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Lintra
Elf Friend
Joined: 23 Apr 2002
Posts: 9448
Location: Bermuda, the triangle place with SANDY BEACHES |
| Considering starting this game ... |
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I am considering starting this game, but before I jumped in I thought I'd ask the guru's here for some non spoiler type advice for a newbie ...
So. Can you guys supply some quick non spoiler advice?
Thanks! *grin*
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=Member of The Nonflamers' Guild=
=Just plain clueless= |
Tue Mar 23, 2004 1:22 pm |
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Danicek
The Old One
Joined: 15 Dec 2001
Posts: 5922
Location: Czech Republic |
I second to this request. My game should arive soon (probably in two or three weeks)... |
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Tue Mar 23, 2004 2:23 pm |
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EverythingXen
Arch-villain
Joined: 01 Feb 2002
Posts: 4342
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Never fly with an empty hold unless you're expecting to fill it by way of BBS mission.
Do not fight without at least 5000 shields. Do not fight Khaak with less than 10,000 if at all possible. Do not get hit, period, as most weapons can strip your shields in seconds... it only takes me 30 seconds to strip 625,000 shields from a Split Python destroyer... and all ships mount the best weapons they can handle by default.
Think twice before adjusting rudder optimization. Find a thresh-hold you're comfortable with and stick with it (mine is 50%, though I've logged easily two dozen flight hours in a 100% Nova). Remember that a joystick is much more responsive than a keyboard.
WHen setting up a solar power plant, do everything you can to ensure that there are trading stations that sell crystals within 1 jump. Preferably multiple. The less often you have to manually adjust your jumps to two or three to reach crystals, the less often your transports wander off naked and alone in the universe to be used as free range target practice.
Do not arm your transports or give them fighting software. They'll get strange notions like "I can beat that heavy fighter with a single rear mounted turret and inferior handling!".
Variety is the spice of life. There are half a dozen ways to earn a living... play with them all and switch if you get in a rut.
Your ships suck at combat when you're in a sector. It's fun to watch your shiny battleship destroy everything... but they will not if you're in the sector (exception: Protect me! worked very well, but it involves you actually being under attack). Why this is I do not know and it's annoying. If one of your ships gets attacked the best thing you can do is a) Pilot it yourself or b) Head for the nearest jump-gate.
This game takes forever to play. Casual players will never have a fleet of battleships to follow them into an enemy sector and enact the battle from "Starship Troopers". If you can't run it as a real life simulator (as in let your computer run 24 hours while you eat and drink and work and such) it will take you months, if not years, to get the biggest toy in the game. There's a reason people get a solid trade empire and then run SETA overnight. It's hell on your game clock but if that's what it takes to hold your interest then do it (I made 30 million on unattended SETA, which was enough to keep interest up.).
You can't die flying around inside stations unless you hit other ships or jettisoned cargo. Fly around inside stations from time to time. This 1) Improves your skill at flying... never know when that could come in handy and 2) Sometimes gets you jettisoned cargo. Free cargo is free money.
_________________
Estuans interius, Ira vehementi
"The old world dies and with it the old ways. We will rebuild it as it should be, MUST be... Immortal!"
=Member of the Nonflamers Guild=
=Worshipper of the Written Word= |
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Tue Mar 23, 2004 3:02 pm |
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dteowner
Shoegazer
Joined: 21 Mar 2002
Posts: 7570
Location: Third Hero of Erathia |
The personnel transports (TP class) generally make better cargo haulers than the cargo hauler class (TS class). They can't carry as much, but they're much faster and cheaper to get up and running.
Unlike Freelancer, the campaign quests will always wait for you and you are not limited in your "character growth" if you ignore them. You want to do the first two missions as a minimum, though.
I don't have a joystick, and I found steering with the mouse to be annoying. I control everything from the keyboard now.
I hardly ever actually fly the ship I'm in. Make liberal use of the autopilot- particularly for docking. Xen does a lot of his flying first-hand, but he's a god. Most mere mortals seem to rely on the autopilot for everything, even combat.
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=Proud Member of the Non-Flamers Guild=
=Benevolent Dictator, X2/X3 and Morrowind/Oblivion Forums=
Sorry. No pearls of wisdom in this oyster.
RIP Red Wings How 'Bout Dem Cowboys! |
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Tue Mar 23, 2004 4:10 pm |
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EverythingXen
Arch-villain
Joined: 01 Feb 2002
Posts: 4342
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Relying on autopilot for combat... gah... that turns a 3 second fight into a 5 minute or more fight.
I make liberal use of automatic docking (though often I'll dock manually inside), FlySector, and Follow. That's most of the game in a nutshell. I have an empire to run and I can't do it if I'm dodging speeding Pegasus while crossing a sector of space. Autopilot is your friend.
Hmm... combat tips.
Strafe drive. It is possibly the most wonderful upgrade in the game (though Best Buys/Sell and Triplex scanner are close)... especially for combat. You can't hit the broad side of a barn when strafing, but it does nicely dodge attacks and leave you pointing at your foe. Also handy for veering away from suicidal Khaak and Pirates.
Before engaging, select your target and press I. Even without a freight scanner this tells you how much hull, shields, and speed your target has... and how agile they are. Anything with a rudder control of greater than 20 is basically unhittable if it wants to be, so you have to cut them off... anticipate their moves. Or use a missile.
Slow down. Attacking at full throttle is a good way to do a bug on windshield impression. Attacking full speed is best reserved for attacking stations and capital ships. Dogfighting at higher than your targets speed is dangerous and time consuming (which is why the computer takes so long to kill a ship if you use the autopilot). Half your targets speed is often enough to avoid incoming fire and get a good lock on them.
_________________
Estuans interius, Ira vehementi
"The old world dies and with it the old ways. We will rebuild it as it should be, MUST be... Immortal!"
=Member of the Nonflamers Guild=
=Worshipper of the Written Word= |
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Tue Mar 23, 2004 5:40 pm |
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dteowner
Shoegazer
Joined: 21 Mar 2002
Posts: 7570
Location: Third Hero of Erathia |
quote:
Originally posted by EverythingXen
Relying on autopilot for combat... gah... that turns a 3 second fight into a 5 minute or more fight.
For some of us, it turns certain death into a 5 minute or more fight. 
_________________
=Proud Member of the Non-Flamers Guild=
=Benevolent Dictator, X2/X3 and Morrowind/Oblivion Forums=
Sorry. No pearls of wisdom in this oyster.
RIP Red Wings How 'Bout Dem Cowboys! |
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Tue Mar 23, 2004 5:50 pm |
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Lintra
Elf Friend
Joined: 23 Apr 2002
Posts: 9448
Location: Bermuda, the triangle place with SANDY BEACHES |
quote:
Originally posted by dteowner
quote:
Originally posted by EverythingXen
Relying on autopilot for combat... gah... that turns a 3 second fight into a 5 minute or more fight.
For some of us, it turns certain death into a 5 minute or more fight.
Not fair!
You should warn us poor seekers of knowledge before you unleash such a good one. Okay I get the point though. Combat might be tough for us old foggies ... I'll have to keep that in mind.
@dte - do not feel bad about not being in Xen's class. Xen, how far did you make it as a digger in Gothic?
_________________
=Member of The Nonflamers' Guild=
=Just plain clueless= |
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Tue Mar 23, 2004 6:28 pm |
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Dhruin
Stranger In A Strange Land
Joined: 20 May 2002
Posts: 1825
Location: Sydney, Australia |
- I would consider not upgrading to v1.3 until later in the game (the US version ships as 1.0 so upgrade to 1.2, Euro version ships as 1.2). v1.3 improves the framerate but nerfs capturing, which is heaps of fun (when you have a suitable ship).
- Always check for BBS missions every time you land. Occasionally you'll get an excellent earner.
- Certain types of goods (and factories) are clearly easier and more profitable to trade (or run) although profits can be made on a wide variety of items when you know the ropes. Don't buy a load of something exotic unless you know what you're doing.
- A jump drive in a TS freighter is a license to print money early-ish in the game.
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Editor @ RPGDot |
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Tue Mar 23, 2004 9:34 pm |
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corwin
On the Razorblade of Life
Joined: 10 Jun 2002
Posts: 8376
Location: Australia |
Buy Mantas and SPP's when you're ready for them and place the SPP's carefully. Kingdom's End is good for your first and place them near protection. Buy a little salvage insurance for those few times you might really need it, get all the software you can afford and don't step on any mines.
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If God said it, then that settles it!
I don't use Smileys, I use Emoticons!!
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Wed Mar 24, 2004 8:17 am |
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Danicek
The Old One
Joined: 15 Dec 2001
Posts: 5922
Location: Czech Republic |
A lot of good tips, thanks... |
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Wed Mar 24, 2004 12:50 pm |
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Lintra
Elf Friend
Joined: 23 Apr 2002
Posts: 9448
Location: Bermuda, the triangle place with SANDY BEACHES |
quote:
Originally posted by Danicek
A lot of good tips, thanks...
Ditto that.
@Dte - would this make a good sticky?
_________________
=Member of The Nonflamers' Guild=
=Just plain clueless= |
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Wed Mar 24, 2004 1:06 pm |
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dteowner
Shoegazer
Joined: 21 Mar 2002
Posts: 7570
Location: Third Hero of Erathia |
Sticky it is.
One about-face for me, though. Due to the mysterious failure (well, not mysterious anymore, but at the time) of my combat computer, I was forced to wade into the dangerous waters of combat piloting.
My 100% Nova is too responsive (Xen's 50% recommendation is probably perfect), but combat piloting isn't too bad as long as you've got good enough shields to cover the occasional "regrettable decision". My Nova has 75MW, and I've had a couple "left turns at Albakerque" that used every bit of it.
_________________
=Proud Member of the Non-Flamers Guild=
=Benevolent Dictator, X2/X3 and Morrowind/Oblivion Forums=
Sorry. No pearls of wisdom in this oyster.
RIP Red Wings How 'Bout Dem Cowboys! |
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Wed Mar 24, 2004 2:42 pm |
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Lintra
Elf Friend
Joined: 23 Apr 2002
Posts: 9448
Location: Bermuda, the triangle place with SANDY BEACHES |
quote:
Originally posted by dteowner
....My Nova has 75MW, and I've had a couple "left turns at Albakerque" that used every bit of it.
So does that make you Chairman Bugs?
_________________
=Member of The Nonflamers' Guild=
=Just plain clueless= |
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Wed Mar 24, 2004 2:48 pm |
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corwin
On the Razorblade of Life
Joined: 10 Jun 2002
Posts: 8376
Location: Australia |
I keep my Nova at 10%. Steering is not my best skill. Got totally frustrated last night. All the sectors near my SPP's were out of crystals, so my Spp's shut down and I had to spend most of the night flying around buying crystals at whatever price I could to get them going again!! Hopefully tonight I can do something more interesting.
_________________
If God said it, then that settles it!
I don't use Smileys, I use Emoticons!!
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Thu Mar 25, 2004 8:27 am |
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EverythingXen
Arch-villain
Joined: 01 Feb 2002
Posts: 4342
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A lot of factories will run out of crystals for an hour at a time. I just ignore it as the cost of doing business, up the jump radius if the crystals are '3' away instead of 1 or 2, or save up 3 million and drop a crystal fab and support factories. It takes a while for it to pay for itself... but never running out of crystals/having a crystal source within 2 minutes by transport and keeping 100% of the profit of the sale of energy cells can look pretty impressive on the factory screen. After a few hours I'll check a reliable solar power plant and pull 700k to 1.2 mil from it... whereas I'll pull 1.5 million off a totally independant chain in a poor sector. Beats the 700k every time and can keep pace with my best sellers (Trinity Sanctum and Kingdom's End... KE is old faithful.).
Digger Quest? Heh. Chapter 5. Had to use Urziel on certain invulnerable enemies. Couldn't beat the greater demons at the end with the pickaxe, though... not reliably.
As for capturing... I think the idea was to slow it down, not make it impossible... they didn't want you making 3 million an hour off captures (I have). Looking at how they keep rebalancing the game I would estimate they want you to make about 100k per game hour per source of income... with 20 to 30k an hour being average. The exception is BBS missions... high end BBS missions, which represent a few dozen hours of work increasing your rank. Keep in mind a game hour is 10 minutes on SETA... traveling 10 minutes on SETA between systems is rather common, so even if you don't "SETA and a sandwich" you'll still likely find two or three game hours gone per real hour you play.
_________________
Estuans interius, Ira vehementi
"The old world dies and with it the old ways. We will rebuild it as it should be, MUST be... Immortal!"
=Member of the Nonflamers Guild=
=Worshipper of the Written Word= |
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Thu Mar 25, 2004 2:21 pm |
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