A couple of questions...

I have a couple of general questions which I hope you guys can answer. First, how do you get the "custom JAFS" mod to work. That is, does it just kick in automatically, or do I have to enter something. I'm mainly interested in speeding up his cargo collection time and shutting him up ("When are we going to get something cool, Cal?, etc.). Also, this next question may be a spoiler, but I've got to know. In my travels throughout Hoffers, I've noted, on a couple of occasions, that my new buddies, the Stepsons, have meetings with Marauder ships. On one occasion, I even saw a Marauder transport parked around Touchdown station. Is there a bug in my program, or are the Stepsons somehow involved with the Marauders? Thanks.

Hi Blackbeard. The Custom Jaffs mod requires that you enter a few lines into the default.ini config file. There are instructions in the Custom Jaffs readme file. If you have a problem, post here, many can help.

All the factions use pretty much the same ship types in EoC. For instance, the Venice class freighter is used by Stepsons, Lomax Technologies, ... and Marauders. Same goes with the other freighter types. Are you sure the freighter you saw was tagged as belonging to the Marauders?

The Stepsons are not involved with the Marauders at any point in the game (except, that is, trying to kill all of them.)

No confusion; just wrong or right ... Only Solutions

Welcome to the forum, Blackbeard (hmm sounds pirate-like). The Jafs mod is a definite must for the serious pirate. There are a number of other excellent ones, but I'd suggest playing through the entire game relatively mod free the first time. Having said that, get the multimod mod, the Jafs mod, the tug fixed mod, and maybe the location finder, which means you'll need the UniGUI mods too. These will enhance your experience of the game without making you more absurdly powerful than you already are in the game. Each mod has different installation requirement, which makes getting them to work a little bit of work, but the good news is that the readme files explain everything clearly, and they are all very well made. Just follow the directions exactly, enable them from your Extras menu in the game, then load your game and play away. Enjoy!

Oh, and the Stepsons are definitely not in cahoots with the evil, mean, bad, nasty Marauders. But maybe somebody else is....

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Hot4Darmat

Thanks guys. I have the multimod, crosshair mod and location mod (that starmap isn't exactly user-friendly). They all seem to work okay by just activating them on the Extras screen. The Jafs mod is different, though. It requires changing a file. I'm not sure exactly how to do it so I'm going to need a little help so I don't mess things up. I don't want to run any mod that will give me an unfair advantage in the game. Trading for an Autorepair 2 and Repair Expert System has made a big difference. For some reason, the mods seem to have affected my Autosave file (I think this is the case). Is this common?

Mods that change out a ship type can cause problems, not only with the savegames, but also with the missions in the game. Any savegame which depends upon a mod to change out the ship will crash to desktop whenever you try to go to the hanger without that mod active. Missions in the game get really flaky when you're flying something the game doesn't expect you to be flying.

My advice is to play it through once without any mods. Mods, while fun in free-form mode, really detract from the enjoyment of the original game (unless your using a difficulty-enhancer mod, which makes the game harder).

But if you still want to know how to do the Jaffs mod, I'll post some instructions.

No confusion; just wrong or right ... Only Solutions

Thanks Shane (I mean "sir'). Are you saying I shouldn't even use the location mod and cross-hair mod when I initially play the game through? The location mod is especially helpful, and I can't see that it gives me any kind of "advantage." I'd sincerely appreciate your offer of more detailed instructions for the Jafs mod. I'm going to hold off on this one until I finish the game (the first time). Next time I see a Marauder and a Stepson ship together (red and blue), I'll take a trip over there to see what's going on. I guess this is some kind of little bug with my particular program/system.