Frontier - First Encounters(Elite3)

[snoopy369]

I also recommend DosBox as above or another similar program (there are many). Trying to run DOS games on a windows computer - especially NT based, like 2000 or XP - is a tortorous mess, unless you have an emulator ...

[Snotty]

There a button in the bottom right that makes all the names of stars and ships appear. That and getting used to the lines on the scanner are the easiest ways to spot pirates.

I seem to remember the combat computer supposed to help you with that as well, but i think there was a problem with it, maybe you cant move your ship or something when using it? I dont know

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by snoopy369
I also recommend DosBox as above or another similar program (there are many). Trying to run DOS games on a windows computer - especially NT based, like 2000 or XP - is a tortorous mess, unless you have an emulator ...

I actually still have my old machine with Win98 for emergencies.

[child of Thor]

mine is my main games playing pc

The combat computer is a pain i find - maybe i'm just not used to it, but it kind of clutters the display.

To help see things more clearly i play with the 'space dust etc' turned to off. And when you get the pirates jumping you, as snotty said; click the button that turns planet/spaceship names on to help you see where they are.
Sometimes if they are far away you will have to wait a few minutes before they attack you.

For some reason things have got pretty peacefull in my current game. I hardly ever get attacked by pirates now, unless i go into an anarchic system??

I havent been able to find any files that will include the roll command in the DOS shareware version, but i have got a sort of work-around.

What i do is whenever i've started the docking procedure(either with a space station or on a planet), i go into the menu screen and select the 'Elite controls' option.
I dont like dog-fighting in this mode(didnt in Frontier either - the mouse is more useful), but you can use the '<' and '>' keys to roll left and right, which is very usefull when going for a manual flight normal speed landing.

[Gamecube64]

I bought myself a Cobra MKIII, It seems good value with all the extra space. I bought an Adder (I think) before this to discover since it required a class 2 hyperspace drive it only had enough room for one extra item in it's hull. I didn't like that a bit, but now with my Cobra I'm raking in money more than 4 times as fast. After I get some more money I'll probably switch over to an Asp or keep the Cobra. How good is a Cobra MKIII for combat? What do crew do for you, on bigger ships do you need all of them?

[child of Thor]

The cobra mkIII was the ship that started it all so it has some history behind it.
In the first Elite (info here: http://www.mobygames.com/game/sheet/p,2/gameId,1324/ ) you could only fly in one ship, and this was the Cobra mkIII. Its a pretty versitile ship, and many Elite veterans still choose it on principle. So you should find it serves you well.

Still the fun that the second and third elites(Frontier+FFE respectively) brought to the game was the vast choice of ship types. Now you can role-play as a pure big time trader in a large slow ship, become a specialist assasin or military missions expert in fast deadly craft etc

Its this choice that i like in these later games, although some find it too 'free-form'.

From the standard ships in FFE i usualy end up in an Asp. Its just got the edge on the Cobra mkIII imho, and more space for extra cargo/equipement.

As for the extra crewmen. Yes you will need all the stated crew before you can take off. Its worth keeping this in mind when going for a huge ship with a large crew requirement, especialy if your in a fairly small starport - it can take a while for you to find enough crew(you might have to wait for months!).

[Gamecube64]

More questions! I'm guessing that the tractor beam cargo scoop does everything the cargo scoop conversion does (and doesn't need the fuel scoop), but you still need a fuel scoop if you want to scoop fuel.

[child of Thor]

well i'm a realtive newbie to FFE too, and haven't yet worked this out.
In normal Elite the fuel scoop allowed you to 'skim' hydrogen fuel from a sun(and you can do the same in FFE).
The cargo scoop conversion(which is an addition to the fule scoop-you need both) also allowed you to fly over the refuse and cargo left after you destroyed an enemy ship and scoop it up(same for FFE).

Now i've got a tractor beam added to this setup and i dont appear to have any specific extra controls on the flight console to activate it? And i seem to just be able to scoop stuff up as normal.....so i'm not really sure how it works. I need to experiment some more

[Asmodean]

Just downloaded it, and am now trying to get it to run. DosBox seems like a good idea, but the frame rate I'm getting is appalling - even with my 2.2 GHz AMD processor.

Any other ideas for getting it to run?

Asmodean

[child of Thor]

On the first page of this thread i think it was Reds4ever posted a link to JJFFE.
Its a windows friendly version of FFE.

After failing to find a way to introduce the roll commands in the DOS version of the game i've reverted back to playing the JJFFE version, even though on my P166 the game doesn't run as smoothly as the Shareware DOS version(its just slightly less smooth so not a big problem).

I've been playing with that ship i created(the Galactica Falcon). For those that are finding the combat too frustrating(or too frequent), i'd give that ship a try.

The reason you will get engaged less often is because of the speed of your hyperdrive. You always arrive at a system days before the fastest regular ship can catch you on an intercept!

Now this was not a planned thing - just what happens when you have a class4 military drive fitted.

The way to ensure you get the frequency of combat encounters back is to just stop when you arrive into a new system. Engines completely off(so you dont burn fuel) then increase time flow to let a couple of days skip by, or untill you get the alarm sounds

This way you can kind of choose when you want to engage in combat or not, and still increase you combat rateing(important for some of the latter main quest missions).

I've since made a slightly slower version of the Galactica Falcon which i'm using now, it handles a bit less wild in combat - i've updated the download file to this version(its got forward thrust of 25 and retro of 11, as opposed to the origonal 30g's and 15g's)

[J Bytheway]

Originally posted by Asmodean
Just downloaded it, and am now trying to get it to run. DosBox seems like a good idea, but the frame rate I'm getting is appalling - even with my 2.2 GHz AMD processor.

Any other ideas for getting it to run?

Asmodean

On my 1.6GHz Pentium machine I had to set frameskip=2 and cycles=4500 to get a decent framerate for Frontier in DosBox.

I suggest you tweak these until you find settings that work well, and then enshrine them in a config file. See the DosBox docs for more info.

[child of Thor]

all you guys with your fancy pc's

Thank god i just like old games best.......i'd be an unhappy gamer otherwise on my setup

I'm trying to come up with a way to intertwine the story from my current Xcom game with my FFE one - its proving tricky

[child of Thor]

Anyone got any experience of using those MB4 mining machine things?
I've never ever used them, but am thinking about it if they are a worthwhile thing to do. I'm just looking for some tips and hints on the best way to use them

I'm guessing the nice thing about them is once setup you get a regular income flow, so that frees up your time from cargo runs(to pay your bills) and gives the chance to explore much more?

[child of Thor]

I've added the link to the JJFFE(windows version of FFE) in the first post(the other link that red posted appears to be down).

And i'm now contemplating a completely new option with Elite for me. I'm going to go exploring - like deep space exploring. What ship type + setup would people reccomend? Has anyone here done this before?

[Snotty]

I think I tried it with an imp explorer last time this thread came up. First off I got mobbed by pirates for sector after sector, but then just empty space, and crashing into stars when i tried to scoop gas.

Good luck dude