🚀 go-pugleaf

buc...@acslink.net.au (doug buckser) wrote:

>G'day,

>As a new pilot, I'm hoping to learn the answers to some basic
>questions.

>1. What is the point of rolling the ship?  It appears to go in the
>same direction, only at a different angle.  Why is rolling the ship a
>good thing to do?

I don't know how far in the game you are but it's hardly a spoiler when I say
that rolling is handy on the ground missions to give a feeling of 'upright'.
In normal flying it makes no difference.

>2. Are any of the guns better than others?  In the FAQ, it recommends
>turning the guns to "all fire".  Yet the doco says this drains the
>batteries in a hurry.  For example, are the plasma guns significantly
>better against capital ships (as stated in the doco)?

If you concentrate your fire to short accurate bursts when you are sure to hit
then full guns is OK in most air to air situoations. The trick with kitty caps
is to patiently wait for the ITTS to engage while wiggling your shit at approach
to avoid the flak.

>3. Is playing with a joystick better than with a mouse?

DEFINITELY (sorry for the scream but to make a point...)

>4. I hear considerable static while Blair is walking around the
>Victory, but the static disappears during combat (i.e., right after he
>climbs into his ship for a mission).  Has anyone else experienced this
>problem?  If so, is there a solution?

You don't by any chance mean the 'rumble' sound which all caps make even when
flying if at close proximity?
If it is true static then try moving your sound card to a slot farthest away
from the CPU and power unit. Also if possible leave empty slot(s) between the
sound card and others.

>5. Does the selection of co-pilot matter?  All of them are much better
>than I am at this point.

Some of them are better than others at different types of missions and some just
ignore your orders. All seem to go after caps even with fighters around. Tell
them to attack specific targets outside the reach of caps and double-team
against the caps to spread their fire and exhaust their shields.

>6. When I watch my wingman beating the crap out of the kitties, his or
>her rate of fire appears to be much higher than mine.  Has anyone else
>experienced this?

It does seem like that but soon you'll kick some furry butt with the best of
them.

>7. Are there any exercises or practice routines to improve flying
>skills.  Even at rookie level, the kitties are bloody difficult to
>shoot.  Other than just flying more missions, does anyone have
>recommendations for learning the required flying skills?

You can try the simulator but there's nothing like the real thing.

>Your help would be much appreciated.
My pleasure. Email me if you want some detailed help since I've posted that
stuff so many times that I'd rather not put others through it anymore.

>Thanks,
>Doug

>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
>What happens if a big asteroid hits the Earth?  Judging from realistic
>simulations involving a sledge hammer and a common laboratory frog, we
>can assume it will be pretty bad.  -- Dave Barry

>buc...@acslink.net.au


carpe diem
		Juha

On Tue, 09 Jan 1996 09:44:00 GMT, buc...@acslink.net.au (doug
buckser) wrote:

>G'day,
>
>As a new pilot, I'm hoping to learn the answers to some basic
>questions.
>
Howdy, Doug.  Let me just supplement a few remarks already made.

>4. I hear considerable static while Blair is walking around the
>Victory, but the static disappears during combat (i.e., right after he
>climbs into his ship for a mission).  Has anyone else experienced this
>problem?  If so, is there a solution?

In addition to the fixes mentioned, try using the UNIVBE program
supplied by Origin.  I had this same problem <GODAWFUL static that
blew out my eardrums!>  and that cured it.  Had the same problem with
USNF, same fix.  Some kinda strange interaction between SVGA mode &
some soundboards.

>5. Does the selection of co-pilot matter?  All of them are much better
>than I am at this point.

Basically it only matters if you need/want a pilot along on a
particular mission who can be relied on to obey your orders(e.g Cobra
or Hobbes will obey, Maniac & Flash won't).  If you start running into
morale problems because of your choices on the Victory, all of your
wingmen except Hobbes _can_ become unreliable.  You can pretty much
tell when they go into low morale, because their radio messages
change: more bitter, sarcastic, or uncertain.

>6. When I watch my wingman beating the crap out of the kitties, his or
>her rate of fire appears to be much higher than mine.  Has anyone else
>experienced this?

You will become better than your wingmen at destroying enemy fighters,
with practice, but personally I find the computer controlled players
are better at engaging capships while taking only minimal/no damage
than I am.  I don't know about their rate of fire, but notice that
when they break formation and engage they do fly faster than you can!
(I don't know if you ever played Origin's superb Wings of Glory, but
there the damn wingmen could outclimb you like crazy!)

>7. Are there any exercises or practice routines to improve flying
>skills.  Even at rookie level, the kitties are bloody difficult to
>shoot.  Other than just flying more missions, does anyone have
>recommendations for learning the required flying skills?

The trainsim missions are kinda flat.  Go back and replay some saved
missions.  Try jacking up the difficulty a notch above what you're
playing thru the game at, on a mission you've already completed.

One last tip.  When you engage a Corvette, they have 4 turrets mounted
above and below each 'wing' and a sightly bigger turret <that fires
yellow? bolts> mounted at the top rear angle between the engines.
There are similar 'super turrets' (ion cannon?) mounted on other
Capships. The shots from these turrets are especially damaging.
Learning the knack of knocking out these particluar turrets quickly
will _greatly_ ease your progress thru the game.

--
Craig Lambert
To be a prophet without honor is sad.  To be a prophet without
profit is to guarrantee obscurity.