Elite / Frontier Elite Legend - ZX Spectrum 2021 - best 8-bit Elite?

[Arioch]

Today has seen some interesting developments.

1. I had the supernova mission for the second time. Same as before, fly to the sun, scoop fuel, go to station, collect refugees, hyperspace away, refugees give you 100g gemstones. (I know some people use a galactic hyperdive here but I don't).
2. Triggered the stealth Asp mission, had several goes at this but kept destropying the Asp along with the cargo pod. Eventually, on one of the tries there was an epic battle with about 10 ships, during whcih I collected a random cargo pod and it turned out to be the cloaking device! Some other ship must have squibbed the Asp and I just nicked the bounty!

Question for today - the "fuel collector" (not fuel scoops). What does it actually do?

1. The supernova will eventually trigger in each Galactic map, going by my experience - and usually when you’re on a mission with a high payout Using a hyperjump will throw you into the next map just as if you used a galactic hyperdrive, but a lot cheaper! Must be surfing the 4th-dimensional blast wave or something.

2. Nice, that’s a tough mission that took me quite a number of attempts. I’ve found the cloaking device isn’t as effective as in the original game where baddies immediately stop shooting at you when you use it - I think I get less incoming fire, but I haven’t really used it enough to say for sure.

The fuel collector will very slowly top up your fuel tank from the interstellar medium when using the Torus jump drive - you never really see it when moving in-system, but if you ever head out into the black and get beyond the system Oort Cloud then it becomes a vital piece of equipment. Same for if you force a mis-jump to go hunting Thargoids.

 

[JonboyP]

I seem to remember in the original game the cloaking device also came with the ECM jammer. Am I remembering correctly?

 

[Arioch]

I seem to remember in the original game the cloaking device also came with the ECM jammer. Am I remembering correctly?

The ECM jamming system is fitted when you get the Thargoid Station attack mission - which is another recurring mission in Elite Legend, though a lot less frequent than the Supernova.

Edit: speak of the devil… I literally paused the game to type the above reply and not thirty seconds after starting again and jumping to the next system I got the Thargoid invasion warning Looks like the jammer isn’t required equipment in Elite Legend as it’s not showing up in my ship equipment list.

 

[JonboyP]

Todays gameplay - had another cloaked ship, which I destroyed but it didn't yield any cargo other than alloys when destroyed. I saved and replayed it a few times to make sure. Supernova mission for the third time.

How/where to find the advanced items - naval energy unit, ship capture system for example?

 

[Arioch]

Todays gameplay - had another cloaked ship, which I destroyed but it didn't yield any cargo other than alloys when destroyed. I saved and replayed it a few times to make sure. Supernova mission for the third time.

How/where to find the advanced items - naval energy unit, ship capture system for example?

Cloaked ships become part of the game after the mission - and they are not limited to Asps either

Some equipment is only available in high tech systems (you’ll need to be looking at level 16 & above to get most gear), and some only become available after you’ve earned them as a mission reward - I still haven’t got access to the ship capture system and I don’t know what the prerequisites are for that particular item.

 

[JonboyP]

Todays questions.

1. Ships which you don't get a reward for when destroyed - are they special in some way? I keep accidentally blasting their cargo. Must get better at this!

2. Got attacked by a stealth Thargoid! This was in galaxy 7 whilst on a courier run. I accidentally crashed into it and destroyed it. If I had managed to shoot it properly would this have yielded any tasty cargo? Thargoig computer perhaps?

 

[Arioch]

1. If you don't get a bounty for destroying the ship then it was Clean and your legal status will have changed*. In the original Elite, any ships that appeared at the 10 or 2 o'clock positions on the scanner were always criminals - in Elite Legend this is not always the case. I've even had police Vipers appear from those directions.

2. Stealthed ships drop the same cargo/debris as normal ships as far as I have seen.

*the original legal status went Clean - Offender - Fugitive and it looks like there are some extra levels included in Legend; I've been an Outlaw on several occasions, and one time after a particularly shooty misunderstanding with the local law enforcement I was branded:

When you get above a certain naughty-boy level you wil get FDLs coming after you as well as the normal Vipers. Also, Sidewinders in pirate wings that normally appear in the 12 o'clock position on the scanner and normally don't do anything, will immediately open fire on you. Docking privileges get revoked as well.

 

[JonboyP]

Had the Thargoid Invasion mission triggered yesterday, how exciting! It was easier than I thought it would be destroy the station, and the 'reward' was a little dissapointing! I was given Military Shield Enhancement and Naval ECM System for accepting mission, but nothing afterward except for the "highest honour" of the planet. No ECM System Jammer though.

 

[JonboyP]

I have triggered the 'Constrictor Hunt' mission. Ended up chasing this ship from system to system, halfway across the galaxy. Eventually I landed in a system and when I docked with the station I got "He purchased a galaxy gyperdrive (spelling error there) on the black market. Draw your own" conclusions.

Have I failed the mission because I didn't track him down in time? Or do I galaxy jump and follow him?

Additional: I did a galactic hyperspace. Soon as I had cleared the jump gate (I don't usually bother with them) I got ambushed by about 8 Vipers all at once which shredded me so I energy bombed them. Within seconds, another squadron of Vipers appeared from nowhere and finished me off. I reloaded my saved game a few times and I could not find a way past this Viper ambush so in the end I gave up and used the jump gate to dock safely. Exiting the jump gate my docking computer wouldn't work, so I docked manually and then got another "the ship you are interested in has gone to xxxxx system" so I guess I'm still on mission.

Something is afoot anyway!

 

[Arioch]

I have triggered the 'Constrictor Hunt' mission. Ended up chasing this ship from system to system, halfway across the galaxy. Eventually I landed in a system and when I docked with the station I got "He purchased a galaxy gyperdrive (spelling error there) on the black market. Draw your own" conclusions.

Have I failed the mission because I didn't track him down in time? Or do I galaxy jump and follow him?

Additional: I did a galactic hyperspace. Soon as I had cleared the jump gate (I don't usually bother with them) I got ambushed by about 8 Vipers all at once which shredded me so I energy bombed them. Within seconds, another squadron of Vipers appeared from nowhere and finished me off. I reloaded my saved game a few times and I could not find a way past this Viper ambush so in the end I gave up and used the jump gate to dock safely. Exiting the jump gate my docking computer wouldn't work, so I docked manually and then got another "the ship you are interested in has gone to xxxxx system" so I guess I'm still on mission.

Something is afoot anyway!

It’s definitely a very long mission - though I never encountered that sort of Viper attack as part of it. The only time I’ve been swarmed by the police is when I managed to get my crime rating up to a level I’d not seen before

 

[JonboyP]

It’s definitely a very long mission - though I never encountered that sort of Viper attack as part of it. The only time I’ve been swarmed by the police is when I managed to get my crime rating up to a level I’d not seen before

I checked on this, and my legal rating was Rogue.

Is there a list? I think it goes clean > offender > fugitive > outlaw > rogue. Is that right?

 

[Arioch]

I checked on this, and my legal rating was Rogue.

Is there a list? I think it goes clean > offender > fugitive > outlaw > rogue. Is that right?

Yes, Outlaw & Rogue are the two extra legal status levels - aside from the extra Viper attention I got FdL bounty hunters coming after me, docking privileges revoked, and Sidewinders attacking on sight when they appear in front of you (the ones that normally ignore you when a pirate wing appears).

Edit: version 1.09 got released a couple of weeks ago and one item in the patch notes:

• legal status: fixed error of changing legal status during intergalactic flight

…might explain your Viper attack swarm

 

[JonboyP]

Eventually found the hijacked ship and destroyed it. Front naval military laser as the reward. I already had that laser on my previous ship but I recently bought a Python so had to start equipping again from scratch!

Got the mission now to take the Thargoid defence plans to a certain planet. This really puts a target on your back doesn't it! I haven't been able to make it out of a single system yet. Guess I'm just not good enough!

 

[Arioch]

Eventually found the hijacked ship and destroyed it. Front naval military laser as the reward. I already had that laser on my previous ship but I recently bought a Python so had to start equipping again from scratch!

Got the mission now to take the Thargoid defence plans to a certain planet. This really puts a target on your back doesn't it! I haven't been able to make it out of a single system yet. Guess I'm just not good enough!

I’ve recently got a Python as well - the increased jump range and nearly doubled energy banks were a nice surprise. My Cobra Mk3 is lurking in a shipyard somewhere but I noticed that instantaneous ship transfer is available (ha, take that ED!) if you press the shipyard key again.

The Thargoid plans mission is tough (I’d even say impossible) if you try to shoot your way through - but there is a way to do it that involves little to no combat…and can be a bit expensive

 

[JonboyP]

Military Galactic hyperdrive, by any chance?

 

[Arioch]

Military Galactic hyperdrive, by any chance?

Careful route planning to include as many Jump Gates as possible, and escape capsules for those systems that don’t have them - abandoning ship will lose you any cargo you were carrying, but not any information packages

 

[JonboyP]

What are the controls for the Ship Capture System? I assumed it would be similar to the cargo catpure drone and the Alien Computer launching system.

EDIT: Okay, so you need to have drones on board, then the controls are the same. I guess with the basic system you can only capture low-quality ships. Does it make a difference if you launch lots of drones at once? Can you even do that?

 

[Arioch]

What are the controls for the Ship Capture System? I assumed it would be similar to the cargo catpure drone and the Alien Computer launching system.

EDIT: Okay, so you need to have drones on board, then the controls are the same. I guess with the basic system you can only capture low-quality ships. Does it make a difference if you launch lots of drones at once? Can you even do that?

How did you get the Ship Capture System? Or the Thargoid drone launching system?

 

[JonboyP]

How did you get the Ship Capture System? Or the Thargoid drone launching system?

The Alien Computer was acquired when I destroyed a Thargoid ship and it spat out a cargo container, which I collected. This enables you to launch Alien Items (Tharglets) which fight on your behalf. Having launched them you can also collect them again. I've only ever seen a Thargoid yield a cargo container once, and this was it.

The Ship Capture System was available as to purchase at a normal station in a planetary system in galaxy 11. It was 49k credits.

So far I've tried it on an Asp (my launched drone circled the vacataed Asp about 8 times before colliding with it, and I then got "ship capture failed" message.

I also tried it on a Python. This time the drone went straight towards it and collided with it, but I still got the "ship capture failed" message.

 

[Arioch]

The Alien Computer was acquired when I destroyed a Thargoid ship and it spat out a cargo container, which I collected. This enables you to launch Alien Items (Tharglets) which fight on your behalf. Having launched them you can also collect them again. I've only ever seen a Thargoid yield a cargo container once, and this was it.

The Ship Capture System was available as to purchase at a normal station in a planetary system in galaxy 11. It was 49k credits.

So far I've tried it on an Asp (my launched drone circled the vacataed Asp about 8 times before colliding with it, and I then got "ship capture failed" message.

I also tried it on a Python. This time the drone went straight towards it and collided with it, but I still got the "ship capture failed" message.

Hmmm, I’m not sure what I’m missing in my game then - I’ve just been to a tech level 19 planet (the highest level in the Galaxy map I’m in, and there’s only one of them) and it stocks all the high level Naval stuff but no ship capture system. I wonder if I have to scoop the Thargoid equipment first?

Edit: scooped another cloacking (sic) device last night which I hadn’t got around to purchasing for the Python. Hopefully whatever flag is needed for the SCS to become available will be set at some stage and I’d just missed it while in the Cobra.