About ready to toss this game. PLEASE help?

[TTD]

Hi Paul,

Glad you haven't given up.I remember you saying (on the forum) how much you like Corvettes.Think about all the knowledge you have on corvettes and how long it took you to gain that much knowledge.You did not learn it all by picking up one book and reading it. It took time.

Likewise with this game.You are lucky you did not start with X2 or earlier games.I started with X2 and the manual was was only about 60 pages.It had a lot of out of date or wrong info in it. I had to come on here to find answers ,and I experimented with game-play.Eventually I won the steep battle of a learning curve,and subsequently really enjoy the game now.

TC is really one of the easiest of the series to learn,if you have never played it before.I strongly recommend Apricotslice's Handbook which you have been pointed to.

Keep at it.Take breaks.Eventually it will just all click into place and you will be here with the rest of us giving advice more often than asking for it.

Yes I have been playing a number of years and still come on here to look for help sometimes.

[PaulVette]

Yup, you are right. I am going to stick to it. I really want to learn and play this game. I could get lost in a whole universe to myself. That's what make it fun. You have so many choices to do whatever you want. This is what appealed to me in the first place.

Thanks.

Paul

[zooze]

Yup, you are right. I am going to stick to it. I really want to learn and play this game. I could get lost in a whole universe to myself. That's what make it fun. You have so many choices to do whatever you want. This is what appealed to me in the first place.

Thanks.

Paul

Indeed Also dont try and shoot for the stars straight away, take it a little at a time. When you start getting some money together trading I would then look at getting a decent M3 ship as your next purchase. I avoid the Terran Sectors as well because the stations are too big and cumbersom. BTW I've found the Argon Nova Raider a good first M3.

Zoozer

[PaulVette]

Thank you kindly. I am saving all these posts to me and compiling them for reference.

Presently I am just trying to figure out how to play. I have a long way to go before I can do anything really meaningful.

[TSM]

Perhaps Paul you should play the game and then write a guide from someone new to game's point of view

[PaulVette]

I could try. I do that with other things like FSX. I will have to take detailed notes on what I do step by step but it will not be easy at first.

[jc-desk1]

have you purchased a scanner for it? if not you might want to pilot your ship to argon prime and get one there at the equipment dock, that should improve your odds. If not, get those goggles or goto kingdoms end in boron space and get a triplex scanner as those are a bit better than the duplex one at the argon docks. How is easy, from argon prime goto west gate to the adjacent sector to argon primeand then goto the north gate of each sector thereafter until you reach kingdoms end. Then go back to the sector you left after you stop at the boron Equipment dock and get what you need from it.

Once you have your ship kitted, then explore around and do some missions here and there.. the rest is up to you.

[PaulVette]

I have not purchased anything yet. I found the equipment docks ONCE and don't know how to find it again. I can though. I think I asked random ships and they told me behind the South Gate or something.

I read I need three things, a Best Buy, Best Sell, and something else, I forget, I have it printed out.

I am just trying to remember things, what they mean, how to do things, very, very basic stuff. When I say I am a new player I mean I am a NEW player. After playing and seeing what you guys know and reading a lot of the X3 Handbook by ApricotSlice I realize how LITTLE I know and how much MORE I need to learn. Yikes!

[maphys]

Use the universe map and encyclopaedia. For example:

Go to Personal (top icon, menu bar) -> Advanced -> Encyclopaedia. Go to Ship equipment. Go to Duplex scanner. Roll the page down and it'll list everywhere you have seen that sells it - including which sector it is in. Quit out of these menus. Go to the universe map (press comma - ,). The current sector will be where your cursor focus is. Work out where you have to go to get to the required sector and fly there. Or more the cursor (with the arrow keys) and then press enter when you are on the sector with the EQ dock in. Click on the EQ dock (in the list on the right) and a menu will come up. Select Dock at... and your ship will fly there on autopilot.

Alternatively (I can't remember if you need navigation software for this...) find the sector you need to get to as above then quit out to the flight view. Press shift+C to being up your command console. Select Navigation, Dock at station and then select the station (cursor keys to move the highlighted sector and return to open it, then return to select a station) in the universe map that comes up.

M

[PaulVette]

Correct me if I am wrong.

I have noticed that at the beginning of a game the encyclopedia is almost useless.

I think it only starts to fill in with entries AFTER you have "found" something like a station or something. I may be wrong but it seems that way to me.

It looks to me that there is a lot of discovering things in this game first. Like finding the locations of stations or gates for example, THEN they will appear on the sector map and the encyclopedia. So if I am correct, most of the beginning of this game is basically a search and discover type of thing.

No matter, when I DO get the time to play I am SO immersed in it the next time I look at a real clock I am stunned to see hours have elapsed!

Now THAT'S what makes a good game. Total immersion. I want to be able to LIVE in this universe!

[maphys]

You are right - the encyclopaedia fills in as you find stuff. But you said you had been to an EQ dock before which was why I thought it might be in there! As has been said - get a scanner as soon as you can. Totally invaluable. If you can get into Boron space then do a few missions and get a triplex - you'll wonder how you lived without it!

Glad you are enjoying the game - a lot of people baulk at the sheer size of it and give up far too early. So long as you are prepared for some frustrations, some things you wish you could change and sheer bad luck every now and then you'll find the rest of the time you play it more than makes up for those few moments of irritation.

M

[Deadbeat_Spinn]

That's how the encyclopedia works, once you find stations in a given sector it gets logged into the encyclopedia for future reference.

[Hemectu]

Just for fun:

Something that helped me become a truly gifted pilot was to practice my strafing / accelerating / decelerating skills with asteroids and stations.

Start with an M5 (discoverer for example) and at a slow speed start weaving in and out trying to get as close as possible without touching. As you improve start increasing you max speed untill you can weave in and out and around stations and asteroids at max throttle without ever hitting. This in itself can be a lot of fun especially when you try to push through a tiny hole having to barrel roll to evade a collision.

Once you feel competent with an M5 get an M3 and practice the same thing. Now if you are ever in a dogfight use these skills to strafe incoming fire and out maneuver the enemy.

I have managed to take down Frigates with a single M3 Nova Raider this way. It is a hell of ride doing it too!

Remember to save often!

[CHAZZ]

Guts, luck, Carrots and Spinaches, and everything is possible!

[PaulVette]

I am trying to start out as a simple Humble Merchant.

I finally learned to sell my small ship, the Discoverer for extra credits.

I have found an equipment dock behind the South Gate.

Now, exactly WHERE can I find those darned Best Sells and Best Buys extensions and I think I also need some others. Can anyone tell me where, what else, and HOW I can get them?

Also, on some of my menus I have extremely rapid flashing question marks. Does anyone else have this? I have a very fast system and was wondering if this could be causing it.

But please help with the Best Sells & Buys as I am about ready to throw in the towel.

Thanks.

Paul

[BeidAmmikon]

The Best trade hardware can be found at any Teladi Equipment Dock. Also, you'll definitely need the Trading Extension, available there, to see the prices at stations in remote sectors. You dock there in your ship, and trade with the EDock (buy the Best extensions), or dock any of your ships there and equip them with what they need (also Trade with the station, using their commands menu).
As for the question marks, I don't know what to say. Good luck!

[eladan]

However much you need help, it's still a gameplay question.

I'll move this into your other thread.

[CBJ]

Also, on some of my menus I have extremely rapid flashing question marks. Does anyone else have this? I have a very fast system and was wondering if this could be causing it.

This is a known issue for some people running 64-bit versions of Windows. We still don't know exactly what causes it, but it isn't likely to be the speed of your PC.

[Mopy]

Ehm, silly question maybe, but as you emphasise you're just starting out, are you using the 'J' key? - just that it's been known for some people not to be using it for long periods of time which can be a source of frustration.

Haven't seen it mentioned in this thread, so thought I'd do the honours just in case

[98abaile]

When I play the humble merchant start, I imediately move both ships south from heron's nebula to argon prime and sell my discoverer at the ship yard I then fly my mercury to the equipment dock and buy a duplex scanner (I can't remember if you can afford it yet but your next upgradeshould then be the trading systems extension).

Fly south through home of light to ore belt. In the south of ore belt is a solar power plant. You can make good money early in the game by buying energy cells cheaply (the more stock a station has the cheaper the prices) and selling them to whichever station needs them (station that have low resources are willing to pay more for those resources), usually the best stations to sell them to are the ore mines in the same sector.

This will kick start the ore economy. Its best to let the mines build up a stockpile of ore, meanwhile explore the sector to the east (cloud base south east) and to the west of ore belt (Cloud Base South West), in CBSW find the satellite factory and make a note of what resources it needs (in my last start it only needed energy cells) and if possible keep it stocked. Satelites are a lifeline for traders and the sooner you can get a factory producing them, the better. Also explore the sector to the south of CBSW (emperor mines). This sector can offer cheap silicone, silicone is hard to sell however so your main objective here is to supply the stations with energy. If you are lucky, you will get a hungry silicone mine right by the gate.

Trading e.cells with the paranid will gain you reputation with them, this will eventually allow you to trade in their core sectors, which is very usefull for setting up an automated trader (sector trader) early in the game. Back in ore belt, the ore mines should have a good stock, which can then be sold to the factories in cloud base south east (CBSE). At this point you should be able to keep trading energy to the ore mines and then ore to the factories in CBSE for a while. If an NPC trader beats you to the punch in some cases (usually by clearing out the power plant) you can use the down time to go and explore further and look for more trade opportunities.

During all of this you will be building up cash reserves. At the begining of the game it is a good idea to keep a small float to allow you to buy wares to sell, the rest can be spent upgrading your ship or better yet building a fledgling satellite network in sectors where you want to monitor the economy (this is where the trading system extension comes into play, as it allows you to monitor the prices at stations without having to dock at it, it also allows you to trade remotely through another ship, however it must be installed on your current ship).

When upgrading your ship you should always buy engine tunings first (can be found at trading stations), since the faster your ship, the faster you can trade, and you're less likely to be beaten to a good opportunity by a rival trader. Next you will want to buy a boost extension (these can be found at equipment docks). Next you may wish to buy rudder tunings, these are not essential but make it much less of a chore to pilot the ship, they are also relatively cheap compared to the next upgrade which its cargo bay extensions. You will not be able to fully extend your cargo right away as these rapidly become very expensive the more you buy. That said, the more cargo you can carry, the more money you can make. The other upgrade you will want to make is a triplex scanner, the closest these can be found are in paranid prime (east of emperor mines) if you have docking rights, and kingdoms end (go to CBSW and keep heading north).