X3R: How to activate SETA while docked?

[username-1]

How can I activate SETA while docked? Can it be activated by a script?

[mrbadger]

It can't be activated, not sure if there is a script for it, check the scripts and modding forum.

If you do want to leave your game on SETA for long periods, fly out into space until you are at the limit if the distance the 'move to position' command can send you, then sit there.

You realise you are going to lose a lot of your stations and ships doing that though?

[username-1]

It can't be activated, not sure if there is a script for it, check the scripts and modding forum.

Thanks, I'll ask there again.

If you do want to leave your game on SETA for long periods, fly out into space until you are at the limit if the distance the 'move to position' command can send you, then sit there.

You realise you are going to lose a lot of your stations and ships doing that though?

Well, I don't have a lot of stations and ships. I had to start a new game after wasting two weeks on one in which there were almost no AL freighters. Now there seem to be a lot more pirates, too. In none of the games I made a lot of money. I'm trying to get back to where I was and don't have any stations yet. Now the AL freighters seem to be there, but the game runs awfully slow compared to before. They should have programmed it so that it makes use of as many CPUs as are available ...

Anyway, I'm sometimes sitting docked while waiting for a ship to finish its command or for something else to happen. I only have the choice to undock and redock to use SETA or to wait, wait, wait, wait ... SETA while docked is simply a required feature.

[jlehtone]

You could be doing something else, rather than just waiting.

I'm trying to get back to where I was and don't have any stations yet.

Install the cheat package and use it to give yourself the credits and ships you had. A much quicker and safer way to "get back to where you were".

[mrbadger]

SETA while docked is simply a required feature.

Not really. As I said you can head out away from other stations and ships and do it there.

SETA is meant to be used to reduce travel times, not make money. Using it for long periods will stress your computer too. As jlehtone says, if you want the cash, use the cheat script pack.

Or upgrade to X3:TC. Its so easy to make money in TC it's just silly

[silenced]

How can I activate SETA while docked? Can it be activated by a script?

You can "dock" in an "Unknown Sector", the one west of X534 is kind of perfect, and then move ~ 80 km away from whatever and activate SETA, nothing will disturb you.

[BugMeister]

using SETA for long, uninterrupted sessions will eventually screw your game up completely..
you'll have Kha'ak invasions and all sorts going on that you won't know about

and you risk completely losing control of the player's log as it clogs up with messages..

- not worth it, IMO..

- I use it for fast travel mostly,
- just hanging in space on SETA, away from the shipping/docking lanes
- if you are waiting on events in-game, is OK

- but leaving SETA on unattended for long periods is pure folly, IMO..

[RoadRunner12]

SETA while docked is simply a required feature.

I disagree. Where's the fun in just setting a load of stuff up, sticking SETA on and going to bed or doing something else? Surely it's better to set all your stations/traders up and go exploring, pirate hunting or running missions, and making even more cash whilst your empire is running itself? Why would you want to spend real world money on a game and then spend hours not playing it?

[fud]

Heh. I'm almost 4 game days into TC at the moment. "Time saved by SETA: 00:00:00".


The first thing I do in a new game is eject it, then blow it up.


Back in Reunion, I tried the "SETA park" thing, once.

I let it run during the morning when I was at work. Got home at lunch, SETA was off, and all my ships were dead.

Since then, I just don't use it at all.

[Lyth]

My combat game is on hour 14 and it gets a little bleurgh just killing/capping and making every second count. The whole beauty of the X series is that people can play it how they want too and I've always enjoyed the RTS side of it. Alot more enduring for me personally than rinse and repeat fighting vs dumb AI that requires little to no skill as opposed to in depth game management that will test you.
----
Because good managers that have done their job properly only need to calculate the time they next need to micromanage their operations and generally have far better things to be doing in the meantime.

2 excerpts from Delrays thread on alt-tabbing/backround running because I couldnt be bothered to repeat myself. This topic always crops up on the use of SETA.

If people couldn't play it how they wanted it wouldn't be X.

Sorry to hear about your bad experience with SETA fud, personally I enjoy using SETA to see how well I have created my empire and if I lose ships I only have myself to blame for bad management.

I have found their is no challenge in X3:TC in making money after the first few hours by doing missions or capturing ships so why would I play a game as was said so rightfully that I did not enjoy and pay good money for?

-Bugmeister, I love it. I have over 100 patrols running and 1000 Advsats so not much gets past my empire. I rather enjoy sitting down with a cup of coffee/smoke and reading through the news/message log then updating my ships to compensate.

[jlehtone]

<snip> Alot more enduring for me personally than rinse and repeat fighting vs dumb AI that requires little to no skill as opposed to in depth game management that will test you.
----
Because good managers that have done their job properly only need to calculate the time they next need to micromanage their operations and generally have far better things to be doing in the meantime.

2 excerpts from Delrays thread on alt-tabbing/backround running because I couldnt be bothered to repeat myself. This topic always crops up on the use of SETA. <snip>

The simulation aspect. Yes, that is a logical use for SETA, although the "... generally have far better things to be doing in the meantime." can refer to in-game activity too, and not just to out-game cup of tea.

But OP has not expressed a need for simulation, just a request for method to restore a game state. S&M answers that request.

So you are right indeed; the SETA "discussions" are a collection of multiple topics. IMO it does depend on the true reason for requesting "docked SETA", whether the answer is "good solution" or "bad idea".

[Lyth]

Very True, Neither am I criticising anyone for playing the game how they want too, was just trying to show the other side of the coin. I play an almost no SETA game myself I just don't find it as much fun personally and agreed the OP is far better off recreating his empire with scripts or take his experience and knowledge and build a better one.

Bad copy on my part - makes more sense in the other thread.

[nipplefish]

I actually only use SETA when I'm physically flying between places, just to cut down on travel time. I do sometimes leave the game running while I'm at work, but only in realtime. This method makes sense to me... my character (Mikey McCheese) has to sleep, after all... the world doesn't just disappear when he's asleep!

[Lyth]

Class name, I like it.

[fud]

In Reunion, I had the original name of "Drew"...

In TC, his name is R. Swipe.

[Lyth]

*wipes a tear* These names deserve a new thread.

[username-1]

You could be doing something else, rather than just waiting.

Sometimes that isn't possible.

I'm trying to get back to where I was and don't have any stations yet.

Install the cheat package and use it to give yourself the credits and ships you had. A much quicker and safer way to "get back to where you were".

Yeah, I found I already have a script that spawns ships, and I wrote one myself to give me money.

But now that the AL freighters are working and since I have built a small complex, the game is running so slow that it isn't playable anymore.

[Gold Dragon]

Sounds almost as if too many scripts are running.

my favourite hidey-spot is "docking" on an asteroid (not a mine, altho that could be done, too) in a fashion similar to the way that Han Solo "docked" on an Imperial Star Destroyer in Empire Strikes Back.

Works up to M3+, but I've not tried it in an M6 or greater.

[username-1]

SETA while docked is simply a required feature.

Not really. As I said you can head out away from other stations and ships and do it there.

What do you do when you need to dock somewhere to exchange freight with another of your ships that is about to arrive? Undock to use SETA and redock? What do you do when you want to save the game and eventually reload while building a complex? Undock and dock 500 times while directing the ship around that goes back and forth to bring the factories into the sector where they are build? What do you do when you're docked and something needs your attention and you want to watch how it develops over some time? Undock and redock?

Each time I dock, the game creates an autosave, and that takes ages. I know I could turn that off, but then I'd forget to save when it's actually needed. SETA just has to work while docked, there's no way around that.

SETA is meant to be used to reduce travel times, not make money. Using it for long periods will stress your computer too.

It's for reducing waiting times --- one type of those waiting times is created by traveling. In which way does it stress the computer? By making it do the kind of work it was designed for?

Or upgrade to X3:TC. Its so easy to make money in TC it's just silly

They don't have a Linux version of that.

[username-1]

But OP has not expressed a need for simulation, just a request for method to restore a game state. S&M answers that request.

Not exactly; I was asking for a way to turn on SETA while docked. For some reason, everyone thinks I want to do that to pile up money.

Piling up money is one possible use for SETA, but when you run the game on SETA to pile up money (while AFK), it doesn't matter if you're docked or sit/fly around at a remote and safe-enough place in some sector. The outcome is the same in each case: You eventually pile up money and/or eventually suffer losses because you haven't become aware of what's going on while you were not paying attention. If you want to take that chance or not is up to you.

But, as said, I want to be able to turn on SETA while docked because I'm sometimes docked while waiting on something or watching something. Having to undock and redock makes it a hassle. When I want to use SETA to pile up money, I don't care if I can be docked or not while doing so.