Privateer is certainly worth it; the gameplay is right up there with Freelancer. And the graphics do still look quite good for 320x200 256-color VGA.

The caveat, though, is this: it's virtually impossible to get Privateer to run on anything other than a clean, true DOS system. If you've got Windows ME, 2000, or XP, forget it. Only Win 95 and 98 machines can boot into true DOS, but even then it's still a significant task to get your memory managers configured right, and it's a total crapshoot as to whether you can get any sound out of it. There is a JEMM hack floating around that can run the game under Win 95 or 98, but if you have one of those you may as well boot into true DOS instead.

Another game in the same vein is Hardwar, which is Windows and Direct3D native (released around 1999) so it should at least run on most modern systems. It's got similar economics to Privateer and Freelancer although a vastly different (mostly ground-bound) game world.

Privateer might be 10 years old, but its playability simply amazes me. Though the graphics are primitive by today's standards, the storyline is very well-written (IMHO better than Freelancer's), lots of humor, nicely-done economy with changing prices, awesome enemies (gotta love those Retros and Kilrathi kitties!) and a pretty big universe for the player to explore-- ALL CRAMMED ONTO JUST FOUR 3.5" FLOPPIES! Amazing.

Getting Privateer to run on today's system does take some work though... You will need:

1) a partition on your hard disk configured for either FAT16 or FAT32 file systems. Privateer will NOT work under NTFS.

2) a boot disk with either DOS 6 or DOS 7, with properly-configured CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT to ensure as many drivers as possible are loaded into upper memory blocks to leave as much of the base 640K is available for the game.

3) you will need DOS drivers for your sound cards and joystick.

Good luck!

I loved playing Privateer.



Rob "Stinger" Lordier
Moderator - Lancers Reactor
Creator Privateer FAQ
Webmaster - My current hobby/project
no good deed will ever go unpunished
Co-Admin Elite Freelancer Server

I just finished playing Privateer and its Add-On Righteous Fire. Hell of a game that is! You have only four ship choices and five distinctive places to visit (the graphics are reused for a lot of the bases and planets), but you have more mission choices and in-flight character interaction.

The asteroids are quite difficult to navigate, but that adds a true essence of skill and flavour to your game. The ships though limited in number do have enormous possibility for variation of parts and add-ons.

I have been posting alot in the "Freelancer vs. Privateer" thread in this forum and I learned that everyone there had a completely different use for their weapons and different combat approaches. It's a versatile bundle of story and combat pleasure. And my favorite characters will always be the Retros. The game is still, in my opinion, on the forefront of what is possible in advanced gaming.

WCNews.com has a program for download called MyJEMM which simulates the JEMM coding needed to run Privateer so that you can play it under Windows 95/98 and maybe ME/2000 as well. I know it doesn't work for XP. Depending on how fast your system is, you may need to slow it down with a CPU killing program.

I use my old Pentium 133 which automatically boots up the game in DOS mode whenever I turn it on, sort of the way Playstation or XBox load up their games.

Spectre

Man I sure miss Privateer. I have Privateer II: The Darkening Deluxe Edition, (Deluxe Edition supposedly designed for Windows 98/ME??) but by the time I've come around to buy the game, (saw it in the bargain bin and I just couldn't resist. For $5 nonetheless, it brought back memories of the original. It was like finding glittering gold among trash. ) it wouldn't work on any of my machines and I've donated all the old machines at the nearest Thrifty store. Yet I'm reluctant to let it go, the game still sits on my desk and I'm still searching for a way to experience this game the way it's supposed to be played.

Some features of Privateer that Freelancer lacks:

1. Hiring a Wingman or Droid, can only hire one and he/she/it takes a comission on every mission. There's also a hiring fee. The comission % depends on the wingman, some are pretty steep and their bios are a fun read too.

2. News giving clues of random events in which system will buy a commodity at a profitable price.
ie: Epidemic means medical supplies, Starvation means food supplies, Civil war means small arms sales, etc...

3. Better equipment interface, beats FL barnone. Sure is easier to use and the icons reflect the equipment your buying way better than FL.

4. Renting Freighters to carry your cargo. I use them as my mobile weapons platforms early on in the game but they are costly.

5. BladeRunner/Anarchistic ambience that fits, not the dry boring bar scene of five or six. Of course this varies whereever you go, some are empty, some have weird-looking-half-naked-artsy dancers (artsy because not quite what I expect of a strip bar but it works in a weird sort of way ).

6. Equipment variety and detail is beyond comparison.
a. Overheating guns can cause damage and malfunction.
b. Heatsinks.
c. Some ammo dependent guns vs. all energy guns.

System Software, your ship's additional software plugins. How this affects gameplay, I don't know. I didn't get very far with my 2 ghz machine Ridiculous game speed. Sometimes I die the second I'm out of space dock.

d. Virus Transmitter hacks enemy OS.
e. Signal Filter, aka Firewall or Norton Agent.
f. E-mail allows for random mission offers while in flight.
g. SOS receiver allows you to receive SOS calls, DUH. Mostly rescue missions, some pay, some don't. Depends on your rep, can't save someone who is hostile with you.
h. Return To Sender (RTS) has a 50% chance of returning locked on missiles to sender.
i. Nuke'Em Device. Turns your ship into a large fireball but exhausts all your shields. I call this the BFG device. Tachyon: The Fringe also has something similar called the Corona Device.

7. Evasive manuevers like rolling. Don't ask me what for kuz I don't know, I'm not a pilot. I just miss em and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Freelancer is like the stripped down arcade version of Privateer. I'm not kidding when I bought this game for $5. Compare that with $50 for Freelancer and now knowing what you're missing. Also consider that both games were under Chris Roberts. After playing Freelancer for 2 weeks and trying out some mods, I still can't help my disappointment .

I'm not going to talk s**t about FL, I like FL because it's moddable. Moddability allows so much potential for this game. How much potential? It's up to you and the game engine's limits. If only Digital Anvil could release some script source codes like the developers of Earth 2150, then modding would go a lot smoother. Notice I say "could" because they can't, I don't think I have to explain why. Earth 2150 was practically dead when it came out, releasing script source codes and a little bit of marketing made it popular. Modders made it popular. Ever heard of Earth C scripting language? They even provided the compiler for it with an extensive tutorial from one of their developers. Digital Anvil doesn't have to provide support for the script source codes either. In my opinion, Freelancer without modders is a dead stick in space and it'll sit there collecting dust. Thx to modders like the creators of Hostile Universe and Frost Works, I'm off to wipeout some clueless birds, they don't know who they're messin with.

Really, you guys made my hard earned $50 worthwhile

I'll search the stores for privateer then, and try some of the stuff you posted to have it work on a newer OS
Also gonna check out Hardwar

Privateer I/Righteous Fire is abandonware... No longer marketed or supported by the company that published it. It's easier to download it off the web (search for "abandonware" and you should get tons of hits) than having to search for two years for a single store out of 10,000 that has a dusty box somewhere in its forgotten storeroom.

I wouldn't bother with MyJEMM because it doesn't work with Privateer's sound and joystick routines on most machines. The best way to go is a DOS boot disk IMHO.

I think it's worth the effort... I've gotten Priv1 and RF to work on my P4 2.4gHz.

I realize I'm a bit late with this question, hopefully people are still reading this topic. I loved Privateer and RF, however I have never been able to get it to work on my newer computers. Currently running Win ME, have another computer with XP on it. Neither will run it straight up, I've tried going with a boot disc, but haven't been able to get that to work either.

So my question, how are you doing this? What tricks are you using to get it to run, and how do I go about setting up the tricks. A walkthrough would be helpful

Thanks

I did mention MyJemm in this thread which similates the JEMM environment Privateer uses to run, but I don't think it works on any Windows platform after 98, and I have never tried it. I personally still use my old Pentium 133. It works perfectly for me because as Privateer or Wing Commander 2 are all I ever play on that machine, all I have to do is boot up from DOS, then never completely shut the game down when I'm done. Which means, every time I turn on the computer the game automatically boots up without any input from me, much like a Playstation.

If you want to play it using your current systems, I suggest keep fooling around with the boot disk, otherwise ask the individual at WCNews.com to come out with an updated MyJemm that works on your Windows environments.

As for Privateer 2, I just play that normally under Win 98 on this computer, I just set the pif file to say "Don't Allow DOS ap to detect Windows". I am soooo glad I heard all the DOS gaming complications with the newer Windows systems, I never saw fit to upgrade and it seems like I chose wisely I can play ALL my old DOS games on this computer except for somethat are sped up too fast, but that's what the 133 is for.

Spectre

Have you tried star control?

i ate a booger so you ate a turd.

I have Star Control on my Megadrive, good game, but the computer was too easy to beat.
Privateer 2: The Darkening is probably available at here if you care to look. Very good game. I own it too, but the instruction manual is Swedish! Luckily for me I met a Swedish guy at a FInal Fantays Froum, and he translated key parts for me!

If it wasn't for the inky blackness of the night you wouldn't appreciate the brilliance of the stars...

If Privateer doesn't use DOS4GW (I don't remember, been a while since I played it and I don't have a floppy drive at all nowadays) you can use DosBox to run it even in XP.

http://dosbox.sourceforge.net/

Edit: Oh, and furthermore, Star Control 2 (the best game of all time in my humble opinion, only Fallout 2 comes close) is being remade to work on modern systems. It's free and open-source. They call it "Ur-Quan Masters" because of copyright issues (the original creators of the game gave the devteam source codes, but they had sold the trademark). Find it at http://sc2.sourceforge.net/ (works on multiple platforms).

- saboteur
.. www.saboteurweb.com

Edited by - Saboteur on 04-08-2003 20:49:06

Privateer uses JEMM, hence why I--in several posts--mention JEMM. And as far as I know, and I have looked, no one has managed to get it working in XP.

Please do tell more about this DOSBox, if it works or can work, then I would like to hear more about it.

Spectre

I loved the old Privateer, so I hunted up the box in the cabinet. My nephew has run off with the disks, the little creep! I've got the box and the manual, but he's got the floppies the game is on. ARGGGGGHHHHH!