esd's Guide to MORTs

[Nanook]

That's strictly not a MORT, that's somewhere in-between a MORT and a UT

It's a SMORT - Semi-Manually Operated Remote Trader.

Can't be any type of UT since it still relies on the player to make all the decisions on what to buy or sell. It simply strings those commands together, rather than waiting for player input at each individual stage.

[jlehtone]

MTC (Manual Trade Commands) is no MORT, because it is semi-automatic.

The 'Manual Trade Run' does have a safeguard that it will not sell at loss, but it may still sell at minimal win. True MORT would see that an be able to pick a better offer in changing economic climate.

And the 'Best ...'. Sure, they save you the trouble of checking several sectors manually. And it needs property in sectors. (Then again so do your eyes.) But you do not know (unless you watch ship details) where the ship will go. It might be a sector infested with red. A thing you prefer to know in advance.

And the "best price". Say you want GPPC. If the only GPPC in jumprange happens to be a Forge with one gun in stock, you will end up paying the highest possible price (and get only one gun). Hard to make profit on that.

As you see, MTC is convenient, because it does things for you. Very convenient. Last time I used it to buy ECells from my SPP. On purpose, as I hate to just take resources from my factories and fiddling with the account is boring too. But that automation brings in the element of uncertainty and risk, that true MORT avoids.


(me slow) SMORT does not sound nice. Initially I thought it as MTC-MORT, but since it is no MORT, I think MTC is enough to tell what it is.

[MrBigTime]

Wow, I guess I'll have to rename those freighters. (Currently MORT1 and 2)

In my mind, not having to make sure I answer the "I'm done" message quickly more than makes up for any times I may have bought 1 or 2 GPPC. (I think one of my SMORTs bought 2 BPPC's at a forge once). Usually, if the jumprange is high enough the best buy price ends up being an ED if all of the forges are sold out in which case the weapon gets sold back and the only cost is time and ecells.

Sorry for the misunderstanding. I should have realized that esd would have included the MTC if that's what he was writing about.

[BugMeister]

- it's great fun just trucking the space lanes looking for bargains..

- lots to observe on the way, too..
- especially if it's as a result of other ventures you're auto-controlling..

- watching your MTC's as they go about their remote business
- your CAG's shuttling goods to and fro between their home factories and the market..
- seeing your own patrols go by in formation..

- just brilliant!

[soRahms]

Noob alert but..

Can't find the bloomin' notify when order complete setting. It's not on the command console, or under any of the headings.... And it's annoying the shit out of me.

Help please

[jlehtone]

It is in the Command console, way down, near "Homebase" and missile firing probability.

[soRahms]

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y257/e ... noying.jpg

...

[Carlo the Curious]

That's not right...

Are you running any mods?

[Nanook]

What software do you have installed on the TS? As I recall, that command shows up after installing either the Nav Cmd Mk I or the Special Cmd software. Either that, or it's part of the Bonus Pack with the MTC commands. In which case, you need to install the Bonus Pack if you haven't already. Anyway, try those three options.

[soRahms]

Nope...

I have a feeling its a game version thing, and if it is...its pretty stupid they waited till a patch to add such a basic feature.

[Carlo the Curious]

It's not a software command - a newly built M5 from the HQ has it. Although it could be part of the BP I guess, I've never tried without it.

Which X and which version?

[soRahms]

X3, 1.3.

I'll reinstall the BP, but I'm pretty sure I installed everything except MMD (doesn't work with 1.3).


And yeah, I just shot myself in the foot bigtime by buying 8 APBEs...maybe I'll sell one if I'm lucky

[Nanook]

X3, 1.3...

And here's the reason. I bet that option came with the 2.0 patch. You really should upgrade anyway, because a number of issues were fixed with both the 1.4 and the 2.0 patches.

[soRahms]

1.3 is the only version which doesn't crash on startup. Posted a couple of threads ages ago (months), and after the "update drivers" didn't work (huge surprise), the threads just sank.

[JoeVN09]

I'm sold, MORTing is actually a lot of fun. MORT Pyke and MORT Brian are currently trekking the universe, filching the best deals on masses of PPC before those bloody Paranid weapons dealers can ruin the day.
My thanks to esd

[Schabernack]

Why a MORT? Why not an ST/UT?

...

you can let them dock at a station where you know the prices will be up shortly, meanwhile you fight or do sth and the get the best price. That's of course only an option if there is not allready nearby a best price to catch.

Ok, that sounds good. There's got to be a catch...?

... If they're attacked, they're reliant on your defending them by either jumping in and saving them, sending someone else to do so, or by giving them sufficient escorts.

..., or by jumping them out or dock them to nearest/next station.


good guide

[JustVisiting85]

I don't imagine the original author is still around after 9 years, but hopefully someone can give me a hand:

(Playing X3:TC)

I'm trying to set up a merchant ship (Mercury) as a MORT to do some out-of-my-sector trading early in the game. As far as I can tell, I'm following all of the instructions in the original post and I can't seem to get the "best buy" and "best sell" to work.

I caught the bit about having to install best buys and best sells on both ships because I am playing TC. When it didn't work the first time, I covered my bases by installing all the upgrades on both ships too (eg TSE, Special Command Software, etc).

I can send my Mercury off to the sector I want him to trade in, but once he gets there I can't figure out how to find the best prices. In the original post, he says: "Open the ship's command console and find 'Best buys'". As far as I can tell, I'm not getting that option in my command console. If I use the hotkeys for best buy or best sell, obviously I just get them for the sector my piloted ship is in....

Anybody have any idea what I'm doing wrong?

I'd rather not have to grind out 500K to upgrade him to a Sector Trader if I can have him do it in the background with some occasional input from me while I play around doing other things....

Thanks!

[Zaitsev]

I might get an answer in before the thread is locked for necromancing...

Try bringing up the map of the sector your Mercury is in, select the Mercury so you get the menu with ship info, cargo and so on, and then use the hotkeys for best buy/sell. That should do the trick.

[JustVisiting85]

Awesome! Worked like a charm. Also, for any other idiots out there having the same problem as me, I discovered while using your method that I was in the wrong menu. The best buy/best sell options aren't in the command console, they are under the "advanced" item on the ship's menu (same menu you would pick command console from). That was driving me crazy. Thanks a million.

P.S. thanks for the heads-up on the necromancing. I had to google it (bit of a forum noobie). Seemed like continuing a thread already on the subject made more sense than clogging the forum up with duplicate threads, but lesson learned.

Thanks again!

[VincentTH]

Awesome! Worked like a charm. Also, for any other idiots out there having the same problem as me, I discovered while using your method that I was in the wrong menu. The best buy/best sell options aren't in the command console, they are under the "advanced" item on the ship's menu (same menu you would pick command console from). That was driving me crazy. Thanks a million.

P.S. thanks for the heads-up on the necromancing. I had to google it (bit of a forum noobie). Seemed like continuing a thread already on the subject made more sense than clogging the forum up with duplicate threads, but lesson learned.

Thanks again!

BestBuy hot key=6, BestSell Hot Key=5