
                Frontier: First Encounters Ship Collection
                              by George Hooper

   Finally, a great collection of 21 startup ships to use in the game. Most
of the ships are stock as they appear in the game,  with  the  addition  of
some basic equipment items, the best drive type  already  fitted,  and  one
million in credits to start. Many ships have military drives which  provide
increased hyperspace range and lower weight.  Military drives also generate
radioactive waste products, which are illegal in some systems.  This  is  a
small price to pay for the performance you get.  Radioactives can  be  sold
in legal markets, and dumped in space in illegal markets as long as you are
5 AUs or greater distance from a station.

   Ships that normally require more than one crew member have been modified
for one man operation. If you sell a ship, then buy it back, all  the  game
specifications will return to the original settings.

Here is the ship listing:

ASP      The very popular Asp Explorer comes with a class 4 military drive,
         two 4 MW beam lasers with  cooling  booster,  an  auto  refueller,
         increased cargo space, and one MV2 missile.

COBRA3	 The Cobra Mark III is for those traditional  pilots  who  want  to
         start the game with the original ship in the  series.  A  class  3
         military drive and MV2 missiles are fitted.

COURIER  Another popular ship which was also used in the Frontier: Elite II
         intro sequence, the Imperial Courier provides a good mix of  space
         for equipment and cargo, and good acceleration for a ship of  this
         size.  The addition of the class 4  military  drive,  20  MW  beam
         laser with cooling booster,  and 2 MVP missiles makes  this  great
         ship even better.

EAGLE2   The upgrade to the Eagle Mark I startup  ship  in  Frontier: Elite
         II, this Eagle Mark II comes with a class 1 military  drive.  This
         ship was also sent over to Hooplah Productions, Ltd. shipyards  in
         the Sol System [0,0] where the Retro Thrusters were replaced  with
         a set from an Eagle III. Cargo Capacity has also  been  increased.
         Note that you can get the stock Eagle I located  at  Ross  154  by
         typing 1 at the title screen.

FALCON   Ok, theres no getting around it.  This ship design is not  stock.
         However take the fastest ship in the game, add a 4 mw  Beam  laser
         with cooling booster, some serious  combat  equipment,  shielding,
         and 2 NN500 Naval missiles.  You now have a deadly combat  fighter
         able to hold its own in many types of engagements.  Yes,  you  can
         still be blasted away if your flying skills need  a  little  work,
         but this  Falcon  was  designed  for  exciting  combat!  So  strap
         yourself in and head for the anarchy systems!

HARRIER	 Another great ship for those looking to up their Elite rating, the
         Harrier comes with a class 3 military drive and MV2 missiles.

LRC_47   Long Range Cruiser docked at Dublin Citadel.  Forget  winning  the
         Wiccan Ware race with this one! It is huge, slow, and NOT normally
         designed for planetary landings.  A  class  4  military  drive  is
         installed so it has reasonable jump range, but its 2.0g  main  and
         1.0g reverse thrusts are so low that it will take a  lot  of  time
         and fuel to get to a station. The front laser mount is useless, so
         a Pulse laser is installed  just  for  the  crosshairs.  The  rear
         gunmount holds a Large Plasma Accelerator which works  just  fine,
         although the bulkhead panels in the distance are a little unusual.
         You won't need it much as with the installed shields, and  a  ship
         this big, most small attack craft will harmlessly crash into  you,
         like bugs into a windshield.

LYNXBC   The Lynx Bulk Carrier, docked at Dublin Citadel, is  another  huge
         and slow ship.  It has a class 4 military drive for very good jump
         range, usable 3.0g main and 1.0g  reverse  thrusts, able  to  land
         at both orbital and  planetary  stations,  and  the  Large  Plasma
         Accelerator and shielding will do nicely. 

OSPREYX  One of the fastest ships in the game, the Osprey-X version of  the
         Osprey comes with two more stabilizer wings, more cargo space, and
         better acceleration.  It is a great hit-and-run ship, and is ideal
         for those time limited military runs.  It comes  with  a  class  2
         military drive and MV2 missiles.

PANTHER  Congratulations!  You just won the Wiccan Ware Race in a  Panther!
         Docked at Ghandi in Alioth [0,4], the Panther Clipper was the best
         of the trading ships from Frontier: Elite II.  This Panther sports
         a class 4 military drive for exceptional  jump  range.  The  stock
         ship always came up short when it came to capacity for weapons and
         cargo. Not so with this modified version sporting a full equipment
         selection, four 20 MW lasers, a rack of MV2 missiles, 200 shields,
         and a 1000 ton cargo space.  This ship is a lethal trading  vessel
         in any system.

SAKER3	The stock startup ship, but with 1,000,000 in credits.

STOWM    Designed as a improved escape capsule, the StowMaster fighter adds
         basic equipment, a 1 MW pulse laser, and a class 1 hyperdrive.  It
         does not carry missiles, and is also installed on the Turner Class
         and Super 3 ships.

TURNER   The Turner Class ship comes fully loaded with all the goodies that
         you would normally get in regular game play.  It  has  exceptional
         jump range, and is ready to take on anything  the  galaxy  has  to
         offer.

                               The Thargoid Ships

   The Thargoid Ships are fast. powerful, and have exceptional jump  range.
With a few noted exceptions, these ships feature 27.2g main and 8.0g  retro
thrusters, a Thargoid laser and missiles, and the 'unknown' drive which  is
a class 8 military and weighs 0 tons! 

UN-11    A small Thargoid fighter ship, unusually similar to the 'Thargons'
         remote ships in the early versions of the game.  Its  capacity  is
         40 tons.

UN-31    A fleet Thargoid ship with an unusual moving piston and a capacity
         of 203 tons.

UN_32    A fleet Thargoid ship with a dual body and a capacity of 214 tons.

UN_33    A fleet Thargoid ship with a 'sawblade' design and a  capacity  of
         149 tons.

UN_3F    A Thargoid patrol ship with a flat pancake shape and a capacity of
         149 tons.

UN_34    This is the Thargoid War Ship in  regular  game  play,  with  some
         basic equipment installed.  It includes 4 of the powerful Thargoid
         lasers, 10 missiles, and a class 4 military drive for a very  high
         jump range.

UN_45    The Thargoid Transporter stationed at Dublin Citadel.  This is the
         Thargoid version of a massive  ship  with  a  modest  jump  range.
         However the 20.1g main and  retro  thrusters  makes  this  a  very
         serious multi-role craft.  It was designed for  teleportation  and
         use as a mothership/station.  The ship features a class 4 military
         drive, a Thargoid laser, and is heavily shielded.

                               Super Saker Mark III

SUPER 3  Designed at the Hooplah Productions, Ltd.  shipyards  in  the  Sol
         System [0,0], this modified Saker Mark III has it all! It is fully
         equipped, as fast  as  a  missile,  has  enough  shields  to  stop
         anything, and can go anywhere in the galaxy.  Weapons include  the
         powerful Thargoid laser, and 2 Nuclear missiles for those  special
         occasions.  Here are the specifications:

Control            Elite Control Method  Cargo Capacity    10,000t
StartingPosition   Old Blackwell         Retro Thr. Acc    60.1g
Starting Date      Jan 1, 3250           Main Thr. Acc     60.1g
Starting Credits   1,000,000             Gun               1 Thargoid laser
Cabins             100                   Gunmounts         2
Shields            1000                  Missiles          2 nuclear
Fuel onboard       200t military         Missiles Pylons   2
Chaff              50                    Crew              1
Hull Mass          6t                    Cost              43k
Fuly Laden Mass    28t                   Drive             class 4 military
Internal Capacity  14,582t               Jump Range        4285.71ly

                               Display Problems

   As many of the ships were never designed to actually  be  flown  by  the
player, the display of some of the ships are so large that  they  wipe  out
the displays on the information screens. One way to resolve this is to keep
clicking on the selected icon and read between the display updates.

   Another way is to permanently fix the problem by  entering  the  correct
display values, called zoom, into the FIRSTENC.EXE file.  Note that  before
attempting this, you should save the original file to another directory for
safekeeping, and edit a COPY of it to be used in the FIRSTENC directory.

   Copy the supplied HEXED.EXE editor to your FIRSTENC directory. At a  DOS
prompt, goto the FIRSTENC directory and type HEXED FIRSTENC.EXE.  This will
start the editor and load the EXE  file  for  editing.  All  commands  then
displayed at the bottom of the screen.

   Using a hex editor, you then input the values.  The following hex values
are already reversed and ready for entry into the file.  Not  all  versions
are the same, so ensure the stock hex value is there before you  change  it
to the new hex value.

   You can check your version by typing SHIFT V during the intro  animation
near the end when the Thargoid ship attacks.  If you do not have  the  same
version, you can download game patches on the internet.

   If you make a mistake, chances are the display will be incorrect, or the
game might lockup when restarting.  No problem, just reset  your  computer,
and copy your original FIRSTENC.EXE file  over  the  one  in  the  FIRSTENC
directory, and you are ready to try again.  NEVER edit and  play  with  the
original file.

   Once these values are in, the ships will display at  the  correct  size.
Here are the zoom values and addresses for three versions of the game.

                                        -------------ADDRESS-------------
                        STOCK    NEW    ENG 3.5in   ENG CDRom   ENG CDRom
 SHIP     DESCRIPTION    HEX     HEX    v1.1 Rem    v 1.01      v1.1  Rem

 UN_11    fighter       3C 00   82 00   089750-51   0895B8-B9   089980-81
 UN_31    piston        B4 00   08 02   09169A-9B   091502-03   0918CA-CB
 TWS_34   war ship      EO 01   18 01   091B50-51   0919B8-B9   091D80-81
 UN_3F    flat          3C 00   2C 01   093DDC-DD   093C44-45   09400C-0D
 UN_45    Transporter   F4 01   DC 05   0965D4-D5   09643C-3D   096804-05
 LYNXBC   Bulk Carrier  20 03   1A 04   0966E8-E9   096550-51   096918-19
 LRC_47   LR Cruiser    64 00   98 3A   09698A-8B   0967F3-F3   096BBA-BB

   Like making modifications to the file? Everything  you  need  to  design
your own ships is  available  in  the  Guide  to  Hacking  Frontier:  First
Encounters.

George Hooper
hooperh@ix.netcom.com