Space Rangers questions

[Psilon]

The other quest to avoid is the "elus" competition. The effort you'll probably have to expend (perfect deduction still can lead to random guessing) just isn't worth the standard text-adventure reward. Build ski lodges instead.

elus? Is that the one with the different colored and shaped(round, lozenge, small, etc..) pieces?

Yup. By far the most annoying quest in the game for me.

 

[Severian Silk]

I'm now stuck hiding in a base while two pirates are hovering around the outside. Every time I exit the base they blow me up. What should I do?

 

[LCJr.]

I'm now stuck hiding in a base while two pirates are hovering around the outside. Every time I exit the base they blow me up. What should I do?

Either go to turnbased(spacebar) and ask every ship around to help out. You might be surprised.

Or simply hit the overdrive and run. Overdrive is the little button that looks like play in the upper left hand of your ship display. Flee the system and go someplace with fewer pirates. IIRC pirates only attack if they can scan your ship so getting the best shields will also make them less likely to attack.

Left out selling your cargo on planet. You'll probably take a loss but you'll be alive. Or pay off the pirates.

 

[Severian Silk]

Search results of planets show a table of values with rows corresponding to the eight major goods bought and sold on the planet. What do the values in the last two coulmns (the ones separated by a slash, '/') represent?

 

[LCJr.]

Search results of planets show a table of values with rows corresponding to the eight major goods bought and sold on the planet. What do the values in the last two coulmns (the ones separated by a slash, '/') represent?

Could you post a screenshot? I haven't played this game in over a year but it may be the buy/sell price. A simple test is to compare it to the prices of the planet you're on.

 

[Severian Silk]

Here's a screenshot:

 

[LCJr.]

I believe the columns are: Quantity available for purchase. purchase price/sell price

 

[Severian Silk]

Thanks.

 

[MountainWest]

The other quest to avoid is the "elus" competition. The effort you'll probably have to expend (perfect deduction still can lead to random guessing) just isn't worth the standard text-adventure reward. Build ski lodges instead.

Are you sure that you had to restort to random guessing? True, you probably had to fail at least once to understand how the different levels (1,2,3) were constructed.
i.e. the third was: if -> then, if not -> something else. But when you had that information it was pretty much just 1) check for a probabal solution 2) check that your solution wasn't covered by two or more of the three given answers.

Perhaps I was lucky and got "lines" with only one logical solution (combined with the other information).

 

[Psilon]

You were probably lucky, or else I was terribly unlucky. The level-one and level-two questions were easy, I agree. The problem is that for the initial guesses for level 3 I routinely had two or more solutions that fit only one (different) answer each. Guessing was required in that case.

 

[Severian Silk]

Money-wise I am able to keep up with the purchasable technology. The problem is that even if I buy the latest gear everyone still out-classes me by a wide margin. Also, the dominators are conquering systems quickly to the point where I'm being hemmed in to a corner of the map. What should I do?

 

[MountainWest]

Money-wise I am able to keep up with the purchasable technology. The problem is that even if I buy the latest gear everyone still out-classes me by a wide margin. Also, the dominators are conquering systems quickly to the point where I'm being hemmed in to a corner of the map. What should I do?

If you have enough spare cash you could go to a military station and pay for a military strike on some of the conquered systems. It's expensive though.

 

[Norfleet]

What'd you think of the pizza contest? I found that one more random luck than anything. Get the wrong combo of judges and you just can't please them all.

The pizza contest isn't purely random luck: Each judge species looks for specific things in the pizza. Fortunately, the pain is minimized because you know what the panel consists of at the very beginning of the quest, so if the panel is going to be impossible, you can reload right there. Ideally, you want at at least 3 out of 5 with the overlapping preferences (same species is best), and no more than 1 with an opposed preference.

Then play to the three out of 5, try to keep the 4th satisfied, and buy off the one you know is going to give you a zero. Text quests which involve bribery are best later in the game when the reward payouts far exceed the costs of petty bribery.

 

[LCJr.]

What'd you think of the pizza contest? I found that one more random luck than anything. Get the wrong combo of judges and you just can't please them all.

The pizza contest isn't purely random luck: Each judge species looks for specific things in the pizza. Fortunately, the pain is minimized because you know what the panel consists of at the very beginning of the quest, so if the panel is going to be impossible, you can reload right there. Ideally, you want at at least 3 out of 5 with the overlapping preferences (same species is best), and no more than 1 with an opposed preference.

Then play to the three out of 5, try to keep the 4th satisfied, and buy off the one you know is going to give you a zero. Text quests which involve bribery are best later in the game when the reward payouts far exceed the costs of petty bribery.

So basically you're saying it's random luck because if you get the wrong combo of judges you can't win. Why the strange sense of deja vu?

 

[LCJr.]

Money-wise I am able to keep up with the purchasable technology. The problem is that even if I buy the latest gear everyone still out-classes me by a wide margin. Also, the dominators are conquering systems quickly to the point where I'm being hemmed in to a corner of the map. What should I do?

What do you mean you're being outclassed even though you're keeping up with tech? Have you upgraded to a larger tougher ship? Try for a 4 or 5 gun, just watch what systems are deleted and how many artifact slots it has. Are you getting your equipment tweaked at the science stations? Finding any artifacts? Are you pumping your character full of performance enhancing drugs? Ah, what are you putting your skill points into?

Any chance of jumping out of the pocket?

Have you tried fighting the Dominators yet? IIRC you get an icon when a system is being attacked by the Dominators. Try jumping in and lending a hand. Just be sure to have enough fuel to make a round trip or refuel soon as you hit the system. If you can't beat them grab every piece of Dominator tech you can and run. Be sure to sell it at science stations to the right research dept to get the double money. I was a very sad Ranger when all depts. completed their research.

Have you earned enough military points to get a promotion(and a free goodie) or software?

Have you recruited any other Rangers as wingmen?

 

[Walks with the Snails]

Money-wise I am able to keep up with the purchasable technology. The problem is that even if I buy the latest gear everyone still out-classes me by a wide margin. Also, the dominators are conquering systems quickly to the point where I'm being hemmed in to a corner of the map. What should I do?

Yeah, pretty much what the other guy said. I'm 10 years into my first game with about 70% liberated so far. It's turning into a cakewalk now, with the 6th level techs coming into circulation and me pulling in 30-50k per quest.

Use stims heavily after getting life insurance, there's no real penatly to them despite the warnings. There's one stim that gives you max leadership, use it and then get 5 wingmen after driving down their asking price repeatedly. Absolute status is also awesome for questing. Combat ones are good for liberating systems. And if you get max stims, you also seem more likely to get a disease, which strangely enough give more benefits than disadvantages from what I've seen. Mysterious Luatanza is great, and I got some weird pregnancy thing as a Gaalian, too, which boosted my combat stats. If you get a sucky disease, just let it run its course or go to a medical station to get cured. Join existing battles (the swords crossed) so you don't have to fight alone and can get full liberation credit for killing off the last dominator after everyone else did the hard work, or organize a raid from a military base if the good guys aren't being aggressive enough.

 

[Severian Silk]

What do you mean you're being outclassed even though you're keeping up with tech? Have you upgraded to a larger tougher ship? Try for a 4 or 5 gun, just watch what systems are deleted and how many artifact slots it has. Are you getting your equipment tweaked at the science stations? Finding any artifacts? Are you pumping your character full of performance enhancing drugs? Ah, what are you putting your skill points into?

I haven't upgraded my hull yet. The one I have is pretty good and better ones are expensive. I'm not using any drugs. The artifacts I've found haven't been particularly impressive. I have a skill point in maneuverability, trade and charisma.

Any chance of jumping out of the pocket?

Yes, but if they capture two locations along the same vector I'm screwed because I only have one cistern. Also, the system maps are getting to be expensive.

Have you tried fighting the Dominators yet? IIRC you get an icon when a system is being attacked by the Dominators. Try jumping in and lending a hand. Just be sure to have enough fuel to make a round trip or refuel soon as you hit the system. If you can't beat them grab every piece of Dominator tech you can and run. Be sure to sell it at science stations to the right research dept to get the double money. I was a very sad Ranger when all depts. completed their research.

I will try lending a hand. But, I get smoked by pirates let alone dominators.

Have you earned enough military points to get a promotion(and a free goodie) or software?

I have zero military points as I've been trying to live the life of a trader.

Have you recruited any other Rangers as wingmen?

I recruited one at the beginning of the game, but he was chased away and disappeared from my HUD.

 

[LCJr.]

Go for the hull upgrade. The bigger hulls take more damage and as tech increases have better armor.

As for artifacts you get them sometimes as rewards for doing quests for the planetary governers. Have you tried probes yet? I found quite a few Lvl1 and 2 artifacts on uninhabitated planets.

If you have a chance to get out of the pocket take it while it's still there. "He who runs away lives to fight another day."

No matter who you're fighting use the communications and try to get help from all the other friendly ships. If they don't want to help you jump on whoever they're fighting. If you can't compete with the Dominators just hang back and snag all the loot you can and bail.

If you've still got an active medstation in the pocket give the drugs a try. There's one that gives your piloting and gunnery a major boost for 6 months.

If you're trying to live the the life of a peaceful merchant be prepared to give up most of your profits for building military bases and fleets. That's the only way you can turn the tide without getting actively involved. BTW funding military bases(and maybe fleets) earns you military points. So if you've contributed to the cause you may have a promotion coming.

Give some thought to skipping skill points in trade. IIRC it only affects the price you get for selling ship systems and has no effect on actual trade. Charisma is also so-so you can do the same thing by going to a bussiness station and contributing to the "Dominator victims fund".

 

[Psilon]

I found most of my artifacts in the black hole minigame. Just load up on flow blasters and start cleaning house.

 

[Walks with the Snails]

I haven't upgraded my hull yet. The one I have is pretty good and better ones are expensive. I'm not using any drugs. The artifacts I've found haven't been particularly impressive. I have a skill point in maneuverability, trade and charisma.

Don't buy leadership, but use the leadership stim I mentioned and get 5 wingmen. I've read you can get a tech stim to buy lots of probes, too, but I've never seen it. If you're not fighting and not upgrading a lot trade is kinda marginal IMO, since it's only useful for selling equipment. For what sounds like your playstyle, I'd boost charisma mainly, since you get a lot more money from quests. Maneuverability is nice, too, if you just want to stay alive and let your wingmen and the AI fight the dominators.

Yes, but if they capture two locations along the same vector I'm screwed because I only have one cistern. Also, the system maps are getting to be expensive.

Prices for everything only go up in time, so buy the maps now or they'll cost even more later on. From what I've seen, lower tech races also sell maps cheaper, so buy from the Maloqs whenever you can, then Pelengs, etc.

I will try lending a hand. But, I get smoked by pirates let alone dominators.

Buy a good shield and the pirates won't bother you anymore, since their scanners can't see your cargo. I haven't been attacked by pirates once since I bought a 32% shield.

I have zero military points as I've been trying to live the life of a trader.

Well, you are a space ranger, you're still expected to chip into the war effort regardless of which way you go about it. You get tons of military points for building military bases and ranger points (xp) for building ranger stations, so invest in those at the business center if you don't want to get your hands dirty. I don't remember how much xp it took, but probably buying a base or two would bump you up to cadet and then another 2-3 would get you to pilot. Once you're a pilot you start getting programs that can neuter dominator ships. Captain might take a bit more, but you can use 3 stims then which is nice. Quests also make more money than trading alone IMO, plus you get lots of xp. Just go on every quest you can and use the search function to see profitable trading opportunities on the way.

 

[Severian Silk]

I managed to win the systems back by funding lots of military ventures.

Anyway, I've started accepting missions instead of trading. The current mission I'm on is the "Elus" tournament. So, how do you play this game? The in-game description is hard to understand, and the FAQ is just as bad.

 

[Psilon]

You poor bastard. Didn't you see my earlier post? Pick pieces that follow the pattern. Complete three patterns to win.

The first-level pattern is always something of this form:
* Choose the <same / different> <color / shape / size>.

The second-level pattern is always something of this form:
* If the previous piece is <some quality> then choose <specific different quality>, otherwise choose <opposite of previous>.

The third-level pattern is always something of this form:
* If the previous piece is <some quality> then choose <specific quality>, otherwise choose <same / different> <color / shape / size>.

"Quality," in this case, refers to a specific trait: "yellow," "large," "lozenge," and so on.

 

[Severian Silk]

I didn't catch your post in time. I did manage to complete one game and came in fourth place. Will there always be one guy who only had a single error? That guy will be tough to beat! Did you manage to beat the quest?

 

[Severian Silk]

I managed to win on my third try. Thanks for the help!! Now I'm doing the Foncer racing mission. Is it true the Vortex is the best ship for this?

 

[Lord Chambers]

I managed to win on my third try. Thanks for the help!! Now I'm doing the Foncer racing mission. Is it true the Vortex is the best ship for this?

I used a custom ship. I built a bike with max flows into manuverability, enough to make my engine bad, and the rest into shields. With max manuverability you can floor it on most maps and take less damage. Then, if the track sections you've been getting have been largly rough ones, and your shields are low, drop down a text choice on your answers and conserve shields for the last few sections. This practically ensures victory.

And yes, I know this thread is from last year.