Ok I have new stupid questions!!

KingKnut · Post by **KingKnut** » Thu, 4. Dec 08, 21:30

What is a freight drone? The new patch says they come with 1MJ shelds as standard but most ships come with shields or is this some special ship I've never seen (like I said I'm being stupid but I've had a long day and can't be arsed to think... and the patch is taking an age to download)

Deploy Satellite Network no longer builds satellites in the same sector

Where on earth is that command and why haven't I noticed it??

Post by **Cycrow** » Thu, 4. Dec 08, 21:39

freight drone are drones that you can buy, like fighter drones. They will be in your cargo bay and you can deploy them.

Freight drones, as you prolyl have guessed, as uses for transfering freight, they have a fairly large cargo hold

the Deploy satellite network requires the explorer command software to be installed

Carlo the Curious · Post by **Carlo the Curious** » Thu, 4. Dec 08, 21:40

Deploy satellite network is part of Explorer Software, iirc.

It, err, deploys a network. Of satellites.

If you give a ship some sats and a sector position it will attempt to deploy a sat in that position in every friendly sector it can reach (buying new sats as needed).

Warchild · Post by **Warchild** » Thu, 4. Dec 08, 22:41

Ok, here's how it works...

1) Get a fairly quick ship...a Buster or perhaps a Raijin or even a Vulture..don't try an Octopus because their too small. I say fairly quick because some of the areas they might travel through might attract the attention of hostile fighters. With a fast ship, they can out-distance the aggressor.

2) Try and get a full load of satellites. 10 to 15 should do nicely.

3) Access the command console for the scout ship..or what ever ship you are using.
The ship will need:
Navigation Mk1 Software
Explorer software

I'm assuming that you would also have upgraded the speed and rudders as well along with the cargo hold so you can carry a good size load of Satellites.
When you access the commands for your scout/explorer you'll need to look in Navigation.

It should be in there if the explorer software is installed.

There will be a short list of commands available that are not mapped. These SHOULD be near the bottom of the list.
these should include:
Fly through gate
Map sector
Deploy satellite network
Scan Asteroids
Scan Debris

When you click on "Deploy satellite network" it will bring up the galaxy map. From there it will want to know the sector in which you would like to start and the X and Y position of the sector you want the satellite placed.

Select the area you want to place the satellite ( I would suggest the middle of the sector and either above or below traffic ) and send it on its way.

After this the "explorer" will travel to any sector you've already visited, and possibly a couple you haven't. ( I personally haven;t had it deploy a network to an area more then 1 sector further than I have already been myself )

It will continue until you tell it to stop or it runs out of satellites to deploy. If it runs out of satellites, it will land at the first available station and ask for further orders.

And that should do it.

Hope this was helpful.

Cheers
(/\)archild

coalfax · Post by **coalfax** » Thu, 4. Dec 08, 22:46

I normally use a maxed out Disco for the Sat duty myself... and I noticed that when it ran out of sats, and there was a location in the network that sold sats, it flew to there and bought them, then continued peppering known sectors with the predetermined command location.

Nifty command and explorer pack I say

Post by **Nanook** » Thu, 4. Dec 08, 22:54

Best ship for this duty is probably the Teladi Kestrel. 605 m/s, 50+ cargo bay, and M-class cargo.

KingKnut · Post by **KingKnut** » Thu, 4. Dec 08, 22:59

awsome cheers

are freight drones reusable? anddd also what class ships can dock at my hercules (paranid) as I need to keep it stocked

Gonna have to start deploying sat networks it seems. yipee.

Oh where do you get explorer software. One of my ships had it i thought but checking manually through 60 odd freight class ships is incredibly tedious.

Thelic · Post by **Thelic** » Fri, 5. Dec 08, 00:13

KingKnut wrote:awsome cheers

are freight drones reusable? anddd also what class ships can dock at my hercules (paranid) as I need to keep it stocked

Gonna have to start deploying sat networks it seems. yipee.

Oh where do you get explorer software. One of my ships had it i thought but checking manually through 60 odd freight class ships is incredibly tedious.

If you pick up the drone before the battery expires, yes.

IIRC, Explorer can be had at Teladi EQ docks.

Warchild · Post by **Warchild** » Fri, 5. Dec 08, 00:45

Not many people know this...or perhaps they do but never really say anything..or perhaps they just don;t care...but...

NavSats, Fighter Drones, and (now) Freight drones can be picked up and reused.
I will admit that there might be a low batter after for the freight drone, but the fighter drone is definitely reusable if you're able to pick them back up.

More often than not, you deployed them because you were in trouble...so retrieving them WHILE you're making your get away isn't really an option.

For the most part I believe that the freight drones can be retrieved and reused.

These items can be retrieved by YOU only however. There's no command to have another vessel retrieve them for you.

Cheers

shifty_powers · Post by **shifty_powers** » Fri, 5. Dec 08, 00:49

no, but if you are flying certain ships, they will be able to use the return home command to dock at your ship automatically. although i found it a bit buggy. haven't tried it with the new patch yet mind.

and yes, freight drones are reusable, the battery is recharged when you pick them up...

Andaius · Post by **Andaius** » Fri, 5. Dec 08, 00:49

Yes you can pick up drones tell then to stop and run over them like a create and it will go to your inventory. also ships with docking ports can have them dock I believe.

Post by **Cycrow** » Fri, 5. Dec 08, 01:08

shifty_powers wrote:no, but if you are flying certain ships, they will be able to use the return home command to dock at your ship automatically. although i found it a bit buggy. haven't tried it with the new patch yet mind.

and yes, freight drones are reusable, the battery is recharged when you pick them up...

Freight drones have improved alot in 1.3 they are now proper working drones and have thier own set of commands.

the return home should now work with all ships ragardless of docking slots, etc

Kor'ah · Post by **Kor'ah** » Fri, 5. Dec 08, 01:22

Cycrow wrote:Freight drones have improved alot in 1.3 they are now proper working drones and have thier own set of commands.

the return home should now work with all ships ragardless of docking slots, etc

While I'm stuck waiting on steam. The above is very good news. Hopefully they'll be useable from a TL/M1 while OOS. In 1.2.1 ejecting the drones had them default to "Return Home". This would cause them to instantly redock at the launching ship if it could dock fighters.

Hopefully you guys fixed the issue with some rare items being cloned by exploting these little buggers.

DocIceT · Post by **DocIceT** » Fri, 5. Dec 08, 20:53

And remember that freight drones can collect wares since they have Special Command Software installed. Makes them useful for mopping up the remains of the day.

TSM · Post by **TSM** » Fri, 5. Dec 08, 20:57

I think freight drones are cute and I want one as a pet

I havent found any freight drones for sale yet though!

Chealec · Post by **Chealec** » Fri, 5. Dec 08, 21:00

Try Atreus' HQ - usually seems to have a few freight drones in stock - and as an added bonus you can dock TL/M2/M1 size ships there which are probably the ship's you're most likely to want a freight drone on.

kurush · Post by **kurush** » Sun, 7. Dec 08, 02:15

the return home should now work with all ships ragardless of docking slots, etc

For me it did not

The status of the drone was saying "Returning to Cobra" but it was just staying in space with 0 speed. It was OOS on 1.3.

Ravenholme · Post by **Ravenholme** » Sun, 7. Dec 08, 02:50

I'm fairly sure that Atreus Shipbuilding HQ has some, but I haven't been that way in a while

pjknibbs · Post by **pjknibbs** » Sun, 7. Dec 08, 08:11

There's a couple of drone factories in Ceo's Buckzoid selling Freight Drones in 1.3, I noticed...

egosoft.com

egosoft.com

Ok I have new stupid questions!!

Ok I have new stupid questions!!