some questions

[JKeefe]

I downloaded 008 a few days ago and have been in 90s flight sim bliss ever since.

I understand the game engine is vastly different now, and I appreciate how the devs have gotten the remake to play so much like the original. I have a few questions about the functionality in the remake:

1. In the original Privateer, if you took hull/armor damage in battle, it was relatively cheap to repair (usually <100 credits). If onboard systems were damaged, maybe it cost ~1000 to get everything back up and running. In the remake, it appears that you can only purchase an overall repair, which often costs over 5000 credits if you've had a rough run. The overall repair description says it is cheaper to repair things individually - can you do that? If so, how? And why is the repair purchase so expensive?

2. In a somewhat related note, the fact that repairs are so expensive seriously imbalances the initial finances of the game. In the original, I would haul some cargo, maybe wax a single Retro or two to get some cash, and get myself outfitted with dual lasers and dual torp launchers or missile launchers. From there, I felt comfortable taking 3 in-system patrol or bounty missions at once, and I knew I shouldn't have much of a problem completing them and landing, 10,000-15,000 credits richer. In the remake, Talons kick some serious butt compared to the Talons in the original, and this makes the prospect of more than one mission per run a harrowing prospect, as I often have very little armor left after a single engagement. So, if I only take one run, and 2 or 3 Talons beat me up, I need to run to the nearest base and repair. If I made a few thousand on the mission and my cargo hold happened to be full of the right stuff, I will make only a small profit after that 6000 or 7000 credit repair. If I happen to have no cargo (because I was too broke after a ship upgrade, for example), then I run the risk of taking a net loss on the run. This scenario shows that it can be more profitable to stick to merchant runs at first to make a buck; is this true?

3. (related to 2) Why can Talons beat me up so easily? It seems like their shields drop at the same rate as in the original, but their armor seems to hold up much longer (I think this is the main reason the missile "double-tap " no longer is intant death for Talons if aimed properly).

4. Explosions often cause serious temporary frame freezes for me (2-3 seconds). I have all of the settings cranked, and if I just need to turn things down, so be it. But, with my specs I would expect everything to be silky smooth.
P4C 2.4 GHz @ 3000 MHz
Asus P4P800 motherboard
128 MB Radeon 9800 Pro
1024MB PC3200 DDR RAM @ 2-3-2-6
2x36GB Raptor HDDs in RAID 0

 

[Wendy]

I'm not the developer, but. . .

I downloaded 008 a few days ago and have been in 90s flight sim bliss ever since.

I understand the game engine is vastly different now, and I appreciate how the devs have gotten the remake to play so much like the original. I have a few questions about the functionality in the remake:


1. In the original Privateer, if you took hull/armor damage in battle, it was relatively cheap to repair (usually <100 credits). If onboard systems were damaged, maybe it cost ~1000 to get everything back up and running. In the remake, it appears that you can only purchase an overall repair, which often costs over 5000 credits if you've had a rough run. The overall repair description says it is cheaper to repair things individually - can you do that? If so, how? And why is the repair purchase so expensive?

I can't get to the whys of it all, but I CAN tell you what I've found after close to 20 RL hours playing 009

You need to get the cash for repair systems and droids before you start setting out to whup some but. That means really getting a feel for the slide and inertial differences and do some serious cargo shuttling. Food, grain, booze and entertainments to the mines and metals, Jewels, electronics and manufactured goods to Helen. If you ignore everything else you'll get LOTS of cash fast.

When you have enough to really start hopping, GET BOTH sets of armour, Plasteel AND Tungsten AND on the Hull. THere seems to be an issue with armour repair for now, so when it gets badly dinged, sell it and buy new. Look at your displays when in flight. They'll tell you when to trade it in. It really doesn't cost too much.

Once you get a lot more, go to a Paradigm and land on it. Then get some of the advanced stuff. That should get you going on your way to some real Kick A** battles and coming home in one piece. And when you fight, be sure to use the full screen view by hitting F-1

HEAVEN

2. In a somewhat related note, the fact that repairs are so expensive seriously imbalances the initial finances of the game. In the original, I would haul some cargo, maybe wax a single Retro or two to get some cash, and get myself outfitted with dual lasers and dual torp launchers or missile launchers. From there, I felt comfortable taking 3 in-system patrol or bounty missions at once, and I knew I shouldn't have much of a problem completing them and landing, 10,000-15,000 credits richer. In the remake, Talons kick some serious butt compared to the Talons in the original, and this makes the prospect of more than one mission per run a harrowing prospect, as I often have very little armor left after a single engagement. So, if I only take one run, and 2 or 3 Talons beat me up, I need to run to the nearest base and repair. If I made a few thousand on the mission and my cargo hold happened to be full of the right stuff, I will make only a small profit after that 6000 or 7000 credit repair. If I happen to have no cargo (because I was too broke after a ship upgrade, for example), then I run the risk of taking a net loss on the run. This scenario shows that it can be more profitable to stick to merchant runs at first to make a buck; is this true?

See above on how to maximise your profits while minimising your risks. There are only a few MORE OR LESS GUARANTEED profit turners. Fill your hull with those. Stay out of combat till you get really tricked out. Join the merchants. Fly Cargo and Rescue runs. You'll get the Credits in no time.

3. (related to 2) Why can Talons beat me up so easily? It seems like their shields drop at the same rate as in the original, but their armor seems to hold up much longer (I think this is the main reason the missile "double-tap " no longer is intant death for Talons if aimed properly).

It's all a matter of getting your ship outfitted properly. Plain and simple.

4. Explosions often cause serious temporary frame freezes for me (2-3 seconds). I have all of the settings cranked, and if I just need to turn things down, so be it. But, with my specs I would expect everything to be silky smooth.
P4C 2.4 GHz @ 3000 MHz
Asus P4P800 motherboard
128 MB Radeon 9800 Pro
1024MB PC3200 DDR RAM @ 2-3-2-6
2x36GB Raptor HDDs in RAID 0

I'll leave that one to HellcatV. I only run a 1.6 GHz Athlon with half of everything else on a BOZO video card. Crammed onto a SOYO Dragon Plus Board. All of which is 3 years old and I have all the settings cranked to the max.

I do get the occasional freeze frame, usually the first time or three something happens after a fresh start, but I think it's how your vid-card is set up, or the drivers. I remember hearing there were some Radeon RAM issues, but I don't have a Radeon card, so I didn't pay too much attention to them. I have it really bad with an odd SiS designed for TV capture, not games.

Good luck,

 

[MamiyaOtaru]

Currently the only way to repair armor is to sell it and buy it back again. You lose a bit on the transaction of course, but less than you give out for a general repair.

The reason that talons are strong now is that pirates, like you, can equip whatever gun they want. Basically, each talon is assigned a random gun loadout when it is spawned. There have been discussions about limiting them to light and medium guns

Armor on most ships is too thick at the moment. Until recently, the shields were way too thin so armor was increased so survival time was closer to that in the original. Now shields have been thickened up to where they should be, so armour should probably decrease.

Unfortunately i am stuck away from home, using someone else's computer with dialup so Hellcat is stuck with doing just about everything for the moment. ie, tweaks like these may be a bit slow in coming.

 

[JKeefe]

And when you fight, be sure to use the full screen view by hitting F-1

Thanks for the tips. I like to fight from the original cockpit view, though, as the view restrictions of the Tarsus remind me that I am flying a POS and I need to buy A Centurion as fast as possible.

 

[JKeefe]

Currently the only way to repair armor is to sell it and buy it back again. You lose a bot on the transaction of course, but less than you give out for a general repair.

So, what you're saying is the general repair repairs armor and anything else that is damaged, and if only my armor is damaged, I should sell it and buy new armor? What if I have lots of stuff damaged? (I know, I should get a repair bot).

The reason that talons are strong now is that pirates, like you, can equip whatever gun they want. Basically, each talon is assigned a random gun loadout when it is spawned. There have been discussions about limiting them to light and medium guns

OK, makes sense. I would also suggest a medium gun limit.


I'm downloading 009a right now, so we'll see how things are in that version.

 

[ScAvenger001]

Is there a place to see what your current repair status is (for internal systems I mean, not armor/hull)? Maybe I'm just really good at not letting things get inside my shields, but I can't really tell that I'm getting anything out of owning a repair droid.

 

[MamiyaOtaru]

The relevant in-flight key is 'r,' for the repairs screen, just like in the original.

There is unfortunately no equivalent while docked.