Well done.

[Jinx999]

I grew up playing Elite on the BBC B, tape version. Congratulations on the adaption and a heartfelt thank you. I'm playing on a windows XP PC.

I downloaded the game and a selection of the OXPs.

Some points.
1) I'm not a fan of the colourful launch/docking sequence, I'd prefer something greyer and more rectangular as more in theme with a space station.

2) Fleets of killer pirates (in a multigovernment system). This is more of a problem. I haven't played elite in over a decade and don't have a supercobra with milspec equipment. Is this the base program or one of the OXPs? I have behemoth, cobra_courier, diso, GrittyCoriolis, Lave, military, mPakRedux, newships, oldships, transports and x-ships. I've taken out murgh_xships, supercobra and wolfmk2.

[Rxke]

re: 2)

If you install OXP's with more performant ships, chances are you will meet pirate versions of them, so if you start out, it might be wise to choose carefully. Military.oxp might be a problem, not too sure it gets triggered from the start, but if you see ships with multiple lasermountings, it is...
And it's a dangerous place out there, so you will have to find out the hard way that, yes, only democracies and other civilized systems are more or less safe, multi-governments are risky. Anarchies deadly.

Invest in defensive equipment first, ECM, extra shields, fuel-injectors (to get out of harm's way FAST) should be on top of your list.

[Draco_Caeles]

One alternative, slower and less interesting though it may be, is to remove all the OXPs for now until you have enough capital to upgrade your ship and you've earned a few kills.

I found it a much easier progression that way.

[Jinx999]

I've already uninstalled one because of the killer ships in it, specifically the Eel rapier, which are just too effing fast. I uninstalled the Supercobra (aka, the king cobra, cobra commander and overpowered munchkin bait) and the added Asps for the same reason. The problem is the fleets of six or so pirate ships I run into occasionally. I once ran into two at the same time. This tends to result in a quick death, no matter what ships they're in.

I can take down three attacking at once, just about, if they're not in superships and I'm good, but those kinds of numbers are murder.

[Selezen]

Yeah, for a beginner player, it's recommended to play without any OXPs (or use strict mode) to ensure that your games are balanced and playable.

The availability of the uber ships does tend to unbalance it slightly for the new player, especially if the new player is in a fairly basic ship. They're good for the player of the player uses them, but if encountered early on they can be a killer to the gameplay.

Like the guys said above, play for a bit with no addons until you get a bit of cash behind you and have upgraded your equipment a bit. To start with, add the x-ships packages, cos they have some balanced ships in there. Leave stuff like the SC and the IC until you have an iron ass and can cope with them in battle. A nice easy rule of thumb is that if you can take a Thargoid you should be able to cope with anything an OXP throws at you.

[Jinx999]

After lots of trading and avoiding the traffic lanes, I now have boosted shields and a miltary laser.

Vengance shall be MINE!!! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!! . . . . cough . . . weeze . . .

[Rxke]

. . . . cough . . . weeze . . .

Seen that before... You're allergic to trumbles.

[Jinx999]

OK, vengence will be mine if I go to the station first, which seems to give time for the pirate fleets to disperse or get whittled down before I try to engage them. It seems like Pirates are spawned when you jump into the system, but not (or much fewer) when you launch from the station. Is this correct?

Also, do you think it would be better to a) buy millitary shields or b) trade in my ship for a Python or Hamadryad, make lots of money trading, then later buy a supercobra? I'm currently inclined to the later.

One thing I've noticed. In the original game, the Cobra III had a speed of 0.3, but yours is 0.35 and is faster than many fighters. Is there any particular reason for this?

[Rxke]

It seems like Pirates are spawned when you jump into the system, but not (or much fewer) when you launch from the station. Is this correct?

Correct. When you enter a system, it is created (asteroids and ships)
When you're inside a station, that system is still there, so things keep happening, even when you're docked.

Occasionally ships will enter the system as you did, but you have to be lucky/unlucky to be near the spot to see it happen. It's quite nice though, seeing a Freighter enter thru a jumphole with its escort... Or a bunch of blood-thirsty pirates, heh.