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General discussions about the games by Egosoft including X-BTF, XT, X², X³: Reunion, X³: Terran Conflict and X³: Albion Prelude.

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Timsup2nothin
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Post by Timsup2nothin » Mon, 13. Nov 17, 17:16

My most commonly used approach to Nostalgic Argon involves the IR missile fab in Argon Prime. It frequently starts out full of mosquito missiles. Shuttling them to the EqD is a bit dull, but after a handful of round trips you build up enough Argon rep to buy a Disco. At that point I trade the barely equipped Buster for a fully kitted Discoverer and get about the business of starting the game.
Trapper Tim's Guide to CLS 2

On Her Majesty's Secret Service-Dead is Dead, and he is DEAD

Not a DiD, so I guess it's a DiDn't, the story of my first try at AP
Part One, in progress

HEY! AP!! That's new!!!

RAVEN.myst
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Post by RAVEN.myst » Mon, 13. Nov 17, 17:43

Timsup2nothin wrote:My most commonly used approach to Nostalgic Argon involves the IR missile fab in Argon Prime. It frequently starts out full of mosquito missiles. Shuttling them to the EqD is a bit dull, but after a handful of round trips you build up enough Argon rep to buy a Disco. At that point I trade the barely equipped Buster for a fully kitted Discoverer and get about the business of starting the game.
I do something similar from in the early game when starting in the Argon Prime 'hood: the Dumbfire Missile Plex fills up periodically and can be emptied for good profit. This is by no means the main income, but it boosts my finances most handily from time to time...

If I start with a Buster, I tend to trade it in for a truck first, sharply steepening the income curve, then get me a nice little bike (aka Market Discoverer.) Second truck starts training CLS2 (usually my first one does, too: I use CLS2 commands as MORT instructions while the first truck has no jumpdrive - the trips take the same amount of time, but the flight time starts adding up right from the start.)
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ubuntufreakdragon
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Post by ubuntufreakdragon » Mon, 13. Nov 17, 17:50

Nah the first 3 reputation steps are easy to get, dock at any TS and repeatedly buy and sell any ware.
Last edited by ubuntufreakdragon on Mon, 13. Nov 17, 18:59, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by RAVEN.myst » Mon, 13. Nov 17, 18:10

ubuntufreakdragon wrote:Nah the first 3 reputation steps are easy to get, dock at and TS and repeatedly buy and sell any ware.
Yet ANOTHER exploit! Sigh... :P
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Timsup2nothin
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Post by Timsup2nothin » Mon, 13. Nov 17, 19:04

RAVEN.myst wrote:
Timsup2nothin wrote:My most commonly used approach to Nostalgic Argon involves the IR missile fab in Argon Prime. It frequently starts out full of mosquito missiles. Shuttling them to the EqD is a bit dull, but after a handful of round trips you build up enough Argon rep to buy a Disco. At that point I trade the barely equipped Buster for a fully kitted Discoverer and get about the business of starting the game.
I do something similar from in the early game when starting in the Argon Prime 'hood: the Dumbfire Missile Plex fills up periodically and can be emptied for good profit. This is by no means the main income, but it boosts my finances most handily from time to time...

If I start with a Buster, I tend to trade it in for a truck first, sharply steepening the income curve, then get me a nice little bike (aka Market Discoverer.) Second truck starts training CLS2 (usually my first one does, too: I use CLS2 commands as MORT instructions while the first truck has no jumpdrive - the trips take the same amount of time, but the flight time starts adding up right from the start.)
As an Argon I'm less inclined to buy freighters early on. :pirat: I usually have far more of them than I can get shields for pretty early. In my current newly started game I have a CLS Mercury running unshielded to supply the shield fab in CBSE, and two Vultures and a Dolphin that I haven't gotten pilots for yet but also don't have shields for. And my personal use Toucan has only one out of three. The only shielded freighter I have is my Mercury that supplies the Dockmeter freighters welded to the distilleries in Herron's.
Trapper Tim's Guide to CLS 2

On Her Majesty's Secret Service-Dead is Dead, and he is DEAD

Not a DiD, so I guess it's a DiDn't, the story of my first try at AP
Part One, in progress

HEY! AP!! That's new!!!

Timsup2nothin
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Post by Timsup2nothin » Mon, 13. Nov 17, 19:05

RAVEN.myst wrote:
ubuntufreakdragon wrote:Nah the first 3 reputation steps are easy to get, dock at and TS and repeatedly buy and sell any ware.
Yet ANOTHER exploit! Sigh... :P
Yeah. If I were going to do that I'd just script up my rep and be done with it, but that's just me.
Trapper Tim's Guide to CLS 2

On Her Majesty's Secret Service-Dead is Dead, and he is DEAD

Not a DiD, so I guess it's a DiDn't, the story of my first try at AP
Part One, in progress

HEY! AP!! That's new!!!

RAVEN.myst
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x3tc

Post by RAVEN.myst » Mon, 13. Nov 17, 19:33

Timsup2nothin wrote::pirat: I usually have far more of them than I can get shields for pretty early.
:rofl:
Do you at least fit them with windscreen wipers, to clear away the occasional spacefly impact...?
Timsup2nothin wrote:
RAVEN.myst wrote:
ubuntufreakdragon wrote:Nah the first 3 reputation steps are easy to get, dock at and TS and repeatedly buy and sell any ware.
Yet ANOTHER exploit! Sigh... :P
Yeah. If I were going to do that I'd just script up my rep and be done with it, but that's just me.
If I were to make a point of doing things to avoid playing a game, I'd simply not load it in the first place and be done with it, but that's just me. :D
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ubuntufreakdragon
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Post by ubuntufreakdragon » Mon, 13. Nov 17, 19:54

I normally use this exploit only to skip the docking permission in crentral sectors, or to buy combat software mk1, it's just no fun getting the reputation otherwise, I can this fair use.
My X3 Mods

XRebirth, things left to patch:
In General; On Firing NPC's; In De Vries; Out Of Zone; And the Antiwishlist

Timsup2nothin
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Post by Timsup2nothin » Mon, 13. Nov 17, 20:08

ubuntufreakdragon wrote:I normally use this exploit only to skip the docking permission in crentral sectors, or to buy combat software mk1, it's just no fun getting the reputation otherwise, I can this fair use.
Well, yeah, a handful of round trips from a mosquito factory to the EqD isn't exactly fun. I just consider it a small piece of the 'opening' of the game. When I start a new game I'm usually coming from a game where I've been using a docking computer for a long time, so the round trips get me back in the swing of manually docking, so that's a benefit. And specifically in the case of the Nostalgic Argon start even the minimal profits of being a mosquito runner make a difference against that opening 1000 credit balance.
Trapper Tim's Guide to CLS 2

On Her Majesty's Secret Service-Dead is Dead, and he is DEAD

Not a DiD, so I guess it's a DiDn't, the story of my first try at AP
Part One, in progress

HEY! AP!! That's new!!!

Nanook
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Post by Nanook » Mon, 13. Nov 17, 22:13

Using exploits to get past a hard start seems a bit pointless to me. If you chose the hard start, you must want to do things the hard way. Otherwise, why not just choose a start that bypasses most of the early busywork? I'm confused. :?

I like to do the hard starts because I get a lot of satisfaction out of hoisting myself up by my bootstraps. Exploiting myself past the hard/'boring' parts gives me no satisfaction.
Have a great idea for the current or a future game? You can post it in the [L3+] Ideas forum.

X4 is a journey, not a destination. Have fun on your travels.

Timsup2nothin
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Post by Timsup2nothin » Mon, 13. Nov 17, 22:24

I just have to throw this in here...

I don't really think of Nostalgic Argon as a particularly hard start. I may be strange, but I actually consider Humble Trader to be a hard start. Nostalgic Argon starts with guns and no freighter, Humble Merchant starts with a freighter and no guns. If I have guns I can always get a freighter...or a fleet of them. :pirat: Getting guns can be more of a challenge, even with a freighter.
Trapper Tim's Guide to CLS 2

On Her Majesty's Secret Service-Dead is Dead, and he is DEAD

Not a DiD, so I guess it's a DiDn't, the story of my first try at AP
Part One, in progress

HEY! AP!! That's new!!!

jlehtone
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Post by jlehtone » Mon, 13. Nov 17, 23:07

It is true that finding a gun is prone to require some legwork. Then again, one does not need many guns (until one decides to obtain a Raptor), and not all of us are comfy about trading with weapons.


I ... I did enter the X Universe when Ban Danna prepared a Disco. That was a slow start. Educational start. X3 made the Disco more lethal than the Bee Gees. I consider Disco the next step from Buster.


Overall, if (1) you know what you are doing, and (2) you are not at someones crosshairs to begin with, the start does not make any significant difference.

If you are new and don't know what you are doing, then any "out of proportion success" decreases the pressure to observe and learn, but too gradual progress kills your patience. Damned either way.
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Nanook
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Post by Nanook » Mon, 13. Nov 17, 23:16

It all depends on one's temperment. :wink:
Have a great idea for the current or a future game? You can post it in the [L3+] Ideas forum.

X4 is a journey, not a destination. Have fun on your travels.

Timsup2nothin
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Post by Timsup2nothin » Tue, 14. Nov 17, 00:53

The problem with the Humble Merchant start isn't finding many guns, the problem is finding any guns. The area around Argon Prime very rapidly bleeds out all the IREs from the equipment docks, and that's pretty much that. If running to buy a couple is the first priority it depletes your cash to the point where having that freighter isn't really any fun, but if you don't get to it pretty quick you can be out of luck.
Trapper Tim's Guide to CLS 2

On Her Majesty's Secret Service-Dead is Dead, and he is DEAD

Not a DiD, so I guess it's a DiDn't, the story of my first try at AP
Part One, in progress

HEY! AP!! That's new!!!

RAVEN.myst
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Post by RAVEN.myst » Tue, 14. Nov 17, 04:09

Timsup2nothin wrote:The problem with the Humble Merchant start isn't finding many guns, the problem is finding any guns.
Heh, when I play a game-start that DOES furnish me with some guns, I usually flog them off immediately for trading capital. :D Some shields, too, if I start with more than one. I can worry about getting armaments again later - I'm usually not in a hurry to fight (though it depends very much on what I have in mind with a particular playthrough: for instance, if playing as an "affirmative shopper" :pirat: then needless to say things are *rather* different :D ) Consequently, I find the Humble Merchant start to be the most "privileged", so to speak, the most initially empowered, given how I almost never get on my feet through combat anymore, but prefer to rather get some business up and running first - just my preference. So much so that, in a recent Nostalgic Argon game, I did precisely as mentioned above: sold my IREs (for the peanuts they got me, hehehehe!), ran some bootleg in HN, then ejected near the capital's shipyard, sold the Buster and got me a delivery van. By the time I wanted to get fighting, my local trading had bolstered the industry in the area, and guns were available - not necessarily "abundant" as such, but certainly in sufficient supply for my modest early needs.

For anyone who relies on weapons right from the start, I certainly understand how the early (and often ongoing, if the player doesn't take an active hand in commerce) arms shortages can be a serious PitA (been there, done that, repeatedly since X2 and Ban Danna "preparing a Disco" :D As it happens, that is where I entered the series, too) - until you get weapons transporters to lighten their cargobays somewhat :pirat: or simply start finding stuff in wreckage, of course...

Hmmm... I am SO overdue for a more "direct" game... Methinks I'll get onto that once I finish my current mission of (re-re-)unlocking all the gamestarts in TC and AP (I discovered that many were missing, particularly from TC since I play mostly AP, since my last HDD crash, and merely loading an advanced save doesn't flip the required bits; perhaps letting it run for some time would, but that's no fun...) LOVING playing with an abundance of plots again! Not to mention the constructive busywork of the corporate mission chains - sorely missing from AP! I may have to overcome my mod aversion (modophobia? :P ) and install the TC Plots mod for AP...
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Timsup2nothin
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Post by Timsup2nothin » Tue, 14. Nov 17, 05:46

My businesses almost always seem to involve permanently docked freighters being used as ware storage, and it just pains me to buy a perfectly good hull when a battered and beaten hulk permanently retired from flight serves just as well...and fits in my own imagined storylines.
Trapper Tim's Guide to CLS 2

On Her Majesty's Secret Service-Dead is Dead, and he is DEAD

Not a DiD, so I guess it's a DiDn't, the story of my first try at AP
Part One, in progress

HEY! AP!! That's new!!!

RAVEN.myst
Posts: 2585
Joined: Mon, 20. Jun 11, 13:16
x3tc

Post by RAVEN.myst » Tue, 14. Nov 17, 05:52

Timsup2nothin wrote:My businesses almost always seem to involve permanently docked freighters being used as ware storage, and it just pains me to buy a perfectly good hull when a battered and beaten hulk permanently retired from flight serves just as well...and fits in my own imagined storylines.
:D I understand completely - which is why I buy non-perfectly-good hulls to use as closets, at discount prices. In my current game, however, my parked storage freighter (only using one in this particular game - and even this one is not strictly speaking necessary, but might prove handy) is the Enhanced Dolphin left behind by Mahi Ma. If I need more, I will use various unique freighters gifted to me by the corps as rewards - this way I get to both keep them safe AND put them to use. :) (It's a pity that the PHQ is such a late-game thing in X3TC, as the Mercury Prototype would be an excellent model to produce - for the moment, it's hauling ECs into the Hub until I train up some replacements, and then it will get safely parked and used as a storage bin - oh, the indignity of it! :D )
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Boron passenger: "You must hurry - my testicles are drying out!"
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Born on Lave, raised on Freeport 7...
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Nanook
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Post by Nanook » Wed, 15. Nov 17, 00:01

Playing the Humble Merchant start implies the player wants to concentrate on trading. So guns are superfluous at the start. There are plenty of other combat-oriented starts for those wishing to go that route. So I don't see the problem. The Disco in the HM start is best used as an explorer to open up new sectors for trading, not for killing things. I think that was the dev's intentions when creating this start. :wink:
Have a great idea for the current or a future game? You can post it in the [L3+] Ideas forum.

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Post by Timsup2nothin » Wed, 15. Nov 17, 00:33

I always figure that a "humble merchant" that just happens to be operating in Herron's Nebula, of all places, is obviously destined for a career in smuggling, at the very least.

First thing I do in a HM start is get the Merc to a distillery and buy as much as I can afford, then use the Disco to shuttle it past the cops. Every time I come back to pick up, I load more cheap liquor in the Merc.

When some miscreant with a lot of credits comes along and buys the place out, I mark them. Then I deliver all my hooch to the trading station and use the credits to buy guns for the Disco and special command software for the Merc so I can hunt them down like the dogs they are. And the first component in my trading empire in those games is almost always devoted to feeding wheat and e-cells to those stills to keep them in reliable production.
Trapper Tim's Guide to CLS 2

On Her Majesty's Secret Service-Dead is Dead, and he is DEAD

Not a DiD, so I guess it's a DiDn't, the story of my first try at AP
Part One, in progress

HEY! AP!! That's new!!!

Nanook
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Post by Nanook » Wed, 15. Nov 17, 21:46

Is your other name 'Speakeasy Sam'? :P :lol:
Have a great idea for the current or a future game? You can post it in the [L3+] Ideas forum.

X4 is a journey, not a destination. Have fun on your travels.

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