Oolite Bulletins

Zireael wrote:

How soon do I have to pay the monks and what's the biggest loan they give?

From memory it's 16 jumps (it was written before js allowed for timing the loan) and I think they lend one amount 20,000Cr.

If you're going to borrow from them, install YAH and possibly Hoopy Casinos and get a rock hermit locator, because, as it's based on jumps, you can do a lot of trading (sometimes) in system that could net you a lot of profit without having to make a single jump!

Personally I installed it just so could look at the stations and the gunships and not to borrow from them...

Yes, there's only one single loan of 20,000. You can't choose other amounts.

I don't know about the payment scheme, but 16 jumps sounds about right.

That is a very short time and means that in many cases a loan from the Black Monks is not a viable economic option for the player. The OXP is designed in a way that you'll have to struggle to break even, let alone make a profit from taking the loan.

Which doesn't mean that it isn't possible. The readMe says:

Despite these disadvantages, if your trading, bounty hunting and piracy skills are good enough
taking a loan may have its advantages, allowing you to buy cargo or fit equipment that you could
not otherwise afford. Remember though that a large part of your profits will be eaten up by
the mounting interest. Defaulting is not recommended!

All has been said. To summarize:
1/ The computer/Rich industrial <> Furs/poor agricultural trade road
2/ Buy large cargo bay, ECM, beam laser and fuel scoop in priority. First large cargo bay because it's cheap and also fuel scoop. Generate cash. Then buy beam laser and ECM. Finally, extra energy unit.
3/ Try the rock hermit, buy gold, platinium and gem stones there and sell them. The profit is not that much but it does not fill your hull so you can transport a lot (when you start to have cash).
4/ Bounty will not make you rich, just the cherry on the cake.
5/ Personally, my peasant genes are telling me not to borrow to the useless Black Monks. But everyone is free to believe...
6/ Piracy in Feudal or Anarchy is also a pretty good option. The one who never did it should cast the first stone...

If you've been in a system for awhile, the main space lane becomes clear of pirates...but often has lots of cargo canisters nobody seems to want.
Injectors are more important than most other "early" equipment. It can be used to "speed things up" as well as escape from a losing fight you probably shouldn't be in.
Mining with Ore Processor, fuel scoop, large cargo bay, and mining laser (preferably NOT as your front laser!) is very profitable...just realtime-consuming until you get quick about it. Use the rock hermit to store up your cargo while you do, then make quick runs to the main station for profit. Do the same trick for scooping cargo in the area...drop off your current load of cargo at the rock hermit, scoop cargo, and swap that around at whatever station in-system pays the best. When going long distances in-system, it's best to be at max or nearly max cargo capacity though.

There are indeed many ways to earn cash in Oolite. Imperative is that you buy the fuel injectors first, and stay out of the spacelanes in the beginning. With a good poor agricultural-rich industrial route your cobby will be pimped in no time. After that you can play any which way you like...

Also, all the mission oxp's add lots of moneymaking oppertunities, and are a blast to play, especially UPS is a steady source of income.

I usually do all things at once during play to earn some cash, and each ship has its own advantages and drawbacks.

Onno out.

I've been pulling in a lot of credits lately via a little thing I like to call Q-bomb Surprise. Install the Assassins Guild OXP and head over to your nearest Seedy Spacebar. If you're lucky, there will be a lot of pilots flying around with less-than-clean legal statuses. Line up and move in as if you're about to dock, and SURPRISE! Q-bomb!

Bring your fuel injectors.

Seedy Spacebars are supposed to detect Q-mine launches and the turrets are supposed to take them out...

Hi, as a new guy to this Ooniverse, I'll say what I did -

I played a while back (BBC micro days)

So it was straight in to the 'milk run' ie: computers - furs (with a sideline in gold and gems)
Got myself a docking computer and cargo expansion as soon as I could, this speeds up the cradit making at the outset, also got the drive injecters (what a belssing)

After that it was a game of patience, avoiding the 'space lane' and making huge profit.

I was tempted to buy some other extras as/when the funds where ample, eg: beam laser, ECM and scanner enhancments. Other than that just save them credits.

Now (after 2 weeks real time playing) I can buy (almost) any ship I see, and still have some credits to buy the basic upgrades.

I'll stay a trader till I decide on my next move (prolly Naval missions)

Hope that helps any other newbies.