(WIP) Elite Trader

[Reval]

1) Just looking at the descriptions in the Expansions Manager:


Might it make more sense to reword the ET Meta description so that it is less confusing for those people? Say,

Elite Trader Meta is an all-inclusive package featuring: Elite Trader and associated add-ons: Auxiliary Pylon, Cargo Pods, Cargo Space Refit, FE Ships, GETter HUD, Goods Containers, and Overdrive. The Guild of Elite Traders subverts Galcop and turns everything toward Trade. Perks include anti-masslock, witchpoint refuel, a forever-clean record, constant ship-enhancement, bonuses, new ship, lodges, cloak, fast dock; and Market scores count toward Elite. Progress in Grade brings a further edge. But - do not kill!

This is missing Teleportation Drive, of course.

Yes, it would make more sense! - I'll get onto changing that blurb for the next release. Can't think why that fact didn't occur to me - thank you very kindly for the tip.

2) I understand the 127 limit to now be transcendable.

Indeed so. My short test of last night confirms it (see my answer to Nite Owl's post for the results).

3) With chronically poor combat skills (even with all the artificial bolt-ons such as the accuracy oxp's), my game also centres around trading. But for me, the pirates, the mass-lock dangers, the hazardous trip between the buoy and the station... those challenges all get the adrenalin flowing and make the game enjoyable. The difficulties of getting safely to Isinor with a couple of TC's of Zaoncean computers and no extra equipment, hoping to dodge the pirates... that's what the game is all about in my eyes!

For me, everything bar the mass-lock is fine - I enjoy a leisurely cruise from WP to Main Station from time to time, and consider that a rare treat whenever Main offers the best prices (I no longer use Torus for that trip because mass-locks occur too frequently, and become really irritating, forcing me as they do to spin up drives all over again after each delay - I go by O-drive now: it's a little slower, but fast enough not to become tedious, and I can enjoy the scenery!)

[Nite Owl]

Considered the trade-goods.plist when making my initial forays into changing Station Capacity and Goods Availability. The drawback to that solution is that your capacity to sell goods at a station will remain at the default of 127 no matter how high the amount of available good are. Not the most ideal situation should you arrive with a lot more than that 127 default tonnage to sell. Traveling around a system to the various stations in order to sell everything in your cargo hold and then having to repeat that process all over again to refill your cargo hold is not the most efficient of ways to go about it. You could do a "sell an amount here" versus "buy an amount here" sort of thing but that too is not ideal especially if HYPERCARGO is involved. Much better to sell all of your cargo at a single station with the best price and then trundle about the system refilling your cargo hold. Then again my Bounty Hunter tendencies are facilitated by trundling about a system so grains of salt and all that. The MARKET INQUIRER makes all of this much easier but you probably already knew that.

There is a balance to be found between the ability to sell what you are carrying and the ability to buy what you want. As previously typed for me that balance is to sell at one station with the best price and then visit the various other stations in the system to refill my cargo hold before jumping to the next system. Finding a balance that works for you and being able to code your way to it is half the fun.

[Reval]

Thanks once again - point certainly taken about not being able to sell more than 127 tc at any given station (I knew that very real limit came in somewhere!)

Anyway, playing with the numbers in trade-goods.plist got me really hooked - so much so that I made my own extended and enhanced Market which I'm calling More Moolah (because that just about sums it up.)


Picture: More Moolah 1.4 Market screen, Isence - rich industrial system. Note the better balance and gentler gradation of commodity prices and quantities: a bell-curve, with no more outliers. The price/value spectrum is more realistic than Oolite/Elite's bog-standard, ineptly cobbled-together market.

Trade well!

D.R. of X.

[Cholmondely]

Merchanter's Zeal & More Moolah

Just started a new Jameson to try out Merchanter's Zeal and More Moolah. (My regular game with Stranger's World, Weapons Laws, Diplomancy etc - not ET).

Interesting - and need more time before I come to an opinion. The only criticism so far is that with only 100₢ and no equipment, it seems wrong to be told the prices at all the other stations before I have bought any equipment telling me where they all are! Especially when just arriving at the witchpoint beacon. I find this quite jarring.

Market Inquirer does not give details of the other stations until one has bought the ASC and one is either docked - or has also bought the "MI" MFD (1,050₢). This seems a more reasonable/realistic approach to your humble servant.

Might it make more sense to adopt MI's approach for us non-ET users - and give the "free" all-singing all-dancing option as a configurable choice through Library's "Config for AddOns"? Then we can still have our usual challenge in our games.

...and why not place the Merchanter's Zeal advisory's under either "Informational" or "Organisations" on the F4 (ship and system interfaces) screen?


Did you manage to get a copy of Wildeblood's AI Trading Assistant to compare? It is downloadable from here and needs an old pre v.1.82 of Oolite to run on (Old versions: https://sourceforge.net/projects/oolite ... rce=navbar)

[Reval]

Thanks Cholmondely - some fair points there, overall. Your inimitable feedback is always appreciated!

But my first thought on reading your incipient critique was: Merchanter's Zeal is intended for those who are already competent traders - those who can, in other words, arrive at Lave, exchange their C-3 immediately for a Sidewinder, Krait, or Adder and capitalize on the huge sum that exchange nets them; then remove all missiles, the laser, and any extra equipment the ship comes with, for more funds.

Now there is ample cash in hand to fit all essential upgrades by Zaonce at the latest: Cargo Space Refit, Overdrive, Auxiliary Pylon, 10-ton pod, and - at Zaonce - an ASC and WFI enabling installation of the Teleportation Drive. Yes, all that by Zaonce, with a few thou left over for your first profitable buys on the Market. That's competent trading!

Forget the Cobra III - I like to see the back of it at Lave and never look at one again. It's my least favourite of all the Oolite ships, FE or otherwise. So, if you haven't installed FE Ships - and I can't see why any born trader wouldn't want to - the first order of business is to get that Adder!

For the next release, per your suggestion, I shall introduce a threshold balance of, say, 5000 cr before the WP advisories start appearing. A newbie Jameson (not Jinny) getting hit in the face by one of those right after H-countdown might indeed be somewhat taken aback.

Moving along to your other points and suggestions...

On the F4 Interfaces: MZ's positioning right at the top of the list there is for a purpose - quick and easy access. I see no reason at all for changing that.

And, yes, I probably will add a Configuration page for MZ. My own, ie. not part of config for add-ons or whatever it's called. I like to keep things simple and compartmentalized!

I remember using Wildeblood's auto-trading OXP back in the days of 1.80. Quite impressive! But far too complicated for my taste (or abilities as a scripter). I'll be evolving MZ gradually - perhaps even along some of his/her lines - as time goes on...

D.R. of X.