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Wing Commander seriesSpace sim veterans: What are your thoughts on Privateer 2?(14 posts)(14 posts)
(14 posts)
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Posted September 20, 2013
This question is directed towards people with extensive experience in playing space simulators from the early to mid 90s. Apparently this game has a rather substantial cult following despite the lukewarm reception it received from gaming websites and publications at the time. So tell me: should I buy this game, and what do you think of it?
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Posted September 20, 2013
It's not as good as the first Privateer but it has its charm.

It has a sort of Hitchiker's Guide, or Farscape, or Dr. Who like feel to it, maybe even a bit of Clockwork Orange in visuals.

It's got a kind of quirky british humor aspect to it, especially in the news reports.
Post edited September 20, 2013 by Baggins
Posted September 22, 2013
Some details looked nice enough at the time, but they might seem a bit silly nowadays. There were still influences of the looks from the music videos scene of the 80's. However, the cast was great. Clive Owen does it convincingly and John Hurt an Christopher Walker deliver. Enjoyable.
Posted September 22, 2013
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Gamerforever: This question is directed towards people with extensive experience in playing space simulators from the early to mid 90s. Apparently this game has a rather substantial cult following despite the lukewarm reception it received from gaming websites and publications at the time. So tell me: should I buy this game, and what do you think of it?
I enjoy it way more than the first Privateer. Privateer 2 eclipses the first game, IMHO. It's much easier to get into the swing of it than the first game. There is a story to advance as well as plenty of interesting side missions.

Privateer 1 was frustrating and confusing for me as a new player. It took a while for me to figure out how to play it. It wasn't the space combat or controls, it was figuring out how to get around and make money. They started you without a jump drive, so most of space is off limits, plus is tough to figure out what to do. The only way I could get started was to turn on invulnerability and infinite ammo, sell most of my starting equip and buy a jump drive before I could make any headway. The Nav system is confusing as hell. The story is something you have to go out of your way to figure out, it doesn't come to you.
Posted September 22, 2013
My biggest issue with Privateer 2, is I prefer being able to carry commodities on my own shop. No reason to have to 'defend' other ships.

Secondly you can easily escape combat in Privateer 1 if you have your energy/boosters. Which is nice if you get into a position where you are outnumbered.

Third the universe of Privateer 1 is more dynamic. There are more planets to visit, and almost every planet has people to talk to that will discuss the sector you are in. There are many systems, with many planets, bases, etc. Granted only a few of these planets are 'unique', many of them are look a likes.

Privateer 2 is limited to 'three systems', with about six-eight planets, and all the bases pretty much look the same (with about five different businesses found everywhere). There is no talking to bartenders, and its replaced with a more limited but cool in its own way news system/mission hiring/commodities booth. But overall doesn't have the same size and scope as the first game in that direction.

However, Privateer 2 looks better, and has cool aesthetics.

However, compared to other 3d Origin games at the time (WC3, Armada, and WC4) Privateer 2 is kinda clunky, and plagued with a worse interface.
Post edited September 25, 2013 by Baggins
Posted September 22, 2013
I was, as one of those old sim veterans, so very glad to see this game come to GOG. I played the first Privateer to death, "I have detailed files", I enjoyed so very much. If you've played Privateer, Privateer 2 takes some getting used to. Things are a bit dumbed down, but that's OK. At least when you sell something you get your full value for it when you sell it.

I suggest turning on the Invulnerability in the Options Menu; the flight model in Privateer 2 is more unforgiving, and as said before, you can't run away, per say. You start out so weak that this little plus helps with any frustration in the early stages. Oh, and there's no penalty for turning it on.

The trading section is weaker in Privateer 2, though playing attention to the News Bulletins can help you get some big sales if the planet's not too far out of the way. Don't be in a hurry with the Main Story, build up your money for better ships and equipment.

All in all, I'm very, very happy that it just plays! Which is something that hasn't happened for a while!

Well.. back to the space lanes! I've got a shipment to get to Anhur!

Foucter AKA Rogue
Posted September 24, 2013
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Baggins: However, compared to other 3d Origin games at the time (WC3, Armada, and WC4) Privateer 2 is kinda clunky, and plagued with a worse interface.
The Nav map in Privateer 2 suffers from being jumbled and confusing even more so than Privateer 1. The Nav points aren't in any numerical order. It can be a chore to find the correct Nav point. It would have been better to at least manually input Nav point and then the computer draws a line to it, rather than have to drag the mouse around to find it, or link the Nav path to an active job (like select the job in the diary to make it active, thus setting the Nav path automatically).
Posted September 24, 2013
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Foucter: Things are a bit dumbed down, but that's OK. At least when you sell something you get your full value for it when you sell it.
User interface has come a long way. Menus and such have been made more convenient in newer games so much that we take it for granted. Privateer 2 could stand to have been made more convenient, I mean you figure that in the future, programming the Nav system on a starship would be a simpler interface and not some clunky outdated model. I know I'd want my "GPS" of the future to have the relative ease of the GPS systems nowadays, if not simpler.
Post edited September 24, 2013 by RezaKarshenas
Posted September 25, 2013
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Baggins: However, compared to other 3d Origin games at the time (WC3, Armada, and WC4) Privateer 2 is kinda clunky, and plagued with a worse interface.
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RezaKarshenas: The Nav map in Privateer 2 suffers from being jumbled and confusing even more so than Privateer 1. The Nav points aren't in any numerical order. It can be a chore to find the correct Nav point. It would have been better to at least manually input Nav point and then the computer draws a line to it, rather than have to drag the mouse around to find it, or link the Nav path to an active job (like select the job in the diary to make it active, thus setting the Nav path automatically).
Ummmm... It does that. Just hit f while in the nav map and you can type in the nav point and it will draw a line straight there.
Posted September 25, 2013
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RezaKarshenas: The Nav map in Privateer 2 suffers from being jumbled and confusing even more so than Privateer 1. The Nav points aren't in any numerical order. It can be a chore to find the correct Nav point. It would have been better to at least manually input Nav point and then the computer draws a line to it, rather than have to drag the mouse around to find it, or link the Nav path to an active job (like select the job in the diary to make it active, thus setting the Nav path automatically).
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tremere110: Ummmm... It does that. Just hit f while in the nav map and you can type in the nav point and it will draw a line straight there.
Yeah and I figured out that you can hit "3" and it will show every nav point as a number.
Post edited September 25, 2013 by RezaKarshenas
Posted September 26, 2013
I didn't like Priv2 back then and I still don't like it. IMHO it can't hold a candle to its predecessor.

Here are a few points that I don't like:

1) Nothing in the universe reminds you of Wing Commander. There are no Kilrathi, no Retros. You have several kinds of pirates but they all "feel" the same and hate your guts no matter what you do.

2) You can no longer transport goods yourself. You have to hire a freighter and then babysit it. Which leads to the next point:

3) You can't outrun enemies. You can only jump out when no enemies are around. When a millisecond after your freighter jumps out a few pirates jump in you'll have to kill them first before you can follow you freighter. And after you killed a few pirates more mighty actually jump in, which can make this whole affair quite lengthy. During that time your freighter gets eaten alive a few jump points ahead and there's nothing you can do about it.
Posted September 26, 2013
Actually Privateer 2 does basically have a ripoff of the Retros, in the Original Humanists group on Anhur, who want to return the Tri-System to how it was 3-4 thousand years ago back when everyone used crossbows, and made their own clothes.

However, unlike the retros, I don't think they show up for more than 2-3 missions.

To be fair, as far as I know Retros only appear in the original Privateer. I don't think they were in any other games, although they do get referenced in the manual for WC Arena.
Post edited September 26, 2013 by Baggins
Posted October 07, 2021
I'm not space sim veteran, but I found this game simply not fun. The map of solar system is divided into nav points bwtween which you should jump, and you cannot jump out from any of nav point if any enemy ship is in. The fights are much more hectic and chaotic than in the first game: if you lock on some particular enemy ship, the other will smash you from behind. And it is hard to understand (without locking on some target) what ships are friend, and what are foes - and if you fire at friendly ships, they quickly will become hostile. It's all simply not fun. In first game I hadn't such difficulties btw.

This game has some good points: some side quests, more comfortable mouse-controlled spaceflight, and therefore it's even more frustrating that it's combined with such problems. I even doubt it was tested.
Posted October 12, 2021
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Gamerforever: This question is directed towards people with extensive experience in playing space simulators from the early to mid 90s. Apparently this game has a rather substantial cult following despite the lukewarm reception it received from gaming websites and publications at the time. So tell me: should I buy this game, and what do you think of it?
The gameplay sucks, period.
Not just in a "a bit janky" or "aged badly" sense, it's just a confounding concentration of design blunders that were bad even for the time, it feels like an ego trip of a hacky game designer that wanted to do everything "different" even when there was no real reason to.
I have played it the last decade so I have zero nostalgia for it, I liked the plot and cutscenes but even those have weird audio mixing issues and I struggled to understand the dialogues at times.
The first Privateer which I played just the year before is a much better game that I greatly enjoyed even with the technical limitations of the time.

I'm copy-pasting my review/rant I posted on the store page (without a few spelling mistakes):

Let me get this straight, this got two stars from me only because with darkfix (see the GOG forums for more info) is more or less functional and the FMVs are full of great actors (the plot is also nice overall), the problems come when it comes to the basic game design of the thing.
Even the FMVs though full of people like John Hurt, Christopher Walken, Cliwe Owen and BRIAN BLESSED have a weird audio mixing that makes dialogues often really difficult to understand if you aren't a native english speaker (no subtitles of course).
With Darkfix I was also able to use the throttle axis of the stick which is always good for the hotas crowd out there (though you'll need to recalibrate it in the options every time you launch the game).
But the worst part is the game design of the thing, where to start?
From the fact that to move from a waypoint to another you have to kill every hostile ship but often said hostiles keep spawning?
From the obnoxious sound effects and animations in the trade interface (fortunately they can be partly disabled) and how simplistic trade is compared to the first Privateer?
Trading also requires to hire a ship, because you are confined to fighters as your personal ship goes.
You will need to grind money through trading because the missions are often very inbalanced pitting you against insurmountable odds. There are a bunch of randomly triggered sidequests that can be rather amusing at times (they all have their FMVs) but some of them can be rather esoteric (I failed one without noticing). There is also the tendency of the game to send you mission updates during combat halting the game whether you want it or not which is quite disorienting (and also preceded by a grating beep sound).
This is probably the first really bad spacesim I ever tried, not just a case of "not my cup of tea" but a really, really mediocre game, even with the crashes and a bunch of glitches fixed it's not really worth it unless you are fixated on spacesims like I am.
Post edited October 12, 2021 by Det_Bullock
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Wing Commander seriesSpace sim veterans: What are your thoughts on Privateer 2?(14 posts)(14 posts)
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