G'day, hedfulofspidrs (nicely disturbing avatar, btw
) and welcome aboard!
Something which you may not be aware of, since it wasn't in Elite, is the passenger and cargo-contracts screen.. (F8-F8 when docked)
If you buy one or more passenger berths, you can transport passengers as well as, or instead of, cargo. Or, you can purchase a cargo contract, which will pay a premium if you deliver the goods before the deadline. Passengers also must arrive at their destination before a set time if you are to receive the full payment. (One of the nice things about passengers is that they pay part of the fare in advance, which can be handy when you're low on funds..)
To begin with, you may be struggling to cover your costs, but as your reputation for on-time deliveries improves, you will be offered more lucrative contracts. The easiest way to track your reputation (which will fade over time, if you don't continue to do contract-runs) is by installing the
Display Reputation OXP. (Missing a deadline will also hurt your reputation, of course)
You'll need to buy an
Advanced Navigation Array and make good use of the long-range chart to be sure of making your deliveries on time, especially when you reach the point of being able to take 2-3 (or more) contracts on at the same time. (See Navigation Controls on the Oolite Reference Sheet that installed with the game for more details) Also, keep in mind that, because of the way witch-jumps work, the least number of jumps
isn't the fastest route. Several short hops are much faster than one big jump; something which you can sometimes take advantage of when bounty-hunting..
A fuel scoop & heatshield are essential for sun-skimming fuel when contract-hauling, and I highly recommend installing the
Fuel Station OXP as well, so that you can refuel relatively close to the witchpoint beacon and jump straight out again, rather than spending time heading in-system to top off your tanks at the Main Station every jump.. (okay, so the fuel is more expensive, but hey, time is money, right?) Buying the Advanced Space Compass will make it a lot easier to locate fuel stations/satellites on those occasions when they are not situated close to the witchpoint beacon. Another nice bit of gear to have is the
Fuel Collector OXP, which will slowly gather small amounts of quirium fuel from the solar wind as you fly through it. It has a couple of other uses, too..
The
Talkative Space Compass OXP is a very worthwhile piece of kit, as it is much easier than deciphering what the letters and icons on the ASC are referring to.
Having said all that, from looking at the cargo contracts screen, you might get the feeling that cargo contracts require a ship with 50+TC capacity.. it's certainly easier, but it
can be done in a Cobra MkIII with a cargo extension.. the 30-35TC contracts are harder to find, but they do exist, in enough quantity that you can get to the highest possible reputation with just your Cobby, and once you hit that point, you get the really juicy contracts for gold, platinum and gems, which will only require a few TC of space, leaving you room for other cargo or some passengers as well.. At that point, a well-planned run from one side of the chart to the other, with a couple of cargo contracts and 2-3 high-paying passengers may net you well over 100,000 Cr in profit..
Another exciting way to earn some money, once you have an Iron Ass and are combat-hardened, is the
Escort Contracts OXP. With this installed, you will often be offered contracts escorting a Python or similar cargo hauler to their destination, always only one jump away. The destination is generally an Anarchy system or some other dangerous location, and you'll get lots of opportunities to bump up your combat rating as you shepherd your charge along the spacelane to the safety of the Main Station Aegis.. This is yet another contract situation where your profits will improve as your reputation does..
The
Random Hits OXP will let you try your hand at bounty-hunting, or you can take a crack at the
Assassin's Guild, if you think you have what it takes..
Once again, with both of these OXPs, the better your reputation, the greater the rewards.. (and the challenges!)
Also:
Check out the
Equipment OXP section of the Wiki for some other useful gear. The
HUDs section is worth a look, (I especially like the latest Numerical Hud) and I'd also suggest you take a look at some of the
System OXPs, which greatly enhance the Anarchy, Communist, Dictatorship and Feudal systems, amongst others, and provide a much richer gameplay environment.
Lastly, the
Background Set OXP updates all the screens you can see whilst docked, giving Oolite a much more up-to-date look, as well as adding a number of sound effects, both whilst docked, and in-game. (And an absolutely awesome new witchspace jump effect, if your graphics card is shader-capable.. - which most modern cards are)
very cool! didn't know that was in RandomShipNames! Living up to his name in the second shot, I see!
