Polyh recently posted this screengrab from his game of Oolite:
I was really surprised at the number of contracts and missions he was simultaneously working on. I've never done more than one thing at a time - perhaps I have a 'Rainman' autistic brain - but I only ever take on one kill mission or one delivery contract before taking on another.
Am I unusual in this respect? How many other commanders are there who take on many deliveries and missions at the same time? What's the limit? How many tasks is "too much" for one ship?
I quite often have two or even three (and at least once, four) transportation contracts on the go at once, although I've never managed to accumulate as many as Polyh. It's just a matter of luck: you take one, and then check the boards in each stop on the way, and see if there are any others you can make on your route. Sometimes you can even get another contract with the same destination.
Multiple cargo contracts are quite easy to get. I also sometimes have as much as ten at a time running. It really only depends on you luck to get several contracts roughly along one route.
With missions I use the "one at a time" approach. So, as far as OXP-missions are concerned, I install and play them one by one; if possible after I have finished the native ones for a given galaxy. Of course it would be possible to play through many missions at the same time (and usually - unlike contracts - missions don't have any time limitations, so theoretically you can extend the time between two stages of a mission unlimitedly), but I want to enjoy the storyline of a mission. And that works best for me if I don't mix it up with another, completely different storyline, and maybe forget what the first storyline was about and what exactly was the reason to deliver person A to planet B or whatever. So I do them one after the other.
I subscribe to the one mission at a time approch too although I do allow myself many fun little side tracks along the way as long as it doesn't take me too far away from my destination. Made a lot of cash doing long way round transporting metals and gems, enough to buy my boa and kit it out with all mod cons. (The extra missile payload is not to be sniffed at eather, 2 pods on a python, hardly a deterent for a light to mid class trading vessel)
This was the only time I had so many contracts. Usually I never have more than five contracts at any given time. It's really just a matter of luck. Good contracts with deadlines 30 days away and all more or less en route are not always easy to find.
There are only 10 types of Jamesons in the Ooniverse. Those who understand binary and those who don't.
- but I only ever take on one kill mission or one delivery contract before taking on another.
Your screengrab highlighted something about my own behaviour that I wasn't really aware of before.