Bug: free resources for station building (basically free stations!) - Fixed in 2.0

[Storm666]

Station Build Bug - free resources
dont know if this has been reported yet, but it does need attension. you can get all your station build resources for free!
Easily repeatable, just follow the proceedure:

buy a plot
place the landing pad
press confirm module change (DO NOT add money or hire a builder)

- open the build plans again
click the landing pad and drag it around a little ( i think delete works aswel) - you need to force a recycle!
check in the build list at the top right it will list a recycle and your landing pad
click confirm module change again

the recycle will start even without a builder - takes about 5 minutes just leave it alone
when the recycle is finished have a look at the whats availble in the build storage, and smile. It should be just enough to build the docking bay for free. Good recycling eh!

Need to take it further? this is repeatable, just force a recycle again just like before, and and wait the few minutes out = more resources, rinse and repeat as much as you like.

Notes:
a 3 dock pier gives over 3.7 million in resouces and takes 7 or 8 minutes to recyle each time.
i also managed to force the recycle on modules (a drone componant factory, took just over 10 mins, you dont even need to keep it, just use the resources 7-8 mil?).


Hope the info helps

[Alan Phipps]

Game version?

[Storm666]

Latest Steam version (V1.60 build 330622) Unmodified

looks like a zero day exploit to me

[Techedge]

I've just reopened the game again (after some weeks I stopped playing waiting for 2.0) and I can confirm the bug is still there. From what I can say it's been there since day one AND it has been reported since then, because I've learnt about this through this forum.

Btw, the claytronics factory gives back ludicrous amount of wares. With 1 (free) recycled claytronics factory you can actually build many more "low tech" modules.

V 1.60 - 330622, unmodified.

[Storm666]

Yeah i thought it was probably a zero day exploit, but i would of thought by now it would either been fixed or a high priority. If egosoft have any idea of producing online stats for people like the x3 series, this exploit makes that a pointless exercise.

At the time of testing i couldn't afford the claytronics plant (a recent restart, only had 10 mil) so tested the drone factory in my experiments (it was even easier to do with a module and not a dock).

Apart from the benefit of free resources, its also a damn good way of getting your station build started, having not to rely on the AI bring in resources which can take some time.

At the end of the day in X4 getting money is easy to those who know how, in my current restart within 2-3 hours i had over 10 mil in cash and 4 traders running around, i dont need the exploit really, i just had fun donning the deerstalker hat and grabbing the magnifying glass to play detective to find out why i got a build mission cheap - i had replaced a 1/6 pad with a 3/6 pad and the total bill was a couple of hundred thou on the cheap side of what i expected. The cheap pad i kept, the experiments i dumped.

Cheers

[StormMagi]

Testing it in 2.0 beta 1, either not doing quite right or it has been fixed.

[CBJ]

...zero day exploit...

With all due respect, that phrase doesn't mean what you seem to think it means. While there may indeed be an exploit in the game itself, it poses no threat to the security of your PC, which is what the full expression implies.

That said, we are aware of it and I will check what the progress is on it being solved.

Edit: It should be fixed in 2.0 which is currently in Beta.

[Storm666]

@CBJ
no-body mentioned or even implied anything about security of an operating system.
the term refers to a bug in a program that has been there since day one and not removed, the term is still valid.

anyway happy to know the bug is in the process of being removed,
and thanks for your re-assurance that the vital data contained in the build storage cannot be leaked online keeping us safe from the email scams of the Teladi's.

[StormMagi]

@CBJ
no-body mentioned or even implied anything about security of an operating system.
the term refers to a bug in a program that has been there since day one and not removed, the term is still valid.

anyway happy to know the bug is in the process of being removed,
and thanks for your re-assurance that the vital data contained in the build storage cannot be leaked online keeping us safe from the email scams of the Teladi's.

But what about the exiled Split Princes?

And yeah, in beta the part will still go for deconstruction but it will "deconstruct" in 5-10 seconds (or faster, didn't time it) with no resources.

[Kritikal]

@CBJ
no-body mentioned or even implied anything about security of an operating system.
the term refers to a bug in a program that has been there since day one and not removed, the term is still valid.

The term "0day exploit" implies malicious intent by taking advantage of the newly discovered vulnerability -- specifically a security vulnerability or means to run arbitary code. You are using the term VERY loosely, and it would be easy to misconstrue what you are saying because you're stretching the definition to fit in this instance. I think Egosoft is just making sure that people don't think that X4 is somehow a security risk in case your post pops up on a Google search or something.

[Alan Phipps]

OK, enough has been said on the semantics thanks. Has anybody confirmed yet if the OP's issue is fixed in 2.00?

[StormMagi]

OK, enough has been said on the semantics thanks. Has anybody confirmed yet if the OP's issue is fixed in 2.00?

Yeah, I comment that it wasn't working for me.

And yeah, in beta the part will still go for deconstruction but it will "deconstruct" in 5-10 seconds (or faster, didn't time it) with no resources.

[Alan Phipps]

Now you have totally confused me. The OP issue was an exploit getting free resources from recycling modules that you shouldn't have - but now you say it still doesn't work because you can deconstruct modules and get no resources. So is the original issue fixed but you are now reporting a rather different issue?

Also note that 2.00 is released now and not beta.

[StormMagi]

Now you have totally confused me. The OP issue was an exploit getting free resources from recycling modules that you shouldn't have - but now you say it still doesn't work because you can deconstruct modules and get no resources. So is the original issue fixed but you are now reporting a rather different issue?

Also note that 2.00 is released now and not beta.

I had testing the op's exploit in 2.0 Beta 1 to see if it still happened and I could not reproduce the exploit. However I only did a handful of quick tests (2 with landing pad, two with E pier and one a factory). Sorry if my language wasn't clear.