The Manual
Your Guide to the Universe
KEYS:
| Flight Controls | Navigation |
| . | Roll Left | ALT + n | Nav Map |
| , | Roll Right | + | (numpad) Zoom map in |
| = | Increase Speed | - | (numpad) Zoom map out |
| - | Decrease Speed | f | Search map |
| [ | Min Speed | r | Rotate map |
| ] | Max Speed | ESC | Exit map |
| TAB | Afterburner | Weapons |
| x | Match speed of target | b | Mines/Decoys VDW |
| j | Jump | m | Missile VDW |
| Radar and Targeting | g | Gun VDW |
| ALT + r | Toggle radar modes | h | Cycle through ordinance in current VDW |
| e | Cycle radar ranges | n | Select ordinance on/off |
| a | Next target | BACKSPCE | Drop mines/decoys |
| z | Previous target | ENTER | Fire missile |
| s | Nearest friendly | SPACE | Fire guns |
| w | Nearest hostile | f | Toggle full guns/no guns |
| SHIFT + 1-9 | Store target | ALT + s | Drop Nuke'em |
| 1-9 | Recall stored target | Damage |
| Views | d | Damage VDW |
| F1 | Front view | Special Features |
| F2 | Left view | ALT + b | Activate BSE system |
| F3 | Back view | ALT + d | Diary |
| F4 | Right view | ALT + h | Hotkeys |
| F5 | Exterior ship view (pan with arrow keys) | ALT + o | Game options |
| F6 | Target track camera | ALT + w | Activate warp shields |
| F7 | External view of target (pan with arrow keys) | ALT + x | Exit game (takes you to load game screen) |
| F8 | Target chase camera | o | SOS reciever on/off |
| F9 | Fixed camera | t | Tractor beam |
| F10 | Fly-by "cinematic" | y | Drop tractored object |
| Communications | p | P.A.D. (planetside only) |
| c | Comms VDW |
| 1-9 | Choose comm signal |
To adjust brightness during cinematics, press = and -.
CCN User's Guide
"Helping you not to lose it"
After a brief Log-On sequence, you come to the Main Menu. From there you can Log Off, or click one of the five buttons to go to that page. Let's start on the left, with Ships.
SHIPS
This is where you Buy & Sell, Repair, and Upgrade your ship.
Purchase/Sell
To buy a ship, simply scroll down the list and click on a ship. The BUY button becomes highlighted when a ship you can afford is selected. Click the BUY button to swap your current ship for the new one. Don't worry, you get as many credits back as you paid, so it's easy to undo a mistake.
(Warning: Your equipment will not carry over to the new ship. You must re-purchase any weapons or modules.)
On the right are the stats of the selected ship.
Repair
Unless you're using the invulnerable cheat, you'll need to come here quite often. If you're saving credits for that special upgrade, or you're just plain poor and want to prioritize, use the slider bars to choose which system to repair, and by how much. Otherwise just click the complete repair button.
(Note: If you have a repair bot, the only thing you have to worry about here is Armour. Hold off on landing to let it do its job.)
Purchase/Sell Equipment
Here's where you buy and sell missiles, guns, modules, and everything else you can put on your ship. As with the ship screen, you get back as many credits as you paid, so it's easy to undo any mistakes.
Only one type of hardpoint is displayed at a time, so click the respective icon around the display of your ship to get to Guns, Missiles, or Modules. Clicking the arrow to the right of the item's image displays some descriptive text. If you have enough credits to buy an item, the BUY button will illuminate.
To sell an item, click the hardpoint, and the BUY button will change to SELL.
BULLETIN BOARD
This is where you take on missions and hire wingmen and cargo ships. Click on a post to read its description, then choose whether or not to accept it. The things that do appear are completely random.
Missions
Missions are not available on the bulletin board until you've completed the Xavier Shondi mission. They vary in type, including escort, bounty-hunting, assassination, seek & destroy, rescue, etc.. It is possible for a mission to appear more than once, whether you previously completed it successfully or not. You can only take up to three missions at a time.
Wingmen
...and wing women, too. You can only hire one at a time. If you change your mind and cancel, you only get half your credits back. Generally, the more expensive they are, the more skilled they are.
Cargo Ships
The larger ones actually make good wingmen. You'll have to hire one from here if you want more than the default 250 tons.
PUBLIC RECORDS
Several times during the plot, you'll need to access this to look up some information. These screens contain a lot more than just plot-related info, so read up for more immersion into the Privateer 2 universe's People, Companies, Vehicles, and Planets. The database expands as you play the game. Accessing some records open up other ones. For example, accessing a person may open up information on the company he works for. In some cases, you may not be able to visit a place until you look it up here.
COMMODITIES
The idea here is to buy stuff on one planet, then transport it to another to sell it. While the legal stuff is safe to transport, the illegal "Black Market" goods will net you a higher profit. You will need to hire a cargo ship and escort it. The default cargo ship only carries 250 tons, so if you want to ship more, you'll have to hire one from the bulletin board.
Purchasing
Click once on the BUY TONS button to buy one ton of an item. Click and hold to buy quickly. This will stop when you're out of credits, your ship is full, or there's no stock left. In the upper left of the screen are a series of icons. Clicking on them brings up lists in different categories. Everything under the Skull and Crossbones is illegal. If the CIS catches you, you have to fight for the remainder of that trip.
Note: You can't spend more than you can afford, including the cost of hiring the ship. Thankfully, your Credits value changes to red if you fall below your ship's hiring cost.
Selling
Same idea as Purchasing. If you haven't left a planet yet, you can sell stuff back at the same price you bought it at. It's by travelling to different planets that you make money. On the far right of the screen is where your profit margin is shown. If the number is red, it means it's a loss. You may want to hold on to that cargo until you find somewhere else to sell it.
NEWS BULLETINS
Keep up with what's going on in your Universe! These are updated at random, and there's only one at a time. Most announcements are garbage, but occasionally a new technology will be announced. If you're into Commodities, pay attention to the bulletins talking about disasters or stockpiles or such.
P.A.D. OWNER'S MANUAL
Like a PDA on steroids, the Personal Access Directory has two major modes: Transit and Normal. The PAD is where you control pretty much everything in the game. You should pull it up every time you're planetside, if only to save.
TRANSIT MODE
Your PAD comes up in this mode whenever you click on the "Exit To Transit" part of a screen. Locations sometimes only appear after you've looked them up in a Booth. They also sometimes disappear after you've visited them. Click on the location you want to go to, then click the exit button to go there. You can't access Normal mode while in Transit mode.
NORMAL MODE
The Normal Mode allows access to four screens: Status/Diary, Cargo Inventory, Ship Inventory, and Game Options. Clicking on the relevant triangular icon brings up that screen. The PAD will also pop up if you get an email while you're on a planet. This can be anything from an unsuccessful mission chastisement to a warning that you can't afford your cargo ship. In flight, your ship takes care of most of these functions.
Status/Diary
The Status part shows how many credits you have and how much your stuff is worth. Your Rating is based on how many kills you have. Most importantly, Diary entries are displayed here, including current missions and plot notes. A bug in the game sometimes causes there to be an extra entry that just says "No entry available."
Cargo Inventory
Shows what goods you have, and what ship you've hired to transport them. Also indicates how much you paid for your goods, and how much they're currently worth on the planet you're on. You can terminate your cargo ship and sell all your goods quickly from here.
Ship Inventory
Shows what's on your ship, and its damage. As far as I know, the only Software you can get is Blindfire and Missile Turning, which can only be gotten from David Hassan (after you've talked to him in the main plot), and can't be gotten rid of, even if you switch ships.
Game Options
This is where you Load and, most important, Save games. There is no cursor: a highlighted line in the Save screen can be edited. If the game is running too slow for you, turning off the animations and sounds can help.
Enemy Ships |
Ships, Weapons, & Equipment |
Planets & Stations |
Commodities |
Hints & Cheats |
Wingmen & Cargo Ships |
Missions |
Plot
last modified 9 March 2003