newb questions?

[punkbohemian]

The regular controls for docking are...

Oddly enough, the autodock controls aren't working for me, but the autopilot controls are. None of the controls let my dock instantly though. It would be nice if they did, as it would save a good deal of time.

And I'll have another go at fuel scooping, thanks for the clarification.

Also, can anyone tell me what is considered a good price for gold/platinum/gems? Actually, is there any kind of trading guide out there? All I've seen so far is just really basic stuff like buying food/textiles/booze from Ag planets to sell to Ind planets and vice versa but with computers and machinery.

[DaddyHoggy]

Seriously - get some heat shields! (and Injectors as others have suggested)

With heat shields and injectors fitted you can head towards the sun and just before you think you're going to die your scoop will start working - immediately pull over so you're heading directly away from the sun. Hit the injectors - you'll scoop at a rapid rate for a few more seconds which should be enough to fill your tanks and you'll already be heading into a cooler chunk of space...

Very odd that you're Auto-dock isn't working.

Are you sure you're not trying to dock outside the station aegis? (i.e. the big "S" appears next to (HUD dependant) the compass), hopefully the lack of auto-dock is not indicitive of something more serious...

[Screet]

Also, can anyone tell me what is considered a good price for gold/platinum/gems? Actually, is there any kind of trading guide out there? All I've seen so far is just really basic stuff like buying food/textiles/booze from Ag planets to sell to Ind planets and vice versa but with computers and machinery.

I typicially buy gold at 33 or below, gems at 16 or below and platinum at 66 or below. I sell gold over 40, save gems for pricy trades over 40 (possible at casinos and such) and platinum over 78. There surely is a better scheme, but this works.

When I did need to trade for money, I was buying furs instead of food/textiles/booze and returning computers and luxury goods. However, I now typically prefer to fill my cargo hold with goods I receive from pirates as those are 100% profit

Screet

[Disembodied]

Also, can anyone tell me what is considered a good price for gold/platinum/gems? Actually, is there any kind of trading guide out there? All I've seen so far is just really basic stuff like buying food/textiles/booze from Ag planets to sell to Ind planets and vice versa but with computers and machinery.

Good prices for gold: anything under 38Cr/kg. Platinum: anything under 70Cr/kg. Gems: anything under 19Cr/g. Or thereabouts. Depends how much spare cash you've got and how long you're prepared to have it sunk into shiny things before you find somewhere to sell it at a profit. Remember you can't sell any more than 128 units of any item in any one deal!

As for a trading guide, what you've got there is pretty much it. It's not a complex economy. You can jazz things up a bit by adding OXPs which contain alternative trading locations, e.g. Dictatorships, Commies, and most especially Your Ad Here. The Con Stores can offer some really good deals on, to pick a totally random example, narcotics – profit margins of nearly 100Cr/ton are possible. And remember that narcotics (and slaves and firearms) are perfectly legal to acquire anywhere: the only crime is launching from a main system station with them in your hold.

[punkbohemian]

First, thanks for the trade tips. Money has been slow coming. Actually, thanks for all the answers to all my newb questions. I've been jonesing for a Privateer substitute for quite a while.

you can head towards the sun and just before you think you're going to die...

Something must be buggy with my game, my fuel scoop doesn't kick in until just after I think I'm going to die.

Very odd that you're Auto-dock isn't working.

I just got a reply on a post in the linux forum that the reason why my autodock is probably not working is that I have them mapped to the "[" and "]" keys, which aren't recognized by Oolite.

And now a catch-22 logic problem on ships, followed by a question on passenger runs, followed by what is probably the most newb question of all.

1) I need money to buy a good fighter/trader ship.
2) Trade runs can rack up some good money.
3) My cargo hold is too small for trade runs.
4) I need a cargo ship.
5) My only option is to trade on my own until I have enough money for the cargo ship (which I estimate will take forever)
6) The cargo ships cost about as much as the fighter/trader ship I want.
7) Once I make enough for the cargo ship, I could just buy the F/T instead.
At that point, I don't need to do trade runs.

Also, regarding passenger runs, I've read that trade runs improve the more to do (and succeed), does the same thing happen with passenger runs? Here's what I'm thinking. There aren't many ships that impress me (e.g are faster than .35 LS) with decent sized cargo holds. Additionally, my previous logic problem has me removing trade runs from the equation anyway. However, if you have a good ship with a small cargo hold (and maybe the option for expansion), you could turn it into a few passenger berths and try to find a few that are in a line with each other and maybe rack up some cash that way. Of course, this will only work if passenger runs improve at all, since as is the rewards aren't worth it. 13 jumps for 500 bucks? Meh.

Lastly, it seems to be that there's no actual plot to this game. So, after I become a millionaire and get a totally decked out ship, what's left for me to do?

[another_commander]

Lastly, it seems to be that there's no actual plot to this game. So, after I become a millionaire and get a totally decked out ship, what's left for me to do?

Start loading up mission, ship, general content, replacement sounds etc. OXPs. And once you have done that, start modding and creating your own models, missions, general content, replacement sounds etc. OXPs. You will probably find that this is Oolite's secret fun weapon.

[Screet]

Lastly, it seems to be that there's no actual plot to this game. So, after I become a millionaire and get a totally decked out ship, what's left for me to do?

I've got over 10K kills now, and there are still many mission OXPs to do for me Furthermore, some of them can be played multiple times, like Galactic Navy and Random Hits missions!

Concerning your trade/fighter dilemma: I myself found the Boa Class Cruiser to be a pretty great ship for making money and still being able to fight, including the Constrictor

For me it was a step up from the CM3 without missing any of it's abilities...and making money with it was very easy, even without cargo contracts. Nowadays I'm flying a Caduceus Omega which has only 50T cargo capacity, but it's just the ship I like.

Screet

[punkbohemian]

I've already installed a few OXPs to spice it up a bit. As for designing my own, would it be possible to design a plot-driven campaign? That's one of the things I really liked about the Privateer games (especially the first one). I mean, I don't see how that could be done considering the interface, but I could be (and probably am) wrong.

Also, how do missions work? Are they listed under the passenger/trade run listings when available? I'm thinking of installing some of those next.

Side note, I feel like doing a little pirating. Is there some kind of karma system were attacking ships of some faction or another will result in making enemies with a whole group of pilots or can I just pick off anyone I want?

[Nemoricus]

In base Oolite, piracy increases your bounty, which makes it more and more likely that GalCop and bounty hunters will attack you. As far as mission OXPs go, I'm not sure, but I do know that Military Fiasco takes into account your legal rating for starting the mission.

Missions start when you dock at the appropriate station when certain conditions are met. Check here for those conditions. WARNING! Potential spoilers ahead.

For writing your own OXPs, look at how various OXPs do their things and check the wiki for information on scripting. Ask questions along the way.

[another_commander]

... would it be possible to design a plot-driven campaign?

Yes. You can check out Cataclysm, which I consider a great example of a story-like mission set.