Exploring Privateer Repair Values & Deleted Equipment
The results of an evening of hex editing! This is how Privateer figures the cost of repairs (and the prices for selling damaged components, which is never worth it!).
Every component has a damage rating from 0 (destroyed) to 100 (no damage). Repairs are a percent of the total item value times the damage rating. The armor is the exception: it has four values (one for each side) and the total amount varies by armor type. It’s also super broken and rolls over so will charge you more for a tiny amount of damage. But the range is so small you never notice while playing! The one component you can’t buy are the hated maneuvering jets. But from their repair costs we can see they seem to have a total value of 75,000 credits! The maneuvering jets graphic was actually initially created to be an EMP shield. This was part of a cut game loop that would've let you disable enemy ships (and need such a shield to protect yourself against such attacks). There was also an EMP missile that you would've used to disable enemy ships (for piracy!): There were two other cut missiles! The first one was simple, a Kilrathi missile that would've been unique to their ships. The other RealSpace games do this and it was likely just a cut for space. The other is a Mace-style nuclear missile that was the original plan for the torpedo launchers. They were reworked into being pretty similar to Dumb Fire missiles... but their pricing has a neat effect on the early game. Another cut component: small and medium jump drives. The original design gated you more by having you need to save up for improved drives with additional charges... ultimately getting to a point where you can explore Delta Prime. And here's a cut scanner! This would've been the level one B&S option and the Omni would've been the tenth scanner option. This is the last one I can think of tonight: double missile launchers! A more expensive option that would've let you double the number of missiles you carry. Killed pretty late for balancing!
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