MOD:WCU:PR0

Privateer Zero Origins of the Steltek Hypothesis, and of the Church of Man.

Preface

This project began as part of Starlord's proposed "WC Zero". Starlord's original idea, actually, did not include any privateering; it was me (chuck_starchaser) who first proposed ties to Privateer within WC0. Starlord's idea was to play Ripper/Bossman (Chen) from McAuliffe to Custer's Carnival. But according to the Timeline, Ripper graduates in 2637; and that's a problem because McAuliffe takes place 3 years earlier, in 2634. I then proposed that perhaps we should make Bossman a privateer prior to his graduation. Starlord liked the idea, but Maverick later expressed reservations about playing Bossman, and particularly about mixing Privateer and WC gameplay paradigms. I felt we could work out the paradigm shift, but I also realised that, as a privateer, Bossman might be a pirate at the time of getting his Confed Flight Academy graduation, which would make absolutely no sense. At the time of this writing I'm still waiting for a response by Starlord to my email, but assuming he will agree, here I begin to put together a separate Privateer Zero page.

Game style

Privateer Zero is intended to be fairly similar in gameplay to Privateer and Righteous Fire. A few differences are noted, however:

• Base interiors to be similar in looks to the original Privateer but modelled in 3D and including more places to go:
  • SIM: A door leading to an arcade-like place where the player can practise dogfighting or take gunner/pilot courses.
  • Militia: A place to get jobs advertised by the (local) militias
  • Confed: A place to get jobs advertised by the confeds (or by confed militias)
  • News: A place to read news and electronic magazines
• No jump drives: Back in the 2630's and 40's, jump drives were big and bulky, and could not fit in small ships. Note that in the 2660's a big change takes place: First the Broadsword appears in 2665, featuring a jump drive. The Broadsword is officially a "heavy bomber", though. By 2667, two more medium-small ships appear with jump drives: The Crossbow bomber and the Morningstar heavy fighter. This miniaturization revolution is completed by 2669 with the Confed's Excalibur, and the availability of installable jump drives for private ships, at least in Gemini. But, to get back to the pre-war era of Privateer Zero, the large size of jump drives makes them unsuitable for small ships, such that only medium size cargo ships like the Drayman, and frigates like Caernavens, can sport one. And what this means for gameplay is that, until the player owns a larger ship, he or she must rely on a larger ship to go across systems. This is not a problem, because most jobs for small ships are escort jobs, and the escorted ship must have docking space for its escorts, precisely to get its escorts across jumps. And the player can hire a cargo ship, as well... See next point.
• Cargo ships can be hired, like in Privateer 2.
• Escort docking expansion can be installed in cargo and other larger ships.
• If a ship has turrets, you can hire gunners.
• If you don't have a ship, such as at the start of Privateer Zero, you can get a job as turret gunner.

Privateer Zero Universe and Background

The map includes the entire WC universe map (LOAF's map), from Avalon to Landreich; however, most of the story takes place in or near Gemini. A lot of stuff is happening that the player may never come to realize or understand without analytical effort. Here I will explain what's going on in detail, and therefor you should NOT read it; as it may be a terrible spoiler...