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Bhodi
Dec 9, 2007

Oh, it's just a cat.
Pillbug

Previous thread, here.
:siren: As of Albion Prelude 3.0, it's recommended that you play only X3:AP and bypass X3:TC completely.:siren: Only play X3:TC if you want to experience the main, mediocre plot. AP 3.0 contains all the content of Terran Conflict with the exception of the main plot, just as Terran Conflict contained all of Reunion. X3:AP is a much smoother experience than either of them, and the most smooth experience in the X3 universe yet. Only get the X3: Gold bundle unless you've already finished X3:AP and X3:TC and are needing more.

If you're looking to come back to and/or try this series, now is a great time.

What exactly is X3?
X3: Albion Prelude (X3:AP) is fifth edition of the long running PC sandbox space trading and combat simulator from German developer Egosoft. Albion Prelude is an add-on to X3: Terran conflict and includes several new ships, missions, stations, sectors, and plotlines as well as a stock market and a variety of balance changes. Missiles have been completely re-done and are now worth using and capital ship hull strength has been massively increased. OOS combat has been re-balanced, bringing it more in line with in-sector combat. Albion Prelude 3.0, Shady Business, came out 5/2013, which adds several new plots to the initially barebones expansion. It does require TC to run.

If you could think about it in comparison with other games, think of it like Freelancer, only much more detailed on every level. The space flight feels more like a flight sim, the trading is much more detailed. Some people liken it to EvE Online the single player version. The scale of your ships, the size of your fleets, and the empires you create are on roughly the same scale as EvE. If you're oldschool, you can think of it as Elite for this generation.

If you see a ship in this game, with very few exceptions, you can purchase, command, and fly that ship - including the largest of battleships. Combat can be as small as you in a light fighter dog-fighting a single opponent, to your fleet of battleships and carriers deploying wings of fighters and frigates into massive frays of cannons and missiles flying everywhere. If you're good, you can even force pilots to eject, and you can also forcibly board larger ships to steal them for yourself...

The trading in this game is very involved. You can ship goods between stations, or even build your own stations and manufacture goods. You can automate massive trading fleets to earn you money while you're off fighting the good fight. The economy is very alive, and will carry on without you. There are even AI corporations in Terran Conflict that will actively compete.

It's a very large game with a very large scale. Since it is such a large game, there can be a rather steep learning curve, but if you persevere, you can have one of the most amazing experiences in gaming.

What's so great about these Egosoft guys?
Egosoft as a company is great. They are very active in their community, spend a lot of time pouring through the user created content and actively support content that is well polished and fits the game. They ended up hiring several of the Xtended mod team to work on Terran Conflict. Then they hired more people to work on and eventually release Albion Prelude.

They've consistently released solid updates and incorporated plenty of good new content to their game, some original, and some from the community itself, giving recognition to the community members who contribute. This openness has developed into a massive mod community to this game and a very active forum, supported directly by the developers.

Although the base experience is good, with mods the game becomes great.

Wait, Albion Prelude? What happened to Rebirth?
Rebirth, the next game in the X universe, was scheduled to be released in Q4 2011. Being Q2 2013, clearly it's somewhat delayed. The developers are continuing to work on it but have no updates or release announcements at this time. Don't wait for the game to take a dive into the X universe, because it's going to be a completely different and reworked style of game. Feel free to stalk the developer youtube where they post in-progress videos.

So, what does this game look like?
It's pretty. AP adds an additional 'very high' graphics setting. These are all in-game screenshots. While the game uses only a single CPU core, and is generally considered to be "CPU Limited", it will definitely use your graphics card if you turn all the settings up. It will also run fairly well on older PCs with the settings turned down.





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOkt2Y1bzbM
Check out the trailers on steam, too!

Multiplayer?
Nope! Single player only. Sorry.

How do I fly these ships? Mouse? Joystick? Gamepad?
Keyboard and Mouse is considered most versatile. Shady Business added full Gamepad support, and most modern Joysticks are also supported.

Where can I buy this?
It is available on steam for $10, and is a popular title on steam sales. You'll need to buy the base game, Terran Conflict, as well. They are often bundled in a pack together, and if you wait for a sale, you'll be able to get it for under $10 total.

Bhodi fucked around with this message at 14:11 on Jun 10, 2013

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Bhodi
Dec 9, 2007

Oh, it's just a cat.
Pillbug
MODDING
Scripts and Mods turn this game from Good to Great. They smooth out rough areas, clear annoyances, and allow you to have a more fun, streamlined, and tailored experience. Hate dealing with one aspect of the game? Chances are there's a script or mod to make your life easier and all you have to do is install it.

Mods and Scripts will mark your game as modified, which makes you ineligible for steam achievements. Don't install any if you care about that!
Mods in this game are separated into two categories - Mods and Scripts. Mods are, generally speaking, total conversions or addons that provide new ships, stations, some sort of graphical resource. You can only have one mod running at a time, sepected via the launcher, unless you want to "fakepatch". Because Albion Prelude is an addon to Terran Conflict, AP Mods are installed into "steam\steamapps\common\x3 terran conflict\addon\mods".

You fakepatch by going into your "addon" (AP) directory and renaming your mod's "X.cat" and "X.dat" into the next consecutive number.cat and .dat. As of 3.0, this would be changing coolmod.cat and coolmod.dat into 04.cat and 04.cat. If 04 exists, it would be 05.

Scripts are generally what you will install. Mostly, they provide additional functionality to the game and do not conflict with each other. Most scripts that are labeled for Terran Conflict also work in Albion Prelude, but check the script's thread in the mod forum; the last few pages will generally indicate if there's a problem. All scripts in Albion Prelude are installed into "steam\steamapps\common\X3 Terran Conflict\addon" directory, generally in addon/t and addon/scripts. If you're wanting to mod terran conflict, they go in the base folder, not addon.

Note that most Total Conversion mods (Like X-Tended) do NOT work with Albion Prelude as they have not been ported from Terran Conflict yet.

Most mods are enabled/configured through Gameplay->Artificial Life, Cycow's Plugin Configuration (bound through Gameplay->Interface) or it's own hotkey (also bound through Gameplay->Interface). Check the mod thread for instructions on how to use each one, or ask in the thread if it's not clear or obvious. Mars requires you to save and reload once for it to be enabled. Advanced Races require to you turn on the script editor - basically, rename your pilot to 'Thereshallbewings' once and save. There are more detailed instructions in it's thread.

:siren:A fairly up-to-date list of scripts is in this thread:siren:. Notably absent are Marine Repairs and Training and Mobile Mining mk.2. Browse that forum for recent scripts you might want to install, not just the master thread.

The easiest way to install scripts is to download this handy program:
:frogsiren:X Plugin Manager Lite:frogsiren:

Install and run it. Go to Settings->Mode->Modified. Now, download the pack below or go to the thread of your chosen mod and download the .spk or .zip/.rar. If it's a .spk, mash the "Install package" button. Otherwise, "Install Archive". Pretty simple. Here's the thread and a more detailed guide with pictures if you need it.

:frogsiren: Take note! Some filenames are in German! This is because it's a German developer! Don't worry, the scripts are in English!

:siren: This is outdated! Scroll down! :siren: Here is a list of mods I run myself and currently suggest:

Memia Automatic Advanced Satellite
Drops an advanced satellite in every sector as you enter it.
Memia AutoScan Asteroids
Automatically scans asteroids when you are within 10km and have a mineral scanner equipped
Detector
Hot-Warm-Cold abandoned ship and nvidium directional scanner, notifies you of general direction and distance when you enter sector
Marine Repairs and Training
Marines slowly repair ships they are on and get training for it, too
Missile Defense Mosquito
When enabled in the 'additional commands' control panel, will fire mosquitoes to intercept incoming missiles
Stock Exchange Hotkey
Adds a hotkey to bring up stock exchanges
Trade Overview
Tracks stations and ships' sells and buys and gives you a +/- profit balance for each
Economy and Supply Trader (EST)
Automated Universe trader
Commerical Agent (CAG)
Automated factory trader/supplier
CODEA weapons system
Carrier command suite, controls fighters and carrier groups
Teladi Information Service
Lists the quanity and location of any weapon, shield, item for 5k. Also finds ships flying in space, helpful for finding the Hyperion
Numeric Ranks
Adds the number in front of all relation ranks in-game (http://www.x3wiki.com/index.php/Reputation)
Bounce
Smarter autopilot, reduces collisions
Improved Races 2.0
Adds a lot of optional features for taking over sectors, rapid response fleets, and commissioning ships
HephCorp Station Building Service
Automatically builds all requested stations at requested locations for a 20% fee
MARS motion fire control
Smarter turrets and drones - autoswitches weapons and enables the goblin attack drone system
Freight distribution network (FDN)
A centralized depot that can manage inputs and outputs of all owned factories. Replaces complex hubs and CAG when enabled
Wing Hotkeys
Adds 'Wing, attack my target' type hotkeys
Mobile Mining Mk2
Adds autonomous miner option, including selling ore at a station
Turbo Booster
Adds a turbo booster that drains shield/laser energy and doubles your speed temporarially
Cheat Collection Package
Cheats, for emergencies, plot wedges or frustrations. Is not automatically enabled and is in a separate area of the options. You won't accidentally activate it.

There are also several libraries and prerequisites that are included in the zip below - Plugin Manager and a few libraries for EST and CAG.

I have created a Compilation for ease of use. Download, extract the big zip, and then install each one at a time with the X Plugin Manager. Skip any you don't like.


SA Script Compilation 7.10.2013.zip (4.5 MB) (OLD)

ful posted:

Did this just now, in case anyone might want it: APBonusPackUpdate

:frogsiren: Warning! Scripts may be installed and added at any time, but they bind themselves to your save games and so are not easily removed. Don't expect to be able to remove any installed scripts without either starting a new game or loading a save that was created before the script was installed. If you try, your game might crash on load! Be careful! X Manager can back up your saves for you. :frogsiren:

Here are additional goon-recommended mods and scripts:

VDay posted:

Some memorial day stuff got in the way, but here's my collection of stuff:

X3 AP Scripts

I think most of it is already in the OP, but together I consider this a pretty solid X3 AP+ experience that you can probably use to figure out what other mods/scripts you want. Almost everything in here either works in the background or is optional and has to be "turned on" in one way or another so a new player isn't suddenly bombarded by a dozen new mechanics. For example both OK Traders and EST is included, so it's up to you to try and see which one you like better. The stuff with asterisks next to it are libraries that at least one mod/script needs in order to work, so just install all of those no matter which mods you're picking just to be safe. Full list and brief description of the stuff inside:

  • 500km_Comm_Range_AP - Pretty self-explanatory. QoL script so you don't have to fly across giant sectors just to talk to a station.
  • AP.Libraries_r2.2*** - AP Libraries. Needed for some scripts.
  • Basic_Salary_X3TC_V3103 - Will show you how much money you've spent on pilots. Part of CODEA, and probably a good idea to turn it off until you're actually using CODEA since its set to send you a message every hour by default.
  • Befehlsbibliothek_X3TC_V3804*** - Libraries needed for Lucike's scripts.
  • BounceV1.7-modded-AP-vanilla - Makes your ships less stupid about simply smashing into poo poo. You have to manually enable this in the game. Options -> Control -> Interface. Set a hotkey for 'Enable Bounce' and press it once to activate. It'll stay on from then on.
  • CAG_X3TC_V3406 - The popular station management script. Lets you assign a ship to transport resources/products from a station so you don't have to deal with it.
  • CheatCollectionPackageAP-V1.62-18.12.2011 - Cheat menu. Lets you do all kinds of stuff and will be useful to you at some point whether you actually cheat or not.
  • CLS_X3TC_V3405 - Commodity Logistics Software. Similar to CAG, helps you coordinate your stations' wares so that your ships are going about supplying them efficiently.
  • Complex_Cleaner_4.09 - Building complexes is a huge pain in the rear end in the vanilla game. There are many mods/scripts that make it easier and this is the one I use. Crunches everything into a huge Borg-like cube. Get something else if you want pretty looking super complexes, but I've found this is by far the quickest/easiest if you don't mind there being a huge Borg-like cube in the sector instead.
  • Detector_v1.17 - Gives a little ping whenever you're in a sector with an abandoned ship and lets you find it by playing a simple hot-or-cold game (you point your ship in a direction and it'll periodically tell you) instead of having to either look abandoned ships up online or accidentally stumbling into one and not realizing it.
  • Dockwarenmanager_X3TC_V3107 - Add or remove wares to Docks and PHQ. I think this actually comes pre-installed with Plugin Manager.
  • EST_X3TC_V3404 - EST, the popular Trader script. Assign ships to trade for you and they'll slowly level up as they go. Alternative to OK Traders.
  • Gal_ex_1.9.8.12 and Gal_ex_spawn_mod0 - Assign a ship to go explore the galaxy for you. Alternative to the popular Universe Explorers mod. The spawn_mod portion lets your explorer ships simply spawn advanced satellites for themselves instead of having to go out of their way to buy them, although you still get charged. Universe Explorers is a bit more robust IIRC, but this gets the job done.
  • ImprovedRaces2.0-V1.08-6.5.2012 - Makes the galaxy feel more alive as races will have active invasions into border sectors rather than just kind of putt-putting around. Starts off by default and I recommend getting a feel for the game before turning some/most of it on.
  • JSONparserlibrary-V1.1-05.09.2010*** - Another library, required, etc etc.
  • Marine_Repairs-V2.05a-2013-04-24 - Marines in a ship/station will automatically repair that ship/station's hull. Marines' mechanical and engineering skill improves repair speed.
  • mars-tc-ap_v5.26 - MARS. Turrets used to be awful and miss every shot. AP has more or less fixed them being completely awful, but MARS still has its uses, and can also let you use Fighter Drones to automatically sweep up a battlefield and collect all the leftover loot.
  • Militaertransport_X3TC_V3302 - Military transport to transfer pilots. Mostly used for CODEA.
  • Moskito_X3TC_V3202 - Mosquito missile defense. Will try to shoot down incoming missiles with cheap, fast mosquito missiles as long as you have some in your hold and have the system turned on in your ship's command console.
  • NPCBailingAddon-V1.7.8-21.09.2010 - Ships in AI fights (as opposed to only ships that you're engaging) will sometimes bail. Can be configured to allow bailing of any class of ship. Takes some configuring so that there aren't just dozens of abandoned ships in every sector. I believe this gives an error that it's for TC only, but you can ignore that. Just install it anyway and it'll work fine.
  • numeric_ranks_tc - Each relation rank will have a number next to it now so you can see exactly what it means to be an Argon Federation Helper/Knight/Whatever.
  • OKTraders1_6_2 - Alternative to EST. Much simpler to set up and use, and seems to be much more active than EST traders. Can tell traders to buy/upgrade equipment as they go and to prioritize stalled stations to help out the game's economy get going.
  • Personaltransporter_X3TC_V3401 - Personnel transport. Used by CODEA.
  • ring_of_fire-tc - Lets you deploy laser towers in a circle anywhere you want to act as defense. Automatically orients around gates, and turns lasertowers into stealth lasertowers if you have the microchips for it.
  • SalvageClaimSoftware-V1.21-20.01.2010 - Adds a piece of equipment that lets you salvage abandoned ships without having to jump out of yours and press your face to it. I believe this gives an error that it's for TC only, but you can ignore that. Just install it anyway and it'll work fine.
  • SEWN+TurboBooster - Configurable turbo booster that lets you use energy cells, spaceflies, shields, or laser energy to give yourself a temporary boost. Great for quickly catching up to fleeing ships or getting the hell out of a bad fight.
  • StockExchangeHotkey1.1 - Self-explanatory. Vanilla game doesn't let you open the stock exchange without going through the menus for some reason.
  • TISv7.5 - Teladi Information Service. Lets you find weapons/shields/equipment without having to manually check every station around you.
  • tradeoverview-2.053 - Trade Overview. Lets you add ships/stations to a list which then keeps track of how much money they've made you.
  • Waffensystem_CODEA_X3TC_V3311 - CODEA carrier/fleet management. Create complex, self-sustaining/supplying fleets centered around carriers. You won't be using this until you're in the endgame. There are other, less complicated alternatives.
  • X3AP-Apricot-Dillpickle-TC-Plots-Complete-for-AP-v1-0 - Any game start automatically gives you all the rewards for every plot as well as the option to take the money (something like 50 mil IIRC). DO NOT use/enable if you're a new player. Strictly to be used as a quickstart button when you're on your 10th campaign.

To install everything here, simply use Plugin Manager. 'Install Package' will install anything ending in .spk while 'Install Archive' will automatically install any zip files for you. When you start the game for the first time it'll hang for a bit while everything loads/activates. Once you're actually playing, change your pilot's name (P->M) to 'Thereshallbewings' without the quotes. The game should hang for a second again as the script editor turns on. Once that's done fly to the closest station, save your game, and then load it right back up. This should load the delayed install mods like Complex Cleaner and MARS. MARS also has a timer built in before it installs, so if it doesn't pop wait about 5 minutes and then try saving/loading again.

There are two main ways that you activate/enable/use mods/scripts in the game. Go into Options->Control->Interface and at the very bottom you'll see a bunch of your mods and the various options that you can assign a hotkey to. Make sure you set something up for Plugin Configuration (I use Shift+*), as that lets you config a lot of the more complex mods. For more detailed info on the scripts, to get more, or to look up instructions on how to actually use some of them just search for the script/mod in the Egosoft Script/Mod Megathread.

I included a copy of X3 Editor just for my own convenience sake. You shouldn't really need to use it for anything but it's nice to have in case you decide to change something in a mod.


staberind posted:

Ship mounted Repair "Lasers"> http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=221081 I consider this a cheat, but then, any mod is a cheat, instead of dicking about in your spacesuit pissing repair lasers at things, allow a M6 to do it for you. this creates two repair laser factories, one in the heat of the action, *ap, and the other of with the Morons in the north west.
It requires special command software and the common sense to equip the ship with Only repair lasers, not doing so leads to... less than desirable results.

I happen to like capping/scrounging. to that end;
http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=219440 NPC Bailing addon, again, maybe a cheat, but hey, My Immersion may be different to yours. be sure to get the Parser Library and so on before you wonder why its not working. also, I recommend having a look at its settings and tweaking them downward, this makes finding random abandoned ships quite rare.
SCS: http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=223882 not the special command software mentioned above but Salvage command. again, abuse can drastically shorten your enjoyment of the game.

On t'other hand, you may want to be a SuperMogul, A Space Capitalist.
Complex cleaner is pretty useful: http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=225042
You can find Nividium mines as well if you search for them,
"Station repacker" is useful also, especially when used with "Property Baron"...

WraithMind posted:

I'm a sucker for Advanced Complex-Hub. It changes the complex hub from being 20 medium docking slots (or whatever) to 20 medium slots, an infinite sized hanger for small craft, and two bays for capital ships. It's mostly just a model replacement so it works with just about anything, just drop the cat/dat in your main folder and all your new complexes will be bigger/better.

It only has one dock and one exit for small ships so docking or undocking a bunch of those is slow, and some wacky big m6s might not play well with the cramped docking arms, and I think some of the stangely shaped capitals are too big too, but still I think it's a great mod over all, since it gives you some place to put a bunch of ships before you have equipment docks, the phq, or a trade station.

Filthy Monkey posted:

If you want something a little closer to stock in function, try complex cleaner. It crunches your factory together inside a big box with equivalent output. You then connect the modules and make a complex hub. It cleans up the asset screen a lot more than FDN does too (unless FDN has changes since I last used it). I consider complex cleaner one of my most necessary scripts.

Trying to build huge complexes without any sort of script/mod is a nightmare though. The mess of pipes alone will slow the game to a crawl when you look at them.

Since the release of AP 3.0, the main download of Complex Cleaner is no longer fully compatible (the update changes TFactoriesT.txt). Ordinarily you'd have to do some manual editing of game files, but fortunately one of the nice modders on the Egosoft forums has provided this update of Complex Cleaner for AP 3.0, which is also already packaged for installation with the Plugin Manager.

kedo posted:

There's a pretty good cockpit mod actually. I'd recommend grabbing HUD_info_2d, because while the cockpit looks cool, in some ships your energy levels / missile count / mini-map get a little too squished and they become hard to read.

Giggily posted:

Universe Explorers. Grab these and install them with the plugin manager and then tell your ships to explore the game for you. They can also automate satellite deployment in a more "realistic" way if you don't want to use the script above.

http://www.mediafire.com/download/a27ebcutez3ads9/AP.Libraries_r2.2.spk
http://www.gamefront.com/files/14978651/universe_explorers_2.4.1.spk
http://cycrow.thexuniverse.us/tcscripts/CommunityPluginConfiguration-V1.51-03.01.2012.spk

Nomikos posted:

Universe Explorers are OK, but I prefer the Galaxy Explorer script. There's no bullshit with having to train up idiot pilots, it just works out of the box. By default it has to go buy satellites to deploy them, but there's a "Satellite spawn mod" in that thread you can apply, which opens up a config option to just charge your credit account and spawn a satellite instead. Satellites should not be difficult to find! :argh:

PS: the documentation is atrocious and that config option is a little hidden; the config menu is under "Additional ship commands", then you have to scroll "Buy range" below zero so it's set to "Spawn".

Bhodi fucked around with this message at 17:10 on May 27, 2014

Bhodi
Dec 9, 2007

Oh, it's just a cat.
Pillbug
FAQS AND GENERAL HELP

:siren:I HIT NEW GAME BUT NOW IT WANTS ME TO PICK A START! WHAT IS BEST?! TELL ME ABOUT STARTS:siren:
If you want to hop in and shoot poo poo immediately, pick "Argon Peacekeeper" to join the war effort on the Commonwealth side. It unlocks the main plot mission and gives you 3 free ships with jumpdrives on the first 3 missions. You can also choose "Terran Commander", which provides comparable rewards, however terran sectors are much larger (read: slower to get places) and somewhat disconnected from the wider galaxy, and so it's a slightly worse game experience at least in the early game.

If you want to start as a trader, start out doing trading missions and work your way up, I'd still recommend the Argon Peacekeeper start. There's no real time limit on plot, so just stop after the third mission when you get your M6, fly off, sell your starting M3 and buy a trade ship with the money. You can also try the Humble Merchant, but this is literally the most boring thing you can do and if it's your first introduction to the game you're probably going to quit.

There are two other start-specific plots. The first is the Tormented Teladi, which you unlock after going half-way up the trade ranks to Petty Financier. It's a challenge start where you must make 2.5 million in 12 game hours. Completing that unlocks the Poisoned Paranid start, 25 million in 72 hours, which when you complete it you get a randomly tuned (faster than normal speed or turning or both) best-in-the-game M6 (Hyperion Vanguard).

Unfortunately neither of those plots are for the neophyte, they both require knowledge of the game world and mechanics, and you can't gain access to them until either get your trade rank up or hack the registry.

All of these recommended starts have access to the main 2 plots and all the sub plots. You won't miss any content except for the conflicting main war plot, depending on if you're argon or terran.

THIS GAME IS IMPENETRABLE. THE UI IS AWFUL. I NEED A QUICK-START GUIDE OR SOMETHING!
Okay, quick info dump. The UI does kind of suck.
  • The FIRST THING to do, go into 'Gameplay' and turn SETA to 10x. Use SETA (j) whenever possible to speed up time to get to places fast. Note that on slower computers this may cause suicidal tendencies in AI piloting, so if your ships start running into stuff, turn it back down. The Bounce script helps with that.
  • Other common hotkeys are Shift-J (jump), Shift-A (autopilot), Shift-D (dock), t (target), x (switch to ship), g (weapons), weapon groups 1-4 (1-4), tab is acceleration and backspace is brake. z-x are speed as well. aswd are strafe left/right/up/down. Mouse to move.
  • Hitting K cycles through your auto-aim if you have combat mk1 software installed. "Semi" enables a standard target lead reticle. "On" enables autoaim, which will auto-snap to that target lead within a small radius of your center reticle when you fire "Boresight" mode, which is ctrl. So, basically, if you're dead on or it's a big target, hold ctrl. If your target is closer to the corner of the screen, hold right click near the target lead indicator and it'll fire where your cursor is.
  • To repair your ship, hit shift-E to eject, spin around, and zap your ship with your repair laser. This can take a LONG time if your ship is M3 or larger. Hold the mouse and hit shift-tab to open the steam overlay and surf the wiki for a min or two while it repairs. If you have the MARS script installed, your ship's drones can repair your ship up to 80% if it's damaged below that, or 95% if it's above. If you have a larger M6 with marines on board, the Marine Repairs and Training script will gradually and automatically repair your ship while you fly around.
  • To claim ships, hit shift-E and pilot to within 50m of an abandoned ship. click 'claim' on the popup menu and hop in.
  • You'll be hitting 'R' a lot to bring up your ships. Left-Click on the ship, and hit C. This brings up the command console. It's how you order all your ships around. You can hit 'R' then arrow right twice to see only your owned ships. Ships can also be hidden from this list from their command console.
  • Hit "," for the universe map, "." for the sector map. You'll be hitting these a lot, too. You can left-click on things for a drop-down command menu.
  • In the trade window, you can use the left/right arrow keys to select amount, and type in a number to select the amount per selection.
    You'll be left clicking and hitting a hotkey a lot. Left-click then hitting u is ship information. C is command console or comms. F is freight (cargo bay).Shift-F (if you bound it) is trade freight. If you don't left click, it assumes whatever target you've selected is what you want to interact with.
  • You have two 'target' windows that you can use to manage your ships without going into the R menu. Click on a ship and use Shift-1 or Shift-2 to assign them to left and right respectively. It will show you when they are in the same sector and you can also click on the names to quickly give them commands.

You'll probably want to add some additional keybinds! Ignore MARS and below if you didn't install the recommended scripts.
  • Bind "Toggle Cursor Flight Mode" to something, I use one of my side mouse buttons. This changes from a left mouse drag to move, to just moving the mouse. You might prefer this in combat. I also rebound Q and E to roll left/right, for combat and fun.
  • Bind "Trade Freight With..." shift-F. Now, if you're docked at a station, you can hit R, left click on your ship that is also docked, and hit shift-F to trade cargo between that and the ship you're in. If you have a transporter, you can do the same in space by left clicking on it and hitting shift-F.
  • Bind "MARS: Configuration to something. I used Shift-R.
  • Bind "MARS: Launch Goblin at target". I used Shift-G.
  • Bind "Plugin Configurations". I used Shift-X.
  • Bind "Heph.Corp. Station Building Service" to something. I used Shift-B.
  • Bind "Enable Turbo Booster" to something. I used caps-lock.
  • Bind "Open TIS" to something. I used ""
  • Bind "Trade Overview". I used shift-I.
  • Bind "Bounce Toggle" to something. I used Shift-3. You really only need to enable it once, but it does NOT start enabled.
  • Bind "Advanced Races Comm" to something. I used '
There are a myriad of youtube guides that will help if you're lost. Check out the game resources section.

I DON'T UNDERSTAND, WHAT ARE THESE SHIP CLASSES
Fighters:
M3+ = Advanced Heavy Fighter
M3 = Heavy Fighter
M4+ = Advanced Medium Fighter
M4 = Medium Fighter
M5 = Light Fighter/Recon

Capital ships:
M6 = Corvette
M6+ = Heavy Corvette
M8 = Bomber (they are M6 size)
M7 = Frigate
M7M = Missile Frigate
M7C = Light Carrier
M2 = Destroyer
M1 = Carrier

Transports:
TL = Large Transport/Station Deployer (same class as M1/2, can carry 5-15 fighters)
TM = Military Transport (Carries 3-6 fighters, Marines, support ships), a mini carrier
TS = Freight Transport (Sector/Universe Traders)
TP = Fast Transports (Useful for transporting people. Can deploy Marines. Small cargo bay)

An advanced (+) ship generally has stronger shields/weapons than it's cousins and is halfway to the next rank. A M6 is the largest ship that you'll reasonably want to pilot yourself. The rest are too large, clumsy, and slow to pilot directly - you'll be calling them in for support while still in your main ship.

M5s go 350-600m/s and have 1-5MJ shield.
M4s go 200-250m/s and have 5-25MJ shield.
M3s go 150-200m/s and have 50-100MJ shields.
M6s go 100-150m/s and have 600-1000MJ shields.

As you see, the M6 only goes a bit slower and has 5x the shielding of a M3. There are super-fast M6s, like the Springblossom, which goes 360m/s, and even Dragons go faster than some M3s. You are given M6s fairly quickly in both the Terran and Argon war starts, and they will be your flagship for a long time.

WHAT'S M/S/L IN A SHIPYARD?
S = Unequipped. Base model ship with no weapons or shields.
M = Basic equipment - Usually a lighter shield or two, (usually a class below the best that can be equipped). A light set of weapons
L = Fully equipped - full shields and a good set of weaponry

Regardless of S, M, or L, all of the ships base stats are still the same, only the equipment is different. The extra cost for the model is the cost of the weapons and shields.

EQUIPPING MY SHIPS IS A PITA. HOW CAN I MAKE IT EASIER?
If you have the Advanced Races script installed, you can commission a ship through it's communication console. It takes around 15 minutes but once you select a shipyard, it will spit out any number of ships equipped, armed, and tuned to your specification.

Keep a TM around like a Magnetar with a bunch of ships who have jumpdrives. Jump it to you when you need to steal one of the jumpdrives for a newly acquired ship or transfer ECells over to your main ship.

Get a "Gopher". Get a decent M3 with a jumpdrive and good internal storage, like a Blastclaw Prototype. (160 speed and 650 max storage.). A Mistral freighter also works, though it's slower (130 speed). Give it max Shields, a Transporter Device, and Supply Command Software and name it "Gopher", set it's home base to a Solar power plant. Set Automatically Jump to Yes, Jumps to 1, and automatically refuel to 60, the max.

Forget it exists until you need something. Need some Missiles? Guns? E Cells delivered? Ammo? Just sit in space somewhere, hit "R", find the Gopher on the list, and then choose autopilot > Command console > Supply > and choose your ship for the target of the supply. Tell it what you want and how many.

As long as they are for sale in any sector you have ever visited, whether you can see there right now or not, the ship will automagically undock from its home base, immediately jump to the goods, then jump to you and teleport the items into your hold. Then it'll jump home and automatically refuel and wait for your next request. It'll even make multiple trips on its own if it cant find enough in one place and track you down if you move after giving it the order.

OH MY GOD THERE ARE 40 MISSILE TYPES?
Only 36! In Albion Prelude, missiles have been completely re-balanced. There are still way too many, but there's only a handful that you'll end up using. Until you've got a net worth of tens of millions, missiles picked up in space are better off sold for cash. Once you've got a small fleet and can literally afford to shoot credits at enemies, it's time to take a look.

Because missiles don't travel appreciably faster than fighters, Missiles are generally divided into M4/M5 killers, M3 killers, and anti-capital ships based on what they're fast enough to hit. An exhaustive list can be found here, but you should just decide on one of each type for consistency and sell the rest.

I suggest Wasp or Hurricane m5/m4, Tempest or Thunderbolt for enemy M3s, and Tornado as the frigate/capital ship dumbfire damage dealer. M7Ms also fire special missiles - Flail Barrage Missile for fighters and Hammer Heavy Torpedo for capital ships. Mosquito missiles are also a special case - they are anti-drone and used for missile defense. They don't do appreciable damage to targets, but you should still carry 50-100 on your ship.

Terrans have completely different missiles, though the Terran missiles are similar in performance to the commonwealth. The Terran M7M (Skirnir) fires Wraith for fighters and Shadow for cap ships, for example.

IS THERE ANY WAY TO MAKE THIS SHIP GO FASTER? THIS CENTAUR M6 IS KIND OF SLOW
There are 3 once-per-game ways of overtuning any ship, plus the random tuning from the Poisoned Paranid game start. You probably don't want to waste it on the Centaur, though.

When a new game is created, there are 10 overtuning crates spawned in pirate sectors. The distribution between top speed and turning is random so some people like to hit new game, run a script that finds their location, and restart until they are mostly engine.

There are sometimes tunings spawned in the UFJD sectors. I've never seen them myself, but someone on the forums said they spent 40 mins or so jumping in, sending scouts to "explore sector" out to 50km, and then jumping out, and got a couple from that.

Finally, are random tunings spawned in the unique UFJD sector of the shady business plot, the Xenon Graveyard.

Other options to make your ship go faster are SETA, the Turbo Booster ship extension and additional scripts.

HOW DO I CAPTURE/BOARD A SHIP?
If it's a M3, M4, M5, M8, shoot it until it's at about 30% hull. Slowly damage the hull. There are periodic morale checks (once a second or so) and if the pilot fails he'll scream something at you and bail out. It's easy to destroy the ship once he starts talking, so be careful. Then, space suit over to within 50m of the empty ship to transfer control.

If it's larger, you need as many marines as the ship can hold normally, +1. M6 = 9, the rest = 21. marines. Train up your marines by making them repair your ships. Here's a handy chart but basically you need around 3 stars in mechanical to initially breach the hull and as much hacking as you can get. It takes the top 2 skills in your "group" of 5 marines. Combat helps them not randomly die during boarding. Xenon are fantastically difficult to capture. If you're boarding a M6 with a M6, you can just throw marines out the airlock. Otherwise, you should get a M7M with boarding pods - it makes things much easier.

Once you have your marines and your boarding ship, clear out all the ships in combat except for the ship you want to board. Scan the ship. If it has "Advanced Firewall Software" or "Hull Polarising Device", you'll need to destroy it with a disruptor before you can realistically board. Only very strong or special ships have it.

Hit Shift-R (or your MARS console) and click on 'destroy ship' until it says 'damage shields'. This will also enable your marine monitor at the bottom. Bring it's shields down to under 10%. If the ship's going more han 100m/s, damage it's hull until it slows down. Don't go below 30-40% hull. Get about 1000m behind the ship and match speed + about 30m/s. Now, SAVE YOUR GAME. Then, shift-C -> piracy -> board ship. Select all your marines. The AI will take control and throw your marines out the airlock vaguly in the direction of the ship. If you timed it right, you're point blank and they'll latch on. Keep in range and firing arc so that your MARS turrets will keep the shields around 5% until your marines are in. They'll fight their way through decks and hopefully capture the ship! Unlike TC where you could reload until you succeed every deck, in AP the success or failure is determined as you launch.

If you've got a M7M like a Cobra, the method is exactly the same except that you don't match speeds and you tell your cobra to do the piracy, through boarding pods. You can also send reinforcement waves and other complex stuff which you can read about in the boarding link under resources.

WHAT IS CODEA AND HOW DO I USE IT?
CODEA is a carrier manager, basically it automates launching/landing of fighters, tenders for the carrier, and ultimately a carrier battlegroup. Here are a few notes on getting it to work.
  • Bind CODEA carrier hotkey to something convenient. You'll be using it a lot.
  • All codea ships need pilots. Dock your carrier at a Military Outpost and buy pilots through the CODEA menu. This system is similar to EST.
  • TS and larger require lieutenant and higher pilot ranks. Yes. This is obnoxious.
  • Fighters need MK1 fight, MK2 fight, Nav, docking computer, shields, at least one weapon in cargo, and a pilot before they show up on the list to add to hangar. They can't have vid enhance goggles + seta + boost extension, but can have just one or two of the three.
  • Other ships need the same, plus generally a transporter device and supply comm software if they're a tender.
  • Your carrier should have an ore collector for "combat launch" aka teleporting just outside. That and docking computer on the fighters is basically the entire reason to use CODEA.
  • Ships can't be added to active hangars until they have pilots in them. Use "Transfer all pilots to free cockpits" once they are docked but before you try to add them.
  • Target Distance: Interceptors auto-launch at 10km. Attack Fighters auto-launch at 30km. When recon M5s deployed, increases 30km to 60km.
  • Pilots only gain experience when they are active. You need 6 hours of flight time to get to lieutenant from rookie, only around 2 if you buy them as warrant officer rank.
  • To quickly level up pilots so you can put them in your M6s, go into options, set patrol size to your number of ships, put all ships in the patrol group, "other actions", set patrol and recon to active in an out-of-the-way sector.
  • You should add your fighters to a wing as well, both for sorting on the sector map and so you can manage missile launch %.
  • Tender menu is useful for equipping ships and keeping them stocked with ecells/missiles. Ships are equipped on launch and land, or for m6+, on jump. Accept saves config for next launch but "Arm fighters" equips them now. Be aware it's inclusive - no weapons listed = no weapons on ship.
  • If you have more than one tender, one just acts as a cargo extension to your carrier and follows it around. Just use a single supply tender unless you really need that.

HOW DO I SET UP EST SO I CAN GET PASSIVE INCOME?
The Initial cost per trader is about 1.5 million. (650k for mistral, 100k jumpdrive, 500k ESTmk3, plus tuning) Break even point on EST automated traders is about 6 in-game hours. You don't need a base of operations or to own a factory. That's a different script.
  1. Make sure your trade rank is at least "Trader". It's only 8 ranks up and you can get it in a handful of trades.
  2. Purchase (up to) 5 REGULAR Mistral TS (not superfreighters) from Legend's Home, OTAS HQ - L class. If there are no L, reload your game until there are.
  3. Select Docking Computer, Jumpdrive, SETA, Trade Command Software Mk3 (if avail), Triplex Scanner.
  4. Select the OTAS Shipyard, L for landed ships. Add to wing, Blue Wing (Or any unused wing)
  5. Hit R, hit right arrow over to wings, click on a ship, C. Set Autojump Yes, minimum 0 jumps.
  6. Tell the wing to dock one sector north at Akeela's Beacon, XL solar plant, Buy them each 1-2k solar cells (cargo/stocks permitting)
  7. If you have a lot of ships, the next nearest solar plants are in Aladna Hill (there are 2). Send max of 1 wing to each plant.
  8. Tell the wing to dock @ Argon Prime, Argon Equipment Dock (they should jump automatically)
  9. Buy engine tuning for each, or engine+cargo+rudder if you have a load of cash
  10. Buy Fight command mk1, Fight command mk2, trade mk2, navigation software mk1 for each
  11. If you still need Trade Command Software Mk3, jump to PTNI Headquarters and buy it
  12. Remove all ships from wings.
  13. Go into EST (Ship command->Trade->Economy and Supply Trader)
  14. EST -> "starting sector" as desired. (This will also become home sector)
  15. EST -> Jumpdrive Settings -> Jumpdrive ON, minimum jump 1
  16. EST -> Automatic Naming -> Configure automatic naming, Variant 6
  17. EST -> Exceptions -> Sectors. Add All the war sectors - Circle of Labor, Elesium of Light, Heretic's End, Omicron Lyrae, Treasure Chest, plus any Xenon sectors you have explored.
  18. Go to EST -> Data Storage -> Save Data. Pick a name for the save.
  19. For each trader, go EST -> Data Storage -> Load Data. Pick a Home Sector, and then START EST.
If done properly, EST will think for a minute and you'll see your ships jump to their home sectors and start trading. Watch your owned ship pane and make sure that all ships have left Terracorp HQ after about 30 seconds on SETA.
  • To restart EST, you need to select command NONE, then "Start EST". You can't 'restart' EST by simply starting it again.
  • If EST is grayed out, they are too near a station or gate. DOCK them and restart EST. (Or you didn't buy the prereq software)
  • Watch that they have automatically renamed themselves. If any didn't, re-configure and restart EST.
  • If any are slowboating (Destination is far away from Home of Light) Jump them manually and restart EST.
  • If they aren't moving anywhere and just say "EST on standby", you picked a poor starting sector - they can't find any trades. Change their starting sector.

They should be at different home sectors so they can level up faster and in parallel (there are 5 "levels", the higher the more jumps away and the smarter deals they find), and the first 2 levels suck so you want them to level through those as fast as possible.

Good Initial Home Sectors:
Ore Belt
Empire's Edge
Shores of Infinity
Light of Heart
Paranid Prime
Seizewell
Spring of Belief
Tkr's Deprivation
Barren Shores

Basically, for home sectors you are looking for raw materials in that sector (Solar/Ore/Silicon) and then plants that take those raw materials one sector away - this lets your trader level up very quickly since the first thing he does is empty out the raw materials and put them in the trading station the center of the sector, which gets him a level, and then the next thing he does is refill the stations that use those raw materials in the sectors around it.

This jumpstarts the EST to where he can start to use jumpdrivers to get around and will go from there - at this level, the spacing is fairly important so your traders don't step on each other's toes. A satellite network is also helpful, the more sectors you have sats in the better trades it will find.

You give them nav and fight command software since if you have it, EST will fight and run for itself - this GREATLY increases their survivability - they will jump away from combat and use combat drones automatically.

Over time, they may get "stuck", especially after running from combat - you may have to repair them automatically and restart EST. It's very rare for a Mistral to get destroyed - they can generally outrun ships long enough to jump away. Just look at your owned ships every once in a while and make sure none of them say "Idle" or "EST is waiting..." for any length of time.

You'll need to babysit EST for the first bit, as there will be roaming pirates you'll need to destroy to clear the trade lanes. The easiest way to do this is to have autojump set on your current ship, wait for the noise that says a ship is under attack, then hit R, find the one with the ! icon, click on it, autopilot to. That'll jump you to the sector under attack.

They also will initially drain money by purchasing things like combat drones. Don't worry, they'll be in the positive soon enough. Don't go below 1 million credits, or your EST traders will stall due to not having money to buy wares.

OKAY BUT I NEED A GOAL OR AT LEAST A SUGGESTION BECAUSE THIS UNIVERSE IS HUGE AND I CRAVE DIRECTION!
Okay. Take everything one slow step at a time. The world around you is patient enough for you to expand slowly. Don't feel like you need to learn the game all at once. The plot missions generally have no time limit and you can stop and go off and come back to them at any time. Here is an order order of things to do in AP. It's just a suggestion.

Baby Steps:
  • Log out, install X Plugin Manager Lite, and the script compilation above. Install it, because addons make this game better!
  • Start the Argon plot. Learn about universe and sector maps, mission waypoints, docking, and SETA.
  • Learn the controls, how jumpdrives work, how to target. Kill a few small ships while staying away from the bigger ones. When to run. Learn about the repair laser if you take hull damage.
  • On the second mission, When you get your discoverer, Learn how to switch between ships (x), start learning how freight and ship upgrades work.
  • Get your M6, do the third mission, and learn about targeting missiles and defending a target while still staying away from larger capital ships.
  • Abandon the plot and wander around a bit. Missions with a red target icon are combat missions. Do some station defense missions or kill pilot missions (if you have a jumpdrive). They are, generally speaking, the most profitable in terms of time spent, and for station defense, enemies swarm the station, not you. Patrol missions for the sector you are in are also fairly fast. Be wary about accepting missions of sectors that are not nearby, they can take a long time.
  • Buy yourself a Turbo Booster for your ship and configure it to use Shield->Laser->Spaceflies->Ecells in the options.

Famliarize yourself with the Galaxy:
  • Learn how to capture fighters (M5,M4,M3,M8) by forcing the pilot to bail out (stop firing when they yell at you at 30% or less hull). Transfer control by spacesuiting within 50m of the new ship. Learn to transfer weapons and freight. Keep an eye out for Xenon Ls and try to get one to bail. You'll need it later, so don't sell it. Learn how to tell ships you aren't in how to do commands, like docking at the nearest shipyard to sell the captured ships for cash. Note: repair laser the ships before you sell them!
  • Set up one of your captured M3s as your "Gopher" to keep your ships equipped with ecells and weapons.
  • Set up an AI wingman to learn about it, maybe keep one or two M3s around and sell any other ships.
  • Learn about race relations. Go to a teladi sector and do some missions to become friendly so that you can buy a Teladi Kestrel (M5) at one of their shipyards.
  • Fill up your M6 with energy cells, Buy yourself that Kestrel, switch to it and start exploring the galaxy. Familiarize yourself with the universe map. Find some abandoned ships with the Detector script. They are scattered all over the universe! Get to know where the shipyards for each race are and which sectors to stay away from. If you've got the satellite script, it'll dump a sat in each sector you go to so you can reference it later.
  • Buy the ware "Detector Scanner Upgrade" and put it on your explorer ship (and also your M6). When it goes off, use it to find any abandoned ships in the sector.
  • Go west and explore to sector "Legend's Home". Buy a Mistral Freighter there.
  • Buy a TM class ship like the Magnetar. They're about 500k and hold 4 M3-M5 ships. Get used to using it as a mobile base and freight storage. Learn how to call it to you, dock with it, send ships to it, and manage your different ship types. Learn about transfering cargo between ships (docked ships can only trade with the carrier, the carrier can trade with external). Keep ships with jumpdrives stocked within it, so that you can trade those jumpdrives over to captured ships that you want to keep without having to send them to a base that sells jumpdrives.
  • Use your magnetar to equip your claimed ships with a jumpdrive and some ecells. Use it to store M5/M4/M3 fighters.
  • Pick up a TP-class ship if you want to do some transport missions. They are generally very profitable.
  • You now probably have ships to do pretty much any mission. Freight with the Mistral, Combat with your Centaur, while also having a TM to store smaller ships and freight. If you find missions that interest you, Use the "jump to me" command to call your M6 to you. You can swap to another ship in space if you have a transporter. Get to learn the different types of missions, maybe do a few. Start getting friendly with all the races so you can buy their ships and stations. Once you have around 5-6 million, go to the next step.

Start Making Money:
  • Start playing the Corporate/Company Stock exchange to earn a quick buck while you're flying to other places. You'll need an advanced satellite in Nyana's Hideout, so put one there if you didn't install the script. Also, set up a hotkey to open the exchange without having to use the menu. For best short term results, scan down the list and find a company that is trading at it's minimum credits and also has a low credit price per share. Buy all of it's shares (4-5 million). Watch the ticker on the bottom of your screen. When it jumps a few credits, SELL. I try to sell once the profit is more than 300k. Invest that money into another stock that's trading at rock bottom. Get into the habit of opening the window when you jump or when you turn on SETA and you can make a lot of money very quickly.
  • Set up an EST trader or two with your stock market profits to start earning passive income while starting the universe's economy. Start with one or two and follow the guide. Set up as many as you like.
  • Learn how to manage your fleet of traders and keep them running properly. Money will start flowing in quickly. Also, be aware that sometimes they will be destroyed, and there's very little you can do about it. Roll with it, replace the ships and keep going.
  • Continue the main plot until you have to deliver Computer Components and Microchips. Time to set up factories to create them.

Become a factory Owner
  • Learn about stations. Check out the station constructor link. Plan out a Teladi 5MJ shield facility. You can build an Argon light shield production facility instead of Teladi if you don't have the rep.
  • Antigone Memorial contains Two very high ore asteroids and two high silicon asteroids. You might want to put it there. Take the price listed on that site and add 20%. That's how much money you need.
  • Go to Seizewell, communicate with the Albatross in system and hire them. Tell them to dock at the shipyard. Buy ore mine L. Tell it to go to Antigone Memorial.
  • Go to Antigone Memorial and wait for the Albatross. You'll be waiting a while. Scan the asteroids until you find the rich ones. Place the other stations using the Heph Corp Station builder (shift-b if you bound it). Use the arrow keys and insert to find an appropriate place, not too far a gate. Agree that, compared to the manual buy and placement of the ore mine, 20% extra to just have the stations built is a bargain. Once the Albatross gets there, place the station and select the correct asteroid.
  • Buy another Mistral or re-assign one of your trader Mistrals to CAG (dock at station, set home base to there, "Start Commercial Representation" from the trade menu) to keep your stations supplied with ecells and goods.
  • Once you have the money, plan and build a computer component and microchip factory, including it's food/bio requirement factories. Mines are the only factories you have to build manually because their output is dependent on the asteroid you place them on.
  • Think about buying the cheapest TL (Elephant) for 18 million and use it to build stuff while operating as a carrier and mobile base of operations. It holds 14 ships.

Plots!
  • Complete the main plot. Get a Boron rank of Queen's Guard (or higher), and explore sectores PTNI Headquarters and Queen's Harbor. You'll get two messages, one from NMMC for the Player Headquarters plot, and one from Atreus for the Hub Plot. Start working on both of them, but focus on PHQ first. Use Roguey's Guide if you need help.
  • Nvidium can be mined in various places, I mined mine in Perpetual Sin. Break up the nvidium into smaller rocks, then use the mine minerals command on a freighter and come back later. I did not do it manually.
  • build factories as needed to supply the required goods. You can build a factory to generate Tomahawk missiles. DON'T build factories for the Mosquito Missiles. They don't sell; buy them instead.
  • You'll need 48 million for the PHQ but you also get a free TL! You can use it to place mines rather than renting one from now on.

Build your Factory Empire
  • If you installed the FDN mod, either buy an equipment dock (30 million) put it anywhere in the universe and make it your FDN hub or, if you've got your PHQ from the NMNC plot, use that instead. Shift-Z (if bound), FDN main menu. Select Add Ware. Energy Cells. Now, select each ware listed, enable buying of item, sell ware past an appropriate stock level (I use stock level 1000, except higher (10k) for ecells and lower (500) for microchips. Add any other goods your factories need and enable buying of them. FDN will now manage all your factory needs, buy wares as needed, supply the factories, and then transfer their outputs to your equipment dock. You may now re-purpose your CAG Mistrals into additional EST universe traders as they are no longer needed.
  • Set up additional factories to make more money. Plan and build your first Solar Power Plant XL and it's requirements so you don't have to keep buying Ecells.

More plots, back to combat, end-game
  • Get top rank in the Split to start the Shady Business plot. Start the Corp Troubles plot and when you can, Breaking Grounds.
  • You're going to need to become friendly with the Terrans during Shady Business to buy items. It's not as hard as you think, just destroy argon M6s and M8s in war sectors until you're at -1, then go do terran missions in aldrin. You'll need to repair your Argon rank, but that's not too difficult.
  • Learn how to Capture ships with your M6. Either capture a Hyperion Vanguard or buy a Springblossom to use as your main M6.
  • Buy a M7M like the Cobra and learn how to use boarding pods to capture larger ships. Use Teladi stations to make Pirate Bases friendly. Buy any Boron marines you come across because their voice is funny. Learn about marine training and use marine repair to train your troops. Don't train them at military bases, it takes a week of game time and is a horrible mechanic. Throw endless waves of marines at Xenon ships to try and capture them.
  • Capture yourself a Pirate Carrack or Tiger M7 and fly around with it as your super-heavy flagship brawler.
  • Buy yourself a Colossus, equip it, fill it with Solanos or Aldrin fighters, and learn how to set up CODEA (ugh) and use automatic fighter wings for your Battlestar Galactica fun. If you're running advanced races, you can order ships pre-equipped from a shipyard.
  • Get the logistical war machine down. Capture and reverse-engineer Xenon ships. Create standing support fleets for xenon invasions. Capture the Xenon I, the strongest and hardest to capture ship in the game.
  • Start a war with someone. Use Advanced Races to capture sectors. Fight the Xenon and take over their sectors. Win?

:frogsiren:Game Resources:frogsiren:
Universe MAPS!
Option One. Best looking, but it's not accurate for AP. The unknown sectors are now owned and more exist.
Option Two is accurate to AP but more ugly.
Option Three which I find pretty unreadable is linked to the wiki.
Option Four. A standalone mapping program that uses your game files to generate a browsable external map. It looks like this.

X3 Wiki is invaluable when you are trying to figure out WTF or just want to look something up. I keep it up in the in-game browser.
Factory Complex Builder - helps calculate requirements and outputs of factory complexes.
Roguey's Guides - Plot Walkthroughs
Capturing Ships Guide
X Resource and Guides forums master list
Walkthrough Video Tutorial

Bhodi fucked around with this message at 19:55 on Jul 16, 2013

Bhodi
Dec 9, 2007

Oh, it's just a cat.
Pillbug
PLOT HELP AND SPOILERS

I need a Xenon L!

Giggily posted:

By this point in time you should have a Centaur or two. After a few hours of trying, this is what eventually worked for me.

  • Buy 8 Impulse Ray Emitters for your Centaur. These guns do nearly no damage, so they are great for making pilots bail. Mount them on your forward slot.
  • Get some salvage insurance on your Centaur so you can save in space.
  • Bring another combat capable ship with a transporter device and salvage insurance. I used a Springblossom for this, but any ship should work.
  • In your combat ship, find a mission to do a defense against Xenon. People have already mentioned good sectors to do this.
  • Dock at a station for an autosave, then undock and accept the mission. If the mission does not have any Ls, reload your save. If it does, save again.
  • Kill all of the non Ls. Save your game. If any have died reload your save and try again.
  • Switch to your Centaur. Once you get in range of the Ls, save your game again using salvage insurance.
  • Whittle down all of the Ls until one bails. Ram the others to death. If none of them bail reload.

It took me three tries doing this, but it actually worked in the span of 15~ minutes versus the hours of massacring Xenon in a Boreas that preceded it.

Corp Troubles Reward:
Reward is is a Corp HQ - you have 3 choices. OTAS+ATREUS Type, NMMC+TERRACORP Type or Strongarms+Dukes Type. It will cost you around 26m depending on how many shares missions you did. You will need your own TL to get it. I think this is SUPER WEAK since it's a corporate HQ which you can't really do anything with without external scripts and you already own a PHQ.

Shady Business Reward:
Depending on who you pick:
JSDD: 15.000.000 Cr. Lothan Blueprint[Can be bought at a shipyard as well]
Beryl: IBL and PBG Forges at the Yaki Shipyard, plus an Advanced Chokaro blueprint later
Strongarms: 5.000.000 Cr. + Pteranodon Blueprint[Can be bought at a shipyard as well]
You keep the new Split M6 Prototype in all branches of the plot.

Only the Beryl branch of the plot has a really unique and useful reward. You can always purchase the Pteranodon and the Lotan and reverse engineer them in your HQ if you feel like it. Be aware that you will be given a mission either to end the war or sabotage the peace process later in the game. If you end the war, you will take a hit to Yaki reputation and possibly (if you're rep is too low) be unable to buy Yaki ships and stations afterwards, including the IBL / PBG. If you sabotage the peace process, the war won't end.


Breaking Grounds Reward:
Your own sector. 6 naming choices, it's north from Void of Opportunity (east of PTNI Headquarters) and also connects with Heretic's End. 600% sun! It's got a few nevidium asteroids and a slew of crappy ore/silicon asteroids, too (Ore 22, 12, Silicon 12, 11, 10)

Important plot Corp Troubles Spoiler for the new UFJD sector
Make sure you SAVE when you jump in. You can reset the spawns if you load a game before the matching puzzle message. Make sure to pick up as many PALCs in the "Xenon Scrapyard" you can - there should be around 7. It's one of the only ways to get them in the game, so it's worth a few retries to get as many as you can to outfit the new M2. There are also a number of engine and rudder tunings that spawn with the waves of xenon. Be aware that once you pick up the final jumpdrive component (the 3rd? 4th?) your ship will automatically jump about a minute later.

Compiled spoiler notes for plot missions
During the mission, you can overtune the acononyx's top speed by picking up engine tunings in the UFJD sector during the test flight mission. The amount of engine tunings that can be found is random, so the eventual top speed may vary. My ship does 250 m/s, yours may end up faster if you're more lucky with the engine tunings, or if you save before each container spawns so you can reload if you're unhappy with the amount of engine tunings in it.

Once every 1-2 hours, 5-10 spaceflies will restock themselves EITHER at the Depths of Silence Military Outpost OR Strong Arms HQ. This was a last minute fail safe for those who absolutely find this part of the plot unbearable.

If you're killing 3 people to get the researcher to come over to your side, you can ram their ships with minor loss of reputation to that race.

The teladi station for research and development is in The Vault

"The Split Shipyard" needed is in Family Pride

The Mining Expert is at PTNI.

Freedom's Reach is where the Arrow/Starburst stuff is.

Bhodi fucked around with this message at 20:15 on Jun 16, 2013

V for Vegas
Sep 1, 2004

THUNDERDOME LOSER
Great new thread. I am inspired to learn to play this game again for the the tenth time.

staberind
Feb 20, 2008

but i dont wanna be a spaceship
Fun Shoe
Nice, that seems to include everything, oh, is scorps map in that list? http://www.suu-design.com/main.html its a pain to "install" if you are not used to the filesystem, but it has so many useful features. sorry I did not mention it before.

(Edit) : Yep, I have used it with AP, and also various mods that give you entirely new areas/totally different starmaps. with no problems.

staberind fucked around with this message at 00:02 on May 31, 2013

Bhodi
Dec 9, 2007

Oh, it's just a cat.
Pillbug
If you can confirm it works in AP, I'll add it. Keep in mind, the AP map is different from the TC map and it doesn't appear to have been updated.

Edit: Okay. Is it a script or standalone program? It seems to have it's own installer. Does it replace the map in-game?
Edit2: I get it. Standalone program that uses data from your X3 directory to generate a map. Added!

Bhodi fucked around with this message at 00:05 on May 31, 2013

staberind
Feb 20, 2008

but i dont wanna be a spaceship
Fun Shoe
Its a standalone, with scripts, while you are beetling around, you hit an assignable key and it updates a log00001.txt that you drop into your Users\[yournamehere]\Documents\Egosoft\X3AP or X3TC folder, you can tab out, open this map and its updated with your progress automatically, while it might be a little garish, it has various features that more than make up for that, like finding abandoned ships, how much stock a station has of a product and so on. this can be quicker during missions when you have to go find, say, 3 lasertowers. plus, if you have universe explorers off scouting for you, it updates in the same way.

Someguy
Jul 15, 2001

by Lowtax
Does anyone know of a simple script that actually informs you when one of your ships has been destroyed? I know you can enable a warning sound when one is under attack but it's weird that the only way to find out which ship has been destroyed is to go through a couple menus and check your log book. Like something that just scrawls along the bottom of the screen for a second or two, like when you're selecting missiles.

edit: doh, found what I was looking for https://www.x1tp.com/root/jdownloads/X3%20Terran%20Conflict/FIGHT/Fleet%20Management/Shipkillednotifications-V1.0.3-16.11.2008.spk

Someguy fucked around with this message at 02:10 on May 31, 2013

Richlove
Jul 24, 2009

Paragon of primary care

"What?!?! You stuck that WHERE?!?!

:staredog:


This is a phenomenal game that will steal hours of your life away and scratches that Privateer/Freelancer itch. That is a great OP and I wish I had that much direction when I first got into X3: Reunion years ago. I've always got sidetracked when playing the game and have never completed the plot missions all the way through nor have I gotten the player headquarters yet.

In short, this is a great purchase for :10bux:!

Prefect Six
Mar 27, 2009

I've installed several mods, some with the plugin and I think one without. Is there an easy way to just start over from the beginning with a clean slate? Should I just uninstall/reinstall?

turn off the TV
Aug 4, 2010

moderately annoying
So I hate myself and am considering grabbing Albion Prelude. I had a decent run through of TC going, but I gave up after getting super frustrated trying to get CAG working to get all of my freighters to move factory products between sectors. Are there any mods that make actual ship management easier? Having just a gigantic list of 50 owned ships is awful.

e: Oh my god, HUB is in this one too? :smithicide:

turn off the TV fucked around with this message at 02:51 on May 31, 2013

MechaCrash
Jan 1, 2013

Is there a way to go into the war sectors and push one side out so thoroughly that it stops being a war sector? It'll be nice to send ships through without having to worry about them getting shot in the crossfire.

Bhodi
Dec 9, 2007

Oh, it's just a cat.
Pillbug

Giggily posted:

Are there any mods that make actual ship management easier? Having just a gigantic list of 50 owned ships is awful.

e: Oh my god, HUB is in this one too? :smithicide:
The hub plot is very easy and makes fun of how hard the old one was, there are a few comments about crates and crates of microchips from the previous owner. As for ship management, you can now create fleets and manage fleets sort of like how you manage wings. The property menu is still unwieldy, unfortunately. If you find a way beyond assigning fighters to wings and then going in and individually hiding them from the menu, please let me know!

Note: Installing FDN makes factory management simple and makes CAG and complex hubs obsolete; I recommend running it to pretty much everybody.

MechaCrash posted:

Is there a way to go into the war sectors and push one side out so thoroughly that it stops being a war sector? It'll be nice to send ships through without having to worry about them getting shot in the crossfire.
If you complete the plot, there is a way to end the war through an optional sub-plot... if you don't pick yaki.


Prefect Six posted:

I've installed several mods, some with the plugin and I think one without. Is there an easy way to just start over from the beginning with a clean slate? Should I just uninstall/reinstall?
It's probably best, if you're wanting to remove the ones you installed without the plugin. I believe the plugin manager will overwrite any scripts that conflict, but don't hold me to that. In my current game, I'm running some with and some without as well.

Bhodi fucked around with this message at 03:07 on May 31, 2013

turn off the TV
Aug 4, 2010

moderately annoying

Bhodi posted:

Note: Installing FDN makes factory management simple and makes CAG and complex hubs obsolete; I recommend running it to pretty much everybody.

Does this just automatically teleport wares to stations? That seems a bit cheaty.

Good to know that the requirements for that plotline are easier.

Bhodi
Dec 9, 2007

Oh, it's just a cat.
Pillbug
Oh, It's cheaty as gently caress. I just imagine little cargo drones quietly ferrying stuff back and forth. Really, once you have 50+ factories setting up new ones and more CAGs is just tedious and unnecessary and provides no fun for me. The 30 million investment to get your first station, which you don't really do anything with, I feel is a suitable up-front price and comparable to a fleet of CAG traders. I recommend it because you'll be setting up a few factories, and setting up CAG at least a few times, so you get the experience - then you can switch over to a more automated thing once you can afford 30 million or complete the PHQ plot. You really can't access FDN immediately since it requires a player-owned station.

It's sort of the same philosophy as running Heph Corp to dump your stations in system. Who wants to hand hold your albatross for the 40th time while it docks and jumps ferries 3 or 4 stations at a time to your complex?

I added a section of plot spoilers.

Bhodi fucked around with this message at 03:26 on May 31, 2013

forbidden dialectics
Jul 26, 2005





There was an awesome script for TC, that I can't remember the name. Basically, it automated some fighters to setup your advanced satellite network. You would buy 4-5 M5s, and the script would send them out to buy satellites (when funds allowed), and drop them in configurable patterns in whatever system they entered. They were smart enough not to double-drop, and would avoid configurable areas. Any idea what it was called, and does it work with AP?

Filthy Monkey
Jun 25, 2007

Giggily posted:

Does this just automatically teleport wares to stations? That seems a bit cheaty.

Good to know that the requirements for that plotline are easier.
FDN is kind of cheaty, yeah. It can even teleport-sell and teleport-buy things from stations you don't own. That said, it is still a pretty impressive piece of work.

If you want something a little closer to stock in function, try complex cleaner. It crunches your factory together inside a big box with equivalent output. You then connect the modules and make a complex hub. It cleans up the asset screen a lot more than FDN does too (unless FDN has changes since I last used it). I consider complex cleaner one of my most necessary scripts.

Trying to build huge complexes without any sort of script/mod is a nightmare though. The mess of pipes alone will slow the game to a crawl when you look at them.

Bhodi
Dec 9, 2007

Oh, it's just a cat.
Pillbug

Nostrum posted:

There was an awesome script for TC, that I can't remember the name. Basically, it automated some fighters to setup your advanced satellite network. You would buy 4-5 M5s, and the script would send them out to buy satellites (when funds allowed), and drop them in configurable patterns in whatever system they entered. They were smart enough not to double-drop, and would avoid configurable areas. Any idea what it was called, and does it work with AP?
I investigated this, and tragically, the script you want was one of the casualties of the Megaupload takedown. No one on the forums seems to have kept it and the author is long gone. There were 2 or 3 other scripts that sort of did pieces of this, but they either had bugs, would get stuck, or weren't ported to AP. I really wanted it and looked very hard at all the options and eventually I decided the best compromise between a cheaty "put advanced satellites in every sector" and having to drop them manually is the one I recommend. Because you still have to manually enter the sector at least once, it's a nice compromise. Also, with detector and the (extra) hidden randomized ships. now there's a reason to explore the galaxy with a fast ship.


Complex cleaner is awesome. I don't use it, but I have a really beefy computer and never go into the sector all my factories are in so I don't really need it. I added it to the OP.

Bhodi fucked around with this message at 03:34 on May 31, 2013

turn off the TV
Aug 4, 2010

moderately annoying

Filthy Monkey posted:

FDN is kind of cheaty, yeah. It can even teleport-sell and teleport-buy things from stations you don't own. That said, it is still a pretty impressive piece of work.

If you want something a little closer to stock in function, try complex cleaner. It crunches your factory together inside a big box with equivalent output. You then connect the modules and make a complex hub. It cleans up the asset screen a lot more than FDN does too (unless FDN has changes since I last used it). I consider complex cleaner one of my most necessary scripts.

Trying to build huge complexes without any sort of script/mod is a nightmare though. The mess of pipes alone will slow the game to a crawl when you look at them.

I just got a mod that disabled the pipes in complexes, and it made everything run perfectly fine. My problem with CAG is that it just wouldn't work right. None of my traders would drop off goods, so they would just sit in their home stations with full cargo bays forever.

Squiggle
Sep 29, 2002

I don't think she likes the special sauce, Rick.


gently caress yes X3, I have a huge place in my heart for this game. It's as close as anyone has ever gotten to the exact game I want.

Fargin Icehole
Feb 19, 2011

Pet me.
Okay, I'll bite once again. Although I no longer have the patience to delve into huge games like these, I think I can try once again.

I asked this in the last thread. Wasn't there some sort of mod that added 3D cockpits? Or was that X2 that did it?

Necroneocon
May 12, 2009

by Shine
So I don't need to have X3: TC installed to play AP correct?

Bhodi
Dec 9, 2007

Oh, it's just a cat.
Pillbug
You can run without TC installed. If it's through steam, installing TC only adds a few hundred megs though. There's a lot of shared assets.

There's no cockpit mod for AP that I know of.

Filthy Monkey
Jun 25, 2007

I might have to get into playing X again. Only played AP on release, and basically didn't do anything but the plot.

At any rate, if I am doing it again, I am definitely going with poisoned paranid. I've done it before with TC, and an overtuned hyperion vanguard is too sweet of a plum to pass up. I made a quick .reg file to unlock all of the game starts in AP, if anybody else in interested. The method was the same as TC.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/43421440/unlockstarts.reg

Fewd
Mar 22, 2007

#vmp #opsec #kolmiloikka #happoo
Does X3AP still poo poo on your patrol missions and such by jumping in large defense fleets all over everything so you can't get any kills? I think that was the main reason I stuck with TC when I last played X3.

turn off the TV
Aug 4, 2010

moderately annoying

Fewd posted:

Does X3AP still poo poo on your patrol missions and such by jumping in large defense fleets all over everything so you can't get any kills? I think that was the main reason I stuck with TC when I last played X3.

You poor fool. Why would you do anything besides run Taxi missions?

Foodahn
Oct 5, 2006

Pillbug
Wow I did not know all those extra plots were in the game, I've been sitting here for days cursing my cable companys lack of internet service because I had no simple way to download a script that allowed me to purchase IBL forges, I should have just kept playing instead of stockpiling money.

You really need IBLs in a Panther to be able to make the most out of it; 20 Chimeras taking off at once looks badass but they don't really have the punch to take down something much larger than a small frigate or large corvette. Atleast in a reasonable time.

Filthy Monkey
Jun 25, 2007

M7 is kind of an awkward ship class. They are slow, and can't dock everywhere like an M6. At the same time, most don't really have access to destroyer-power weaponry. Your Panther is definitely one of the good ones, what with the big fighter bay, but as you said, you need IBLs. IBLs are the precious stopgap weapon you can put on some M7s.

The other M7 I like is the shrike, mostly because it can mount four gauss cannon. Another destroyer-class weapon, and even better, they don't require power.

For the most part, I always liked stopping at M6 for my daily pimpombile spacecraft. The feel like the best compromise between power and speed. Especially the springblossom or an overtuned vanguard. My favorite is probably the hyperion, even when pitted against the blossom's super speed, mostly because of its missile selection. I like being able to launch typhoons or wraiths.

Apparently AP has eight crates randomly placed containing overtunings in the base game now. Makes picking the ship you want to put those on pretty important. I wonder how much they add up to be. Might make flying an M7 as a main ship more tolerable? Even then, I would probably just further overtune a vanguard.

Filthy Monkey fucked around with this message at 06:32 on May 31, 2013

Twenty Drunk Apes
Jun 17, 2012

The mane you say? Please note that this is a pity avatar because even bronies feel sorry for this poster so :effort:.
Wait, is the only way you can get Overtunings is by finding them randomly in the game world? There's no secret base you can buy them from at a price so high that it'll make your eyes explode?

Necroneocon
May 12, 2009

by Shine

Bhodi posted:

You can run without TC installed. If it's through steam, installing TC only adds a few hundred megs though. There's a lot of shared assets.

There's no cockpit mod for AP that I know of.

Thanks you freed up a lot of necessary HD space for me.

G.I.Jebus
Jun 19, 2004
G.I.Jebus
Thanks for the addon compilation Bhodi. I always want to get back into this game but most every time the addons don't play nice and I quit out of frustration. These seem to work fine.

I did not see Teladi Information Services in the compilation zip unless it's under a different name, though the one from the link to egosoft works fine.

Time to dust off the X52 and murder everything.

G.I.Jebus fucked around with this message at 19:41 on May 31, 2013

Fewd
Mar 22, 2007

#vmp #opsec #kolmiloikka #happoo

Giggily posted:

You poor fool. Why would you do anything besides run Taxi missions?

Skipping every entertaining part of the game is an interesting suggestion. If I ever pick this game up instead of TC, I'll give it a shot and see how it works out. Thanks!

Friend Commuter
Nov 3, 2009
SO CLEVER I WANT TO FUCK MY OWN BRAIN.
Smellrose

Bhodi posted:

If you complete the plot, there is a way to end the war through an optional sub-plot... if you don't pick yaki.

You can still end the war if you side with the Yaki, you just have to choose to fight them during the Ambassadors mission instead of blowing up the Ozias.

Taerkar
Dec 7, 2002

kind of into it, really

Filthy Monkey posted:

Apparently AP has eight crates randomly placed containing overtunings in the base game now. Makes picking the ship you want to put those on pretty important. I wonder how much they add up to be. Might make flying an M7 as a main ship more tolerable? Even then, I would probably just further overtune a vanguard.

I've used the Griffon Sentinel as my primary ship more than a few times. I got its speed up to around 190 m/s thanks to an overtuning crate or two that I found.

Freight drones and its 9 ship hangar make it fairly viable.

kedo
Nov 27, 2007

Fantastic new OP.

I think I may need to do a clean install so I can start over with modding via the plugin manager instead of just dropping files into folders manually. As long as I reinstall the same mods I'm running right now, my save should continue to work – right?

Also this is amusing to me:

quote:

Good Initial Home Sectors:
...
Omicron Lyrae

as there have been big rear end battles raging in that system in my game for the past copule of days. I dropped in there looking for trouble when I first got my M6 and was immediately obliterated by about ten Terran Yokohamas who were gate camping and had just finished gang banging an Argon Colossus & support craft.

And that's how I learned the value of advanced satellites and scout ships! :downs:

Bhodi
Dec 9, 2007

Oh, it's just a cat.
Pillbug

Friend Commuter posted:

You can still end the war if you side with the Yaki, you just have to choose to fight them during the Ambassadors mission instead of blowing up the Ozias.
Oh? I haven't gotten there yet. I assume you lose access to the shipyard in the Badlands if you go that route? Maybe that's what people meant. I'll correct that.

G.I.Jebus posted:

I did not see Teladi Information Services in the compilation zip though it's under a different name, though the one from the link to egosoft works fine.
Whoops, must have missed it. Added!

Twenty Drunk Apes posted:

Wait, is the only way you can get Overtunings is by finding them randomly in the game world? There's no secret base you can buy them from at a price so high that it'll make your eyes explode?
There are 3 ways of Overtuning your ship, plus the random tuning from the Poisoned Paranid game start.

When a new game is created, there are 10 overtuning crates spawned in pirate sectors. The distribution between top speed and turning is random so some people like to hit new game, run a script that finds their location, and restart until they are mostly engine.

There are sometimes tunings spawned in the UFJD sectors. I've never seen them myself, but someone on the forums said they spent 40 mins or so jumping in, sending scouts to "explore sector" out to 50km, and then jumping out, and got a couple from that.

Finally, are random tunings spawned in the unique UFJD sector of the shady business plot, the Xenon Graveyard.

I added that to the OP.

quote:

as there have been big rear end battles raging in that system in my game for the past copule of days. I dropped in there looking for trouble when I first got my M6 and was immediately obliterated by about ten Terran Yokohamas who were gate camping and had just finished gang banging an Argon Colossus & support craft.
AHHH, I pulled that list from Terran Conflict, sorry. Being a war sector means it's no longer a good start. Removed!

kedo
Nov 27, 2007

Another question... is there a way in vanilla AP (or with mods) to direct ships other than the one I'm piloting to an empty point in space? In your own ship you can just right click anywhere in the sector map and you'll autopilot to that location. However I can't seem to figure out if it's possible to do this with other ships I own.

There's the "move to position" command, but that seems to require a specific destination (eg. a station, ship, asteroid, etc).

X3 would be like 80 million times better and easier to use if I could just select one of my ships in the sector map and then right click on where I want it to go, instead of always having to issue commands via r > right arrow > right arrow > enter > c > etc.

Bhodi
Dec 9, 2007

Oh, it's just a cat.
Pillbug
Sort of. I agree, it would be much, MUCH easier. You can look at the NICE Interface Enchancement, but I've never used it. Give us a trip report!

Also, once in the sector view of the move to position command, you can use the arrow keys (and insert) to select a specific point in space, but that's not really helpful in the speed-things-up usability process.

You can also group ships into wings and fleets and command the entire wing/fleet to do something or go somewhere.

Bhodi fucked around with this message at 15:08 on May 31, 2013

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Taerkar
Dec 7, 2002

kind of into it, really

kedo posted:

Another question... is there a way in vanilla AP (or with mods) to direct ships other than the one I'm piloting to an empty point in space? In your own ship you can just right click anywhere in the sector map and you'll autopilot to that location. However I can't seem to figure out if it's possible to do this with other ships I own.

There's the "move to position" command, but that seems to require a specific destination (eg. a station, ship, asteroid, etc).

X3 would be like 80 million times better and easier to use if I could just select one of my ships in the sector map and then right click on where I want it to go, instead of always having to issue commands via r > right arrow > right arrow > enter > c > etc.

You use the numeric keypad to move the position indicator. The home/end/page up/page down keys manipulate the map as well, including zoom and rotation I believe.

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