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Best way to learn the ropes


Matchoo
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I've had UC for 3 weeks now, and after playing it for a while I am beginning to understand a lot of the concepts. I first played as a commander of a transport, then I moved on to some of the larger ships, but the other night I decided to roam the galaxy fighting evil as a pilot in a L-Fighter. I had a lot of fun doing this and I think it really helped me learn a lot about the game.

My question to all the vets out there is what do you think is the best way to learn the game. Is it better to start out as fighter pilots, etc., and move our way up to commanders as we learn more and more, or should we try starting out as commanders and see how we do, or should we just play whatever we feel like playing and hope we learn the things we should know?

(I'm sure how we'll do varies from person to person. I was just wondering what you guys think and how you got started.)

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back when I started playing, we only had one ship to choose from in ACM and Roam and that was a commander career. You could launch a fighter and play from that but I just stuck with the CC.

that or play the instant action onslaught mission

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When I played BCM I started out as an unarmed transport commander of commercial or trader caste. It was rather interesting. Since you don't have weapons or cloaking, raiders are a serious threat when they appear and go after you.

It made you think about how to approach new territory safely. It was also good for developing defensive technique. You pretty much had only your wits to survive and the odds stacked against you -- no weapons, no cloak, weak shields/armor, an engine/reactor that guzzles Radine like there was no tomorrow, and not too many credits.

I also like the UC 1.00.02 RC 7 roam mode with no automatic NPC generation. You can brush up on planetary assault techniques without worrying about someone blindsiding you in space while you practice (provided you're in friendly/neutral territory).

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Guest Shingen

It really is a double-edged sword.

To really learn the game takes forever, and having an attention span that God would envy doesn't hurt.

Like Eclipse, we all started with a BC-MKIII, way back in the day, and before GBS-I, there wasn't any way to turn off the auto-gen, so you were basically left to live or die.

If you are looking to learn the interface, start off as a Paramedic. It's safe and very boring, but not many ( if any ) NPCs will attack you.

If you are looking to learn combat, start as a Merc or Assassin. Almost everythiung is blue ( neutral ), but once you set the ap/ai to attack, they turn red ( hostile ), and you'll get your points for the kill. ( note: if you don't set the ap/ai to attack, then they won't turn red, and you DON'T get any points for killing neutral craft ).

FP assault is easy enough, just start as a grunt and choose your battles. Hop in a gunship and away you go.

Nothing, IMHO, beats the commander rank though. Once you hit Fleet C&C, with all personnel at 60+ ai. That's when BC goes into full throttle.

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quote:

I prefer to dive right into the Commander ROAM scenario. Trial by fire, the only way to learn.

Amen to that. Nothing like sending an entire crew and ship's compliment to their deaths in a flaming ball of radioactive doom. What a fighter? Pfffft you just kill your co-pilot if you screw up! Where is your ambition man!? Bleeding to death on the side of a hill somewhere with a wound to the head the size of a cueball from some sniper? Uh Nuhhh, not for me. Now, learning how to bring my CC in stealthy... locked and loaded on an enemy Captain's aft, yeah baby now you're talkin'!

I never played the game before UC, I started roaming the galaxy as a Commander, it gives you more room for error than you think (stay near Earth). You can learn to set waypoints and issue commands with fairly limited harrassment. Very little in the way of an enemy lives to fire at you when you're in the vicinity of Galcom HQ.

When you're feeling frisky or perhaps reckless... venture away from Earth to another sector.

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Best way to learn IMO is to throw yourself into combat a lot. Not only do you get experience points but when the dust clears, those cargo pods you scoop up will earn your income when you make that next transaction and it also doesn't hurt to save those OTS missiles you scooped up to nuke enemy bases.

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1. Sleep with the manual and a hard copy of the VCF under your pillow. This will cause all the information to seep up into your head.

2. Listen to my patented copyrighted BCM/UC hypnosis tapes. "You're a good commander. You know what you are doing. You hardly ever perform stupid blunders that lead to a catastrophic loss of life, equipment, and planetary real estate. And dog-gone it, people like you on the message boards."

3. Play Freelancer. Take note of everything you CAN'T do in that game. Then come back and try those things in these games.

3. Eat your bran muffins to generate more "reading time" for the manual.

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quote:

Originally posted by Grizzle:

I prefer to dive right into the Commander ROAM scenario. Trial by fire, the only way to learn.

Yeah, that goes for me, too. I've messed around with assaulting Insergent bases on the ground, mining on various planets/moons and if some hostiles would actually try and come into the solar system I'd take them out, too. My only hang up at the moment is rescources. My Super Carrier is a bit of a gass-guzzler so I've been mining to keep large quantities of Radine and Plutonium on hand, but it just tears through it all so fast. Any suggestions on keeping this thing fed? Or possibly a better ship that still kicks a lot of boo-tay but doesn't have the gas mileage of a European sports car/SUV?

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First off, Rob, you need to go and stick your system specs in your sig. People here get vewy vewy trigger happy when people dont do that. There's a thread around here somewheres that tells you how...but I just woke up, and the coffee is still coffee'ing, so I cant remember where it is

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quote:

Originally posted by Reno:

First off, Rob, you need to go and stick your system specs in your sig. People here get vewy vewy trigger happy when people dont do that. There's a thread around here somewheres that tells you how...but I just woke up, and the coffee is still coffee'ing, so I cant remember where it is

Better?

@Mike

Thanks

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