Factory/CAG question X3:TC(with bonus pack)

[dryfus3368]

OK, Quick Question, is there a simple "rule of thumb" that I can use to let me know how many CAGs I need for a complex??

For instance, I have a weedplex that goes "Idle" occasionally (ie flashes yellow at me), from lack of Ecells. It's got 4 L swamp plant facts and 4 L Spaceweed Facts, and 3 CAG that have the weed and intermediate resources blacklisted, so they can only buy Ecells, and I still run out, so does that mean I need more CAGs, or do I need to do something else??

[Playbahnosh]

IMHO, you are better off slapping on an e-cell loop than relying on traders to keep your plex functional. Much less pain in the @$$ in the long run.

If you do want to solve this the hard way, you should take into account the number, distance and productivity of solar plants in the vicinity and adjust your traders accordingly. Solar plants are always looted dry by NPCs in high-traffic industrial sectors and around them, so you either bring in the e-cell from far away or you build your own.

[ajax34i]

You can probably increase the price at which you're buying the E-cells, and increase the range (number of jumps).

You have 8 L factories, that probably consumes the equivalent of a couple XL solar plants or 8 L solar plants, so you need to beat the NPC traders in price and / or extend the range to have access to enough NPC solar plants to feed you.

Best way to tell is if your 3 traders spend any time in standby sitting in station. That means they're not finding energy to buy at the prices/range you have selected. If none of them are standby at all, that means they can't ferry it fast enough, and in this case you need more TSes.

[Ebonyfly]

Hi Dryfus,

I don't think there is a good rule of thumb because it depends on several factors such as pirate activity and how far your complex is from the nearest jump gate.

A key factor is the level of your CAG traders because they are fairly terrible at anything except sector trading until they can use Jump drives (level Trader and above) at which point they become a lot more useful.

Once you have fully trained CAGs I would have thought three or four should be enough unless your complex is in a really bad location. Just add CAGs one at a time until you reach the sweet spot where they can keep your complex running.

[dryfus3368]

I have 10 CAG/CLS trained to logistician at most times. Or at leat in training. I find that after the first ten, I rarely need more than 5 fully trained at a time, as long as I have 5 in training.

[Snafu_X3]

3 CAG that have the weed and intermediate resources blacklisted,

That's almost certainly your problem: the blacklist

2 ways around it, both methods require you to remove all the wares from the blacklist:

a) change the 'blacklist' to a 'trade list' & add ecells (& any other required wares) to the ware list

b) Set one CAG to 'Shopper' from 'trade duties' & one to 'Salesman' (if you want them to sell your wares rather than relying on NPCs). Leave all other settings as default. Note that the 'salesman' will be subject to illegal goods penalties unless you take steps to avoid sectors where your products are illegal

[Nanook]

The common wisdom regarding illegal goods complexes is never use a seller, because they're subject to getting scanned and losing their cargo mid-shipment. NPC traders will keep your complex at or near empty all the time, and they take all the risks.

As for the 'rule of thumb' regarding number of CAG's, it depends on the cargo holds of their ships. I find that the larger the cargo bay on CAG ships, the more efficient they are. Even a maxed-out Mistral Superfreighter can get a full load at XL SPP's, meaning a lot fewer trips.

[dryfus3368]

It also helps to make sure that the jumpdrive setting is on It was off on all the CAGs at that station. Probably at least part of the problem.

[Snafu_X3]

It also helps to make sure that the jumpdrive setting is on

My way around this is the first time I set up a CAG/CLS ship I go through all the menus, setting what I wish to be my default (use JD = yes; acoustic signal on messages = yes; auto naming = 4) & then save the settings as 'basic trader'. Then when I set up a new ship afterwards I load those settings first & proceed to customise it further if needed. Saves a bit of time & makes sure I don't forget silly little settings like that

[dryfus3368]

Thanks for the replies People. Happy Gaming!!