Why are they always out of stock of what I need?

[Bluehotdog5]

My primary ship uses poltergeist missiles, but I can never find any. If I do find an equipment dock or a trader that has them they're always out of stock. In fact, I'm about 20 hrs into the game and I haven't bought a single missile that fits my current ship because I can't find one. When do the traders restock? Would I have to go find a missile factory manually?

Also on a side-note, what is the difference between the large and small models of ships? I just bought a freighter and when I was looking at the specs, they were exactly the same for the small and large ships. The large ships didn't appear to have any more cargo space then the small ones, or any noticeable advantage really.

[King of the World]

What game or game modification do you play? X3 Reunion, Terran Conflict or XTM/ NH/ XTC/ NHTC?

[Bluehotdog5]

What game or game modification do you play? X3 Reunion, Terran Conflict or XTM/ NH/ XTC/ NHTC?
Oh that's right, i forgot, there are no sections for the individual games. I'm playing X3: Terran Conflict

[Eliah]

The lacking stock is unfortunately a common thing, especially for terran weapons. There's just not enough npc factories producing the missiles to sell to the eqdocks.

As for the S/M/L variations, normally they differ only in the equipment they have pre-installed upon purchase. S will have 1MJ shield and no lasers, M will have a few shields and some basic lasers, and L will have full shielding and a bunch of decent laserguns. Now, I don't exactly remember, but it could be possible that the Terran ships actually don't have a difference there - iirc there was only a single terran fighterweapon for all their m5/4/3s back in unmodded X3:TC, so there isn't any "basic or better" to distinguish.

[Bluehotdog5]

The lacking stock is unfortunately a common thing, especially for terran weapons. There's just not enough npc factories producing the missiles to sell to the eqdocks.

As for the S/M/L variations, normally they differ only in the equipment they have pre-installed upon purchase. S will have 1MJ shield and no lasers, M will have a few shields and some basic lasers, and L will have full shielding and a bunch of decent laserguns. Now, I don't exactly remember, but it could be possible that the Terran ships actually don't have a difference there - iirc there was only a single terran fighterweapon for all their m5/4/3s back in unmodded X3:TC, so there isn't any "basic or better" to distinguish.
Do some of the mods fix the stock problem?

I bought a Small sized model for my freighter, and it only came with 1 light shield. So the difference between the S/M/L is the weapon/shielding that comes with it? or are there more weapon slots or something? The one I bought only has room for 1 weapon at a time. Oh, and I don't seem to be able to control it. In a real freighter you would assume that you would have an actual crew to take care of the defending bit, the pilot would fly and the other officers would shoot, I'm not sure how that translates into X3:TC though. Do I have to hire a crewman to work the turret? Or am I simply missing something?

For the time being I just have my other ship on autopilot following to defend me, since I can't figure out how to work the turret. Hopefully the AI isn't that bad. I don't normally fly with my other ships.

[NovaCatt]

Hiya Peeps, :wave:

Bluehotdog5.....
Hiya mate, quick question if I may....
Is this your 1st "X" series game?
If so, what most of us oldtimers tend to forget about (as it's become second nature to us.. ;)) is that new players don't know about the need to buy ship extensions, to get these extensions you will need to either dock at an Equipment Dock, not only does an equipment dock sell nearly all the extensions needed (some equipment varies from race to race.. EG: Triplex Scanners {increases the radar range} are only sold by both the Boron & the Paranid) , it also sells weapons (guns & missiles) & shields or at a Trading Station which also sells the more basic extensions, speed/cargo/rudder...

If you need any further help or have any other questions, then by all means, please post them, we're here to help in anyway we can.. ;) (Please note: if one of us doesn't have an immediate answer, we'll generally wait until someone comes along who can answer the question, sometimes it might take a few minutes or it might take a day or more, depending on how busy some people are in RL (real life), but there are generally a few of us floating around on the forum at any one time who may be able to answer your questions... ;))

Cheers & Thranx

[Bluehotdog5]

More or less. Technically X3 reunion was my first but I only played that for about 5 minutes until I played TC. I bought a pack on steam that came with both. I do have the speed, rudder and cargo of my main ship upgraded.

I'm also considering getting Albion Prelude. But that means I'll have to start a new game. Is Albion prelude a standalone that requires the original to run? which would mean that I can start it up without the expansion to load my previous saves. Or is it a DLC in the sense that it would basically make X3:TC saves invalid?

[NovaCatt]

Hiya peeps, :wave:

Ahh, AP (Albion Prelude)... from my understanding, it requires you to have TC installed as it uses some of the same files BUT it's basically a standalone new game, so yes, you will need to start again if you wish to play AP & yes, from my understanding you can't use your TC saves in AP.. (if I'm not correct about this bit, one of the others will correct it for me/us.. ;))
However, be warned if you do wish to play AP, it has what are called "War Sectors", areas where the Commonwealth (argon,boron,paranid,teladi,split) are at war with the Terrans, meaning ANY of your ships OOS (out of sector.. meaning you're not in the same sector as them) in those sectors WILL be killed, it doesn't matter whether you are friendly with the the commonwealth race &/or the Terran race, the other side will kill your ship(s) in that sector.. (I've only read about this happening as I've only played a few minutes of AP myself & haven't gotten very far out of the Argon Core sectors to experience it 1st hand..)

My recommendation would be to play TC until you get the hang of the game before thinking about playing AP.. ;)

Cheers & Thranx

[Dillpickle]

Ahh, AP (Albion Prelude)... from my understanding, it requires you to have TC installed as it uses some of the same files BUT it's basically a standalone new game, so yes, you will need to start again if you wish to play AP & yes, from my understanding you can't use your TC saves in AP.. (if I'm not correct about this bit, one of the others will correct it for me/us.. )

This is all correct... You cannot use a TC game save in AP or vice versa.



My recommendation would be to play TC until you get the hang of the game before thinking about playing AP..

I'd have to agree with this. Having played AP (briefly) found it to be fairly disappointing...

For starters if you start as a Terran there are no plots available, and you just have a sandbox game with a few tweaks here and there from TC and a slightly annoying war zone. If you stat as any other race you get three (fairly simple) plots, which don't take particularly long.

On the other hand, TC gives you nine plot lines that will take some time to complete... Plus eight Corporations you can work for, as well as your sandbox game.

Back to the original question... There should be a couple of Poltergeist missile factories - there should be one in Jupiter, which you should have access to from the start if you're Terran, these can be fed resources to keep them producing. Park a cheap M5 at the station to prevent GOD removing it.

Unless you're playing a Terran ship only role playing game, then personally I'd look at acquiring a commonwealth ship there are a greater range of weapons and missiles these can use, and availability of these wares is far better than the Terran ones.

[stemardue]

Technically X3 reunion was my first but I only played that for about 5 minutes until I played TC.

I would give X3R a chance nonetheless. That game imo has the best main plot in the X games, story-wise, and it also works rather well as a big tutorial for a further enjoyment and deep understanding of many game possibilities. Just my opinion ;)

[Bluehotdog5]

Back to the original question... There should be a couple of Poltergeist missile factories - there should be one in Jupiter, which you should have access to from the start if you're Terran, these can be fed resources to keep them producing. Park a cheap M5 at the station to prevent GOD removing it.

Unless you're playing a Terran ship only role playing game, then personally I'd look at acquiring a commonwealth ship there are a greater range of weapons and missiles these can use, and availability of these wares is far better than the Terran ones.
I'm not sure what you mean by "Park a cheap M5 at the station to prevent GOD removing it." is an M5 a type of ship? and I don't know what you mean by GOD removing it.

What is the difference between a commonwealth ship and a terran one? my primary ship is a Sabre, I also have an Advanced Discoverer, two Rapiers which I don't use, and a Mercury Tanker that I used for the teladium mission.

[2Blackhawk]

GOD is the game engine that makes everything happen in the X-universe. This includes that sometimes factories are destroyed/removed. By landing /docking one of your ships there will prevent this. A M5 is a very small ship class which is cheap and can therefore use for such a purpose. You can use any other ship but is dead money sitting there.
Commonwealth races are all races except terran, xenon, Khaak. The differences can be seen in the ship lists to be found somewhere around in the forums.

[Dillpickle]

I'm not sure what you mean by "Park a cheap M5 at the station to prevent GOD removing it." is an M5 a type of ship? and I don't know what you mean by GOD removing it.

What is the difference between a commonwealth ship and a terran one? my primary ship is a Sabre, I also have an Advanced Discoverer, two Rapiers which I don't use, and a Mercury Tanker that I used for the teladium mission.

An M5 is a class of ship - a small scout ship, like your Rapiers and Advanced Discoverer.

GOD is the GlObal Decision Engine - responsible for deciding which stations aren't being used and removing them from the game {amongst other things) - a particular problem in Terran Space. Leaving a ship docked at a station prevents it from being removed in this fashion. I suggested an M5, as they are cheap if you need to buy one, plus you get a few during the Terran plot...

A Commonwealth ship is one produced by the other five main races - the Advanced Discoverer is an Argon ship, but you could buy weapons and missiles it can use from any of the Commonwealth races.

[Bluehotdog5]

One last question. Is trading with a cargo ship a good way of making money? You know, buy a load of stuff from one sector, then go to another sector and sell it. If so, are there any good trade routes to recommend or is it all randomly generated?

I have an argon Mercury that I have nothing to do with, so I was thinking of ways to put it to use. As it is, I don't enjoy cruising around at 100 m/s. So if I do find a mission that involves hauling, I have to auto pilot my Mercury to the station with the hauling mission, and by then the mission is usually gone unless I have the ship tailing me constantly, in which case I would have to slow down because it would be behind all the time.

[2Blackhawk]

Please just use the search function.
There is a very old thread for XTM but it gives also some clue for trading
[Mission Reviews] Index - Spoilers (http://www.thexuniverse.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5614)

[Bluehotdog5]

There is another question I had that I can't seem to find. I'm on Mission 6 of the terran plot, and I'm suppose to spy on the split. I went to the split section and after realizing I was ill-equipped, I loaded a previous save. According to the wiki page I should pick up 3 25MW shields. Are 25MW shields different from 25MJ shields? If so, it looks like I might need to fly all the way across the universe to get them. Unless I can buy them from the split, which I doubt because according to a grumpy pilot I ran into I am an enemy of the split, and the most of the stations wouldn't let me dock there.

[Aragon Speed]

Older games in the X series had shields in mega-watts (MW), the newer games (Reunion and Terran Conflict) have them in mega-joules (MJ). Apart from the letter change they are essentially the same, so a lot of old timers still call the shields MW from habit. So yes 25MW and 25MJ shields are the same. :)

Some of your questions are covered in the games manual. The X games have an initially steep learning curve, and are some of the few games out that make reading the manual quite essential for new players, unlike most modern games that tend to hand-hold a lot in game near the start of the game.

Edit:
In case you haven't got one, you can download a copy of the games manual from the Egosoft site.

http://www.egosoft.com/download/x3tc/bonus_en.php?list=97

[Bluehotdog5]

I do have one question about corporations. Does working for a corporation basically mean doing missions from their base? there doesn't seem any way to join a corporation. What are the advantages of doing missions for a corporation as opposed to regular missions from stations/ other pilots?

[thetack]

i assume you meen TC vanilla ,working for a corperation only means picking up missions from the corperation headquaters in their mini plots which gives you "special" ships as rewards their is no way i know to join a corperation unless their is some script out there,to do so thought i could not see why one would be. all non mini plot missions even from their HQ are the same as any other base, the only advantage of doing the plot missions are the special ships you get and a rise in corperation rank nothing else i am aware of, the missions are the same as any other of the type from any other base
i must say i have never done them mutch as there are too many kill misssions that screw with my perfect race scores with everyone in the univerese who is honest , organic and not a bug

[Loriel]

i must say i have never done them mutch as there are too many kill misssions that screw with my perfect race scores with everyone in the univerese who is honest , organic and not a bug
I find them a useful pastime during the Hub plot.
Whilst there are some serious potential race standing issues, particularly with certain specific corporations, I have found ways to minimise the problem:
1) Complete the corporation plots (or at least the initial stages of the troublesome ones, which you will find in the south and southeast part of the X-Universe) whilst your combat rank is low - so the target/opposition is minimal (probably a single M5) and loss isn't going to upset the relevant race too much
2) In order to keep your combat rank low, use remote control of the ship that does the mission (unless you can persuade the target to bail instead, but that seems unlikely) rather than carrying out the deed yourself
3) After the first few missions for each corporation, as your rank rises, you can abort or fail missions with minimal penalty.

Loriel

[Bluehotdog5]

So the missions you get from stations contain plots? All I ever see is just regular missions. I may screw around with corporations at some point, find out for myself.

[thetack]

we are using "plot" loosly.
i think that the corprate missions show up as little blue books instead of the normal light bulb, dollar and cross hair simbles, that is all, they are all the same as normal missions kill, buy , transport etc that the normal missions are, just you win some nice shinny ships that are not advalable to buy and your ranking goes up with that corporation, i must admit i am working from memory as its been a long time since i played vanilla TC.

[Dillpickle]

Corporations are mission chains, rather than actual plots, and use standard mission icons.

On reaching certain requirements they will become available to the player, and an initial 'recruitment' mission is offered. You can tell who they are as they have the Corporation name appended to their name.
Two have escort convoy, three use assassination missions, two deliver wares, and one has a passenger transport (which has a fight mission icon or some reason...)
On completion of the recruitment mission you will get a Corp. rank in your pilot stats, and they will offer you more work, these missions are the standard generic missions taken from Defend Station, Assassination, Deliver Wares, Passenger Transport and Follow Ship.
Each successful mission will gain you rep with the Corporation, and gradually your rank will rise with them.
When you reach certain ranks (4, 7 and 10) you will be rewarded with a ship - usually one that is unavailable to buy - Enhanced, Prototype etc...

[Bluehotdog5]

I did buy an argon M4 shortly after it was suggested earlier in this thread. I bought a Buster Raider. However the energy consumption is appauling. With all 6 bays loaded 4 with Phased Repeater Guns,...

[Loriel]

I am not an expert in such matters - as a believer in the &quot;big hammer&quot; theory I rarely indulge in much combat until I can bring a more powerful ship to the conflict - preferably an M2... <br />
<br />
There's a...

[thetack]

one fitted with mass drivers in 2 bays and PACs in 4 by chance. <br />
carry 4 - 6 crates if MD ammo and set up your wepons with all on 1, MDs only on 2 ,4 PACs only on 3, and 2 PACs only on 4, the MDs...

[Bluehotdog5]

Are there any mods that stop ships following on autopilot from killing themselves? I just docked at a trading station and noticed my sabre is missing. I have no other saves with it so I basically just lost a ship to the games poor AI. Also, is there a way to set ships following you to automatically target missiles coming at you? That way I won't get 1 shotted halfway through a fight with pirates that would've gone well otherwise.