoturrents they were useless. The Orion even buffed out never seemed any stronger than my Centurion. I could take out just about anything the Tarsus easily but would have to upgrade once I started facing multiple enemies and the greater manueverbility of the Centurion came into play. I never bothered with the other ships after a while. Kept the Tarsus till I had enough money to fully upgrade to a Centurion with Tachyon guns and I was set.

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There is no God but myself. No destiny but what I deem for me. I walk my path and no others, for I am free.

http://www.ntr.net/~vondoom
 
Like Death said, you can get three patrol missions in Troy, and get paid for doing them all at the same time. And those patrols usually pay from 7,000 to 14,000 credits. If there aren't 3 patrols available, simply take all that are, take off, and land again. New missions will be available now.

When I first played Priv I stayed in Troy untill I could afford the Galaxy. Then I took some of those cargo missions, but quickly switched to the Centurion and started bounty hunting.
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Taking off and landing is a waste of money, since you have to pay 50 cr whenever you land -- instead, save your game and then load it again for different missions.

My guess would be that the jump drive was sold to pay off debts by Mack's estate, but we can't be sure...
 
Thanks for your help, guys.

Hmm... What's the story on this Grayson character, anyway?



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If I'm locked on, there's no such thing as evasive action!
 
No manual, eh?
smile.gif


In a nutshell, he worked on a freighter in Avalon sector. One day, when his freighter docked in a space station, he found an e-mail from his grandfather (the newspaper article in the manual refers to the grandfather as Mack Christienson - however, it also says that all names were changed, so this is not his real name), who is dying and decided to leave his ancient Tarsus to you.
You're somewhat confused about what you should do, since you know that the Tarsus would require a helluva lot of work and money to get up and running. Also, your girlfriend who happens to live on this very same station is very much opposed to this, since she certainly has no plans to go to Gemini (where the Tarsus is).
As it happens, your decision is made a hell of a lot simpler when the Retros (the station's commander is one of them, apparently) attack the station. You and your crewmates try to defend it in your freighter, but it's no use. The station is overrun, and everybody on it are probably dead; your captain also died during the fight, and the freighter is so badly damaged that you and your crewmates can't afford the repairs. So, you head out to Troy, and woe to any Retro who gets in your way
smile.gif
.

Of course, the above is very much simplified, but the main points are there - you got a ship, everybody you cared about got killed by the Retros.
 
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Nope, no manual. I have the Gold Classics Edition. So... I have no manual, no sound, no joystick control. But I guess that's better than not having the game at all.

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If I'm locked on, there's no such thing as evasive action!
 
You mean the manual isn't on the CD???? On my Gold Edition games (dont have priv GE though) it's in Adobe Acrobat format on the CD. Can you not play it in DOS or do you not have the drivers?

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There is no God but myself. No destiny but what I deem for me. I walk my path and no others, for I am free.

http://www.ntr.net/~vondoom
 
I thought the story was pretty good. I wish one of the authors who have written WC novels would do a Privateer novel, maybe developing more that story and continuing with the game. I just love all the shady characters of Privateer and would love to see a whole novel based there, although I suppose we kind of got that with Action Stations. Still, a whole novel entirely on Privateer would be great, but then again, anything new and WC is great in my eyes.
 
Never mind.


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If I'm locked on, there's no such thing as evasive action!



[This message has been edited by Dralthi5 (edited October 01, 2000).]
 
Oh, never mind. I'm an idiot. I found the Privateer manual on the disk. That "article" concerning our Privateer is called The Frontiersman: Interview with a Privateer: As told to Chandra Karr?

Thanks Vondoom, for reminding me about the on-disk stuff.

Wolf Dog: Yeah, that would be pretty cool. I was thinking to myself a while back that there are still a bunch of opportunities for WC novels. Sequels to Action Stations, sequels to False Colors, novels with the characters from Prophecy, Privateer novels, etc.

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If I'm locked on, there's no such thing as evasive action!

[This message has been edited by Dralthi5 (edited October 01, 2000).]
 
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