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From: c2mjw@dmu.ac.uk (MJ Welford)
Subject: Frontier GUIDE PART I & II (what the hell)
Message-ID: <1994Jan28.140034.16058@dmu.ac.uk>
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Organization: De Montfort University, Leicester, UK
Date: Fri, 28 Jan 1994 14:00:34 GMT
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I thought what the hell, there are loads of new players out there, besides
I'm bored!!
It's about 3 months old now, and has not been touched, as it was all those
months ago. Anyway, wiping the dust off here is PART I and II in one!!
Thanks for all the mail concerning this guide. Well after a saturday night
at the keyboard, here we are!
I hope it is of use to you.
Just for reference, this guide was written by a PC player and an Amiga
player, so any PC problems email c2djm@dmu.ac.uk and Amiga problems to
c2mjw@dmu.ac.uk!
Have Fun!
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DEDICATED TO GOD, erm ..... David Braben
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FRONTIER ....
One and a half years ago we read a work in progress report in THE ONE. From
then on we devoured any screen shots we could get our hands on. Two weeks
ago we managed to get our hands on this game, and since then have not
stopped playing it. Our current year dates are MATT - May 3207, DAVE -
November 3204, and over this time we have experimented with different
aspects of the ELITE universe, and here are some of the things we have
discovered :
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FLIGHT TIPS :
HOW TO ROUGH LAND :
A bit of a tricky one this, if your in a heavy ship! The trick is to look
at the mass of the planet your trying to land on, anything above 0.25 Earth
masses will be tricky, but it is not impossible!
First an explanation of how the gravity will have effect on your ship.
Yes I do believe old David did think about gravity - either that or it's
a very coincidental bug!! For example an Imperial Courier is labeled as
being 480 Tonnes in weight - this is it's weight on Earth. On a planet on
0.25 Earth
masses the ship will actually be 120 Tonnes in weight. In other words you
will float down much more slowly, but still like a brick!
The manual mentions that you must point the nose up to create a little bit
of lift to act against the gravity, but this means travelling at speed, and
landing at speed means you will crash! Lower your speed and raise the nose
so that you are falling slowly (about 3 metres per second) and travelling
forwards at about 150kph. When your altitude is about 15-20m cut the set
speed to 0 and throw the nose forwards until it is horizontal. You should
be down! You will notice that the heavier the ship and heavier the planet
the more you will have to raise the nose to come in. When I had a Imperial
Courier on one planet I came in almost vertically!!
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HOW TO FUEL SCOOP OFF A GAS GIANT :
Remember you need a fuel scoop and conversion unit to try this one.
Use you're autopilot to get close to the planet to set the ship's speed
relative to that body. Now aim for the top of the planet, at about 15,000kph
and do a bit of time skipping, lowering your speed slowly. Use the targeting
tunnel to see how fast you're comming in by keeping lines moving at a
consistent speed. Eventually you will see an atmosphere appear around the
gas giant. Aim for the middle of this - remember to continue to lower your
speed! Soon you will get an altitude reading of 0m, (a gas giant has no
surface) by this point your speed should be about 4000kph. STOP the time
skip. The fuel scoop will start working. It will fill your cargo bay first,
and then the fuel tank.
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HOW TO SLING SHOT :
This ones just for fun, but it is a nice effect.
The idea of a sling shot is to use the gravitation pull of a body to
gain speed, (used by satelites today!).
Again the effects of this are governed by the mass of the body you are
using, the larger the body the faster you have to be travelling in order
to stop gravity pulling you into it.
For example, for a large gas giant like Jupiter you need to be traveling at
about 700+ kps. Aim just past Jupiter, too close and you'll be dragged you
into it, too far away and the sling shot will have little effect. Turn
your engines off to avoid them correcting the pull of Jupiter. Speed things
up with the time skip, and whatch your ship accelerate! You'll notice
that you'll do a part orbit of Jupiter before you actually start flying
away. Turn your engines on and look at how much speed you've gained!
You might find this takes several attempts to get the speed and distance
right so that you don't crash!
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HOW TO DO ASSASSINATIONS :
A fun little job this, causing havoc and destruction!
First go to the bulletin board and look for an assassination advert. If
your Elite rating is high enough (about average!), you'll be offered the
job. Get to the point of the assassination, make sure your at the right
starport or space station.
If your on a planet, rough land outside the starport and wait until the
right time. Use the time skip and save options to get as close to the
correct time as possible.
If your waiting outside a space station, make sure your not waiting
directly outside the doors otherwise a ship may fly out and hit you! Again
use the time skip and save options. Make sure you can see the door of the
space station, so you can see the victim coming out!
At the correct time, (down to the second), the victim will emerge from the
station or starport. If your on a planet, take off a few seconds before the
desired time.
There are two ways you can take the victim out :
The first one requires that you have a hyperspace cloud analyser, and a
hyperdrive capable of a large jump, (about 15 light years +). Consult the
manual about hyperspace jump distances, and the time it takes. It'll be in
the Hyperspace jumps section, (page 32). When the victim hyperspaces, use
the analyser and jump after him. If your lucky he will have a lesser
hyperspace jump capablity than you and you will arrive a day or so before
him. He will appear in roughly the same place as you appeared. When he
arrives, KICK ASS!
The second way involves a little more coordination, and cool. When the
victim emerges from the space station, or starport, target him to get the
distance reading. Accelerate after him, shooting all the way. Watch your
speed to make sure you don't fly past him! (Remember look at your set speed
not your actual speed!). By this time your friendly neighbourhood police
will be hot on your tail, try to ignore them! Once the victim has been
fried, select communications and pay the fine remotely to get rid of your
fugitive legal status, you will have just gained! After all this has been
accomplished, pick a nearby system and GET OUT OF THERE! You will notice
that you will have a criminal record but your legal status will be clean, so
no bounty hunters will be after you!
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HOW TO MINE :
Remember that you must have an MB4 mining rig to perform this.
To do this you must have perfected your fuel scooping, and rough landing
skills. The reason for this is that you must pick a planet or system, which
has a little or no registered settlers otherwise when you get there the
planets will probably be mined out! This means there will be no starports
for you to use your autopilot to guide you down to the surface. This is
where you have to use your fuel scooping skills aiming for the top of the
planet, i.e. coming in on a low obital path, until you get an altitude
reading.
You'll need to pick a planet above freezing point otherwise your likely to
end up mining water! If you pick a planet with a starport you'll get a
fine and the police will attack.
Guide yourself in and rough land on the planet surface. Once landed deploy
your MB4. After about 8 months come back and land near it, (about 0.1 km
away). Pick up the hopper and fly off with your mined goods.
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SO WHAT'S THE BEST SHIP???
An argument that seems to be going on, recently is "What is the best ship?".
Here's our views :
Asp Explorer - Small so you don't accidentally colide with
other ships or debris.
Manoeuvrable, and little inertia considering
it's size.
Very good thruster acceleration, for important
evasive manouvers.
Fair light so good, cheap, hyperspace range.
Has a fuel scoop mounting, for cheap hydrogen!
VERDICT : Good all rounder though lacking in hull space so you
can't have everything at once!
Imperial Courier - Good size to have everything at once.
Scores high on looks!!!
It's in the intro-sequence!
Manoeuvers well for it's size.
BUT .... Due it's size it hits everything in sight, so at least 7
shield generators are needed!
Lacks a fuel scoop mounting.
Only avaliable from the evil scum EMPIRE!
VERTICT : Good trading, and assassination ship, but drinks fuel
like mad, so very expensive!
Tiger Trader - Good size to have everything at once.
Has a fuel scoop mounting.
The amount of crew sets you on your way to a Panther.
BUT .... Not THAT manoeverable.
Looks like the back end of a donkey!
(except for Matts PINK Tiger Trader!).
Have to pay, and find a big crew.
VERDICT : Good as a stepping stone for a big cruiser, and as an
all round ship it's not bad.
Panther Clipper - Masive beast! Anything you want, you've got it!
Scores on looks!
BUT ..... Grotesquely unmanouverable.
Gun turrets awkward to use, because they're back-to-front
to the flight controls.
Eats fuel like THREE Imperial Courier's!
VERDICT : The ship designed to explore the unexplored worlds, and
designed for the large plasma accelerator - we reckon.
SUMMARY :
So what is the BEST ship? We think you should buy the ship to suit the
task in hand. For example I've just gone right back down to an Asp with a
class 4 hyperdrive so that I can do more military runs! Matt's currently
in a Tiger Trader (PINK YUK!) because he's in two minds whether to go back
up to a Courier or Panther.
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A List Of The Gazetteer Planets :
NAME
ACHENAR [0,-5] - Imperial Capital
ACKWADA [-5,-3]
ACKENPHI [-4,-4]
ALIOTH [0,4]
ALTAIR [-2,1]
ANDECEETH [ ? ] - Location Unknown At Present *
ANLAVE [0,3]
ARTURUS [-2,0]
AREXACK [-1,5]
AYETHI [-3,1]
AYMIAY [1,4]
BEDAHO [-4,-2]
BETA HYDRI [-1,-2]
CEMIESS [-1,-3]
ENANESS [-5,0]
EPSILON ERIDANI [1,0]
ETA CASSIOPEIA [0,2] - Federation Naval Base
EXBEUR [-4,3]
EXIOCE [-1,3]
EXTILA [-5,-1]
FACECE [0,-5]
FAWAOL [2,-3]
LAEDIA [-5,1]
LAVE [-2,-6]
LIAEDIN [4,3]
LIAQUQU [ ? ] - Location Unknown At Present *
PHEKDA [ ? ] - Location Unknown At Present *
PHIAGRE [1,-3]
QUINCE [ ? ] - Location Unknown At Present *
QUPHIETH [-3,0]
QUQUVE [ ? ] - Location Unknown At Present *
RIEDQUAT [-3,-5]
ROSS 128 [0,0]
ROSS 154 [-1,0]
SIRIUS [1,0]
SOL [0,0] - Federation Capital
TAU CETI [0,0]
TILIALA [-4,-2]
WOLF 630 [-2,-1]
ZEAEX [3,-2]
ZEARLA [-6,1]
ZEESSZE [0,-6]
ZELADA [1,4]
ALSO :
EXLAGRE [-5,3] - System Of Special Scientific Interest
EDHOETH [-4,-3] - Disputed System
* If anybody knows the location of this planet could you please tell us!
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AND LASTLY THOSE QUICK PROFIT TRADE ROUTES :
FROM TO
Cemiess Anywhere That DOESN'T Have Precious Metals As Illegal Goods!
[-2,-2]
What To Do - Look On The Bulletin Board For Patrick's Trading Or
Judd's Trading, Any Other Trader Is Likely To Be The Police!
Buy Precious Metals For About -3000. Take The Stones To A
Neighbouring System That Doesn't Have Precious Metals As
Illegal Goods! If You Want To Make More Money, Just
Fast Forward A Day And More Stock Will Appear! You've
Just Made About 4000 Credits Per Tonne!
Urlaay Zeaex
[3,-2] [3,-2]
What To Do - Buy Robots For 450 Credits From Urlaay And Sell For Almost
Double The Market Price (1500 Credits) at Zeaex!
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COMMENTS
Alright, alright - here comes the bugs, or playablity "quirks", as we prefer
to call them.
The one I always seemd to get just recently is that the autopilot sometimes
won't set the relative speed to the correct body! This might not seem like
much of a problem, but when trying to get near a planet, it stopped me dead
in my tracks. So I turned off the autopilot and the time skip, and went for
a manual dock. But because the relative speed was set to the nearest star
and not the planet, I found that to actually close on the planet, and then
the space station, I had to travel at some 110 kms!! I had no way of knowing
how quickly I was catching the space station, and therefore no way of
docking. I tried the autopilot again, but off it went overshooting and
generally flying anywhere, but towards the space station. I tried manually
again but the relative speed didn't change, so I just quitted and reloaded!!
But I must stress this IS the only bug I have found, that cannot be sorted
out by doing something else, like manual control, and so must go down as a
bug unfortunatly.
Saying this though, we feel it is still the best game ever written, by such
a huge margin. With such a BIG game as this you have to expect little
things such as this to crop up - WELL DONE DAVID BRABEN and THANKS!
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That's All For Now!
These Are The Voyages Of Just Two Ordanary Games Players,
So If You've Found Anything Unusual,
Why Not Let Other Frontier Players Know?????
Happy Exploring and DEATH to all IMPERIAL Scum!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MAY THE FEDERATION LIVE ON!
c2mjw@dmu.ac.uk - Mathew Welford
c2djm@dmu.ac.uk - David Maddison
Here's one of the stories we were mailed.
You won't find this in any of the manuals!
----- Incoming transmission -----
Source: Deep space relay post.
This is Corporal Damian Tallis of the Asp Explorer Infernal. My ship
has been severly damaged in a confrontation with an Imperial Courier
carrying a Maffia leader targeted for assassination. They have been
chasing us for several weeks and in desperation I am going to tamper
with my Hyperdrive in an attempt to evade them. This message will be
transmitted automatically upon me re-entry into normal space. My co-
pilot is severly wounded. I do not know if she will survive this
journy. With luck we will arrive at Sol on the 15th January. I may be
contacted via the Federal Station on Mars High. I have a substantial
ammount of money with which to repair the ship and I wish to
volunteeer for further service. For your information I am classed as
a 'Competant' warrior.
----- Message Ends -----
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PART II...
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Frontier GUIDE - update...
We've had LOADS of excellent responses by too many people to name, but rest
assured email addresses have been noted, we will try and write back a.s.a.p.
All the beastly tips we've had are being compiled for a furture GUIDE, so
keep talking!!!
Well it's now Wednesday, Saturday was when we wrote THE GUIDE, and as you
may have guessed we are still playing the game, so here's some new stuff!!
Matt c2mjw@dum.ac.uk - Amiga
Dave c2djm@dum.ac.uk - PC
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COMBAT
You may have noticed that in the first guide we missed out a combat section,
but on finding out from various mail we recieved that most commanders were
Average or above, we thought you obviously know how to fight, but here are
some points some of you may not know...
Note: For the uninformed Port = left, Starboard = right
EASY KILLS
Matt's - Thrust 'an spin (Amiga)
This is a good one, one I always use anyway!! Ships usually come from
infront and straight for you!! So why not try this...
Turn about 10 degrees to the port or starboard, and hit some forward thrust.
Look at your scanner to see when the sucker is about alongside. Then spin
round to face him and hit full thrust after him, keeping him in your sights.
You should now be on his tail. Obviously you can choose when to shoot - I
can't tell you that, but I like trying to sit on a ship's tail and see how
long I can stay there. This tactic works supprisingly well on the smallest
of ships, too.
Matt's - Chicken run (Amiga)
This is very effective if you have a 4 - 20MW beam laser, and is very quick
to despatch the skilless little squidler ships that turn up blue on the
scanner (I think thats about 0 - 16t).
Again this works best when a ship comes from directly in front, but still
effective when they come from any other direction.
When under attack turn to face the other ship as quick as you can, and then
turn only about 5 degrees the the port or starboard (just enough for the
other ship to miss when shooting) and hit forward thrust just to get him in
range of your guns. Then hit reverse thrust for a bit, for him to approach
more slowly, then cut the engines again. Get him in your sights and shoot a
short distance ahead of him, stop turning. The other ship should run
straight into your laser.
This is a bit risky for a big enemy ship with good guns, 'cos he may just
turn to face you as well, but if done properly they don't have the chance as
they're already space dust. Little ships however, never have the firepower
to trouble 7 shield generators, and are normally wasted by the time they get
close enough to shoot.
Dave's - Stuka dive (PC)
When a ship attacks from a position close to the front, slam the engines on
full forward thrust and pull up. Look at the scanner to see when the target
is nearly directly below (don't thrust too much or he'll be out of range.
Cut the engines and turn 180 degrees straight down at the enemy ship and
thrust forwards letting rip, try to shoot slightly ahead of him as well.
He can't shoot at you from this position. A beam laser is what is really
required for this. Works best on the medium class of ship.
EVASIVE MANOUVERS/COUNTER ATTACKS
Matt's - Twister (Amiga, and PC apparently)
A good one for when getting seriously hammered by laser fire. I do this
when in total panic, ie getting shot by some Elite pilot with a beam laser.
If getting shot from head-on (it does happen sometimes) I use this little
number to get out of the laser fire and onto the enemy ship's tail.
Basically if getting shot from the front I turn 90 degrees hard port and hit
forward thrust forward for a couple of seconds. Then I pull up 180 degrees
and thrust forward to face the path of the enemy by which time he's just
about flying past. Then you can return fire when he goes past or turn 90
degrees to the port and thrust forward after him. Confusing without a
diagram isn't it!!
GENERAL
These are just some of the tactics we use for a laff and for an impresive
fight. Use them if you will, but I ALWAYS find I turn my engines off and use
forward and reverse thrust to get my out of trouble or into a kill scoring
position.
Also I have noticed that on the Amiga and PC versions sometimes the sound FX
for getting hit doesn't work, and the only way you can tell if you getting
hit is if you see the hull getting damaged! One way of noticing if you're
getting hit is to look for a laser hitting the egde of the display, a laser
will NEVER fill your display. Try going to an external view zooming in and
shooting the camera, you'll see what I mean.
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SHOOTING MISSILES
Not much use this one, more for fun really. YES! Missiles can be shot
whether you are travelling towards a planet, or not! Missiles at one point
or another will come from behind - either launched from a ship from behind,
or manouvering themselves into that position.
Turn your engines off. When a missile is behind hit full forward thrust (if
you're in a half-decent ship it won't quite hit you). Wait until the missile
is about 0.5 - 1.5km behind, by either targeting it or looking at the
scanner, then spin round 180 degrees and hit reverse thrust. Now let rip!!
Missiles are more visible if you turn the text on and missile will appear
alongside the, er, missile. It is difficult to hit though and you definately
need a beam laser!!
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USING MISSILES
Most of you may have noticed that missiles are completely useless in combat,
cos the target keeps on running away. Not so!! Have you every tried
launching a missile at a target and then hitting the time skip? Well presuming
the target doesn't have somesort of ECM system he should get blown away!!
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We've read loads of letters that state you need 3,000 shields, just to live
not so! At the minute I (Matt) have down graded from my Tiger Trader, after
forgetting that the gun turrets are just too confusing to use after a
prelonged period shooting ships with a front mounted laser, to an Asp. At
the minute both of us are doing runs for the Federal military (Not Imperial
SCUM!!) in Asp's with a Class 4 hyperdrive, NO shields, 4MW beam laser,
Scanner, Radar mapper and an autopilot. I still haven't come close to getting
wasted.
We hope that some of the above tactics will help convince some of you that
you don't need shields, but just good combat knowlegde.
Oh, by the way Matt's had 2 "Right on commander"'s from Elite Federation,
now, what are these for? A certain number of kills? A good kill?
Well that will have to be it for now, we've got loads of coursework to do so
we had better get on with it...
Bye
Email us if you find anything new.
Commanders Welford and Maddison signing off....