🚀 go-pugleaf

"Memnoch" <memnoch@nospampleaseimbritish.ntlworld.com> wrote in message 
news:vqvoa3l6h3d47s0700jtvskdu58ktrhh1g@4ax.com...
> On Sat, 28 Jul 2007 21:13:13 -0500, "Jim Vieira" 
> <WhiplashrAT@wiDOT.rrDOT.com>
> wrote:
>
>>"Memnoch" <memnoch@nospampleaseimbritish.ntlworld.com> wrote in message
>>news:iddna39ha0281oir2utjqaa55dtukl1cvu@4ax.com...
>>>I have a great idea. Let's make space combat where when there is more 
>>>than
>>>one
>>> opponent its practically impossible.........
>>
>>I had trouble with this game too, for about an hour.  That first battle
>>was pissing me off royally.  But after an hour or two of play I started
>>to get much better at it.
>
> I spent a lot of time mining to save up for gadgets. Built myself a couple 
> of
> level 10 ones which made almost no difference. So sold all the remaining
> minerals I had and bought a medium fighter. Had those dual rail guns 
> things on
> too. Took on one of those blue chip missions and sniped at the lead target
> from as far away as possible. I had a level 10 targetting upgrade 
> installed
> which didn't seem to make a lot of difference. 4 ships came after me and 
> blew
> me to bits. At this point I un-installed it with extreme prejudice. X3 
> Reunion
> this ain't! I could take a medium to heavy fighter into Xenon space and 
> dual
> with a whole boatload of enemies and take loads down. Not here. There is
> something deeply wrong with this game. Most reviews I have read of it 
> since
> say the same thing. The combat is just borked for want of a beter word. 
> One
> review I read said that he and two wingmen fought it out with one enemy 
> for 15
> minutes.
>
> I suggest for those that wish to retain their sanity stay well clear of 
> this
> game. There aren't that many alternatives out there but what there are, 
> are
> far superior to this slap dash effort.

I played it heavily for about 3 weeks.  The trick is to avoid combat against 
all but single pirates when you're in the starter ship.  Simply mine and 
build upgrades.  The best way to make lots of money is to take "destroy 
building" missions.  These can be done at absolutely no risk and yield 6K 
credits each.  I went directly from the starter fighter to the Dronax heavy 
fighter (one of the best, if not the best, ships in the game).  Once you get 
the Dronax completely pimped out with the best modules and guns, get the 
cloaking and time devices....and acquire 3 Dronax heavy-fighter 
wingmen....things become very manageable.

Frankly, I got tired of the game; it just seems way too retro.  IMO, it's 
feature suite isn't much better than Wing Commander or Privateer (both 
better games, IMHO).

Speaking of "Retro," I'm currently playing Privateer Remake (based on the 
Vega Strike engine).  This free fan-built puppy is absolutely terrific.  It 
comes with the basic Steltek storyline, the RF storyline, plus a new third 
storyline.  Not only does it give you the original game (with new hi-res 
ship models), but it also adds all those things you wished the original 
Privateer had, i.e., turret AI, multi ship ownership, the ability to buy or 
capture all the ships in the original Privateer, make them part of your 
fleet and fly them (want to fly a Gothri?  Want to make lots of credits, get 
a Paradigm destroyer and capture Kilrathi ships which you can sell for a 
couple of million each.  Oh yes, do you remember that "secret Kilrathi 
asteroid base that the bartenders talked about, but you could never find? 
Well, now......).  Very sweet.

There also a mod which expands the basic game and adds even more ships (I 
think from WC and WC2, but haven't installed it yet, so not sure) and new 
storylines.  Even as I type this, I'm downloading Gemini Gold, the other 
remake of Privateer, based on the Vega Strike engine.  It's supposed to be 
more faithful to the original game, i.e., no turret AI.  There's actually 
all kinds of interesting stuff available out there.....but not from game 
companies. ;)