X3: Terran Conflict - What can I do?

[Promethium]

For the past couple of months, every weekend when I'm sitting on my computer playing video games, I've had the urge to play X3: Terran Conflict. You might wonder why I haven't just clicked the little icon on my desktop and played it.

The game is spectacular, but it just frustrates me to hell whenever I play it. I don't understand how you guys do it. I don't know if I just suck, or I just plain don't have the time.

Starting off, getting enough money to start up a couple traders and growing from there.. I always end up cheating because I either get bored or just don't have the time. How do you guys work from an Argon Buster up to millions with a gigantic trade empire when I can't do it without cheating? When it takes me over 10 hours to capture one M6 ship, because I'm just that bad.

At times I love playing the game but now I don't even launch it because it just frustrates me. What can I do?

[JAFA_NZ]

If you don't want to install the cheat script because it's too tempting (my main reason for avoiding it even in "Modified" games), how do you feel about Nividium mining?

The thing is, if you feel like it's too much of a cheat to do it in bulk, there's no reason you can't set yourself some sort of limit.

The easiest limit to set would obviously be on the number & type of ships you're willing to sell to sell.

For instance, if you decide to you're going to do baseline (3000XL cargo) Mercuries kitted for mining, you can just leave them collecting until they're full then sell them, you're making about 5.5MCr/ea, so if your goal is 250MCr off Nividium mining, you just need to buy 41-45 of them, & leave them running for a few hours, you don't even need to buy them all in one go as long as you keep track of how many you've purchased for this usage.

Edit: Disclaimer: This is basically what I'm doing in my current game, because I need to stay "Vanilla" for the achievements, but am a little impatient, that being said, my Niv mining is intended to be ongoing, though I currently only have 15 of an intended 20 ships collecting, & have only made about 30MCr off sales so far. That being said, once I have a Trading Station or Equipment Dock I actually intend to limit myself Nividium sales from those, rather than the Shipyard "Distress" sale gag.

[eldyranx3]

What do you like to do?

Dogfight?

Pirate?

Explore?

Trading isn't for everyone. Maybe instead just pick up combat missions until you need a M6 or M7. Once you get bored of that start building your own Fabs to produce and outfit a single carrier and a few wings.

If none of that appeals to you, what do you like to do in a space sim and we'll offer other game suggestions.

[breytac]

From a time disadvantage point of view, I'd go with what Jafa said. Nividium mining can make you quite a bit of money in a short amount of time. if you don't mind a modified game you can use the Prospector script. It will automate the mining process for you. All you have to do is equip the ships.

Spoiler

Show

Perpetual sin has nividium asteroids that can be broken up by prospectors as long as they have a high enough skill

[JAFA_NZ]

You don't actually need Prospector, it just makes things easier to set up.

Also, there's a sh*tpot of Nividium in pre-existing debris-grade rock clusters in more than a dozen Commonwealth sectors that I'd categorise as "Northerly", & since 2.0 or 2.1 said clusters are inexhaustible.

[Promethium]

What do you like to do?

Dogfight?

Pirate?

Explore?

Trading isn't for everyone. Maybe instead just pick up combat missions until you need a M6 or M7. Once you get bored of that start building your own Fabs to produce and outfit a single carrier and a few wings.

If none of that appeals to you, what do you like to do in a space sim and we'll offer other game suggestions.

Pirating sounds cool, but I didn't even know that was something you could do?

I despise exploring, especially in systems such as The Hole(I think that's what it's called, although I haven't played in several months). Dogfighting is cool, but I can never order my squad correctly and always get completely owned by myself, I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

[A5PECT]

Pirating sounds cool, but I didn't even know that was something you could do?

Get yourself a decent fighter (M4 or M3 class will do) and harass innocent traders to drop their goods or bail out of their ships. Then collect the loot and sell it off.

After you attack a civilian ship (get it to turn red), you can comm the pilot and demand they drop their freight. If the target is willing they will eject some crates and hope you leave them alone.

The pilots of any small ships (M8/5/4/3/TS/TP) have a chance to bail out of their vessel after taking enough damage. You can then claim the abandoned ship and make it your own. The captured ship can be sold to a friendly shipyard for money, or it can be repaired and refitted for use in your personal fleet.

There's a whole lot more to it once you get into the game, but that's the gist of piracy in X3.

I despise exploring, especially in systems such as The Hole(I think that's what it's called, although I haven't played in several months).

If you don't like exploring yourself you can purchase Explorer Command Software from Teladi equipment docks. It allows you to remotely command a ship to fly through gates and map sectors for you. You still have to issue orders to get it to fly to each sector and start scanning, but it's much less tedious than doing it yourself.

The Teladi also sell a very fast M5 that can mount Triplex Scanners that make it ideal for automated scouting roles.

Dogfighting is cool, but I can never order my squad correctly and always get completely owned by myself, I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

Don't try using wingmen at the start of the game, just focus on improving your own flying skills. Generally speaking, combat is based more on strategy than raw skill. When you get into a fight you have to make sure you can actually win it.

[StarSword]

I started as Terran Defender and was just as confused at first as you were. But here's a few tricks I found to get my feet under me.

• Look for missions. With a Buster, there's not much you can do, but look around for ships with "Duke's" in the name. Duke's Buccaneers is a pirate organization, so there are no legal repercussions to stealing their ships and cargo. I got started trading with a Hermes and Demeter I capped from them.
  Just shoot and shoot and shoot. If he talks, stop shooting until he says whether he's leaving his ship or not. If he bails, claim the ship, patch it up with your spacesuit's repair laser (may take a while), then put it to work with the remote trade commands. If he doesn't bail? Kill him. You'll improve your standing with the local government, and can eventually buy a privateering license that gives you a cash bonus for killing enemies of that faction.
  Be careful to stay out of their rear firing arc, however: most Duke's Buccaneers ships carry fragmentation bomb launchers, or FBLs for short. These aren't particularly good weapons, but when they do hit a fighter (especially an M4 like the Buster), they hurt. Use your speed and agility to stay ahead of them and you'll be fine.
• Head for the Pirate Highway, the sectors from Hatikvah's Faith in north-central, to Farnham's Legend in the northwest. Pirate and Argon fleets clash here frequently, and you can make a decent living scavenging the leftovers and selling them to nearby equipment docks and military outposts.
• Take combat missions like assassinations and station defense. You'll improve your standing with the factions, and get valuable flight experience. A good tip for assassinations? Sometimes it helps to strip the target of escorts first.

(Of course, I did all this in a Terran Rapier, which despite being an M5 scout is actually a more capable combat ship than your Buster.)

@KloHunt3r: I don't think the Surrender comm option actually does anything, even with civvies. In my game it's always:

Me: I have ten bazillion Shadow missiles locked onto you. Heave to and prepare to be boarded.
Pirate Harrier, 1% hull left: No! I'd rather die.
Me: I can arrange that. *boom*

[ancienthighway]

In my current Terran Defender game, I've been focusing on fight missions to get the finances started. Defend station, patrol sector, assassinations, even some defend convoys. These missions scale to your ship and fight rank, so you should never be too far over your head. As some cash would build up, I'd pick up a 2nd hand freighter if the price is right. I was able to buy a Nova for just over 200k ( I had a Nova Raider for just over 300k, but I forgot to save for the money).

Just randomly attacking ships in hopes of a cargo drop that you can hold, or forcing them to bail isn't the most profitable for a beginner, in my opinion. Many others would point out how wrong I am. lol. But if you can get pilots to bail during a mission, that's even better.

Asteroid surveys (exclamation point) are quick and can get the bank started also.

After you get some cash saved up and have your primary fighter kitted out, get started on the plots. The Terran plot will provide you with some meager financial rewards, but you'll pick up 5 M5s, an M3, 2 TPs with marines, an M6 and an M8 by the time you finish. The Goner, Final Fury, and Adrian plots also give you ships as rewards for completion.

[Catra]

@KloHunt3r: I don't think the Surrender comm option actually does anything, even with civvies. In my game it's always:

Me: I have ten bazillion Shadow missiles locked onto you. Heave to and prepare to be boarded.
Pirate Harrier, 1% hull left: No! I'd rather die.
Me: I can arrange that. *boom*

the surrender option only works if the ship has stuff it was going to sell. It isn't actually used to make the pilot eject, else all we would do is spam the 1 key till we hit that lucky roll and we get the ship.

[Painman]

The old adage definitely applies to X3 - "It takes money to make money".

Making that first million credits can take a bit of time even for a vet player, if they try to avoid "quick 'n dirty" methods of raising cash (and there are a few, some of which have been mentioned). For a new player, I'd advise to avoid most of them, because going that route doesn't really help you learn how the economy in the game works. I don't really have anything against those methods - I just think they're best left for veteran players who understand how things work, but wish to fast-forward to a state where they're not scrabbling about.

Anyway, the above advice to find/fix up a decent used M3 and work through the Terran plot is good. You'll get some freebies along that plotline, some of which are truly useful and nice, and others which are not so useful (but worth a handsome amount of credits). Getting to that point will open up a lot more possibilities for you, in both fighting and trading.

We're here. Questions? Ask. Everyone goes through the "bewildered newbie" phase of playing X, so we're happy to help.

[AgamemnonArgon]

When I started with X2 I had no comprehension of just how good the X Universe is. I also had no internet.
I can only suggest that you try out various ways of enjoying the game, as what others do may not always suit your own style of gameplay. Plus, it is also a game that involves problem solving and micro management. Enjoy the software for what it is, a very cool game that can be played very many ways.

[Promethium]

Guys I'm not a noobie, I have several days of game time logged, so I know people bail from ships and basic stuff.

I don't do the plot lines cause they're really frustrating for me. I just want to get started quicker without all the added frustration of making money and such.

And I also want to make my gameplay experience more enjoyable, instead of screaming and cursing at the obnoxious Game Over screen that comes up when I get blown up by Boron military ships when I'm trying to take an M6.

[Ripskar]

It's the random missions from stations where I started to make money.
IIRC the first one I did was a Scan Asteroids mission, I did a lot of 'deliver medical equipment' runs and that Paranid Triskele Champion's party which spans the universe. Then I got into the Taxi runs and finally station building.
This was alongside my second hand fighter business and gun running.

[eldyranx3]

Pirating sounds cool, but I didn't even know that was something you could do?

Guys I'm not a noobie, I have several days of game time logged, so I know people bail from ships and basic stuff.

You'll forgive us then if it wasn't obvious. Pirating runs the gamut from smuggling, to looting, to capturing small ships, to boarding larger ones with marines, to producing illegal weapons and narcotics. Its really arbitrary what you call it, but in the end, X is a sandbox game.

If one part doesn't appeal to you, try something new.

[StarSword]

I don't do the plot lines cause they're really frustrating for me. I just want to get started quicker without all the added frustration of making money and such.

It takes time to do the plots, but it is worth your while because of the rewards (unique ships, the ability to buy Terran stations, relinking gates). If you want to speed through them, you've got two main options:

• Walkthroughs. I favor Spike's Walkthroughs, written by the veteran player Spychotic.
• The "All Plots Completed" mod (don't have a link). FYI: This gives a modified tag.

But I'd go ahead and do them. Some of the plots are extremely long and involved (*cough* Hub *cough*), some are all action (Operation Final Fury), and some are ... kinda boring (Goner plot). But they all have rewards and give you valuable experience. The Terran plot in particular is one big tutorial.

Also, one other tip: there's a number of abandoned ships scattered throughout the universe. My advice to you is to keep the special models (Iguana Vanguard, Enhanced Pericles, and so on) in a safe place (like the Moon) so you can reverse-engineer them when you get a Player HQ. Either sell the rest for startup cash or, alternatively, keep the fighters for wingmen, and use the freighters for remote trading vessels to get you started earning money.

And I also want to make my gameplay experience more enjoyable, instead of screaming and cursing at the obnoxious Game Over screen that comes up when I get blown up by Boron military ships when I'm trying to take an M6.

And that's why you never play "Dead is Dead" (Steam version only) when you're just starting out: too easy to get frustrated.

For the record, M6, TM and above don't bail (except during "Retrieve Stolen Ship" missions). You have to board them, which requires marines. And if you piss off a racial military in the early game, you kinda deserve what you get (i.e. blown up). Just because the Boron are peace-loving, doesn't make them pacifists or pushovers (though the fighters and basic M6 kinda stink, admittedly). Having the war-lovin' Split as your enemies kinda precludes that. (Not to mention the Kha'ak and Xenon, who hate everybody.)

And above all, if there's something you're confused about, you already know the solution: Ask a question right here on the boards, and we'll answer it inside of five minutes without making fun of you.

[Hubert99]

I just want to get started quicker without all the added frustration of making money and such.

X3TC is pretty much about making money. I am at day 7 in my new game, and have around 100 million cash. I did work for it pretty hard. I have more put into UT's and complexes, and ships. You have to set goals for you otherwise it is easy to get lost.

My goals were:

1. Aquire the necessary ship and equipment to be able to do passanger transport missions. These increase reputation and pay well.
2. Starting sector traders. In the very beginning, the first 10-20 hours I remotely used two second-hand freighters. It take time to start it, but it pays off later. Once the sector traders hit level 20, turned them into UTs.
3. Aquring personal combat ship. Second hand Nova Raider was the first one. I did upgrade to a Centaur later. But I had little missiles and the laser energy proved insufficient to kill a Q. When the Q's started to kill some of my freighetrs I had to buy an M7. It was not my plan, I already had an M7M boarded by a TP+M6. But the M7M needs marines, and missiles. Missiles need factories. Marines need trainig both by boarding and in barracks,

One objective brings out another. Shortly, it's a sandbox game, where you set your own goals. The quiality of your play comes from the rules and aims you set for yourself. Cheating kills this very aspect. You cheat, than you are disappointed ... of course, because you did nit cheat the developers or the game, buyt you have robbed yourself from the very best thing the game offers: challenge.

Set short term goals, accomplish them. It feels great. If you can't do this, than simply it's not your game. That's allright, too. Thank God (or the devil ?) there are lots of games outthere.