Can someone teach me how to make credits through Auto Trading?

This forum is the ideal place for all discussion relating to X4. You will also find additional information from developers here.

Moderator: Moderators for English X Forum

Reposter
Posts: 105
Joined: Sat, 1. Dec 18, 10:02
x4

Re: Can someone teach me how to make credits through Auto Trading?

Post by Reposter »

Just wondering after patch 1.21, what does the Auto Trading AI do if it buys wares that it cannot sell for a profit?

Does the AI:

1. Just sell at a loss and stop trading?
2. Does nothing at all until prices change back to favour profit?
3. Still sell at a loss and keep trading at negative profits?

One more thing, I thought Captains can only Auto Trade in the Behaviour menu if they have 3 Stars or more in Pilot Skill? Does right clicking the map with the Trading Ship selected and giving Auto Trade Galaxy command enable 0 stars to 2 star Captain commanded ships to AutoTrade, although they are limited to a few sectors only?
gschultz
Posts: 45
Joined: Tue, 16. Jul 13, 18:53
x4

Re: Can someone teach me how to make credits through Auto Trading?

Post by gschultz »

Reposter wrote: Tue, 4. Dec 18, 08:47 Hi guys, I just got the game and have read up about auto trading.

Could someone please teach me how to make credits through Auto Trading? I have a Cerberus Sentinel with a Four star Pilot skill Captain. I prefer flying in my Elite Vanguard to complete missions around Black Hole Sun system. I want to set my Cerberus to Auto Trading mode.

Some players say Auto Trading does not work properly? They say they lose Credits instead of making Credits which is not what we want.

Appreciate some intel and maybe a step by step guide, thanks for any help.
alls ya gotta do is make a couple of m class miners and send them to the teladi sectors mixed mineral fields.....go to default behaviour.....set to auto mine......they will mine and then trade for lots of scratch.....profitsssssssssss

also give them like a 2 or 3 gate field to work with.
User avatar
jasonbarron
Posts: 733
Joined: Sun, 27. Mar 11, 16:25
x4

Re: Can someone teach me how to make credits through Auto Trading?

Post by jasonbarron »

Shadowcub wrote: Tue, 4. Dec 18, 15:13 This might help you to set them up: https://youtu.be/2bZ5rUeOk0c

I personally have not encountered the losing money situation. I think there is some confusion surrounding this, frankly. Pilots will take credits from you to buy goods to sell (pretty straightforward). When they sell, an entry will be added to your Logbook (under the Player Information tab in the menu) telling you what they traded and how much money they made or lost. I have yet to have ANY traders lose money. Even 1 star pilots.

I also have very few satellites out there (probably less than 10). That said, I'm running around the galaxy like a headless chicken so prices are being updated as I (and my minions) fly by stations.

I think people losing credits are either:
A) Freaking out seeing that deduction message and don't know about the logbook.
or
B) Station information is not being updated regularly (by them not flying around a lot or not using satellites).
I have a Gal Trader Vulture with 12,400 cargo space that I put together with a 3 star captain and a medium preset. I went into Behavior screen and set him to auto-trade and then set him up as a Galaxy Trader with unlimited range and no restrictions on what he can purchase. I've personally visited 7 systems and dropped Satellite's on 80+ stations (that I know are working because I can zoom in on them from anywhere and see little npc ships tooling around) and after leaving the simulation running since yesterday evening until the present moment--approximately 15 hours--he's made a grand total of 80,000 credits during that period and not ranked up in any department.

He can routinely be found carrying 100-400 of any low end item such as e-cells or water. Does that sound like he's working as intended? If so, it's rather underwhelming.
Ayn Rand was correct.
User avatar
Andrew Gaspurr
Posts: 21
Joined: Tue, 2. Oct 18, 09:48
x4

Re: Can someone teach me how to make credits through Auto Trading?

Post by Andrew Gaspurr »

I have afforded an Argon Incarcatura with 45,000 cumets of cargospace and those buggers go and buy 40 quantum tubes and sell them 400 meters further down the line for a grand profit of 1,342 Cr. This is so frustrating. :?

Ah yes, satellites halfway across the universe and the crew is 3+.
"No, I was born on Earth. I just work in space."
Cptkwirk
Posts: 36
Joined: Mon, 8. Oct 18, 04:23
x4

Re: Can someone teach me how to make credits through Auto Trading?

Post by Cptkwirk »

Quickest and easiest way for credits in the games current state is Silicon Miners..... Lots and lots of silicon miners lol. I have 28 at the mo and I have millions. Always get low preset loadout and removed the consumables and decide what you want to spend all your lovely credits on
User avatar
JamesTheClarke
Posts: 78
Joined: Mon, 3. Dec 18, 10:31
x4

Re: Can someone teach me how to make credits through Auto Trading?

Post by JamesTheClarke »

I've restarted all my auto-trades manually after the 1.21 update and it's a night and day difference for me atm.

Still not the most efficient routes chosen by the AI but at last, I don't sell at losses anymore which is very pleasing.

I noticed the fewer production stations for a certain good the better the trade is. For example, selling microchips auto-trade is still quite inefficient, but selling space weed from the two existing stations the AI makes much better choices regarding where to sell it.


In short: not yet perfect but very grateful for this update.
User avatar
jasonbarron
Posts: 733
Joined: Sun, 27. Mar 11, 16:25
x4

Re: Can someone teach me how to make credits through Auto Trading?

Post by jasonbarron »

Cptkwirk wrote: Wed, 5. Dec 18, 20:27 Quickest and easiest way for credits in the games current state is Silicon Miners..... Lots and lots of silicon miners lol. I have 28 at the mo and I have millions. Always get low preset loadout and removed the consumables and decide what you want to spend all your lovely credits on
Probably a dumb question, but how do you remove consumables from a preset? I was pulling my hair out trying to figure that one out.
Ayn Rand was correct.
Cptkwirk
Posts: 36
Joined: Mon, 8. Oct 18, 04:23
x4

Re: Can someone teach me how to make credits through Auto Trading?

Post by Cptkwirk »

jasonbarron wrote: Wed, 5. Dec 18, 20:46
Cptkwirk wrote: Wed, 5. Dec 18, 20:27 Quickest and easiest way for credits in the games current state is Silicon Miners..... Lots and lots of silicon miners lol. I have 28 at the mo and I have millions. Always get low preset loadout and removed the consumables and decide what you want to spend all your lovely credits on
Probably a dumb question, but how do you remove consumables from a preset? I was pulling my hair out trying to figure that one out.
Ah you have to click on the consumables tab on the left and drop the sliders all to zero :)
Slamdance_Kozmopolis
Posts: 62
Joined: Thu, 29. Nov 18, 18:40
x4

Re: Can someone teach me how to make credits through Auto Trading?

Post by Slamdance_Kozmopolis »

Well, my auto trader is still broken. I just watched it buy a load of smart chips @ 212cr and sell them @ 202cr in the next sector... :evil:
This is exactly what is was doing pre the latest patch... In about 2hrs it lost 800,000cr.
:evil:
User avatar
Andrew Gaspurr
Posts: 21
Joined: Tue, 2. Oct 18, 09:48
x4

Re: Can someone teach me how to make credits through Auto Trading?

Post by Andrew Gaspurr »

I made a couple of more observations. It seems the traders favor short distances and low amounts of cargo over large cargo and greater distances. However, it still doesn't make sense, because my L cargo hauler with 45,000 m3 buys 30 to 40 quantum tubes and sells them in the same sector for a lousy profit of 800 Credits while he easily could have made more profit with another commodity he had in his wares list (refined metals in this case), with which he could have made significantly more profits by buying a full payload and selling them 3 sectors farther away. And yes, the station's demand for refined metals was high enough.

Well, making 800 Credits profit every 15 minutes in a 10 MCr ship is not very encouraging. I decided to mothball my auto traders until some smart modder finds a way to "enhance" Egosoft apparently lousy trade algorithms.
"No, I was born on Earth. I just work in space."
User avatar
jasonbarron
Posts: 733
Joined: Sun, 27. Mar 11, 16:25
x4

Re: Can someone teach me how to make credits through Auto Trading?

Post by jasonbarron »

Thanks for the tip, Cptkwirk!

And a brief update: even after the new 1.2 patch my bulk hauler set to galaxy auto-trade is still happily trading either at a loss, or barely breaking even on ridiculously teensy little shipments.
Ayn Rand was correct.
Wheem
Posts: 147
Joined: Fri, 28. Feb 14, 07:00
x4

Re: Can someone teach me how to make credits through Auto Trading?

Post by Wheem »

Slamdance_Kozmopolis wrote: Wed, 5. Dec 18, 21:34 Well, my auto trader is still broken. I just watched it buy a load of smart chips @ 212cr and sell them @ 202cr in the next sector... :evil:
This is exactly what is was doing pre the latest patch... In about 2hrs it lost 800,000cr.
:evil:
jasonbarron wrote: Wed, 5. Dec 18, 21:54 Thanks for the tip, Cptkwirk!

And a brief update: even after the new 1.2 patch my bulk hauler set to galaxy auto-trade is still happily trading either at a loss, or barely breaking even on ridiculously teensy little shipments.
Did you guys restart the auto traders after updating to 1.21? If so, I'm wondering if this is something that will stay bugged in older saves, or if there's another cause that didn't get fixed.
User avatar
Andrew Gaspurr
Posts: 21
Joined: Tue, 2. Oct 18, 09:48
x4

Re: Can someone teach me how to make credits through Auto Trading?

Post by Andrew Gaspurr »

Yes, I completely restarted the auto traders with 1.21, since I had moored them for the time being. New list of wares and new sector range for all, which is 10 in my case. Still playing "Revenge of the Amateurs" here with me.
"No, I was born on Earth. I just work in space."
Ruffy
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat, 1. Dec 18, 18:33
x4

Re: Can someone teach me how to make credits through Auto Trading?

Post by Ruffy »

My autotrader is awesome. Literally doesn't do anything anymore, and just flies around aimlessly doing nothing.
Slamdance_Kozmopolis
Posts: 62
Joined: Thu, 29. Nov 18, 18:40
x4

Re: Can someone teach me how to make credits through Auto Trading?

Post by Slamdance_Kozmopolis »

Wheem wrote: Wed, 5. Dec 18, 21:57
Slamdance_Kozmopolis wrote: Wed, 5. Dec 18, 21:34 Well, my auto trader is still broken. I just watched it buy a load of smart chips @ 212cr and sell them @ 202cr in the next sector... :evil:
This is exactly what is was doing pre the latest patch... In about 2hrs it lost 800,000cr.
:evil:
jasonbarron wrote: Wed, 5. Dec 18, 21:54 Thanks for the tip, Cptkwirk!

And a brief update: even after the new 1.2 patch my bulk hauler set to galaxy auto-trade is still happily trading either at a loss, or barely breaking even on ridiculously teensy little shipments.
Did you guys restart the auto traders after updating to 1.21? If so, I'm wondering if this is something that will stay bugged in older saves, or if there's another cause that didn't get fixed.
Yeah, I restarted mine several times, to no effect. Mine got stuck doing micro-transactions in AP, selling less than 200 energy cells at a loss or breaking even each run. So, I went into settings and excluded EC's and it went to another sector and started trading small amounts of graphene at a loss. :lol:
digitist
Posts: 10
Joined: Wed, 20. Aug 14, 04:10
x4

Re: Can someone teach me how to make credits through Auto Trading?

Post by digitist »

I let my two Vulture autotraders work over night, 10 hours. Just default stuff, no limitation on wares or distances. Firstly, they don't seem to ever actually go anywhere, sticking to the same one or two systems. So, what were the results. In 10 hours, doing 9,000,000 in trading, they made 500k in profit. Sigh. :|

Return to “X4: Foundations”