Frontier - First Encounters (aka Elite 3)

[ReamusLQ]

Feel free to comment and discuss this game here. Also, if you have any useful tips or tricks don't hesitate to share them with the others! Thanks!

Review and Download (if available) (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/709)

[Ashes]

This is a great game! I still get it, (and the rest of the series) out and play them every so often. (I also still have a good pure dos computer available to do it on) I even have an origional disk with the commodore 64 version of elite 1, and the c64 to play it on. This game is also what got me to want to learn how to play the piano, that's how good the music is. And it has a large playlist.
There are available third party patches to fix most of the technical problems with the game. The only one I can remember that can't be patched is that the hardcoded missions only extend for about ten game years. (which would still take more than three and a half RL days non stop at the highest level of time compression, 1000:1, and which can't be held during combat if you want even the barest chance of surviving :tomato: ) But combine that much hardcoded mission time, a very good "random" mission generator, the ability to completely avoid missions, and about 2,000,000,000 yes, two billion, stars systems to explore, all of which are reasonably (to an astronomer) sized, and can take more than 10 minutes to cross if you take the time to check out the sights, three main interstellar governments plus at least one alien group, and you won't be able to see everything that is in the game in any reasonable amount of time. And places that you have visited before are not always the same when you go back to visit again, especially if you are following the hardcoded missions. Also the enemies have almost as good a chance of taking you out as you do of taking them out if you want to fight. (and yes, you do see more massive military action if you take the military path, including missions where you have to help pave the way for a major assault)
And for those who don't want to go to the effort of making this game work right, there is a free java version out there that will work directly from windows. (and it is even listed as valid by the makers of the origional) To find it, you might search for "j2ffe" I think there is a link to it from the jades.org elite site, but I would have to look it up again.
This game is well worth trying, even just to fly around checking out the scenery, though if I remember right, the java version leaves out the intro movie.

[Gilneas]

Awesome game, I voted for a 5.
I have very fond memories of this game, and the screenshots brought a lot of them back.
For me the game has the following two weaknesses:
-dying
-cheating (I tried this after dying)
both of these totally ruin the game's atmosphere. And that's why I don't play it anymore.

(what? you don't want to die? well maybe, but not End-of-Game deaths, how about just respawn with loss of cargo.)

[Eva02Soul]

Yes, I still play this quite a bit, but it can be extremely frustrating until you get a good ship up and running. You'll be dying a lot. One second you're speeding through to the nearest orbital station on time-compression, then next you've been jumped by 4-5 pirates. Even with only 5 MW beam lasers hitting an unshielded hull, you're dead in seconds. Although on the flip side, you really feel you've earned your imperial juggernaught of death when you can finally afford it, and with a few hundred tons worth of shielding not a lot can touch you.

[gregor]

There should be a manual attached (if it's not too big for the site), or maybe just link to HTML manual (see bottom of review).

[Guest_Micronaut]

Outstanding. This small program out-shines anything else in the genre. Even X3 with its photo realistic graphics and DVD full of content pales into insignificance in comparison to this series.

I still play Frontier on my modern PC. Nothing beats being 200 light years from home, skimming gas giants and stars for fuel to explore uncharted systems. Landing on an asteroid to watch the sunrise of a binary system.

This is what your computer was invented for. Download it now. :ok:

[a15drian]

:ok: nice game

[chickenman]

I think Elite 2 looks better :), is any one doing a review of it ? no, *goes to write a review*

[stijnelijn]

there was a lot wrong with the elite after frontier i believe.

Frontier is just a lovely prg with a very nice intro and some good tunes and the ability to just explore around in a well made universe.

If you just spend some time finding out some safe systems you can make a lotta cash with trading.

[Guest]

It crashed out of Dosbox :x
Thats a first Ive seen a game do that

[Sebatianos]

Have you read the review carefully and did what it tells you???
It says the game will exit the first time, but simply run it again - the second time it will work!

[Abi79]

I found the free java version of this game: click here (http://jaj22.org.uk/jjffe/download.html)

[Guest]

Originally posted by Sebatianos@Nov 22 2005, 12:16 PM
Have you read the review carefully and did what it tells you???
It says the game will exit the first time, but simply run it again - the second time it will work!
Does not work even if I load the game twice becaurse Dosbox is loaded out of memory so it did not see the first "y". (in other words, I have to start dosbox twice).

[Sebatianos]

DOSBox out of memory... Well maybe you should try the loadfix command (or try using a DOSBox tool called D-fend).

Loadfix - simply type this and press enter before running the game (should give you more DOSBox memory (I'm no expert, but from what I remember it does just that).

[punch999]

Awww shucks I really wanted to review this game since I loved elite plus so much

[there is also ..]

... some reworked source of the original frontier so you can run it natively in x86-linux and windows

some websites that bring you further (including the original you still can get for 5 pound):

Tips and Tricks around elite and newer versions (http://www.jades.org/ffe.htm)

Reworked version for newer Operating Systems (http://www.eliteclub.org.uk/jjffe/about.htm)

Support the Original Developers - You can still get it here (http://www.eliteclub.co.uk/)

[Coplann]

I still have the original CD of that.

I played through it back in the days. there is a storyline to follow there. also there are like 3-4 game-years of events taking place (the star-race near where you start for instance).

always check the news/bulletin boards.

with the story you will eventually end up with a Thargoid Ship (alien ship with lots of room and the best engine of the game). with that you can explore the whole galaxy without worrying much about fuel. ^^

[Busses]

When I try and run the game (the way that is stated on the review) I get to an intro then when I try to skip through it dosbox exits, Im pretty much stumped. Any help would be appreciated.

[MrBackAlleySka]

Ooo awesome. I have played Elite 1, but never 2 or 3. I always thought they weren't abandonware heh. Anyways, one small question. In the manual, it always refers to your "Sakar" ship, but never any other ships. Im assuming all ship piloting is identical then, but it never actually states, DO you get other ships, other than the one you start with?

[Guest]

Almost identical, since it tries to use real physics instead of just nifty looking stuf like more modern games use, but there are some differences. Those mostly have to do with different engine powers and ship/cargo masses, (and yes, cargo mass matters also) also not all ships have the same sets of manuevering thrusters, which changes what manuevering you can do easilly. Turrets also affect the controls, but not much, tho as already mentioned, the shape of the ship can affect where you can shoot with your turrets.
And yes, you can get other ships, if you can afford them, but that will take quite a while for any halfway reasonable ship unless you are taking a lot of missions, especially the hardcoded ones. You can also choose between a few different starting locations and ships, but the default is much better since it also has the starting ends of three of the hardcoded missions at the very beggining. Walkthroughs are available, but my hint is to drop all combat equipment except for one missile as backup, and take the Wikanware Race mission. Leave fighting alone until you have worked up enough money for a much better ship, since it willjust get you killed otherwise until you actually understand how to fly. And when you are ready to fight, start a new game to test it out, and use other saves. Multiple saves are a must, especially on the hardcoded missions, since there are some crashes related to them.

[Toxik]

I think im another of those guys that cant get this running.
And yes i read the note.but the game crashes again even when i try it the second,third..xth time.
I tried it in windows,Dosbox,Usind d-fend frontend
in d-fend it crashes even when i set the "quit dosbox after game ends"option off,i tried loadfix...
Im somewhat desperate because i really want to play

(and OT question about Elite 2- I dont meet any ships other than pirates,and theyre like 5 in every solar system+plus they act very weird-sometimes,they dont attack,they fly thousands kms away,returning to me just the moment i compress time-its really bothering,so i would like to know if its normal)

[Ashes]

Check the notes on your map, many systems have quite good police, so you don't have to watch out for pirates, but if you attack a trader unprovoked, and it gets away... then you will have a bounty placed on your head by the police, and will be attacked. Also, the ai does wait for you to have the disadvantage of being under time compression, so that pattern is normal for trying to collect a bounty. Pirates would leave very far beyond the reach of your short-range radar, if that much.

Didn't mention it before, but I know that at least Elite Plus, Frontier Elite II, and Frontier: First Encounters, are not actual abandonware, they are instead freeware that is still acknowledged by their creators. (though it was FFE was made freeware less than a year ago) I don't know which other versions and ports are also still acknowledged, but of these three I am sure.

[Orichifunk]

I can't get it working either. It just crashes after the intro. Anyone please help? A shame it doesn't work, since I REALLY want to play this.

[Sebatianos]

OK - I don't know what you guys are doing to play this... Use DOSBox and follow the instructions from the review!

Worked for the reviewer and it works for me (two different computers, one in real DOS, the other one in WinXp under DOSBox).

Game needs EMS memory. When you type in “firstenc” a screen will show up. You press “y” here. Game will appear to have crashed. You simply type in “firstenc” once more and press “y” again. After that the game will start.

Are you sure you have enough memory? Maybe you should run the Loadfix (simply type loadfix and press enter right after starting DOSBox). D-Fend may not work at all.

The only other thing that may be wrong is the folder (I'm not sure, but I think it has to be the C:\firstenc (or something like that).

[Abi79]

Or, if one can't solve this problem, just keep the downloaded game from here on your computer and, in it's folder, copy the files located in this archive (only for Windows 95, 98, 2000, ME, XP) (http://www.eliteclub.org.uk/downloads/winjjffe28b.zip) After that open the file ffewin28.exe and enjoy ! :ok:

[Toxik]

Abi,you are a savior :kosta:

[Mongi]

the reviewer graded this game a 3. He must be joking!

It's that kind of classics that actually allows one to speak of high art in computer games.

Really it's like giving first civ a 2.

[Delibator]

I spent months playing this game everyday. Man...i even discover certain bugs that such as never deaccelated on an aproach to space terminal (planet or orbital). I simply put the time acc to the max, and the ship would go directly into docking (with auto pilot of course). That was the fastest and cheapest way to travel.

I bought all ships, did every kind of mission, (some missions are buggy) however i didn´t achieve the elite rank... 6000 kills????? :wall: That would take a full year playing every day...damn...

-Hey, to the people that say small ships are weak.
They are WEAK but sure are FAST. The downside is that becouse they only allow small lasers to be equiped, it would take about 10 minutes to beat an Imperial explorer.

Having said all of this, however i like small ships, my favorite ship of all times was one... the amazing Asp Explorer. This ship was good for everything...

[Delfino]

I thinkl this game is probbably the best game in the history.

Well maybe it's not so attractive after you've played for 20 or more game years in Elite 2, but anyway it's great. And if you haven't played any Elite at all you may miss few years of your life with this one ;)

[whatshisface]

Hi.
I tried elite plus and absolutley HATED it! boxes, boxes, and more boxes! Is this game different or better than elite plus? Does it have less boxes? Should i get it?

[Ashes]

Yes, FFE must be in the C:\firstenc\ folder. not D:\firstenc or anything else. so when running it in dosbox, you must run the the folder that contains the firstenc folder in dosbox so that it will be set as c:\ and the firstenc folder will then be one step down, where it is hardcoded to have to be for firstenc to run. see the P.S. for the reason.

This one strives for realism. Therefore you will find it very hard to win by just killing all opponents, even if you are very good, since skill only gives you so much of an edge against equally matched ships. This is NOT a generic shoot-em-up space arcade game. This is a full fledged space flight simulation, (gravity sling manuevers to and hohman transfer orbits to increase velocity or conserve fuel DO work) and if you don't want to learn some of the math of orbital mechanics, and think, and work, then you aren't going to find this game fun. If you do enjoy seeing if you can fly by the seat of your pants, then go come join the fun. Try an unpowered flight through a trinary system, or skim the surface of the earth in without any correction burns. If you think you are up to the challenge that requires. :evil:
If you just want to fly around blowing stuff up... get Descent. :bleh:
Not that it isn't fun once in a while... but where is the challenge in such a simple game. LOL I just use it while waiting for my ship to complete a manuever.

PS. While I have seen more realistic space flight programs out there, (ex: Orbiter) none of them is anywhere near as fun. Or takes up as little space on the computer. And remember as you play it... FFE was programmed entirely in assembler, including the graphics. (tho the sound was recorded as were a few videos if you have the rare british cd version that actually had videos)

[Coplann]

sun-diving for the win! :D

[lgonggr]

I remember a vicous dogfight and I realized I was not going to survive. But then I realised I was close to a gass giant and on manual control made a slingshot increasing my velocity with a factor of ten and leaving my antagonists eating my ion trail. Thsi game is absolutely brilliant.
And of course there are the 'bugged' planets where the autopilot doesn't work and you have to fly on manual. this usually results in your ship drifting off into interstellar space :tai: or splattering your ship all over the surface (the planet keeps getting bigger and my engine is braking on full power, but I'm not going to brake in time :tai: ). When you finally make a manual flight and perfect approach in a record time you feel brilliant. Interplanetary navigation is not easy !

A hint for the beginners who want to win the race :
Fly on manual and thrust for the center system on max power. Keep accelerating. The timing is crucial. When you brake on autopilot you only use the forward thrusters which are low power. Instead fly half the distance to your destination accelerating all the way. Then turn the ship 180* so that your main exhaust is pointing at your target and go to full pwoer again. When you are within 1 AU of the destination use the auopilot again. You will have arrived in ca. 2/3 of the time of an autopilot approach. Waiting an hour or a day before hyperspacing can make you appear radically closer or farther of your destination. So save and experiment.
And there are a billion other trics and tips I won't get into here :bleh:

[gregor]

i know there is a story but it's mostly in journals i never read. main goal is to become Elite. i am still not there yet. one thing i find too hard ar emilitary missions that require military drive. often those ships can't have any shields.

ah yes i still haven't gone for the alien ship. must try once. the main problme with exploring universe is that you need to repair your hsip and at one point oyu come to broder where supply posts end. i once played ELITE 2 with a modified ship. it had practically unlimited space for cargo, shields etc... i loaded it with fuel and traveleen into one direction fo ra year, but then various faliuer to the systems occured. too bad... i just wanted to see how big the galaxy is :D


too bad model is a bit too realistic and it can confuse you with speed measures. yet it is a lot of fun to land with it. and yes some planets (or rather bases) are in fact impossible to land on (giant and large cargo ships don't mix). there are bugs and you might find a base that should be on surface, but is in fact positioned below surface, so everytime you try to land (manually or auto) you crash. i used to avoid these bases.

To me cargo ships are cool. ok you can't (or at least it is extremely hard to) land on large planets and you are thrown far outside planetary system... but they have best defece and when pirates attack they usually slam into you (like flies on the windshield) :) leaving your ship more or less intact.
still fitting a military drive on it limits it's range. too bad....

since i am currently very rich in Elite maybe i will try with another ship and another adventure. can't wait to see 4th part of the game. if it will ever come out.

and remember: Save often! You never know what is waiting behind the next planet.

[punch999]

Can you edit hex values with hex editors in this game or is it impossible. Anyone know if I get get infinate money with a hex editor

[gregor]

Originally posted by punch999@Nov 23 2005, 01:31 PM
Can you edit hex values with hex editors in this game or is it impossible. Anyone know if I get get infinate money with a hex editor
there probably is a way....

but to get moeny fast you need to find some good (safe) trade routes and then do business with illegal goods.

This is actually another thing with this game. if they catch you transporting illegal goods you can load the game and land on another planet (they might now catch you there).

even if they do catch you you get a fine, which later you can easilly afford. so i right now i just transport illegal stuff and high profile people with a cargo ship. if they catch me i pay the fine move too another location and sell the goods there. no more loading.

[57E]

Originally posted by whatshisface@Nov 23 2005, 02:06 AM
Hi.
I tried elite plus and absolutley HATED it! boxes, boxes, and more boxes! Is this game different or better than elite plus? Does it have less boxes? Should i get it?
Beter get used with boxes if youre looking a good abandonware games. And yes you should.

[Abi79]

Originally posted by gregor@Nov 23 2005, 11:28 AM
and remember: Save often! You never know what is waiting behind the next planet.
Uh, how can I save or load ?

EDIT; Nevermind. I found out how to do it. Now it's time for me to learn hot to not get killed by those pirates. Argh

[Bear]

FAN-TAS-TIC game in a GREAT series
elite plus was one of my very first pc games, excellent game
and then frontier came ou (elite 2)
could it get any better?
yeah, when gametek published elite 3, man i was VERY happy
it made gampelay a lot smoother, but didnt do much to in game graphics (except for the hyperspace jumps, which look way cooler then in elite 2:p)

i too play this gem on my full dos-pc, too bad my copy has a bug :(
i hope this version gets me all the way:)
looking forward to playing it!

[Guest]

Yes it can be hex edited, as its creators admit. But why would you want to unless you want more of a challenge? Getting nearly infinite money doesn't help much in this game. And if you try to modify one of the ships... well the same stats are used for the ai ships as well as for your ship... :help: congratulations... you just helped your enemies... and since the ai can normally make better use of their ships than you can at higher relative velocities, you actually just handicapped yourself. This can actually be used as a way to make the game harder, just improve every ship type except what you will be using. (about the only useful thing you can do is to make a super long range explorer and go check out the galaxy, or try coming up with new weapons, but remember that every change you make affects the entire game universe and makes it that much harder)

Actually, in FFE, the main point is supposed to be the story. Which is why they made it nearly impossible to become elite. I considering what some of the hardcoded missions say... I'm not sure you can reach elite rank in FFE without doing at least the Alliance vs Federation & Empire part of the story... possibly not without also doing the INRA vs Thargoid sequence as well. (which is a minimum of ~3 years since some of the hardcoded missions are on time release as well as requiring other missions to have already been completed, to bad the harcoded missions weren't finished before FFE shipped) And that is above and beyond the ~18,000 kills required. (the number was increased between FE2 and FFE)

good advice on flying and missions lgongr and gregor, I wasn't sure how or what to explain about them. (you can sometimes land at buggy bases. try time compression 3, sometimes it can get me in when a higher or lower one crashes. tho you might need tc2 or tc4 with other size ships. since I think that the way time compression is handled is by taking longer straight segments of flight, instead of several shorter calculations)

[Haha]

I'm having problems with this one still...
When running in dosbox, I get the 'press y' bit, which i do and the intro launches without having to reenter 'firstenc', then I get a 'reference to page you don't own' message, and it crashes out of Dosbox, I've tried extracting to c: and c:/firstenc and loadfix, but to no avail. I'm sure I'm making a pretty stupid mistake somewhere, but I just can't see where!! Any suggestions?

[whatshisface]

I'm having problems with this one still...
When running in dosbox, I get the 'press y' bit, which i do and the intro launches without having to reenter 'firstenc', then I get a 'reference to page you don't own' message, and it crashes out of Dosbox, I've tried extracting to c: and c:/firstenc and loadfix, but to no avail. I'm sure I'm making a pretty stupid mistake somewhere, but I just can't see where!! Any suggestions?
Same here, ive even downloaded twice but nothing changes.

[Danny252]

Wow, I didn't even think this game was legal to download.

[Sebatianos]

GameTek games are generally abandoned :whistle:

[Tulac]

I didn't actually know that there is Elite 3 :blink:

[Andrea Controzzi]

I was waiting for this game from a long time :ok: .......wonderful...I played to elite 2 on my beloved amiga 1200.......Grazie mille abandonia!!!! :D

[PrejudiceSucks]

No problem, Andrea.

[Guest]

It would be nice if the game didn't send pirates after me every time I try to dock at Argent in Titican. I'm usually killed before I can even find my attackers... I managed to kill one pirate once, but it didn't matter since it only took his wingmen 2-3 hits to kill me.

[Danny252]

Maybe try a safer system?

[whatshisface]

I got the windows version. This is one of the best games i have ever played! :Brain: My only complaint is I die every other trip i make!!! Is there a way to dodge misiles because i cant afford a better shield and even before i find the enemy and start to attack him i die. Any Help?

[Guest]

Titican was recommended by the manual as a safe place for initial trading. Are there any other systems that would make for a good starting route to and from Gateway?

[Eva02Soul]

Yes, for the first few months of game-time, a medicine run from gateway -> Soholia is very profitable when you have enough credits to fill your entire hold.

Wow, last night I destroyed a 20MW armed imperial courier with my default Saker 3. I was pleased.

[Guest]

Elite II and older has been freeware for quite a while. FFE was just made freeware a year or 2 ago. Jades.org has a link to the site of the company that made them, and they are listed as freeware now. As far as I know, all PC versions of Elite, Elite II, and FFE are now freeware, NOT abandonware. They are still owned buy the company that made them. (actually, the origional PC port of Elite may still be in legal limbo, but Elite Plus is a much better version than Elite port)

Frontier: First Encounters (aka Elite III) came out in 1995, just before windows 95, and was made entirely in assembler, which is why it requires special conditions to run. It must be installed on a FAT16 file system, not NTFS, (so you would have to install it from inside dosbox, instead of the "easy" way through win 2K or XP) and it must be installed to C:\firstenc\ not to any other location. It also requires EMS memory, and possibly XMS, (I would have to turn them off to be sure about XMS) and over 500K base memory.

Good first route lasts for 2 or three months and is a mission route. Since the Wiccan Ware Race takes at least 2 jumps in your starting ship. Sell everthing you can from your ship, except the autopilot, atmospheric sheilding (so you can land on planets) and engine. buy medicines stop off at the system that starts with an "s" (cant remember the name, and go to the bbs to sell medicines.

[whatshisface]

gah! I dont know what to do! I try to make trips from old blackwell or somthing like that (the place you start at) and fortress saskoon. But it always says "missile incoming" and two seconds later im burning debree floating around

[Guest]

So how do people manage to play this game? It's almost impossible to arrive at a spacedock without being shot down. What cheats do everyone use to make the first complete trade run? I'm sure if the game was easy enough to let me get to Argent and back to Hope, I could probably have enough money to buy shields and continue the game at the current difficulty.

[Abi79]

Argent is in Titican ? If it is, DO NOT go there. There are safer places around the galaxy, trust me :max:

[gregor]

yes there have to be safer systems arround there. search on the map and see political info. you will find some safer systems where there are no pirates.

[gregor]

ah yes how to dodge a pirate....
personally i never really tried it but there are a few things you can do.

1. first travel only in very safe systems, untill you can afford a larger ship or at least a fast ship. that way you can outrun them. larger ship will provide oyu more shields.
2. to dodge the rocket ECM should do the trick, but don't count on it too much...

3. most importantly save often. sometimes if you save&load or travel at certain time compression you actually wont see any pirates. i once had a problem when i already had a larger ship and was attacked by imperial destroyer who was armed with plasma accelerator. i couldnt' avoid it and it destroyed me the second i dropped out of time compression. the solution was to be in system and travel with low time compression. he was getting close to me on couple of occasions but i always fired at him the right time (backside cannons) and managed to damage him enough so he stopped pursuing me.

4. you can use planets sometimes as hiding spots or use to to slingshot arround them (some physics knowledge should do the trick).

More on how to equip the ship what to selects etc. see Tricks and tips: http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~kelpi/kelpie/

on bottom part of that website.

[Guest]

I did manage to get to Argent and back to Hope in one piece, until my autopilot forced me to reenact "A Journey to the Center of the Earth." Oh the humanity.

[Guest]

Ah... what's a good political system? Titicani is Democratic/Capitalist, and I get raided every time I go. I know feudal and anarchy aren't good...

[Guest]

I always did runs between Earth and Betelgeuse (or a system very near it).
Not the best trade route, but absolutely zero pirates.

[lgonggr]

For people who are having difficulties, this site :
http://www.jades.org/ffe.htm
will explain most off them. I recmmend taking a subscription to all the news and make sure you are featured often. You might even make it to the MOST WANTED list (which is the time to buy a new ship and play the inncoent :whistle: ).

Cheers,
Lodewijk

[Noname boy]

I remember playing this on my old 486/33. I've played Elite + and Elite:Fronteir, but Encounters was always crashing due to bugs. Strange, because Encounters was supposed to be a "bug killer" version of Frontier and it turned out to have more bugs than its predecessor. :crazy:

[Noname boy]

If you like games where you can explore a large universe, try NOCTIS. If you like a more modern Elite, try HARDWAR. It's a trade game set on Titan and even has a story, but you can ignore it and play only to trade, get richer and hunt everyone down. It's on Underdogs site. I strongly recommend HARDWAR to those that found Elite too confusing.

[Eva02Soul]

Noctis is on AR, but the thing you notice most about Noctis is that there are an infinite number of planets to explore, but no atmosphere. No starbases, no being jumped by a gang of light fighters while you're cruising along. No fallible drive system where travelling FTL can actually leave you stranded in the middle of no-man's land.

Has anyone here made a jump and then found out your drive had turned into 60 tons of junk? First time that happened I wasn't sure where all the rubbish came from, then found out I had no engine, and it was coming out of a misjump too.

[whatshisface]

Is there a way to plot a course to a different system? i end up pressing buttons when i've selected the system i want on the map. and i realy hate if you press the space bar accidentaly the say they will charge a fine, and about one minute later it says missile incoming and i explode!! any help on how to get to a different system?

[Toxik]

when youre at a base,go to map,put the crosshair on the system you want to get to,then quit the map,request launch clearance,launch,fly upwards,then the hyperspace icon will in the navigation screen(on the left).Press it

[Eva02Soul]

Originally posted by whatshisface@Nov 24 2005, 01:34 PM
Is there a way to plot a course to a different system? i end up pressing buttons when i've selected the system i want on the map. and i realy hate if you press the space bar accidentaly the say they will charge a fine, and about one minute later it says missile incoming and i explode!! any help on how to get to a different system?
I think you might want to play a different game. Just make sure a missile isn't fired from out of nowhere and blow you up while you're playing it.

Seriously though, the game has a learning curve and the manual was full of misinformation anyway. The best way to master the game is to learn through experience. Save after every successful trip (succesful meaning you're still alive) find your own favourite trade routes, make some mistakes. eventually things start falling into place.

[Guest_Punch999]

What is a good beginers trade route you can start right away?

[Guest]

Earth <-> Barnard's Star is good to begin with.

[MarkB]

:help:
im having problems running the game. i tried loadfix -512, but the game ends up not running. it says it cant find 32rtm.exe and that it must be on the same path or something. well i found 32rtm.exe and it's in the game folder.

when i try not to do loadfix or loadfix with anything lower than 512, the game crashes and says something about reference to a page i dont own. and dosbox exits.

i tried the reverse engineer file: winjjffe28b. it works but there's no sound.

tis a shame since i heard so much about this game being a classic and all and privateer can get kinda boring after a while.

anyway, i appreciate any help. well at least your attention has been brought to this.

[Guest_punch999]

use the java version that is on the 1st page of this topic

[bahman]

Originally posted by Guest@Nov 24 2005, 02:02 PM
Earth <-> Barnard's Star is good to begin with.
Oh guys please help. I spent all my money to buy the thing for trade now I am out of money and I don't know where to go to sell the thing. Where is the earth? You mean hope? Can we trade something with planets in a system. How you can go to other system?.... I am dying herlp...

[Guest]

Originally posted by Guest@Nov 24 2005, 02:02 PM
Earth <-> Barnard's Star is good to begin with.
Gee, thanks.:not_ok: Just in case you didn't already know, we can't get to Earth or Barnard's Star from Gateway right in the beginning.

[piggeh]

This is a career/life-threatening game. I was supposed to go down the gym yesterday as part of my health drive. Instead I ended up playing this until 3am. And then I almost missed a job interview this morning after I woke up late! LOL.

Previously I had played Elite II, but I always died early on. This time I've been a bit more patient and now got ?30,000 so far. Working my way towards a viper mkII. :) There's less bugs in this than the second one - I used to fast forward and end up crashing when docking, but this seems to have improved somewhat.

I'm playing the java version - the only thing I dont like is the lack of sound. I cant hear it when I hit the enemy ships. Bit a small gripe really.

Cant believe I've lost my originals for Elite II either! Used to have the amiga and PC versions, with all the maps, and everything. Looked on ebay yesterday - ?45 one of them is going for! Blimey!

[Guest]

Why are such impossible-to-play games like the Elite series so sought after? I'd like to hang the developers of First Encounter for making it impossible to trade anywhere outside Hope.

[Eva02Soul]

Originally posted by Guest+Nov 24 2005, 03:54 PM****</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Guest @ Nov 24 2005, 03:54 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> ******QuoteBegin-Guest@Nov 24 2005, 02:02 PM
Earth <-> Barnard's Star is good to begin with.
Gee, thanks.:not_ok: Just in case you didn't already know, we can't get to Earth or Barnard's Star from Gateway right in the beginning. [/b][/quote]
Actually, it should be possible. Sell your missiles, stock up totally on hydro fuel, and plan your jump routes carefully. You might be able to reach the core systems.

[punch]

From turner you buy nerve gas and then go to old curie and buy grain and sell them to eachother

And its all on hope the starting planet

[gregor]

Originally posted by bahman+Nov 24 2005, 03:44 PM****</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (bahman @ Nov 24 2005, 03:44 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> ******QuoteBegin-Guest@Nov 24 2005, 02:02 PM
Earth <-> Barnard's Star is good to begin with.
Oh guys please help. I spent all my money to buy the thing for trade now I am out of money and I don't know where to go to sell the thing. Where is the earth? You mean hope? Can we trade something with planets in a system. How you can go to other system?.... I am dying herlp... [/b][/quote]
search for nearest system with low crime on the map and target it. now all you have to do is use the hyperspace drive and and hyperspace to it. sell the goodies tehre and restock with some maschinery. go back to hope and repeat until rich.

[Punch]

What is the systems name do you know?

[Ashes]

I keep telling you. Weapons are for grown-ups. Sell ALL your weapons at the beggining execpt for ONE missile. That means sell your laser. Then After you have learned not to accidently hit the space bar, and after you have succesfully played the first 2 game MONTHS, start testing out weapons in unoccupied areas of space. Don't fire a weapon anywhere within 4 AU's of a base or planet unless you are attacked, if you want to be safe from the police.

Also Don't just sit there on Time Compression level 5. You won't be able to react fast enough to survive. Until you have survived the Wiccan Ware Race at least once, (after which you can start over to do it better) don't go above TC4. And ALWAYS go down to the lowest level, TC1 before fighting. Never try landing above TC3, and only try that once you have finished the Wiccan Ware Race.

If your autopilot tries to run you through the planet, then fly on manual to go Around the planet and only then, when you are dirrectly over the place, use the autopilot to land.

That should take care of the basic meesups you would otherwise do. But most important is... BE PATIENT!!!

[punch]

but still what is the closest system with low crime

[Guest]

I bet 1,000 virtuabucks nobody can figure out the difference between "High" and "Very High" detail levels! I sure can't.

[Guest]

Also, I'm not sure about how much everybody else is making, but you can make 500-1000 credits per robot that you haul from Hiroshima Base in the Anayol system back to Old Blackelk in Gateway. Also, you can haul animal meat to Hiroshima from Anayal for 70 credits profit each ton.

[Toxik]

Carriing medical from titican to soholia in the very beggining of the game brings some neat profit too(you must sell in the ad board,not in the stocking list)

[Danny252]

Ouch, this really dosen't like Dosbox. Won't run even with Frameskip 10 and any number of cycles... and VDMsound wont even run it...

I get past the intro, and Dosbox gives me an error:

Reference to a page you dont own
PF cr2=00FE A174

At least thats all I can get...

[punch]

use the java version in the first page of this topic

[whatshisface]

The only down side to this game is dying, its to damn easy!! I cannt get to the system hourze with my customer without being shot down by a flying space potato looking ship! after the first 3 deaths i decided to try to go all the way with no time compretion to the nearest planet. and when im attacked i have half a second of reaction time before my hull is dissentigraded by hot plasma!!! and i find near imposible to lock on to fire a missile i did it only 2 times and i do not know how i did it, any help?

[gregor]

1: Go to sol (system)
2: Sell all equipment except for autopilot nav computer and atmospheric shielding.
3: Buy enough fuel for a trip to Bernards star (near Sol)
4: Fill up remaining cargo space with luxury goods
5: Hyperspace to Bernards star
6: Go to a station (I used miller depot)
7: Sell all luxury goods
8: Buy enough fuel for a trip back to Sol.
9: Fill up remaining space on Robots or Computers
10: Hyperspace to Sol
11: Sell Robots or Computers for huge profit. (look on bulletin board for special buyers)
12: Repeat until very rich.

[gregor]

Originally posted by whatshisface@Nov 24 2005, 07:16 PM
The only down side to this game is dying, its to damn easy!! I cannt get to the system hourze with my customer without being shot down by a flying space potato looking ship! after the first 3 deaths i decided to try to go all the way with no time compretion to the nearest planet. and when im attacked i have half a second of reaction time before my hull is dissentigraded by hot plasma!!! and i find near imposible to lock on to fire a missile i did it only 2 times and i do not know how i did it, any help?
well when you are attacked use your afterburners first (enter key) to go away form attacker.

the targeting should work if you use t key and then aim with your ships nose on opponent.

otherwise see advice above ;)

[Danny252]

Originally posted by punch@Nov 24 2005, 06:51 PM
use the java version in the first page of this topic
That blurry thing which has sound worse than a broken Adlib soundcard?

[whatshisface]

hurrah! that flying space potato pirate thing is now burning debree!! one question though, what are the coordinates for sol? I cant seem to find it.

[Danny252]

somewhere near the centre... I'd have thought :P

[bahman]

Originally posted by Abi79@Nov 22 2005, 08:58 PM
Or, if one can't solve this problem, just keep the downloaded game from here on your computer and, in it's folder, copy the files located in this archive (only for Windows 95, 98, 2000, ME, XP) (http://www.eliteclub.org.uk/downloads/winjjffe28b.zip) After that open the file ffewin28.exe and enjoy ! :ok:
Simply try this.

[Toxik]

Originally posted by whatshisface@Nov 24 2005, 09:47 PM
hurrah! that flying space potato pirate thing is now burning debree!! one question though, what are the coordinates for sol? I cant seem to find it.
exactly 0,0

[punch]

what Is a low low crime system in the beggining!

[Danny252]

Uhm, try working it out from the game data?

[Guest]

For the third time, manage to get to Earth and you got a good starting point.
Then start trading with Barnard's Star.

[Ashes]

If you want to start at sol, wait through the intro movie and you will see a menu with 5 or six choices. Three of them are starting locations. The default is up in Alliance space, with a Saker Mk III. You need to use that start to get the first couple Hardcoded missions. (which are well worth the money if you can manage them) Another starts you on Earth in Sol (loc 0,0) in an Eagle. (or is it an Eagle Mk III) The other starts you at Lave in a Cobra Mk III like in the origional Elite's. This is actually the one I would recomend until you have gotten used to the game.
You could also do this just by hitting 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 while the intro is playing, instead of hitting esc. to get past it.

Trade between Leesti and Diso (the 2 systems immediately down and to the left from Lave) Buy manufactured goods of various types at the one and raw materials at the other. They are both relatively peaceful, but with enough available action to get you started. And directly down and to the left from them is a fourth system which has an anarchy gov and makes an assured combat practice system with tons of realatively easy enemies. Tho they can still kill you when they swarm. A sugestion would be to pause time right after you jump in, and select the system you want to escape to, so that you can jump out fast when you are almost dead.

I use the more difficult default start, but then I also fly on manual, and only get the auto pilot when I want to fly the same route several times in a row without having to be at the computer the whole time.

If you are having trouble running FFE, then get the java version, J2FFE which will run directly and without needing dosbox. It also fixes most of the bugs, tho admitedly sound is worse.

P.S. They actually used real stars for most of the ones within a couple hundred lightyears, and actualy put them where astronomers think they are in relation to sol. Tho they did rename many of them to fit the earlier games in the series.

[Ashes]

Here is a basic map from memory. I don't currently have it installed since I limit how many games I am playing at any one time, but this will help you find things in the story line.
. . . ^ thargoids(5,79?)
. ||
*soholia .
*gateway *titican
(alliance stars) .
. . . . .
. . .
. . .
.
. (federation)
.
. . . *sol(0,0) . .
. . . . . .
. . . . . . . . .
.
.
. *(imperial capitol)
. (empire)
.
.
. .
*lave . . .
** leesti and diso .
* (easy system with anarchy)

The alliance is around -8,14
The empire is around -1,-6
Lave is around -10,-13
the thargoids are around 5,79
the federation is around 0,0

[Ashes]

:help: oops, sorry, tried an asci pic, but the forum removed the spaces.

[gregor]

Sol is 0,0

Go a little bit right (you can see Alioth - capital of alliance) then down till you get to quadrant 0,0.


i guess you need to do some missions if you want thargoid ship right?

i met them once and battled them with my cargo ship. could barelly defeat them. i wish those missions were not so tough. and they also require a military drive (why????????).


i like bieng assasing. waiting bahind the space station and when they come out to go into hyperspace - bzzzzzzzzz PUF! yeeehaaa!!! Rock & Roll! and i am off to another planet.

Btw if oyu come in trouble you can use random hyperspace jump (Shift+H i think).

One thing i never managed to use properly is could analyser. once i hyperspace behind the "target" i never find him in another system he went to.

[Abi79]

Originally posted by Ashes@Nov 25 2005, 03:34 AM
If you want to start at sol, wait through the intro movie and you will see a menu with 5 or six choices.
At the end of the intro, instead of showing me those options, it starts again. It doesn't work for me.

EDIT: How does one find the sector in which he is, if he scrooled to far away from it ?

[TheChosen]

The third part of the Elite......


Wow.....

[stijnelijn]

to start on mars with a kinda crappy plane:

start, click, hit escape, new game, hit 2 during intro and there you are.

This is how i did it at least.

[Toxik]

Originally posted by stijnelijn@Nov 25 2005, 06:09 PM
to start on mars with a kinda crappy plane:

start, click, hit escape, new game, hit 2 during intro and there you are.

This is how i did it at least.
i think you are talking about elite2 because it had 3 choices of start and the seconf one was on mars with some spaceship equipped with just interplanetary drive

[Guest]

Would be nice if it would run in DOSBox, because I have an Audigy sound card so the SoundBlaster emulation stutters under Windows XP. Creative said they simply weren't going to address that years ago.

[velik_m]

Originally posted by Abi79@Nov 25 2005, 10:35 AM

EDIT: How does one find the sector in which he is, if he scrooled to far away from it ?
there should be a key for it or there is one of the icons. have you searched the manual for that?

how about if you go in the system (map of system with planet orbits) and then pop out again?

[Abi79]

Originally posted by velik_m@Nov 25 2005, 09:32 PM
how about if you go in the system (map of system with planet orbits) and then pop out again?
I tried it. Doesn't work. I'll check the manual

[Guest]

Nevermind, all I had to do to fix the stuttering was reboot. I think I had some kind of memory leak, everything kept getting slower and slowwerrrr.

[Guest]

you can actually find some of the thargoid things without having a mission there. If you already know the coords. Check jades.org if you want more info. They have links to most of what you could want. including walkthroughs, technical readouts, hints, cheats, and anything else for all three elites. And yes, there is a key that centers the map, tho I cant remember if it is on you, or on (0,0) but holding down shift and the arrow keys moves by a whole map square at a time.

If I got the locations wrong, I'm sorry, but that was from memory since I'm currently playing some other games, and I try to limit how many major games I keep installed at one time.

My sugestion is to not attack the thargoids, since if you do attack them, you can't get the last few hardcoded missions, and you can't get thargoid ships and weapons. Which are VERY powerful and VERY good.
Also I seem to remember that FFE doesn't allow the forced mis-jumps that the earlier versions allowed. (in Elite I, you could use that as a way to fight the thargoids in witchspace)

[Guest]

I have the largest "fighter class" ship available, and 10 shield generators but I still can't take 1 second of fire from a ship of the same configuration (4MW Beam Laser). I have no idea why it's so unbalanced. :/

[Eva02Soul]

You're using the largest fighter class ship available and you've only got 10 shields and a 4MW beam? what a waste of an Imperial Explorer.

The thing with the beam laser is it's a continual weapon. So, even though against a pulse laser 10 shield generators would be more that enough, with a beam laser continually trying to punch through them, they get overloaded really quickly. As soon as they're gone, a 4MW beam laser would be enough to kill a smaller ship instantly, and a larger ship in a couple of seconds of continual fire. Combat in FFE usually boils down to 'kill or be killed', and even a comfortable amount of shield generators (50 or so) will only grant you a few seconds thinking time against the larger weaponry. Anything you can use they can too with some exceptions. (I've never been plasma bombed before, luckily)

[Guest]

After I buy a Military Drive Class 2 and try to leave a docking station (on Soholia,) I get stuck in the bay doors.
Is this a curable bug? How do I best buy M.D. Class 2 near Gateway?

[Guest]

More information: it doesn't matter whether it is an inside docking bay or outside.
And both Military Drive class 1 or 2 cause the bug.
I am stuck when departing:
Bug info: Inside docking: the ship will not accelerate at all, if there's enough space I can maneuver about in all directions. When there isn't space it will hit a wall and lose Hull fast.
Outside docking: As soon as I hit the 'Engines On' button the screen shakes up and down wildly and any attempt to fly away results in crashing to the planet surface.

[whatshisface]

I took the advice gregor gave a couple pages back, (to sol, buy stuff, to bernards star, sell stuff, buy stuff)... and now i am very very rich!! my problem is my progres is slowing because of my small cargo space, i need a ship that is cheep and has a big cargo hold. Please help.

[Eva02Soul]

My first choice in the career i'm playing now, after the default saker 3, was the viper 2. Nice amount of room for cargo after you've loaded it up with essentials.

[Ashes]

The military drives use a special military fuel instead of just hydrogen fuel, so you probably just don't have any of the correct type of fuel. (MD's also produce radioactives, which are illegal some places, like at sol, so consider that when you buy one)

Don't even TRY combat until you can successfully manually navigate a complete jump, from take off, thru hyperspace, to docking, without using the autopilot even once. And the docking should be at a rotating space station. That is the MINIMUM competancy necessary for combat.

[bahman]

Originally posted by whatshisface@Nov 26 2005, 05:48 PM
I took the advice gregor gave a couple pages back, (to sol, buy stuff, to bernards star, sell stuff, buy stuff)... and now i am very very rich!! my problem is my progres is slowing because of my small cargo space, i need a ship that is cheep and has a big cargo hold. Please help.
So I think you need a bigger car (truck).

[gregor]

Originally posted by whatshisface@Nov 26 2005, 05:48 PM
I took the advice gregor gave a couple pages back, (to sol, buy stuff, to bernards star, sell stuff, buy stuff)... and now i am very very rich!! my problem is my progres is slowing because of my small cargo space, i need a ship that is cheep and has a big cargo hold. Please help.
there is plenty of bigger ships available... you should do some search on various planets (i suggest you try and get something in bernards star as they probably are better stocked). basically if you are on space station you can buy teh biggest one you can afford and then strip. all it needs (for trade in those two safe systemes) is cargo space and engines. you dont' need anything else.

oh and crew. always make sure enough people want to fly!!!! pay them good salary at first, you can sack them later. don't worry.

in fact i have now all my crew on minimum wage :evil: and i drive a panther clipper (has problems with rocket bug, but who needs rockets on such big ship...)

As for shields - yeah this part is a bit strange, because the larger cargo space the larger shields you can have. Imperial explorer is the largest fighter, but for example my cargo ship has so much generators (i think 200) plus i equiped it with all extras (such as energy boosters, autorepair etc.) that it can sustain most of attacks. the only one that burns out the shields and hull to quickly are impersial explorers with particle accelerators. but there are very few of them in systems and i can always load and destroy them.
also dangerous are smaller ships equiped with 100MW beam laser, but only if they have some supports. otherwise i am invincible. my turrets take care of pirate scum.

[Guest]

Guys, try a game called Protostar: War on the Frontier. I remember playing it in the old days; you can trade, explore a sector (including planet surface), several races to deal with, name planets and alien species and you have a story to unfold.

Not as big or as open-ended as Elite, but much more fun. And much less buggy too.

[stijnelijn]

uhmm

protostar was a helpless little game really. With a very small playwindow if i recall right.

[Danny252]

Im doing Sol-Barnards and within 1 game year I've made quite alot of money. Im also on my 3rd ship. 65 tons of space, man!

My essentials:
Drive
Autopilot
Scanner
Nav Computer

Thats all you need when travelling in safe systems! And then you dont really need the scanner.

[Orichifunk]

I really want to learn this game, but so far I'm completely clueless. Everything seems so hard to grasp. I guess I'll just have to keep trying, as I hope it'll be rewarding in the end..?

[gregor]

Originally posted by Orichifunk@Nov 27 2005, 07:09 PM
I really want to learn this game, but so far I'm completely clueless. Everything seems so hard to grasp. I guess I'll just have to keep trying, as I hope it'll be rewarding in the end..?
it help to know a bit about mechanics

also search for my advice somewhere in these posts... (page 6)

[Tigershark]

Originally posted by Guest@Nov 26 2005, 03:01 PM
More information: it doesn't matter whether it is an inside docking bay or outside.
And both Military Drive class 1 or 2 cause the bug.
I am stuck when departing:
Bug info: Inside docking: the ship will not accelerate at all, if there's enough space I can maneuver about in all directions. When there isn't space it will hit a wall and lose Hull fast.
Outside docking: As soon as I hit the 'Engines On' button the screen shakes up and down wildly and any attempt to fly away results in crashing to the planet surface.
Make sure you refuel you're ship. This happened to me as well. Whenever you buy a new drive, you start without any fuel in it, so you need to fill 'er up.

[Gilneas]

I suggest using this guide:
Jades' Mission Guide (http://www.jades.org/missions.htm)

As you can see the first three hard-coded Missions start IN THE FIRST TWO MONTHS! So you really haven't a lot of time to do them. As the guide says, start with mission two, you will make a lot of money!
I made 50.000 in 1 month.

[gregor]

Originally posted by Gilneas@Nov 27 2005, 11:37 PM
I suggest using this guide:
Jades' Mission Guide (http://www.jades.org/missions.htm)

As you can see the first three hard-coded Missions start IN THE FIRST TWO MONTHS! So you really haven't a lot of time to do them. As the guide says, start with mission two, you will make a lot of money!
I made 50.000 in 1 month.
that's a very good guide! :w00t:

i usually pick up mission at random. i am a trade, so i take only assasination that pay good. now i see there is a whole plot in this. maybe i will start all over again.

[tomf]

are there any cheat codes to get infinite money or a trainer/hex editor will do

[gregor]

Originally posted by tomf@Nov 28 2005, 08:13 AM
are there any cheat codes to get infinite money or a trainer/hex editor will do
i never managed find them, but if it's money you are after then you will get it very fast like this:

1: Go to sol (system)
2: Sell all equipment except for autopilot nav computer and atmospheric shielding.
3: Buy enough fuel for a trip to Bernards star (near Sol)
4: Fill up remaining cargo space with luxury goods
5: Hyperspace to Bernards star
6: Go to a station (I used miller depot)
7: Sell all luxury goods
8: Buy enough fuel for a trip back to Sol.
9: Fill up remaining space on Robots or Computers
10: Hyperspace to Sol
11: Sell Robots or Computers for huge profit. (look on bulletin board for special buyers)
12: Repeat until very rich.

[whatshisface]

Whats the difference between a military drive and a hyperdrive?

[Guest]

The Military Drive wastes much less with in a Jumpgate.

[bahman]

Originally posted by whatshisface@Nov 29 2005, 01:16 AM
Whats the difference between a military drive and a hyperdrive?
I think military driver uses some sort of radiactive fuel, so first it is smaller and also its feul require less space, the best choice for cambat ships. One has to save space of combat ships for weapon, shield, etc.

[Eva02Soul]

Military drives use Military fuel, which is more expensive and causes dangerous radioactive byproducts. You can jettison the radioactives, but that can bring you a nasty fine in civilized systems. The drive itself is much smaller than the same class hydrogen drive, but anything over a class 3 drive is military restricted and not allowed for public use.

[bahman]

Where can I find class 8 military deriver?

[Eva02Soul]

short answer: they don't exist

long answer: You cannot buy class 8 drives, period. They are so massive that they must be pre-built to spaceship design and fitted. The only way to have a class 8 hyperdrive is to buy a ship that has it.

[Ashes]

The thargoid drive counts as a class 8 or 9 military drive. All military drives are better than their equivalent number regular drive, so the thargoid drive is the best drive in the game. But to get it, you must do almost all of the available hardcoded missions. (It takes about 3 game years do to fixed starting times on some of the missions)

My basic trading loadout:
Atmospheric shielding (so I can land on planets)
Drive (military or thargoid, smallest that will let me run the route in under a week)
1.5 times the fuel neccessary for the route (so I have backup)

No auto pilot since I fly and dock on manual faster than the autopilot could, using minimum delta t transfer orbits. (I practice with Orbiter, a space flight sim than NASA endorses as the most realistic you can get without being in the space flight business :wall: :whistle: )

The money edit isn't worth it. This is one game where having unlimited money doesn't help if you are no good. And editing the ships gives the computer more of an advantage than it gives you, since the computer uses the exact same basic ships you do, and it can react more quickly. I edit the game to make it harder. (or sometimes to get more range so I can just go exploring the galaxy to see the sights, but that one also makes it harder to play the game)

Most of the best stuff, and the plot, is in the hardcoded missions. And you can't get most of them unless you start at the default start, in The Aliance space. There are also softcoded missions and plots that are only available through the military missions. And sometimes they are mutually exclusive. Especially once you get up to the higher military ranks, and find that some missions are unavailable because of ones you did for the other side. (basically, anything that shows up in the journals, is a major part of the game, and will affect your options, so it is worth buying 10 year subscriptions to each of them, and past those 10 years, there aren't any working hardcoded missions)

Unlike Elite II, the goal of FFE is the hardcoded missions, instead of becoming elite. Do you help the Empire, or the Federation? Squashing the Alliance in the proccess, of course. Or do you help the Alliance contact the Thargoids? And then find out about the shadowy conspuracy run by the INRA. (better be pretty high in the military so you can get nuclear missiles) Do you help the Thargoids, being labeled fugitive by the INRA, and get their technology? Or do you ruthlessly destroy them for the INRA and get labeled elite, and get the highest ranks in both the Empire and the federation?

And I say again. Look it up for yourself on jades.org since they have a lot more than I will put in here, including links.

[gregor]

Another way to make money is to collect radioactive waste on civilised worlds (you get payed for that) and then you go through hyperspace and jettison the cargo. :-D

just don't jetison it too fast cause it can backfire and damage your shields and hull.

Ugh too bad i didn't know about hardcoded missions so much. i am too far in the game now i guess.... oh well i still enjoy a flight now and then. only thing that bothers me is i left two mining maschines and now i can't find the system where i left them. there should be some search in the game or at least the coordinates should be written next to systems name. cause after playing trader i want to become a miner. i am still on the lookout for the asteroied as it appears they are more profitable than mining maschines.

[balacay]

Nice game!!! Gave'd it a 5!!! :ok: :ok: :ok:

However, can anybody give me the smallest clue, how to detect solar systems with lots of asteroids. I found one day some asteroids and I had a mining laser, and when I returned to a space station with 200t of gem stones (I did't knew that gem stones where so expensive) I was.... :kosta: , but when I whent back for more gem stones the asteroids where gone, I was in a diferent part of the solar system this time :cry: .

Can anybody tell me if it's true that all planet's with the same fizic have the same ore deposits. I found in every solar systems only water deposints :cry:

And how do you become a real soldier? I read the manual that you can do small missions for the military and be free, and thet you can sign a contract and from that second on you are "a slave" of the army(you can't do anything, exept military stuff).

[Guest]

Haven't seen that personaly, but then some of the hardcoded missions are mutually exclusive with the very high military ranks, so I don't know. I only get high enough rank to get the missions that allow me to use nuclear missiles, (anti base missiles!!!) since They are needed in some of the thargoid missions.

For the asteroids, remember that they tried for realism. Asteroids are few and far between, except sometimes for rings around planets. The planets and asteroids actually do orbit their respective primaries. (normally suns, but sometimes larger planets or brown dwarfs) If you sit still on a planet surface, and set time compression up high, you can watch sunrises and sunsets, and if you wait long enough, (planet year) you can watch the constellations move around the sky. Stuff doesn't stay still and wait for you to come by, so you have to understand some of the physics of orbits if you want to find something small, or do manual flying.
To find an asteroid belt:
1)use your solar system map and zoom out until you can see all the planets orbits.
2)look for the missing orbit where the asteroid belt is supposed to be.
3)fly to that orbit using the map
4)fly around that orbit with time compression on one of the higher settings, but never flying very fast. (so that if you fly past something, you can get back to it easilly by pausing and then targetting it, and then using cockpit view with targetting tunnels activated in settings)

Best mining strategy, is to get a light exploring ship, and go outsided colonised space untill you find a good planet or system. If you have mining machines with you, drop them off, and write down on paper the location where you put them. (include any extra details that may help, such as which planet in the system, and where on it) go back to a civillised system, and get the largest ship you can, and outfit it with the bare minimum. (include autopilot in this case since it doesn't take nuch room, you obviously don't care about time spent, and it saves work and doing over if you mess up) Then start following your impromtu trade route.

[Ashes]

I really should go find my old password, so I wouldn't keep accidently post as "guest". :wall: LOL

[gregor]

also i htink that planet surface should have a bit higher temperature otherwise you will really be mining ice (you get watter).

[Ashes]

You melt it so that it will take up less space in your ship. LOL

[laiocfar]

My game didn´t works even in dosbox or in pure DOS :cry: :help:

[bahman]

Originally posted by laiocfar@Dec 2 2005, 03:12 PM
My game didn´t works even in dosbox or in pure DOS :cry: :help:
try this: http://www.eliteclub.org.uk/downloads/winjjffe28b.zip

[Calabite]

I could use a little help here but please don't shout at me for being dim. I'm running ffe with the java patch and used to play frontier a while ago but for the life of me can't work this problem out. When I use the navcomp to select a destination and then get attacked I cannot reclaim control of my thrusters. I can change the facing of my ship but present an easy target as I'm drifting unidirectionally. What have I missed? The manual is no help.

Mike

[Eva02Soul]

It sounds like your thrusters are under full manual direction, and you're drifting because your forward momentum hasn't been equaled yet. click on your thrusters until you see the set speed and actual speed indicators in the bottom left corner. That allows automatics to do most of the work.

[Toxik]

Originally posted by Calabite@Dec 10 2005, 08:37 AM
I could use a little help here but please don't shout at me for being dim. I'm running ffe with the java patch and used to play frontier a while ago but for the life of me can't work this problem out. When I use the navcomp to select a destination and then get attacked I cannot reclaim control of my thrusters. I can change the facing of my ship but present an easy target as I'm drifting unidirectionally. What have I missed? The manual is no help.

Mike
in the lower left cornes is your speed and if its like x thousand of km/s,you dont have any chance of steering.you would have to slow down first,and that takes few hours.

[laiocfar]

QUOTE (laiocfar @ Dec 2 2005, 03:12 PM)
My game didn´t works even in dosbox or in pure DOS crybaby.gif brain_help.gif

try this: http://www.eliteclub.org.uk/downloads/winjjffe28b.zip




what it is supposed to do? thanks in advance

[Calabite]

Thanks Toxik, I think you're right. Anybody got any tips on how to survive when screaming at silly speeds and getting zinged around by pirates. My panther can handle it but isn't fast enough for many military missions. My smaller ships get destroyed in just a few seconds if I can't manuever.

Also hang on... If I can't manuever because of my speed, how can the pirates?

Man I love this game, but it's busting my brain.

Mike

[Toxik]

This game has strange system with those pirates.For example the last timeflow speeder button acts like random pirate generator.(Empty space around me,at least 300km of safe zone.I press that button,on clock I see that 2secs has passed and Im attacked with pirates.Looks like they managed to get to me,slow down and get in position in 2 secs.Strange-when I use the fourth button instead,they find me after 2 hours,using 3rd its even longer...plus they just appear,you cant see them in distance)

Whoa this post had horrible amount of typos...

[Danny252]

They get there faster because...
You speed up time!
Pause, Normal speed, 10x, 100x, 1000x, 10000x
Thats the buttons I believe. 10000x is 10000 x normal time.

[Toxik]

yes,but i meant GAME time,not real time.for example,the ship's clock says 15.00.00,i press speed up,pirates attack me,and the clock shows 15.00.05.Using lower time speeding it they attack me around 15.45.00
(all time values generated randomly,hovewer,they are based on reality)

[whatshisface]

could anyone help? ive tinkered around with this game and downloaded it several times i cant seem to get it to run in DOSBox. what are the steps you took? i can start it and get the intro on dosbox, and the music is good quality. It says in the review that the game crashes out of DOSbox on the first time but for me it crashes every time.

[Abi79]

I posted at the beggining of this tread (not the first page; the second or the third) a program which makes this game run in Windows, but it still needs the files which can be downloaded from here. That's what I use. If you can't get it to work with that program, PM me :ok:

[ShadowBlade]

By the way, to make sound and music work in the Windows Java version, change the text in hmiset.cfg (C:\firstenc\game) to:

[DIGITAL]
DeviceName *= Sound Blaster Pro * * * *
DeviceIRQ * = 5
DeviceDMA * = 1
DevicePort *= 0x220
DeviceID * *= 0xe001

[MIDI]
DeviceName *= Sound Blaster Pro * * * *
DevicePort *= 0x388
DeviceID * *= 0xa002


Sound should work by now, but you need to do an additional step to get music to work properly. Open ffewin.cfg (same directory as before), look for the string softsynth and change the value from 0 to 1 (so you'd have softsynth=1). That'll allow Windows to use its MIDI synthetizer to play the game music files correctly.

I hope that helps. :D

[whatshisface]

i would still like to know the steps to run this game in dosbox instead of the windows version. The windows version is small blury and has no sound. what happens is i run it in dosbox it plays the intro then crashes and says "reference to a page you dont own.

[gregor]

Originally posted by Toxik@Dec 11 2005, 09:54 AM
This game has strange system with those pirates.For example the last timeflow speeder button acts like random pirate generator.(Empty space around me,at least 300km of safe zone.I press that button,on clock I see that 2secs has passed and Im attacked with pirates.Looks like they managed to get to me,slow down and get in position in 2 secs.Strange-when I use the fourth button instead,they find me after 2 hours,using 3rd its even longer...plus they just appear,you cant see them in distance)

Whoa this post had horrible amount of typos...
time compression also means you go to hybernation. maybe the pirates feel safe to sneak up at that point? :blink:

@whatshisface

What file do you run to start the game? are you running it from it's main folder?

Game should sort of "crash" in beginning. it writes some text, then you should press Y and it will crahs. and then all you do is run it again, press Y again and it should run normally.

[whatshisface]

What file do you run to start the game? are you running it from it's main folder?

Game should sort of "crash" in beginning. it writes some text, then you should press Y and it will crahs. and then all you do is run it again, press Y again and it should run normally.
but thats the thing it dosent it keeps on crashing and crashing!ive done everything people say to do but no luck.

[gregor]

could it be a Sound card issue? well if you really want help i suggest two things:

1. post in troubleshooting forum

2. post your specs and everything you did (see troubleshooting forum for more info on what to post)


otherwise no one can really help you.

[Delfino]

For beginners: try the Facece - Veques route. It's good because it's quite profitable, and you can get lot's of points for carrying packages for impire.

And you have Archernar very close for all hight tech stuff to buy.

[Bystranded]

Actually, EFE is Shareware and not Freeware. That D. Braben's "Encounters" company hasn't released the game beyond the shareware at Eliteclub.

[Judukan-Empire]

wonderful game :) I WON THE RACE !!!!!

[punch999]

That's cool. Have you done all the other stuff and become rich rich and rich?

[Guest3]

I became a serious 'Frontier-head' on my amiga years ago, and only started playing Elite FFE last year. I found this thread really usefull in getting it all working properly for me(with sound/music/fullscreen etc)

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=127267

I've loved these games from the very first time a friend showed me Elite on his BBC computer! And i'm still playing FFE between other games now.

I'd say the only dissapointment i've got about it(and Frontier also) is that compared to the origonal game its much easier to find ways of making loads of money. It doesn't take too long to set yourself up with a pretty good ship.

At the momment i'm in an Asp - great all round ship, but i also gave the 'Galactica Falcon' a go that the guy posted a save file about in that thread above. He even wrote a story to fit it in to the game timeline!

Will we ever see an Elite4? I hope so as i've never found the other pretenders to the crown as addictive as the Elite games(talking about the X,X2 games/privateer etc) - they all look way better, but thats about it?

[Lightmun]

Originally posted by Eva02Soul@Nov 22 2005, 07:14 AM
Yes, I still play this quite a bit, but it can be extremely frustrating until you get a good ship up and running. You'll be dying a lot. One second you're speeding through to the nearest orbital station on time-compression, then next you've been jumped by 4-5 pirates. Even with only 5 MW beam lasers hitting an unshielded hull, you're dead in seconds. Although on the flip side, you really feel you've earned your imperial juggernaught of death when you can finally afford it, and with a few hundred tons worth of shielding not a lot can touch you.
:ph34r:Huh! Unless you have a good fight method you'll die often and the game will make you feel exhausted! It's not necessary to improve you'r ship with a tons of shields, Man! I fly my Viper Defence MK II with no shields and for example Imperial Cruiser is nothing more than just a duck wich I can shoot imediatelly (It's bigger and more powerfull but My VDMKII is FASTER man) and that's the point of it- Have a nice day Commander!



Lightmun From Poland

[Guest]

i find it rather stupid that an interplanetary shuttle has NO CABINS, and therefore you cannot fly people to their destinations.

[Goodguy]

Originally posted by Guest@Apr 8 2006, 08:47 PM
i find it rather stupid that an interplanetary shuttle has NO CABINS, and therefore you cannot fly people to their destinations.
forgot to enter my name, not htat anyone aill actually see this post :wall:

[Goodguy]

:help: hmm....its a good game but i just cant find my way around..before i can complete a trade in even a highly policed area im blasted by pirates. this prevents me from getting money, which prevens me from getting a new ship with fuel in it...i dont even know where to buy extra fuel for my ship, which forces me to attempt a trade, which leads to me ge3tting blasted by pirates AGAIN :wall: :wall: :wall: :wall: :wall: :wall:

[Goodguy3]

Originally posted by Goodguy@Apr 8 2006, 04:05 PM
:help: hmm....its a good game but i just cant find my way around..before i can complete a trade in even a highly policed area im blasted by pirates. this prevents me from getting money, which prevens me from getting a new ship with fuel in it...i dont even know where to buy extra fuel for my ship, which forces me to attempt a trade, which leads to me ge3tting blasted by pirates AGAIN :wall: :wall: :wall: :wall: :wall: :wall:
nevermind i got it now, and have been doing ok...i just LOVE how the game screws you over suddenly..i was in a viper D craft with a full cargo of robots heading for SOL, when i suffer a misjump into an unknown place, so i jump to SOL...and on the way tomars high I RUN OUT OF FUEL AND HAVE TO RELOAD A PREVIOUS GAME because NOONE RESPONDS TO DISTRESS SIGNALS!!! :cry: :eeeeeh: :cry: :wall: :wall: :wall:

[Guest_Mighty Midget]

Does anyone know about the ineffective shields issue? I've been playing this game a lot for years now, but there are a couple of weird/frustrating things going on. I usually get me a Panther which I load up with shields to the point where it should survive a head2head with a mid-sized rocky planet. Problem is that a 1 MW pulse shreds this ship to pieces in a very short amount of time. 2nd: I've been looking at the other Frontier and I once read that you could contact traffic control for some air traffic info. Not so in any of my copies. And last: Any good suggestions on how to survive battle without a turret? Slap me and call me Jill, but I haven't figured out how to out-manouver any ship. They keep out-manouvering me, hence the Panther, although I would rather like to have an Imp Trader or a (cooler still) a Tiger.


PS: I'm currently looking for a Syndicate thread, I've just begun but if you know of any, please let me know.

[Mighty Midget]

Never mind.I've found it.

(sorry for double posting, couldn't edit as I posted the first as a guest, I guess)

[gregor]

Originally posted by Guest_Mighty Midget@Apr 27 2006, 08:26 PM
Does anyone know about the ineffective shields issue? I've been playing this game a lot for years now, but there are a couple of weird/frustrating things going on. I usually get me a Panther which I load up with shields to the point where it should survive a head2head with a mid-sized rocky planet. Problem is that a 1 MW pulse shreds this ship to pieces in a very short amount of time. 2nd: I've been looking at the other Frontier and I once read that you could contact traffic control for some air traffic info. Not so in any of my copies. And last: Any good suggestions on how to survive battle without a turret? Slap me and call me Jill, but I haven't figured out how to out-manouver any ship. They keep out-manouvering me, hence the Panther, although I would rather like to have an Imp Trader or a (cooler still) a Tiger.


PS: I'm currently looking for a Syndicate thread, I've just begun but if you know of any, please let me know.
1. no. i think you forgot the power boost or something. with panther clipper loaded with shields the would usually die when they splat over your rear "windshield"
there are a couple of strange things. there is a planet that has a base setu somehow iunder the surface. so instead of landing at the base you always crash at the surface.

2. what do you mean? traffic control is when you call the base you mean to land to.

3. battle is very difficult. after flying a long time and having tried other manouvers (like slingshot or landing or flying at low alttude) battle became much easier. in fact i was surprised how easy it was.

[Mighty Midget]

:wall: I didn't mention it, but yes I had the PB installed. Didn't do squat.

Traffic control: Where you could ask for info on inbound/outbound traffic.

As for combat, I'm still a terrible fighter pilot. Used this 'auto-target enemy, engage auto pilot and fight the most riddicilous dogfight in history. Remarkable effective in FE2, but it didn't do the trick in this one. Thank heavens for that :D . I'm looking for a good method for deep space combat as well as for low altitude combat. Right now I'm going for the gung-ho approach, heavy prayers and reloads.

[gregor]

:wall:* I didn't mention it, but yes I had the PB installed. Didn't do squat.

i don't know how. maybe you had too much of the shields. 1 MW can not penetrate them! not on the big large ships. do you have auto repair hull unit installed? you also need to have a lot of shields. i dont' know how many exactly but i think about 250t of shields. this is the strange part of this game


Traffic control: Where you could ask for info on inbound/outbound traffic.

is that even possible? you need it to maybe do assasinations?? because i do them by just waiting for the right time to pass. :)



As for combat, I'm still a terrible fighter pilot. Used this 'auto-target enemy, engage auto pilot and fight the most riddicilous dogfight in history. Remarkable effective in FE2, but it didn't do the trick in this one. Thank heavens for that :D . I'm looking for a good method for deep space combat as well as for low altitude combat. Right now I'm going for the gung-ho approach, heavy prayers and reloads.

yeah that seems to be the way to start. :D however, i should mention that problmes with combatting are the following:

1. large ships are EXTREMELY sluggish. they just can't accelerate fast enough to make an efficient turn. So i didn't really see any other way except for using the shields and turrets to fight the badguys. in a way it's logical

2. the problem is that when you wake up from the sleep (attack in deep space after you accelerated time) they are already in perfect position while you are not. So the first things to do (and you can do it only with light, fast fighters) is to punch the afterburners and flee in another direction. once you stabilise speed it won't be such a problme to do the dog fight. it will be much easier, much like it would look like on earth. except oyu dont' have the graity. perhaps for elarning it is good to play Wing Commander remake (http://wcuniverse.sourceforge.net/) (a somewhat similar game to elite only better graphics and not so complicated flight model). it's a freeware. anyway most combats there are being done similar and you can learn various techniques there for fighters like approach, dodge etc.


One thing i should also mention is the problem i think the imperial trader has. i am actually not sure about the name but the biggest ship available! the ship has two mayor problems. it seems they didnt' pay enough attention to models. so when you use the upper turret you might shoot your own ship while you are trying to fire backwards.
another problem this ship has is landing on some planets. althought this might done be intentional. due to it's low thrust capability you will maybe be able to land on planets with higher gravity but you won't be avble to launch form them. Also the ship won't fit in small stations.

ANother problem is with one of the clippers. one of my favourite ships (panther clipper) can't shoot missiles, because all the missiles smash into the ship instead of flying out.

[Mighty Midget]

Originally posted by gregor@Apr 28 2006, 07:07 AM
One thing i should also mention is the problem i think the imperial trader has.


It's not the Imp Trader. That one is a heavy, upper medium sized craft. Besides, the Imp Trader doesn't have turrets.

Traffic control: As I said, it was something I read in a commander's journal or so I think. I haven't found that option myself in any of the Frontier games. I haven't got the manuals anymore, but I think there was something about this in one of the game manuals. I'm far from sure about this, and I personally think there is no such option. It would have been cool though

To all of those who want extended info on crafts, there are a few sites. Can't think of any adresses right now, but doing a google search for 'frontier elite braben' should get you there. There you will also find info on bugs, patches (you REALLY want a patched version of this) and other useful stuff. Patch up and enjoy a very good game. :cheers:

[Goodguy3]

gaaahhh! now when i try to open the game it says its done somehtingillegal and closes! iwasdoingsogoodtoo :(


andmyspacebarSTILL wontspace!

[Guest]

I wonder if this one works....
I used to love Frontier Elite, I was just made for it from the start and...Ooh it was wonderful. One of the best games ever. But now it no longer works on my computer for some random reason (I used to run it on xp just fine but now...nought).
This game I have never had working, I used dosbox to run it once however dosbox...Isn't good. Especially for this. Too hard to do anything.

[Guest_Paul_*]

There's a CD-ROM copy of Frontier First Encounters going on ebay at the moment. First time I've seen one in ages. Worth cehcking out I'd say.

[Guest]

check out http://geocities.com/kolijoco for an opengl 2.0 beta of jjffe-aniso mod... runs nice high resolutions. couple of issues with fonts and the menu, but playable.

[Mighty Midget]

I used to work on a MS Word doc with hyperlinks, where I listed different systems with info on goods and distances to other systems. The idea was to make a Frontier AAA road map with the, say 81 coordinates (9x9) with 0,0 in the middle. It was too much work for one person, but if anyone's interested to join, I could email the doc for others to work on.

[Snight]

The book with the shortstorys around the Elite universe was a nice bonus to the game ... Fascinating game, spend most time reading the magazines you could subscribe in the game :D Would be nice to know how often I sucked vacuum ... boy, it was hard sometimes :sos:

[Guest]

i bought this game when it came out and it was one of only two games that survived TWO of my computers. (First the transition from 486 40 MHZ to Pentium in 98 and then from the Pentium to this XP 2,1GHz in 02. But i couldnt play this game for long on my new comp. Why? Because the game is to fast and i cant travel in pirateinfested systems without getting killed because the pirates reach me and kill me before i have the chanse to react. :max:

After upgrading my XP with the new patch Microsoft sent out to everyone i couldnt play anything old, then i found dosbox. Now i only have to learn to work it

[Mongi]

I remember there are actually 2 galaxies in every elite... So, is it possible to get to second galaxy???

In Eilte 2, I think I once loaded like 600 tons of fuel and just went into Great Nothing with no hyperjumping. That was fun... Pointless, but fun.

[Guest]

the site gives this game a 3. that's kind of absurd.. it deserves at least a 4

[The Fifth Horseman]

Your opinion, dude. The reviewer has full right to have his own.

[Mighty Midget]

Does anyone know if the JJFFE (FFE re-coded for windows 95/98) works under xp? I know xp allows you to check the "win9x compatibility box", but has anyone tried this?

[Sith-Avenger]

Umm, how do you save load your game in this? I cannot read the manual for some reason after I DL it the manual gives me errors when I try to open it... (unable to load graphics conversion filter).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance :D

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mighty Midget @ Aug 3 2006, 07:12 PM) 246609</div>
Does anyone know if the JJFFE (FFE re-coded for windows 95/98) works under xp? I know xp allows you to check the "win9x compatibility box", but has anyone tried this?
[/b]

yes it most certainly does as I am playing it on win xp pro using jjffe :)

[Mighty Midget]

'Esc' (in-game, press twice. The first pauses the game) will bring you to, among other things, the 'Load' and 'Save' menues. You can also choose directories for your savegames.

[Sith-Avenger]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mighty Midget @ Aug 3 2006, 08:43 PM) 246616</div>
'Esc' (in-game, press twice. The first pauses the game) will bring you to, among other things, the 'Load' and 'Save' menues. You can also choose directories for your savegames.
[/b]

Hey thanks dude, that works for me :D

[Mighty Midget]

No problem pilot :ok:

[Sith-Avenger]

Man I love this game :D. Used to play Elite 2 frontier every single day back when it was released (Used to love my Imp Courier :ok: ).
I can easily see a severe bout of insomnia coming up over the next month or so.
Only thing that annoys me about this game is the fact that the realistic physics model is only applied to your ship, so that when you are travelling at high velocities you cannot change your direction of motion, only your facing, yet all the ships that attack you can travel at the same speed as you yet buzz around you like the proverbial flies around s***.
Oh well nevermind, still a GREAT game and probably my all time fave!!

[Mighty Midget]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sith-Avenger @ Aug 4 2006, 11:15 PM) 246793</div>
Only thing that annoys me about this game is the fact that the realistic physics model is only applied to your ship, so that when you are travelling at high velocities you cannot change your direction of motion, only your facing, yet all the ships that attack you can travel at the same speed as you yet buzz around you like the proverbial flies around s***.
[/b]

My thoughts exactly. That's the reason I got me...

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sith-Avenger @ Aug 4 2006, 11:15 PM) 246793</div>
(Used to love my Imp Courier :ok: ).
[/b]

... the Panther Clipper. Not even close to the Imp Courier or Trader as far as looks go, but in a Panther I usually felt pretty safe, with a 100 MW in each turret and a LPA in front, just for showing off LOL. But again, if I could 'chose', I'd go for the Imperials too. Sheer beauty.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sith-Avenger @ Aug 4 2006, 11:15 PM) 246793</div>
Oh well nevermind, still a GREAT game and probably my all time fave!!
[/b]

That, my good pilot, I second. A buggy masterpiece.


EDIT: About JJFFE vs 'the original': In JJFFE you can use your numpad for the 'engine off mode' thrusters working in all 3 dimensions. I haven't found that in the original. Does anyone know if that was added by Jordan or if it was in the original too?

2nd EDIT: ANSWER: It was added by Jordan for the JJFFE. Info on JJFFE on JJFFE Central (http://jaj22.org.uk/jjffe/)

[Guest]

Can somebody help me out please? Im having problems with FFE, i've downloaded the shareware version of the game from the official site, but when i try to run it on DOSBOX i can't, i run the game, i see the intro/credits popup, then i click to skip it, then i see it a second time, and after i click it a second time, the screen goes black, and some error messages popup and they cant be read because their in a big font size, what do i do? Is the file corrupted or something? Is there any other website to DL it from? Or better yet, are there any other good games like it to download? Thanks a lot for the help!

[Cloudy]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Guest @ Oct 31 2006, 06:03 PM) 264634</div>
Can somebody help me out please? Im having problems with FFE, i've downloaded the shareware version of the game from the official site, but when i try to run it on DOSBOX i can't, i run the game, i see the intro/credits popup, then i click to skip it, then i see it a second time, and after i click it a second time, the screen goes black, and some error messages popup and they cant be read because their in a big font size, what do i do? Is the file corrupted or something? Is there any other website to DL it from? Or better yet, are there any other good games like it to download? Thanks a lot for the help!
[/b]

I wouldn't run it in DOSbox, you should try using JJFFE (from here: http://jaj22.org.uk/jjffe/ ), it works very well.

[Mighty Midget]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Guest @ Oct 31 2006, 07:03 PM) 264634</div>
Can somebody help me out please? Im having problems with FFE, i've downloaded the shareware version of the game from the official site, but when i try to run it on DOSBOX i can't, i run the game, i see the intro/credits popup, then i click to skip it, then i see it a second time, and after i click it a second time, the screen goes black, and some error messages popup and they cant be read because their in a big font size, what do i do? Is the file corrupted or something? Is there any other website to DL it from? Or better yet, are there any other good games like it to download? Thanks a lot for the help!
[/b]

Other games in the same line would be Battlecruiser 3000 AD and Battlecruiser Millennium (freeware, check out Abandonia Reloaded or HoTU). Also: Privateer seems to be up that alley (I've never played it myself).

[Ginzoo]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(#Alex# @ Nov 22 2005, 01:56 PM) 182466</div>
Awww shucks I really wanted to review this game since I loved elite plus so much
[/b]

I tried it as well, and dbox shows up a page error

[Untergang]

When I push the right-Shift button to slow down my ship, the game senses as if I am pressing the button continously. The ship's speed drop to zero, and I can't raise it, because the game thinks that I still push the Shift button. The autopilot can raise the speed, but when I change back to manual control, the speed goes down again. I tried my Shift in Word, and it worked fine.
I use the ffewin28.exe to run the game in XP (DosBox dosen't work.) I don't know if there is an option to change the controls, or any help.
Any solution?

[gregor]

What doyou mean dosbox doesn't work? you computer too slow?

In any case that is strange. the version here on abandonia should work (it works in DOS at least). but for some reason it needs to be started 2 times to get into the game. firts time you press Y and then the game throws you out writing some big letters. then all you need to do is just start the game again and press yes which get's you in the game.

Another thing regarding your problem - when ships velocity reaches 0 you are standing still, right? there are two velocities on your HUD. one is the one you set, the other one is velocity based on some larger object (speed is relative to something). so unless both of those meters reach 0 it means that the ship is still moving. if i am not mistaking backspace should set velocity to zero, then you just need to wait for the ship to slow down with reverse thrusters - this might take a lot of time.


also since you are in space and you press shift or enter to give your ship a short burst oyu ship will continue to travel in that direction until you counteract that effect. so if your engines are off (you didnt' press any button) and then you rpess enter you start moving forward. you then release enter key and you continue to move forward. if there is a planet nearby it's gravity can even increase your velocity. so to counter that you need to turn the ship in direction you are moving and press shift to counter your movement. or even better turn on the engines and press backspace to reduce velocity to zero automatically. that's how space works... once you enter planetary orbit (especially in planets with earth size the physcs change. because then you need to consider gravity.

this is importans, because it's very difficult to lift off with a large ship form planet with large mass. i even landed on few planets from which i couldn't get off. my add thrusters couldn't reach escape velocyty because theship's mass wass too big for them. medium and small size ships dont' have that problem and have excelent manouverability in the athmosphere.

[Untergang]

The Dosbox works well on my computer. Howewer this program dosen't run with Dosbox. I tried it many times. There is an advice in the forum's first page, that some plus file will make it works. I download that files, and the game runs, but not in the Dosbox and not with the firstenc.exe. One of the new files is the ffewin28.exe. With this file, the game runs in XP.
And my problem is not with the ingame mechanism of the ship's speed. I know that my ship is still going on if I decrease the speed, and it takes time to stop, or change direction. My problem is the right Shift button. If I push it (and then release), tha game thinks as if the Shift button still be pushed. For example I cannot decrease the speed with 5000 km/h, because if I push the shift the set AND the actual speed drops to zero. And I cannot raise it. I push the Enter in vain, because the game believes that I still push the Shift.
And if this happens the other buttons isn't work too. I cannot use the U to release my undertakes. I cannot use the F1-F12 buttons.
The F1-F5 change the game speed (the Stardreamer), because the game senses as if I push the Shift+F1-F5.
So, once I push the Shift button, it remains pushed.
I try my Shift in Word and it works well.

[Guest]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Untergang @ Feb 16 2007, 09:54 AM) 279517</div>
I cannot use the U to release my undertakes. [/b]

I mean undercarriage.

[DAGEY]

dudE THAT YOU FOR THAT FFFE.EXE COOL I HAVE SUND AND EVERYTHING now all i need is to remeber all the keys hehehe

again thats for that zip file m8

[davey]

THank YOU FOR THAT FFFE.EXE COOL I HAVE SoUND AND EVERYTHING now all i need is to remeber all the keys hehehe

again thank you for that zip file m8

[Guest]

Untergang press shift again

[WHYYYYYYY]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Guest @ May 19 2007, 08:05 PM) 290900</div>
Untergang press shift again
[/b]
OKay it wont run in dos box even if i follow the start twice thing, so I downloaded the FFEE.... I did this
here are my exact steps:


c:firstenc if i hit the run button on my start menu and then click c: I get a list of the folders in my c drive

firstenc is among them.... so I have c:firstenc


then I download the ffee28 and install it into the games of firstenc as so

c:\firstenc\game\<installed ffee here, unzipped extracted>


I click on the ffee.exe an nothing happens just a screen tellin me its not legal even if i own the game and it goes blank if i push a button and closes....

any ideas?

[The Fifth Horseman]

1. What "start twice thing" are you babbling about? If you have problems running DOSBox, please refer to the Beginner's Guide (http://www.abandonia.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=14913).
2. That's a veeery "detailed" description of your problem... now tell us the exact error message!!!
3. If you mean you're trying to run a Windows port of the game, we can't help you with it. Please refer to its' FAQ or ask the developers.

[ms0]

I've got a little question:

Anybody knows where I can get the cd version of FFE these days? Dl would be best, since shipping alone would cost me MUCH. I was desperate enough to try ebay, though the results were... quite unsatisfying. Help? :sos:

[The Fifth Horseman]

It might be placed into our ISO Cellar forum one day.

[Airgedok]

Has anyone been able to actually get this game to work in Dosbox 0.72?

The game starts and crashes after the intro screen and it doesn't work on teh second go like the review says. I know there is a java windows fix but it sounds terrible and doesn't look as nice as the dos version.

I can't tell you the error message because I get that message in a huge font and so it scrolls off the dosbox window.

I have been able to get every other game to work just not this one. I checked to make sure my sound settings in the game and in dosbox.config file were the same and they are so its not an issue there. I tried loadfix but that doesn't work either. I don't know whats the problem and I am hoping that other have solved the problem and could help me.

(I have already posted on the tech thread but was hoping someone here had specific knowledge as to what the issue.)

[fierfly]

anyone used the glffe.exe the same great game with good grapics

[digitCruncher]

What a game with such... potential. And yet... it fails so miserably.

If you go anywhere with even a smidgen of unstability (Corporate Police, IMO, is the second most stable system in the galaxy, second only to Federation Rule)... and you WILL be attacked at LEAST 20 times... often with entire fleets. As a result you are limited to 5 (Count them... 5. I did...) systems that you can go in with a mediocre combat ship without getting swamped with 6 or 9 combat ships in a WAVE... I can do 1 on 1 (and OCCASIONALLY 1 on 2), but try taking on 6 ships when you are in a worse ship than all 6 other ships -.-

Cargo scoops are impossible. Literally... it takes about 20 minutes to pick up a resource. 1 thing that should be in any game where things 'drop' things... the things that should be dropped should NOT require you to be within 10 meters of the ship... especially if it takes 5 minutes just to get within 100 meters -.- Traction Beam Cargo Scoops are marginally better (Read: The Automatic pilot can get them in about 4 runs, after about 8 minutes) 10 meters, is literally impossible to get to. In comparison, you only need to be within 1km to get pulled into an orbital station -.-

So... considering that you can only go through 4 systems, you are grinding away, doing trades for over 10 hours, from Sol -> Bernards Star and back (and later, you can go to that farming place, if you are willing to take out 10 waves of lone pirates, for some variety).

After getting bored, I decided to do some military quests. First quest: Blank Disks to Bernard Star. No problem. I deliver, and get $300... which is worth the profit of 0.7 robots -.-

Next mission, $500 for another delivery quest. No problem. I dive into the system... get swamped by 7 elite ships. No problem... reload... and try again.

After 30 minutes, I give up. Black mark #1 for me... So I try and get another quest. Delivery quest to Proxima Centauri. GREAT!! A simple quest, that should take no distance, as I am at Sol anyway...

Warp into Proxima... and look for Eden (the base). I look some more. Use the navigation computer, and ...

1000 freaking AU away is Eden. I have 10 days, to travel over 10 times the distance that I have ever travelled. I use no less than *4tonnes* of Hydrogen fuel, and it takes me *2 months* to get there. (From March 1st, to April 22nd). I get a second black mark, and decide to quit the game, as slow trading (and I mean SLOW) doesn't interest me.

My question is this: Why do systems in Federation control have piracy problems in all but 5 systems, and how do regular ships survive and trade in such situations? The other two groups are even WORSE (There ARE no safe systems -.-). There is no difficulty settings, and some worlds, especially Binary Systems, have insane layouts. Why warp to the largest star, if the smaller star is where all the other planets are?? Why must I travel 120 AU to the nearest colony (or 1000 -.-), when it is orbiting another star...

This game is FULL of balance, gameplay, and design issues, which otherwise could be a great game. I am surprised this game didn't kill the entire "Explore and Trade and Fight in Space" theme, with its endless grinding, poor balanced combat, and negligable leveling system (I think that if I got a decent craft, I could go anywhere, and fight anything... up from 5 systems -.-)

[dosraider]

Soooooooo .... you didn't like the game, did you?
:whistling:

[Robsie]

I entirely agree on the combat, Frontier First Encounters is an incredible game but is ruined by several annoyances :

In the majority of system if you dare to press the maximum acceleration time for the stardreamer just once you are attacked.
Now if you press the acceleration that is before you are attacked a -very- lot less during a travel.
Problem, if you don't use the maximum acceleration time a travel from a system jump to a station/planet can easily take forever especially in some systems huge.

So if you want t have a reasonable amount of attacks on you, you can't use the max acceleration in most of the systems, or be prepared to be ambushed hundred of time before reaching a station.

Ingame you can see your rader is able to detect ships at long range in the ingame radar, but when the game decide to make you attacked, the computer is unable to warn you before the enemy is extremely close.

So when you are attacked, your computer warn you when the enemy is actually in position to open fire and is very close to you.

But coming from that is the major problem : according to where the enemy is spawned, you can die without being able to do nothing about it :

With tons of hours playing in the peacefull sol -> barnard star usual cargo runs to make lot of money with food vs robots, i bought a big ship to test battles.
For this big ship i bought an insane amount of shields.

To test them i attacked for fun some ground bases and fought with the police, the shields were indeed good to help survival and allowed me to wipe out lot of police.

Then i reloaded after those tests, i then jumped in a non peacefull system, pressed the max acceleration as i knew it triggered automatically an attack .. and exploded cut in half by a beam as soon as the warning appeared.

Yes a big ship with 60 active shields destroyed in a second without having the time to press any key (at least for the JFFFE reactors to "strafe" to left or right and give me some more seconds to move)

Reloading , then jumping again in same system, this time instead of spawning behind me, the enemy was to my left.

This time the shield took damage but it allowed me time to actually move out from there and use my own beam to destroy the target.

At this point you can see what is the big problem to your fun : pure luck is involved as soon as combat start as shields do not protect you behind.

Because if the enemy is spawned behind you and open fire with good accuracy, you are destroyed without even having the time to press any kind of key whatever super ship you have is irrelevant.

Sometime you are attacked by one ship, but sometime you can have 3 or 4 (and even 5 in one of my games).
Then you may see the problem with the spawning location, the more ships will come to you, the more chance one will be spawned behind you and then can destroy you in a single hit before you can move.

Now it is interesting to see that while Frontier Elite 2 is featured the same amount of attacks when pressing the damn max acceleration, the enemy ships are never as near to you when it is spawned as in FFE.

So in FE2 you are never destroyed in a second without being able to move and then you can actually fight.

That's certainly why despite Frontier First Encounter is newer, most people prefer the older Frontier Elite 2.
It's been a long time i have not played FFE, but i always play FE2.

[gregor]

Well according to the manual you are supposed to start closer to the star with smaller ship and further out with bigger ones. But hat doesn't seem to be the case. I bet that would provide some balance as you could not get attacked so much if the path you need to get to the base would be short.
Another hting there is no was to get some good shield for small crafts. so you must have a big one if you plan to survive under fire. i have a huge (and slow) transport ship that has most of the space filled with shileds. i still have cargo space (more than enough of it to get good profit). i use turrets to defend my self. on them i have 100MW laser. i also have all upgrades (lasercooling, autorepair...).

it's funn as most enemies smash into me like a bug, causing only slight damage that is quickly repaired or the shield go up to 100%. ohers get killed fast when they attemt to buzz arround. the only danger are big ships with plasma accelerator. but if i see them comming soon enough i rip them in half as they usually have poor shields.

but i too am dissapointed in the abilities of smaller ships. i belive the problem is the way shields are done and the entering point into the system.

and no, i think there are more than 5 systems where you do not get attacked.

[Johnstein]

i wanted to know wich file i should run on DosBox

Thanks

[_r.u.s.s.]

well, the excutable

[The Fifth Horseman]

There are two types of executables used in DOS: EXE and COM. Some games need to be ran through batch files (BAT) in order for certain settings to work properly.

[mattep74]

I had this game when it first came out on a 486 with 50 Mhz and then i could fight on even terms as the game didnt move as fast.

When i play it now on a wery faster computer i have this little problem with pirates. They can attack me and fire without me having the time to respond since the game moves to fast on newer computers.

One time i jumped a bit to far hand ended up in a unexplored sector 100s of jumps from a friendly base and i didnt have fuel scope

[Mighty Midget]

If you run it in DOSBox, you can adjust the speed to your likings by adjusting the cycles in DOSBox. As for combat, I always found it annoyingly difficult, especially since it doesn't really matter if you have 1 shield unit or 10, or 50. My Panther Clipper with 40 SU was destroyed by a couple of ships that had only 1 MW beam lasers...

[bikerkermit]

Well I can't for the life of me figure out how to get this to run...Vista & DOSBox 0.72 before anyone asks.

I've tried loadfix, and that doesn't work either - what happens is that I can watch the intro. If I press anything the intro starts again, then if I press anything else at all I get a black screen with a load of what looks like an error message in large white letters :wall:

Any thoughts please?

[Mighty Midget]

http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/showthread.php?t=17466&highlight=frontier+first+encounters

Looks like FFE doesn't like DOSBox 0.72, or vice versa. You could try JJFFE.

http://jaj22.org.uk/jjffe/download.html

[bikerkermit]

Yep, it does appear so. :doh2:

I'll try your link once I get bored with playing FE2.

[Polf]

A lot of hassle to get this running on Vista. Dosbox version will not work so download JJFFE thingy. Even then it will mostly close after disclaimer. Found you can get round this by hiding window and opening it up again. Strange but true...Definitely worth the effort in the end though. What a game!

Best advice is as already mentioned. Trade in the core systems. Upgrade your ship as often as you can (making sure there are crew on the bulletin board). Fit only the bare essentials (nav-com, autpilot) so you can make as much money from cargo as possible. Ultimate goal, get yourself a Panther Clipper or the like (I crew mine entirely with women, just my own little fantasy, one crew member is named Catherine Swallow).

Once you get a ship with gun turrets combat is a piece of piss. As soon as warning flashes up pause the game. Find the little shits with gun turret which is still mobile even when paused. Fire on them and you will see impact/shield glowing red. Restart game. They die. When you perfect this method you can get half a dozen in the space of three seconds. You then switch to external view and watch the fireworks around your ship.

Okay so it takes fun/skill out of the game. I usually leave two and switch to combat computer view and get them fair and square. Pick up worthwhile flotsam with tractor beam and continue on your merry way. One more thing - light blue beams are plasma accelerators and slice through your shields in seconds. Take these gits out first.

Anyone having problems landing the ship (eg for planting mines)? Head for target planet. Once in vicinity set speed to 0 (engines on). Speed up time and cruise in at a couple of thousand k's an hour, keeping level with horizon. Don't get disoriented when sky starts revolving. Once you get altitude reading slow down and make sure undercarriage is down. Keep cruising in and slow down time in stages until you are floating a few hundred metres up. If you speed up ship/time at this point it is fun to see how long you can fly before crashing and burning. Otherwise, land at the slowest speed possible. I have yet to land on a rich seam of anything worth mining. Deploy mine a few times as results vary.

Asassinations - take off on the day of the killing and ascend to 20 thousand k's. Flick into rear view and speed up time.A few minutes before the 'appointment' descend slowly and launch a couple of missiles at target as soon as it appears. Make sure target has been eliminated and not hyperspaced. Pay appropriate fines swiftly and go collect money. Don't be afraid to finish them off with a laser as you should only get fined once. Try not to hit anyone/anything else though...

Map major starports so you can explore remote systems without getting stuck in the interstellar hinterland. I use spreadsheet application, adding comment to each sector which appears when mouse rolls over it. God I'm sad.

[shakads]

How can anyone give only 3 to what is probably one of the greatest and richest game ever is beyond me... :unsure:

[Sarin]

Bugs, flight model makes dogfighting quite boring sniper contests.

[The Bloodhawk]

The reviewer said this is the third Elite game, I looked it up and saw the second Elite was also the first Frontier. I'd like to see that game up for download too.

Also, is there ever going to be a fourth?

[Panthro]

David Braben has talked a few times about making "elite 4", but I don't think he's actually working on it right now.

The closest you could come to it would be the (very much work in progress) Pioneer, http://pioneerspacesim.net/

[Smiling Spectre]

As for me, X3: Terran Conflict quite close to Elite 3. :) Minus endless space, though. :(

[smyrnian]

I skimmed the 23 pages and didn't see a solution to my problem right off. Now that I've figured it out I thought I'd share my solution.

I came across an error in DOSBox when running this for the first time. What would happen was that the splash screen would come up but when the game started loading it showed an error screen with a "32loader runtime error" message.

I went to the cpu option under the game profile and chose 'dynamic' for the 'Emulation Core' and that seemed to fix it.

[marko river]

interesting... thx

[gregor]

FFED3D is another option in runnign this game. and with better graphics too!