THE PRECURSORS - A LITTLE WALKTHROUGH ************************************** Some of these hints contain Spoilers! Any numbered topic has a brief description first, Try out yourself before and read only if you are stucked. Forgive my English and the numerous spelling errors, but I'm not going to spend time to get that right. So, read at your own risk... Very brief game overview: The original game is very buggy so you HAVE to patch it. The game is incomplete, seriously capped and rushed-out for release (2009). A successor is very unlikely. Still it's a fantastic game once installed and patched correctly. There are SDK tools for download to edit missions if you are interested in such things. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Installation: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Things you absolutely need for installing: Russian DVD version or English unpatched version 1.0 with the russian soundfiles The Official Russian 1.1 patch Wesp5's Unofficial patch (1.7 as for July 2013) Trivium package to overcome some paranoic old copy protection (otherwise no patch possible with English 1.0) My prefered install method to avoid most trouble is: >>> WORKS: << Russian dvd version + Wesp5 patch + start the game and make video option changes, save + quit (very important) + copy over game.dll and game_space.dll from Trivium's fixed 1.1 patch (not the ones from the russian patch!) + copy over game.pdb and game_space.pdb from russian patch (install first the russian official patch OUTSIDE the game directory, copy over these 2 files and delete the patch folder). If the game starts crashing frequentely, quicksave last game, clean all newly created CACHE files in folder Documents\Precursors and game directory. Seems that game crashes are due to dropped objects, better move them inside a ground vehicle. Russian dvd version = English version 1.0 + russian sound files ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Now, the hints... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1) Chose any position in the Map View: In the map view (m) you can set any position with the right mouse button. A blue flag will be added. 2) Fighting enemies: When killing enemies, not only can you pick-up their amunition, but also be sure to pick-up their weapons which you can use or sell. Don't carry too many weapons, deposit weighty (but not precious) material in your buggy so you can walk or run faster. 3) Fix your status with hostile factions: In the bar of planet Goldin, there are representatives of the 2 main factions. If paying them an amount this will improve somewhat your relationship (4000 credits minimum, also depends on how much you are hostile). Fixing your status is very important to be able to do space missions for cargo ships. On Reandore you can fix your status with both the Free Traders and the Empire. Mediator locations: Scrubby for bandits in the BBK on Goldin. Imperial representative in the BBK on Goldin. Kasterley for Free Traders in the BBK on Goldin. Democratic Union representative in the BBK on Goldin. Ceiron for civilians near the ruins of the city on Goldin. Rick for Empire and Free Traders in a base near lava on Reandore. 4) Vehicles including buggies, tricycles, cars, armored cars, battle robots, battle howers, flyers, helicopters etc. Usage of your Buggy: Do always care of your vehicle when going in the desert or in the jungle, if bandits make it explode or if you otherwise lose it, you will be in very bad shape and exposed to any sorts of attack. When crossing the desert or the jungle, the safest place is inside your buggy which you can use to overroll enemies or by using its powerful machine gun. When operating the machine gun, you must face the enemy to be able to shoot at him, you can only rotate the gun around in a -60/+60 degree cone. The machine gun can be reloaded at the service station by one of the technicians, and only if it's completly empty. I find it easier to control the buggy after re-assigning the control keys A and D to Left Arrow / Right Arrow (secondary key, otherwise you clash with straffing !) Use your buggy to deposit materials to reduce your weight, but don't deposit expensive and precious things in it, because enemies may blow up the buggy with grenades or if colliding with you. Be sure to buy enough fuel before travelling in the desert or jungle! The service station (a little away from the Goldin town) can refill your tank, but it's cheaper to buy some jerricans before at the town's shop (place them in your buggy, don't carry them around as they will slow you down!) A single full tank is NOT enough to make long distances in the jungle or desert and come back to your initial point. Repairing your buggy: If you go to the service station, you can pick up for free at least 4 repair kits. The repair kits don't seem to repair your pneumatics, also you cannot pick-up new wires or jerricans at the service station. After some time, your wires will degrade which will be visible and you will slow down more and more which is dangerous. To really get your buggy in a "new" state, go to the technician dressed in white operating the crane. You can make a full repair for 300 credits. If your buggy has been destroyed in battle, or you have a severly damaged buggy, and you are near a road, don't despair: It's very easy to get a new buggy, at least in the desert of Goldin: Getting a new buggy: First, you can pay 2000 credits for a new buggy at the station's car seller. Second, ...Spoiler... ..second, just hijack one by waiting for bandits passing on the road. Just block the road with your damaged buggy, or just stand on the road with your Shotgun and the comming driving bandits will stop in front of you. Now, to be able to use the bandit's buggy, you will have to kill him inside the vehicle (be sure they are bandits, not civilians!), after which don't forget to reload it with the content of your old buggy. Park your old buggy in a place to remember so you can use the same trick again or have a reserve buggy if needed. Proceding like that, you can build a whole parking full of buggies if you want, also I once caused a big traffic jam :girlcrazy: Will have to publish some screenshots in a while... At Goldin, at the starport, you can use a Flyer, which is a helicopter used by Security. Just wait for one landing if there isn't one. Works only in the 1.0 English release or the russian DVD version, both WITHOUT the complete 1.1 patch, that is without the patched vital.dll and VELoader.dll. The default control commands for air vehicles are: Q = Engine on; fly upwards Z = Engine off; fly downwards, land W = Fly ahead S = Fly backwards A = Fly left (change it to secondary Left_Arrow) D = Fly right (change it to secondary Right_Arrow) Warning: If you land at the starport again, you may get stucked inside the flyer (bug); save the game before !! Landing elsewhere causes no problems. With the English 1.0 and the Wesp5's patch you will be able to use any sorts of vehicles, be it on the ground or in the air, some of them must be opened with a lockpick and others, like the dark green battle robot on Reandore located on the frontline, will cause that you remain stucked inside (bug). Although you will see the lockpick dialog, you will very often be able to steal / use an enemy vehicle, not always, but most of the time. Also, on Reandore, avoid to start with a vehicle and return with another one to your base because the repair process may get confused and you will pay for a repair, but nothing happens. Probably your vehicle located in some place on the planet gets repaired instead, but not your actual vehicle. Save your game before to avoid spending money for nothing. Sadly, in the official 1.1 patch the usage of most vehicles has been capped, also because getting in the air may bring you to locations where you are not supposed to get. Try it out with a flyer on Goldin, flying West until you see a group of palm trees and surprise, surprise... Try finding other such locations! All this was of course not intended by the devs, so they impede the usage of most vehicles in the 1.1 patch. 5) Before going in the desert or jungle: Always have enough MEDECINES, FOOD and DRINKS (both as good as medecine), GRENADES and AMUNITION, or you will be an easy prey! :mole: 6) Medecines: Drinks and food packs are as good as medecines and a lot cheaper. A little away from the landing pad at Goldin, there is a scientist where you can buy some animal and plant extracts to use as medecine which are as effective but less expensive. It's higly worth to hack the medecine dispensers with hacksticks: the probability of success is low (about 1 of 30 hacksticks I think), but you if you succeed you get medecines for a value of about 30.000 credits that you can sell to a merchand; you cannot transport them all at once: just drop some content with the J key and you can re-pick it later on. Addiction: Medecines will cause addiction, the more your addiction, the less the medecines will heal you. If you are 100% addicted or near to it, get to a doctor to cure you (about 800 credits). 7) Stealth and Chameleon: You can always activate Stealth with F and F3. Stealth doesn't work at 100% and this is intended: it works best if you don't move and you are somewhat far away from enemies. If you are close, they may hear your heartbreaks, also the more you move, the more you get visible. Once you get the Chameleon Perk, in order to make it work you will have to eat the magic plant "Kleps" which you can buy from a merchand. Eating a plant will last for about 20 seconds. Here some important considerations about vehicles and dropped objects: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Using the russian dvd version or the English 1.0 version + Wesp5's patch will enable you to use all flyers and vehicles, some of them must be opened with a lockpick, most of the enemy vehicles can be stolen. Using the official patch 1.1 will fix some bugs and crashes in the game, but you will not be able to use most of the vehicles. The dark green battle robot on the frontline at Reandore is not usable, although you can get in with a lockpick. You will remain stucked inside and must reload the last game. Flyers, battle robots, helicopters or hower tanks cannot be re-armed or repaired (or maybe yes? I didn't find any method), but they can be replenished with fuel if you buy jerricans. Flyers and helicopters are extremly delicate to fly, be sure to quicksave your game often. Battle robots and helicopters have a powerful secondary rocket weapon to be used with the right mouse button (6-8 shots I think). Using ground vehicles out of plan at Reandore (starting with one, comming back with another) will mess up the mechanician's repair: you pay, but no vehicle gets repaired At Goldin, you can only steal the Flyer once, so chose the right moment or make a separate save game before jumping in. It will not respawn afterwards, you just see a Flyer stucked in the air a little away from the landing pad. Dropping objects: Before making a longer way through the jungle or desert, you will have to drop some heavy material and ammo because you are limited to 50 kg (with all possible weight Perks). Be sure to always drop an armor suit with "0" armor value, you will get rid of 6 or 12 kg useless material and walk or run much faster. Droping anything will create a box on the ground and you can re-pick it later. It will remain there for sure as long as you don't leave the planet. After leaving the planet or saving/quitting the game, ground vehicles will remain where you have left them, air vehicles may dissapear but respawn elsewhere, empty boxes will vanish but even non-empty boxes may dissapear, sometimes saving/loading the game will make the boxes re-appear togother with the objects you have droped. Not sure, but I think that most game crashes are due to dropped objects. A good alternative for dropping: To get rid of some material and be sure to find it after a new landing on the planet, put all material in a ground vehicle with F2. But even after a long time a parked vehicle of yours on Goldin may vanish. Here 3 spoilers: [ >>> SPOILER<<<] The most annoying enemies are... The flying security robots. You will encounter most of them at Goldin, but at Reandore near the Empire bases they will make you a painful life. They don't shoot from distance, but get close to you or whatever your vehicle is and immobilize you with laser bursts. You must get out of your vehicle and use the Lenkon assault riffle with anti-armor bullets or the Shotgun for best results. Kill them first of anything else or you will stay immobilized and get killed. Killing them from far away is almost impossible. The frontline at Reandore... ...is a big mine field. If you go past the Free Trader's checkpoint you will soon explode or get stucked in the mud. Use the free space along the mountain on the right and carefully make it downhill towards the Empire checkpoint after killing the guards with your sniper gun. You may have to shot at some mines before to clear the road. All this is if you are working for the Free Traders. If working for the Empire, you will have to use the same way along the mountain, but better bring a lot of rockets... The best weapon in this game is... The Agisha gun, no doubt. It's worth a rocket and has much more and lighter ammo. Have fun! XenonS eof