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combat computer in ffed3d


majorgreg
(@majorgreg)
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Joined: 11 years ago
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I have been playing around with ffed3d for a couple of weeks now with some mixed success. My biggest problem are those pesky pirates. I know that I can use the combat computer to help me find them but I have a problem.....

FFED3_D_combat_computer.jpg

This is what I am seeing when I activate the combat computer. The version of ffed3d is right off the russian elite web site and as far as I know is the current version. I am assuming the background is supposed to be the standard starfield image. As you can see the planet is there along with the space station. There are aiming crosshairs but I think they are not the right ones since these are dark green or something. Very hard to see against a dark background. Why my ship is sitting on a red square like that is beyond me. Also notice that there is no targeting computer icon on my console display. Should'nt there be something in the 11th position?

I am stumped....... And yeah as far as I know I have the all the correct texture files. I am running a standard install of xp.

Could someone post an image of what the combat computer display is supposed to look like.

Help..... I am losing my hair over this.......


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 Anonymous
Joined: 54 years ago
Posts: 0
 

Well, it looked a bit different in the original FFE and JJ-FFE, but on my version of FFED3D it looks just like the picture you posted.

This is not important however, as the combat computer is as much use as a chocolate kettle. I have never EVER used it in many years (both real and game) of combat.

Save your hair and ignore it, would be my advice. <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//negative.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />


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majorgreg
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Topic starter  

I guess I misunderstood or overrated its usefulness. Ultimately I was just looking for a way to detect the pirates early enough to be able to deal with them. Payback may have to wait until I have a larger ship with more cargo space for offensive and defensive systems. Any tips for dealing with them in the early stages of the game? And at the risk of sounding like a total nob...... what is the combat computer supposed to do and why is it so useless?


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Geraldine
(@geraldine)
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Joined: 7 years ago
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That is exactly what you have to do, stay away from dangerous systems until your ready to take them on or just buy a fast ship and out run them if you cant out gun them, oh and welcome to the SSC majorgreg


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Gunbladelad
(@gunbladelad)
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Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 133
 

In normal FFE (and JJFFE) the Combat Computer displays the radar around your ship ingame to make it easier to work out where the pirates on the radar are in relation to your ship. Yes, it shows the very same radar that's at the bottom of the screen - nothing more.

However, in reality, it just clutters things up and winds up being more of a distraction than a help. As such, nobody ever uses it.

For early-game, if you're starting out from the default starting point, then make sure you save often. Winning the Wiccan Ware race (Check the papers and you'll see it starts at the next starport over on the planet you start on) and running medicines to Soholia will help boost your funds early on for the first couple months of game time. From there I typically head to Eta Cassiopea and run missions from there to the system directly south - you'll normally get a lot of military missions and delivery / taxi jobs on a relatively safe run.


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TheFourteenthDoctor
(@thefourteenthdoctor)
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Joined: 11 years ago
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I've only just started playing FFED3D (altough I've played the original Elite since it first came out!).  Now, I am trying to kill Kirsten Birmingham at Edinburgh Park, but no matter what I do, I can't find him or her. He simply does not take off on 29 March at around 19:20 hours. So, to the manual for help, and it seems to come to my rescue by stating that I should target the ship using the combat computer before taking off again. As my combat computer looks just like that above (so obviously does not work), I am now completely stuck. Since I am here hearing that the CC is not much use, how else do I identify Birmingham's ship (a Panther clipper, apparently)? Any help here is much appreciated.

 

Thank you!


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Geraldine
(@geraldine)
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Joined: 7 years ago
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Hi FourteenthDoctor

Firstly welcome to the SSC. Now to your question. This might be down to a broken mission. This can happen sometimes with FFE3D. A way around this is to save the game before you jump to the system your mark is in, quit the game then reload your save using JJFFE and jump to the system. Once more save the game and quit out of JJFFE. Start FFE3D, reload the game once more and head to the planet. Generally try not to arrive too early and to be safe rough land outside the starport a good distance away, but close enough that you can see any ships taking off. Once your mark takes off at the appointed time either follow them into hyperspace using the Cloud Analyser or if your feeling brave and dont mind getting into a big fire fight with the police, take them out before they hyperspace. Hope that helps you.


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TheFourteenthDoctor
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Hi Geraldine,

 

Sorry for the delay in thanking you for your welcome and advice. I tend to only play computer games at weekends (being retired, I have so much else to do! Really!).

 

I've managed to follow your advice up to jumping and saving the game in JJFFE, then reloading the game in FFED3D - ony to find that I cannot land on Sofrages! For some reason, it suddenly got harder!!!! But it's probaby me, so I will keep trying. At the moment, after some 20 crashes, with all velocities as low as I can get them, another try will probably have to wait until next weekend!

 

Thank you once again.


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 Anonymous
Joined: 54 years ago
Posts: 0
 

What Geraldine said in relation to a mission not working properly is partly true (sorry Geraldine!) in that it's best not to arrive too early for an assassination; I aim to get there no more than 7 days before the mission time and it seems to work ok. The trick of jumping into the system using JJ-FFE only works around the bug concerning bombing and photograph missions. In any case, the latest FFED3D builds from Ittiz and AndyJ have fixed this bug 

 

You don't mention whether you're at an outdoor starport, an orbital station or an underground one (can't remember where Edinburgh Park is and Sofrages doesn't seem to exist!)

 

Orbital station or underground port:- launch around 2 mins before the deadline and move to around 10km from the station. Make sure the docking doors close behind you; this is achieved by departing quickly, not hanging around in the vicinity. If the doors don't close they won't reopen when it's time for your target to depart and you'll fail the mission.

 

Surface port:- if your target isn't already there when you land, they won't ever be and the mission will fail. It's easy to find out if your target is on one of the other pads; switch to external view and enable the ship IDs. Then just pan around the starport until you locate your prey. If they're not there, nothing else for it but to abandon the mission, unless you did what I do and save the game before you jump into the system (in which case re-load and jump in again). This problem happens most often when the port is busy and there are a limited number of landing pads.

 

Finally, please remember; the combat computer is USELESS!! Ignore it. Unless you plan to destroy your target with a missile, all you need to do is get your lasers on him after he takes off. If you do want to use a missile, then obviously you'll have to target it by switching your console to Battle mode.

 

Hope this helps! 


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