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. 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.

GEMINI SECTOR

Customizing Your Ship

Shield Generators

=====Tractor Beam