Firestorms, hornets and Teladi

[Kapakio]

One thing has been bugging me for a while. How come Teladi have High Yield Missiles factories that produce Firestorms and Hornets but don't sell the individual factories in the shipyards?

Well, just a little rant after realizing that I will have to create a separate complex for those missiles (I have a big one producing Typhoons)

[gandy|UKCS|]

it would be nice to have those mini complexes in game, but i look at them as a special development by the race

[Paranoid66]

Argon do exactly the same thing with Hornets as well. Produced in complexes but no individual Hornet stations you can buy - frustrating.

Argons must be very spotty and unhealthy eating all those cahoonas.

[Gavrushka]

Argons must be very spotty and unhealthy eating all those cahoonas.

What gets me is that they make MISSILES out of Cahoonas - or is there some huge fat bloke that feels the need to eat a herd of cattle after polishing his Hornet?

[Paranoid66]

Without doubt the foodstuffs idea is suggesting a large workforce but it is sadly simplistic while the whole Cahoona thing is bit of a tired old joke. One that should probably have been dropped ages ago. This is not after all super mario.

All that food is also rather at odds with X's heavy use of automation.

I think much more generic terms for trade and resource items would be better for example:

Argon Rations
Paranid Rations
Electronics
Raw Ores
Rare Ores

Things like that which do not stretch credibility and would work just as well.

[mrbadger]

Argon Rations
Paranid Rations
Electronics
Raw Ores
Rare Ores

Things like that which do not stretch credibility and would work just as well.

But this is just a game. generic 'rations' would be exactly the same as Cahoons, or Nostrop oil. Therefore that change would make the game less interesting.

More complexity, such as needing a number of different food types, would make life far too hard, especially for new players trying to set up their own stations. If the economy were to have even the slightest fluctuation in supply, local, or larger scale in-game economic crashes could occur. That would again be beyond most new players to fix, meaning they'd just decided the game was broken or give up.

If to prevent economic collapses you made it so NPC stations didn't actually need all the products (in TC its only SSPs that don't need resources), you'd end up such that the players efforts would have no effect on the economy, it wouldn't get better or worse. That would be boring.

[Paranoid66]

I do not think cahoonas are colour they are just a bit sad and fanboy for people who have fond memories of the earlier games - just my opinion.

Changing the names would make a difference to me: it would make the commodities I was moving seem sensible - not a joke - and would enhance not damage game atmosphere.

I am not suggesting removing resources just relooking at labelling them for later games.

If you use more generic terms it would work better with the plot as well when you try to pretend X is not a totally false environment but somehow a living breathing universe. People would not live just on cahoonas it is daft.

You can have lots of fun quirky stuff in the civilain ships etc there is no need for it in the main trade commodities.

I know it is just a game but I hate - twee - especially when applied to science fiction, fantasy, or science fantasy.

[Nanook]

I do not think cahoonas are colour they are just a bit sad and fanboy for people who have fond memories of the earlier games - just my opinion.

Changing the names would make a difference to me: it would make the commodities I was moving seem sensible - not a joke - and would enhance not damage game atmosphere.

I am not suggesting removing resources just relooking at labelling them for later games.

If you use more generic terms it would work better with the plot as well when you try to pretend X is not a totally false environment but somehow a living breathing universe. People would not live just on cahoonas it is daft.

You can have lots of fun quirky stuff in the civilain ships etc there is no need for it in the main trade commodities.

I know it is just a game but I hate - twee - especially when applied to science fiction, fantasy, or science fantasy.

A little bit of humor never hurt anyone. You shouldn't take such things, especially the X games, so seriously.

Cahoona burgers, squeaky Boron voices, spaceflies, 'Suzie' - they all add to the atmosphere of the game, making it more than just a dry, first-person spreadsheet. Sounds like the latter is more what you're describing.

[Paranoid66]

I have nothing against humour or injokes or any of that. I just think humour could be better placed to enhance rather than detract from the game, and should perhaps not be in the labels of the day to day commodities.

Good examples are the station announcements and com traffic - a perfect place for humour - done well stuff can be funny and still make sense as well.

The way I see it a lot of effort is put into the suspension of disbelief by the makers of a game: all those beautifu graphics and so on are all part of a carefully constrcted illusion. Unfortunately small things can ruin a lot of that effort: still I am sure different things bother different people.

However, the cahoona thing is to me a (in your face) reminder that I am playing a daft computer game not immersed in a wondrously constructed and fun alternative reality.

[jlehtone]

All the (space) trading games have commodities to trade, don't they? And they have to call them something. One game / game universe chooses one set of names, an another uses different names. Otherwise the games would all look exactly the same.


It is quite simple for a user to change the offending names. Needed tools are mentioned in S&M [url=http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=216693]TC Tutorials[/url].

[Paranoid66]

I get it we are talking the - sacred - X cahoonas I give up.

[Nanook]

....
The way I see it a lot of effort is put into the suspension of disbelief by the makers of a game: all those beautifu graphics and so on are all part of a carefully constrcted illusion. ....

You're kidding, right? "Carefully constructed illusion" ≠ hordes of rocks, sectors full of 'fog', 'fog' that hides close up things like stations, ships, and those rocks, while revealing planets and stars in the background. Not to mention the ability to communicate with your own ships and stations on the other side of the universe, yet having to be within 25km to talk to someone in the same sector. You mean that "carefully constructed illusion"?

We can go on and on about illusion-breaking design if you want. I think 'meatsteak cahoonas' is a minor thing, to be honest. There's nothing "sacred" about meatsteak cahoonas, it's just that it doesn't bother most people the way it seems to bother you. It's just part of the quirkiness.

[mrbadger]

There's nothing "sacred" about meatsteak cahoonas, it's just that it doesn't bother most people the way it seems to bother you. It's just part of the quirkiness.

Cahoona's not sacred? BURN THE UNBELEIVER!!!

I hereby appoint myself Grand Cahoona, representative of the holy Kabab, and will condemn any heretics to a 'Tour of a lifetime' with Mi Ton as the only passenger.

You see if I don't....

[Ulan Dhor]

....
The way I see it a lot of effort is put into the suspension of disbelief by the makers of a game: all those beautifu graphics and so on are all part of a carefully constrcted illusion. ....

You're kidding, right? "Carefully constructed illusion" ≠ hordes of rocks, sectors full of 'fog', 'fog' that hides close up things like stations, ships, and those rocks, while revealing planets and stars in the background. Not to mention the ability to communicate with your own ships and stations on the other side of the universe, yet having to be within 25km to talk to someone in the same sector. You mean that "carefully constructed illusion"?

We can go on and on about illusion-breaking design if you want. I think 'meatsteak cahoonas' is a minor thing, to be honest. There's nothing "sacred" about meatsteak cahoonas, it's just that it doesn't bother most people the way it seems to bother you. It's just part of the quirkiness.

Heh, yes. I think the name "space sim" is a bit of a stretch for the game. But I guess the genre is just called so. Anyway, I think the game is better for it. The X universe follows the rule of fun and player convenience, not reality. And I'm thankful for this.

[Paranoid66]

There's nothing "sacred" about meatsteak cahoonas, it's just that it doesn't bother most people the way it seems to bother you. It's just part of the quirkiness.

Cahoona's not sacred? BURN THE UNBELEIVER!!!

I hereby appoint myself Grand Cahoona, representative of the holy Kabab, and will condemn any heretics to a 'Tour of a lifetime' with Mi Ton as the only passenger.

You see if I don't....

Nooooooooooooo.

I repent grovel and ask to be forgiven.

Clearly there is much more to this Argon Cahoona business than I had at first supposed.

Still I am a bit confused as I have been unable to locate the necessary secondary resource of a Ketchup Factory and did the Xenon blow up all the Fries Fabs as well?

[Gavrushka]

Cahoona in Swalam dialect of Twarag means 'Runny Turd' .

[Axident]

But as well as being a tasty and nutritious snack, they also make great seat cushions.

from 101 uses for a Cahoona. Soon to come: 101 uses for a dead boron.

[Kapakio]

All I wanted to know is why Teladi don't have Firestorm and Hornet missiles factories...

[jlehtone]

All I wanted to know is why Teladi don't have Firestorm and Hornet missiles factories...

Have and have. They have a forest, so they did buy a paper making machine for their needs. But they are not the experts on design and production of paper making machines, so they cannot produce and sell them themselves. Oops, not a paper industry topic? Even if you use MS Windows, you cannot rewrite and recompile it for redistribution. What, not a program licensing topic either?

It probably is a licensing topic. Paranids hold the IPR to Hornets. The unholy ones can purchase Forges from them, but Emperor Xaar would be triply annoyed for anyone producing replicas of their superior technology. You know how the Paranids are.

As for seeing complexes, the Guilds have probably forced a deal of modularity to the races in order to keep space compact. Luckily private loonies are not bound by such compatibility nonsense.

[Gavrushka]

All I wanted to know is why Teladi don't have Firestorm and Hornet missiles factories...

Have and have. They have a forest, so they did buy a paper making machine for their needs. But they are not the experts on design and production of paper making machines, so they cannot produce and sell them themselves. Oops, not a paper industry topic? Even if you use MS Windows, you cannot rewrite and recompile it for redistribution. What, not a program licensing topic either?

It probably is a licensing topic. Paranids hold the IPR to Hornets. The unholy ones can purchase Forges from them, but Emperor Xaar would be triply annoyed for anyone producing replicas of their superior technology. You know how the Paranids are.

As for seeing complexes, the Guilds have probably forced a deal of modularity to the races in order to keep space compact. Luckily private loonies are not bound by such compatibility nonsense.

The scary part is I'm nodding enthusiastically all the way through this...