Wing Commander Privateer Player's Guide

The Wing Commander Privateer Player's Guide is the primary manual included with Wing Commander Privateer.

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Quick Start

This section of the manual will familiarize you with the basics of gameplay: getting around a base, making money, and flying your ship. Experienced players may wish to begin exploration without the benefit of this information. However, Privateer takes place in a large and complex universe filled with opportunities and choices. Although you do not have to follow the walkthrough, even experienced game players may benefit from what follows.

NOTE: This walkthrough assumes that you are using a mouse on the bases and a joystick for spaceflight. Experiment with your joystick buttons to determine which button is which. Joystick button one is the trigger button and joystick button two is usually the thumb button on top. These are referred to as #1 and #2 respectively. If you are using the keyboard and/or not using a joystick, see the Reference Card for equivalent commands.

After Privateer is Installed

When installation is complete, type PRIV Enter the prompt. The introduction begins. Sit back and watch as you are introduced to your character and are provided information important to the story. If the game doesn’t load properly, consult Troubleshooting in the Install Guide. If you still have difficulties, call ORIGIN Product Support between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Mon. through Fri., Central time. When the introduction is finished, the title screen appears. At the bottom of this screen you are offered several choices: NEW, LOAD, OPTIONS and QUIT. To begin a new game, click on NEW or type N.

When you choose to begin a new game, the Personal Computer appears on screen. You are asked to register your name and callsign at this time. When this is complete, you automatically put your computer down and find yourself standing in the hangar of Achilles, a mining base in the Troy System. The ship in front of you is the Tarsus your grandfather left you. To your right is the entrance to the base. Enter the base by clicking on that entrance. (See p. 36 for a picture of a hangar.)

Trade

This puts you in the main concourse. There are occasional pedestrians and carts of ore moving about the concourse. On the left of the concourse is the door to the hangar where your ship is waiting for you. On the right there are doors on two levels: representatives from the Merchant’s and Mercenaries’ Guilds have their offices on the upper level; the lower level houses the local ship dealer, bar, mission computer and Commodity Exchange.

Buying Goods

Enter the Commodity Exchange (by clicking on its door). When the monitor comes down it defaults to Buy Mode. Scroll through the available items using the arrow buttons until you find goods that you can afford and that might prove desirable to an agricultural planet. Such items might include robot workers or other durable goods. Buy as much as you can afford by clicking on the item in the small screen. (See p. 42 for a picture of the Commodity Exchange.)

Transporting Goods

Leave the Commodity Exchange by clicking anywhere at the bottom of the scene. Go to the hangar. Click on your ship to launch.

Once in space, press N to activate your navigation computer. This displays a map of the Troy system. Nav 1 is selected. All system maps display nav points. A nav point may be a base, a jump point or simply a buoy for navigation purposes — see the information box beside the map for a description of the selected nav point. Press N repeatedly to cycle through the available nav points until Nav 6 is selected, or use the mouse to select Nav 6. The information box tells you about each nav point as it is selected. Once you have selected Nav 6, the box informs you that Nav 6 is an agricultural base named Helen.

Leave the nav computer by pressing Esc that your Autopilot light is now lit. (Your Autopilot light will not light when there are hostile craft nearby. In that case, you may want to check Combat, below.) Press A at this point and you fly automatically to the agricultural planet Helen. If you wish to fly there without the benefit of the Autopilot, center the white navigation cross on your heads-up-display (HUD) and proceed in that direction, using + to increase speed in increments of one-eighth of your total throttle capability.

Helen is a large and watery planet. Once you spot it, fly as close to it as you can. When you’re close enough, you are notified by the base that they are ready to engage automatic docking procedures. You land automatically. Once you have landed, enter the base. Be advised that they have withdrawn a docking fee of 50 credits from your funds.

Collecting Profit

Enter the main concourse of the base. (Note that this concourse is different from the last one.) Once there, enter the Commodity Exchange. It is located on the lower level to the right. Use the SELL button to indicate that you wish to sell your goods. Click on the item on the small screen to sell the item displayed. If you made a wise choice, your credits will soon surpass the 2,000 you began the game with. Otherwise, you will end up with a net loss. Either way, let’s go spend what funds you do have.

Spending Money

Upgrading Your Ship

Exit the Commodity Exchange. Enter the ship dealer’s area. Once inside, observe a large doorway at the back (top) of the room. This is the entrance to the Ship Modification Screen — click on the doorway to access this screen. Use the monitor here as you did in the Commodity Exchange. For example, you might want to upgrade your gun. First, indicate that you wish to sell your existing gun using the SELL button. Scroll through the items on your ship until your laser is displayed. Click on the item in the small screen to sell it. Right now it is automatically dismounted because you have only one gun. Later, when you have multiple guns, you will be asked to point out which one you wish to sell. (See p. 39 for a picture of the Ship Modification Screen.)

Switch to Buy Mode by clicking on the BUY button, then use the arrows to cycle through the available items. When the meson blaster is displayed, click on it. If you can afford to buy it, its cost is deducted form your funds and an icon appears. Drag the icon to wherever you want to load the gun on your ship. If you cannot afford the meson blaster, purchase the most expensive gun you can afford. Exit the Ship Modification Screen by clicking on the showroom doorway (at the far left of the screen). Exit back to the main concourse by clicking on either one of the smaller doors in the dealership.

Combat

Getting Work

In the center of the main concourse there is a small pillar with a Mission Computer set into it. Click on the computer to step up to it. To activate the Mission Computer, click on the palm reader in the lower right corner. Once it has scanned all sectors for missions, you can use the arrows in the lower left to cycle through the available missions. Read them all before deciding to accept one. Look for a mission that takes place in Troy. You do not have a jump drive and cannot travel to other systems yet. If possible, accept a Patrol or Defend Base mission anywhere in Troy. You do not need to write the mission requirements down. They appear in your Personal Computer and your ship’s nav computer. Exit the Mission Computer by clicking at the bottom of the scene. (See p. 37 for a picture of the Mission Computer.)

Return to the hangar by clicking on the door on the lower level to the left of the Mission Computer. Launch back out into space by clicking on your ship.

Preparing for Battle

Before doing anything else, activate your gun. To do this, press G to display your ordnance and select your gun. Your missile launcher is already active, and there are green crosshairs to facilitate targeting. To activate options (p. 10), press Alt O to access the Options Screen and click on the options you wish to activate. You may wish to activate INVULNERABILITY or UNLIMITED AMMO, although you are not paid for missions run with these options activated. Note that each button appears to be depressed when the system is active. Now click on RESUME to re-enter the game universe.

Finding the Enemy

Unless you selected a Defend Helen mission, which would bring the enemies to you, your next step is to find the enemy. Press N to go to your nav computer. The nav point or points where you must go to fulfill mission objectives are designated in red. When you have selected a red nav point, you are ready to autopilot into the thick of it. If you need to be reminded of your mission objectives, click on the NAV/MIS button at the lower right (or press M) and your information box lists your mission objectives in bright red. When you have fulfilled a mission requirement, its listing changes to a dull red. Press Esc to leave the nav map and press A to autopilot to the selected nav point.

Engaging a Bogie

When you arrive at the battlefield, gray dots appear on your Radar Screen. These indicate other ships in space near you. Use the joystick to maneuver, placing one of these dots within your crosshairs. Later, when you can afford a scanner upgrade, your HUD should display red brackets around enemy ships and blue brackets around friendly ships. Until then, all brackets will be gray. If you continually fire on friendly ships, their attitude will change and they will probably begin firing back at you. Press joystick button #1 to fire your gun; press buttons #1 and #2 simultaneously to fire a missile. When all the enemy ships have been destroyed or have run away, check your nav map to see if you have fulfilled the mission objective. Previously bright red nav points are displayed in blue if their objective has been accomplished. A nav point will still be bright red if you have missed someone. Press M in your nav computer to view objectives if you are not sure what you might have missed. When you have fulfilled all mission objectives, return to any base for payment.

Reaping the Reward

Back at Achilles, or whichever base you wish, you would find that the payment promised for the completion of your mission has already been credited to your account, unless you used the not-for-pay options INVULNERABILITY or UNLIMITED AMMO. Both of these prevent the mission from being flagged as a success. To review your finances, press Alt C or simultaneously click both buttons of your mouse or joystick to view your Personal Computer. Clicking on the FIN button calls up your current financial status. Click on the PWR button to exit the Personal Computer. From here you are on your own, ready to go forth, make money and save civilization on the frontier. And if all else fails, talk to Sandoval, in New Detroit.

Personal Computer

The Personal Computer is as important to you as to your character. Your character uses it to keep track of business obligations and finances. You use it to save and load games. Effective and quick use of the Personal Computer is crucial to both of you.

The Personal Computer answers questions like, “How much money do I have?” and “Which missions have I not finished?” and “Just what do I have in my cargo hold, anyway?” It is only available while you are at a base. All the information it provides is available through your MFDs and nav map during space-flight. To pull up your Personal Computer, type Alt C or simultaneously click both buttons of your mouse or joystick. To exit the Personal Computer, click on the PWR (power) button at the bottom of the unit.

The Personal Computer cannot be accessed while you are interacting with another computer. Therefore, you cannot access it while at the screens for the Commodities Exchange, Mission Computer, Ship Modification, Software Dealer’s or guilds’ computers. SAVE. The Personal Computer is the only place to save a game, so you can only save while docked at a base. When you click on the save button, the screen says SAVE GAME as: and offers you a box eight characters wide in which to name your game. If you have other saved games, they are listed below the box.

To save your game, name it and press Enter or click on SAVE. To save over an existing game, click on the name of the old one — it appears in the box. The only limit to the number of saved games you may have is the amount of available space on your harddrive. To exit the Personal Computer, press the PWR button at the bottom of the unit. If the names of your saved games overflow this screen, use Up or Down to scroll through further pages.

LOAD. You can only load a game from your Personal Computer, which is available only during your stay at a base. When you elect to load a game, the screen reads LOAD GAME: and offers you a box in which to type the name of the previously saved game you are loading. You may select the game you wish to load by again clicking on its name and the LOAD button, instead. If the names of your saved games overflow this screen, use Up or Down to scroll through further pages. Once the name of the game you wish to resume is typed in, hit Enter or LOAD. You automatically exit to the saved game.

MISSIONS. This selection allows you to review the missions that are currently awaiting your attention. If you have fulfilled all your missions or haven’t taken any, the screen says NO MISSIONS. When you still have active missions, they will be summarized on your Personal Computer mission screen. The top line tells you how many missions you have active. The rest of the description tells you where you must go to complete the mission, who has contracted you to carry it out and how much they’re paying. To scroll to the next mission in the list use Up or Down. At the bottom of the screen is the total missions to date.

Finance. Clicking on FIN brings up a statement of your current cash in credits. This is a cash-only sector. People don’t tend to live long enough to be a good risk for loan sharks and banks. This is all the financial statement you’ll need.

Manifest. Clicking on MAN brings up your ship’s manifest, telling you what’s in your cargo hold. At the top of the screen you are informed how much space in cargo units — roughly a cubic meter — are available in your cargo hold. Below that is a list of the items you have and the units of each. If your manifest goes beyond this screen, use Up or Down to scroll through the list.

Options Screen

The Options Screen is available from the Title Screen by selecting OPTIONS at the bottom right, or at any time during the game by pressing Alt O.

UNLIMITED AMMO. Weapons in 2670 do not fire hard ammo so much as various forms of energy. They cause a substantial drain to your ship’s power supply, which also feeds your shields and afterburners. This option allows you to fire your weapons without using up energy. There is still a refire delay, the time it takes a gun to re-charge between shots, but you are able to continue firing with no penalty to your energy supply. This is a great way for beginning players to get a feel for combat with little personal risk.

IMPORTANT. You cannot get paid for any mission flown with UNLIMITED AMMO activated. You do not get paid for the mission if this option is active at any time during space-flight.

INVULNERABILITY. Making this selection allows you to collide with asteroids or other ships, get hit by missiles or guns and never die.

IMPORTANT. You cannot get paid for any mission flown with INVULNERABILITY activated. You do not get paid for the mission if this option is active at any time during space-flight.

JOYSTICK CALIBRATION. If you find your mouse pointer drifting or your ship spins uncontrollably through space despite your best efforts to keep it under control, you may need to recalibrate your joystick. To do this, select JOYSTICK CALIBRATION on the Options Screen. Follow the instructions that appear in the center of the screen. If problems persist, consult your joystick’s documentation or call ORIGIN Product Support.

MUSIC, SOUND FX. Click on these to toggle music and sound effects — down is “on,” up is “off.” If you change your sound card or port configuration, follow the Install Guide instructions and rerun the install program.

MOUSE, KEYBOARD, JOYSTICK. To move around at a base, you can use the mouse, keyboard or joystick. For piloting through space, however, only one may be used at a time. Depress the appropriate button (MOUSE, KEYBOARD or JOYSTICK) to select the device you want to use for piloting.

RESUME, CANCEL. When you have made your selections on the Options Screen, click resume to return to the Title Screen or to where you left off in the game. Click CANCEL to undo any changes you made on the Options Screen and return to where you left off.

In the Cockpit

This section offers a detailed description of how to use your ship’s controls and what to expect when you do. It describes the various camera views and how to make use of your nav computer, as well as the numerous controls for activating and using each of your ship’s systems.

You begin the game flying a Tarsus you inherited from a relative, but there are three other ship types available for sale in the Gemini Sector. Once you have accumulated sufficient resources, you may also buy a Centurion, a Galaxy or an Orion. You can always find your ship in the base hangar. When you move the cursor over the ship in the hangar, the word ENGAGE appears. Clicking on the vessel automatically launches you into space.

All cockpits feature approximately the same instruments, even though the arrangement of the various gauges and screens may vary from ship to ship. Take a minute to familiarize yourself with the functions of each instrument and its location in the cockpit. The ability to assess your situation and your resources in a split second may mean the difference between life and death when you are navigating in space.

Spaceflight Views

When you launch your ship, you see space directly ahead of you through the front view screen. A green circle with cross-hairs shows you where the guns of your ship are aimed. Any ship you have currently targeted is framed by brackets: Most scanners indicate friendly vessels by blue brackets, hostile ships by red brackets. Poorer grade scanners (see Scanners, p. 57) can only bracket in gray, hostile and friendly alike. When a ship communicates with you, it is shown within white brackets. Retrievable objects and bases are framed by yellow (or gray) brackets. Once a target is locked, it is surrounded by a solid box.

You can shift from the front cockpit view to another view by pressing the function keys:

F1	Returns you to the fore view from any of the views below.
F2	Shows you the view to port.
F3	Shows you the view to starboard.
F4	Shows you the aft view.
F5	Switches you to Turret 1. If your ship has no turrets, this has no effect.
F6	Switches you to Turret 2. If your ship has less than two turrets, this has no effect.
F7	Toggles the missile camera view on and off, allowing you to follow your missiles in to the kill.
F8	Switches you to chase camera view, which shows your ship from immediately behind it.
F9	Switches you to the theater camera, a panoramic shot of your ship and all other objects surrounding it. This view can give you a good idea of the location of hos- tile fighters surrounding you in a tense dogfight.

Cockpit Gauges

Speed

In the cockpit, speed is indicated by two gauges:

SET indicates the speed your ship tries to maintain during spaceflight.

KPS indicates the craft’s current speed in klicks per second.

Press + to increase your speed. (If you are playing with your joystick, hold joystick button

1. 2 down and push forward to accelerate.)

Press - to slow down. (Holding down joystick button #2 and pulling backwards also decreases your speed.)

If your ship has afterburner capacity, press Tab to ignite the afterburners. (Double-clicking joystick button #2 or double-clicking the right mouse button also activates afterburners.)

The longer you hold the key down, the longer the afterburners remain active.

However, afterburners require immense amounts of energy.

Pressing Backspace on your keyboard brings your ship to a halt. In some instances, this may be a good strategy to evade enemy fire.

Fuel

The fuel gauge indicates how much fuel you have. Fuel is only used by your jump drive. Your vessel uses energy for propulsion and afterburners (see Energy, below). Each jump you make uses up a considerable amount of fuel — a full fuel tank provides enough for only six jumps.

Shields and Armor

The shields display in the cockpit of your ship indicates the current status of your shields and armor. Once you have purchased shield upgrades, you can select how many shields you want to remain active at any point in time. Even though additional shields offer you more protection, maintaining them expends more energy. If you are flying a highly maneuverable ship and are in the midst of a dogfight, you may want to risk deactivating some of your shields so you can use that energy for your blasters. Pressing S on your keyboard toggles you through the various available shield levels.

As your shields take damage, they disappear from the screen, only to reappear as they regenerate. Shields can regenerate as long as the shield generator is intact. Once the shields have been taken out, armor begins taking damage. Unlike shields, armor cannot regenerate.

Energy

The energy indicator shows how much regenerative power is available for your blasters, tractor beams, shields and afterburners at any given point in time. The power generator restores depleted energy levels quickly. Some guns use more energy than others when firing. Afterburners deplete energy resources very quickly. If you are fighting with higher- level guns, you may want to deactivate some higher-level shields and avoid using afterburners so you can utilize all available energy for your guns. Conversely, you may want to hold your fire and boost your shields if you are flying a slow ship with poor maneuvering capabilities. Purchasing engine upgrades improves your energy levels.

Radar

Every cockpit features a circular radar display. However, the screen does not indicate distance to a particular ship. Instead, the different sections of the display show how far you must rotate your ship to be able to see the object on your radar through your front view screen. The radar display is the most important instrument in your cockpit, but it may also be the least intuitive.

Objects detected by your radar are displayed as dots. A dot in the outer ring of your display tells you the enemy is behind you. The innermost ring indicates objects ahead of you. The other four sections place objects alongside, above or below you.

On a color scanner, each dot on your radar screen is color-coded:

Red indicates a hostile fighter.

Dark Blue indicates a friendly fighter.

Yellow indicates missiles in space.

Brown indicates neutral, retrievable objects.

White indicates a navigation beacon or nav point.

Light Blue indicates a jump sphere.

Gray indicates a base.

Purchasing more advanced scanners provides you with more accurate radar readings.

Refer to Customizing Your Ship (pp. 54-59) for more information on available scanners.

Multi-Function Displays (MFDs)

The Multi-Function Displays in each cockpit provide a wide range of information essential to flying successful missions. The Tarsus and Centurion have only one MFD, while the Orion and Galaxy give information on two displays. In ships with two MFDs, the relevant information can be pulled up on either display, thus allowing you to view two different displays concurrently. Hitting the appropriate key on the keyboard pulls the information up on one of the two displays.

[ and ]. In ships with one MFD, you can cycle through all available displays by pressing [ on your keyboard. In cockpits with two MFDs, [ cycles through the displays on the left MFD, while ] cycles through all available displays on the right MFD.

Destination

Pressing D calls up a display indicating the destination you selected on your nav map (see Navigation System for more information on how to select your destination) as well as the system location and range of your destination point. The Destination display also tells you when and why you cannot autopilot, tractor beam or jump. If you attempt to autopilot and there is a hostile fighter in the area, the message ENEMY NEAR appears at the bottom of your Destination display.

Examine Target

Press E to display the condition of the currently targeted object. You can distinguish its shield strength. As shields begin taking damage, they disappear, then reappear as they are regenerated. When the targeted spacecraft takes damage, the display of the damaged section turns red. If your scanner is sophisticated enough, this option screen may also tell you what kind of ship or object you are targeting. The range to the object always appears underneath its display.

Report Damage

Press R to display a damage report on your ship. The listed areas of your ship appear in different colors, according to the amount of damage done:

Green indicates an intact component.

Yellow indicates slight damage to the affected component.

Orange indicates considerable damage tothe affected component.

Red indicates that the affected component is completely nonfunctional.

Gray indicates that the component is completely destroyed and unrepairable.

Cargo Manifest

Press M to display what cargo you are currently carrying. This MFD option also tells you how many credits you have in your account. Each cargo type is labeled with a particular number. Pressing the number immediately preceding the cargo description on the display pulls up a different screen with additional information about that cargo type. Pressing \ or M brings you back to the main manifest display.

View Object

Press V to display a camera view of the currently targeted ship or object. Press Z to toggle between a close-up and distant view. You can use this view to watch your shots hit (or miss) their target. This can help you correct your aim.

Weapons and Gun Loadout

Weapons and Guns Loadout. Press W to display your ship’s available weapon systems. Pressing W repeatedly cycles through the weapons systems and activates one system at a time. Press G to display your ship’s available guns. Pressing G cycles through all possible gun combinations. The active systems are highlighted in the display and listed below the image of the ship.

Communications

Press C to display the Communications MFD and to talk to any pilot in the area. If you are able to communicate when you pull up this MFD, a numbered list of messages you can send appears. Press the number of the desired message to broadcast it. You can communicate with any current target or base in the system. When a pilot decides to communicate with you, his image appears on your MFD. If there is more than one person to talk to, you must press on the number of the person you wish to speak to, then select your message.

Other Cockpit Commands

Jumps

To travel from one system to another, you must purchase a jump drive. If your ship is equipped with a jump drive, you can use the jump points found in various locations. To jump, fly into a jump point and press J to activate your jump drive. The nav map shows how jump points connect individual systems. If you want to jump from one system to another, refer to your Navigation system to determine which jump point to use.

Activating Guns

To quickly activate your guns without going through the Weapons Loadout MFD, use the number keys at the top of your keyboard. 1activates the first gun type, 2activates the second gun type, and so forth. Each number key activates not just one gun, but all guns of one type. In other words, if you have three lasers, one number key activates all three.

Ejecting Cargo

If you are carrying contraband and a Confederation patrol threatens to search your cargo bay, you may want to eject your cargo before you are caught. Pressing X expels your cargo into space.

Pausing the Game

If you wish to pause your game during spaceflight, press P. Press any key to resume play.

Adjusting Player Options

If you wish to reconfigure any of your options, press Alt O to pull up your Options Screen (see Options Screen, p. 10). Once you have made your adjustments, select RESUME to return to the cockpit.

Exiting Privateer

Pressing Alt X exits the current game and returns you to DOS. Exercise caution when using this option. If you quit in the middle of spaceflight or from the Options Screen without specifically saving your game, your gameplay is not saved. Alternatively, Alt D self-destructs your ship in flight, taking you back to the title screen.

Behind the Screens

"Pausing the Game" is erroneously listed as "Playing the Game" in the Contents.