I think they recommend you to use a "powerful combat ship" or something like that in the later missions. I gave up on my freight ship eventually, and bought one again when the storyline missions were over. I also wanted to hold on to my cargo ship, but eventually realized that it just wouldn't work. Mabye it is possible to use a cargo ship throughout the storyline missions, but it was too frustrating for me atleast.

If you can't win the race in your Dromedary, you have three options as far as I can tell, if you want to continue playing. Sell it and buy a more agile ship, quit the storyline missions and start a server and play multiplayer on your own or hack the savefile somehow and pass the race mission (trainers?).

A story line doesn't really have to be linear, it could have several different starts and endings. Naturally, it would take a lot more work to create that than a story with a start and a finish and static steps in between.

I agree that a "stash" or hangar for player owned ships would be really nice.

Yep, even if it was just a one ship stash. That way you could do the SP Missions and then get back to your style of Freelancer when the SP Mission completed.

Change is good, but sometimes not better.

Belter John

I really wish I could have more than one ship. I can certainly afford much more than one ship. It would have also been neat to have places to rent or purchase to store ships, items, and commodities. Come to think of it, just plain fleshing out the planet-surface experience would be great.

But oh well, DA wanted us to spend most of our time in space, I guess...Who can blame em?

I would highly recommend dumping the dromedary before that race. As soon as the race ends you move on in the story, and you end up in some SERIOUS battles and I seriously doubt it has the punch you need.

To give you an example, I hit the race with the bretonian light fighter, and planned to go pickup a heavy fighter before the next mission. I think I went thru 2 or 3 more story missions before I HAD the chance to buy a new ship. So I went thru some CRAZY ass fighting with a light fighter that only had 4 guns, and not even the highest level available to me. I was very distraught over this and it was difficult getting thru the missions alive.

Go to the Battleship back by the jump gate and get the heavy fighter, load up on weapons, and have a fun time getting to Kusari. Once there, you can pick up their freighter which is better armed than the Drome and still have 250 cargo.


regards,

RogueOne

Thanks for the advice. Just been having so much fun with the Dromedary at level 11!! I have a truckload of level 6 weapons from Bounty Hunters, Corsairs, and Gaians that I tractored in and installed. Good profits there too!!

Anyway when I get my second million credits I guess I will move on. It's alot of fun to run Liberty blockades in tho and you get the big bucks for that!!

Belter John

Not only is it too linear, but the CUTSCENES! AAAAIGH!

One of these days, I'm going to tour game developers' studios with a shillelagh, and every developer who puts in more than an hour's worth of cutscenes in a single game gets whacked on the head. Every developer who tries to put in more cutscenes than game play gets whacked twice on the head and once on the funnybone.

It's very nice that they have a storyline that they think is engaging and fascinating, but honestly, I'm not that interested. They could have taken me to the point I've reached so far in about five minutes of cutscenes.

Also, the main plot's missions come too quickly. I'm told to go out and earn some money, so I try to do so, and after maybe one mission Juni's back telling me I have to go do some ridiculous thing to further the main plot. I could use a break now and then.....

You know, you don't *have* to continue the story instantly. Just find Juni, Decline her mission, and do some more freelance missions. I was forced to do that when I had a heavily-damaged ship and no funds to rearm or repair.

I used the savegame on the downloads board to get over the level 2 ending in the demo to log in more flying time. Bought a freighter and loaded it to the hilt with guns.






Minor Spoiler below ---------------------


I have to say, the freighter out performs any fighter for sheer power since there are twice as many guns on it and a good mix of shield buster and hull buster guns hammers down the enemy in no time.

My friends dad shipped a copy over to him from America but he forgot me so I've had a chance to play the full version. I got to the mission just before you leave Liberty for Bretonia and got hacked to bits in my Liberty heavy fighter by dozens of naval ships while trying to defend Juni's friend. Went back a couple of saves and picked up the Liberty Freighter and loaded it with guns and hacked them to bits the second time around.

There is no way a freighter should be better armed than a heavy fighter, especially since there is little real difference in the handling. The only difference I can see between them apart from the number of weapon mounts and cargo size is that the heavy fighter can carry cruise disruptors.




Spoiler End --------------------------





It strikes me that when the ships were originally designed, the plan was to have a lot more difference in handling. In the years it has taken to develop this game, too much work has gone on the aesthetics and not enough on the actual gameplay.

And as I suspected, the race has got up my nose so far that it's the end of the game missions for me. When he says go, you should already be punching the controls and not waiting for a cut-scene to end first. The other ship is controlled by computer in the absolute and precise manner that computers do best, not bumbling around and making mistakes like a human player would. The race should have been left for MP games, a 1 on 1 with another mistake making human.



--
My idea of an OS is one that operates the system, not a self contained package of every piece of software ever invented.

Yep, you do that, but the bot still gets a head start. (By the way, you only have to hit cruise to go from zero to max speed so it is just one button to push). The Dromedary freighter can't out-turn a fighter though. It wallows quite a bit so it rarely gets to use it's guns. Measure a freighter by the number and power of it's turrets and always use turret view in a furball. Of course, if something should get in front of 3 guns and 5 turrets it is vaporized.

Ahh, now here is the happy ending to our story..... I beat Hovis in the Dromedary freighter!! And it is kicking the arse of the Rheinland Navy all the way thru the Omega systems. Did run out of batteries, but had 12 nanobots to spare when I hit the next port.

How does a freighter outfly a fighter in a race? Port and Starboard thrusters of course!!


Belter John