Spaceflies ??

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Bill Huntington
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Spaceflies ??

Post by Bill Huntington » Sun, 8. Feb 15, 20:25

Okay, I'll ask for help. I need 10 Spaceflies for the Split mini-plot. I searched the pirate bases for Spaceflies, I hung out in Unfocused Space with the Aamon that I re-equipped with Ion Ds and the Spacefly Collector, checking asteroids for their nests. I tried Ore Belt and Emperor Mines. I opened up Pirate areas that I didn't visit yet. I considered blowing up Duke's Haven so that it would have them in stock in a game day, but it doesn't list Spaceflies in its items. The other pirate bases wouldn't come back in the same place. I've even searched Split and pirate ships for Spaceflies, and I would cap them and hope to have them in the hold after the cap. I haven't found any yet.

Where have pilots found them? any special conditions? If you manage to ionize them, do you pick them up by running over them? Do they show up on the property list or radar?

Thanks!
Bill in S.F., enjoying the game

ancienthighway
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Post by ancienthighway » Sun, 8. Feb 15, 20:36

I've seen the most spaceflies in UFJD sectors, but they do show up in CW space too. This video might be helpful.

Alan Phipps
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Post by Alan Phipps » Sun, 8. Feb 15, 21:50

In my own in-game spacefly experiences (which could be 100% coincidence though) the best way to find them is just to stop your collection ship in real time or low SETA and hope a spacefly swarm passes you. If you are moving your ship at any speed or use high SETA then you will probably miss seeing them even when they are close unless they literally pass right under your nose in numbers.

Things that are said *may* increase your chances of an encounter are:

1. Near asteroids where they are alleged to swarm/nest.
2. In an area after intensive combat where they may be attracted to the previous energy discharges.

Personally I think these two are possibly bogus and that encounters are pseudo-randomly generated events in and across pretty much all sectors including UFJD. Observed encounters in such areas listed above could be explained in that you see the spaceflies better because you tend to go slower around rocks and when picking up post-battle loot and bailed ships etc.

While they are ionised and immobilised the spaceflies will show up on the gravidar/listing and you can target them and run them over to collect them like with floating loot - but they do not stay immobilised and targetable for very long. Also be aware that too much sustained lasering with the IonDs (especially multiple lasers) will destroy the already-immobilised ones.

They do sing/whine when they are flying nearby to you and they make a satisfying splat sound when the flying ones are hit by a moving ship. They can even do collision damage to a lightly-shielded or unshielded ship - some even get log reports of 'Your **** was destroyed by spacefly'. :o

Good hunting!
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Thanks!

Post by Bill Huntington » Mon, 9. Feb 15, 01:33

Thank you both! I've tried the Unfocused Sectors a number of times. I saw an Aran up close without marines, but no spaceflies. I might do some more but I've decided to blow up Strong Arms HQ (with unattributable missiles, of course). So I'll get some when it respawns in a game day or so.

Thanks!
Bill in S.F., enjoying the game

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Post by Black_hole_suN » Mon, 9. Feb 15, 07:47

stop dead near asteroids in any sector.. then wait... it could be a long wait or just a short one... eventually you will hear *thuds* against your ship and faint lights swarming you.. manage you empire while you wait so you wont be bored... like Alan said a good warning when spacefly are nearby is SETA at lowest settings... keep it running all the time, when SETA abruptly disappears it may be because of spacefly is bumping your ship..

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Post by dannyxx30 » Mon, 9. Feb 15, 12:22

Quite often I notice ships flying about that are called "Spacefly Hunter" and "Spacefly Conservation", these may mean that there are spaceflies in the sector these ships are in.

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Post by Alan Phipps » Mon, 9. Feb 15, 12:55

No, those ships are just generated as jobs for the appropriate race sectors as part of the background civilian traffic. They do not mean that there are no spaceflies there though. :wink:
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Post by dannyxx30 » Mon, 9. Feb 15, 13:50

It's possible they might have spaceflies in their cargo bays, I know some ships do.

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Post by Lone Jedi » Mon, 9. Feb 15, 15:31

Spacefly hunting is extremely time-consuming as their existence is totally random. I would instead hunt pirates. You'll get others loots and fight ranks too.
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Post by Alan Phipps » Mon, 9. Feb 15, 16:32

"It's possible they might have spaceflies in their cargo bays, I know some ships do."

Well that is easy and safe enough to check with a freight scanner and the relevant police licences.
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Post by Bill Huntington » Mon, 9. Feb 15, 18:28

My plan to blow up Strong Arms HQ didn't work. It's part of the plot, so hull damage stops at 93% even with many more missiles hitting.

The Viper only fires two missiles at a time even as part of a barrage. I notice that it fires from both right and left. Is there any way to change those numbers? The 'All' missiles choice only fires two and then stops.

The Hammer does less damage than the Tomahawk but I can fire it in variable salvos of 16 and even 32. The number choice is offered. Is there a way to choose the salvo I want? Now I get a limited number of choices. I can choose the frequency and the limited choices but that's all.

Thanks for the replies. I'll be checking the sectors for Spacefly Hunters to scan. I never would have expected that! I'll be hanging out in Unfocused Space too. So thanks all!
Bill in S.F., enjoying the game

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Post by Graaf » Mon, 9. Feb 15, 19:59

You could try pirate bases. Or start pirating pirate ships. No need for a license in pirate space.

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Post by Alan Phipps » Mon, 9. Feb 15, 21:53

A bit off topic but M8s only have 2 fixed missile tubes while M7Ms typically have more than one missile turrets with 8 missile tubes in each turret. Hence the barrage limit differences.

I personally don't think you will see spaceflies in the associated named civilian jobs ships, but try it anyway and let us know please. I think they are definitely traded as a ware when available and so can occasionally be found in NPC freighters/traders (that usually show up as concealed pirate smugglers on being scanned), especially just after a Pirate Station has been respawned somewhere and has some initial stocks to sell.

You might get some as floating wares through destroying a station that uses them as a resource (primary or secondary) and has some in stock at that time. However, it may be that they are released to fly away instead of becoming floating wares - as happens when you eject any from your player ship.
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Post by Nanook » Mon, 9. Feb 15, 23:30

Alan Phipps wrote:In my own in-game spacefly experiences (which could be 100% coincidence though) the best way to find them is just to stop your collection ship in real time or low SETA and hope a spacefly swarm passes you. If you are moving your ship at any speed or use high SETA then you will probably miss seeing them even when they are close unless they literally pass right under your nose in numbers.

Things that are said *may* increase your chances of an encounter are:

1. Near asteroids where they are alleged to swarm/nest.
2. In an area after intensive combat where they may be attracted to the previous energy discharges.

Personally I think these two are possibly bogus and that encounters are pseudo-randomly generated events in and across pretty much all sectors including UFJD. Observed encounters in such areas listed above could be explained in that you see the spaceflies better because you tend to go slower around rocks and when picking up post-battle loot and bailed ships etc. ...
I've personally never seen spaceflies in sectors without asteroids. While you may see them at some distance from the nearest asteroids, I'm pretty sure that asteroids are prerequisites for spacefiles to appear in a sector. I do remember reading somewhere in the lore as far back as X2 about the spacefly/asteroid connection.

As for 2, you're probably right about that. I haven't noticed any correlation with weapons fire.
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Spaceflies

Post by Bill Huntington » Tue, 10. Feb 15, 03:15

Two points: I've scanned a number of civilian ships. The Spacefly Protectors didn't Spacefly Collectors. The Spacefly Hunters had Collectors but no Ion Weapons. None had Spaceflys. This was worth checking but looks like a dead end.

If I can catch one, I'll put it up as item in Gate Hub and offer the highest price. Maybe if there's some in trade I'll get them that way. You have an item in hand to do that AFAIK.

Thanks for the help.
Bill in S.F., enjoying the game

astreus
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Post by astreus » Tue, 10. Feb 15, 13:27

Go to Hatikvahs Faith. Stop near Astroids and wait. Fire your Ion Disruptor. Got more than 7 at once. :D
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Post by Nanook » Tue, 10. Feb 15, 22:06

If you can find a newly spawned pirate base, they'll likely have a good stock of spaceflies. When PB's are destroyed, they respawn in random sectors, generally with full stocks. But those stocks deplete over time, so you've got to be lucky and quick.
Have a great idea for the current or a future game? You can post it in the [L3+] Ideas forum.

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Post by Lone Jedi » Wed, 11. Feb 15, 19:03

astreus wrote:Go to Hatikvahs Faith. Stop near Astroids and wait. Fire your Ion Disruptor. Got more than 7 at once. :D
The location is totally random.
I live in my Vidar.

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Post by Earth Ultimatum IV. » Wed, 11. Feb 15, 19:25

Locations are not totally random, you will not find them in sectors without asteroids.
Also, they move a lot, fly around sector, usually they follow ships that have powerful engines (I got the Flyswatter achievement in X3TC, sitting in Omycron Lyrae in a Cerberus - suddenly I saw spaceflies flying around me, I was prepared and hopped in my Mako with IonDs and stunned them, got the achievement).

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Re: Spaceflies ??

Post by hisazul » Fri, 13. Feb 15, 20:16

Bill Huntington wrote:Okay, I'll ask for help. I need 10 Spaceflies for the Split mini-plot. I searched the pirate bases for Spaceflies, I hung out in Unfocused Space with the Aamon that I re-equipped with Ion Ds and the Spacefly Collector, checking asteroids for their nests. I tried Ore Belt and Emperor Mines. I opened up Pirate areas that I didn't visit yet. I considered blowing up Duke's Haven so that it would have them in stock in a game day, but it doesn't list Spaceflies in its items. The other pirate bases wouldn't come back in the same place. I've even searched Split and pirate ships for Spaceflies, and I would cap them and hope to have them in the hold after the cap. I haven't found any yet.

Where have pilots found them? any special conditions? If you manage to ionize them, do you pick them up by running over them? Do they show up on the property list or radar?

Thanks!
In AP, for me personally, 50% chance that when I go to UFJD sector I'll snag a 100 or so spaceflies while I'm going about my business. Usually I go there for some mobile mining that I do personally, I only do so when I need a large amount of ore or silicon. Yes there is little point in going to UFJD sectors for this but I like the scenery and not being bothered.

Usually I jump in with Kyoto that has my personal Hyperion, a ship with ID's for spaceflies and 4 Hayabusas. Sometimes I take Aran and just dock Kyoto with the usual crew to it. Anyway when I leave Kyoto and go about looking for my asteroids by the time I come back, most of the time, there is a swarm of spaceflies buzzing around Kyoto so I swap to ship with IDs and just zap Kyoto, it usually zaps entire swarm from that.
“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” - Albert Einstein

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