ST/UT & CAG & CLS Questions

[oddible]

This thread has become a general question thread regardign CAGs and CLS - the original question has been cleared up

Just heard a new acronym: CAG (1, 2). From the description it appears that a CAG is like a Trade Mk3 (ST/UT) but with a lot more control / constraints. Or similar to a CLS but without the specific routing. But he has to be home based. Am I correct in that assumption? Can he buy / sell between stations that aren't his home base?

If you can have CAGs why would anyone every have ST/UTs with Trade Mk3? Just for the assign-and-forget type of activity?

Lastly, Training. It seems that CAG/CLS/TradeMk3 traders all share the same training, right? So it seems like it is most reasonable to train all pilots in CLS where you have the most control until they get up to a level where they're more useful as a CAG / ST / UT, right?

[jlehtone]

Trade Mk2 commands (Buy ware for best price, Sell ware for best price) serve a player station/complex; buys resource(s) for it and sells its product(s).

Commercial Agent serves a player station/complex. It is just more configurable and thus more efficient.


Trade Mk3 is a homeless Free Trader; it buys from anywhere and sells to anywhere. It serves profitsss.


There are two separate pilot guilds: the Trade Mk3 and the Pilot Union. The Union pilots work as Commercial Agents and Logisticians.

[RayF]

oddieble,

first, a general recommendation if you allow me:
Because you will have a lot of questions, my advice is to create or pick a thread you already created and keep posting questions in that thread. I think its better ..thats what i did anyway...

As for your question:
Cag - commercial agent- is a pilot you train to buy for your factory/complex resources Or sell any excess you have. This can be products or intermediate products..The script is highly configurable.

CLS1 distributes resources among your factories/complexes.

CLS2 is highly configurable. It can do what CLS1 does. it can also be set to buy and sell products based on waypoints you create. Basicly what MK3 traders do but you create their route and select the prices of buying and selling.

Lastly CAG, CLS1 & CLS2 share the same training. I do not know about MK3 traders because i have never used them:) I assume they require different training.

[misioooo]

CAG is more like a "star" topology, where his home station/complex is the center. He can buy wares from other stations (you may lit them, or let him decide where to buy).
He can sell wares from his homebase to others (again - u choose to whom he sells, or he decides).
He can only sell or only buy. Or do both jobs.
You can set limits to which he will buy (like 80% capacity of his homebase) or to which he sells (like... his homebase ware drops to 20% and then he stops selling).
Also you can manually set in which wares he should deal (buy or sell).

MK3 trader just roams the universe buying for low price and selling for higher. And thats it when it comes to UT/ST.

If you dont have factories/complexes, use UTs. They are great in making profitssss!
If you have a bunch of factories or some neat complex (or more than one), i would say a CAG is a must - he makes many things MUCH easier.

[Honved]

A CAG is homebased to one of your factories, and initially can only buy whatever resources the factory requires. Eventually, the CAG will have the experience to sell finished products as well, and will buy or sell as needed. A factory or complex with an experienced CAG is generally far more productive than one without.

A CLS can be set to either buy and deliver goods, or pick up and sell goods. Depending on CLS1 or CLS2, they work with your factories or NPC factories. They can be programmed to do any of a number of specific tasks over and over, but are less versatile than CAG unless you spend time reassigning them as needed. CLS can do A, or B, or C, or D, while an experienced CAG will automatically switch between A, B, and C as needed.

STs are good for taking advantage of any deals within a specific sector, and can be reassigned as "LTs" at level 6 to cover multiple sectors, or UTs at level 7 to free-roam and trade throughout the universe, briefly making a fortune for you until they wander into a Xenon or Pirate sector and turn into an expanding cloud of hot vapor.

Use the right "tool" for the job. A combination often works better than one or the other.

[oddible]

Is there overhead to hiring pilots for any of these roles? Do I pay a salary to CLS/CAG/ST/ULs?

Just curious - there is an obvious small milk run in Herron's just shuttling Space Fuel in a tiny ship back and forth to the Trade center. It would probably make money even if there were overhead but just want a sense of the costs.

Also, is leveling of traders based on time, number of trades, or volume / cost of trades?

[jlehtone]

The Bonuspack installation includes a Readme that does describe the fees of CAG/CLS pilots.

[oddible]

The Bonuspack installation includes a Readme that does describe the fees of CAG/CLS pilots.

My bonus pack download was an exe installable and it doesn't seem to have dropped a readme anywhere in my installation directory. Where might I look for such a thing?

[Rapier]

General updates sticky
links to;
Albion Prelude Bonus Pack announcement
links to;
Specific details of CAG

As an additional note; CAG and CLS skills are transferable, so a pilot can be swapped between these types without losing ranking; these rankings are different from the ST/UT ranking system, so if you switch from one to the other, the pilot will start at the lowest ranking.

Also; if you start a CLS command at the trading dock in Herron's Nebula and the ship doesn't already have a pilot, the local office of the CLS company will provide a pilot that may have a high ranking (who can then be switched to a high ranking CAG pilot). This can be very handy if you don't want to have to nurse lots of new pilots that can't use a jumpdrive.

[jlehtone]

Search (recursively) for '*.pdf' from your game folder.

[misioooo]

And in Scripts forum you can find another trader script called OK Trader.
It is basically combination of CAG/CLS/ST/UT... It can roam free, it can have a homebase and deal within given sector radius from it. It can supply your farctories and sell your products... It has less options to configure than CAG/CLS, but way more than MKIII (ST/UT). I have 20+ OK Traders roaming the whole universe and i didnt received a single message that they require my attention! Works MUCH better than MKIII. Just fire and forget type of trader. And profitssss are flowing from them all the time Also OK Traders do not require leveling nor some expensive software. Just MKII Tarding Software.

[oddible]

Instructions on CAG seem to indicate that a ship assigned as a CAG will work all owned stations in a sector - is this true? Will it buy and sell for multiple stations in the same sector as the home base? CAG also has sector range - will it work owned stations from neighboring sectors if they're within its range?

[Timsup2nothin]

Instructions on CAG seem to indicate that a ship assigned as a CAG will work all owned stations in a sector

This doesn't sound right...could you quote the part that is making you think that?

[oddible]

The Commercial Agent will coordinate with his counterparts from his homebase and the other factories in sector.

[RayF]

it simply means that if you have 2 or more cags buying same resources they wont go to the same resource station.

[Timsup2nothin]

The Commercial Agent will coordinate with his counterparts from his homebase and the other factories in sector.

Ah...yeah, what RayF said. Your CAGs won't try to race with each other, even if they aren't from the same station, but each CAG only represents whatever his home station is.

[oddible]

What is the difference between CLS Mk1 and Mk2. I have a TS with only Mk2 and I am able to have him dock at my Ore Mine and load a max cargo of Ore for distribution. When would I ever want CLS Mk1 instead of a CAG?

Am I able to have a CLS's profits go to a Station account? (I have his salary drawn from the station but not his profits it seems - I see where to set that up for CAG but not for CLS).

[Timsup2nothin]

If a CLS 2 has a homebase it uses the station account for all transactions. If it buys it pays from the station and if it sells it pays to the station.

You can move stuff between your stations with a CLS 2 just fine...but CLS 1 gives access to different controls. For example say you have a complex making crystals and four complexes with built in SPP that run on crystals.

A CLS 2 can be set with a route; pick up 200 crystals, drop 50 there then 50 there then...etc. A CLS 1 can be set up to just pick up the crystals and distribute them as needed, as in delivering them where they are most needed at the time. It controls off of the inventory levels in the assigned stations instead of following a set route.

[oddible]

A CLS 1 can be set up to just pick up the crystals and distribute them as needed, as in delivering them where they are most needed at the time. It controls off of the inventory levels in the assigned stations instead of following a set route.

I see, does a CLS Mk1 only distribute produced goods or can it buy from external stations as well? I assume the command that you're mentioning is after I pick my own station as a waypoint in the menu where I normally select Max Cargo?

[Timsup2nothin]

A CLS 1 can be set up to just pick up the crystals and distribute them as needed, as in delivering them where they are most needed at the time. It controls off of the inventory levels in the assigned stations instead of following a set route.

I see, does a CLS Mk1 only distribute produced goods or can it buy from external stations as well? I assume the command that you're mentioning is after I pick my own station as a waypoint in the menu where I normally select Max Cargo?

My knowledge of CLS 1 could be engraved on the head of a pin with room to spare...but that was the gist of it. I do know they have no interaction with stations you don't own, they are strictly internal.