From a RP perspective in X3:TC

[Djindaar]

Hello good people.

I am fairly new to the whole x-series and to cut a long to short, I am now playing X3:TC.

I am a long time MMO'r (Including a short lay over in EVE) of <Cough> Senior years, (Over 50) and love my RP with my G.


I am lucky enough to be able to totally Immerse into my chosen character, and wish to develop a mobile miner along these lines....

Ignoring how I get to this point (Easy enough with patience and plenty of trading) I wish to end up with maybe a couple of Leviathan type ships as my Mobile operation on a Universal Mining Circuit.


Exploring (From a new game start on the Merchant startup, with all sectors blacked out) a sector, oos, then IS mineral scanning od that sector, followed by moving in my Leviathans(Mobile HQ's), and deploying the needed ships for the task of MoM.

Then I load up Super haulers, rinse and repeat etc. Redock to my MobHQ
move on.


I would send out traders loaded with Ore at this point selling the larger portion, but may hold some back in some form of storage for a possible use later in the PHQ plot. (Still not sure on that score yet)


Once the Mineral is traded, my leviathans move ponderously and majestically on to the next Roid/Sector.

I will probably need to develop some fighters as outriders and such, and have a range of utility ships, like a couple TP's and whatever else may prove useful along the way for any opportunities that arise n station visits.

My character would be a mobile miner in the largest sense, ie a Universal Miner, moving onwards ravaging the resources as he circuits the Universe.


So my question/s is/are, for any vets or otherwise out there:

What sort of ship logistics would be needed for such a venture, and is even a mobile HQ operation like this possible?

Best Leviathans (MobHQ ships), best Haulage, best Mining ship/s, best support craft etc.

I like the Mercury's for IS trading, they ahve decent cargo space and speed. But I read that Boron ships are pretty good.

So fire away people, give me some advice. (You can even name any useful scripts, though I have only used Mods in games like Oblivion and Fallout 3, , but would be willing to try some if they assist this characters (my) gameplay)


Thanks everyone, I know there will be some good reply's as I cant help but noticed what a friendly, helpful and mature community here.

If this gameplay is not feasable, then anything close will do.

Thanks in advance

Djin

[Arcturas]

Now, this is player preference, but I ( personally ) think that the Split Caiman is better for IS trading ( faster, similar cargo space, better weapons loadout for defensive purpose ). As for the whole mobile mining thing... not sure, you'd need a transporter device , and I don't think any TP / TL / Capital class ships ( leviathan type as you put it ), can have anything larger than fighters dock at them. However, you can use freight drones to achieve this somehow I'm sure. But being that I've had x3:TC for quite some time now ( release date ) and have yet to really sit down and *play* it, other than puttering around shooting stuff, I'm not positive on how exactly you would do this.

[Djindaar]

Aye, I think I bought a Caiman Miner in X3:R when I was first checking the game out. It has a better Max Cargo and is relatively fast. Though the slower Demeter has more space, however not being much into the Pew! Pew! side, getting good rep with Paranid would be slower. So probably the Caiman is a good choice, as I got Rep quite quick when trading up there.

Pity about ship size/type to Capital Class dockage. hehe, I like the idea of docking all. But there are work arounds I am sure, as its not like I will move far between mining and such. Just liked the idea.

Forgot about Drones, will put those on my list.

Thanks

[eckys]

ive never really used the mobile mining until i needed to so i cant really help you much there

rather than mobile mining you can buy a mine and place it on an asteroid.

but if your sure you want to mobile mine, then i suggest starting somewhere like Ore Belt, 2 sectors south of Argon Prime, loads of broken rocks an such there already, but as i say i dont mobile mine, infact i use a script to get rid of all the broken rocks in my verse and just use mines as and when needed

it would be alot cheaper for you to hire a TL class ship, send him to a shipyard, buy a mine and place said mine on an asteroid with a decent load of minerals, generally 40+, the higher the better, and buy 2 freighters for the mine, one to buy wares (e-cells) and one to sell wares (ore)

[Djindaar]

Aye, I have thought of that strategy eckys, and something I have thought of doing in my existing game, for empire building.

I am looking at this/my initial post strategy purely as an rp character and gameplay style, so want to stick to the constant cruising mining storyline for this particular character. Will File and store each 10 save slots and swap them out as mood dictates. ie this rp game style and a file for my empire building. And maybe one more should I go for a plot line game at some point in the future.


As I think this game has that extended playabilty spanning many months, there are so many ways one can go in this partcular sandbox.


Thanks


Djin

[Nanook]

First of all, you need a good TL as your mobile HQ/Mineral Carrier. There are 5 choices that you can buy (and a few you can steal). I'm assuming, since you want to be relatively peaceful, you would buy. The largest cargo-wise is the Argon Mammoth, which can hold 60,000 cargo units (one ore takes 8 units and one silicon takes 18 ). However, it can only dock 5 fighter-class ships. The smallest cargo-wise is the Split Elephant, but it has the largest hangar, at 14. The other three fall somewhere in between, and have other features, such as better weapons for defense, faster or slower, more or less shields. So you really need to decide what works best for your operations. As in most ship classes, there is no 'best' overall.

Ok, you've got your TL. Now you need some mobile miners. If you use TS-class freighters, you've got a ton of choices, varying in size, speed, defense, etc. Again, it's up to you to determine what works best. In order to use them, though, you need, at the very least, a Transporter Device installed on your HQ ship. Best, though, would be to also install TD's on all your miners, just to make it easier to transfer freight between them and your HQ ship.

Another option is to buy, for a lot more credits, a number of Teladi Falcon Hauler M3-class fighters. These are the only fighters in the game that can both dock at your TL and carry XL-class cargo, which is what minerals are. The advantage to these would be a lot less micromanagement, since they can dock at your HQ and also serve as defense ships if needed. They are heavily shielded and heavily armed. Plus they have a decent cargo bay for a fighter. You could also just have a mix of these plus some TS's.

Now, if you're serious, as you seem to be, about roleplaying a mobile miner, you should check out the Scripts & Modding forum for the Prospector script. The current mobile mining software in the vanilla X3TC is broken, though it may get fixed in the upcoming 2.1 patch. But the Prospector script gives you a lot more flexibility for your mining ops, and should be at the top of your list for consideration.

Finally, good luck in your ventures, and welcome to the addiction that is the X-Universe.

[Rapier]

For this kind of setup, I'd look into freight drones. These have a range advantage over the transporter device, meaning your ships can keep mining at all times without having to return to base to unload. Much more efficient.

[Djindaar]

Thanks Nanook, sounds pretty much like I am thinking along the right lines based on what I have read in the guides section so far. X3 - v3 Handbook is extremely good.

I can start to create a shopping list and continue in my existing game that I have been using to get a grips with trading. I have about £5m cr so far so I can start looking at the idea in more detail now I have some feedback.


I like the idea of the Falcons, had not even considered that idea.

Just looked at a db I DL'd and the cargo space is 353 Units, so they could either as you say be used to ferry minerals to and from whichever ships I am using for whichever purpose, ie Haulage ships/Trading vessels etc. And still be around as air support. Just looked at the shields too, they are pretty good at 200mj, so in that repect they could serve a duel role.

£2m per ship then fitting out costs, is not too bad either in the rand scheme of things.

As for miners the demeter has the better shields, but I will probably go Caiman for the speed and easier rep.

And, I will check out those scripts you mentioned.


Thanks

Djin

[Djindaar]

For this kind of setup, I'd look into freight drones. These have a range advantage over the transporter device, meaning your ships can keep mining at all times without having to return to base to unload. Much more efficient.

Not used drones in game as yet, are they on the lines of give them orders then let them go about their business. And will they continue to go from A-B-A without further input until told otherwise, or do they also need constant orders similar to BB-BS semi manual trading?


Thanks

Djin

[jimhsu77479]

(relevant mods in parenthesis)

In a past game in X3R, I used to do something like that. From a RP perspective, I had discovered an unusually large cache of nividium in an unknown sector (asteroid creator, asteroid relocator) behind a xenon sector (xenon invasion). After clearing the xenon sectors, I set up a base of operations (bunny's mobile mining script) and gradually built up a resource chain dependent on nividium (cheat scripts to add/remove resources). Then I began destroying race solar power plants (Cycrow's mercenary guild) while building solar power plants dependent on nividium ... I think the game ended there.

In my current X3TC game, I'm going more towards fleet management (because of the new wings feature) so I can't help there.

Just a possible RP scenario.

[Djindaar]

Aye jimhsu77479, I found a cache of Roids (Not scanned them as yet) in the 2nd Unknown Sector down Maelstrom way. The Pirates have not bothered me when I was in and out of there doing my Universe mapping past few days. Some conned red but they were taken out by other ships, and being in a Disco with its speed, they pose no threat anyhow. So I may check that sector again at a later stage.

I also thought of starving sectors of Ore and creating high sell prices, though really to be effective I would have to destroy the existing mines, which i am loathe to do because of the Rep drop. But still your scenario is a good one for future reference.


Thanks

Djin

[jimhsu77479]

Aye jimhsu77479, I found a cache of Roids (Not scanned them as yet) in the 2nd Unknown Sector down Maelstrom way. The Pirates have not bothered me when I was in and out of there doing my Universe mapping past few days. Some conned red but they were taken out by other ships, and being in a Disco with its speed, they pose no threat anyhow. So I may check that sector again at a later stage.

I also thought of starving sectors of Ore and creating high sell prices, though really to be effective I would have to destroy the existing mines, which i am loathe to do because of the Rep drop. But still your scenario is a good one for future reference.


Thanks

Djin

The mercenary mod lets you do it in true Teladi tycoon style - i.e. hire others to destroy race properties .. for a (pretty steep) price. There was also another mod that would let you purchase stations from another race (forgot what it is) ... that's another way.

[Lyth]

Just go Humble Merchant start, nice setup for a wannabe mining mogul in a good location with a transport ship and a scout ship plus all the game content is their if in the future you decide to have a peak or expand yoru horizons.
Good Luck and happy mining

It is possible to do what you wish, I thought the Terran starts were incredibly weak and am unhappy with the current economic restrictions so have gone full Pirate and enemy of all in the shape of the Bankrupt assasin.

If you're very new to the game I'd recommend looking into building your own mines once you have the funds to supplement your mobile miners or maybe going full mine mogul in the long run. Leave that upto you but food for thought.

Oh, almost forgot. Check out the OTAS shipyard for my fav's the Mistral. I'm way too tight to buy any but if it was in my nature I'd have nothing but them for MM's.

[Djindaar]

The mercenary mod lets you do it in true Teladi tycoon style - i.e. hire others to destroy race properties .. for a (pretty steep) price. There was also another mod that would let you purchase stations from another race (forgot what it is) ... that's another way.

Thanks

May look at some decent mods after the next upate. For now I am happy micromanageing my very, very small fleet. Hehe, that may change once I have more though:) But for now I will continue the slow build up with auto miner with hauler and BS sales, whilst BB/BS trading on my Mercury until I can get a larger fleet. I may then consider setting up a mine at some point once I have travelled around the sectors with the setup once it has blossomed some more.

Thanks again



Djin

[Djindaar]

Just go Humble Merchant start, nice setup for a wannabe mining mogul in a good location with a transport ship and a scout ship plus all the game content is their if in the future you decide to have a peak or expand yoru horizons.
Good Luck and happy mining

It is possible to do what you wish, I thought the Terran starts were incredibly weak and am unhappy with the current economic restrictions so have gone full Pirate and enemy of all in the shape of the Bankrupt assasin.

If you're very new to the game I'd recommend looking into building your own mines once you have the funds to supplement your mobile miners or maybe going full mine mogul in the long run. Leave that upto you but food for thought.

Oh, almost forgot. Check out the OTAS shipyard for my fav's the Mistral. I'm way too tight to buy any but if it was in my nature I'd have nothing but them for MM's.

Aye Lyth, I started with the Humble Merchant and its a good way to start with two ships and a little handy cash.

Also yes I have considered building mines, but will look into that once my little outfit has grown and this char has established himself in the game and economy a little more. I like the playstyle of like a roving miner outfit, but I am sure as time progresses I will get into the building side of the game, I think that will be inevitable.

Will check out the Mistral to

I have only really played for a short time given the depth of the game/s so not ready for Bankrupt Assasin as yet. I can imagine its great fun however. This is one of the things I like about the x-series so far, the fact that there are so many ways of playing the game.


Thanks for the input.

Djin