Earning money

[Switeck]

I've hard 15 cargo contracts going at once and completed them all, but that years ago.

It's possible for the TC based contracts to still pay >1,000 Cr profit, but very few are more than 10,000 Cr profit. Narcotics mainly, and still more trouble than they're worth!

[paul_c]

Welcome to the forum, even if I'm quite new around here, too.

I've been playing it the past couple of days, and I've kinda got the hang of driving the ship, docking, navigation etc.[...]

On that note. Docking Computers. Chances are you already bought one, but in case you didn't...do it! You'll save so much real world time, simply by pressing shift+c.

[...]I'm not too good at combat, I always seem to lose and 9 times out of 10, end up dead (once I managed to fight/outrun them).[...]

Question: Do you play only using the keyboard? It definitely sounds like you do. Maybe you want to play it hardcore style, as authentically as possible, but if you're really having such a hard time killing those guys, you should consider using a joystick/gamepad. At first I tried using the keyboard controls alone and it was a mess. Now I play oolite with a  PS2-like usb-gamepad (Mine is a Saitek P580) I bought for around 12€? years ago. MUCH BETTER. (My cobraMKIII with a standard Laser vs. 1xFer-de-Lance 2xSidewinder 1xMamba? It takes some time, but is no problem. Only missles are a problem. But with an ECM, no sweat there anymore.) You should consider getting an inexpensive one, too. Somewhere from around the block. Just make sure it has at least one, better two analog sticks and a d-pad.
In my case I configured the left stick for pitching and yawing, and rolling on the horizontal axis of the right one. (Would love to put accelerating/breaking on that one too, but it matches speed to the position of the stick. Da horror. It's on the d-pad instead.) Just saying, I worked wonders for me.

[...] - I reckon I make more money on by boring/uneventful milkrun Aona-Biramibi. [...]

Jupp, that's the fastest way to make money to max outfit your ship IMO. Just don't bother buying the military shield upgrade. (Again just my opinion.) Much more expensive than the regular one and adds the same amount of shield power. That alone wouldn't be so bad, but it's also the first thing to break and it costs a fortune to repair. And in the next big fight it just breaks again. Really. What a rip off. I want my money back.

Any other tips for making money quicker?

Well, you could try some well balanced OXPs (expension packs). They are made by fans for fans. You'll find new things to earn money under the category "activities". Some examples, though I didn't try all of those: [wiki]Mining Contracts OXP[/wiki], [wiki]New Cargoes[/wiki], [wiki]Taxi Galactica[/wiki]. I took a liking to [wiki]Towbar[/wiki] though I think it's (a tiny bit) too unbalanced, as you can make money really quick. And about the cargo space you wanted. [wiki]HyperCargo OXP[/wiki]. I didn't test it.

Another thing I should mention. Install OXPs with moderation. Pick only a few or your gameplay experience might become a mess.

I'm thinking of buying a joystick now, do these things tend to be compatible and no worries to set up. Nothing too fancy, I'm thinking of this one (going to PC World so I an see it in the flesh etc), would it do the job? I don't really play PC games and this is an exception, but I might get back into Flight Simulator too.

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/computing ... 1-pdt.html

[Cody]

As a budget 'stick, that will do fine - and it should work straight out of the box. You can then configure it in-game via F2.

[ocz]

I still own a Microsoft Pro Sidewinder with that old serial port jack for ports you found on soundcards. Never played all to much with it, as I found playing conflict (descent) freespace with the keyboard more comfortable. same with freelancer, decent 1-3, starfleet acadamy (don't ask. Yeah, manual steering column.)

I played much nes and snes until I got my first PC and then c&c aaaallllll the way. So I'm more of a gamepad user, but if you really feel better with a joystick, you should buy one rather than a pad.

Though there is one thing I have to add here. Oolite involves a lot of fast steering, outmanuvering and course changing. Keep that in mind and try to imaging how it would feel playing it with a joystick. But I have to confess, I also was very sceptical, if a gamepad would go well with oolite and was pleasantly surprised.

Low budget is a good choice as you primary buy it for oolite.

Also: My usb-gamepad worked also right out-of-the-box (even if I already owned it), but I use Windows. Linux is another thing. That might depend on which distribution one's using. MacOS? No idea, but apple isn't some hillbilly developer studio, eh? Which os are you using?

[paul_c]

Just plain old Windows.....so it should be okay. I'll buy it tomorrow and see how it goes.

[paul_c]

Things are going a bit better now. I went to the shops yesterday and bought a joystick (was mass-locked ALL the way there and back.......grrrrrrr) and I'm getting used to it which I guess will take a little time, but it helps for the dogfighting. There's still places I won't go though, like Ritila, its just too unfriendly and they are too good for me. I've now been able to blow up a few of the other spaceships and maybe soon I'll be ranked slightly above harmless.

I'm sticking with contracts for now. I've been late for a few, which seems to result in them not wanting the stuff when I get there, but I'm not sure how/if its damaged my reputation. It seems a good tactic to take a long one for a corner/edge of the galaxy, then see what I can pick up on the way too. I've been offered a few massive ones, which need 1/4 million Cr deposit (can't afford yet!) and I had a miserable run up north where I only had the one contract because none of the others went the same direction. But since then, I've been able to string together a good west-east run (left to right) and have 9 on the go at the moment.

I've also figured that you can sell the stuff given to you when you accept a contract, freeing up space in the hold so you can either take more contracts on (then sell their stuff too) or trade in between the planets on the trip. Just need to make sure to re-buy (at a good price) before you arrive!

[ralph_hh]

I'm sticking with contracts for now. I've been late for a few,

That's something, you should avoid. Are you aware that you can shorten the in game travel time by using short jumps?

For example. a 7 LY jump may need 40 hours, whereas a 3.5 LY jump may only need 10 hours, so 2 of the short jumps bring you equally far in only half the time. (don't nail me for the numbers, it's just an example!!).
In the map you may see the connections by pressing Shift-6, a route to the selected planet is displayed as the shortest route. Press Shift-6 again (or CTRL in older versions) and you see the quickest route instead.

[Cody]

Are you aware that you can shorten the in game travel time by using short jumps?

<nods> A useful quirk of Witchspace, is that. Travel time is a square of the distance - a 2ly jump takes 4 hours, a 4ly jump takes 16 hours, etc.

[paul_c]

I'm sticking with contracts for now. I've been late for a few,

That's something, you should avoid. Are you aware that you can shorten the in game travel time by using short jumps?

For example. a 7 LY jump may need 40 hours, whereas a 3.5 LY jump may only need 10 hours, so 2 of the short jumps bring you equally far in only half the time. (don't nail me for the numbers, it's just an example!!).
In the map you may see the connections by pressing Shift-6, a route to the selected planet is displayed as the shortest route. Press Shift-6 again (or CTRL in older versions) and you see the quickest route instead.

I wasn't before but I realised last night, after I'd missed the contract and by pressing Shift-6 accidentally and looking at the times. These days I'm taking the quickest, but most stops route, so long as the planet isn't too dodgy, so that I can see more contracts etc.

[Alex]

I wasn't before but I realised last night, after I'd missed the contract and by pressing Shift-6 accidentally and looking at the times. These days I'm taking the quickest, but most stops route, so long as the planet isn't too dodgy, so that I can see more contracts etc.

For they more than dodgy planets. You don't have to dock if your in a big hurry. Straight to sun for fuel and jump again.
Don't even have to clear the sun before jumping

[paul_c]

I wasn't before but I realised last night, after I'd missed the contract and by pressing Shift-6 accidentally and looking at the times. These days I'm taking the quickest, but most stops route, so long as the planet isn't too dodgy, so that I can see more contracts etc.

For they more than dodgy planets. You don't have to dock if your in a big hurry. Straight to sun for fuel and jump again.
Don't even have to clear the sun before jumping

Yeah but you can't see the contracts on offer if you don't dock.

[ffutures]

When in doubt - e.g., if the fast route goes around three sides of a rectangle rather than the fourth - check what the time saving actually is. I had one last night which took 27 hours by direct jump, 25 hours 40 minutes by two shorter jumps. But you'd need to refuel - the refuelling stop was a relatively quiet system, but it would still take say 20+ minutes game time to get to the station, refuel, etc. It just wasn't worth the hassle when my next delivery wasn't for another three days.

[Cody]

When in doubt - e.g., if the fast route goes around three sides of a rectangle rather than the fourth - check what the time saving actually is.

<nods> Aye... and if you're not up against a tight schedule, it does pay to mix both types of route, and occasionly trade time for fuel.
Then again, those few extra minutes could be the difference between receiving an ordinary bonus and receiving a good bonus.