[TC] Trips guide to Towing Stations

[triple88a]

When i first started playing the game i was excited to get a station. Well after i've had some time to settle in in the sectors and curve the traffic a bit, i found out that my stations are in bad locations.

The solution was to move my stations in the right spots.

I saw a towing guide with no luck.

Getting a Tractor Beam:
Go to "Third Redemption" system and buy a Tractor beam from the factories there. If none have it, you will have to build your own factory and make it.


Using the Tractor Beam:
I could not figure out how to get the turret to shoot at my station so i used my Vidar that i got from the TC plot and simply mounted the Beam in one of the front main gun slots. Make sure you turn off all your other weapons so you're not shooting at your stations and causing damage. Simply get about 1.5-2k from your station and do 1 click to shoot at it with the Beam, you will see an orange beam connecting your ship and the station at the spot you shot at. If you dont get that beam, close up on the station and try again. If you're not getting any luck try clicking on another spot of the station such as the docking ring.


In my example i am towing a Solar Power Plant L
(click image to enlarge)
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Moving the station:
To hook the station you simply click on it, to unhook it, you simply turn the ship around and click away and the beam will shoot into open space.
Now the main thing here is you do not want to click and hold the tractor beam, you simply give it a tap and its hooked, that's it. Once you're connected you can start towing the station. Turn the ship around and accelerate the ship in the direction you want to go. My Vidar tows stuff at 80m/s. Even at 1000% it has no issues. Depends where you hook the station at, it will turn. On my example i hooked the station at the big dish. Once you get the station in the abouts of where you want it, brake to stop and its time to adjust it. Click into open space to disconnect from the station. Orange beam should now disappear.

(click image to enlarge)
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Rotating the station:
This requires quite a bit of time to get used to but in my opinion is quite fun. Once you have the station in your general area, you can turn it so it faces the sun or so forth. The station it self has a center so technically the station can be rotated around that point. This is how you rotate the station, you simply hook it at the outer most point, and slowly do a big circle around the station and it will turn the station. If you still dont understand it, take a pencil, lay it down on the table, push one side with your finger, if you push it at a right angle, it turns, if you push it the long way, it simply slides. Same deal here.
On my image you can see the green part being the station and representing mass of the station, The orange is the rope (tractor beam) connecting the station to your ship, the red line is the path you would take to rotate the station around. The basic thing you gotta remember is if you want to turn the station you have to connect the tractor beam as far away from the center as you can. On the other hand if you want to simply move the station without turning it, you want to grab it close to the center as you can.

(click image to enlarge)
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Useful tips:
I found using the F3 Target camera very useful as you can see your entire station so you dont bump into anything on your way there. Also use the number keys on the right of your keyboard to move your camera around while towing. Use a easy to handle ship for towing, you dont want to tow with a heavy carrier...It will work assuming the ship can mount the tractor beam but its just slow.

Here is my final line up,
Solar station up top, crystal under that, a photon pulse cannon forge under that, a silicon mine on left and an ore mine on right, and at last the hub at the top right.

(click image to enlarge)
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[Triaxx2]

Awesome complex. Looks like some sort of ray gun from that angle.

Two useful additions: F1 allows you to cycle through your turrets to latch on with other mounts.

The beam can push as well as pull, so if you go too far, you can slowly back up without having to fly around and reattach.

[Dareliisko]

turning a solar power plant to the sun isnt required though is it? just for like yours to make it look good?

[StarTroll]

turning a solar power plant to the sun isnt required though is it? just for like yours to make it look good?

Yeah it is just for the looks that stations are moved once they are out of harm's way and in complexing range.

[triple88a]

fixed the images there so now they are small but get big when you click on them instead of them being big to begin with.

[Bill67]

I have a question about complexes and towing, does the tubing/tunnel stretch when try to pull a factory from complex or does it disappear and re-attach after you moved 1 factory? Barely started making complexes in my game but was curious how that worked....

[StarTroll]

No towing for complexed stations, you either do it before complexing, or destroy the Hub and recomplex every single station.

[brucewarren]

Unless they've changed it since, there is one way to tow a complexed
station.

I found out the hard way that if you forget to release the beam when
you complex it up, it's still possible to tow the station.

I managed to tow a comlexed up station a considerable distance by
accident.

Of course once you release the beam, you cannot relock it.