SpaceSimCentral

Yup. You don't need to lie, I know a large portion of you fellows are out there. Still playing FFE. As a ...'newblood' for lack of a better term, I am currently working on my first playthrough of FFE.So how's your current progress in-game?I lost my earlier save with my Cobra Mk III and was a very sad panda. Now, Ive managed to work my way back into a Mk I cobbie, and just finished the Saholia medicine run. Sitting at 'Mostly Harmless' I'm milking the trade run between titcan and gateway for my cash. More then a few pirates, but most I can handle now that I am out of that awful Saker. So, how's your game going?

I have several commanders, but my favourite is the commander I have had since 1993 on the Amiga version of FE2. Stats are as follows, had to fire up my miggy to check :Commander: GERIShip: A Black Sidewinder heavily upgraded, but used an Eagle Long Range Fighter during my military career.Elite Rating: EliteImperial Rank: OutsiderFederation Rank: Rear AdmiralAwards: Certificate Of Valour, Starburst, Purple Omega, Vermillion Crest, Blue Excelsior, Frontier MedalCriminal Record: Um..... Colourful? :PPresent Occupation: Retired, just exploring and the odd bout of piracy when something annoys me Also had a "fallout" with the Federation following an accident with a laser mis-fire at London Spaceport. Was lucky to get out of the Sol system in just about one piece following a mega battle with the police. Never returned to the Federation systems again except to create a little mayhem from time to time Might decide to pay my rather large fine one day, who knows...Most favourite stunt while in the military: Landing in the middle of a secret enemy base and watching the defending ships crash all around me, taking off again then nuking the place from orbit, well it's the only way to be sure..... Likes: Going into serious mis-matches against multiple heavily armed ships in my little SidewinderDislikes: The Imperials

Wow, thats quite a record there, with the medals and high rank, you sure worked for it! Also, congrats on Elite! How did you equip that sidewinder by chance? Ive got my Cobbie 1 with:5mw PulseNav CompScannerRadar MapperAtmo Shielding1 Shield gen.ECMHavn't bothered with missles, since Im more then a fair shot. When I get my mk III it will look the same except with a 4mw beam and 2-3 shield gens. (and a naval ecm) Just curious how a veteran has her ship equipped. ^_^How does piracy work for you Geraldine? I think I asked on the official forums as well, since FFE/FE2 doesn't have a 'busy' universe (I swear Im the only trader.) out side of pirates. Is there some technique to finding your prey, or do you just find them and follow them out of the spaceports?

My Sidewinder spec?5 MW Pulse laserRadar Mapper (this had paid for itself a 100 times over)Hyperspace Cloud Analyser (you can run, but cant hide )Fuel Scoop (with Cargo Conversion again a worthwhile addition)Cargobay Life SupportScanner1 Shield GeneratorClass 2 Military Drive or Standard Class 2 Hyperdrive if exploringAtmospheric ShieldingMilitary Cameras (a left over from my recon days with the Federation Navy)If feeling lazy I would fit an autopilot, but rarely need it these days, besides that extra ton of cargo space could come in handy Didnt bother with ECMs, missiles are easy to avoid and prox mines are a joke.Also planted a full complement of MB4s in far out systems with Earth like planets, handy when cash reserves run low. With using an early Amiga version of Frontier, judicious use of the wormhole bug is obligatory.Tips for piracy, you can hang around starports waiting for a fat ship to take off and follow it, or for mayhem just strafe the bugger and take off slowly and directly above your mark. Dont go too fast or they will lose you when they start their pursuit. And you must remain directly above them so they don't crash into the planet. Once safely outside the atmosphere, let them have it! Of course you will have to deal with the police too, but if you are clever you can "manoeuvre" the police into helping destroy your target too by keeping the target between you and them. Takes practice!On entry to a system (this only works in FE2) have a look at your system map for any ships. Hail them. Non hostile ships will tell you where they are going. Those carrying something valuable might be a bit more candid about their destination and should be your top priority target. If the system is loaded with hostile ships, try shadowing a trader. When the hostile ships turn up, use the same trick as you did with the police, but don't fire upon the trader. Once the trader's ship is been hit by fire from the hostiles, they will turn and begin shooting at them. With luck the ensuing battle will damage the trader enough to give you an easy kill. Nasty I know, but if you want to be a pirate you must leave your conscience in the airlock! One final word, stay away from ships carrying Energy Bombs! I've had assassins after me equipped with these in the past. The best way to deal with them is to fire at extreme range, don't get too close. Once they set off the Energy Bomb you will still take damage, but as long as your far enough away your shield should absorb most of it. Shoot, run away, shoot run away is the safest way.Alternative method is to get in close and hope you can take it out before they get the chance to fire it. This requires a bit of luck though. One of the most important "weapons" in FE2 and FFE is the stardreamer. Learn to use this correctly and you can setup some really heavy battles against multiple ships, real hair balls!Been naughty in a heavily policed system? Out of fuel? Head for the nearest gas giant or if your desperate a star. Approach at high velocity and make sure you line your self up just to skim the atmosphere. The trick is to hit at just the right angle where you will be grabbed by the gas giant's atmosphere without plunging into the surface or bouncing back into space. Ships in pursuit will fly past you once you hit the outer atmosphere and impact on the surface. Laugh as you fill up your fuel tanks!Hope those tips help you.

Thanks Geraldine!Ive been on-and-off for a while, and had to do a hard-drive wipe. I was lucky, and had a back up save, but was in the middle of an assassination mission.Your tips are very helpful! Alot of those little tricks are awesome. I would have never thought of those. I'm sure that will help in my journey to reach Elite. Thanks for the information.

No worries, glad to help Also dont forget the "golden rule" when playing Frontier, no matter how crazy doing something in the game may seem to be, try it, and see what happens. That's the real beauty of the game because it will allow you do lots of things that are "outside the box"

Heh.Will keep that in mind.

Thought I would post some links to some great (some of them quite old now) sites for Elite 1, 2 & 3 related goodness. This first one run by none other than Tom Morton himself, Yikes Station http://tom.noflag.org.uk/yikes/Another, Alioth Net http://www.alioth.net/index.htmlThen there is always Frontierverse http://www.sharoma.com/frontierverse/Another, Planet Mic http://www.planetmic.com/orbit/fe-pl.htmJades http://www.jades.org/ffe.htmFrontierastro. This is a great site maintained by Steve (one of the Frontier forum regulars) http://www.frontierastro.co.ukHow about some Elite for EMACS http://www.elite-for-emacs.org/elite-for-emacs/index.htmlFinally Ian Bell's classic site http://home.clara.net/iancgbell/elite/