Yeah. Creating a Boot Disk could be a pain. :)

I still have hope for GOG and want to support them so I'll wait for a while until I try my CD. GOG have been quick before.

An alternative to all of the suggestions given is the pacifist way of doing things: Right off the bat, sell off your laser and missle launcher. Buy an afterburner. The best offense is a good defense.

With the rest of your money, buy some commodities and travel around Troy unloading commodities from the prior base and then buying new commodities at the new base. Take those commodities to the base that needs them most. Troy has varied bases (two mining and an agriculture, if I remember) that you can do this to a degree and make money while waiting to buy those meson blasters.

Going back to the afterburners and "best offense is a good defense" adage, when you run into pirates or retros, hit tab and coast past them. Run to fight another day. Don't even bother to fight until you have meson blasters. The 'burners will suck up your engine power quick, but this is the approach I ALWAYS start the game with, and it really does save time out in space, in my opinion. It also introduces you to the commodities market and how lucrative it can get after you leave Troy.

That is how I do things to start up and it has never failed me. Consider it if you don't mind taking the pacifist approach!

My recommendation is to save up for a second missile launcher as quickly as you can. None of the missiles are expensive, and the IR missile has very good striking power; two in rapid succession will generally destroy a Talon.

My recommendation for your gun upgrading is to go Laser>Meson>Tachyon. Lasers have the best refire rate and quickest bolt speed, Mesons are a good balance of power drain and damage, and Tachyons have the same drain and refire as Mesons, only slightly lower bolt speed, and 56% better damage.

Don't ask me how, but my father finished the game with the Galaxy.

I am glad I looked at this post as I was having a lot of trouble with the game.

I actually followed the manual on this one and it suggested to sell my laser and get one meson blaster after only one trade round from the Mining Base to Nav 6 in the Troy system and then it advised me to take on a mission that system...

...As there was no difficulty indicator for each mission, I chose one that was apparently not the right mission for a newbie. I got destroyed by one Retro preeeetty fast as he seemed to have meson blasters and lasers!

This is my first space sim so I am having a lot of trouble and the manual isn't exactly helpful...

First of all don't "play chicken" with hostile who has more firepower then you. Even without afterburners you should make "evasive maneuvers" by (slightly) changing you course to avoid enemy's fire(-balls/-bolts). Don't make big changes of your course (more then 45-90 degrees) because you'll lose speed.

When hostile ship isn't flying straight to/from you (you can see his sideboard) then try to shoot with a little advance. Later you can buy better radars with IFF but they cost a lot of money (third category, first column from right). IMO next radar for player is Hunter 6i (just in the center).

I prefer guns than missiles so my choice for start is:
1) sell missile launcher,
2) buy second laser gun,
3) buy tungsten first (iron as second) at mining bases; don't take any radioactive; gems are very expensive so you'll make more money per unit with cheaper goods,
4) buy wood first (liqueur/luxury food as second; later pets too) at agricultural planet (Helen),
5) if you didn't played Priv before then don't take more than one mission at once,
6) always check who will be your opponent (avoid Kilrathi!); if mission description hasn't clearly described ships' faction then avoid this,
7) you can do 3 the same missions at once (e.g. 3x patrol the same nav-point in Troy) but you'll face three time more enemies (sometimes in the same nav-point if you'll have bad luck).

My upgrade path for Tarsus:
afterburner -> tungsten armor -> cargo expansion -> engine upgrade lv1 -> two Meson Blasters -> repair droid -> ECM Package lv3 -> 1x missile launcher with 10 FoF (no delay for tracking) -> Tracktor Beam -> All Nav Maps (at once; you don't need it to fly but at nav comp you will see what you've visited only) -> Jump Drive.

If you prefer to be mercenary then wait and collect money for Centurion (200k cr). If you'll buy Galaxy (150k cr) then you'll lose half of money when selling it. I don't recommend Orion - it's slow and easy to hit ("big butt").

Until you'll have fully upgraded Tarsus don't make missions outside of Troy system. Until you'll have something better than Tarsus avoid system with Pirates ("north-west") and Kilrathies ("north-east").

Try to make all three mission at once because you can loose some after landing.

Missions from Guilds are better payed than from computer but you must pay registration fee.

Watch for jump fuel level! You have only 6 jumps and not all system have bases.

Save often. Make at least two saves: 1st after landing, 2nd after taking mission(-s).

If you're playing using joystick or keyboard and you have problem with too big "dead zone" (it's hard to aim hostile ships for good hit) then try mouse (like I did).

If your ships was hit and you can't escape then try to "show them" other side with full shields/armor.

If you'll fight with two or more hostiles then don't focus too long on one target because other ships will bite your ass really hard.

If you have Tractor Beam and you'll take mission against pirates then make sure you'll have some space in cargo hold because they sometimes drop some valuable cargo (but avoid contraband).

If you want to fly a little longer with Tarsus and you have enough money then buy Tachyon Cannons. They'll use the same energy like Meson Blaster but will do c.a. 50% more damage. IMHO it's the best weapon in the game if you're good shooter (the best ratio "energy/damage").

Read manual to the end. Especially "Survival Tips".

The dogfights are very gruelling in the early game. However, they get outright frenetic towards the tail end of the game; fighting and evading alien scumbags amongst rocks is a tall order. Here are some tips to help even the odds at the very beginning. Actually, this is a heaping pile of advice and probably goes through the entire game.

First, pray for no rocks.

Get dual lasers if you're a beginner. Lasers' high rate of fire and high energy efficiency will make them less punishing to a rookie pilot. Next, get some heatseekers for your missile tube. See the upgrade path at the bottom for more.

For your first combat missions, try to find bounty missions against lone Retros or Pirates in the Troy system. One on one, a Talon should be easy pickings. When your enemy turns to face you and play chicken, fire a few shots and then turn 45-90 degrees away to dodge their fire. Always change your acceleration when under fire (that means varying the rate and direction that you're turning). Tear off their rear shields and put a heat seeker where the sun does shine.

For patrol missions, base defense missions and attack missions, keep in mind that the more you're getting paid, the harder it will probably be. Avoid fighting mercenaries and Kilrathi until you're comfortable whacking Talons. Centurions and Gothris are tough opposition for a Tarsus because of their powerful forward cannons and tail turrets. Even though it's not a perfect indicator, the higher the pay, the tougher you can expect a mission to be.

Lock on to targets ("L" key) and focus on one target at a time. This will help you blast down a target before his shields recharge and you have to go through that trouble again. If you're facing multiple foes, the maneuvering you do to chase down a single target will be sufficient to evade a lot of fire from his buddies.

If you're getting absolutely hammered from behind, turn around and spray some blind fire at your enemies. Between scaring them a bit and you getting close enough that they have to maneuver some more, you'll buy yourself some time. Turn your strongest shield quadrant to your enemy whenever you can.

As far as hitting enemies goes, there's no substitute for experience. You'll get better at landing shots and maneuvering your ship as time goes on. Just do your best and avoid being caught under heavy fire.

Whenever you launch from a base, be in the habit of activating all your weapons and increasing your throttle right away. Press number keys (1, 2, 3, 4) to turn on your guns quickly, "+" to increase throttle, press "i" to turn on your ITTS if your radar supports it and hit "E" to bring up your target view MFD.

When facing more enemies than you can handle with guns or when fighting amongst asteroids, just start pumping out the missiles. Two missiles will usually take down a Talon; it will take more than two for most other ships. Missiles are dirt cheap and reloading from a save file nets you nothing.

You start with the Iris Mk II radar. It is the bottom center radar in the purchase screen. The bottom row of radars lack colouring of targets, the ones on the left column lack lock-on capability. The far right column provide ITTS targetting support. I'm not 100% certain on the difference between the middle row and top row -- I think it's how complete the colour picture is; I've not messed around with the Hunter series of radars any.

Because your first radar doesn't provide colour coding, you won't be able to easily tell if one of those Talons you meet everywhere is a Retro, a Pirate or a Militia. Target a ship and hit "C" to bring up your comm menu; this gives you options to talk to the targetted ship and you'll see who they are in the list. If they're Pirate or Retro? Hit "L" to lock on and begin dogfighting. Use this trick to prevent friendly fire against the militia. They're more plentiful than pirates and retros elsewhere in Gemini and getting on their bad side makes enemies of Confed and hunters as well.

You may want to use heat seekers to begin with while you only have one launcher since they dependably hit the tail section of a ship, but image recognition are generally the best missiles for taking down Talons since both missiles will go after the same target. IR require you to have locked onto your target ("L" key and requires a radar from the middle or right columns) An entire complement of 20 IR will cost you 1500 credits -- less than what any mission will pay you and you're not likely to use all of those missiles on any regular mission. Dumbfire are only for those that like a desperate challenge and friend or foe missiles can scatter into the wind and hit every target under the sun. Missiles are much cheaper than repairs to your maneuvering jets, so use them liberally!

With two missile launchers, you can double-tap the fire key to lob two missiles quickly. The Orion can do this too even though it is limited to one launcher, but because it only has that one launcher, its ordnance capacity is halved.

You get to keep your jump drive, your nav maps and your radar whenever you buy a new ship.

Fully loaded (with shields one level lower than generator, counting extra guns and missile rack but not extra missile ordnance) a Centurion only costs 15,000 credits more than a fully loaded Orion. If you buy max level shields on both ships, a fully loaded Centurion costs 15,000 credits LESS. So when you upgrade away from your Tarsus, make sure you go to the ship you intend to keep.

It's recommended to use a shield generator one level lower than your engines in order to provide more energy for guns and afterburners. If you do want to go full shields though, you can press "S" to lower your shields a level and move energy from them to your capacitor allowing you to run away when you want to avoid a fight. Your shields will need to recharge to full power when you increase the power level again. In the meantime, pray for no rocks.

Tachyon cannons are the best guns you can buy. They are energy efficient, rapid firing, have high projectile velocity and have the best damage over time of any gun. They are forgiving when you miss and sufficiently rewarding when you hit. They are short range, however, so you'll need to get in close. Meson guns are the best value in their price range. Mass drivers have nothing to recommend them over lasers. If you're an absolutely crack gunner and can land all of your shots, Plasma guns are brutal, but Neutron guns aren't far behind and are a sixteenth the cost. If you miss even half of your shots though they aren't worthwhile. And because you will miss at least half your shots, just go with Tachyon cannons.

ECM level 3 will do more to keep your subsystems intact than a repair droid. A single missile can tear off full shields, damage your armor and cause a subsystem to malfunction. A repair droid undoes subsystem damage over time; ECM 3 has a 75% chance of preventing it in the first place.

Afterburners will do more to keep your everything intact than anything else. A wing of Gothris can make it a closed casket service. Guns, missiles and shields give you a chance to fight back; afterburners allow you to not fight at all. Pray for no rocks.

ITTS target lead indicator helps a lot when you're trying to place your shots, but it's far from perfect. Hold your fire if your target is still turning and save up some energy for when they line up. You will need a radar on the far right hand side of the purchase screen and you will need to press "i" (as in India) to turn it on each time you take off. Different guns will have different coloured indicators at different positions indicating their differing velocities. If you have to mix guns, try to use guns with similar velocities (Tachyons and Mesons mix well).

Finally, here's my preferred upgrade path for getting started. Do experiment though! Privateer is about doing things the way you'd like to do them and you shouldn't allow me to dictate your fun. Once you're in a fully loaded ship that suits your fancy, head to New Detroit and talk to Sandoval. He's got a really, really good paying gig for you so long as you see it all the way to the end.

tungstenHead's preferred upgrade path for Tarsus:
Dual lasers
Afterburners
Tungsten armor
Engine upgrade 1
(Optional cargo expansion anytime after this point)
Second missile launcher
IR missiles
Dual meson blasters
ECM level 3
(Optional jump drive and quadrant maps after this point (you will need to buy them sometime))
Hunter 6i radar (middle) or feel like a rich man and go straight for the B&S Omni (top right)
Repair droid (if you're after the B&S, you may buy want to buy the droid first)
Dual tachyon cannons

Consider upgrading to a Centurion once you can afford to outfit it as follows:
Quad mesons
Afterburners
Tungsten Armor
Engine upgrade 2
Shield generator 1
Dual missile launchers
ECM level 3

Then from there:
Dual tachyon cannons (mount them inside to tighten your firepower)
Engine upgrade 3
(Optional tail turret anytime after this point)
Quad tachyon cannons
Repair droid
Shield generator 2

Equipping a tail turret: Tractor beam, obviously, but what kind of guns? I prefer lasers on a Centurion due to the fact that the tail gun will only be used to ward off pursuers on my tail while I'm making a run for it and the lasers' long range and low power useage suffice to accomodate this role.

Get 20-30k in the bank and go visit Sandoval.

(Just as a note: late in the game, there can be an issue where you can't get a gun onto the inside of the wings of your Centurion where it's closer to your firing center. Just buy an Orion and then rebuy the Centurion -- you should be able to afford to do this when that point comes.)

I remember using a HEX editor or something to get heaps of cash. It must have been tedious enough for me to resort to this back when I was a kid :D

I was a lot more interested in the story and found the whole trading thing was a bit of a hassle.

This is an excellent suggestion. Back in the old days when I first played I stuck mainly with guns, but, the dual missile approach has made life quite a bit easier during my replay. Being able to burn through enemy Talons quickly really pays off.

Bit of a late reply, but thanks for all the advice everyone. I'll try firing up the game again to see if I can do better.

One last question though...this may sound dumb but how do I get back to the base after I have started a mission? I'm worried about getting lost, and I have no clue how the solar system warping works...maybe I need to check the manual again, but I never saw anything that talks about getting back home when I'm done with a mission.

Your ship is your home. When mission will be done then you can land on every base/station/planet. If you want to check mission status then go to NavComp ("n" key) and press "Nav/Mis" button (or "m" key). Light red means mission is active and dark red - mission is completed.

Make sure all missions are complete otherwise you can lost them after landing. Sometimes some missions could be continued after landing (e.g. bounty mission if you didn't reach system where is a ship you're looking for).

What TPR said. The only missions that require you to land at a specific base are those from the storyline, or the delivery missions where you're taking N tons of cargo XYZ to planet ABC in system PDQ. If it's just a "kill this bad guy" or "patrol these nav points" mission, you can land anywhere, including a planet or station in a completely different system, once you've met the mission objectives.

Thanks for all the tips, it's been a long time since I've played the original game. Privateer Remake v1.2 has a different feel, specially the way the ships handle. It's hackable though so it would be interesting to see how close to the original ships flight envelope the PR ships can be brought to.

No one posted my tried and true method yet. Used it for 2 decades now:

Sell:
Laser
Missile Launcher
Plasteel Armor
Iris Mk II

Buy:
2x Meson Blasters
Lvl 1 Engine Upgrade
Tungsten Armor
Afterburner
Iris Mk I

Upgrade:
2x Tachyon Cannons
Any third level radar for ITTS
2x Missile Launchers
Jumpdrive (obviously)

This will turn your early game into a cakewalk