The level of technical discussion I read on this board is ... impressive. But the fact that I had a "technical by-pass" at birth is the reason I use a MAC. (It's the computer which does the closest to what I wanted the crazy machine to do ... rather than what I
accidentally told it to do.)

I keep reading that I should be sure to "save my pilot file" before embarking on a new plug. I have two questions about that....

1. Why is this important?

2. Just how does one "save a pilot file?" (What are the steps? Where do I keep it? What will I be doing with it after I save it?)

(Forgive my ignorance, but is not the file "saved" each time my pilot lands on a planet, moon or station? ...Or is that something entirely different?)

Note For the most part you people keep the "programmers' jargon" to a minimum. Speaking as a techno-idiot, this is much appreciated....

-KK

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“You will find that our crew will be either the most valuable, loyal, and trustworthy of allies, or ... if you insist on trying to swallow us up -- the worst of enemies. The choice is yours. And should you choose to fight us ... don’t bring a knife to a gunfight!”

Quote

Originally posted by Kaptain Karl:
**

1. Why is this important?

2. Just how does one "save a pilot file?" (What are the steps? Where do I keep it? What will I be doing with it after I save it?)

(Forgive my ignorance, but is not the file "saved" each time my pilot lands on a planet, moon or station? ...Or is that something entirely different?)
**

Let me do the second question and its addendum first: What people generally mean by "saving a pilot file" is making a duplicate of the file (the old Command-D combo in the Finder) and stashing it in a folder somewhere other than in the game directory. This is different from the point you raised in your addendum about the pilot file being saved upon landing on a spöb. (And yes: in the context of playing the game, your file is indeed saved when you land.)

Now the first point: It is so easy for a pilot file to get messed up. Say you play a plug full of nonstandard weapons and outfits and ships that are difficult to sell or otherwise unload when you're done playing that particular plug. You may not be able to play another plug—or even regular EV—with that pilot. You may find that even though the game says you have lots of space for weapons and outfits, you run into the annoying "can't hold any more!" message. Or (like some luckless players) you may get hopelessly lost or stranded in some alien system with a one-way warpline (as in Pale) and no apparent way home.

For all those these scenarios, the reasoning for keeping a spare and uncorrupted pilot file boils down to this: It takes so long to build up your combat rating and legal status (to say nothing of that precious Kestrel), the idea of having to start all over can be horrifying. Who's got that kind of time? That's why I always recommend keeping an extra "Dash Riprock" or two handy.

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PlanetPhil
not drowning, waving

Quote

Originally posted by PlanetPhil:
**(And yes: in the context of playing the game, your file is indeed saved when you land.)

**

Actually your pilot file seems to be saved when you take off. So, if you land and regret it(bought a ship that you hate before you take off) use force-quit and it won't save it. Though there are suppose to be side affects for using this too much...

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Knowledge is power, but ignorance is bliss.

Thanks, guys. Very helpful information.

- KK

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“You will find that our crew will be either the most valuable, loyal, and trustworthy of allies, or ... if you insist on trying to swallow us up -- the worst of enemies. The choice is yours. And should you choose to fight us ... don’t bring a knife to a gunfight!”

I once didnt "save my pilot file" and compleatly scrued it up, luckaly i had a copy in my old EV version. "thank god for cold fusion" STAR CRAFT (i dont know why i did that... but it was fun)

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if it dosent doesn't
squiel its not worth
killing