Privateer Gemini Gold 1.02

[John Cordell]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

the Privateer Gemini Gold team has finished it's second major release!
With this important milestone we double the effective game resolution and introduce Privateer like interfaces.

Some other changes are:

A. new cargo/upgrade item pictures
B. new title and death screen
C. new autopilot info screen
D. new planet textures
E. new explosion animations
F. loading screen
G. different random mission descriptions
H. some reworked space backgrounds
I. limited missile/torpedo launcher support
J. easier AI, only one difficulty setting

Before we release the final version, a public test of the release candidate will ensure that the game won't bug on your machines. If you want to help, download the RC1 version for Windows "here" (thanks wcsaga team) and report any suggestions and problems to this thread.

There is also a poll going on here where you can leave a quick first impression about RC1.

 

[Marc]

Had a hell of a ruff time getting past my first fiew dogfights but I suppose that more my lack of skills than game balance...

I'm on my way to getting set up with all I need (jump engine and stuff).

Any idiot can see the immence effort by the development team to bring it closer to the original game and it shows.

 

[NinjaLA]

it'll be tomorrow before I can play it, but I'm definitely gonna give it a go around.

 

[John Cordell]

News
====
- white loading screen bug is gone
- mission payment goes 15% up
- npcs fire a litte bit slower
- shift+left click buys/sells 10 items and not all.

A new "rc1" is available from the source above.
Copy over your savegames (save & serialized_xml folder) if you wish to use the newer version.

 

[Unregistered]

Amazingly faithful

Hi,

i´ve been following the development of your little project for quite a while and also downloaded the previous version.

And i just wanted to drop on this occasion how amazingly great you´re scoring in the department of translating the old style of the original into the vastly expanded gfx technology of a decade later.
Where you particularly shine is how you´re not falling for the temptation of going all mad about gfx galore and shiny light effects, but rather manage brilliantly to preserve the essence of the original artwork.
How you pull off to extrapolate what was only vaguely indicating detail in a pixellated way in the past into an adequately refreshed look, that still appears sound with what we players all know and love from back then, at the same time not running into danger of getting slick and overpolished.
I find this particularly in the image from the Perry hangar, with the spots and scratches on the floor and the evened silhouette of the Centurion.

From all the other great WC fan projects this reminds me most of the beginnings of Wing Commander Pioneer, who seemed to employ a similar approach about this aspect (if yet on an even higher gfx level).


Great stuff all out.
Keep it up, please!

Ragon, The Mage

 

[Unregistered]

Like the good old privateer, as we've always knew it.
But two things:

-Why can't I sell the Missile Launcher of the Tarsus just when you begin a new game?

-Getting started is in this version really difficult. Enough money for an afterburner in the beginning would be nice. I used to sell the Missile Launcher to get creds for the Afterburner

- Great Fan

 

[John Cordell]

Thanks for the flowers
I really thought more people would prefer to vote but written feedback is of course a lot better.

To your questions:
1.
Selling launchers is currently not possible, it's an engine limitation.

2.
Your Tarsus has a cargo expansion (with new rc1), sell it for 2500 and you should have enough money to buy an afterburner right away! Yes this is not like the original, we changed it because the launcher is not sellable in 1.02. (We'll change it back at some point in the future). Hope that suits you!

 

[Unregistered]

Ah Selling the Cargo Extension is one possible way, of course.

Erm, excuse my bad english, I'm german.

One more thing: Good old Iris Mk II Radar - well, it has taken some shots and with this serious damage. The price for a repair is 11.000Cr - isn't it a bit, well, to expensive?? Only for balancing-reasons?

And what happened to the Nav-Map (CTRL-N)? Perhaps i'm just blind, but i can't find it anywhere. The problem is, some contracts from the Mission Computer don't give an exact base-name. I think, you can check it out on the Nav-Map of original Privateer??

Anyway- it's simply great work you do here! I never thought that privateer comes back - and with new graphics and better gameplay. It's really fun to play it again

Greetings
-The Fan

 

[AD]

Had a hell of a ruff time getting past my first fiew dogfights but I suppose that more my lack of skills than game balance...

I'm on my way to getting set up with all I need (jump engine and stuff).

Any idiot can see the immence effort by the development team to bring it closer to the original game and it shows.

The original privateer is like this too to some degree. It can be a real pain. I was playing the CD version a few weeks ago and it almost took me a half hour to take out one dralthi with my tarsus' solitary gun

 

[ChrisReid]

It might even be worth it to sell the laser and buy a dozen dumbfires. You'll be able to finish a couple real basic missions and maybe get some afterburners and meson guns.

 

[John Cordell]

New Versions - New Features
======================
- widescreen support
- problem fix "This application has failed to start because the application configuration is incorrect." for windows

New versions for Windows, MacOSX and Linux are available now.


----
The Fan
You open up the navmap with shift+m? and you can read through the missions assignments when you press "o" in cockpit mode.

 

[ChrisReid]

So is this like RC2? Have you thought about just using plain version numbers? A "release candidate" is a test version before some kind of commercial mass printing. When your software is an online fan project, your first big public RC1 after eighteen months isn't a candidate, it's the actual release that people get. I'd have called the new version 1.2 instead of 1.02RC1, and if any incremental updates like this were required, then I'd use the extra digit to make it 1.21.

Is that a new picture? Is there a standalone higher res version?

 

[John Cordell]

This thread is still about a test version which got little fixes and now spawned also 2 other test-versions for mac and linux.

I'll make it clear when a final release is ready. Thanks for your comment.

Is that a new picture? Is there a standalone higher res version?
No and No, it's fake and shows Gemini Gold on an older Mac.

 

[Menacer]

I like the improvements!

I think the nav menu is the biggest eyesore still and needs more attention than just about anything else. Hmm.. I'd like to see the animated landing. Pirates and Retros are just a tad too strong. Kilrathi are too easy. (I'd switch the AI and it'd be balanced about right.) I'm a little puzzled about the launchers- not being able to remove them. Also you can't mount a tractor beam to the turrets, or customize their loadout at all, and that's a big problem for me. =P
Lastly the one other thing that bugs me is that the commodities don't refresh unless you save and reload.

That's all I got for now. Great work all around! :-D

 

[Menacer]

Just got a CTD when I tried to switch to turret view to cover my butt while waiting to jump. Come to think of it, turret system's kinda screwy, innit?

 

[Ijuin]

It's an engine limitation that the launchers are considered part of the spacecraft instead of being a separable module.

Turrets: IIRC, a turret comes with the guns and tractor beam pre-installed (you get to choose which kind of guns when you buy it). Go into the turret view and use the weapon selection ("w", I think) to switch to tractor beam. Unfortunately, you can only fire a turret's tractor beam from within the turret view.

 

[maltinator]

I cann't recognize any differences between the first release and this one. Have you just posted the wrong file by mistake or does the game automatically adjust itself to the native hardware why i cann't see any high-res pictures? And besides they should have improved the user interface to the current standard. The documentation could be better as well. But this is not the final version and therefore i will be so tolerant and wait until they are finish.

 

[John Cordell]

"Just got a CTD when I tried to switch to turret view to cover my butt while waiting to jump."
Jump + Turret = bad idea. Old bug that is not fixed yet.

"I cann't recognize any differences between the first release and this one."
No difference between 1.0 and 1.02?

"they should have improved the user interface to the current standard."
...and the "current standard" is?

"The documentation could be better as well."
Agreed. There are a lot of things that could be better...

 

[Menacer]

Turrets: IIRC, a turret comes with the guns and tractor beam pre-installed (you get to choose which kind of guns when you buy it). Go into the turret view and use the weapon selection ("w", I think) to switch to tractor beam. Unfortunately, you can only fire a turret's tractor beam from within the turret view.

Still, I'm confused. When I bought the turret for my Centurion, it stuck it in the back. When I went to mount guns to it and a tractor beam, it said no slots available. I said ok must be a bug not worked out yet. Then I went in space and checked it out. It fired mesons. In order to mount a tractor beam I had to sacrifice one of my launcher bays up front and put it there. I couldn't sell the launcher but with the old menu i was able to buy the tractor beam anyway and somehow override the old launcher. In order to use it I had to push 'G' to switch from my front guns (not turret guns) and then it was armed and fires with Button 1/Space. I found the turrets now in the old menu that you can buy with different guns, but there's only a couple of options and i would rather be able to put 2 kinds in the back. (Often I use a quick shield-killing weapon like a neutron gun and then a Plasma gun to deal heavy damage, or even an Ion Pulse there for better refire rate and energy economy.) I can't do that, nor can I mount the tractor beam to the turret where it's better off as an auxiliary device rather than taking up a spot up front where I need my launchers!

Note: John I'm being nitpicky with these things, and only because I think this is one of the best fan made remakes for a WC game, and I'd like to see it perfected. I played Privateer for countless hours when it came out around 15 years ago, and I have gone through a few computers since, each one taking all the time necessary to make it run on that system. Finally, I can't make it run anymore, not even dosbox does a decent job with it, and I rely on this project to bring Privateer back to me!! =P If you keep updating and listening to feedback, I'll keep testing!! =D

 

[Menacer]

One more thing: Good old Iris Mk II Radar - well, it has taken some shots and with this serious damage. The price for a repair is 11.000Cr - isn't it a bit, well, to expensive?? Only for balancing-reasons?

And what happened to the Nav-Map (CTRL-N)? Perhaps i'm just blind, but i can't find it anywhere. The problem is, some contracts from the Mission Computer don't give an exact base-name. I think, you can check it out on the Nav-Map of original Privateer??

I agree on the repair prices. Too high in some cases. Also losing an item altogether when it's destroyed is a bad idea. I've gone through 3 afterburners so far. In the original it could get blown up altogether and still get repaired for considerably less than buying it all over again. Maybe it makes sense to do it this way but I prefer sticking to the original. Seems as though the equipment gets damaged before enough of the armor is gone. I know it should take some damage before the armor is gone, but the ship equipment is too vulnerable I'm noticing.

The map is accessible by Ctrl+Alt+N now. I found that out by looking through the mod files. I changed mine to Ctrl+N and added the line in front of the command that had Ctrl+N associated with it that makes it remarked, or not recognized by the game. I forget what function it was but it didn't seem necessary so I simply nulled out that line. Now I can use the menu the way it was originally, but hitting esc brings up the quit menu behind the nav menu, and doesn't quit from the nav menu like it should. It's not a major problem, just not used to it. (And after the hours I spent playing the original, it will take a LONNNG time to get used to changed keystrokes!! =P )