Firstly, apologies this is also posted in scripts/modding. Wasn't sure which was the correct forum (it's part of the BP so technically not a script or mod??).
Morning all
I'm having issues with CAG...
I have 4 Ore mines in Aladna Hill and they ship ore like crazy - at least they did. There are a dozen factories in the sector that all need ore (paying over 200 for it) and then lots of other sectors close by that always want it... however my traders have stopped selling!
They worked great for ages and the mines were always running dry, however recently they have stopped selling AT ALL!! The demand is still there, but the mines (3 out of the 4) are sitting with full stock while the traders sit 'on standby'.
I can't figure it out...why is one mine working fine and the others not? I have checked all the settings and they all have the same ones. I have advance sats in the sector as well as the adjoining ones. There are no enemies in the sector (Argon and OTAS patrol it constantly).
They are all of Major Dealer rank. I recently gave most of them new ships by transferring them, in case that was the issue and the cargo holds were too small - but nope, they still just sit there.
It's really bugging me...I have other mines in other parts of the map that work fine. I don't want to fire them and train up new ones as they need to sell not buy...
They are set to 'seller' under trade duties. Freight capacity set to 10%.
Any help is gratefully appreciated...I have looked through some other posts which explain how it works, but couldn't locate a 'troubleshooting' post. Again, they worked fine before and now just don't, even though demand is strong as ever.
Many thanks. Evil or Very Mad Question Question
[X3AP] Commercial Agent Help Req
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Alan Phipps
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ancienthighway
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Why set them to seller only? Set as trader, they will buy e-cells as needed. Even if you have another trader bringing energy in, the CAG will only buy e-cells when the station is running short.
In setting up the CAGs in the new ships, did you use the ware list to limit the ware sold to ore? If so, make sure you didn't add ore to the blacklist instead.
In setting up the CAGs in the new ships, did you use the ware list to limit the ware sold to ore? If so, make sure you didn't add ore to the blacklist instead.
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Timsup2nothin
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Define "just sit there." Are they on standby, or are they idle?
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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
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RAVEN.myst
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As ancienthighway mentioned, check the tradelist/blacklist - you may have inadvertently set the list to blacklist with Ore on it. However, it sounds as though you've checked the settings quite thoroughly, so it's unlikely to be this, and presumably you've also checked jumprange under "station settings" in the CAG interface.
Also, have you checked your log for anomalous reports? One thing that will stop CAG function and is easy to miss is if there is no money for their salaries - whether they are being paid from global account or station account, there must be money to pay them or they will go on strike until you do.
More subtle possible causes: to do with enemy activity or perceived enemy activity. For starters, CAGs (and other automated tradeships, too) will not travel to a destination sector if it belongs to a faction that is designated as enemy in the IFF settings. Also, if there is military ship activity of a race designated as enemy in the sector their home stations are in, they will also sit idle, either at home or at a supplier/customer, waiting for it to clear up. The most likely cause for this sort of problem is a global change, such as changing a setting under global settings, or by actually antagonising that race. Another possibility is if for some reason those freighters were attacked by a faction (most often Pirates), and their setting has changed permanently to 'enemy' even though you originally had it set to 'friend'.
Another thing: full cargo holds can cause complications with the automated traders - they don't always recognise that a ware is to be handled, for example, if it was put there manually, or if it was loaded by CAG but then CAG was interrupted and subsequently resumed. If any of those ships are full, clear out the cargo and restart the CAG command with empty holds.
If I think of anything else that could be causing it, I'll add it here.
EDIT: Please can you elaborate what you mean by "freight capacity set to 10%", as there are several freight settings, some of which apply to the station's capacity ("buy if under X", or "sell if above X"), to freighter's hold capacity, and apply to either resources, products, or intermediate products.
- What are your mines' settings regarding pricing? I would recommend, in the case of simple single-stage, single-product factories, like those ore mines, to leave the pricing on the default median and let the CAGs figure it out from there. (ie. I would avoid the automatic pricing option)
- Also check that, if you have a sector/station blacklist set, that you haven't accidentally switched it to a tradelist instead. (Incidentally, I found that if I set a tradelist/whitelist with specific stations designated for trade, sometimes the CAG inexplicably stops working, even though it should - I suspect some subtle logic bug.)
- RECOMMENDATION: Here's something I would recommend doing if/when it's viable (you'll need a tractor beam for this) - drag the mines close to each other and link them into a complex. They will then share their supply/sales infrastructure (ie. freighters), which means you have a single overall production centre supplying your customers, which eliminates the chances of them "tripping over each other" (two mines trying to supply the same station at the same time, for example) - ie. better coordination. Also, it raises efficiency - you may, for instance, find that instead of 1 CAG ship per mine, you only need 3 for the whole lot of 4 mines - less idle time.
- Recommendation 2: Set your CAGs to Trader, with resource capacity to ~50% and product capacity to, say, 20%. Also, set the station funds level to 500,000 (or even 1M), so that if the credit balance of the station falls below that, the CAGs will sell instead of buying resources, even if resources are not up to the designated limit yet. Again, this will improve efficiency as your CAGs are then serving double duty, and you need not have separate ships to bring in the ECs.
Also, have you checked your log for anomalous reports? One thing that will stop CAG function and is easy to miss is if there is no money for their salaries - whether they are being paid from global account or station account, there must be money to pay them or they will go on strike until you do.
More subtle possible causes: to do with enemy activity or perceived enemy activity. For starters, CAGs (and other automated tradeships, too) will not travel to a destination sector if it belongs to a faction that is designated as enemy in the IFF settings. Also, if there is military ship activity of a race designated as enemy in the sector their home stations are in, they will also sit idle, either at home or at a supplier/customer, waiting for it to clear up. The most likely cause for this sort of problem is a global change, such as changing a setting under global settings, or by actually antagonising that race. Another possibility is if for some reason those freighters were attacked by a faction (most often Pirates), and their setting has changed permanently to 'enemy' even though you originally had it set to 'friend'.
Another thing: full cargo holds can cause complications with the automated traders - they don't always recognise that a ware is to be handled, for example, if it was put there manually, or if it was loaded by CAG but then CAG was interrupted and subsequently resumed. If any of those ships are full, clear out the cargo and restart the CAG command with empty holds.
If I think of anything else that could be causing it, I'll add it here.
EDIT: Please can you elaborate what you mean by "freight capacity set to 10%", as there are several freight settings, some of which apply to the station's capacity ("buy if under X", or "sell if above X"), to freighter's hold capacity, and apply to either resources, products, or intermediate products.
- What are your mines' settings regarding pricing? I would recommend, in the case of simple single-stage, single-product factories, like those ore mines, to leave the pricing on the default median and let the CAGs figure it out from there. (ie. I would avoid the automatic pricing option)
- Also check that, if you have a sector/station blacklist set, that you haven't accidentally switched it to a tradelist instead. (Incidentally, I found that if I set a tradelist/whitelist with specific stations designated for trade, sometimes the CAG inexplicably stops working, even though it should - I suspect some subtle logic bug.)
- RECOMMENDATION: Here's something I would recommend doing if/when it's viable (you'll need a tractor beam for this) - drag the mines close to each other and link them into a complex. They will then share their supply/sales infrastructure (ie. freighters), which means you have a single overall production centre supplying your customers, which eliminates the chances of them "tripping over each other" (two mines trying to supply the same station at the same time, for example) - ie. better coordination. Also, it raises efficiency - you may, for instance, find that instead of 1 CAG ship per mine, you only need 3 for the whole lot of 4 mines - less idle time.
- Recommendation 2: Set your CAGs to Trader, with resource capacity to ~50% and product capacity to, say, 20%. Also, set the station funds level to 500,000 (or even 1M), so that if the credit balance of the station falls below that, the CAGs will sell instead of buying resources, even if resources are not up to the designated limit yet. Again, this will improve efficiency as your CAGs are then serving double duty, and you need not have separate ships to bring in the ECs.
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Boron passenger: "You must hurry - my testicles are drying out!"
-
Born on Lave, raised on Freeport 7...
-
The Write Stuff