Wing Commander ®: Privateer ™

I think this game was the first true 6-degrees-of-freedom GTA-SA-style space sim out there. Most games focus on the combat only, but this puts true decision-making in your hands. You have to manage your money and think like a businessman. You customize and purchase your own space ships, and have to pay for your own repairs. It's a very interesting game for the truly enterprising mind. While you don't have a Commander or Admiral breathing down your neck all the time barking orders, the freedom makes the game all the more challenging. Laundry list of complaints: The original joystick interface was very clumsy, and didn't support a joystick with throttle. Unless Origin remakes the game, I doubt it will get much better. Button 1=fire, button 2=roll/throttle, button 1+2=fire missile. I would very much suggest a programmable joystick, and perhaps reduce the sensitivity of the joystick itself in the software. My current hardware is a Thrustmaster T.Flight HOTAS.

Privateer, one of my favorite games from this era! Mixing WIng Commander with Elite style trading and upgrading. Still plays great as this is a great port of it to Dosbox. Note there is no music really without Midi so you will want a Midi player. The old Sound Blaster FM audio was never good, and since software midi players are easy to find now days (used to take hardware to play this back in the day), there is no reason not to use Midi music. Linux users: - QSynth MIDI engine: https://qsynth.sourceforge.io/ To make it perform flawlessly, I had to set the MIDI driver to alsa_seq, Client name ID to pid, audio driver on the Audio tab to alsa, sample rate of 44.1khz, and the audio was a bit scratchy at 64 buffer size so I increased it to 128 and it is rock solid. - SoundFont: https://www.mediafire.com/?zo8l3dgf2989266 - This has some great instruments. If you want a comparison, the 2nd half of this vid should convince you: https://youtu.be/-UwhEyxFrns

Great story, great space flight sim and an unique experience. (Keeping in mind when the game was made) This is NOT an arcade shoot-it-up and kill 50,000 aircraft with one massive missile game. I am sure Freelancer (from Microsoft) ripped this game off as it is very similar in concept. The later Wing Commander titles is nothing like Privateer and concentrate more on graphics and video clips than actual game-play or story. Even Privateer 2 (with better graphics) was not as well thought out as this game and took great features away that made it more an arcade feel than simulation. From all the Wing Commander titles - this will be the one I will pick time and again. I would have loved it even more if it included LAN play which it sadly does not. You really get immersed in the role of your character trying to make a living from jobs offered that takes you across space and other worlds. There are three ships you can purchase apart from the Tarsus you start with. Each one can be upgraded: Weapons, Armor, Engine, Shield generators, missiles, mines, torpedo's, extras like tractor beams, afterburners, turrets and so forth. I have played many versions of this game including Vega Strike, but all of them just have something else missing from the original game. The one will for instance not have the same menu or method for buying/upgrading like the original had , the other will miss a merchants guild or ship yard on a planet where one is supposed to be. I cannot recall if there were any shortcoming with the GOG version but here is what attributed to a great experience for me overall: The fact that your ship is standing on the floor when you upgrade/repair it, a compartment that opens for you to fit a scanner or dragging your new bought weapon to the where you want to install it. Studying the equipment and manage your money to get the most out of your equipment so it makes optimal use of the energy produced/generated. The fact that you needed a jump drive to warp to other sectors and you needed fuel to jump. You therefore need to plan and be careful as you can only refuel again on a planet. The fact that you can switch your craft on autopilot and climb in a turret. The fact that the cockpits are different for different ships. There were two guilds you could belong to for better jobs, a mission computer for handing out meager jobs, commodity trading, get good tips from the bartender or missions from someone sitting in the bar. You can be a good guy or bad and smuggle some contraband for big bucks. If an asteroid hit you, you will know about it - if the engine still worked! Different shield generator types you got was unique in function, pros and cons. You had an escape pod (more like a space suit with something a bit more than a jet pack) Felt scary when you float like that in space with limited maneuverability and a laser. You could self destruct. The many, many views you had. (Inside the cockpit seeing all the lights and flickering monitors and then looking right/left out the cockpit window, seeing stars float by or even looking to the back of the ship) I think the creators of older games understood that these added small effects are what draws you into the whole feeling of the game and creates the atmosphere. To complete the main story you will need the Righteous Fire expansion though. Be a bounty hunter or a humble merchant - it is up to you. A 2D game with a very clever way of making it look 3D and give it a true open world feeling. A marvel for it's time.

The reason why i bought a pc in 1993 is Wc Privateer. In my case at least after played the original campaign & RF, it's run perfectly like before with this dos box config, great job GOG. I have a few crash but the original game (version CD classics Windows 95) had some too. Today, maybe i'm to old but I miss a fresh new saga like Wing commander, Freespace, Tie fighter or X-wing Alliance. At least thanks GOG to be able to played these old titles free DRM...time by so fast.

Finally found it and with Righteous Fire. I just love this game, It beats many modern titles in thrills and story line and game mechanics. Pure and simple fun. The plot is amazing, You have no idea where it will lead you and even now it doesn't disappoint. When it first came out it changed everything in the gaming world and can still stand tall among the greats. You play a freelancer pilot with a barely space worthy ship. Very little money and in the system of Troy. From that starting point you need to take cargo runs, Risky missions that are not always legal, Bounty hunting is there as well. You need to join the Merchants guild to access the big money cargo runs, Mercenary guild for bountys. Thats basically it, Except it isn't as there is so much more outside of the games plot. I never get tired of this game, Ive started a new run with just the Tarsus, I want to take it into Righteous fire and see what upgrades i can do and see if it's a viable option, even if it isnt... its going to be a lot of fun finding out. Privateer 2 The Darkening isn't as good, Though its a great companion to this.