The Thargoid Missions To get access to the Thargoid missions, and the fabulous ship "Argents Quest", you need to go to the system of Alioth [0,4] on the 5th of October 3252. On the bulletin board you will see a message about Turners requiem. If you donate 10000 credits, you will be offered Argents Quest, and twice the amount of money currently on your account. (It might be an idea to sell off your ship before you do this.) You will also be given a mission; to go to the hidden system at [32,32] and find out what happened to Mic Turners ship. Please notice that you will not get this mission unless you have a sufficient Elite Rating. You will need to be at least Competent to be allowed to take on this mission. [32,32] The hidden system at [32,32] is the system which you are first sent to if you take the mission from Meredith Argent on the 5th of october 3252. Nuclear Missile & Transmission Jammer To be able to finish this mission you need a nuclear missile and a transmission jammer. You will get this if you take on a secret mission from either of the military forces, be it the Empire or the Federation. Notice that you will not get the nuclear missile if all your missile positions are taken. And you really need that missile! When you have got the missile and transmission jammer, you are ready to go. Travel to the Pleione system at [32,32]. You will recieve a message that you are in a military restricted zone. Destruction of the Defence Satelite The first thing to do in this system is to locate the defence satelite and destroy it. (If you don't, INRA fighters will follow you and attack you whereever you go, forever...) The satelite is located in orbit around the planet Pleione 4b. Set your autopilot to the planet (not the satelite) and fly there. You will (hopefully) stop when in orbit around the planet. Then locate the satelite and travel towards it at slow speed. Target the satelite from the combat control panel. My experience is that you have to be pretty close to the satelite before you fire at it or else the missile will be terminated, possibly by the satelite itself. Anyway, this is a good time to save the game. When you are less than 50 km from the satelite, fire the nuclear missile at it. It should then explode and dissapear. If it doesn't, try firing a shot with your laser at it. If you are successful, you are ready to go to the next stage: Locating Turner's Quest This is what the mission is all about. You are supposed to locate Turner's Quest, photograph it, and bring back the Flight Recorder. Turner's Quest is also located in orbit around Pleione 4b, in other words, right in the neighborhood. When photographing Turner's Quest you should be very careful about not getting too close. You will chrash with the ship before it seems natural, because of the size of your own ship. When you are done with taking pictures, locate the Flight Recorder and fly slowly towards it. Your Tractor Beam Cargo Scoop will load it into your cargo bay when you are close enough. (It may also work to simply target the Flight Recorder from your navigation console, and engage the autopilot.) When this is done, you are ready to return to Alioth. When you arrive there you will recieve further instructions about where to dock. | Back | Home | Next | Mail | This page is maintained by Case on a highly irregular basis. Last update was 24.06.96 03:15:58. If you choose to continue after returning to Alioth from the hidden system at [32,32], this is the next mission. Stocking up You will need plenty of fuel for this mission. My suggestion is that you sell off some of the shields on your ship, Argent's Quest. You should be able to manage with 10 shield generators or less. Fill up all the extra space with military fuel. You'll need it, trust me... Where is the hidden system? The hidden system at [0,76] is called Polaris. Travel there using as little fuel as possible. The Defence Satelite To eliminate the defence satelite in this system, follow the same procedure as you did the last time. The defence satelite is located in orbit around Polaris 3d. Fly there and destroy it before you go any further. Locate the Thargoid ship Ah, this one is easy. If you have got the Navigation computer that is. Press the NaviCom icon, and you will see that the only dock is called "????". Press this, and you'll be autopiloted to it. Hang around for a while if there are no docks available. After docking When you press the Communication icon you will see that there is only one option available, and that is to launch. Do so. After hanging around in space for a while, You will get a message telling you to dock in the Thargoid ship. Press the NaviCom icon. You will now see that there are two destinations called "????". Press the first one, and you will be autopiloted to the Thargoid shuttle. Remember to save before you enter. (Nag, nag, nag) Uhm...what's happening? When you entered the Thargoid Dock at Polaris[0,76], you were transported (by the Thargoids great hyperspace jump technology) to the system Miacke at [37,144]. That's where you are now. Weird, isn't it? And now they want to be your friends. Hmm. What's the catch? The catch If you choose to take the mission from the Thargoids, you will have to travel to the Hotice system[-3,-2] to find a vaccine which will eliminate the myocid which has infected the Thargoid ships. (Haven't you read the theory in Universal Scientist? Shame on you.) Should you choose not to, you better get out there and take some pictures of the Thargoid shuttle before you return to Alioth. But be warned: Meredith Argent will not only not give you any further missions, she will also take back the Argent's Quest, which you undoubtedly have come to love so much. Tough luck, kiddo. My advice is "Take the mission, take the mission! It will bring you all sorts of joy and happiness. Almost, that is." (And like all new babies this one will keep you up all night.) Going back This is where you will need all that extra fuel you bought. Now you have to travel all the way back to known space from [37,144]. And that's a pretty long way to go... Read more about the Vaccine mission on the next page | Back | Home | Next | Mail | This page is maintained by Case on a highly irregular basis. Last update was 24.06.96 03:15:58. Mission Implausible So, you managed to return into inhabited space again? Good for ya. Now, you might want to fill up with some more fuel for the long journey ahead. Just remember to keep 1 tonne of space available for the vaccine you are about to pick up. Part 1: Travel Go to the system Hotice at [-3,-2]. Set your autopilot to the planet Hotice1, switch the stardreamer control to max, and wait. Your ship should theoretically stop when you are pretty close to the planet. Part 2: Travel some more. Now you have to locate the base where the vaccine is stored. Take a look at the planet below you. If you see a small dot somewhere, perhaps it's even called ¤rontier, then that's it. target it from your combat control panel, and start cruising towards it at low speed. Part 3: Mayhem Once you have got real close to the base you will see a bunker. Fire at it with your laser, and it will breach. Part 4: Landing Maybe some of you have never done this manually before. Well, now you have to. You should be flying at low speed (about 500 km/h?) until you are a few kilometers from the bunker you just blew open. Then cut your speed to 0 km/h. Your ship will start to sink slowly towards the ground. Now would be a good time to lower your undercarriage by pressing U. Point the ships nose towards the horizon, and you should land smoothly in a short while. Part 5: Collecting the vaccine Switch to your combat control panel. You will see an icon for the mining machine which the Thargoids gave you. Click on it and the mining machine will launch. It might say that it is mining water or something, but this does not matter. Simply bring it back into your cargo bay by pressing F12 and click the button you see there. Miraculously you will now have one tonne of Myocid Vaccine in your cargo bay. Part 6: Return to innocence. Now you have to take off. Just follow the normal procedure, except you don't have to ask anyone for permission. (Ah, the joys of freedom...) Check that you have plenty of fuel, and set your course back to the Miacke system at [37,144]. It will not work to go to Polaris[0,76] and let the Thargoids freight you. They just won't do it. Great friends, huh? So you have to find the way all by yourself. Part 7: Welcome to Paradise When you return to Miacke you should receive a message that the Thargoids want you to dock in the shuttle, just like you did the last time. Press the Navigation Computer icon, and cruise off. Oh, and remember to save the game. Part 8: The Reward When you arrive in the shuttle, you will be offered a Thargoid warship and a lot of alien artifacts as a reward for the Myocid vaccine. There seems to be a bug left in the game, because the first time I finished this mission, I was given a ship and 100 tonnes of alien artifacts, and the second time I was given a ship and more than 60000 tonnes of alien artifacts. That's a big difference, both in money and in cargo space available...So if you got the small ship....try again, won't you? Hope you remembered to save just before you entered the shuttle.... Cheats, Tips & Bugs The "Run away" cheat: If you are sick and tired of fighting INRA troops, or any other bad guys, try the following: When attacked, simply switch back to the navigation console, and put the autopilot back on. Then hit the Stardreamer Time Control at max, and keep the mouse button pressed down. The other ships will still attack you, but they won't be able to finish you off. In a while you will dock at your destination as usual. The Turret cheat: You need a ship with a turret-mounted weapon for this cheat. When attacked, pause the game and go to the turret view. Locate the bandit who is attacking you and fire at him. Whilst you are shooting, press [SHIFT]+[F1] to resume the game. Abacadabra - the other guy should be transformed into metal alloys and rubbish. (Of course, this depends on the fire power of your weapon...) Save time & fuel After engaging the autopilot and the Stardreamer time control, watch the velocity indicator. As it levels out at it's highest point turn off the engines. Once within 0.5-1.0 AU from your destination, re-engage the autopilot. You will then come to an abrupt halt and dock as usual. With this little cheat (or bug, more likely) you will be able to save lots of time and fuel. (Thanks to Tim Mason and PC Format for this cheat) Stealing the "Argents Quest" To steal the Turner ship, you must sell it after the first tuner mission when they are checking your cargo. Then refuse to take on the next mission, and buy it back. Noone will ever know you have it. (Thanks to Todd Murray for this tip. Hitman trick: Easiest way to do a murder mission (if you have a large fast ship): Load it with at least 144 shields and sit in their line of launching, and run into them (when they are launching from a space station). Or: just ram them upon their takeoff. It counts as a kill and no laws are broken.(Thanks (again) to Todd Murray for this tip. 1. Wiccan Ware race This one's easy. Just pick up a parcel and bring it to Alioth. You should be able to get there using 2 jumps. If you didn't win the race, you might want to restore your game, and try again. I suspect there is a random factor here. 2. Disease at Sohalia Not really so much of a 'mission' than a task to perform. In the first weeks of game-time, there is an ad on the BBS of Sohalia from someone who needs medical supplies for the planet. Pick them up at a neighbouring star system and sell them on Sohalia. No credit, just a whole lot of cash, even with 4 tonnes at a time. 3. Art delivery to Beta Hydri I've never done this, because it's a long way to fly from Alioth. I do know that the Empire will not be pleased about this. 4. Assassination of Dentara Rast In the system Tiliala [-4, -1] there's going to be a civil war. You can decide to assassinate a key figure in this war, Dentara Rast, by taking on this mission from a bulletin board. Expect a price on your own head when you do this. This is a typical assassination mission, with the exception that you must assassinate him BEFORE he hyper-jumps. You'll get a criminal record this way.. 5. Kill the assassin of Dentara Rast When you don't kill Rast himself, just wait a few weeks, and you'll find a mission in which you must kill Rast's assassin. A more 'noble' mission, this is. The Federation and the Empire won't blame you for this. 6. The 2 hitch-hikers These turn out to be Federation spies, so if you're an Imp-lover don't do it. Bring 2 hitch-hikers to a system in Imperial space, and pick them up later to bring them back to Federation space. What they did in the mean time....? Don't ask, don't tell. 7. The single visitor to Thompson's Planet This has something to do with the 'Destroy Rockforth legal academy' mission. A single person must be transported to a star system far west. I suspect he is the one who creates a 'diversion' later on, when you are to destroy a building on the same world. 8. Destroy Rockforth legal academy You are to turn the Rockforth building into a nice, flat, plain piece of ground. It's just like a typical bombing-mission, but there's a bug here: the building sometimes doesn't get destroyed when you hit it from close-distance. You have to fire on it from +/- 200KM away, and hit SHIFT-F4 to advance time. The mission wil score only then. 9. Transport a Dolphin If you read RIG, you'll know there's a lonely dolphin somewhere, waiting for some company. That's your job, if you like. You need a passenger transport for this.. So long, and thanks for the fish. "Admiral, there be dolpins here!" 10. Pick up hitch-hiker A woman (probably a Federal spy) has got to be extracted from the Imperial world she's been working on. You'll have to get her out. This missions has a bug: Sometimes you pick her up, take her back to a Federal world, and you'll get both a 'Well done' and a 'You suck' message. It has occurred one time that I've done it well, and when you do, you're instantly promoted up one rank from the Federation Military. 11. The 5 Furies statue A simple transport job, this is. I'm not sure you need a passenger cabin for this one. I think so. This mission has a bug: the dates given are impossible for you to complete this mission. I found out that there's a typo in the dates. You don't have to wait until the first date to pick it up, just be there before the second date mentioned. So, get the mission, travel immediately to the first system, and you're given the statue immediately. Otherwise, wait a little while. I've done it. 12. The Thargoid missions part 1 - You must be Elite ranking 'Competent' to get this mission - The papers mention something about Mick Turner who has died on his exploration mission to the Far North. Around 4 october 3252 you must go to Turners Requiem on Fortress Culloden, on Alioth [0,-4]. Go to the Requiem, and donate the maximum amount of credits. Then accept the mission, but don't go North just yet. If you've gotten the information from the 'Journalists Welfare Fund' you know that the System you're going to is protected by a Defence Satellite which gives away your ID and position to INRA. So, you must first travel to a Federation or Imperial system and get a CLASSIFIED MISSION in order to receive a Transmission Jammer and a Nuclear Missile. You have no intention to complete that mission, but you really need those items for your Thargoid encounters. When you've got the stuff, travel to coordinates 32,32 and go to Pleione. In your Remote orbital map, go to Pleione 3B's orbit and you'll find a satellite. Target it, travel towards it, and ... DESTROY it! If you don't, INRA will chase you forever, wherever you'll go. Then, do what you're told by the Mission funders: use your map to locate the wrecked Turner's Quest, and take a few pictures. Also, look for its flight recorder that's there flying around somewhere. Make sure the 'object's labels' are visible by pressing L, target the flight recorder, and autopilot towards it. Make sure you have room in your ship, by dumping some radioactives (the price for peace with Thargoids :). You can also visit the wrecked Thargoid vessel, but it's not a mission requirement I think. The Thargoid ship is marked with "???" for its ID. There's lots of Alien Items there to scoop. Then fly back to Alioth. You might first want to go to the world you stole the transmission jammer + nuclear missile from, and face the music. You will lose some 'appreciation points' from that military, but that's not really important. 13. The Thargoid missions part 2 When you return from the successfully completed Turner mission, you are given the chance to go and meet the REAL bugs -- the Thargoid race. Once again, you're given the Argent's Quest at your disposal. This time, the Transmission Jammer and Nuclear Missile are standard issue, so you don't have to take a military mission anymore to get them. What you DO have to do however, is to take as much fuel with you as possible. You might want to get rid of some unnecessary equipment, like missiles, some shields, energy booster/bombs, etc. You'll thank me later. Save your game before jumping to Polaris. Go to Polaris, there's a Thargoid Forward base there, and a thargoid shuttle. When arrived at Polaris, do the same as in Pleione: destroy that satellite first. I think it's at Polaris 3D, but you'll have no trouble finding it using your remote orbital map. Then, you can press 'N'(avigation computer) to quickly select '???'. That's the Thargoid shuttle, and you can engage Autopilot and time- control. When you're going to dock with it, save your game first. When docked, notice your radar. It's suddenly filled with dots. Go to the map and press 'C'(center). You'll notice that you're no longer at Polaris, but at Miackce, FAR north. Launch, and you find yourself floating between curious Thargoid (Thargon?) ships. The game's afoot. What happens next is up to you. I suggest you don't fire, but wait and fly around a bit. Sometimes you might have to press ALT-F2 or F3 to speed up time, until you get the message from the Thargoids to dock at their space station. Then, press 'N' to select their docking station (I think its the top, or first option). Autopilot in, (save your game first) and wait for the Thargoids to disarm your ship. The Thargoids will then propose a mission to save their race from extinction... If pressing their response buttons "YES/NO" do not work, you'll have to restore your game. I suggest you say YES because the Thargoids will kill you when you don't. You know too much by now. 14. The Thargoid missions part 3 You must travel all the way back to human space, to the system Hotice (aren't you glad I made you take all that fuel with you? :-)) and get a vaccine for the Thargoids. Go to the target on Hotice, fire your laser at it (the Thargoids said 'missiles', but that doesn't work) and when you see the bunker open up, land nearby it. Deploy your Mining Machine and wait a minute. Then retract retract it again, and look in your inventory. You should see a 'Mycoid Vaccine' in your hold. When you don't, make sure you have ROOM for it by dumping some radioactives. If you got it, blast off towards Miacke [37,144]. You have to refuel somewhere for this, I think you must go to a Federal or Imperial world since the Alliance of Independent Systems expect results from you when you enter/dock at their systems. If all goes well, you get a message from the Thargoids when you enter Miackce, asking you to dock again. Press 'N' to select "???" again and engage autopilot. Save your game before docking (save your game before hypering in, for that matter). When docked, you'll get a message asking you to wait briefly. Do just this--don't engage time control yet! After a few seconds the Thargoids thank you, and are willing to give you a Thargoid War Vessel as a present. You can accept it, or decline it, but you've come all across the Galaxy for this..admit it! Click YES and when they tell you to enter time control, and press SHIFT-F5. Then wait until you see the familiar human background change to the alien interior, and you get the message GO IN PEACE. Blast off towards human space, namely Alioth, and receive a big well done message from the Alliance. You can keep your ship, and sell the goodies in it. Bugs in this mission: Sometimes the Thargoid stations are busy. Restore game, hyperspace in again and see. Or, hang around in front of the docking bay and have the ship crash into you. Lots of savegame required for this one. Sometimes, when you return to Alioth, you receive a rather neutral message that you are paid, and your old ship is given back to you. When this happens, restore the game back from where you blast off from the Thargoid station in your alien ship. I don't exactly know what causes this "bug", but you might want to try again, and try to avoid any populated systems on your way back. Perhaps it's random, I don't know. But I have solved many thargoid-mission returns this way. You can keep your Thargoid ship. Adrian Jones (asjones@asjones.demo.co.uk) sent me this trade route. It is a route between Sol [0,0] and van Maanens Star [0,1]. First of all: van Maanens Star is a resticted system, you need a permit to go there (unless you want to pay 4000¢ in fines every time). To get a permit, you have to look out for passengers bound for van Maanens Star, and ask them if they can get you a permit. Then take Luxory goods to van Maanens Star. It costs about 1400 a ton at Sol and you can sell them for about 2800 on the bulletins boards in the illegal stock markets at van Maanens! 100% gain, that's not bad... But it gets better: Look out on the bulletin boards for special requests (Wanted, Luxury Goods....)as they may pay more than 5500¢ a ton...phew. With a big ship you can make a million per trip!!! Yes she does, she just doesn't say she does.. ;-) Land at the starport a few days before pickup, wait a few days until the pickup must occur, and watch your cabin space. It should be occupied with 1 person after the pickup date. Blastoff immediately and search the map for a nice, nearby Federal starport. You should be able to find 2 of them within 20 Light Years. x-x The hitch-hikers blow up my ship when I pick them up again And does that trouble you? Ok, seriously: In early version of FFE, this is unavoidable. If you're playing v1.06, I suspect you didn't take off quickly enough. If the hithhikers say "Let's go--NOW" I suggest you listen to them. Hyperspace as quickly as possible. This information is theoretic, I'm working on it. x-x I missile-bomb 'Rockforth Academy', but when I return I don't seem to have completed the mission The missiles almost never really do any damage when you fire them from close range in real-time. A workaround: Fire missiles from about 500KM away, and press SHIFT-F4 after they're away. This will enable the 'if- you-press-time-acceleration-when-fire-missile-at-something-it-will- always-hit-it' bug. Thargoid mission-specific x-x I'm on the Thargoid mission, and I get harassed by far too many ships - even after the missions they keep bothering me That's because you didn't blow up the satellite in the first mission. In that first mission, you are NOT given the tools to do this, and you must take on a "CLASSIFIED MISSION" from the military to get them. You won't be completing this classified mission, but you snatch the Transmission Jammer and Nuclear Missile and use 'em for your own purpose: the Thargoid systems. Seek out and destroy that satellite on Pleione, or you're going to be a busy commander. x-x When leaving the station at Polaris, I'm no longer in Polaris! That's correct. It's a little unexpected for Commanders who didn't bring enough FUEL WITH THEM, LIKE ME !! :) But the Polaris system is (was?) just a base for the Thargoids, and their home planet is located far more northern. When you dock at the shuttle (which turns out to be a transporter) it hyperspaces a long way to Miackce [37,144]. x-x When leaving the station at Polaris, a lot of Thargoids fly around me, but nothing happens. Not yet anyway. Just be patient... they're as curious about you as you are about them. Just wait a bit (perhaps you can use SHIFT-F2 or F3) until you receive a message from the Thargoids to dock with their really BIG station. If you dock with the big station without having received this message, chances are that you won't receive any Thargoid- communications there. x-x Nothing happens when I click YES/NO in a Thargoid ship This might be caused by the use of accelerated time during Thargoid communications inside a space station. Use time control only when the Thargoids say so. The solution is non-existent at this time. Restore your game before you entered the station. x-x Thargoid shuttle is always busy Don't know what causes this, it's probably a bug, although it seems to happen less frequently with version 1.06. You'll have a decent chance if you restore your game, and hyperspace in again. Otherwise, you can try floating just before the Thargoid shuttle's entrance, and wait until the occupying starship crashes into your Quest ship. x-x When I'm done, I land at Alioth, they take my Thargoid away! Happens sometimes, don't know why. It might have something to do with the fact that you dock/land at planets before you go to Alioth, but I recommend you restoring your game after you left the Thargoid station in your new Thargoid ship, and hyper to Alioth again. *** Tips & tricks General When you buy a Fuel Scoop tractor beam, you don't need a Fuel Scoop and a Fuel Scoop cargo bay converter. So all you actually need to make full use of a Fuel Scoop is that 1 tonne Tractor Beam! Navigation To reach your destination more quickly, use this method: Hyperspace into a system. Set your autopilot target, and allow it to fly straight towards it (press SHIFT-F3 for faster movement). When this is done, switch your engines to 'Off' and go into the fastest time-skip mode (SHIFT-F5). Then keep the [Enter] key pressed until you are at a distance of 4 to 2 AU. Then press [Tab] once, and your ship will immediately stop and dock/land at your destination. So with this method, you can effectively bypass the 'braking' pro- cess! Think of it as the space station's tractor beams pulling you to a halt..:-) Combat ------ If your Naval ECM doesn't kill an incoming missile, just try again a couple of times. When you quickly press [E] 5 times, all incoming missiles should be gone. If they're not, read the second tip. If missiles are immune to your ECM waves, do the following: During battle, you may have found out which of the attacking ships have ECM capability. Keep a combat-lock on that ship, and when some ship fires a missile at you, press M to fire a missile at the ECMming ship. He will activate ECM shortly to destroy your, and every other missile! I call this the "poor man's missile jammer".