SpaceSimCentral

Yes, there must be something in the game code that makes these 'exceptions' for friendly attacks. I have found this in the manual in the Diplomacy section (page 24): "(...) But every AI opponent has a mind of its own so don't be surprised if someone attacks you just to take your cargo. For example collectives are beasts and pirates are thieves in hart." Also, I don't think that NPC radio messages are thrown out just randomly. They fit the situation (in most cases IMO). In my case, they were talking about my cargo, in another case an EMD attacker called me a Traitor. Both were normally friendly factions. So, your theory may be true. Travel costs: I get the same numbers as yours for the same travel, no change in patch 1.3. My first attempt in Hacking has blattantly failed, and I escaping to the jump gate to evade Ord attackers Must stop the hacking before the first bar reaches the end... XenonS

Let's see if I get this HACKING stuff right:I think that the amount you can win is patheticly low, just 500 on average, considering your difficulties once you fail...Also you cannot always get the full amount, you have to interupt before. That^s because the lower green bar only grows slowly in some cases. If I understand it right, and what I do is:The % displayed in the upper bar corrisponds to the full lenght value. So if it reads 20% but the bar is half full, then your chance to get caught is 10%; at full lenght 20% etc. with new bar values.Best hacking is done with most money and the smallest max security % level.If I fail hacking, I go on anyway with it to collect the total of the green lower bar, even if I get attacked (need good shields and armor).Still not sure that all works like this, but you don^t get a penalty in Diplomacy for a failed hack, as long as I don't kill the attackers It has been said that hacking with the activated Cloak Device reduces the upper bar speed which is better caus' the green bar can catch up faster. I wonder what the attackers will do if I'm not visible though  XenonS

Let's see if I get this HACKING stuff right:I think that the amount you can win is patheticly low, just 500 on average, considering your difficulties once you fail...Also you cannot always get the full amount, you have to interupt before. That^s because the lower green bar only grows slowly in some cases. Once you've siphoned all money you often receive bonus ID cards. They can be sold for extra bucks. Anyway, the more you hack to the end (get all money) the easier it becomes, for the game progressively manipulates the random rolls in your favor -- and you get busted less and less.I've never completed the Cloaking Device myself, but I know it feeds off the same energy pool as the afterburner. That means you can't stay invisible forever. Should you be busted while hacking (and you are invisible) the enemy ships would have no target. Not yet. Your energy is going to deplete and you'll be game soon. Better save energy to cloak yourself for the fly-away trip, I think.The best buildings to hack usually are those belonging to the same faction that manufactured the ship you pilot. For example: fly EMD -> hack EMD. Why? Because the EMD ships coming out to destroy you won't have weaponry suited for their own (therefore *your* own) Armor/Shield combo.Speaking of EMD buildings in particular, the best ones to hack are those that look like a rib cage. Their enveloping shape will shield you from most shots and missiles, allowing you to keep hacking with little worry.And remember to boost your Rear Shield recharge rate both for hacking and for flying away.

I was able to gather all console command codes, also found the old game forum in the internet archive (the Dreamatix game forum is still alive but under heavy spam attack). Nothing terribly intersting though, most links are dead.I will need to find some indications for the time machine and the cloaking device, because I only got 1 piece just by chance, a moving light that you can target with the cursor. I then used the T command to teleport and got 1 time device piece. Seeing the piece size, I think there are 8 pieces for each device, 16 in total, but they all must be hidden very well...I assume all pieces are located in the space plane of a sector and not outside, otherwise no chance to find them in a reasonable time. XenonS 

Each device counts 9 pieces.Actually it's easy to know if a system you're in contains a piece of either device: the Map (M key) will tell you. Every few seconds you'd notice a sort of radar blip, in the form of a rapidly expanding small circle (on the map, yes). You'll find the thing at the center of that circle. The blip ceases once you collect the piece.When close enough, your radar will also pick up the piece's signature. Just switch to Cargo mode, point your nose towards one of the cargo dots, and look sharply at the space in front of you. If you see a purple or a light blue ball, that might be it. I assume all pieces are located in the space plane of a sector and not outside, otherwise no chance to find them in a reasonable time.Nope, the pieces can be off along the vertical axis too. The map will give you the horizontal position with good accuracy. If once there you still don't see anything, it's either above or below you.The real problem is: the 18 pieces are scattered all over the galaxy, including the alternate systems you can enter via the uncharted jump gates. Leave no stone unturned. Oh wait -- There's something you should check on.In the non-HD version there's a known bug that prevents the player from collecting the last piece of each device. The bug exists in patch 1.2 -- so unless it's fixed in 1.3 you too are having it.The bugfix is about 2 numeric typos in 2 text files. You open the files you're told, you check the numbers you're told, you make corrections if you need to. Flat easy.Bugfix instructions at this link: Cloak and Time devices missing final parts 

Thanks for the 'map blip' tip, this will speed up my findings, have taken one in the Phoenix sector but it was well-defended with some good enemy ships around.The patch 1.3 says to have 'fixed a bug' with both time and cloaking device, thanks for the fix, but obviously I have to gather all the pieces first to verify...this may take some time  Enemy ships (not CAPs):Up to now I first look at the Level number of the pilot (upper left border of the target window) to know what's about, but this may not tell you exactly about his strenght. I was fighting with my 2 wingmen against only 1 fighter (I don't remember his Level, but he was UF I think), and he only landed 1 hit to reduce my upgraded shields by half, soon my armor was also near to zero and I exploded seconds later :spiteful:I have upgraded my Weaponery to over 70, but even with the best weapon for the shield/armor type I cannot do as much damage with only 1 hit. Or it was a very powerful missile?Also if things go badly when my armor/shields are low, I order all my wingen to engage the targets and afterburn away, but still the attacker remains on my tail...Logically he should get busy with my wingmen, but that's not the case apparently...My Energy Cells are pretty at max and my upgraded speed value (speed bar) is 7. Maybe that's still not enough? I have to be careful because the upgrade points for a ship are limited. Buying new ships:I have changed to a Medium EMD Fighter. It's good that you get all your buyed upgrades discounted and your crafted items transfered. So you could aslo buy the same ship type in order to distribute your upgrades differently ?About the ship info: I wonder if the default upgrade numbers, e.g. in the buying section, if you see a speed = 20 for a ship, is this an absolute value, that is: the same speed for a small, medium or heavy fighter ? Or asked the other way: Will a medium or heavy fighter with a speed = 0 in upgrade be faster than a light fighter ? Nuclear Torpedo / Missile Damage Modifier:I can now buy and use the nuke for a ridiculous low price of 250. For doing a damage of 1000 it should cost much more, but I'm ok with it :)I will use it to destroy a building and maybe during a Planet Desinfection mission to see its effects. This missile should be an 'all around' trouble solver, right? I guess a CAP ship just blowing up maybe taking some escorts along with it, but then I haven't tried it yet...Also I'm curious if any other NPC ships are using this one...Is this right: Missile type X with 'triple' usage and a Damage Modifier of 80 will do a 240 damage (when all are hitting), so it's twice as powerful than a 'single' 120 one ? Again thanks for your 'durability' in answering all my questions I hope all this will be a promotion to this good game, helping others as well  XenonS

The patch 1.3 says to have 'fixed a bug' with both time and cloaking device,Good. Most likely it's the bug I mentioned. I hope this time around they'll keep supporting the game.In regard to wingmen: I don't use them and I don't know if your having them is making the game spawn tougher enemies to even the odds.Today I finished to befriend the UF. If we exclude the Collective, my only other enemies are the Pirates -- which I enjoy killing. You see, I'm friend with the galaxy and I easily find help wherever I go. No use for wingmen. I have upgraded my Weaponery to over 70, but even with the best weapon for the shield/armor type I cannot do as much damage with only 1 hit. Or it was a very powerful missile?Missiles can be devastating if fired from foes higher level than you, especially if your shields are down.Try to be more aggressive. If you hit your attacker hard you'll force him into evasive action, making it impossible for him to point his weapons at you. And practice your EMP. Too soon and you waste it. Too late and you risk to get hit by the next missile(s) because they may be in flight already but you have no time left to notice them coming. My Energy Cells are pretty at max and my upgraded speed value (speed bar) is 7. Maybe that's still not enough?Nah, your Speed is okay. You just need more practice with combat. If you match your speed with your target (look up the keybind in the Options) you'll notice they never go full speed while in combat. This allows them to turn around real quick. You should do the same. Buying new ships:I have changed to a Medium EMD Fighter. It's good that you get all your buyed upgrades discounted and your crafted items transfered. So you could aslo buy the same ship type in order to distribute your upgrades differently ?Confirmed. Every time you buy a ship you get to decide where to spend your upgrades. Take it to the letter. About the ship info: I wonder if the default upgrade numbers, e.g. in the buying section, if you see a speed = 20 for a ship, is this an absolute value, that is: the same speed for a small, medium or heavy fighter ? Or asked the other way: Will a medium or heavy fighter with a speed = 0 in upgrade be faster than a light fighter ?Good question. I had to peek inside the game files to answer you.Yes, they are absolute values. Whether a ship is bought with a Speed pre-upgraded to 20, or bought with Speed 0 and manually upgraded to 20, you end up with the very same end-speed.Can we say that all ships perform identically if they receive the same amount of upgrades? Hmm... Yes, mostly.Why 'mostly'? Because in the ship definition files I found a parameter called 'Angular Friction'. It's always a decimal number between 0 and 1 (a multiplier?)Despite the name, I have no clue what the parameter affects, but the value changes from ship to ship.Other than that, the differences between ships are in the form of the Armor/Shield types they use, and the number of upgrades they can receive. Ship size is also a factor not to underestimate. The bigger the airframe, the easier to hit. Nuclear Torpedo / Missile Damage Modifier:I can now buy and use the nuke for a ridiculous low price of 250. For doing a damage of 1000 it should cost much more, but I'm ok with itWait, it's not 1000, but 1000%Missiles -just like guns- apply a multiplier to increase or reduce your base damage value. For example, with a Weapons level of 110 I have a Secondary Damage of 52.0Should I launch a Nuclear Torpedo it'd cause 1000% of 52 damage... or 10 times 52. That makes 520 damage.Another example: The Ecstasy Rocket has a multiplier of 70% but uses 3 warheads. With my Secondary Damage of 52 an Ecstasy Rocket would inflict... 70% of 52 = 0.7 * 52 = 36.4 damage. Per warhead. Only if all 3 warheads hit the target I can inflict 109.2 damage.Invest in your Weapons level. If you don't know where to spend your upgrades, think 'Weapons'. I hope that answers your questions :bye: Ciao ciao.