X3TC: CAG or CLS MK2 for my Heavy Missile Complex?

[rockelino]

Hi,

I'm still a newbie in terms of owning factories, etc. Thanks to the latest complex calculator I managed to build a self contained Flail and Hammer Torpedo production complex in Antigone Memorial (I don't need to buy any resources to the complex, just sell the expensive missiles it produces). I was thinking about equipping a Discoverer with CLS and have it sell the missiles at nearby equipment docks, etc. Does it sound like a good idea? or should I use CAG instead?

p.s.
I do have a slight surplus of E-Cells, Silicon Wafers, Crystals and Ore, and I could also use a TS to sell it (my Meatstake Cahoonas and Argnu Beef supply is equal with my production demand, so no need to sell those). So, my same question applies - do I equip a TS with CLS or CAG to sell the surplus?

Any suggestions/advice will be welcome, thanks all, and thanks for the complex calculator!

[Solomon Short]

CLS & CAG will only sell to stations that already trade the ware, if you wanted to exploit the "infinite missile purchasing" function you need to do things a little differently...

Stealing a guide from the I need a suggestion for a good investment thread, there you do this:

Spoiler

Show

But there is a trick (exploit?) to sell the missile at average price without limitation: the manual trade run.
Best is to build the missile complex near an Equipment Dock or corporate HQ (Terracorp, Jonferco, …) that doesn’t sell the missile, and give ships the “manual trade run” order. Important: the free cargo space inside the ship must be lower or equal to the max the ED can buy in one go. If higher, the ship can’t sell all the missiles and idles after the first trip.

No micromanagement at all, and you get the average price for the products. Best choice, especially early in the game, are the very cheap missile fabs like Dragonfly (1 million) and Wasp (1.4 million). The Shadow is number one, as it sells at 213k/per fab/per hour.

[rockelino]

So, if I wanted to sell my Flail and Hammer missiles, couldn't I just create waypoints in CLS and have my CLS equipped Discoverer to sell to the equipment docks in Antigone Memorial and Argon Prime, for example?

[Erqco]

Don't sell them, use them, get a Cobra or two and run havoc.
I think that you will miss every missile that you sell.

[Jonzac]

You can get the CLS to sell them, but only to a station that will buy them anyway...I think Military Outposts buy Flails. Now they will only buy upto a max of some number (around 16 or so) and then the Outpost will be "full" and not allow you to sell them until the game slowly gets rid of its stock.

Another option is to put a transporter beam on your CLS ship, have it load the missiles upto a certain amount in cargo and then fly into space and "unload" into another ship...when the second ship is full, fly it to a shipyard and sell it, you will get credit for the missiles. Buy another ship, reset your CLS waypoints and repeat.

Alternately, you can manually send your second ship to an equipment dock and sell yourself and then return the second "holder" ship for the CLS to resume deliveries to.

[rockelino]

CLS & CAG will only sell to stations that already trade the ware, if you wanted to exploit the "infinite missile purchasing" function you need to do things a little differently...

Stealing a guide from the I need a suggestion for a good investment thread, there you do this:

Spoiler

Show

But there is a trick (exploit?) to sell the missile at average price without limitation: the manual trade run.
Best is to build the missile complex near an Equipment Dock or corporate HQ (Terracorp, Jonferco, …) that doesn’t sell the missile, and give ships the “manual trade run” order. Important: the free cargo space inside the ship must be lower or equal to the max the ED can buy in one go. If higher, the ship can’t sell all the missiles and idles after the first trip.

No micromanagement at all, and you get the average price for the products. Best choice, especially early in the game, are the very cheap missile fabs like Dragonfly (1 million) and Wasp (1.4 million). The Shadow is number one, as it sells at 213k/per fab/per hour.

Sounds good.

Question: If I want to give my Discoverer a "manual trade run" command to sell (for example) 9 Tomahawks to a nearby Equipment dock, will it keep doing it in a loop (assuming its cargobay can only hold 9 and the EQ dock accepts 9) or will it stop after making 1 sale?

[Solomon Short]

you can configure the manual trade run to be infinite (or at least until something breaks it like leftover stock at the selling end or not enough at the buying end), when you configure it asks how many times to run, I think 0 or -1 is infinite (try 0, if it accepts that as a valid number then that's probably it, otherwise try -1).

[OniGanon]

It's -1 for infinite loop.

Hammers are L class IIRC so maybe use something like a Solano.

[rockelino]

Ok, so here's the problem I have now (the complex is up and running, missiles are being produced). I'm trying to give my Kestrel a "Manual Trade: Sell" command. It says "Choose station to sell to..." I select the nearby IS equipment dock (Flail missiles are NOT offered there), then it asks me to "Select Goods to Sell" but I only see the list of goods that is offered by that equipment dock (so I can't select Flail).

Any tips?

[OniGanon]

Hmm.

Try the "Sell Ware..." command and see if that's any different.

[rockelino]

Hmm.

Try the "Sell Ware..." command and see if that's any different.

Same result. Maybe the latest patch disables this loophole?

[Jonzac]

try putting the missiles into your ship first. I'll go in and see if I can map out the method

[rockelino]

I loaded the ship manually with weapons, still didn't work. thanks for helping out guys.

[Sinxar]

I loaded the ship manually with weapons, still didn't work. thanks for helping out guys.

You may have to fly to said dock personally with a missile in your hold for it to appear in the product listing, thus showing the equipment dock as a valid place to sell. I've never tried this method of selling before though but apparently it is possible (and necessary) to sell missiles to docks that don't stock them.

ed: ok just tried it myself and sure enough, "Manual Trade: Sell" doesn't work. I've tried a lot of different combos and none work. If anybody knows, detailed instructions would be welcome.

The "Manual Trade Run" does work though. Two things, first the price has to be one credit below avg. Second, it has to carry the exact amount or below for it to finish the trade. Using the Manual Trade Run causes the ship to 'buy' from your own complex but that money goes directly back into the station account so you are not losing anything. If you have the complex to do money transfer to your account you might not even notice. I didn't try setting the sellers homebase to the missile complex, that might make it just cycle the credits in the station then the profit would go to the station as well (in theory).

[rockelino]

I loaded the ship manually with weapons, still didn't work. thanks for helping out guys.

You may have to fly to said dock personally with a missile in your hold for it to appear in the product listing, thus showing the equipment dock as a valid place to sell. I've never tried this method of selling before though but apparently it is possible (and necessary) to sell missiles to docks that don't stock them.

ed: ok just tried it myself and sure enough, "Manual Trade: Sell" doesn't work. I've tried a lot of different combos and none work. If anybody knows, detailed instructions would be welcome.

The "Manual Trade Run" does work though. Two things, first the price has to be one credit below avg. Second, it has to carry the exact amount or below for it to finish the trade. Using the Manual Trade Run causes the ship to 'buy' from your own complex but that money goes directly back into the station account so you are not losing anything. If you have the complex to do money transfer to your account you might not even notice. I didn't try setting the sellers homebase to the missile complex, that might make it just cycle the credits in the station then the profit would go to the station as well (in theory).

Ok, what is the difference between "Manual Trade: Sell" and "Manual Trade Run"? (I can see "Manual Trade: Sell", but where can I find "Manual Trade Run" command?)

[Sinxar]

Ok, what is the difference between "Manual Trade: Sell" and "Manual Trade Run"? (I can see "Manual Trade: Sell", but where can I find "Manual Trade Run" command?)

One works and one doesn't? Lol I don't know, maybe one is meant for single use and the other can be used forever.

Just did a quick search and people are saying the Supply Command software gives the command. I just bought everything at the equipment dock in argon prime. So one of those softwares. It is on the same page as the manual trade: buy/sell commands (number 1) with the right software.

I did slightly more research and it seem "manual trade run" is the command people are talking about. Even in some threads people are getting two different menus. One gets the dialog asking if you want to do it indefinitely, others are getting something that lets you enter a number (-1 usually). No clue what that is about, like I said I have never used it before today to try and figure out your problem.

[rockelino]

I loaded the ship manually with weapons, still didn't work. thanks for helping out guys.

You may have to fly to said dock personally with a missile in your hold for it to appear in the product listing, thus showing the equipment dock as a valid place to sell. I've never tried this method of selling before though but apparently it is possible (and necessary) to sell missiles to docks that don't stock them.

ed: ok just tried it myself and sure enough, "Manual Trade: Sell" doesn't work. I've tried a lot of different combos and none work. If anybody knows, detailed instructions would be welcome.

The "Manual Trade Run" does work though. Two things, first the price has to be one credit below avg. Second, it has to carry the exact amount or below for it to finish the trade. Using the Manual Trade Run causes the ship to 'buy' from your own complex but that money goes directly back into the station account so you are not losing anything. If you have the complex to do money transfer to your account you might not even notice. I didn't try setting the sellers homebase to the missile complex, that might make it just cycle the credits in the station then the profit would go to the station as well (in theory).

Ok, what is the difference between "Manual Trade: Sell" and "Manual Trade Run"? (I can see "Manual Trade: Sell", but where can I find "Manual Trade Run" command?)

Never mind, I just realized my mistake. Sinxar, thanks for your help, it helps now after equipping my M5 with Trading System Extension and using the "Manual Trade Run" (NOT "Manual Trade: Sell") command. I own you one!

[rockelino]

Ok, what is the difference between "Manual Trade: Sell" and "Manual Trade Run"? (I can see "Manual Trade: Sell", but where can I find "Manual Trade Run" command?)

One works and one doesn't? Lol I don't know, maybe one is meant for single use and the other can be used forever.

Just did a quick search and people are saying the Supply Command software gives the command. I just bought everything at the equipment dock in argon prime. So one of those softwares. It is on the same page as the manual trade: buy/sell commands (number 1) with the right software.

I did slightly more research and it seem "manual trade run" is the command people are talking about. Even in some threads people are getting two different menus. One gets the dialog asking if you want to do it indefinitely, others are getting something that lets you enter a number (-1 usually). No clue what that is about, like I said I have never used it before today to try and figure out your problem.

You're the man! thanks, it works!