Ohso Posted March 11, 2001 Report Share Posted March 11, 2001 I've been playing around with cargosweeping debris fields and some odd stuff has been happening...First let me say I understand debris fields are dynamic, but I'm unsure if what I am seeing is normal or not.The first time I tried it I did this (as closely as I can remember):Started a new game in Free Flight. Launched from Galcom HQ. Assigned one marine to each shuttle, Marine #1 to shuttle #1, etc. Went to tacops and launched shuttles one at a time. Ordered them to Fly To debris field. Ordered them to cargo sweep.They instantly had full holds and returned to my BC. Should it happen that fast? I was stupid and didn't check what I had and docked back at HQ and found illegal items, yipe! There goes my spotless record. Anyway so I started another game and tried to duplicate this excactly and here is what happens:After I order cargosweep, shuttles periodically communicate that they have loaded a cargo pod, but nothing ever shows up in their hold. Are many cargo pods empty normally? Boy I wish I could recreate what I did the first time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rico Jansen Posted March 11, 2001 Report Share Posted March 11, 2001 quote:They instantly had full holds and returned to my BC. Well, you should have removed your ATV and minning drone from your shuttle. This way they would have hold out alot longer for sure. (2000-750(atv)-750(minning drone=500(free space=25%)) And perhaps you just got (un)lucky that they sweeped a cargo box with fairly 'large' items. This doesn't mean your shuttle contains alot of items worth alot of credits, or valuable repair items. Though it could be that you have several upgrades or other usefull stuff in that box. Which is ofcourse very nice.My personal experience is that in the beginning of the game cargoboxes are fairly stuffed with items. But as the games progresses, perhaps due to regions getting activated and taking up the computer resources, cargoboxes tend to get leaner. But I haven't got an exact idea why. And yes, I've had my shuttles run after empty boxes hundreds of times. Also in a new game. Nothing wrong you are doing.Keep on sweeping commander,p.s. I should have asked about the game version you are playing. It should be 2.09 ofcourse. Not that I can remember anychanges wrt debris fields in previous versions. ------------------ Cmdr. Rico Jansen GCV de Ruyter, Genesis (Moon) 16 Squadron Leader - Prime Fleet, Gamma Wing, 1st Squadron[This message has been edited by Rico Jansen (edited 03-11-2001).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohso Posted March 11, 2001 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2001 Yes it's patched to 2.09 and I have the mappak.I figure I might just be unlucky getting all those empty pods... Sure wish I'd looked at what I had the first time before I docked. Thanks, yes I figured out I should have removed the ATVs and drones from the shuttles on my later attempts. Heck I even put them back in again when I thought that may be related to me not 'catching' anything.Hmm, DREADA has me curious. Oh well, it's back to the fields... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rico Jansen Posted March 11, 2001 Report Share Posted March 11, 2001 quote:Hmm, DREADA has me curious. Yeah, me too. Is there some cheat or trick I don't know about. Not that I intend to cheat with it. Just for curiousity sake.Rico Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Schultz Posted March 11, 2001 Report Share Posted March 11, 2001 I just had another thought about why it's a good idea to unload your shuttles' mining drones and ATVs. Not only can you fit more cargo in during cargosweeps, you have less replacement equipment to buy should said shuttles be turned into free-floating atoms by some chance mishap... ------------------ Cmdr Alan Mach GCV Cavanagh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Epsilon 5 Posted March 12, 2001 Report Share Posted March 12, 2001 quote:Hmm, DREADA has me curious.C'mon! This is "basic" knowledge. They need to know that. You don't want them to sleep tourmented, eh?You must first STAY in the debris field, to constanly have the pods in scanning range.Then, target the first pod. Set the right screen to view target and (while the screen is still selected), press "l". You access to the cargo scan view, which is not available by the mouse menu. Press "k", it will select your targeting screen. Check the cargo pod content. If you consider it valuable enough, set your first shuttle with main screen menu/current target/shuttle 1 collect. Hit "." one time (if TASCAN if still selected) and you should switch to the next pod. Again, send the next shuttle if valuable, and so on. when you're out of shuttles, just wait for one to finish the job, and send him to the next pod. When you're finished with the pods, you will know it because you will select something else than cargo pods by hitting "." Then just wait for the shuttles to finish the job.If you don't know how to make the pods regenerate, just ask.Also, one last thing, DO NOT FORGET TO EJECT ILLEGAL MATERIAL if you plan on docking with a legal starstation. I make the error very often. Damn violations...It's not a cheat, it's a trick. Very useful. Debris fields are my best cash source. Some battle tend to cost a lot, and don't count on your salary or towings to live.------------------ Commander Epsilon 5 GCV - StalkerIV, Orion Starstation (CENTRIS) Deterrence Battle Group www.orionfleet.com 'This Far, No Farther!' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rico Jansen Posted March 12, 2001 Report Share Posted March 12, 2001 Ok, no cheat. I expected Dreada had another way of replenishing the debrisfield, other than the way I learned from Rattler's post. (Ohso, that's your cue!!, go search) Never considered the "shuttle 1 collect my target" command. I need to remember that and try. I allways just put them on the cargosweep command. This should save running around.------------------ Cmdr. Rico Jansen GCV de Ruyter, Genesis (Moon) 16 Squadron Leader - Prime Fleet, Gamma Wing, 1st Squadron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted March 13, 2001 Report Share Posted March 13, 2001 quote: Also, one last thing, DO NOT FORGET TO EJECT ILLEGAL MATERIAL if you plan on docking with a legal starstation. I make the error very often. Damn violationsdont eject Ilegal cargo just stick it in a shuttle and launch the shuttle before you dock. dont remember who posted that first but read it long ago when I first got the game.you could also use this shuttle to tow the bc to save even more money (thats been posted again in the last few days) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Schacher Posted March 13, 2001 Report Share Posted March 13, 2001 quote:you could also use this shuttle to tow the bc to save even more money At some point, you will figure out that saving money is not the point of the game. You will find that after an hour or two of buying low and selling high, you will have more money than you can spend in your lifetime. At that point, you fill up your gas tanks to the max and head on out for fame and glory, with your shuttles in their bays and your dignity intact.[This message has been edited by Steve Schacher (edited 03-12-2001).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted March 13, 2001 Report Share Posted March 13, 2001 Yes I totally agree you can soon have enough money not to worry any more, but a new commander who has spent his dosh on ship upgrades and / or repair or has a badly damaged ship lost cargo equip etc may need every credit they can lay their hands onYes you can always start again yes their are safe trade routes no route is totally safe ag actors will appear randomlyyes you can always run away from hostiles auto pilot tends to outrun most if not all if you ship is intact if running to jump gates after the jump has activated switch off auto pilot hit the AB's you will accelerate to the gate more quickly doing 2000+ instead of 500 and you will be less susceptible to damage, reengage the auto when close to the gate . I personally try not to exploit the game, I will only visit debris fields once if at all, only do cargo runs until I have the minimum amount of credits to go exploring (1000 iridium 5000 each plutonium/radine) try not to use stations for repairs try to capture hostile capital ships rather then destroy depends on how close a friendly/ neutral station is to tow ship to, try not to use the dock repair "cheat" to reduce fatigue factorsI'm not saying I never use them but once you have play the game for a few hours you will soon see that you don't need them and in my book your really CHEATING if you do, the only one your cheating is yourself. I know its only a game a very good game at that and it can be played in many different ways I like to play in ultra realist mode which means I have to impose restrictions on myself.moving off topic so i'll bring it back all Hazards debris fields in BC3K have an asteroid probability of 100 and may have mines or cargopods or both max mine prob=15 max cargo prob=15 If you are going to use the cargo respawn then you can start in Earthz if you keep loosing shuttles to mines (not exp myself) then try Moonz or marsz (no mines)you still have genesis or starpath to dock at dont know which has best prices I would have to look up tec level etc but as your picking up freebies it dont matter. you 'll soon have plenty of creds to do what you want[This message has been edited by Pugwash (edited 03-13-2001).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aramike Posted March 13, 2001 Report Share Posted March 13, 2001 I'm in agreement with Steve, although you can really play it any way you'd like. However, I just like to stock up on the dough and be done with it, for good. Not exactly my favorite part of the game, in all honesty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted March 13, 2001 Report Share Posted March 13, 2001 Now if you don't enjoy the trading side of the game why not just use a Hex editor on the saved game file and give yourself those creds and while your at it medals and exp point and have fleet command I wont tell you the addresses dont ask for those who dont know how to do it just do some research doubt there anything on this site its simple enough. Now thats realy is cheating and the wrong topic again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Schacher Posted March 13, 2001 Report Share Posted March 13, 2001 You don't need a hex editor for that. There is a PLAYMOD utility in the downloads section that will allow you to do that using parameters in a controlled way.HOWEVER, it is unsupported, and if you experience any oddities after using it, it is your own fault. Hex editing is forbidden, and you will be sternly warned if you encourage this activity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gallion Posted March 14, 2001 Report Share Posted March 14, 2001 Hexeditor nor playmod is required to create the ultimate BC3K gaming environment. All one needs is GBS and a semi-coherent cranial cavity. # [dynamic] terran,trader,,contract3,cargo2.3dc,Supply_Pod2 [ai] .contract3,100,100,100,100,100,100,0 START inactive IN plutoz STOP EVENTS 101 !begin_tod1m1 halt on this add_store this,8,196,25,284,200,136,25,306,100,272,100,271,100,270 ENDEVENTS #Find the nearest trading facility and trade away TTFN------------------ Rear Admiral Gallion ICV-Graf Spee, Spectre (Antis) Executive Officer, Spectre Fleet"You can only love or hate something you truly understand." Official Tester, Battlecruiser Series Leader, Team 1[This message has been edited by Gallion (edited 03-13-2001).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohso Posted March 14, 2001 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2001 One of my favorite parts of Elite and/or Privateer was saving up to buy new equipment. It was always cool to get some new toy.I realize BC3K is different and I am new to the game, but I'm surprised to see so many people uninterested in this aspect of it.Personally in GCO I'm thinking it would be fun to be either a trader or explorer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted March 14, 2001 Report Share Posted March 14, 2001 I've used playmods but found that after a few more hours play I seemed to get a currupted game problems saving problems loading, BC in auto but not going to destination, may have had some other problem hardware or something but it did not seem to happen when I did not cheat so I gave up on playmods. anyone else had probsbest thing about playmods in free flight give yourself all the alien artifacts and crew max ai and jump from one side of the galaxy to the other in one no need for spares, meds, iod,random device a real killer if you get in a situation you can't handle jump out. not that you can get into a situation you can't handle in a BC you will when we go online now that a big target I've just painted on my backI'd just stick to 200,306 even in earthz that 216000000 creds in one shuttle run quick easy and no evidence left behind Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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