========================================================================= (C) 1994 by Atari Corporation, GEnie, and the Atari Roundtables. May be reprinted only with this notice intact. The Atari Roundtables on GEnie are *official* information services of Atari Corporation. To sign up for GEnie service, call (with modem) 800-638-8369. Upon connection type HHH (RETURN after that). Wait for the U#= prompt.Type XTX99437,GENIE and press [RETURN]. The system will prompt you for your information. ========================================================================== ************ Topic 19 Sat Dec 11, 1993 R.COLEMAN24 [BOB C.] at 02:33 EST Sub: Frontier: ELITE II The wait is over! Take off and explore new worlds in the space combat and trading game that is guaranteed to keep you strapped into your computer chair for months to come. This game is awesome in its scope. 207 message(s) total. ************ ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 1 Sat Dec 11, 1993 R.COLEMAN24 [BOB C.] at 02:33 EST Welcome to the ELITE Bar and Grill on Boston Base space station. Pull up a chair and grab a brew. You new in this sector? Well, this is the place to be if you want to know what's going on. What's you pilot rating? Still "harmless", huh? That'll probably change with time, especially after you've had your ass scorched by a laser from a pirate ship. Yeh, this is the place to be if you want to talk about trading, mining, doing mercenary work, or occasionally doing some of that illicit "stuff" on the side. If you've got onboard computer problems, you probably will find someone who can shake loose those space bugs or hardware incompatiblities and help you out. So stick around, happy hour starts at 1700....and check that phaser in at the desk, the manager doesn't allow firearms in his establishment. Bob C. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 2 Sat Dec 11, 1993 T.BURTON at 19:13 EST How does Elite 2 compare to say, Wing Commander on the PC? Will it run on a 68030 & TOS 2.06? Shane ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 3 Sun Dec 12, 1993 R.COLEMAN24 [BOB C.] at 13:33 EST Howdy Shane, Elite 2 is closer to "Sundog" by FTL if you are familiar with that early game, although the depth of play, graphics, and worlds to explore are much vaster in Elite II than Sundog. The graphics are better in Wing Commander, which is more a space fighter game. In Elite II, there can be plenty of run-ins with bad guys who have itchy trigger fingers. But you fly many different missions to earn credits toward upgrading your ship, its weapons, and improving your rank among pilots. I have not tried it on any other machine than a 1040ST with TOS 1.0, though I do have a second ST with TOS 2.06 that I will check it out on. Can't give you any feedback how it holds up on an 030 machine. Stop by the Elite bar when you're in this sector again...:) Bob ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 4 Sun Dec 12, 1993 GENIELAMP.ST [John G] at 18:50 EST Well, Bob... ... do you like it? John ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 5 Mon Dec 13, 1993 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 03:11 EST I read that it works on all systems, including TT's and Falcon's even though this is not advertised on the packaging. I have found a little quirk with the save game files. I have it on a hard disk, and it won't let me save more than eight games It will show more but if you come back to the game and reload, the files after the first eight are gone! Other than this problem, I haven't had anything but fun with EliteII. Anybody else rn into this problem?? ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 6 Mon Dec 13, 1993 AEO.7 [Gregg] at 22:12 EST Anyone been able to verify that Elite II really CAN run on a TT or Falcon? Gregg ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 7 Tue Dec 14, 1993 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 00:34 EST Gregg, Steve's Software in Sacramento stated in his ad in the library that this program does run on TT or a Falcon. I have tried as I'm running an STE. Anybody--Are you having any luck running this on your hard drive? I have it running, but it constantly corrupts the save game files. There is a zero byte file on the data disk (#2) called COMMANDE.RS that won't copy. I am running it off the original floppies and so far, no problems. Any ideas?, I'd really like to keep it running on a HD. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 8 Tue Dec 14, 1993 AEO.MAG [!] FSU #1 [!] at 11:03 EST //// Gregg, Andreas should be getting Elite II in any day now, and he'll see if it'll run on a TT030. //// Chuck, That 0 byte file may be the internal disk name label. I'd suggest you use a file utility to check its flags. --Travis ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 9 Wed Dec 15, 1993 R.COLEMAN24 [BOB C.] at 01:21 EST John: Yes, I am enjoying Elite II, though I have not really gone any place in the game yet. I am still playing with all the features and external views. I am playing off of floppies so will see how it saves games. To all: In the manual, it mentions use of the ENTER key on page 30 and 31 as an acceleration key. This does not appear to be correct. On page 29, top of page, it says the RETURN key is used to ac- celerate. This proves to be correct. Do you all agree? Has anyone come across the 82 missions that are mentioned on the back of the box? Do these correspond to missions you choose on the bulletin board and/or working as a mercenary for the military? This does not seem very clearly outlined (if at all) in the manual. The bottom line: I really like this game. It is really neat to call up data on planets and outposts and zoom in to view them and then move forward in time to watch their orbits and rotations. Now all I need is about 2-3 days of uninterrupted time to start playing this game seriously. Coming home after work and waiting for the kids to go to bed at 9PM, doesn't cut it. Ahhh, the life of a space junkie!!! Warping out now, Bob ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 10 Wed Dec 15, 1993 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 02:18 EST The missions will probably come later, as you progress. In the first Elite, I played for weeks before I got a mission. Thats real time, not game time! I found that it seems to work better working off the original floppies. No problems with losing save game files or scrambled files. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 11 Wed Dec 15, 1993 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 20:46 EST Hey! Been playing Elite 2 for twenty-seven hours. Just got my map dry-mounted, and it hangs majestically on my wall next to my Falcon. I've got an Imperial Trader (at last!) with a 20MW beam laser. I am wanted for piracy and murder in Imperial Space! HA! Also, I noticed that if you install Elite 2 on the HD, you should create a folder for your save game files. I too saw that COMMANDE.RS file, and it confused me, so I created a folder, and have had zero problems. Questions: The game runs incredibly fast and fluidly on the Falcon. I cannot figure out, however, what the 512 or 4096 color options do, besides cause a slight flicker in 4096 mode. I must also admit that I could not stand Elite (the original) even though it was so vast. I was so jaded by the beautiful control scheme used in Star Glider 2 that I just could not tolerate the original Elite control method. Now that Elite 2 has the Star Glider 2 interface... I fear I might be consumed by this game for years. But, since I never played Elite, what is this concept of "missions?" I was slightly confused by the preponderance of space on the "data disk." Who gives these missions in the game? Tips: Get Rich On Robots, Banard's Star to Sol. I made a tremendous amount of cash buying robots on Banard's Star and selling them on the Bulletin Board(s) on the three orbital cities around Earth. If no one wanted them on one, I'd fly around until I found the right ad on the bulletin board. I traded animal meat back to Banard's Star for minimal cash. This route was totally safe. You can ditch your weapons, atmopsheric shielding, and everything but your auto pilot to free up cargo space. I was never attacked once. BTW, I also made a VAST amount of cash in the slace trade in the Imperial Systems (that's "slave" ____________| ). Safe route was Facece to Vaquess, just "east" of the Imperial Capitol (Achenar). I love this game... it is truly something other than else! James ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 12 Thu Dec 16, 1993 GREEN at 00:20 EST I am waithing for my copy of Elite II, they seem to be going fast! I read the Elite II thread over on amiga, and there appears to be quite alot in this game including some kind of alien resorts? Apparently, by using "wormholes" present in the game, one can travel great distances in your playing lifetime to find/explore areas very far away. Perhaps there is more info on this in the IMB/MSDOS area or Scorpio. J. Kratch, a big hello and thanks for all of the scenarios for Breach II, one of my all-time faves. I'm hoping to find out about the release of Rules of Engagement fo rthe ST, will let you know. BTW, have you ever found any Breach II scenarious on the MSDOS gaming aerea, as I understand that they can be used on the ST or any other system running Breach II. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 13 Thu Dec 16, 1993 R.COLEMAN24 [BOB C.] at 00:26 EST James, Thanks for the feedback about the trading tips and space routes. This is the type of stuff we need to post so all of us fledgling space junkies can learn from the more experienced flyers. What is your pilot rating? Regarding the Barnard's Star to Sol run. Isn't this distance more than 8 light years. If you start the game on Merlin, I know you can hyperjump to the Barnard's Star system. But can you then jump to Sol from B. Star? Or does this mean you have to buy a higher class hyperdrive first to reach the Sol system and its space stations? Thanks for dropping by the Elite Bar, Bob ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 14 Thu Dec 16, 1993 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 01:14 EST Breach IIScenarios? Did I hear someone say Breach II? I would love to find some of these, where can they be had? I wanted to send the card in and order them, but I bought the package recently and I am doubt ful the same address holds. If you know a dealer that has some, or have some to put up in the library, I would be overjoyed. ON the HD problem, did you put the Commander files in a seperate folder with that name? (COMMANDE.RS) I've found that smuggling animal skins between Barnards and Ross and Arcturis to be very profitable, but haven't left federation space yet. The missions seem to come up on the Bulletin Board uunder the Federal Military. I earned a certificate of calor that way. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 15 Thu Dec 16, 1993 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 01:49 EST Gree: Er, Green: Wormholes, eh? I was wondering about such things. The universe is big. So big, in fact, it cannot possibly be conceived just how big (with a nod to Hitchhiker's). And yes, Breach 2, still my all-time favorite game. I heard Rules of Engagement will be here some time in '94, if not by Xmas in the UK? I think I read it in ST Format. I never serched for scenarios on other platforms. It is true, though, that they do work. At least, ST scenarios work on IBM. Get us some info on those wormholes! Bob C.: Well, that's funny you should ask my pilot rating. I guess my little "fix" for Falcon compatibility was bogus. All my save files were trashed. I was "Average" as Elite ratings go, and a Master in the Imperial Navy (although, as I said, I blasted the hell out of a long range cruiser in anger that the docking bays were full at a certain space port in the Vequess system. I refused to pay the 10000 credit fine, and was accused of Piracy and Murder). The Bernard's Star to Sol run is under 8.00 light years. Just. It works great! The run starts on Ross 154 -- you can get to Banard's Star from there. You cannot get back to Ross 154 from Sol, however. And, as long as you have a full fuel tank when you rematerialize from hyperspace (entering Sol), you can get to any point in the system. I liked Earth, since it had three orbital cities, with miniscule distances between them. Rating tip: If you can get there, go to, if I can recall, Oltiqu (-2,4). It was total anarchy. New Africa is there -- big system. Not stop space battle. Good for your Elite rating. Check your galactic maps for accuracy, however. I just can't recall, but I went from Poor to Average in this system alone. Chuck: I uploaded a big Breach 2 Campaign-thingy. Do a search, for BREACH 2 with uploaded J.KRACHT. Twenty-four (if I can recall) scenarios. All: The COMMANDE.RS thingy is a disk label. Is it neccesary? This program, as far as loading and saving goes, just doesn't work on the Falcon HD. I'm going to try it on my external, AND, I'm going to restrict saving/loading to drive A: for a while, just to see. So beware, Falcon-owners! If you're deep into this game, save out to floppy a few times, just as backup! I really want to work out this bug! James ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 16 Fri Dec 17, 1993 R.HELSEL [Scott] at 00:34 EST Greetings Bob! At the risk of sounding totally uninformed could you tell me more about Elite II. I never played Elite but enjoy a good space campaign as much as the next guy. What do you, as a player, do in the game. Is there an overarching theme? Can more than one person play? How much does this beauty cost? Do you have to have a HD to make it worthwhile? That should do it for now...thanks for the info! Scott, the curious ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 17 Fri Dec 17, 1993 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 01:04 EST James, I'll look for the Breach II scenarios, Thanks a lot! I guess the HD problem is consistent as you are the second to report it. I'm starting to branch out now into other systems and have moved up to a Viper Defence Craft. I'll keep you posted if I run into any good surprises. Scott- ELITE II is a space role playing game that is rich in detail and scope. The overall theme is not quite clear yet, although there appear to be some missions involved. There are a number of trading, mining, and fighting elements, and career options are wide open. Your ship can be traded up and up graded as you gather strength, wealth, and status. HD is not that important because it loads in all at once and rarely acceses the drive once the game has started. There are no "pauses" waiting for something to load, or any kind disk swapping. It is also great fun! ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 18 Fri Dec 17, 1993 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 03:34 EST Okay, Falcons and Elite 2 and the HD "problem": I formatted a HD disk for my A: drive, and used the volume label COMMANDE.RS. Saving/loading works great, but I still haven't played off the floppy enough to replicate the save file corrpution I experienced after played for more than 30 hours on the internal Falcon hard drive. This is still up in the air. I'm guessing that it might be possible, maybe, to have a folder called COMMANDE.RS somewhere on the hard drive partition to keep your save files in. I will try this next. BTW, the Anarchistic system I was trying to recall in a previous post is called Veliaze. It is NOT on the paper map that comes with Elite 2. It is at (- 2,3) on the galactic map. I'm having a hard time comprehending just how BIG this game is. I must have scrolled that galactic map for ten minutes, and there we literally thousands of star systems. I'm awed... Question: Anyone have a Cobra Mk III? On HIGH DETAIL level, there is this little "sign" or "plate" on the back end of the ship. It looks like it has writing on it. Anyone know what it says? Tip: Buy a Military Drive for you ship as soon as possible. You have to pay someone to get rid of the fuel waste products, but your maneuverability and speed increase dramatically! Gives you a definate edge in battle, and makes things even against opponents with Military Drives, too. James ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 19 Fri Dec 17, 1993 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 05:02 EST Topic: Wormholes? Somebody try this, please. This might be a wormhole... Go to Sol (0,0). Using the galactic map, scroll out to 163,-13 and find the system Andarla. On my machine, the fuel calculated to make this jump is 3t. This is a distance of over 1000 light years! If Andarla shows "Out of range," simply scroll around that area watching the range test (i.e., the bit that says "Out of range" or "Fuel required..." [that should have read "range text", above]). If you scroll around, and watch this indicator, you can find these huge jumps that take tiny amounts of fuel. I made the jump, and explored about 10 unexplored systems before running out of fuel. I scrolled the map back to Sol (0,0) and it told me the jump would take 3t of fuel (which I had just run out of). So, either "we" have wormholes, or my copy of ELite 2 does. Somebody please test this out! James ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 20 Sat Dec 18, 1993 DOUGWILLIAMS [Doug] at 11:58 EST I played Elite I for months on end. I haven't seen anyone state what differences there might be, from what I've read here it sounds like the same game. Is it? ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 21 Sat Dec 18, 1993 GREEN at 14:26 EST I will upload some info I downloaded from the amig a topic on this game regarding wormholes and the like. Apparently, they were also looking for some alien thing that was discuussed in another Elite II topic on another board/section (MSDOS version?). 8s ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 22 Sat Dec 18, 1993 GREEN at 17:24 EST I just uploaded a text file, Eliet II.txt whichh has some info from the Amiga BBS on this game, file no. 31119. Search using elite or elite II. Therre is some info on the wormholes found in this game as well as Internet info regarding "alien civilizations", apparantly an intersting , hidden aspect of the game. Enjoy. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 23 Sat Dec 18, 1993 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 17:41 EST DOug: ELite 2 has over 30 different ships to choose from, ALL with cargo capacity. It is vast. Over 100,000,000,000 different places to go, and they're ALL real (planets, suns, asteroids, moons... everything can be visited). Plus, that hideous Elite I ship control interface is eliminated (or, you can turn it back on, but why?). It works on TTs, Falcons, STe, MegeSTe, ST. Has tons of options to configure the game to your liking. And it is hard drive installable. Elite I is pathetic compared to it (but then again, I thought Elite I was pathetic anyway... that terrible, totally "un-fun" control scheme was a joke). James ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 24 Sun Dec 19, 1993 R.COLEMAN24 [BOB C.] at 20:47 EST James: Hey, long time no see. Are you still living in Arizona? We traded Breach II scenarios a long time ago. I uploaded a 5 or 6 game campaign a long time ago. But this is off topic. Anyway, welcome to the "frontier". Yeh, I'm eagerly awaiting ROE2 for the ST also. Scott: The the train of conversations in this topic you can probably piece together that this is a space combat/trading/role-playing/exploring game on a grand scale!!! You can take on the role of a simple space trader who runs cargo along the trading lanes, earning credits towards modifications you can make to your ship, etc. You can also turn to "the dark side" and carry illegal cargo (for the chance of earning higher credits), or sign on as a mercenary with the military to complete assignments for pay. The more risk you take, the more you get paid, but the greater are the chances that you will encounter unsavory characters out there who shoot first and ask questions later. Also, you can piss off the local police, and have a warrant out for your hide. I've barely scratched the surface of this game, but it looks like there are mega worlds to explore. Each one can be analyzed for its potential for trade and exploration. BTW, you can also choose to become a space miner. You can outfit your ship with scoops and platforms to drop on planets and process ore. The graphics are nicely done polycon fills and shapes, with external views of your ship and the world around. After you master the controls of your ship and its weapons, you take off for that great beyond....the rest is up to you. :) Price is ~$49.95 Enjoy To all: I've noted some peculiarities with the docking sequence in autopilot and would appreciate anybody else verifying this for me. Occasionally when docking at an orbiting space station the autopilot will overshoot the docking bay and I will have to make another pass at it. However, instead of approaching the docking bay again, I am moving "away" from it. Only by using the stardreamer time control on max do I race through space and wind up in the space port without problems. This doesn't happen all the time, but it is a consistent annoyance. Also, under autopilot I have crashed into the space station under normal time mode. Another interesting experience I had was while attempting to dock at an orbital space station, I was told all docking bays were full and I had to wait. There was another ship outside the space station too, so I thought I might use it as target practice. Bad choice. I got a message informing me that firing on Federated ships in this sector was prohibited and was quickly pounced upon by 2 police fighters who proceeded to turn me into space garbage. Live and learn!! Wormholes....fascinating (to coin a phrase). Get more info on these guys. I think I'll slip over to the Amiga roundtable and checkout what is going on in this topic. Fill you in later. Over and out, Bob ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 25 Sun Dec 19, 1993 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 22:35 EST Bob: Breah 2, yes. Love it. It works on the Falcon, too (if I recall). I too crash during docking, unless the time control is set to anything but regular time. James (More on wormholes...) ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 26 Mon Dec 20, 1993 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 00:41 EST Third person with crashing into planets and docking rings at "normal" speed on occasion, never happens at high speed. I guess this makes it a official bug. I haven't seen the msgs on the Amiga section Continuing to search for wormholes.... ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 27 Mon Dec 20, 1993 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 01:33 EST Falcon030s and Elite 2: Everything seems to be going fine. I've achieved my former greatness. I've been saving to drive A:. I've got a disk in there with COMMANDE.RS for a volume label. Next, I'm going try a folder on the hard drive called COMMANDE.RS. Perhaps this Falcon problem has something to do with the internal HD? Has it happened to anyone using an external? James P.S. So has anyone duplicated that "worm hole" thing I discovered? Remember, got to Sol, then using the map, scroll out to 163,-13. You should see most of the star systems require no more than 4t of fuel... and they're all over 1100 light years away (way past Rigel). ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 28 Tue Dec 21, 1993 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 02:23 EST I had the same problem with clobbering on my HD, but it is an external on my STE. I think I'll write the company and find out what the problem is. Hopefully they will respond. UK companies can be rather flakey when it comes to response, some are great, others are hopeless. Right now, I am using the original disks in A and B. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 29 Wed Dec 22, 1993 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 00:41 EST BTW, it's not in the manual, but if you hold the RIGHT shift key when scrolling on the Galactis Map it blazes by. Handy to get to those "wormhole" destinations. James ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 30 Tue Jan 11, 1994 C.OINES1 [Chazz] at 06:56 EST I've gotten deep enough into the game to own a fairly well-equipped Puma clipper, and now I'm having trouble docking at the orbital bases. The ship, for some reason, loses track of the station's spin, and sometimes goes straight through the station without stopping. Other than that, of course, I'm having a great time with it ;) ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 31 Tue Jan 11, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 21:22 EST Chazz: I, too, have a huge amount of cash, but I'm feeling a bit lost. I'm so used to games "giving" me a path to take that I end up just floundering around, taking as many Imperial Navy missions as possible, then trading a bunch, then exploring through worm holes (to find absolutely nothing; and I also might add, in the new ST Format, David Braben states of alien races: "Er, no. But this isn't going to be a one-shot thing. I hope to go on supporting this either with mission data disks or with other versions [read: texture-mapped Faclon030 version?] -- I'm not sure which would be easiest. So, just because there isn't anything there yet, it doesn't mean there won't be in the future." Also, this is from David Braben: "It's... faster - about 10% to 15% - than the Amiga..." All: The option for 512 or 4096 colors works as follow (from David Braben): "On the ST, even on an original 520, the game simulates 4096 colours on screen. It regenerates the palette every cycle, to get the best use of the palette. For every frame it shows the best it can get for that particular screen mode..." James OS *s ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 32 Wed Jan 12, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 01:51 EST Chazz: I tend to get myself into trouble with landing and docking, I have an Imperial Courier, fairly large and if you run into this problem with flying around endlessly using up your fuel while the autopilot jerks you around try this: Pause the game, deselct the target and reselect it or another(if there is one) then go in at a slower time speed like three or four arrows. All: I have written GAMETEK about some of the little bugs we are finding, I will let you know if I hear anything, I really want a fix for the hard drive save game problem. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 33 Wed Jan 12, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 03:12 EST Chuck: Did you try using a folder on the HD called COMMANDE.RS? I was going to try this, since I recently determined that saving to the Falcon floppy works just fine, as long as the disk label is COMMANDE.RS. I have not had the opportunity to try a COMMANDE.RS folder on the HD, however. Did you write GameTek in the UK? Or is there a US address? James ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 34 Wed Jan 12, 1994 C.OINES1 [Chazz] at 08:40 EST I have noticed that the Falcon's internal speed is directly related to the refresh rate of the monitor it's attached to, courtesy of this game. On the NEC 4D multisynch I use when I take the Falcon to work, the frame rate is considerably slower than when I run the game on my Packard Bell SVGA at home. I solved the crashing on docking problem by downgrading to an overmuscled Cobra Mk III and firing all my crew from the Puma. Now I'm not even bothering to trade; I just skim hydrogen when fuel's low and sightsee. My theory on the crashing problem is that I was hiring crew who didn't know what they were doing... Oh, yeah. I've also got an empty COMMANDE.RS folder in my FRONTIER folder on the HD, and haven't had any problems saving or loading games. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 35 Wed Jan 12, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 20:07 EST Chazz: That's a good theory about the crew. It might just be the thing. Glad to hear you haven't had any HD problems (yet? ) What's your Elite rating? I'm still only at Above Average. James ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 36 Wed Jan 12, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 22:38 EST James: I haven't tried the folder on the HD, maybe I'll give it a shot. The crew theroy is good, but why is it that it can be avoided completely by hitting the time accelerator on docking or landing? I did write to GAMETEK in the UK, haven't heard anything yet. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 37 Thu Jan 13, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 02:13 EST Chuck: Well, afterall, it IS known as the StarDreamer Time Control device, so maybe it prevents the morons on your ship from sleep walking too much. Let us know ASAP when you hear from GameTek. I think I will write them too, just to let them know Elite 2 has a foothold in the US... we all should, in fact. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 38 Thu Jan 13, 1994 C.OINES1 [Chazz] at 06:58 EST I just recently graduated from Mostly Harmless to Poor. I kept to the Sol/Barnards run with a couple of outside trips long enough to buy the Puma, and then what I assume was the crew problem made me ditch that ship to get a Cobra and go it alone. It's actually more fun in combat with those annoying shieldless little airfighters... ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 39 Fri Jan 14, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 00:59 EST THAT "COMMANDE.RS" FOLDER DIDN'T WORK. I GUESS I'LL HAVE TO WAIT TO HEAR FROM GAMETEK. DOES ANYONE OUT THERE HAVE THIS WORKING TROUBLE FREE ON YOUR HARD DRIVE? ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 40 Fri Jan 14, 1994 C.OINES1 [Chazz] at 08:15 EST I do, and I haven't had a problem with it, except that you need to keep a floppy (any floppy) in the disk drive so it can find it when it goes to save something. It always checks Drive A: first, being a European product... ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 41 Sat Jan 15, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 00:47 EST I've tried it with any configuration I can think of, It still doesn;t work for me. Not that you need hard drive as once the program loads, disk access is minimal. Perhaps I could run it on the hard drive and save it to floppies...... ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 42 Mon Jan 17, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 02:20 EST Anybody figure out what those "Systems of special scientific interest means? I've looked, hoping to find better equipment, but no luck. Any discussion on favorite ships? I'm running a Imperial Courier, and find it hard to be beat. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 43 Mon Jan 17, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 03:12 EST Chuck: Re: Ships I really love Asp Explorers. Just enough cargo space, and you can stick a military drive on it (Class 3) without sacrificing a thing (except poor performance via the standard hyperdrive). I'm flying in a Imp. Trader. It beats the pants off a Courier, in my opinion. All the maneuverability, NO MORON CREW MEMBERS, six missile pylons and WAY TOO MUCH cargo space (even with a 20MW beam laser). I have yet to find anything new, technology-wise. I've been scrolling around the galactic map at high speeds, watching the "Out of range" indicator -- for it to flash "Fuel Required..." I then search around that sector(s) for populated areas. There are some -- lots of them. These places are 1000's of light years from the "center" where the game starts. I'm convinced the new technology is out there somewhere. Where the missions are weird. Where the "Independent" governments lurk. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 44 Tue Jan 18, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 00:49 EST I've looked at the IMP Trader, but due to the limited range, I can't see myself buying one. The one thing that bothers me about the Courier is its lack of ability to accept a fuel scoop and you can't get your hyperdrive swapped out. Other than that I love the Courier, small ships just bounce off of me and big ships are no real threat with those lovely Naval Missles. I guess it is time to fan out to other areas where there are colonies in the nether reaches of the wormholes. I wonder as "game time" marches on, do you get old and die? I'm about eight years into the game. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 45 Tue Jan 18, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 01:19 EST Chuck: I agree on the limitations of the Imp ships. Still, with the Trader, you can have around 145 tonnes of fuel (if you're wormhole hopping, this is a good amount). I've heard that if you manage to "burn out" your hyperdrive in a populated system, you can dock, and put any drive you want in. Once a hyperdrive burns out, it is simply an interplanetary one. You can still fly around a system, dock, etc. Try hopping from two highly populated systems over and over again -- this will eventually do your drive in (i.e., don't get it serviced AT ALL). Now, if only I could find a Class 6 Military Drive, I might try this little trick! Naval Missiles: AWESOME. Expesially good for those little "pissy" ships that never get in laser range. It's a joy to see them speed away, their little ECM units flaring wildly -- all for nothing! BAM! Elite rankings: I managed to make it to Competent. I've noticed the Bulletin Board jobs are paying a LOT more. And negotiating works. That is, you can actually ask for, and get, more money from these people "because of youir reputation." Pleasing. James ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 46 Wed Jan 19, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 01:52 EST James: I've managed to get to competent and made Squire and Sgt. It seems that there are a lot more Imperial Missions. I have been wormhole jumping looking for population centers, but no luck. Once I get twenty or so, I'll post them up here. The BB jobs are getting better, Iimagine it gets even better as you move up. Have you tried any contract hits? Chuck ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 47 Wed Jan 19, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 23:15 EST Chuck: I've done two hits so far. Pretty satisfying, in a weird way. I only take a contract if it doesn't involved a planet-based target. Only when they leave a space station do I take them. When the target leaves (as scheduled) you can usually waste them before they jump into hyperspace, avoiding the need to use the HyperSpace Analyser. Remember: targets USUALLY have escape pods. Make sure you waste the pod, too. You'll know if you did the job by looking on your contracts roster. It will say "Done" next to it. If it doesn't -- well, good luck finding the escape pod. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 48 Thu Jan 20, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 21:46 EST James: Thanks for the info, I'll give them a try, I didn't even realize that you could do planet based targets. I also found out that you can talk to ships that you are attacking or are attacking you. If you get a response, you can target the ship automatically from the communications menu! By the way, i got a response from Game-Tek, they sent a photocopy of a minor bug solution, and didn't even respond to my hard disk problem. Bizzare. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 49 Fri Jan 21, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 02:03 EST What is the minor bug? I wonder why they didn't address the problem? Maybe they don't think there are enough Falcon owners (let's hope not). ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 50 Sat Jan 22, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 00:30 EST James: The bug is the one where the Bulletin Board screen fills up with stuff from the shipyard. All you do is leave and come back and its clean. It only happens when there is nothing on the Bulletin Board. I don't have a Falcon and I am having the same problem. The hand writing on the envelope indicated to me that it was done by a young girl. Probably got instructions to stuff this response into an envelope for any letter she got complaining about the program. My guess is she didn't read my letter. I only mentioned the problem clearly TWICE. Someone else wrote (I think), and I'll check the UK ST mags (or write them) to see if there is a fix. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 51 Sat Jan 22, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 03:16 EST Chuck: Oh, THAT bug! It works on the Falcon030 too! I'm going to write to GameTek. BTW, I found a "disputed system" the other day. I'm wondering if you can get away with anything there... like piracy and murder! (Which you can't get away with even in an Anarchy System) ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 52 Sun Jan 23, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 05:52 EST A disputed system? Whats the name and sector? I am now being offered military hit jobs by the Imperial Navy. This is a first, all of a sudden they showed up on the board, hadn't been promoted or raised my Elite Rating at all. Still a Competent Squire. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 53 Sun Jan 23, 1994 R.COLEMAN24 [BOB C.] at 14:15 EST James, Chuck et al : Boy, you guys have really gotten deep into this game. I'm going to have to get serious with this adventure real soon. I've still been fa*ting around with the controls and weapons systems. Heck, I initiated this topic and I have barely scratched the surface of it. At least I am learning a lot from your messages. Here's a light-hearted bulletin board you will probably not read about on Elite II: O Need passage on a fast ship to attend an Atari Convention on Lagreen system. O Sam Tramiel V needs to be removed. Contact Luther. O Deliver a small package of 8-bit computer components to Atari user group on Earth. Keep sending those messages Thanks, Bob ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 54 Sun Jan 23, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 20:17 EST Chuck: Sir Competent here. :-) That system is ACKCANPHI at (-4,-4) (If I'm reading my wall map right). I got a LOT of fight time in there. Got attacked by 3 Imp Couriers. Killed'em. Lot of those small pissy ships, too. I'm going to have to have look into the hits for the Imp Navy. I haven't done a military mission since I was Average, but even then there were no hits offered to me. Where were you when you got the offers? Bob C.: Ha! 8-bit parts! I like that :-) ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 55 Mon Jan 24, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 04:14 EST I was in Faerce, the Big Imperial Naval Base next to Achenar when I got the hit job offers, a bunch of them, was there many times before, then all of a sudden a list of hit jobs as long as my arm. This happened in the first Elite, after a while, all kinds of new things came up. I tried the hit job, but lost the ship when it warped out when it was leaving the planet. Tried to follow it using the hyperspace cloud analyzer, but no luck. I'm heading to the new system tonight. Still no new technology. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 56 Mon Jan 24, 1994 R.COLEMAN24 [BOB C.] at 23:21 EST OK all you hot shot pilots, I need some combat advice. I've actually been trying to play this game seriously, but haven't been surviving well in combat. I've started a few games on Ross 124 and have shipped a few things between Ross and Boston Base. Though the danger isn't too great, I do get hijacked once in a while and try to duke it out. However, I expend my missles and my wimpy laser doesn't have enough firepower to knockout the enemy. Questions: 1. Is it best to just run and do a mis-jump to escape? 2. Are some joysticks better to use for control? Or is the keyboard preferrable? 3. When engaging in combat and targeting a vessel do you go to autopilot to stay on track with the enemy or go to manual flight? 4. What is the quickest way to start making money when you start from Ross 124? Is there a better starting place? I have explored the Lave system. You can trade in your ship at the start of the game and have the choice of 4-5 ships. This system is less policed, therefore you run into more pirates. The chance of earning more cash seems better. You can outfit your ship with passenger cabins and make some quick cash.....that is, if you can make it to your destination in one piece! :) So if any of you can offer me some strategy tips on how to stay alive long enough to make some money, I would be most satisfied. Then hopefully, I can buy some energy shields and withstand future combat encounters. Besides, I started this topic, and I will close it down if I don't get a response....just joking B^( Thanks, Harmless Bob Coleman ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 57 Tue Jan 25, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 04:11 EST Bob: RE: running and doing a misjump In my opinion, at least as the start of Elite 2, I suggest that if you're running robots and animal meat between Banard's Star and Sol, and you're attacked, well, just make sure you saved the game before launching. Just reload. This leads me to the next... A great route, at first, is Banard's Star to Sol, and back. Sell robots to Sol, and animal meat to B's Star. Always check the bulletin boards around Earth (on the 3 orbital cities, not the planet ports) for the guy who wants to pay double for robots. You'll be rich in no time. RE: combat, autopilot, and how to defeat your enemy... The only type of combat I reallu use is this: click on the enemy. Engage the autopilot, and have a 20MW beam laser (or at least, ANY beam laser - NOT pulse lasers, BEAM lasers). You also should get yourself a Laser Cooling Booster as soon as you can, as well as a beam-oriented weapon. Just fire when the enemy gets within 2.00 of you. If you have a Radar Mapper, you'll get bounty cash for any kills, too. Just remember, turn the autopilot on after you target the enemy, then just fire when you can see the whites of his thrusters. RE: Control I use only the mouse. I can hardly imagine using anything else. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 58 Tue Jan 25, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 05:14 EST Bob: Ditto on that, buy a better ship and look into military drives. Get a beam laser as soon as you can and a radar mapper. I've never been attacked in Sol. Save the game a lot! Use seperate file names so you don't save in a impossible situation. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 59 Tue Jan 25, 1994 AEO.8 at 21:37 EST Could someone explain the controls in this game? i'd like to know if its truly possible to go in all directions like wing commander or the original elite. (hated the elite control method though, but I could move in 3 dimensions readily) I liked SG2 control, but it forced the player into a 2D area, since q turning or pitching to an extreme really screwed up the controls. ] thanks alot, you'll help me decide on weather to buy it or not. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 60 Tue Jan 25, 1994 L.GREENBERG2 [Len] at 23:45 EST I've made 'competent' but am still not able to advance beyond corporal. I only take missions that I will make the time line on. Ehat else do I nd to advance? Also what possibilities occur if one advances. (a higher elite rating got me opportunities for mercenary assasinations -- what do military advances get one? Also does anyone know what opportunities open up with further elite advances? -Len ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 61 Wed Jan 26, 1994 R.GREGORY4 [Rob] at 00:42 EST If there's anyone out there who IS NOT fond of this game, I'm looking to buy it. If not, I'll be paying to ship it mail order, as my local Atari dealer can't get this game from his West Coast distributor!?! From what I've read, this is the kind of game that makes you want to keep your ST/STe/TT... ;) Rob ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 62 Wed Jan 26, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 04:02 EST Len: Rankings give you better missions for the military. Go to the Imperial Worlds and hang around Faerce, you get rank quicker there. Also going for the riskier (the ones that pay more) get you promoted quicker. Rob: Try B&C Computers in Santa Clara (408)986-9960 10-6 PST, they have several in stock. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 63 Wed Jan 26, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 20:59 EST AEO8: I'm not sure what you mean by "explain the control scheme" but I think you might mean, is it like Star Glider 2. It isn't. You can "go anywhere" -- just like in Elite (but this game gives you the option to configure the mouse how you like it, i.e., for me, like Star Glider 2). Go buy it immediately. Do not waste another moment. Len: If you get yourself an Asp Explorer, or one of the smaller fast ships, get a military drive. You get places A LOT quicker with a military drive, and you can take on literally dozens of missions in the Imperial Systems at one time. Also, as you advance in Elite rating, missions pay a lot more money. Hopefully one of us here can reach "Elite" status soon. Then we'll know if any new possibilities open up. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 64 Thu Jan 27, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 02:17 EST I've been trying to take some of these military hit jobs, but it is really tough to make it to t he star system in time. All of the jobs are in the Federation and six weeks is the top lead time I've seen. You need to make a refuel stop on the way, and get a target ship slower than yours so you can chase them through hyperspace. Not an easy scenario to find! ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 65 Thu Jan 27, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 21:58 EST Chuck: When it comes to hit jobs, I make sure I've got 1) An Energy Bomb and 2) Six NAVAL Missiles. I use the energy bomb the moment I see my target, then let all six missiles loose. You get in trouble, sure, but I've got over 2,000,000 creds, so what's a 10000 fine? Now, I wish I could get some of those hit jobs from the Imp. Navy! They sound like fun! What rank are you? And where were you offered them? ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 66 Thu Jan 27, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 23:50 EST I found the hit jobs at Faerce in sector 0, -4 between Vesquess and Achaner. I am now a Squire and have completed my first contract for which I was awarded the "Golden Spike". I am working on my second mission now, but managed to crash the program by trying to read my own hyperspace cloud. Have you found this bug? I will try it again and see if it crashes the program. The ship I was after disappeared into hyperspace and I read the wrong cloud. You have to remember the time and date they are to arrive as well as the system they are gogoing to to cut them off. I got in no trouble for my last hit job, just took off, no police contact at all. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 67 Fri Jan 28, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 04:42 EST Chuck: Okay, great. I'm still just Sir (but I'm concerned, since I've completed over 100 missions [I've counted, to see how many you need for advancement] at the Sir level, and still no promotion. I'm very annoyed. The HyperSpace Cloud bug does not affect me, on a Falcon. A friend of mine had it crash, however, on a TOS 1.0 ST when he clicked on a cloud. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 68 Sat Jan 29, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 01:41 EST I kept running missions between Faerce and Vesquess in Sector 0,-4. Sometimes you can get 5-10 missions at a time. Do a bunch more, and see what happens. I don't know what the magic number is, but I imagine the riskier ones are worth more, and messing up a mission counts against you. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 69 Sat Jan 29, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 19:49 EST Chuck: Well, I guess I'll keep doing the missions and hope something happens... BTW, check out the Zelada system, in (1,4). Major anarchy with a huge population! Lots of bounties to be had! ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 70 Sun Jan 30, 1994 R.COLEMAN24 [BOB C.] at 22:41 EST Chuck and James: Thanks for the help on pointing me in the right direction. I removed everything but the auto-drive to make room for cargo. Now I'm just making the run between Sol and Barnard's Star ad nauseum. Robots and animal meat are the big ticket items as you pointed out. The first thing I do after docking is check the BB for the guy offering 1754 credits for robots. He doesn't always post a want list in the same space station, so I rotate my trips to different bases each time. Galileo station, orbiting the moon, has much cheaper upgrades for ship parts than elsewhere. I've spent about 6 months of game time doing this trade run and have about 30,000 credits (about 3-4 hrs of my own real time). I'm saving up enough to get an Eagle Mk II with 22t of cargo space. Then I'll spring for the 4MW beam laser, laser cooling booster, the naval missles, a radar mapper, and maybe a shield generator. Then I plan to shift over to military jobs and eventually try out some illicit stuff. Wow.....1 million credits. You've got my respect. Have you walked outside to see what daylight looks like lately? One note about accelerated time and docking. I have found that I don't crash into the docking bay on autopilot, if I gradually decrease the speed setting from highest (the 5th arrow over) down to the 3rd setting once I decrease my range to within 100,000km or so of an orbital station. I think it may have something to do with the directional indicator on the screen that show you which way your ship is pointing. At those accelerated speeds, it doesn't have enough time to recenter itself on the screen. It's a guess, anyway. What I do sometimes is just go to manual and steer her in if I see I'm not lined up correctly. You were right about no enemy activity between B's Star and Sol. It's clear sailing. Saving the game often, before you do something different is important too. Thanks for all the help. If you've got any more tips to pass along, my head is open; just pour in the info. Yours truly, Bob [alias Space Dude] D^) ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 71 Sun Jan 30, 1994 R.COLEMAN24 [BOB C.] at 23:42 EST Chuck and James, Back at you guys again with a few questions and more observations. I've amassed about 45,000 credits and have started looking for a new or reconditioned ship. Most are still out of my range. The Mk II that was available one week, was gone the next....figures! I haven't done this yet, but I am tempted to fly back to Ross 124 and check out their inventory of ships to see if there are any cheaper models available. Any advice? Regarding docking at space stations. About 60% of the time I note that on the final 60-70km or so before entering the flight bay, I am out of alignment. If I continue on autopilot, I ultimately crash into the edge of the flight bay. An easy way to remedy this is to pause the game, click on the manual flight control, use the right shift key to reduce your speed and then click on the first arrow to resume your landing. I use the keyboard pretty successfully to steer my ship, however the thrust keys (RETURN AND RIGHT SHIFT) are a little course and you can't get fine levels of thrust. It's either between 80-250km of thrust with a key press. Another interesting 'bug' I've noted is that very infrequently when I click on a bulletin board, I get stockmarket info on it ! Strange. You can't select any of the items either. Once and a while, a BB is blank, too. Did you know that you can call up a stockmarket list from out side a space station! Before docking, press the comm key (F4) and you will get a choice to look at the stockmarket items and prices. You can't buy/sell anything but it allows you to check out the prices. Happy hunting, mostly Harmless still....Space Dude D^> ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 72 Mon Jan 31, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 02:01 EST bob: If you want to have some real fun and make money fast, try dealing in narcotics, or other costly illegal substance. Save the game a lot as docking and landing can result in crashing. If you can't catch a planet, switch to manual and pass it, and autopilot in from the other side. The autopilot can be tricky, if it takes to long to lock on and land, stop, retarget and go in at a slower speed. Chuck, Competent Squire, 2.7 million credits. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 73 Mon Jan 31, 1994 J.ZENTZ1 [wintermane] at 22:05 EST Hey! I just got this game. If you are having probs with commanders file just make a new file using alladin . Heres how:) Activate capture mode with name of that annoying file . End capture. Now you have the file you need:) Simple huh? All the thing is is an empty text file. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 74 Tue Feb 01, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 01:16 EST J.Zentzi: Does this fix the problem with the hard disk permanently? No more corrupted date files? ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 75 Tue Feb 01, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 02:18 EST J.Zentzi, er, so, what are you saying? Create a zero length file? As far as I can tell, COMMANDE.RS is a disk label... not a file. Chuck: I ditched my Imp. Trader and bought a Cobra Mk III again. You want to know why? Well... the Mk III comes with a Class 2 drive. You can replace it with a Class 3 Military, and WHAMMO! Your range is 18.00 light years!!!!!! And fast!!!!! Now this is how to play! Oh, and I also am now a Competent Squire. Tried a military hit and the guy never showed. Very annoying, since it was my first mission after promotion (actually, embarassing). Bob C: I suggest for a new ship: Cobra Mk III (for reasons, see above). Just do that Robots Run for a LONG time. Get yourself at least 300000 credits. As you go, upgrade your ship a little at a time. That is, only the most expensive ship you can. As your cargo space expands a little at a time, the money starts to snowball. By the time you get to a Cobra Mk III you'll be rolling in credits. That's how I did it. As soon as I could find something with a little more space, I bought it, regardless of its faults. Crap ships like the Viper Defence Craft, or the Sidewinder or the Eagle Series (and those silly Constrictors) are a must for your wallet. So, in recap, I suggest as a good exploratory ship: Cobra Mk III. I also like the Asp Explorers. Just enough cargo space to haul respectable amounts of goods, AND beef up enough with weapons and shields to take the worry out of exploring the Big Bluish Galaxy. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 76 Tue Feb 01, 1994 J.ZENTZ1 [wintermane] at 04:57 EST Well scrap that idea :( my save file was thrashed! ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 78 Tue Feb 01, 1994 J.ZENTZ1 [wintermane] at 21:16 EST Welp I finally think ive licked the problem:) I just copied the data disk and left the copy in my drive. It lets me save even to drive e but still wont show f-h:( It fixed a save file that would bomb otherwise. Others might try renaming your boot disk to commanders(shrug) I wonder what sort of wierdness the programmer was doing to mess this up so much:) ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 79 Tue Feb 01, 1994 R.COLEMAN24 [BOB C.] at 23:15 EST Chuck and James, Again thanks for the feedback. You're right about it taking a long time to build up cash with my puny Eagle. I've been playing about 1 year of game time and have amassed about 50,000 credits. I keep checking the shipyards for my next upgrade but have only found an Eagle Mk II (and i was still about 7,000 credits short). So....back to the milk run. I did a little side exploring (after saving my position) and looked at the Arcturus system. Gosh, what a large place. About 5 space stations and about a dozen space ports. I tried a military mission to a system close by but forgot to get a permit and was nailed for a 4000 credit fine (ouch). They wouldn't even let me land, unless paid the fine first. Glad I saved my game prior to all of that. Well back to Sol and one of those space stations to sell more robots. Still Harmless Bob D^) ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 80 Wed Feb 02, 1994 J.ZENTZ1 [wintermane] at 01:44 EST Has anyone else noticed the fact that there are more ships in the game than the manual states? I found a puma clipper(i think ) that had a 2000t capacity and had a class 8 hyperdrive! 2+MILLION tho and I had only 20k:) Right now I have an eagle markII and plan on a asp exporer or cobra markI as my next ship. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 81 Wed Feb 02, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 03:08 EST James: I had one of those missions where the guy didn't show up when he was supposed too. I've been docking in the spaceport and waiting till 15 minutes or so till the target leaves. Then I wait in low orbit or a few KM from the station. Works great. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 82 Wed Feb 02, 1994 J.ZENTZ1 [wintermane] at 21:42 EST 50k for a mark II ! nonono look at the parts swap price. That was 32k for me and dont forget to sell your weapons and your scanner to make room for cargo. And when you sell a ship leave ONLY the hyperdrive behind as nothing else counts tward the parts swap deal. I already bought an adder and will in 2-3 more trips have enough for a cobra:) ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 83 Wed Feb 02, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 23:19 EST Wintermane: You'll really like the Cobra III. The Asp is great, too, but if you;re doing hits or military business, the Cobra's are great, due to their range with a military drive. 18.00 light years for a Cobra III and (I believe) 24.00 light years with a Cobra I (though there isn;t enough room for shields and weapons). ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 84 Thu Feb 03, 1994 J.ZENTZ1 [wintermane] at 21:16 EST Welp im up to a constrictor:) Sold my cobra I already:) It dont go far but it has a great auto pilot almost as good as the cobra mk 1. Do get bigger ships as you get more money anmd the money flies in:) Welp 2 Im now up to a tiger trader:) 320t cap and a class 4 hyperdrive. Im also a private and mostly harmless:) ( killed 6 pirates in 30 minutes play time running for my life outa epsilon indi:) ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 85 Fri Feb 04, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 02:15 EST Wintermane: I bet that SAVE GAME felt good... :-) ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 86 Fri Feb 04, 1994 J.ZENTZ1 [wintermane] at 21:33 EST Alright ive found a great combo:) a puma clipper with class 7 drive 30 shields an energy bomb 8 navval missles:) 4mw stream laser with 2 1 mw stream lazers in turrets. Still have 200+ cargo holds! ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 87 Fri Feb 04, 1994 R.COLEMAN24 [BOB C.] at 22:32 EST To all you space junkies, Well, I finally earned enough credits to dump my old Eagle and quickly jumped from an Adder to a Viper Defense Craft. I spent about a year and a half of game time running the trade route between Boston Base and the Earth space stations. Bought myself a mean 1MW Beam laser, radar mapper, 4 Naval missles, a laser cooler, and 1 shield generator along with my autopilot and scanner. With that class 2 hyperdrive a lot more systems are suddenly open to me and I have started taking military assignments. Just courier stuff right now, some private packages, and a few trade items. I've decided to point the nose of my ship toward -5H, 4V and do some exploring out there. I won't be back on Sol for a while....wish me luck. I'll keep you posted via deep space relay. Space Dude D^> ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 88 Sat Feb 05, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 05:46 EST Bob: Good luck on the trip. Tip: buy a few more shields, and possibly an Energy Booster Unit (essential, actually). They have the latter at any high population system. WIntermane: Whoa! Slow down! I haven't even seen a PUMA for sale! Can you stick a Fuel Scoop/Cargo Conversion Dealy on that thing? ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 89 Sat Feb 05, 1994 J.ZENTZ1 [wintermane] at 18:16 EST Boy did it:) Still it was very nerve wrackin to see my hull lose soo much mass:) Oh and im a corporal below average:) ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 90 Sat Feb 05, 1994 J.ZENTZ1 [wintermane] at 19:07 EST Are you kidding i got that a mining laser a 4mw streaming laser upgraded to a class 7 hyperdrive 8 navval missile a scanner an enegy bomb a radar scanner 3 cabins life ssuport for the hold some other stuff and i carry 60 tonnes of fuel and i still have 200+ tonnes cargo room:) Oh and I saw a boa:) was 200000 shy tho:( ive been to luyten 205-128 in -1,-2 and a few places inbetween:) If you plan on surviving a trip out there have 3-4 times the fuel you need for a jump and at least 10 shields or a fast ship! Oh and did i mention the 3 energy boosters i got also:) get em! ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 91 Sat Feb 05, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 23:04 EST Wintermane: Wait! So, like, you're a Fed? As in a Corporal in the Federation Military? I'm an Imperial Stormtrooper, man! A Squire, no less! We're enemies! I've assasinated Federation officials for the Empire! Ditch those Fed pink boys! Head down to Achenar and join the Imperial Militaty! Er, "Military." "Militaty" is something else entirely and has nothing to do with the Empire. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 92 Sun Feb 06, 1994 J.BUDIL [Jonathan] at 02:37 EST This sounds like a cool game. Too bad my STE is 1,000 miles away, on loan to someone else. :-( Maybe they'll port it to the Macintosh. :-) --Jonathan in Austin ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 93 Sun Feb 06, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 03:50 EST Jonathan: Get your STE back! It's a great game! ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 94 Sun Feb 06, 1994 J.ZENTZ1 [wintermane] at 06:25 EST HAHAHA!!!!!! Im only doing missions for the feds. Ill try doing missions for the empire later:) Right now im having fun zapin pirates:) and smuggling weapons:):) Oh i didnt buy it but i saw a gecko:) can do 51 ly with a class 3 drive! ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 95 Sun Feb 06, 1994 C.GENTRY3 at 14:19 EST Anyone notice the drive lights stay on continuously when you run this game. I was just wandering if this was normal? ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 96 Sun Feb 06, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 23:34 EST If you want to have some real fun, heasd out to -4,-5 and check out Usza, Riedquat, Ackanphi. Very troubled systems, manny, many fights. Trying to make it to Dangerous, hopefully it will get me some better missions. I've had over 100 kills on several runs on these systems, it takes a while to get up to Dangerous. If you go there, expect 10-20 or more fights as you head for the starbase and some multiple attacks. The drive light stays on on the drive where you save and load games. Bought a hull auto-repair, you need it there. Anybody know a better way to fix the hull instead of pushing the button a thousand times at the ship yard? Why didn't they put in a option to fix the whole hull at once? ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 97 Mon Feb 07, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 02:47 EST Wintermane: The EMpire is going to give you crap missions since you worked for Feds in the past. I think it's too late, though (unless you get yourself demoted so many times you end up with no Fed rank... I wonder if you can do that?) Chuck: I've been to those places. Very messy. If you can, check out Zelada at 1,4 -- a huge, high population system, witn NO government. Totally anarchy. New Africa is there, too. LOTS of fights ... in fact, you can just wait around, and watch the auto-pilot target screen (you know, with the planets and all) and look for new blips to enter the system. I've chased down and killed two Puma Clippers! If only I'd had a cargo scoop -- maybe they had some of that "other" military hardware the manual mentions? ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 98 Mon Feb 07, 1994 R.COLEMAN24 [BOB C.] at 13:01 EST Hey, How are all you space trash doing? Sounds like you are all flying around in your fat, heavily shielded, laser-overloaded ships, looking for love in all the wrong places...hahahaha D^) Or do you guys just love a good fight? More observations: Yes, I noted too that the drive light stays on. No big deal. At least the drive is not still running, like it did in Starglider 2. Did you realize that you can pause the game when you start a battle with another ship in view and target it, switch to autopilot, turn on the radar mapper and launch missles? Then you can unpause the game, the missles will fly toward the target and whammmoooo. Much easier than trying to manipulate the mouse and/or joystick to get the enemy ship in view and then try and target it while it whizzes by. Some of you may already have found this out, but I thought this might be helpful to you beginners. Has anyone else explored Vega, except me? Big system! Two space stations and a couple of inhabited planets with a number of starports. I am making a run between Vega and Encea. Lots of pirate activity. Addendum: Evaluated another system called Exqugre (-4,2) about 10-11 lt. yrs from Vega. Total anarchy system. The info file states "highly recommended to avoid this system". I got jumped by 3 osprey attack fighters, one after the next, before pulling into Kohl Base space station. Was able to make it back to Vega, but only after encountering more fighters. My pilot rating went up a notch to "mostly harmless" now.....grin. Good place to catch some battle experience. I think I'll cool it for a while and do some more trading. ~~~~~~~end of transmission~~~~~~~ Space Dude D^) ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 99 Mon Feb 07, 1994 J.ZENTZ1 [wintermane] at 21:46 EST Chuck just get the hull auto repairer and while in starbase stardream a day:) works every time:) My old puma lost 500 tonnes of hull in a disputed system with feudal system og gov:) thats 2k button pushes wich explains why hull auto repair is very needed:)! Now have a panther with 2 1m streamers in turrets and a 20mw in front:) cant use a fuel scoop:( but i carry 500ton fuel just in case;) Oh and I have 104 shields :) Oh and For fun i did a wormhole leap to sector 81,9 used only 8t fuel:) ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 100 Tue Feb 08, 1994 C.GENTRY3 at 01:11 EST I jumped from Sirus to -59/-55 and -117/-112 on 1t of fuel in a Cobra Mk III w/ a class 2 drive. If you unzoom the galactic map waaaay back you can scroll around and find jumps if you watch your fuel req. info. Other wise I haven't really made it out of 0/-1 system yet. Has anyone got into it with more than one ship at a time yet? ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 101 Tue Feb 08, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 01:16 EST A Imperial trader is not an overshielded, fat behemouth. This is just one bad ship! I always use the pause and lock on trick. Works all the time! I will continue my battles until I hit Dangerous, then back to the Imperium to check out the missions, you'll all be calling me Lord Chuck before long! ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 102 Tue Feb 08, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 21:15 EST Gentry: I've fought off three attackers. One was an Imp Trader (launched a Naval missile at him, and he ran). After I launched the missile, an Asp attacked, and after I sent him fleeing with a missile, another Asp appeared. I took him out immediately, pressed fast forward on the time control: the other Asp went up in smoke (from the missile) and that Imp Trader took minimal damage from its missile. I then swung around, and blew the heck out of him. He had no chance. None of them did. :-) Tip: Naval missiles all the way, man. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 103 Tue Feb 08, 1994 C.OINES1 [Chazz] at 22:52 EST Here's something fun: We have wormholes, and the PC guys don't! Heh... ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 104 Wed Feb 09, 1994 R.COLEMAN24 [BOB C.] at 22:53 EST Wednesday, Feb. 9th This game is always coming up with new twists and turns as I voyage farther out. Well, my status has definately changed for the better these past few days. Have a Cobra Mk III with fancy Class 3 Military Drive with 18 ly reach. I'm still sticking with a 1MW Beam Laser on the bow but sprung for 2 generators, radar mapper, Naval ECM, hyperspace cloud analyser, laser cooler, naval missles and 3 cabins. Now I'm mostly ferrying passengers (some with dubious backgrounds) and doing some work for the Fed. Military. My Elite rating is "Below Average". Not getting any hit assignments yet...I'm still only good enough to deliver data cards and medals. Some interesting events: 1. Wormhole alert: Check out if you are interested... (-61,61) (-61,60) (-61,62) (-61,63) (-60,63) All the above are about 644 ly from Vega and require 2-3t of fuel. This area is largely unexplored with no known settlements. Looks like good mining prospects for you gold diggers out there. 2. Am presently on 82 Eridani (1,0) at Brennan Town on New Africa. While sitting on the flight deck in the city, I was attacked by a Cobra Mk 1. I had already saved my position after landing and it flew right up and started blasting the flight deck with laser beams. 3. Has anyone been able to dock at a space station after being denied clearance? I was told that all bays are full and to call back later. I waited about 12 hrs. and could not find an open bay. What is more, I was attacked by a fighter while just sitting outside the space station. Talk about the nerve of some computer fighters!! 4. Has anyone been turned down by a passenger? I made contact with a BB listing for a person looking for passage "on a fast ship" but they said they would not fly with "someone of my reputation". Cheesh ! Hey Rob Gregory, Did you get your copy of Elite II yet? I was going to show you a good time on Werner's Hole in the Encea system (-2,2). Stop by Fortress Bradley and take a shuttle to Madame Zena's "House of Other-Worldly Delights". Tell Zena I sent you, and ask for Leah-4. You'll recognize her by the light blue metallic sheen of her skin and lips that can suck the carbon residue off a hyperdrive's exhaust port. (Hey this is a virtual reality world..anything is possible. Hope no one is offended!! ;o ) At least you will find me anything but boring in this topic. Space Dude D^) ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 105 Thu Feb 10, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 02:12 EST Space Dude, You were probably blasted on the deck because you did something the police didn't like, such as shooting off your lasers or failing to pay a fine, possibly you had some cargo they didn't like, nerve gas really gets them violence prone. If you can't get docked, look for a planetside landing zone, or choose another nearby, if available. Eventually you will get clearance, but I've waited in orbit for a week to land. You won't get some jobs until you get a higher rating. Also, if you burned somebody in a previous delivery, well, word gets a round. Anybody find settlements at the other end of the wormhole? I've been through lots of them but never found anything worthwhile on the other end, although I was attacked in a distant system. Still working on dangerous. Going back to imperial space to find some juicy contracts.... ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 106 Thu Feb 10, 1994 R.COLEMAN24 [BOB C.] at 17:52 EST To all, You're not going to believe this story! I was leaving from Luyten 97-12 (1,- 2) with a cargo of Robots to sell on Phiagre, a tertiary star system with a couple of inhabitable planets and space stations. It is located at (1,-3). I was attacked by, no less than, 8 enemy fighters!!...one after the next. Everything from Eagle mk3's to Adders, Kestrels, and even 2 Imperial Couriers. I had to keep saving the game to even get close to my destination. Wouldn't you believe it...my autopilot would not allow me to fly to my destination. When I got to within 1.2AU it would start going backwards and not allow me to close the distance. I restarted again from a previous save position but could not survive the waves of attackers. I guess my ship is just not strong enough yet. So....I headed back to Beta Hydri from the same save position to lick my wounds and maybe reconfigure my ship to make it stronger. Then I'll try and tackle the same system again. Boy, I really could have improved my rating if I could have completed that flight. :( Space Dude ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 107 Thu Feb 10, 1994 D.VICHA at 22:28 EST Hey, Chuck, looking forward to your review in STI! This game has me grounded from doing reviews and other work for Rod... I found that my Corporal rating hasn't affected jobs for the Empire but I've carried out a lot of work and haven't gotten past Master, so maybe they don't reward your work. I've been Average for a lot of killings-- thanks for the Pause technique, I'm mostly an A-pilot fighter and use Saves judiciously--but while I haven't raised my Elite rating, i have been offered hit jobs. Not everyone I've seen, but some are now available. I'm relatively poor--around 40,000 credits ususally, but enjoying this game immensely! Die/|\Hard ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 108 Thu Feb 10, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 22:55 EST Depressing Stories from the Frontier: I managed to lock into an INHABITED colony, over 12000 light years from Facece. Oh, and don't bother asking me where. See, I warped out, using only 1t of fuel, locked onto an orbital city, and started in. What was that? Did I save? No. I found myself attacked by an Imp. Trader (and just so you know, this was shortly before I ditched my own Imp. Trader). So, this wacko launches a missile at me, and I ignore it. I lock onto him, start blowing the hell out of him... watching my Mapper display, his shields were gone and I was doing massive damage. Smarty pants that I am, I decided to hold off at the last second, and ask him if he wanted to surrender. He laughed at me, so I rammed him. Whammo! It dropped my shields down to about 20%, and, pleased, thinking I was free, I hit the top speed on the time control so I would have full shields quickly. Whammo! I'm space dust. I forgot about that missile. Then it hit me... well, just WHERE was I? Oh, no... after hours of speeding through the galactic map, I never found anything again. This will NOT happen again. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 109 Thu Feb 10, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 23:20 EST James: Oh no! You found a distant inhabitation and you didn't write it down! ARGGHH! I've searched forever for one of those! It's a long way from Competent to Dangerous. I have amassed hundreds of kills and haven't made it yet. Maybe I'll go for tonnage... Donovan: Yes, I sent my review in a few weeks ago. Made it longer than usual and took a lot of pictures. Every review I've read so far has the writer act like he is a budding science fiction writer with visions of life on the frontier. I have avoided this temptation and limit it to my thoughts on the game. But it did cross my mind, I guess a lot of people feel you more live this game than play it. Back to the game... ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 110 Fri Feb 11, 1994 J.ZENTZ1 [wintermane] at 01:20 EST In cases like that I set my time thingy to super fast and wait:) It seems sometimes itll finally catch up after a day or 3:) If super speed dont do it try switching to middle speed then back a few times. Hint inner planets are a drag to catch in a slow ship so look at the outer ones for a base or city:) ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 111 Sat Feb 12, 1994 R.COLEMAN24 [BOB C.] at 11:32 EST Chuck, Who are you writing your review of Elite II for? STI? I have been meaning to put one together for GenieLampST for March, but have been so involved with the game, I haven't made the time to bootup my word processor :). I'm not going to use the "budding science fiction writer" approach. I was thinking it would be more interesting to start out the review more as a narration from the perspective of a pilot in his ship. He would discuss what he is seeing and doing from his perspective, but it would give the reader loads of info about the game and its different interfaces. Whadda think? Already been done? Too bad....I can't think of anything else right now that is more creative. You'll just have to wait and see. :) Does anybody else have coordinates for wormholes they might find the time to share with others? Donovan: With all the star systems in this game, you might be lucky enough to find a starport called Diehard ! Har har... Hey Rob: How was Leah-4? Don't worry about the faint blue afterglow. It fades away from "most" of your anatomy. D^) Space Dude ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 112 Sat Feb 12, 1994 B.WORTH [BADGER] at 13:13 EST Hello, fellow Eliters. Badger here. Great to see all you space cadets love this game too! I currently have a Panther Clipper, fully loaded (50 shield generators, Large plasma Accelerator, etc.). Currently I'm COMPETENT, with only a few hits and Fed contracts- no Empirial contracts yet. I do have a few ovservations. When I inadverdently hit the TAB button instead of the ESC button I game freezes with no way to reboot- me only? I am finding it impossible to land my Clipper on a planet to mine- any suggestions? I too found a wormhole to -61,60 but can't land to mine. I've also had the game bomb- out when trying to down size to a Puma. Could be that I couldn't sell off all my equipment in Vega before trying to buy the smaller ship. Think I'll try a small 1 pilot ship and do some worming around to try a find the elusive INHABITED COLONY. For such a simple game with no real story line to pursue, it certainly is additive- I'm in mid 3205 game time and hate to shut down to go to bed, go to work, go to the john. Good hunting all. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 113 Sat Feb 12, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 20:25 EST I've heard a rumor that there is a ship called the Mirage. Supposedly you can only get one when you've reached ELITE status. Then again, some Amiga guy told me this, so... ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 114 Sun Feb 13, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 01:46 EST BobC: I wrote it a while ago, hopefully it'll get in this month. Every review I've read so far is written as the pilot of the ship, or dreamy renditions of the view Scirroco Station. The game does inspire this type of fantasy.. Badger: Landing is tricky, especially with a large ship with a small planet. You have to land it just like you would in a regular flight simulator, autopilot doesn't help. You need to get in close what till the altimeter gomes, go real slow, and put down your landing gear, and pick a spot. The mining icon comes on. Anyone: I've got a problem, I inadvertently picked up a military contract for Veareth, and there is no where in the system to bring it! It says there are mines and 10 million people, but no starport anywhere! Any suggestions? ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 115 Sun Feb 13, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 02:58 EST Chuck: Did you call for help? (i.e., could you communicate with anything? Was there a special option that appears when you're in a system like that?) You might have to lock onto a mining colony (very difficult to find, but they should be there). ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 116 Sun Feb 13, 1994 R.GREGORY4 [Rob] at 11:04 EST Good day, Starship Jocks: Yesterday I completed my first marathon session with Elite 2. All of the advice I read here really helped, though I did repeat some of your mistakes in order to 'build character'. :) One modification on the tip for the Banard's Star to Sol run early in your career. I did some figurin', & found that profits were higher when carrying LUXURY GOODS rather than ANIMAL MEAT from Sol to Banard's. I've just upgraded to an ADDER, still stripped down for cargo space, & continue to build profit in the hopes of getting a 'REAL' ship! Rob ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 117 Sun Feb 13, 1994 J.ZENTZ1 [wintermane] at 19:44 EST Look for cities and red dots on planets:) I think you can home in on them that way... Also look for depots and rotate the planets when ya get there to check all sides. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 118 Sun Feb 13, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 21:21 EST Thanks for the tips. By the way you may now address me as Lord Chuck, although I haven't managed to break the Competent barrier. I will search for a mining colony or something like that. I am elsewhere's now in search of major fights. Have been attacked by as many as four at once out in the Riedquat system.... ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 119 Sun Feb 13, 1994 L.W.BENJAMIN [Koloth] at 22:58 EST Greetings, I have ordered Elite II and have been reading this topic while I wait. It sounds like I'll really _need to_ take a few months off to appreciate this game, but it's not likely. I look forward to doing some major exploration and sharing the results with you all. Gee, now where do I get a Klingon D-7 Battle Cruiser ? -Koloth ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 120 Mon Feb 14, 1994 D.VICHA at 22:27 EST Salutations E2 Addicts I have encountered a very distressing bug/situation: I tried to put a military drive on my Viper at Columbia station and when I tried to leave nothing happened. Went to Repairs and low and behold a full list of Thrusters needed repair at $100 a crack. Clicked on Right Thruster, the fee was deducted, the line changed to Left Thruster--I did smae with Main thruster, etc. Never cleared the repairs! I did a Drive service and got out. but i didn't like it. I reloaded the game, same thing. Left without replacing drive, and it happened again on a different Sol station. Bought a new Viper and it happened again!!! I wondered if it was my dual status as Master (not really much of a rank) and Corporal, Above Average Elite rank. When I finally bought a Cobra, it seemed to have gone away. I'm not sure returning to the Federation was such a good move at this point & am very glad I two-tracked my saves and can continue in the Empire. Lord Chuck: Very glad to hear you're taking a much more straightforward approach. Hope you mentioned that performance on the TT is excellent-- I can't bear to play it on my ST after having played it so much on my TT. Happy hunting everyone! Die/|\Hard ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 121 Tue Feb 15, 1994 R.COLEMAN24 [BOB C.] at 01:11 EST Badger and Koloth, Welcome to the "Elite bar and grill". The first drinks are on me. Which do you prefer? Sirus Lite or Arcturus Ale? Harr harr..... We broke the 100 mark on messages last week. looks like this topic is going to be a fat one. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A request: When refering to planets and star systems, please include the coordinates of the system. With over 100,000+ planets, nobody will be able to find where the h*ll you are if you don't leave the coordinates. Thanks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lord Chuck: For my review, I'll probably use cyberpunk prose with stark references to grungy freighters and laser-scarred star fighters. Humankind has spread out amongst the stars, only to rape, pillage and exploit the resources of virgin planets. Indigenous life forms are exterminated or limited in number. Space is not a friendly place. The guy with the biggest laser is Numero Uno. Welcome to the future...now leave the area, your Clearance has expired. Make my millinium..... Space Dude D^( ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 122 Tue Feb 15, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 01:37 EST D.VICHA: I had the same mysterious problem. It was like some sort of puzzle to figure out what to fix first. I could get all the repairs down to one. When I'd click on it, all the others would appear. I don't actually recall what I did about the problem (this was before my original save files were corrupted, a dark time I'd rather not remember). What machine are you playing on? ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 123 Tue Feb 15, 1994 L.W.BENJAMIN [Koloth] at 06:24 EST Space Dude, Glad to be here. Let's see based on my past experience at "The Dreamer Fithp Virtual Saloon" in the Jerry Pournelle area, I'll have a Russian Milkmaid, that's vodka and buttermilk. A drink only a Klingon could love! We can help each other explore by giving coordinates, but I suddenly want a multi-player interface in cyberspace... :) -Koloth ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 124 Wed Feb 16, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 01:43 EST Space Dude: May your science fiction career be a long and prosperous one. Want some fun, head over to Diso 2,-5 (or close by) and see if you can make to a space dock. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 125 Wed Feb 16, 1994 A.PETRIE1 [Suzie/AL] at 20:01 EST Elite II players : Small question for you. I just dl'd the frontier demo and it looks ok, but from lurking in this topic it sounded like you had view screen/control pannel, and various areas to buy and do things. the question is does the frontier demo fairly represent the game or are you much more involved in the opperation and decissions in the game. Thanks AL ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 126 Wed Feb 16, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 20:47 EST Suzie/AL: The demo of Elite 2 is a joke. The game is deep. Really deep. There are over 100,000,000,000 different, REAL places to go. Yes, you read that number right. You can do anything you please. There are no real penalties in the game. In fact, there is so much freedom in this game it is kind of off-putting. We've all been programmed for so long into expecting a game to "give" us a path to take, that playing Elite 2 can sometimes give you an uncomfortable feeling, a little nervous spot in your gut, even dread. You find yourself in the middle of nowhere, your ship damaged, space pirates lurking in the next system, and all you really want to do is find some nice, safe trade route and make money for a year. Then, having done that, you get this itch -- you want to get back in the *hit, so to speak. You beef up your equipment, and pick a direction, or use a wormhole, and off you go. Into the vast unknown, and it is vast. Or, you start working for the military, take a few hits, get attacked, whatever. My suggestion is GET THIS GAME. One of the best things to hit the Atari gaming scene in quite a while! ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 127 Wed Feb 16, 1994 C.GENTRY3 [Chris] at 23:56 EST Scrolling through the gal. map, I came across Ackliaar located at 451, 492 5358.02ly from Sol. What's so interesting about this? It's an inhabited planet! A corporate state w/ mining and heavy manufacturing. There wasn't a starbase though and unfortunately no wormhole from Sol. Hmmm... if only we knew what was there. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 128 Thu Feb 17, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 02:07 EST Chris: In your travels check the system in relation to where you are. I know this would be time consuming, but may help you find the worm hole. I sure would like to know where there is a distant inhabited world and how to get there. aMay be it is the key to the enhanced technology hinted at in the mamanual. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 129 Fri Feb 18, 1994 A.PETRIE1 [Suzie/AL] at 20:05 EST James: Thanks for the real scoop as to the relationship between Elite II and the frontier demo, I thought from the discussion that it would be an awsum game but the demo left me blah, thanks for setting things straight, it sounds like my kind of game. Thanks AL P ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 130 Fri Feb 18, 1994 ARCHIVIST [Charlie] at 21:48 EST I've been playing Elite II for a while now but I haven't found these wormholes you're all talking about. How did you find them? Anyone got any hints for me? Charlie/sysop ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 131 Fri Feb 18, 1994 B.WORTH [BADGER] at 22:35 EST I have visited what I term as a "far-off system. From Achenar, I wormed to 150, 191. Then to 392,377, and finally to 369,434. Just up one grid, at 370,434, I found Miphiur a small scale mining settlement. It's in anarchy so go in armed. Not much to see- same ships attack, same stuff in the stock market. Not much on the bulletin board. I was kind of disappointed. While tooling around I've seen hundreds of "System Explored No Registered Settlements" everywhere. As well as lots of "Fronteir System"s. Though I haven't found a way to get to them yet, I found small scale mining systems at 339,380 Laiden, 334,375 Essgreeth. Oops- the system I did visit was Waurur not Miphiur in 370,434. I guess the best hope of finding "Unknown Settlement"s is to search the unexplored sections star by star. This game is fascinating. Good hunting - BADGER - ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 132 Sat Feb 19, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 02:04 EST To find wormholes, move the galactic map around and watch your fuel required indicator. Sometimes distant stars show a small amount of fuel. Use the right shift key to speed up the process of moving around. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 133 Sat Feb 19, 1994 L.W.BENJAMIN [Koloth] at 06:21 EST Badger, I don't even have the game yet (it got backordered :( ) and I still appreciate you (and others) taking the time to post what you've found out about this intriging game. On the contrast between the demo and the actual game play, it sounds like the best part about Elite II is that it's like the demo _and_ it has this much larger scope of galactic exploration to it. Take Care, Koloth ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 134 Sat Feb 19, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 22:05 EST Koloth: I agree. The demo is good, but once you PLAY the game... wow! ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 135 Sat Feb 19, 1994 R.GREGORY4 [Rob] at 22:39 EST Greetings, Starship Jocks! I am now pleased to announce that I have obtained the honor of an AVERAGE rating in this excellent game. I'm flying an IMP COURIER in the Achenar neighborhood, but am considering getting something with longer legs, so I can do some exploring with my newfound wealth. I love the space battles, & have made use of all of the excellent suggestions in this CAT. Can't understand why Faerce doesn't seem to stock Naval missiles, when it's a bloody Naval base!!! Rob (STellar STallion:) ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 136 Sun Feb 20, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 00:33 EST All: Well I found a distant base at -765, -765, I cheated I read the Amiga messages. I just haven't figured out how to get there yet. Went to the edge of space, space kept going, but there were no more stars at about 2500, 2500.... ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 137 Sun Feb 20, 1994 L.W.BENJAMIN [Koloth] at 07:56 EST Rob, The _last_ place I'd expect for a civilian to be able to buy naval missiles would be at a _naval_ base. Maybe you should try a _marine_ base! Chuck, Reading the Amiga messages isn't cheating, it's INSPIRED! Take Care, Koloth ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 138 Sun Feb 20, 1994 R.GREGORY4 [Rob] at 11:14 EST Koloth: I figured the blackmarketeers would be inherently lazy, & set-up shop close to their supplier! Live & learn ;) I got my butt kicked big time last night. My IMP Courier limped into port with only about 12% hull left, so I quickly saved the game at that point. Then I realize that the drive was wiped out, leaving me with an interplanetary one. And I wasn't aloud to trade up to a Hyperdrive! Kept getting informed that I already had a drive, & when I tried to sell it was told it was an integrated part of my ship! So I end up buying a Cobra Mk 3 again, but this crappy little system doesn't have scanners OR autopilots, let alone any quality equipment. Ended up losing my Naval ECM & all the other good stuff I had, & got to manually pilot my ship into another system. These things do NOT have good brakes!!! What a game! Rob (now ABOVE average :) ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 139 Sun Feb 20, 1994 D.VICHA at 12:39 EST Yo Space Fans! I don't think I've ever been as addicted to a computer than Frontier. This is causing serious problems with my journalistic career...:-) JK: I'm using a TT, what else is there? Seriously, there are some sloppy redraw problems at times (arrow stays on screen, words get garbled with words from prvious screen) but the smoothness and speed of action in battle sequences IN PARTICULAR are superior to a stock ST. I don't think the bug had anything to do with the TT but I'll be really PO'd if it happens again. I think it was just time to move up to a better ship. Dual status may have been a problem, too. I can't seem to get beyond Corporal and Master. I have a cert. of valor and a crimson bassard. Any other medals or awards worth mentioning fellow space jockeys? Live Long & Prosper! Die/|\Hard ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 140 Sun Feb 20, 1994 J.RENNER1 [Kheldar] at 17:59 EST I should be getting this game soon. I was wondering what kinds of extras you can add to your ship. Also is there some form of ship-to-ship communications? Jim. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 141 Sun Feb 20, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 18:18 EST Kheldar Yes, there is ship to ship comms. You can threaten starbases, too. Of course, trying to dock after such a threat is fun... I've heard that the comms aspect gets more involved, as your ratings get higher. I've been signing on to local Amiga BBSs, looking for info. The game came out on the Amigas about two months before the ST, as far as I can tell. They've got a head start, so to speak. That's where I heard about the Mirage ship. Apparently, some sort of huge ship appears, and you can dock with it. It is my opinion, however, that this is all a made up Amiga lie. We shall see... Koloth: I had an Imp. Trader, and I purposely blew out the Hyperdrive in the Achenar system. You have to purge the hundreds of tons of rubbish in your hold that was once your Hyperdrive before you install a new drive. I put in a higher grade (Class 8, if I recall). This gave me great range, but the setup was unstable. The drive blew itself up on my first jump. So I reloaded the game, and tried again. This time, it worked fine. It still blew up about a month later, however. For exploration, you can't beat the Cobra Mk III. Great range, uses tiny amounts of fuel, and can be beefed up enough to make it a great fighter. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 142 Mon Feb 21, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 01:30 EST Scrolling around: 139,215;Veexgre - Mining and heavy manufacturing industry. (BTW, I like this format [above]; very easy to cut out of a buffer and store in a file... let's adopt it, eh?) And... 138,216;Zebeda - Frontier System, some prospecting and mining. Hopefully, more to follow. One interesting note about Zebeda: there were seven ships of varying tonnage in this system. Using the Galactic Map's "time simulator" I tracked them. They all made a direct line to me, all attacking at once. I then used the Star Dreamer to advance, and sure enough, the attacks began. All of them rammed me... yes, you read it right. I've never seen anything like this. Don't take that wrong... they didn't ALL ram into me. Just the first two in the attack wave. Unfortunately, I died. And again, I lost my position (I wasn't paying attention to the route I took to get there... I started at Lave, and scrolled directly up until I found a wormhold... then I scrolled directly to the right, found the first wormhole... then scrolled diagonal/up/right until I found the first wormhole... after this I lost track... sorry) I must STRESS that I thought the behavior of the ships in Zebeda (no blatant firing, just missiles, and ramming) suggests that system might hide something. Could it be the Mirage? The ship with a cloaking device? (From what I can gather, that is why it is called Mirage). ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 143 Mon Feb 21, 1994 C.GENTRY3 [Chris] at 02:49 EST Arrrrghhh..........!!!!!!!! When I sat down for an enjoyable game of Fronter today, I found that none of my saves would load. F%@King said "Disc error, (code:37). Anyone else have this prob. I'm runnig on a Falcon and running and storing on hard drive. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 144 Mon Feb 21, 1994 A.STUDER1 [Andy] at 03:07 EST I baught this game and booted it on my Falcon and was totally disgusted with the graphics (I've had an IBM clone for a year and have baught tons of CD- ROM games, so the graphics/sound/music have taken me in). After reading all these messages, I'm going to re-boot it and try it out. It's one thing I always hated about Space games, they have hard-fast goals/missions when I'd rather be off on my own as a free-man. I'll check it out on the Falcon again, and assuming I can get past the graphics limitations, I hope I have as much fun as you guys (if not, perhaps I should buy the IBM version)? ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 145 Mon Feb 21, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 03:36 EST Chris: Hard drive errors are a problem. I'm running the game off of the original floppies, and it works fine. Once it boots up you don't need it anymore. I wrote GameTek in the UK and got a response that had nothing to do with my original letter. A photocopy of a generic bug fix. Obviously someone who knew nothing about the program read my letter. The envelope was addressed in teenage bimbo cursive... Andy: Live with the graphics, once you see how huge the game is you will get around this. There is gameplay here, real genuine gameplay, not all flashy pictures and stereo digitized CD ROM soundtracks... ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 146 Mon Feb 21, 1994 L.W.BENJAMIN [Koloth] at 06:22 EST All, Is anyone out there using a MegaSTE4 to run Elite II ? Any problems ? Rob, I guess things are tough all over. Since I don't have the game yet, I'll ask a dumb question. Could your character have actually died ? Or would you just have been stranded ? Kracht, Thanks for the recommendation on the Cobra Mk III. I'll set it as a goal... when I get the game - it's backordered! That's wierd about zebeda. Sounds like a place to go back to - with a kickass ship! Chris, There have been reports of problems with the save game feature on hard disk. The solution appears to be to play off the hard drive, but to save games to a floppy disk. Take Care, Koloth ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 147 Mon Feb 21, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 20:42 EST Andy: Sorry to hear you judged Elite 2 by it's cover. Too bad for you. We all have HUGE head start on you... :-) Chris: I can sympathize with you... same thing happened to me. My suggestion is just get right back into it. You can play off the hard drive, but just save your games on the Falcon's 1.44 meg floppy. You can fit quite a few on there, and there is virtually no difference in save/load time. Koloth: I'm going back there tonight. If I can get there, that is. Trial and error time... I'll keep meticulous route notes, THIS TIME! ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 148 Tue Feb 22, 1994 A.STUDER1 [Andy] at 04:23 EST I haven't been able to perfect my flight skills, especially hopping from one system to another. I can hype around the starting system OK, but everytime I use the universe map and the arrow keys to center on another system, I just can't get the functions to work and open up the hyperspace icon again. I'm doing the same thing I did for the first system as detailed under the introductory chapter in the back of the manual. HELP! Other than that, I'm still excited about the possibilities of the game play. I've run it on both a MegaSTe/4MB and a Falcon030/14MB without problems until I tried to save a game to the hard drive. I'll start saving them to the floppies as a couple of you have suggested. What is the bright orange ball near the space station that the intro directs you to? It took forever for the autopilot to actually engage the port docking sequence and I think the orange ball hoving around with thestation had something to do with it. How are the graphics on the IBM version (ouch, don't throw those CDs at me!) ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 149 Tue Feb 22, 1994 L.W.BENJAMIN [Koloth] at 06:07 EST Kracht, (a fine Klingon sounding name!) Good luck in your search! -Koloth ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 150 Tue Feb 22, 1994 A.STUDER1 [Andy] at 06:38 EST I figured out my problem with not being able to hype to other systems, I was trying to go farther than my drive would allow. Now... how do you land on planets, or, how best? I target a planet or a station and put it in super-fast mode, the computer slows down after reaching the vicinity, then it would take years to continue, so I put it in fast mode again, but usually I crash into the planet on auto mode like this, so I have to go slow, but it takes so long! Is this normal? My first hop was from R154 to Barnard's Star with meat, then from Barnard's Start to Earth with some farm equip, then to Alpha Centauri with a package from the Feds. Unfortunatley, they didn't tell me exactly WHERE in Alpha Centauri to make the delivery, so while I searched around for somewhere to land, I ran out of fuel. Anyway, my major problem is the need for landing faster without crashing. Sometimes, it'll zoom in on a space station while in auto mode and keep doing whiplashes trying to catch the station but never make it. Also, while entering the atmosphere of a planet (Earth), the auto mode kept bouncing as well, and it seemed if i went normal speed, it stopped this, but took forever. What's the easiest way to get to the OTHER side ofa planet (in this case, I was in the Eastern Hemisphere of Earth and wanted the Western so I could sell my farm equipment to the midwest US. Anyway, thanks for the help (anyone). Why am I spending all my time with this game instead of programming? ??? :) ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 151 Tue Feb 22, 1994 R.GREGORY4 [Rob] at 20:10 EST Koloth: My character would've died if they'd destroyed my ship... but fortunately they didn't. I might have been stranded, if there'd been no ships to buy or cash to buy them. Fortunately, there was a nice Cobra Mk. 3 there... but I was become fond of the Imperial Courier I had... especially with all the weapons systems it could carry!!! :) Andy: I wouldn't mind it if the game had the same graphics they generate for Babylon 5! :D But for now, I'm quite happy with it! Once you build up some cash, you'll be able to cruise the Universe & play the game any way your heart desires! On landing, I find that the auto-pilot crashes you into planets & moons quite frequently. I always save the game before landing, and land at about 4/5ths 'superfast'. As for 'where to make deliveries, if it doesn't specify, any port will do. And some systems are HUGE, so fuel consumption is a problem. Once I'm up to speed, watching the 'target out of range' indicator, I shut down the engines & coast until the indicator shuts off. ALL: I've had NO problems with disk reads/writes to hard drive, saving my game files to a folder named COMMAND.ERS in my Frontier file. I'm running a 4 meg 1040 STe with TOS 1.61 Rob ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 152 Tue Feb 22, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 22:21 EST Andy: I have not been able to determine what that orange ball is. Here are my theories. 1) It is a docking beacon. 2) Since I only really see it while leaving a station, I think it might be a warning beacon... that is "Warning! Ship approaching! Clear out!"... since there is often a ship behind it waiting to dock. 3) It is a dysfunctional hypserspace remnant (dysfunctional because you can't lock on to it). As for the graphics on the IBM, I've heard they are identical, except for a plethora of rather mundane texture-mapping. Most of the ships just don't look like ships with the textures they've given them... although, the space stations look truly great (so I've heard). Koloth, Ha' Andy: O, I almost forgot... to get to grips with a planet: if there is a station, lock onto it, and go there. Then select your planet target and leave from the station. All: I found the route to Zebeda and Veexgre... to be posted later! ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 153 Wed Feb 23, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 00:17 EST Andy: The orange ball is a hyperspace remnant. I've watched them being made while I wait for my target to leave the station. As far as landing goes, If you don't get docking clearance right away. Stop and get yourself to the slowest time speed. Then relock on the target. If that doesn't work, use manual control to pass the planet and try to lock from the other side. If you have any major accomplishments behind you on the last run. Save the game before you land. All: I'm in a bit of a jam, I have a fighter that won't let me lock on to it, (he just stays out of range of my guns by taking a constant roll away from me.) He's impossible to hit on manual control, and I'm out of missiles. Then he runs away to about 330 km and comes back. Anybody else run into this? ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 154 Wed Feb 23, 1994 L.W.BENJAMIN [Koloth] at 05:37 EST Andy, Well, at least you're playing the game. I'm punishing myself by reading this topic while my copy of Elite II is on back-order! Take Care, Lee B. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 155 Wed Feb 23, 1994 L.W.BENJAMIN [Koloth] at 06:18 EST Rob, Do you mean you have a directory structure like this ? root of drive | L_____Frontier | L______COMMAND.ERS | | Saved games are here. -Koloth ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 156 Wed Feb 23, 1994 ARCHIVIST [Charlie] at 20:38 EST I'm playing this game on my MSTE booting off the floppies. I can't seem to get it to work at 16mhz off the HD, but boy, could this game ever use the extra speed. Has anybody had any luck doing this, or is everyone running at 8mhz? Charlie/sysop ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 157 Wed Feb 23, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 21:16 EST Charlie: Frontier runs fine on the 16mhz 030 in the Falcon. I think it might be a MSTe problem. Chuck: I had that problem once, early on. What I did was sit completely still, and fire at the bugger when he came close enough. No auto tageting here... all manual. But sitting still. After about a half hour of real time, I killed him. This was the only way, since my save games were "in that situation." ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 158 Thu Feb 24, 1994 R.COLEMAN24 [BOB C.] at 00:54 EST This is going to be a long post. I have a lot to say. Howdy STellar STallion: Rob, that has got to be a great "handle" you came up with. Isn't this game addicting? I find I am trying to fit in a mission before I go to work in the morning and then cram in some time at night, when the kids go to sleep (the heck with the wife...she's in bed watching the Olympics!). I too have an AVERAGE Elite rating and am still flying a Cobra Mk 3. After turning AVERAGE, I started getting hit jobs. I am in the process of completing my first one. I have to eliminate Governor Campbell in the Essethelia system for 19,500 credits. Not a bad wage! :) So that's why my Empire turn is late in getting to you. Later, Space Dude D^) More observations and info to pass on to one and all: 1. I'm sure many of you by now have experienced the fact that enemy activity varies each time you fly back and forth between two star systems. I have been attacked 15 separate times going one way, then 5-6 times going the opposite direction. On doing the same route again, no one would attack me. I guess the algorithmn to determine how often you get attacked each time is variable, right? Any other insights into this guys. 2. Has anyone used a large plasma accelerator weapon on a space station, large cargo freighter, or star base? Can you destroy a space station and eliminate it from future use? Might be a nifty idea if you decided to turn "totally renegade". 3. I finally did my first hyperspace "mis-jump". I ended up about 8 light years away from my destination. The little purple destination marker was just sitting out there in the void, on the galactic map. 4. The autopilot definately is inconsistent. Sometimes I don't get targeting squares arounf my destination, some times it says "Out of Range", and most frustrating of all, sometimes when approaching a spaceport the whole frigging ship gets turned around and I start going in reverse. All of these inconsistencies are correctible by retargeting the destination port on the galactic map or repeatedly clicking on the target port from the front view screen. About 60% of the time the autopilot does not line me up correctly for a space station docking. I have to pause the game, go to manual and fly in by myself. Anyone else experiencing this? 5. The latest issue of ST Format had 2 pages of hints....many of them we have already discovered. One interesting piece of info offered was that if you trade up to a Constrictor, it is too large to dock at a space station. You will only be able to land at space ports. Chuck: Don't play off the original floppies if you really have to. I was able to back it up on a Blitz cable/software. You might also try Procopy. I also make a double back up of my save games, so not to lose my latest position. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~to all~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If by accident you lose a save game position, one option I felt might be game- saving is to post the type of ship you were flying, your rank, and Elite rating for us to look over. Maybe one of us has a ship and ranking close to yours and we can send you a save game position. At least you would not have to start from scratch again!! We Elite pilots are a close group :) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Andy: > What is the bright orange ball near the space station... If I understand you correctly, that is either a hyperspace jump cloud or a near by sun. The hyperspace cloud has concentric circles of orange and red colors. The cloud has nothing to do with your docking sequence. The autopilot can be finicky at times. I haven't figured out if it is due to usage and it needs to be repaired occasionally or a bug in the game docking sequence. Just remember to save your game position often...especially before you do something daring or stupid. :)) >Now, how do you land on planets... Maybe this advice will help. After hyperjumping to the star system of interest, I target either the starport or space station. I switch to the highest "stardreamer" setting and either wait to be attacked or watch the AU's click down as the autopilot takes over. Sometimes I get a "good approach", get clearance and immediately go to "real time" and let the autopilot land me. Other times, the velocity site will start to wander and lose position with the destination. Then things start to spin around and the green arrow shows up, pointing the autopilot where it needs to go. Most of the time the ship will correct itself, sometimes it seems to get lost in a continuous space loop. If you slow down the stardreamer speed when you start to see the velocity site move away, that helps to recenter the ship and keep it on course. Even try reclicking on the targeting square again to refresh the autopilot. Sh*t happens guy. Nobody said your equipment worked 100% of the time. Regarding packages and deliveries: Just get it to a starport or a spacestation in the desired star system. Once you dock, watch the comm screen below your radar for confirmation of delivery. It takes a few seconds to show up, following the message that a docking fee has been deducted. If you have problems auto-docking with a space station, once you are within 20- 50 km of the station, pause the game, go to manual and fly the sucker in by the seat of your pants. Use the right shift key to decrease your thrust and even reverse thrust to slow down. Manually docking at a space port is hard. I have only done it once. You need to view your approach from an external view and sloooow way down. The hard part is lining up with the landing pad, letting gravity bring you down and remember to lower your landing gear. Save your position often. Good hunting and trading. Space Dude D^) ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 159 Thu Feb 24, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 01:21 EST TO ALL: I am now Dangerous. Watch out, there are new missions that nobody has heard of yet! I could tell you, but then of course I would have to kill you. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 160 Thu Feb 24, 1994 L.W.BENJAMIN [Koloth] at 06:08 EST Bob, Great post! All, I wanna know who is using a MSTE! I'm still waiting on my back- ordered copy and I, of course, use a MSTE as my main machine. If there's a problem I wanna know. Chuck, We'll all be sure to steer clear of your position in the blue galaxy! Take Care, Koloth ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 161 Thu Feb 24, 1994 ARCHIVIST [Charlie] at 11:32 EST Koloth, I'm using a MSTE with TOS 2.05 and have to auto-boot off the floppies. I'm going to give it another try at running at 16mhz. The frame rate at 8mhz is pretty bad. I'll let you know if I can figure it out. Bob C., one other way to dock if you don't like the line-up the Autopilot has set is to cycle through the engine controls. What I mean is, if I'm coming in on autopilot and don't like the heading I just triple click on the autopilot icon going through Manual Control, Engines Off and back to Autopilot again. When you do this the autopilot aborts the landing and circles out to try again, usually for a better landing. It's worked for me, anyway. Charlie/sysop ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 162 Thu Feb 24, 1994 R.GREGORY4 [Rob] at 20:11 EST Koloth: > Do you mean you have a directory structure like this ? > > root of drive > | > L_____Frontier > | > L______COMMAND.ERS > | > | Saved games are here. > Exactly! Bob: Um, correct my rating to ABOVE average, please! ;) I'm sure that after a few more successful 'hit' assignments, you'll join me there. But do try to break away from the Universe long enough to make your next move! I concur with your observations on the attack #'s. But there seems to be a variable used even when you fly the same route at the same time!!! I got badly beaten on a trip, decided to restart from the beginning of the trip, & didn't get attacked once!?! Interesting, but it's only happened once that way. Thanks for passing on the trip about the Constrictor. I think I'll try an Imperial Trader for a while, primarily for 2 extra missile & lots of room for shields, etc! I'd be happy to share saved-game files! Chuck: Dangerous! Very impressive! And how many kills did it take to get you there?!? Rob (the Stellar Stallion -insert theme music here- ;) ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 163 Thu Feb 24, 1994 J.ZENTZ1 [wintermane] at 22:51 EST I have advice for autopilot blues:) Sell your auto pilot and buy a new one. They do wearout sometimes. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 164 Thu Feb 24, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 23:35 EST Rob: I don't know how long it took to make it. I just did many runs between Diso Lave and Ridqequat, and made anywhere from 10-30 kills on each trip. It took scores of these trips to make it aand that was after a lot of time at Competent anyway. All: Do you want to know what the new missions are? I don't want to spoil the fun if you want the joy of discovery yourself. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 165 Fri Feb 25, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 01:04 EST All: RE: Autopilot blues. Now listen... first of all, does anyone remember the abject horror of trying to dock in the original Elite? I do. In fact, it's all I remember. I must have tried 30 different times, and at the end of each particular hour of excruciating tedium, I threw the game out. I didn't even want to sell it to some poor sap. I just tossed it. My point is this: when I see the autopilot in Elite 2 swinging me dozens of AUs out of the way, veering wildly, doing the darndest things (basically), I just smile. See, I remember Elite 1. In fact, there is no way to forget. Be thankful. Accept the weirdness of the autopilot, and bow down in your cockpits... worship that little device. I do. Space Dude: I can't wait to use a Large Plasma Accelerator. I've got a date with a particularly annoying space station in Van Maenen's Star. Tell me I can't dock, do they? EAT PLASMA!!!!!!!!!! Also, yes, it is true about those BIG cargo ships. You bounce around in the docking bay doing terrible damage. It really is frightening. Chuck: I'm on the Dangerous quest myself. Been hanging around in Reidquat for months. Still just Competent. DON'T reveal the missions (private mail only, please!) All: Wormhole for you, sir... Start at Lave, scroll up to Amimi at -3,158, then scroll due right to Soifa at 79,158, then scroll diagonal up/right to Zebeda at 138,216 (using a Mark III Cobra, this will require approx. 20t of fuel, more if you plan on surviving the combat [laser fuel]). This is a Frontier System, some prospecting and mining. Also, in place of the Zebeda jump, you can scroll diagonal up/right to Veexgre at 139,215 (this is: Mining and heavy manufacturing.) Remember, in any wormhole excursions, you're mileage may vary; brings plenty of fuel. BTW, just to clarify, since I just reread and it seems a little vague, all those "scrolls" [above] occur after you have jumped to those particular systems. Good luck, and beware the Ramming Adders in Zebeda... blew me up twice, the buggers... ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 166 Fri Feb 25, 1994 C.GENTRY3 [Chris] at 01:25 EST Here's a few tips...... On the Galactic map, if you hold down the right shift key while pressing the direction cursors, you can move around the map alot faster. When your using the current system map, if you center the planet you want to zoom in on you can press the r. shift key and click on it again, it will take you right to it. Now for a ????????........ Has anyone been to the Aymiay system? In the gazzatter it says "Goldstein starport is a major center for used ship exchanges." What are the corodonates? ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 167 Fri Feb 25, 1994 L.W.BENJAMIN [Koloth] at 06:29 EST Charlie, Thanks! Anything you can find out should be helpful. I know the demo seems to work fine at 16 Mhz. I found out last night that my copy of Elite II came in yesterday and I'll be picking it up today. It figures. I've got an eight hour training class at work tomorrow! Short Weekend! dang! -Koloth ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 168 Sat Feb 26, 1994 R.COLEMAN24 [BOB C.] at 00:32 EST To all: Congratulate me (is anyone out there?....well, I'll pat myself on the back). I just completed mt first "hit" job. I knocked off the Governor of Campbell Spaceport in Essethlia (4,-2) for 19,500c's. He was on a Lion Transport, carrying a Class 5 Hyperdrive and an Energy Bomb. I left the spaceport about 25 min. before his ship was to depart, climbed to about 5000m above the space port and about 20km away and floated around with engines off. When the ship and its license number popped up, I targeted it, launched an energy bomb and 4 naval missles (I wanted to make sure the ship was totally obliterated). Blammmo....metal alloys and debris all over the sky. Boy, the starport police didn't like this a bit. They launched 4 police interceptors after my ass. Laser beams were firing everywhere, crossing back and forth on all sides of me. I punched the hyperdrive and "bye-bye baby". What a thrill!!!! I thought about this mission the rest of the day. Hey, STellar Stallion: Congrats on reaching ABOVE AVERAGE...now get out of my star system! D^) No one followed up on my question about whether anyone has used a large plasma accelerator on a space station. Any feedback out there? Well, I'm going to try and improve my rating this weekend and pick up a few more hit jobs. Don't spill the beans on what type of hit jobs you get on higher ratings. In the March ST Format they mentioned there are about 70 different kinds of hit missions. :o I may be playing this game the rest of my life..... Space Dude :^* (note: This is what I look like with my space visor off). D^( ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 169 Sat Feb 26, 1994 B.WORTH [BADGER] at 12:58 EST Howdy Eliters, Well, Ive recently sold my Clipper and went with a Mark III to have a better range for military missions. I'm just about to SIR for the Empire and still at CORPORAL for the FEDS. Missions continue to get for prestigeous with each step. My rating has remained at COMPETENT for quite some time now. Bob C., I have used a Large Plasma Accelerater on just about everything. Major Starports are tough but with repeated fire and the use of an energy bomb on police units leaving the docking bay, you can blow the beegesus out of 'em. Pay a fine at the next Starport and you are clear. What I can't understand is how they build them again so quickly. When you return to one you just obliterated just a few days ago, it's intack. They don't even hold a grudge if you are fine free. Anybody been worming around out there and found anything new? Happy Stardreamin' Badger ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 170 Sat Feb 26, 1994 R.GREGORY4 [Rob] at 13:29 EST Chuck: I just reached Competent, as a Sir in the Imperial system. So I'll continue the carnage for a while to reach your level. I'm sure you'll be ELITE by then! I'd like to find out what the new missions are on my own, thanks. If you do decide to post them, maybe you could leave a screen of space or other info, & post a warning along the top. Have you ever had a target not show up for his assassination. I just happened to me! He was supposed to be on a Boa leaving a space station, so maybe that match of huge vessel & station caused some problem. Space Dude: I can see you're as hooked to this game as I am. Fortunately, Sue has been watching Olympic figure skating, so I've had uninterrupted hours to use this program. Congrats on your 'hit'... & don't worry about having me in your system... I'm using the universe in the 'future', so you'll need to watch some old Trek episodes... maybe you can get your ship to travel time with the proper solar sling-shot! :) Rob (STellar STallion - Dirty Deeds, Done Dirt Cheap) ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 171 Sat Feb 26, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 15:20 EST Space Dude: Congrats on your first hit, unfortunately you are now a fugitive and sport a "Piracy and Murder" conviction on your rap sheet. If you want to do tidier hits, use your Hyperspace Cloud Analyzer, follow and wait for them on the other side. The police don't notice then. Yes, I have had several hit jobs not show up at the appointed time and place and the Imperial Navy is not very understanding about it, either. All: I will not reaveal the nature of the missions at my level due to your requests. I am biting my tongue. I think it is safe to say that they are new and different and involve some equipment heretofor unknown existed in the game. -Dangerous Lord Chuck ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 172 Sat Feb 26, 1994 ARCHIVIST [Charlie] at 18:07 EST Lord Chuck, if anyone wants to know these extra missions (and it doesn't look like anyone here does....) please start an Elite topic in cat 21, which is private. If you're not able to access that category just let me know and I can let you in. The whole idea of having two game cats is so that those who want detailed help can get it without ruining the surprise for those who don't. This seems to work out well for all. Charlie/sysop ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 173 Sun Feb 27, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 02:02 EST Charlie: Let me in, that way, I'll give it a shot and see what response we get. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 174 Sun Feb 27, 1994 A.STUDER1 [Andy] at 04:10 EST Koloth, I'll sell you my copy for $35 plus shipping. I don't have time for it anymore (got back into programming). Just cancel your back-order and I'll ship it out. I'll send you my addr in e- mail if you're interested. I saw the IBM version in a store yesterday, didn't look much different but was $10 cheaper! ALL: I ran Elite II on my 16Mhz MSTe just fine, but I used it on the Falcon after testing it on the MSTe. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 175 Sun Feb 27, 1994 L.W.BENJAMIN [Koloth] at 09:12 EST Andy, I'll see you in Email. All, I got my copy of Frontier late on Friday. Wow! the map is really neat. The other materieals are also quite nice. Since I don't have a place near the computer to hang the map, I was thinking of taking it and making a file with all the coordinates and system names in it. Anybody interested ? Here's some of what I've done and noticed so far. Everything seems to work fine with the MSTE at 16Mhz, in fact since I run off hard disk, I just boot up normally with umpty-leven installed auto programs and accessories and then run Frontier. I'm using the trick of storing my saved games in a folder called COMMANDE.RS and I haven't lost a save so far. Naturally I've kept backups on floppy. I wonder if it's just the Falconers who've had the hard drive problems ? Or maybe those using the Atari Hard drive software ? I'm using the ICD hard drive software. In the on-screen map it's sometimes hard to read non-selected system names in white or yellow (whatever color it is) when they're overlayed by the green "currently selected system marker." Oh well, scrolling around with the arrow keys helps a lot. So far I haven't had much luck delivering messages and other small packages on time. I guess I need a faster ship. Anybody know if being late all the time seriously damages your career ? Finding the route from Earth to Fomalhut the first time is quite tricky. Let's hear it for "virtual" 3-D space! At least I keep making money, well, except for that time the pirate damaged my ship. Many thanks to all who have described how to do automatic targeting! I think I found a new bug, but I have no idea what caused it to happen. I docked at M.GORBACHEV in Earth orbit, conducted all my business, got clearance to leave, and got stuck in the outer airlock! The outer door opened, but my ship wouldn't move out no matter how much thrust I applied and I couldn't turn. Luckily I had saved my game before entering the station. Next time it worked fine. If you're ever caught in this situation there is a way to "end it all." Just start firing your lasers, watch the police somehow leave the station by _passing_ you and then blast them! After a while one will get away, come around on you and blast you to dust. Hopefully it doesn't do much for the broken airlock. Has anybody else noticed that some tons of cargo seem to weigh more than others ? Perhaps it has to do with the difference between mass and weight. I first noticed this when doing the standard SOL to Barnard's star run. When I finally had enough money to buy computers for SOL, I loaded up, left and made my jump, a procedure I'd used successfully for "weeks", and I ran out of fuel! I had to pick up my last save and trade cargo for fuel. Now I know why there's a refuel button in the cargo display! Manuals! Manuals! We don' need no steeenking manuals! Take Care, Koloth ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 176 Sun Feb 27, 1994 DOUGWILLIAMS [Doug] at 11:16 EST Hi all, I was just logging on for advice on the dock situation Koloth just mention, not being able to leave after getting clearance. It's happened to me a couple of times & it's in my current save. Is this a bug? ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 177 Sun Feb 27, 1994 R.COLEMAN24 [BOB C.] at 12:29 EST More Autopilot revelations: Greetings fellow pilots, I have some interesting observations to share regarding the use of the autopilot. I am sure many of you have experienced the situation where you are heading for a targeted spaceport or orbiting station and you suddenly note that you are not closing the distance between you your target. I always assumed that once I set the autopilot it would pick the correct speed and course to my distination. However, some of the approach trajectories our ships take, end up with us playing catchup with the target. Since the space station or planet we have targeted is moving at thousands of kms/h, naturally we need to assume an overtake velocity for our ship to close the distance. Well....the autopilot was not doing that correctly, all the time. I would sit and watch the AU's tick down as I approached my destination, and then as the target swung around in its orbit, I would find myself in a position where I was first, maintaining the same speed as the target, and second, being out- distanced by the target. So what is the logical thing to do? You can switch to manual control and accelerate toward the target, but then it gets real hard to slow your speed down and come in for a docking manuever. If you switch over to autopilot at the last minute, sometimes the autopilot will lock on to the target and you can land. However, this was not the case most of the times. It would swing me around my target, line me up again for an approach, but my velocity would not be great enough to catch up with the target again. So here's what I learned. WHILE IN AUTOPILOT MODE, YOU CAN INCREASE YOUR VELOCITY TOWARD YOUR TARGET BY PRESSING THE "RETURN" KEY. The ship will track the target and you can close the distance by watching the "actual speed" indicator and the target squares change. What threw me off initially was that we don't see the "set speed" indicator in autopilot mode as we do in manual mode. However, it appears you can still change your acceleration/deceleration in autopilot mode. I know this was a bit long-winded, but I felt it might help to clear up some frustration about this problem. Test it out and see if it hold true. :) Still more observations: How to avoid getting rammed. I ran into the same situation on a run between two systems in the Imperial Empire. An Imperial Courier kept appearing and was intent on closing the distance with me head-on. I'd get a few laser beam blasts in before it smashed right into me. So I developed the "Coleman manuever". 1. Before the enemy ship gets too close, pause the game. 2. Switch to manual and with one finger on either the left or right turn keys, switch back to play. 3. As your ship quickly turns to one side and avoids the collision, switch back to auopilot and you will swing around and line up to get a few more blasts in. 4. The enemy will again head towards you and go through the same procedure as above. Hopefully, you will outlive his attacks to destroy him. BTW, shooting missles at him also helps to break off an attack and give you more time to use your laser on him. Last but not least: I discovered after my last hit job that I was a FUGITIVE on Interpol. The spaceport authority fined me for discharging weapons when I destroyed my target ship. They fined me 10,600c's !! I couldn't land at another Imperial station until it was paid. Arrrgggg!! The lesson I learned was that I should have followed it into hyperspace, and blast it to h*ll out in the void. Oh well, live and learn. Still AVERAGE Space Dude D^( ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 178 Sun Feb 27, 1994 ARCHIVIST [Charlie] at 13:07 EST Chuck, ok, I'll let you in right away. BTW, all. I've got Elite running off my hard drive with no problems (so far). I'm not sure what I did wrong the first time but I suspect I didn't make a subfolder named COMMANDE.RS and put the contents of disk 2 in there. That seems to be a key point. Anyway, I'm much happier with the speed of the graphics now, to say the least. ;-) Now I'm just wondering what I did to get an Elite rating of POOR.... Charlie/sysop ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 179 Sun Feb 27, 1994 R.GREGORY4 [Rob] at 15:29 EST Koloth & Doug: I haven't encountered any problems leaving space dock yet, & I've logged MANY hours on this program. Maybe it doens't occur with TOS 1.6! Bob: Thanks for the Coleman maneuver. I like to hit the pause key, go to full reverse thrusters, & then resume. the attacking ship invariably overshoots me, at which time I go to autopilot and blow him away. The only time this is a bad idea is when you're up against an enemy with a powerful rear laser! STellar STallion ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 180 Sun Feb 27, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 20:01 EST Ok, those of you that need to know what happens when you hit dangerous, there is a new Elite II topic in Category 21. If you want to ask questions that you may feel will spoil the fun for the group, ask them over there. If any of us get questions that we don't want to answer about the game, you can reply over in Category 21. I've just completed my second of these new "hits" as I work my way to Baron. Long live the Empire! ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 181 Sun Feb 27, 1994 D.VICHA at 20:53 EST Salutations Elite Addicts! I'm now a Sir and Above Average with a Fed Corporal rating. The Federation does seem pretty dull... Doug & Koloth: Did you guys check to see if your malfunctioning ships needed repairs? Specifically thrusters? It may be the bug I ran into and mentioned earlier. If your thrusters don't work, you don't leave dock! And you basically need to sell your ship to solve the problem. Just accepted an offer on our house. I'm going to have to curtail my Elite career ... Arghh! Godspeed fellow spacers! Die/|\Hard ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 182 Sun Feb 27, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 22:37 EST All: When you first enter a system, and you're selecting a destination, zoom out, taget some distant ship... and have a few words with him. You can find out their destinations, cargo, even tell them directly you're under attack. Whether or not they'll respond is another matter. I've been playing this game all this time, and I never once bothered to "communicate" with other ships. Oh, well. All, RE: Space Dock Limbo This WILL occur if your internal fuel tank is empty. The little green bar, just above your scanner (to the right) will show your fuel levels. Make sure it is fully green before you leave. Once this is done (you do it by using the Refuel option on the cargo screen) you should THEN buy the fuel you'll need for the hyperspace jump. BTW, the other two bars are Laser Temperature, and Cabin Temperature. If you're REAR thrusters are damaged, you can still move, just not as well. This is a fuel-related problem only. And it is also a symptom of "Stuck Ship" -- occurring only when you are foolish enough to dock with a M475;1 GUhuge ship (ignore my macro... how'd that get in there?) All, RE: Combat Tactics The method I use has yet to fail. It consists simply of thrusting at top speed away from your opponent, then, using your rear view, target him. When he is 5+ kilometers away, engage the autopilot. You will swing around, and the galactic joust can begin... All, RE: Fed and Imp A friend of mine playing this game on an IBM is having great problems with his dual ranks in both empires. In fact, when he returned to Fed space, after doing quite a bit of work for the Empire, he had been dumped _two_ ranks by the Feds. Beware of wasted time... ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 183 Mon Feb 28, 1994 L.W.BENJAMIN [Koloth] at 19:07 EST Space Dude, I've noticed the Auto Pilot closing in on a target, then falling away and closing in again by watching the distance reading. I've so far just let the autopilot work it out for itself. The problem I want to find a solution for is when the Auto Pilot rams you into the station when it "just misses" the docking bay. This seems to happen alot at the Earth stations M.GORBACHEV and , but not at Abraham Lincoln. I think it's also happened to me at Mars High Station. Here's another one. If you're running off hard drive, don't try your first save after starting up without having a diskette in drive A. The game will hang up and will not recover even if you give it a diskette. Die Hard, I don't think my thrusters were damaged, but it could have been the case. If it happens again I'll look for that problem. Curtail as in not play ? With the move it'll only be a couple months of caos and then we'll see you on here again because you've gone back to playing Frontier. We'll see you then! Kracht, Thanks for the info on the fuel situation and the "stuck ship syndrome". Gee, what macro ? I thought I saw a M475;1 GUhuge ship for sale out near Aldeberan. BTW, has anybody tried to go to Alpha Centauri ? I tried to deliver a package there and found that the only outpost is around Proxima Centauri and when you get to Alpha the station is "out of range." So much for an easy delivery! Take Care, Koloth ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 184 Mon Feb 28, 1994 ARCHIVIST [Charlie] at 21:10 EST Koloth, I have often had the 'out of range' message when targeting a station or planet around the second of a binary or triple star. 36 Ophuci (or whatever) is like this, too. What I do is target the star itself and when I close to 10 AU or so retarget on the station I really want. At least it gets me there.... I've notice this sometimes happens when the station is behind the planet and you try to target it, too. Charlie/sysop ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 185 Mon Feb 28, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 21:15 EST Koloth: Nothing is ever _really_ out of range. I'm not quite sure why the auto pilot says that. All: Curiously, I never played a single minute (so far) of Elite 2 with that '10' icon on. That is, from the front screen, the icon furthest to the right (which turns on identification tags for everything). What a helpful thing... Also, I'm getting VERY bitter. I've tried five hits now for the Empire, and no matter what I do (switching my ship, waiting for months outside a space station, etc) these targets refuse to show up... like everyone is ON to me. Very frustrating. In fact, the last hit I tried, I searched EVERY single port the ship might have left from (this was about six hours of work). I could find my target no where (I even waited months for him to leave once... still nothing). Perhaps these criminal records of mine have hurt me? (i.e., Piracy and Murder in Fed, Imp, and Ind space... oh, well). Combat Tips: When hunting for kills, use the local system map to identify the most dangerous of your eventual targets. That is, zoom in to the cluster of dots around you (I'm talking in a Frontier system or in an anarchistic system) and find the ship of greatest tonnage. These are the white blips. Keep an eye on them. During combat, and the inevitable "waiting for the next attack" -- take the extra time to target this white blip. If it truly is next in line of attack, you will have a vast tactical advantage over him. And believe me, you'll need it... an Imp Trader with a 20MW beam laser catching you by surprise is sure death. Additionally, make sure a missile is armed before any attacks. AND, one other thing... since Elite ratings are worked out via the combination of your target's tonnage and firepower, it would behoove you to hang around in Frontier Systems. The ships may be smaller (in the orange range) they usually are heavily armed. You'll advance quicker this way, as far as Elite ratings go. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 186 Tue Mar 01, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 00:44 EST Doing Hit Jobs or other jobs for both the Federation and the Empire will not work! It is hinted at in the manual. You need to pick just one side to advance in the ranks. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 187 Tue Mar 01, 1994 R.COLEMAN24 [BOB C.] at 02:00 EST Koloth, Glad you are enjoying this VR experience. The learning curve on this game can be a little steep initially, but stick with it. Soon it seems secondhand. Regarding the autopilot: You read my previous post about using the RETURN key to increase thrust and closing distance on targets whose velocity is greater than yours? Most of the time the autopilot delivers you to your target.....but just wait. Space and time oddities crop up, then is the time to get creative!! :) Now for the "autopilot ramming you into the docking bay" delimma: I do not have an explanation for why it happens. Sometimes my landing pattern is picture-perfect, the next time I am coming in too high or too low. All I do is pause the game when I am about 2-3 km from the dock, press the right shift key to slow down a little more, switch to manual flight, and resume the game. Then, like the true space pilot I am, I fly my trusty Cobra Mk 3 into the docking bay. More observations: Have many of you noticed that when you are traveling to a tertiary star system where you have a star and its planets orbiting around the binary stars, that when you target that system for a hyperjump and arrive at that system, you may be 200+ AU from the tertiary system. Like this diagram: *-* binary stars * o. o.. tertiary star and planets that orbit around the binary stars. Watch out for this type of system. You may want to go to one of the planets, but on the galactic map you are only able to select the binary star system. When you arrive at the system and target a planet, you are "mondo AU's" away. The moral.....carry plenty of extra fuel, or (and I have not tried this yet) head toward your target, turn off the engines, and coast toward it with the stardreamer (to save fuel). To all, I d/l'd the messages from the Games RT on Elite II. My impression, and this is not meant to be critical or abusive, is that there are more guys who whine about the quality of the graphics and the combat portion than I have noticed in the Atari Elite II topic. Maybe they have higher graphics expectations than we Atari players. Since we don't have Wing Commander, X-Wing, or Privateer to boast about, we are more satisfied with a game like Elite II because of its huge scope and playability. There were a number of comments about the game being too open-ended. Sheesh....there is nothing I hate more in a game than being led by the nose down a path without many choices or directions to choose from. Some could not believe that this game operated from one 700K disc ! I guess they don't feel they got their money's worth unless their HD is filled up with 20megs worth of graphics and sounds. (g) They did talk about wormholes, but nobody has mentioned any coordinates yet. I get the impression that nobody has actively searched around for them. Lastly, a large percentage are frustrated with the combat sequences. Many have not picked up the nuances of the autopilot and how to engage it properly to destry ships. I guess there are a lot of novices out there, flying around with big egos and puny lasers ;) Well, I am having a blast with this game. My rating is now at ABOVE AVERAGE, I going after my 2nd hit job, and my cargo hold is full of robots. I'm in Sohoa (0, -4) in the Imperial Empire and fly to Achenar tomorrow. I'll pass along a good word to the Emperor for you when I see him. Space Dude D^) ~~~~~~~~~~end of transmission~~~~~~~~~~~ ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 188 Tue Mar 01, 1994 L.W.BENJAMIN [Koloth] at 06:39 EST Charlie, Kracht, That's a great idea for targeting a planet around the distant part of a binary, or trinary in the case of Alpha Centauri. I'll have to try it sometime. Thanks! Space Dude, The only problem with Frontier is having time to play it! It's also nice if you can get time with no one else in the house so you can plan strategies and really figure out where and how you want to go and with what. I'll have to look back for your discourse on matching speeds with a target. On the docking bay, do you actually have to land or just get it into the docking bay and then it takes over ? Games RT - Yes the PCers are spoiled now by their super VGA and Stereo sound and don't know the value of playability or open endedness. Yes, games that take 20MB on disk are rediculous, no wonder so many PC games come on CD- ROM now. Oh well, the next time I've got $2K to throw away, maybe, just maybe. NOT! With the advent of ExtenDOS, a set of CD-ROM drivers for the full ST line, I hope to one day see ST games on CD-ROM too! The one thing that really mystifies me about what you've said about the PCers is that none seem to have gotten as far as we have, I guess they're not used to pulling together like we Atari types are. Sad for them. Take Care, Koloth ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 189 Tue Mar 01, 1994 R.GREGORY4 [Rob] at 20:21 EST Fellow Space Travellers: I just spent an entire evening learning how to engage & defeat an Imp Courier with 2 shields & a 20 MW beam laser (the white light generator!?), using a lowly Eagle Mk. 3, 2 Nav missiles, & a 1 MW pulse laser! But do I dare share my winning strategy??? Oh, alright! First of all, make sure you have an entire evening free, & save the game just prior to the conflict beginning. In my scenario, the Courier was coming out of warp & was my contract target. As soon as he left warp, I noticed that his shield strength was low, but steadily increasing. I launched both missiles immediately, went to auto-pilot, & began the chase. After the Nav. missiles impacted, the Courier turned on me, & for too many times to count, rammed my ship. This happened with a much greater frequency than my tiny Eagle being hit by laser fire... so a small ship does have an advantage. I finally clued in that if I turned off my auto-pilot just prior to impact, I'd miss the Courier & still get in some hits. So the joust continued, until finally the Courier was destroyed. The Eagle left the mission without a scratch (one hit from that 20MW laser destroys you!). STellar STallion ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 190 Tue Mar 01, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 22:04 EST Stellar Stallion: Awesome! I recall a time when I gave up a saved position that had an Imp Courier attacking me in my lowly Eagle... All: In those cases where the system is HUGE and your target is hundreds of AUs away... look for the destination CLOSEST to a star. This is usually the shortest distance to traverse (since the farther out a destination is from a star, the harder it is to get there due to its WIDE orbit). RE: IBMers Sadly, the plethora of games on the IBM platform and the vast number of game releases per month has ruined most gamers. They now equate the size of a game on disk with its playability. What is the worth of hundreds of megabytes of live actionf footage, when the game just stinks? And don't get me wrong... I don't generalize about a user-base unless it is the IBM user base. A group that large cannot help have a large portion of people who wouldn't appreciate the vasteness and uniqueness of ELite 2. Here, take my soap box. Use it well... I am through with it (for now). ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 191 Wed Mar 02, 1994 L.W.BENJAMIN [Koloth] at 18:29 EST Stellar Stallion, Great! We (or at least I) can use all the tactical help I can get. I just got a radar mapper so I finally know what I'm up against. I'm still pooting around with my Eagle, but I am learning as I'm up to "mostly harmless". Here begins a strange tale of the spaceways. We often take star hopping for granted and think nothing of making hyper jumps all over the place, but woe, there are untold dangers in the spaceways... Last night when trying to jump from Sol to Barnard's Star, the most peacable jump I've ever seen, disaster struck! I got a message on screen about a "MIS-JUMP" and I was _completely_ lost! My loction map (F2) came up in the barnard's star area, but when I hit (F2) again, the map area of the screen came up _completely_ blank! By using right shift and the arrow keys I scrolled around the location map until I found something _anything_ that wouldn't give me an out of range indication. I finally found Urandfa <-2,- 34>, and a few neighboring stars that gave me an Insufficient Fuel, 1 Ton Required message. What a time to not carry extra fuel! But then again, who needs extra fuel on the SOL to Barnard's Star run anyway! Talk about strange, the Range to Urandfa was listed as 662.79 Light Years, system unexplored, no registered settlements. All the systems in the area came up this way. Fortunately I do have an earlier save _and_ I saved the Mis-Jump situation as a saved game. If anyone is interested I could upload it. In a happier scenario, I also may have found a new wormhole (or an old one) from Sol to Lalande 21185 <0,0> system 3 at 5.61 light years. It's listed as Mining and Heavy Mfg, is a Corporate Independent state and exports computers. There was some problem with it though that I didn't write down. Probably either a permit violation or pirates, I don't remember which. Happy Spacefaring, all! Take Care, Koloth ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 192 Thu Mar 03, 1994 R.GREGORY4 [Rob] at 21:44 EST Koloth: Unintentional Mis-jumps appear to be extremely rare. I've only had it happen once since entering the Elite 2 universe. And I usually don't carry extra fuel, either! Thank The Force for saved games!!! James: Thanks for the tip about the 'closest planet to the star'. I usually just do the 'coasting' maneuver to cross those great distances, but when time is a factor in a mission, your advice will be a big help. STellar STallion ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 193 Fri Mar 04, 1994 L.W.BENJAMIN [Koloth] at 06:31 EST Stellar Stallion, I've put in a few hours learning what not to do. I'm also running a couple different characters who have different strategies. One is strictly a trader, one will be a hit man, etc. We'll see what happens. I'll try to keep track of any interesting developments. What this game really needs is some kind of automatic log of each jump with from/to information along with cargo, etc. Maybe if they sell enough copies they'll add it in future versions. Yeah, I know, games don't usually get upgraded, but in ST Format the developer implied that there were hooks in the game for future mission disks or something. We'll see, I guess... Take Care, Koloth ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 194 Fri Mar 04, 1994 J.RENNER1 [Kheldar] at 22:27 EST Could someone go to Greliai N on the galactic map (4,1). Whenever i try to access this system the program crashes. Just try to get some ysstem info. I just hope it's not my copy. AutoPilot: I use the fastest time setting after i engage the autopilot. Even if the target is a short distance away (<1AU). I have had very few problems this way. Once you are granted clearance use the time setting one up from normal time. This has eliminated the crashing into the station problem. Jim. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 195 Fri Mar 04, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 23:55 EST Well, I must admit, I think I screwed myself. In my early days, I behaved in a, well, "blatant" manner. I think I am now paying for it. My Piracy and Murder charges (in all empires, Ind, Fed, and Imp) seem to be haunting me. No one wants to do business with me. I am shunned. And, I have counted no less then 147 ships killed, and still no advance from Competent to Dangerous. Those kills include about six succesful hits, including the President of the Sirius Corp. I'm getting frustrated. No military advancement either. I'm worried my criminal past might be hampering me. One tip, NEVER, and I repeat, _NEVER_ use an Energy Bomb when fighting in the vicinity of a space station, base, or city. When you're lurking outside a space station, and your hit target shows up, that little Energy Bomb will get you a 10000 credit fine, as well as a Piracy and Murder charge. I only really realized this after my record was tarnished. An Energy Bomb has a range of about 200km. Beware. I am currently "living" on the surface of Amyiay, a planet which the Frontier Gazetteer says "...resident on the planet for a period of more than thirty days is automatically decreed a free person and laws of the Empire are not binding." I'm hoping I can erase my Piracy and Murder felonies -- at least in the Empire. (Actually, the planet is called Aymiay). ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 196 Sat Mar 05, 1994 F-D-PERCIVAL [Fred P.] at 08:13 EST Kheldar, It happened to me too. When I tried to look at the layout of Greliain three bombs appeared. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 197 Sat Mar 05, 1994 L.W.BENJAMIN [Koloth] at 09:01 EST Kracht, I had kinda wondered if the object was to be as "evil" as possible, I'd have been disappointed if it had been. Well, at least you can start up another character and try to do better this time. It's not like you've destroyed your real life. Good luck on your amnisty. Take Care, Koloth ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 198 Sat Mar 05, 1994 R.GREGORY4 [Rob] at 11:53 EST Koloth: I'm really hoping that the author does expand on this game, or provide even minor upgrades. I'm definitely 'hooked'! How do you find time to play more than 1 character. I'm into this game constantly... I've even defaulted the game to autoload when my system boots to the color monitor! All: Is there a VERY noticeable difference playing this game at 8 vs. 16 mHz? This may provide the excuse for me to upgrade! ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 199 Sat Mar 05, 1994 C.OINES1 [Chazz] at 13:53 EST Well, it's noticeably smoother on the Falcon030... Actually had to make a whole trip on manual because some punk in an Imperial Courier took my autopilot and hyperdrive out before before I sliced him apart. This was in one of those triple-star systems, so it was a three month long drive to a service station. On the up side, that kill brought me up to Above Average, and a Kestrel that had been tagging along with the Courier suddenly took off for the deep at full thrust... It was kind of neat making the planetary approach with the stardreamer at 3 arrows and watching the station make its leisurely way through its orbit while this enormous pink gas giant drifted past in the background. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 200 Sat Mar 05, 1994 D.VICHA at 19:33 EST Yo, Space seekers! Koloth Not quite out of the action yet regarding the house! I'm double tracking my dual status character Sir corporal, keeping one running in Fed space and the other in the Empire. Both doing well, but halven't progressed past ranks or Above Ave. That auto pilot falling away is probably due to an AP that needs servicing. I hate the expense but it seems the more you use the AP in battle, the sooner it needs service. I have HOWEVER run into a Puma that seemed to push me away when I got into striking distance... I'd love to have that upgrade! All: (Halven't is not half of haven't...:-o) I've noticed that the mid-sized ships seem easier to defend against than the smaller ships with MDs (military drives) and better manueverability. So jousting takes a little longer and increases the chances of more GNATS ARRIVING. They definitely seem to be attracted by the AP. I often leave the AP off until I get close to my targeted system. I also think scanning the targeted area for ships is an excellent strategy. (A Tip of the Helmet to Mr Kracht!) I've run the Vega Gauntlet and am presenting cutting up the Ophiouchi Hotline. The Federation isn't as dull as I thought! Tah! Die/|\Hard ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 201 Sat Mar 05, 1994 C.SAGGAU [CHUCK] at 19:39 EST James: Don't give up! You can make it to dangerous. It took me way more kills than 147 to make it. Try more like 500 or so. I didn't count sorry. Also, I got promoted to Lord in spite of my extensive and repeated criminal record. Although, the Federation probably wouldn't have much to do with me.... ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 202 Sat Mar 05, 1994 D.SCHRADER [Dave] at 21:11 EST D.Schrader [ReDarh] To All: If you would like to move ahead in this game quickly there is a way to get a larger ship and LOTS OF MONEY. Start by selling your missles, and laser at Ross 154, and buy Animal meat. Travel to Barnard's Star, sell the atmospheric shielding and scanner,buy robots and take them to Sol. Then your are ready for the Ayurso (4,0) trip. Ayurso system pays unbelievably high prices for luxury goods,($3200 or so ). This will give you over $2000 per ton when coming from Sol.The only problem is how to get there since it is well beyond the normal jump range. The answer lies in the WORMHOLES! These will let you jump 656 light years on 1 ton of fuel. It is possible to mathematically find a location that is 656 light years from both the starting and destination systems, allowing you to use a intermideate jump point to make the journey. In the case of Sol-Ayurso, the jump point is Dasoqu(-13,-81). You need 2 tons of fuel,one ton for each jump. You will be only able to buy 4 to 5 tons of fuel at Ayurso as that is all that they have.NOTE:( make sure that your internal tank is always filled first, then add your jump fuel). Remember to use the RIGHT-SHIFT key and the arrows key to fast scroll. So to summarize, start by selling your missles, and laser at Ross 154, buy meat. Jump to Barnard's Star, sell shielding and scanner,buy robots. Jump to Sol sell all and buy luxary goods, remember fuel. Fast scroll to Dasoqu (-13,- 81)and jump,now fast scroll to Ayurso(4,0) and jump again. Your first trip will be a one way trade, with a empty ship on the way back, since everything is so expensive. After your first trip, you will be able to fill up on luxary goods, and always trade up to a larger ship as soon as possible as soon as you have enough money. Good Luck 5:10:50 Feb 3212 Panther IL-116 ReDarh ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 203 Sun Mar 06, 1994 L.W.BENJAMIN [Koloth] at 16:14 EST Rob, I'm playing more than one character, but I didn't say I was making a lot of progress with any of them! Die Hard, Isn't the save game feature wonderful once you get it working ? You can back out of all kinds of mistakes by maintaining a few files. ReDarh, Thanks for the specific information! I'll be trying your route. Take Care, Koloth ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 204 Sun Mar 06, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 21:55 EST Chuck: Don't worry. I'm not giving up. I've got over 8 million credits. I don't care how many people hate me... I have no desire that can't be satisfied. All: Weird thing... as I said before, I was trying to gain amnesty on Aymiay. I stayed put, on the lading pad, for 40 days (just to be sure). In the mean time, I had sold my tell-tale, trusty old Imp. Trader. Oh, what a mistake. I miss it so, and I'm WAY beyond the Imperial Systems. I bought this dinky Cobra Mk III (a good ship, but I quickly realized, when trying to equip it, that I was way beyond the scope of it... I'm really addicted to Auto Hull-Repair Systems, six missile pylons, and all those frilly extras). Anyway, after the 40 days, I fueld up, put a new military drive in the Cobra, decided to head back to van Maenen's, and when I requested launch clearance, and clicked on the launch icon, I exploded. I reloaded, checked everything, and it all looked fine. No matter what I do, I explode, however. I'm still investigating this. I think I was sold an extremely USED ship... more to follow... I hope that staying on Aymiay for 30 days or more DOESN'T mean I have to stay on Aymiay to be a "free citizen." (shudder) ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 205 Mon Mar 07, 1994 AEO.8 at 02:43 EST About the numbers it takes to get to new ratings: They go up in powers of two... until the higher ratings. the # of kills goes something as follows: 2(4?) 16 32 64 128 256 512 1000 3000 6000(Elite) I haven't played the game, but this is just info I picked up. So dangerous is probably 512 kills. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 206 Mon Mar 07, 1994 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 03:48 EST Well, that Cobra I picked up was a piece of trash. Just plain garbage. I went on a trek... seeking "Dangerous"... I went down from Aymiay, down into the -7,5 areas. Then I turned left, visiting dozens of systems... check this place out if you get a chance: Arayess;(4,-7) - "System under Federal interdict. Illegal to visit." I visited. And now I'm dangerous. Joy. Pure joy. ------------ Category 9, Topic 19 Message 207 Mon Mar 07, 1994 L.W.BENJAMIN [Koloth] at 06:24 EST Kracht, Well, good luck with this Aymiay (Amway ?) thing. I'm still in the class where thousands of credits is a good thing. In fact, just yesterday I sold the Eagle for an Eagle Mark II which was just a stepping stone to an Adder. I'm trading along the standard peaceful routes for now and I need more cargo space. My record is clean except for that cussed Federation job I took to the restricted system that netted me a fat fine and a permit violation. At least when civilians ask you to go to a restricted system you get the chance to ask about a permit! On a side trip I checked out the hyperspace/wormhole route detailed by ReDarh and it does work. Unfortunately I also had a lot of trouble with pirates and found it difficult to earn the $2000/ton. I looked into the system a little more and found out why: Ayurso (4,0) System 6 Government Type: No stable Government Economy: System in state of Civil War Aliegance: Independent This game is Fascinating! I'll have to check out this system again later and see if it's better or worse. BTW, I've also found that when searching for the ESC key to pause the game that I can press the TAB key and lock up the game. Has anyone else experienced this ? AEO.8, Thanks for the info. It has been appropriately filed away. Kracht, So now that you're Dangerous, what kind of ship did you trade up to from the Cobra III ? Take Care, Lee B. ------------