Need help please: CAG/CLS Question

[Arakiel]

Up till now I have mostly focused on boarding and combat while playing. Lately however I have started to try and make automated complexes and I have run into various snags with the CLS/CAG software.

For example: I have a complex producing Mosquito Missiles in AM, it seems no matter what price I set them to NPC traders don't show up to buy them

* I tried setting up a manual trade run to Terracorp but the ship I set it up with had too much cargo space so every run it would stop because it couldn't sell anymore so it required constant intervention.

* Setup an Express with CLS2. Fully trained him up with waypoint flying and then tried to add waypoints. I got the waypoints to fly to the complex in AM, load 100 ecells and max cargo mosquitos, added the fly to waypoint to Terracorp and then I cannot add a sell command there. When I select Sell it just bails back to the waypoint list :/

* Setup a CAG instead. Currently he is Major Dealer. Add Ware list of mosquitoes and set it to trade list instead of blacklist. Under exceptions I set it to trade list instead of blacklist and added each nearby EQ as well as Terracorp HQ. Trade range 9 jumps. Under trade duties I set purchase resources 0%, sell products 100%, Start the CAG...and he just sits there at the AM complex on standby :/

I could go back to the manual trade run now that I have a smaller cargo bay but shouldn't this just work? Am I missing something fundamental here? Thanks!

-A

[Snafu_X3]

What's your trading price with Mossies? They'll only sell to EQDs & similar, so it needs to be avg-1 at most for any sucessful trade

As you can surmise from the above, if you're trying missile trading mossies aren't your most profit-making option. Terracorp HQ doesn't have a slot for mossies to sell/buy, that's why your CLS2 trade option doesn't work

[coenenzzz]

Are the EQ docks already fully supplied with Mosquitos? I did this in my game -- plenty of places bought them, so i assumed i could sell them - i didn't realize the market was saturated until my factory relentlessly filled itself despite my best efforts. Oops.

Also, I could be wrong, but I believe that Sell Products should be set to 0% if you want to sell everything.

[Kirlack]

CLS cannot sell to Terracorp as the station doesn't stock mossies naturally. You'll need to use the manual trade run to sell there. Buy a Disco and use that rather than a freighter, it might work out better for you.

As Snafu_X3 suggests setting your selling price to avg -1 should net you some NPC traders, but mossies are widely available in the universe and it might take awhile for aspiring merchants to make their way to you.

[Arakiel]

ok thanks everyone. i will go back to the manual trade run with a smaller cargo hold this time.

[Timsup2nothin]

Here's what you've got.

The only way to sell these consistently is by manual trade run to a dock that doesn't stock them and sell them out of existence, and the number you can sell on one run is limited. Since you are four sectors away that limits how fast you can get rid of them.

Facts:

Manual trade run has to originate from a station that produces the ware.

CLS will only sell or deliver to a station that actually stocks the ware.
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So...if you build a cheap Mos-Fab in Home of Light and turn off the production you can use CLS on a large ship to automatically move the stock from your complex to the new station, then originate the now very short trade run from there. This will turn mosquitoes into credits at a high rate...probably limited by your production capacity.

[Kirlack]

Facts:

Manual trade run has to originate from a station that produces the ware.

I did not know that. Top tip mate

...if you build a cheap Mos-Fab in Home of Light and turn off the production...

That's a really good idea, but can you turn off production on a single station? I though that was complexes only?

It might be worthwhile to the OP if you link your out of existence thread Tim. As I recall it was pretty in depth.

[Timsup2nothin]

Facts:

Manual trade run has to originate from a station that produces the ware.

I did not know that. Top tip mate

So now I'm worrying about whether that's true or not. I think in the set up for it that when you pick the ware to sell you only get to pick from a list of the wares sold at the station you picked as the source. I'll test that in my current game and correct if I'm wrong.

...if you build a cheap Mos-Fab in Home of Light and turn off the production...

That's a really good idea, but can you turn off production on a single station? I though that was complexes only?

It is complexes only. In the past I've built Eq Docks for this exact purpose, but in a single ware case like this a two mos fab complex is a cheaper option. A single mos fab will work if you don't mind the flashing yellow. Another possibility would be a mos fab complexed with a fab for something else you want to do the same thing with.

As a long term plan sticking an EqDock next to things like TerraCorp HQ or the Saturn Research Station is a useful thing, because you can do fast manual trade runs and unload pretty much anything endlessly, and just dump stuff into your EqDock in any number of ways.

It might be worthwhile to the OP if you link your out of existence thread Tim. As I recall it was pretty in depth.

That would be this thread.

[Alacard1]

Most believe that manually trading non-stocked missiles from a Fab producing them to an EqD that doesn't stock them to be an exploit.

Mosquito Missiles are found all over the X-Universe in abundance. They are extremely cheap so initially a Fab will make an enormous profit. However, as they are cheap and produced quickly the market quickly becomes saturated. One fully-stocked player-owned fab can supply the entire X-Universe (900/hr). This is not the path to long-term profitability.

However, all is not lost as you now no longer have to purchase this type of missile and the Fab will continue to make a profit, albeit a very small one. Use the Mosquito Missile Complex as a base (as it already has Energy Cells, Ore and whatever tier-1 resource you require) and add a Phased Repeater Gun Forge (if your existing Fab is Argon) and presto, you will be rolling out PRGs at 1.18/hr and making (by default) 24k/hr more credits yet still not saturating your market.

Cheaper wares, as a rule, will saturate your market quickly. Things like IREs/PACs, Mosquito/Firefly/Wasp missiles, Fighter Drones MkI, etc. do not work well. You want products that are not made quickly but are expensive to very expensive to insanely expensive (PPCs anyone...). It's a fluke (bug) in the X-Universe, but it is what it is.

[windscar232]

For example: I have a complex producing Mosquito Missiles in AM, it seems no matter what price I set them to NPC traders don't show up to buy them

The best solution to this problem is just docking at the Mosquito Missile factory and then activating the auto destruct sequence.

I don't think anyone would ever really need this factory. In most games even when all other missile and weapons are nowhere to be found, there will always be an overabundance of Mosquito Missiles, don't use them sparingly.

[Simoom]

That's a really good idea, but can you turn off production on a single station? I though that was complexes only?

It might be worthwhile to the OP if you link your out of existence thread Tim. As I recall it was pretty in depth.

You CAN turn off production in a single-station only. There are two ways to do it:

Under the "Connected Stations" menu for the complex, call up the pop-up menu for the given factory and you will see an option for "Stop Production".

Alternatively, going into the CAG administration window for the complex and access the "Stations" submenu will allow you to halt production on a selected station as well.

[Alacard1]

That's a really good idea, but can you turn off production on a single station? I though that was complexes only?

It might be worthwhile to the OP if you link your out of existence thread Tim. As I recall it was pretty in depth.

You CAN turn off production in a single-station only. There are two ways to do it:

Under the "Connected Stations" menu for the complex, call up the pop-up menu for the given factory and you will see an option for "Stop Production".

Alternatively, going into the CAG administration window for the complex and access the "Stations" submenu will allow you to halt production on a selected station as well.

There are reasons to turn off production of a single station and this is not one of them. The primary reason to turn off a station's production would be a lack of resources for connected stations in a Complex. As his Mosquito Missile Factory is saturating the market, the station's production will automatically shut down once the maximum amount of the ware (Mosquito Missiles in this case) is reached. This self-terminating production line is fine as is.

[Timsup2nothin]

If this weren't so hilarious I would feel compelled to try to get it back on track.

Kirlack, want to give it a shot?