thinking of going elite. questions.....

[danx55]

hi guys.

ok I give in :-) I'm loving the game so much I'm wanting to buy elite version. but
have a few questions:

.can I keep my current game from free version?
.is elite harder for same skill level?
.will some of the elite locked ship feature then be unlocked?

thanks
dan

[slayernz]

Okay ... first up, you MUST go to Elite for ST RPG. It's very mature as a game goes, and has so much more depth and opportunity than Free.

• Obviously you get a significantly larger map ... the Free map is like the top corner of the larger map. You get so much more opportunity to travel and trade and explore.
  
• Huge number of ships - the Free version has enough to perk your interest, but only Elite has the really cool ships like the Royal Class and others.
  
• Better upgrades - subject to the fact you have to unlock some of the upgrades, they are so much better than in Free. Cory didn't allow some to be included in Free because it wasn't necessary - eg water-fuel tank, but others weren't included because they are just cool
  
• Better use of ranks ... in free, if you go over a certain rank (I think 12), you get heavily penalized if you do anything wrong. In Elite, there's no issue
  
• The ability to use Free as a nursery. Want to try a harder level, but sick and tired of getting killed off as you are just getting started? Establish a captain in Free (getting him/her to a stage where they can do more than just "exist"), then import him over to Elite. If that captain dies, then just import again and you're good to go
  
• you're supporting the Trese brothers ... this is not a whimsical advantage of going to Elite. Cory, Andrew, and Martin have put blood, sweat, and no doubt lots of tears into their games, and paying a mere $2 is nothing if you want to see them continue making existing games better, and developing new games (SoS and ST RPG 2 come to mind).
  

Short answers
Yes
Depends - at the beginning no, but as you progress, it does.
Depends - if it is just locked because it is Elite only, then yes, but if it is locked because of an award, then no.

Short answers expanded ...
You are able to import living captains from Free to Elite (and it doesn't delete them from Free). This means you can bring your captain + ship + wealth to the Elite version and expand your empire.
A couple of gotchas ...

• Any caches and dry-docked ships are obliterated. You go over with the shirt on your back and the ship that you fly.
  
• Any awards unlocked in Free are NOT unlocked in Elite. If your captain can fulfill the awards in Elite, then you get the rewards when you go to the hall of records. Time-based awards such as "Get level x by y" tend to be missed because the date is in the past.
  
• All rumors/conflicts, etc are cleared.
  

The difficulty levels all start out the same, but there is one important thing to note. In Free, the enemy captain levels are capped at around Level 28 (or even less). It means that if you are playing Impossible, where captains are routinely 2x your level, once you get past level 14, Impossible becomes easier.

In Elite, there is no such cap, and if you had a level 40 captain in Impossible killing with impunity, you suddenly find that he gets turned into several bags of goo by level 80+ captains. It's therefore, important to make sure that any captain created in Free is geared for a life in Elite - don't squander the pilot/tactics/stealth points.

[Cory Trese]

Also you get to give me $1.39

That's pretty much awesome by itself, if you ask me.

Now, I do split it with Andrew so really you are giving me about $0.70

For that $0.70 I can offer the following --

- Tireless Dedication to Game Balance
- Read All Critical Posts and Feel Bad
- Fearlessly Making Retro RPG
- Coding. Lots and Lots of Coding. Hours Uncounted

Consider my offer. We take all major credit cards.

[blackgauntlet]

Nov 22, 2011 21:11:33 GMT -5 Cory Trese said:

I can Read All Critical Posts and Feel Bad

That's funny. ;D

[boeu]

Lol its well worth the $2 and you'll have months and months of killing off your captains till you find the right strategy :-)

[danx55]

:-D many thanks guys. great replies. yes this is a bargin for $2 imo.
I'm gonna go for it. great game. thanks

cheers
dan

[danx55]

ok. the deed is done :-)
but it would find my free captain :-( I. was using mini version though

[danx55]

I'm on normal level but does seem harder. running out of fuel a lot more etc

[Cory Trese]

Oh crud, sorry, I remember you initially downloaded the Mini Edition.

It doesn't have the same formats -- Mini is really squeezed down to remove as many megs as possible. Sorry about that.

Thanks a TONNE for upgrading and leaving that awesome 5 star review.

We're here to help as you explore the Quadrant

[danx55]

hey Cory.
no worries :-) I've already started a new captain and got my first planet explore sorted...
and a nice new ship.
I'm being a bit cheeky and playing on basic level as it seems to match the mini level better.
great game. 5.5 stars actually :-D

cheers
dan

[slayernz]

I've got a basic captain in Elite so don't feel weird about it - it's really brilliant for actually learning and nailing the basics of the game. You'll know when you are ready to move up when you pretty much kill anything that moves with impunity

[danx55]

hi slayer.
cool.thanks.I feel better about that now :-D

I'm planning to buy the explorer craft thing that protects the crew I think.
and need to look into the trade disputes and how to play them the best to make cash ;-)

cheers
dan

[blackgauntlet]

Yeah, there's nothing to be ashamed of to play in Basic.

We've all been through it. ;D

[danx55]

thanks :-)

I'm totally hooked now ;-)