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no you have to personally do the pickup and delivery.

Any time you need to transport something from a -> b you must be the one who does it. Things like commodity delivery (ore, energy cells etc), you only need to be in the ship to deliver it.

Geek.Verve wrote:Follow up question: the whole ship juggling mechanic required to complete missions seems a bit contrived....

It's only contrived if you do the ship juggling thing. I personally don't play that way and I don't see it as a requirement. If I see a mission that requires, for example, a TP, I'll call one in if I'm not currently flying it. I'll transfer to the TP and then land, accept the mission, and complete it, all while flying the TP. I personally consider the juggling act to be an exploit and not in the spirit of the game or the mission. But whether you do it or not is your call.

Geek.Verve wrote:Follow up question: the whole ship juggling mechanic required to complete missions seems a bit contrived....

The 'ship-juggling thing' is only there to save mission time: if you accept the mission in a fast ship the mission will spawn a shorter 'delivery time' than if you do so in a slow ship. It's not necessarily useful (or convenient) to do so every time, but it's a useful trick to bear in mind.. which is why I mentioned it

There are other tricks available (eg the 'bomber trick'), but I'll let you discover them yourself

Snafu_X3 wrote:The 'ship-juggling thing' is only there to save mission time: if you accept the mission in a fast ship the mission will spawn a shorter 'delivery time' than if you do so in a slow ship.

It does? Oh dear.

This I know:
1. See that there is a mission, but not check it.
2. Save
3. Check mission
4. Reload
5. Check mission
Will result in different details of the mission.

1. See that there is a mission, and check it.
2. Save
3. Reload
4. Check mission
The mission does not change.

In other words, the mission details are definitely set when you do read it for the first time, but not before.


You state that the mission timers can change drastically if you re-read the same mission multiple times in different ships? Could be.


When I see an interesting mission (i.e. read it), I might have to call in a required vessel but usually accept the mission before swapping ships. There is usually enough time.

jlehtone wrote:You state that the mission timers can change drastically if you re-read the same mission multiple times in different ships? Could be.

Not quite! If you /click/ the mission in a fast ship the mission will spawn a shorter allowed mission time than if you do so in a slow ship.
(I haven't tested, but I expect this holds true for any timed missions such as asteroid scans, cargo deliveries etc. Therefore if you save-scum to check the above, do so while IS but before clicking on the mission)

I'm pretty sure I checked this before in TC (& have confirmation from others, when I find the ancient references), but I can do it again if you insist (can't do so for AP: see sig)

Ofc I could be wrong & mission times are generated with missions upon entering the sector, which will make things /really/ hard to test.. but I think I'm OK with my current hypothesis

Snafu_X3 wrote:If you /click/ the mission ... the mission will spawn

Then we do agree.

Snafu_X3 wrote:I could be wrong & mission times are generated with missions upon entering the sector,

You are not wrong.

1. See that there is a mission, but not check it.
2. Save
3. Check mission (A)
4. Reload
5. Check mission (B)
Will result in different details of the mission.

The mission must first spawn for us to see it at all. Most do spawn on entry to sector, but some appear while you stay in sector. Some missions stay so long that you can exit the sector and they are still available on re-entry.

If the details would be set on mission spawn, the A and B would be identical. They are not.

You do A in fast ship and B in slow ship. Then you accept the mission (in the slow ship, having seen that B offers nice time).

I have done A and B in the same ship and still seen different details. The latter is usually less difficult, less rewarding. I don't know whether there is some mechanism to ensure easier mission by the read-reload-read-reload-read... or is it just almighty RNG. Playershiptype can affect.

It is quite sure that the details of mission (like difficulty, time) are set when we click/check/read a mission for the first time. Not before.

There can be details, like location of an assassination mark, that are set on acceptance of mission and not already on reading it.

Nanook wrote:

Geek.Verve wrote:Follow up question: the whole ship juggling mechanic required to complete missions seems a bit contrived....

It's only contrived if you do the ship juggling thing. I personally don't play that way and I don't see it as a requirement. If I see a mission that requires, for example, a TP, I'll call one in if I'm not currently flying it. I'll transfer to the TP and then land, accept the mission, and complete it, all while flying the TP. I personally consider the juggling act to be an exploit and not in the spirit of the game or the mission. But whether you do it or not is your call.

It's just more comfortable to put your passenger in your normal ship and send the TP back to the next power plant to refuel. If not you need to have your normal ship follow the TP as well, and the switch ships back at the target station.

OTOH I nearly always spend a lot of early game time flying a fast TP, It's just the most versatile ship for my style of game.

cu
Rainer

jlehtone wrote:

Tks for your incisiveness