Jump to content

Clueless Newbie Questions


Recommended Posts

OK, my turn to be a clueless n00b.

The "command & control" building on the starbases in planetary mission zones is supposed to be dockable, right? I've tried having my AE fly at one in a shuttle while my CC was parked nearby, then hit Alt-D and it keeps coming back "invalid docking target". How do I dock at a starbase for trade?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 188
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

quote:

Originally posted by Thermidor:

I've noticed that when creating a new game you can select a number of Asset Classes and Types. I.E.: you can start with a Super Carrier AESTROM. I'm not sure I understand why you would want to start with a lesser ship. Also does this mean that upgrading to a better carrier in mid-game is not possible?

Also within the Tactical Computer, Loadout. I notice that there is a "Drone" loaded by default on each of my shuttles. I am assuming that this is not a mining drone as I've already tried to mine and was unable. If not, what is its purpose?

Last question: since you apparently do not start with a mining drone or enough cash for one, what's the best non-combat method of acquiring enough to buy one?

There are numerous reasons to not jump in a Super C, remember that bigger is not always better and no you cannot switch asset classes once you begin.

Your assumption is incorrect, that is a mining drone. There's plenty of help on that subject elsewhere (manual and this forum) search this forum for the term mining.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi all,

I'm a clueless newbie. I've not really played space sims before. BCM is my first one other than X-wing vs Tie ...many years back. But that was just so linear I HATED IT.

I've only done a couple of instant actions, and training things. But so far so good. I really am enjoying reading the manual(as much as I can read with my 3year old jumping all over me).

But I just wanted to say that so far from all I've read in the tutorials, FAQ, manual, VCF...this is truly a great game. I'm looking forward to really getting to know it.

I've done mostly flight sims and used to love them. But they are so buggy now its frustrating. I've pretty much given up on them after well over a decade of playing HARDCORE FLIGHT SIMS such as the Falcon series JF-18 and so on.

Oh well enough already. Sorry for the long boring post. But I thought I'd introduce myself.

Saint19

P.S. My system is a lowly amdk62-500, 384mb Ram, GeForce2 GTS, SBLive for your info. I had to turn the acceleration on the SB back to Basic in order for the sounds not to cut out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

quote:

Originally posted by JelloKing:

Another newbie question...

When you transport your self to a planet, is there a way to get back? It should be easy from tacops but I can't access tacops from first person. Maybe there is a way but i can't figure it out.

I hope this hasn't been covered somewhere else 'cus I couldn't find any posts on the subject. Then again, that could be because the answer is obvious.

You do have access to TACOPS on the planet it is ALT+S and I have used same to beam my AE back to my ship after beaming him down to the planet(check you keyboard command sheet it is on it)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe be its just me but do the SFM actually shoot at each other? I watched as a red and a green SFM floated strait toward each other and when they got within firing range, they just stoped and stared. The same goes when there are a lot of them. Unless a fighter intervenes, you get a cluster of SFMs sitting around looking at each other. Is this suppose to happen? or is it just my computer? It wouldn't surprise me if it is just my computer because I have other problems that I can't explain.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

quote:


Originally posted by Joel Schultz:

OK, my turn to be a clueless n00b.

The "command & control" building on the starbases in planetary mission zones is supposed to be dockable, right?


quote:


Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr:

No.


Ok, so what's the dockable building planetside called that you can dock at for trade? (My guess is that it's still "starbase").

Wait a sec...just had a thought (heh, I may actually have a clue after all ): are only those planetary bases that are also "launch bases" dockable?

Just a humble explorer trying to find places to buy fuel...

[ 12-06-2001: Message edited by: Joel Schultz ]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK I finally managed to deploy and extract a mining drone. I experienced a little confusion when in attempting to return it to base I had a shuttle tractor it out of the atmosphere. Fun stuff!

On a previous attempt an intruder made off with my shuttle and drone before I could launch it and took my pilot hostage. I'm wondering..would there have been any way to retrieve my crew memeber intact in this situation? He was a little damaged but not dead.

I hypered to the Earth's Moon and attempted "moonfall". It was pitch black and I couldn't see a thing..not even the starfield. Is this supposed to happen? I understand the concept of "dark side of the moon"..but shouldn't the surrounding space be visible?

I can't seem to be able to use the "Zoom To" TACOPS tool on the surface of a planet. Specifically..I can't find any way to quickly target my mining drone.

Is it normal for a shuttle to refuse to launch until you exit TACOPS?

Thanks for any help.

[ 12-06-2001: Message edited by: Thermidor ]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

quote:

Originally posted by Thermidor:

OK I finally managed to deploy and extract a mining drone. I experienced a little confusion when in attempting to return it to base I had a shuttle tractor it out of the atmosphere. Fun stuff!

On a previous attempt an intruder made off with my shuttle and drone before I could launch it and took my pilot hostage. I'm wondering..would there have been any way to retrieve my crew memeber intact in this situation? He was a little damaged but not dead.

Although I have heard of one marine returning a stolen shuttle there's little chance of it. Remember to turn off launch control the moment you are boarded.

quote:

Originally posted by Thermidor:

I hypered to the Earth's Moon and attempted "moonfall". It was pitch black and I couldn't see a thing..not even the starfield. Is this supposed to happen? I understand the concept of "dark side of the moon"..but shouldn't the surrounding space be visible?

Nope.

quote:

Originally posted by Thermidor:

I can't seem to be able to use the "Zoom To" TACOPS tool on the surface of a planet. Specifically..I can't find any way to quickly target my mining drone.

Is it normal for a shuttle to refuse to launch until you exit TACOPS?

Read the VCF on a regular basis. Shuttles won't launch until there is at least one crew member aboard read to fly. Dark green unmanned. Bright green is manned and ready to go.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the help.

I figured out the problem I had with targeting my mining drone on the surface of any planet or moon using the "Zoom To" utility of TACOPS. Apparently there needs to be a shuttle within the atmosphere of the planet or moon or nothing happens when you click the drone under the "Other" category. As soon as the shuttle reaches planetfall I can target it no problem.

I did read the VCF and the following may apply..but I'm just not sure:

"The Tacops target filter has a new support units filter which includes all player units (including mining drones). Player units are now excluded from the other filters but are visible in priority and recently observed filters."

UPDATE: I installed the unofficial 1.0.02 RC7 and it didn't help. I guess I should be posting this in the Troubleshooting forum..

[ 12-07-2001: Message edited by: Thermidor ]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

quote:


Originally posted by Thermidor:

UPDATE: I installed the unofficial 1.0.02 RC7 and it didn't help. I guess I should be posting this in the Troubleshooting forum..


I hope not. Can't you READ? RC7 did NOT have that new support units filter. It showed up in RC8

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey all!

I just want to start off by saying that I love this game. It's truly awesome, thank you Derek.

Anyway, is there a way to add a prompt asking if you really want to planetfall or not like there is for when you're leaving a planet. The reason I ask is because whenever I go to attack a target on the other side of a planet, I end up in the atmosphere instead of at the enemy. Also, I just threw away several hours of game time when I accidently flew into Jupiter. Ouch, that atmosphere really wreaks some havoc doesn't it? hehe

Oh yeah, and those patches are working great. I have lost all those explosions on all my screen.

Also, when I deploy a mining drone, I just place two waypoints when I send the shuttle out.

Waypoint 1: Deploy drone

Waypoint 2: Wait for instructions

When I want to pick the drones up, I just change the second waypoint to Extract drone x. Works good, the only negative is that you basically lose the use of those shuttles while you're mining. On the plus side, I don't even have to go observe the planet, I can just change the instructions from the space view of Tacops.

Finally, I was wondering why there's a pilot and co-pilot slot in the fighters. The copilot can't fly the ship when the pilot dies or anything and I (accidently) launched a fighter without a copilot and he had three kills in one sortie. I looked through the manual, but I couldn't figure out what the copilot's actual job was. If I don't need one, that means I can launch all eight fighters from my Firestorm (tentative Yay!).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

quote:

Originally posted by Slag Head:

Finally, I was wondering why there's a pilot and co-pilot slot in the fighters. The copilot can't fly the ship when the pilot dies or anything and I (accidently) launched a fighter without a copilot and he had three kills in one sortie. I looked through the manual, but I couldn't figure out what the copilot's actual job was. If I don't need one, that means I can launch all eight fighters from my Firestorm (tentative Yay!).

Correct, you can launch up to eight fighters (if you have that many) using pilots only. Co-Pilot = one more set of eyes to track the enemy and monitor fighter systems while the pilot goes after the target.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I find if I set WP1 to DEPLOY DRONE and WP2 to PROCEED TO NEXT, the shuttle drops off the drone and then comes back to my ship... very nice. I then leave the system, do something else... come back in a few hours and I've got four full drones... mooohaa.

[ 12-08-2001: Message edited by: Blerm ]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

quote:

Originally posted by ooJAYoo:

Quick question, Can other craft follow you down to the planet/moon surface? I just havnt seen a single aircraft apart from my own thats all. If I was being persued by the enemy would they follow?

Try following an NPC to the surface and you'll find your answer. As to seeing surface craft, try flying near enemy surface structures and see what happens.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When i am in orbit around a planet (150k out with A/P on halt) i usally have 4 of my fighters defend my firestorm. Something wierd happens when they gaurd. They fly away from my ship and then turn around and head back, they continue flying untill they bounce off my hull (making a BUMP noise). They then proceed to that repeat for the entire duration of the gaurd. This bounce causes no damage, but sometimes the ships get stuck and i have to move. Is this normal?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

quote:

Originally posted by Game_Ender:

When i am in orbit around a planet (150k out with A/P on halt) i usally have 4 of my fighters defend my firestorm. Something wierd happens when they gaurd. They fly away from my ship and then turn around and head back, they continue flying untill they bounce off my hull (making a BUMP noise). They then proceed to that repeat for the entire duration of the gaurd. This bounce causes no damage, but sometimes the ships get stuck and i have to move. Is this normal?

That's enough now!! How the hell would I know that I couldn't land my fighter manually. After 20 attempts I got the hint and pressed alt-d. (j/k)

Seriously that never happened to me though. The closest I got to your problem was an enemy fighter and me colliding head on. And even then it's because I wanted to do it in the first place.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

quote:


Originally posted by Game_Ender:

When i am in orbit around a planet (150k out with A/P on halt) i usally have 4 of my fighters defend my firestorm. Something wierd happens when they gaurd. They fly away from my ship and then turn around and head back, they continue flying untill they bounce off my hull (making a BUMP noise). They then proceed to that repeat for the entire duration of the gaurd. This bounce causes no damage, but sometimes the ships get stuck and i have to move. Is this normal?


Dumb pilots tend to do that. A lot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello all, please help this noob with a couple questions on planetary ops.

1) When deploying a team planetside via shuttle, is it possible to deploy only the passengers (marines) and not the pilot too? Seems like everyone in the shuttle gets out for a stroll if I give the shuttle a DEPLOY TEAM waypoint. If there is a way to designate an away team in TACOPS, without actually flying the shuttle yourself, it's eluding me in spite of a LOT of time with the manual. Probably a brainfart on my part.

2) Let's say I have manually deployed some marines (by flying down there myself in a shuttle), then I go fly around for a while and return to the marines. How do I get them to come back to the shuttle? The RTB command doesn't seem to be the one, and I'm pretty sure the EVACUATE checkbox is to mark them for transporter retrieval. Yes? If I target the marines and issue a ALT+D, it says of course INVALID DOCK TARGET. I know I am missing something here. I can always retrieve them via transporter but I'm one of those types who has to try the hard way...

3) Let's say I'm a dumb-dumb noob, and I deploy some folks planetside via transporter. Then I turn the transporter power off (to thwart invaders?). Now I send my AE down to the plant in a shuttle. First off, can I manually get these marines into my shuttle even though I deployed them via transporter? Secondly, now that my AE is off the bridge, will it be possible to restore power to the transporter from a TACOPS link? I couldn't find a way to do that. My only recourse is to fly back to the CC and restore power manually to the tranporter and beam them up, as it stands with what I know.

One thing I forgot - when my AE is planetside in a shuttle, I can't seem to launch any more shuttles using TACOPS. I do ensure that there is power to the launch bay, and that I have at least one crew member aboard (the shuttle icon is bright green). In fact, when I click on the shuttle I have the LAUNCH comand available, and my crew is verified as being aboard, but when I click it nothing happens. No message appears to tell me in what fashion I am being a dumb-ass.

Forgive my ignorance, but as you can see, I'm trying out some pretty damn cool stuff. I hope you can help. I know that some planetary issues with TACOPS and support craft are being addressed in a patch, but I think my questions are things that can already be done, I just don't know how. Thanks!

BTW, this profile is my old one from the BC legacy days. My BCM game is registered with another profile, Proximo. Rest assured, I'm legal!

[ 12-09-2001: Message edited by: Ramius ]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share


×
×
  • Create New...