Oolite Bulletins

I can't help but wonder - what influences a ship's trade-in value? I am rather surprised that a new, but unequipped, SuperCobra, costs 60% more than my old, fully equipped one.

On a related note, is there any point of buying the maintenance package? I bought one a few days ago, and considering it cost me 18000, I didn't see any change in my ship's behavior. And to add insult to the injury, now I need another maintenance...

The trade-in value is determined by the base cost, the cost of the equipment fitted, and how well maintained the ship is. Also the TL of the shipyard is a factor...higher TLs will often charge higher prices for a new ship, but you're likely to find more pre-fitted equipment.

Maintenance effects the chances of equipment getting damaged. So a poorly maintained ship will have more chance of getting damaged equipment when under fire, also when you jump into hyperspace there is a chance something will break. The cost is effected by how much equipment you have installed in your ship.

Pepak makes a good point about how frequently ships need maintenance. Sometimes it seems like the ship needs attention more than necessary. I know there are factors influencing this, like damage taken during battle, and number of light-years traveled, but in my short seven months of playing I haven't quite figured out the details (such as what has the greater affect, and what might be done, if anything, to improve the maintenance cycle).

The greatest factor is how many hits you take when the shields are down.

Fatleaf wrote:

The greatest factor is how many hits you take when the shields are down.

I don't take any hits when the shields are down. (That is, when I do get hit with my pants... I mean, shields, down, I usually die and reload.)

Fatleaf wrote:

The greatest factor is how many hits you take when the shields are down.

That's really good to know, thanks FL. That will influence exactly when to break off and temporarily retreat in battle .

pepak wrote:

Fatleaf wrote:

The greatest factor is how many hits you take when the shields are down.

I don't take any hits when the shields are down. (That is, when I do get hit with my pants... I mean, shields, down, I usually die and reload.)

That's why I used the word "greatest"!

By jumping your ship deteriorates as well.

pepak wrote:

Fatleaf wrote:

The greatest factor is how many hits you take when the shields are down.

I don't take any hits when the shields are down. (That is, when I do get hit with my pants... I mean, shields, down, I usually die and reload.)

Time is also a factor, slower ships will need maintenance a lot sooner than a fast ship. Also try to avoid doing maxium jumps as this will increase the amount of time.

Also, frangibility is a big factor. If your ship has subentities that can be shot off, you will be offered a maintenance overhaul each time when you have lost a subentity. The overhaul will then restore the subentity. If your ship has subentities and you want to avoid this cost-intensive behaviour, you should make sure to insert to your shipdata.

Smivs wrote:

..higher TLs will often charge higher prices for a new ship, but you're likely to find more pre-fitted equipment.

And when the pre-fitted equipment is normally not available at that tech level, the salesman will ask a very high surplus for that equipment. It is than much cheaper to buy just the ship and buy the equipment at the right high-tech system.