TGDB.net - Game news, cheats, solutions, walkthroughs, trainers, saved games and much more!

PRIVATEER II : THE DARKENING
=============================

Unofficial FAQ and Information Guide v1.00
==========================================


By JOHN PORTWIN, JANUARY 1997 (john@pmbbs.demon.co.uk)


[SECTION ZERO] INTRODUCTION
[0.0] Copyright
[0.1] Trademarks
[0.2] Disclaimer
[0.3] Where can I get this FAQ?

[SECTION ONE] VITAL INFORMATION AND FAQ
[1.0] Introduction
[1.1] How many CD's should I have?
[1.2] What version should I have?
[1.3] Where's my starmap?
[1.4] Why can't I buy the Freij Mk II?
[1.5] The game crashes every time I land on Hermes or Hephasteus
[1.6] Why can't I see any missions?
[1.7] Where can I buy the Kraven Mk IV lasers?
[1.8] Where can I buy the Return To Sender and Blindfire?
[1.9] The Angus Santana mission
[1.10] Matrox card problems
[1.11] Running on a 486
[1.12] CH Pro Throttle

[SECTION TWO] GAME STATISTICS
[2.0] Guide
[2.1] Ships you can buy
[2.2] Cargo ships you can rent
[2.3] Ships you could meet
[2.4] Guns to buy
[2.5] Missiles to buy
[2.7] Mines to buy
[2.8] Decoys to buy
[2.9] Modules to buy

[SECTION THREE] GAME TIPS
[3.0] Warning
[3.1] Good trade routes
[3.2] Good illegal trade routes
[3.3] The Senator's Daughter
[3.4] How to cheat
[3.5] Why can't I complete any escort missions?
[3.6] How to win every battle
[3.7] A note on upgrades

[SECTION FOUR] AFTERWORDS
[4.1] Thanks to..
[4.2] Newsgroups
[4.3] Adding to this FAQ?
[4.4] And finally...


-----------------------------
*[SECTION ZERO]* INTRODUCTION
-----------------------------

[0.0] Copyright

This FAQ is copyright John Portwin, 1997.

[0.1] Trademarks

Privateer, Origin and We Create Worlds are all registered trademarks of
Origin Systems Inc. The Darkening is a trademark of Origin Systems, Inc.
Electronic Arts is a registered trademark of Electronic Arts. All names and
references to objects within the game are copyright Origin Systems Inc and
its parent company Electronic Arts. Any trademarks ommited are still
acknowledged.

[0.2] Disclaimer

The reason I wrote this FAQ is to educate everyone and "fill in the blanks"
that are seemingly left in the game's manuals. It is not endorsed in any way
by Origin/Electronic Arts, neither is it competition to any strategy guides
that have been or may be released by Origin or Electronic Arts.

The author John Portwin shall not be held responsible for any damage to
property, persons or information caused by this FAQ. Use at your own risk.

... a Shakespeare quote comes to mind ..

[0.3] Where can I get this FAQ?

The most recent version of this FAQ will always be available at:

http://www.pmbbs.demon.co.uk/p2faq.txt

and

http://www.sci.fi/~scalper/priva2/priva2.html


----------------------------------------
*[SECTION ONE]* GAME INFORMATION AND FAQ
----------------------------------------

[1.1] How many CD's should I have?

Although it seems there should be four CD's with the game (the holder has
space for four) the game runs on three CD's.

Apparently the beta versions came on four.

[1.2] What version should I have?

UK and European versions are version 16, USA versions 17.

[1.3] Where's my starmap?

If you bought your copy of Privateer II in Europe, you won't get a map.
US versions do. There is one available on the net at:

http://www.sci.fi/~scalper/priva2/map.gif (it is around 400k)

[1.4] Why can't I buy the Freij Mk II?

It becomes available later on, after the news bulletin about it is released.
It can be bought at most ship dealers (not all) for 200k credits.

[1.5] The game crashes every time I land on Hermes or Hephasteus

Ah, another sufferer :-) don't worry, you're not alone by far. Some possible
solutions:

1) Try landing with CD 1 in the CD-ROM.
2) Increase your FILES and BUFFERS settings in your CONFIG.SYS.
3) Turn off "VIDEO TRANSITINONS" from the options menu.
4) Don't use Smartdrive.
5) Don't use a 3D graphics card.
6) Upgrade your video card BIOS.

Apparently a patch is coming soon to fix this release.. it's nice of us
beta testers to find this out for Origin!

[1.6] Why can't I see any missions?

You need to advance sufficiently far in the main "plot" to be offered
missions.

[1.7] Where can I buy the Kraven Mk IV lasers?

You can't, not until they are offered to you by Ralph McCloud. You must
save him from pirates and then meet him in the bar where he will offer them
to you.

[1.8] Where can I buy the Return To Sender and Blindfire?

As above, they are rewards for completing missions later in the game.

[1.9] The Angus Santana mission

In some cases, the PADD tells you about this mission even after you
complete it. It goes after a while.

[1.10] Matrox card problems

Apparently, white flashes occur during video clips if you have a Matrox
video card. The company is currently working on a fix for this problem.

[1.11] Running on a 486

Privateer 2 will run on a 486 (DX-50 is the lowest though) with a good
graphics card, although you will get slow movie playback and the game will
slow down when there are many ships around or you are near a planet.

I have successfully run P2 with a DX-50, 8mb RAM, 2xCD-ROM. It was still
playable :-)

[1.12] CH Pro Throttle

A driver for this is available on CD-ROM 1, filename PRIV2.KEY.


-------------------------------
*[SECTION TWO]* GAME STATISTICS
-------------------------------

[2.0] Guide

This section has vital information on ships that you can buy through the CCN,
all pirate and military ships, as well as cargo ships. Type refers to the
class shown in the manual:

L - Light fighter
M - Medium fighter
H - Heavy fighter
T - Transport or cargo ship

Where an entry is left blank, it is unknown. Our recon crews are working on
updating the information held here.

[2.1] Ships You Can Buy

Ratings apart from Cost and given Speeds are out of 10.

Type Speed Shields Modules Guns AB.Sp
Cost Agility Armour Missiles Max.Sp

STRAITH [PL01] L 10000 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 288 577
VELACIA [PL02] L 20000 5 3 5 5 3 3 2 320 641
AURORA [PR01] L 34000 5 3 5 3 4 4 2 320 641
DURESS [ML01] L 60000 7 5 6 2 4 6 2 380 761
DRAKKAR [KN01] L 90000 9 4 8 2 5 5 4 400 800
SHAMAN [PR02] M 17000 5 4 5 3 4 4 2 320 641
JENDEVI [PR04] M 45000 2 4 4 5 4 4 3 279 559
SKECIS Mk II [PL3a] M 80000 6 4 5 4 4 5 3 359 719
SKECIS [PL03] M 85000 6 5 4 6 5 4 4 359 719
HERETIC [ML02] M 100000 9 4 6 4 5 6 4 400 800
KALRECHI [PL04] M 110000 6 4 5 6 6 4 4 359 719
KARNENAN [PR03] H 70000 6 4 3 6 5 5 4 359 719
ICARUS [PR05] H 105000 9 4 5 4 5 6 4 400 800
FALDARI Mk II [ML3a] H 125000 6 5 6 4 6 6 4 359 719
FALDARI [ML03] H 160000 6 5 6 5 6 6 5 359 719
FREIJ [ML06] H 180000 9 5 9 6 7 7 4 400 800
FREIJ Mk II [ML6a] H 200000 9 5 9 9 7 7 5 400 800
DANRIK [KN02] H 250000 9 5 9 5 7 7 5 400 800

[2.2] Cargo ships you can rent

Speed Shield Capacity Cost
Turrets Armour Bays

GEA TRANSIT [CR01] 288 0 4 4 250 5 50
GEA TRANSIT Mk II [CR1a] 288 0 4 4 400 6 110
OGAN [CR02] 220 1 4 7 550 6 240
ILIA [CR03] 390 2 7 7 750 7 390
ILIA Mk II [CR3a] 200 2 7 7 900 8 630
MONOLITH [CR04] 140 3 7 10 1500 9 920


[2.3] More ships you could meet

Type Class Top Spd Armament Reward
Class Weapon Loadout Reward

LIGHT FIGHTER [ML1b] L Military 440 2 STRE
MEDIUM FIGHTER [ML2b] M Military 440
HEAVY FIGHTER [ML3b] H Military 320
HEAVY FIGHTER [ML4X] H Military 559 4 STRE
DESTROYER [ML4D] H Military 240 2 MIOC
CARRIER SHIP [MC0S] T Military
DREADNOUGHT [MDRE] H Military
TRANSPORT [CCTb] T Military