Finding best locations for factories

Silverbox · Post by **Silverbox** » Sat, 11. Mar 17, 16:32

Hi all,
Well it's been a while since I posted on these forums but I have started playing X3AP after not playing an X game for a few years and I seem to remember an app or something where it would show the sectors and surrounding sectors that have the biggest resource shortfall and was a great way to place profitable factories. I seem to remember you could import a save into it to show the state of the universe in your game or add your factories to the app manually, I really can't remember! It's my age! It's been so long since I used it and maybe I'm dreaming it...but I don't think so!
Anyone else remember this or anything like it?

Simon 24-7 · Post by **Simon 24-7** » Sat, 11. Mar 17, 16:47

Hi Silverbox,

Other than a cheat or mod, I presume you mean an advanced satellite. Drop one 30 K's out of the way and you get the best buys and stock listings in any sector.

You can also use them if you are remote trading.

Hope that helps.

Doktor Teufel · Post by **Doktor Teufel** » Sat, 11. Mar 17, 16:56

He's talking about a standalone companion program along the lines of the Xadrian offline complex calculator or Scorp's X3 Map (which would help him find resource shortfalls, but not automatically).

I'm sure he remembers what satellites are if he's played before.

In any case, I had a look around to see if I could find such a program, but didn't manage to find anything.

Post by **Alan Phipps** » Sat, 11. Mar 17, 17:15

There is something like Roguey's X3AP map where you can click on a sector to see the starting stations (remember that stations in sectors are dynamic and so change - especially in war sectors).

If the OP does indeed mean a dynamic mapping of stations and trade then the map and trade interrogations would have to be interactive and therefore will mark the game as modified (if that matters).

Doktor Teufel · Post by **Doktor Teufel** » Sat, 11. Mar 17, 17:29

Yes, I should amend what I said before: Whatever the program is, it would most likely also require a script and a modified tag, just like Scorp's map. Otherwise, the engine's meddling would render it unreliable after a not terribly long period of time.

Silverbox · Post by **Silverbox** » Sun, 12. Mar 17, 00:13

Thanks for the replies guys. I don't think it was a mod or in game script - It was something like Xadrian but it showed resources in a negative and positive way, so if you selected a sector and the number of jumps from that sector it would show the resources produced and consumed so therefore any possible shortfalls or over supply. It was really useful and it's bugging me that I can't remember for the life of me what it was!! I am quite happy with a modified game as I run a number of scripts to make the game more enjoyable for me.
As an example - if you selected, say, Boron sector Bluish Snout and stated 3 jumps it would show a large negative value for Bogas which would mean that building a Biogas factory around there would fill some of the shortfall. It's probably long gone by now but just interested if any of you remember it or if indeed it is still out there!

Doktor Teufel · Post by **Doktor Teufel** » Sun, 12. Mar 17, 03:13

Whatever it is, it may be deprecated, its forum thread is likely buried, etc. I tried a bunch of arguments in Google Advanced Search, but all of the obvious keywords (trade, trade route, supply, input, resources, factories, wares, etc.) are just too commonly used to reasonably expect to find anything.

If you can remember any giveaway keyword at all, though, an advanced search might reveal something.

You could also look here. A fellow player is archiving X3 mods, scripts, and tools to guard against their links going dead: http://www.x1tp.com/

While I was looking for your tool, I found a mod that restores Kha'ak to UFJD sectors in AP! That's EXACTLY what I wanted! You helped me out a lot by accident, haha.

Unfortunately, X3 was released a long time ago, and Rebirth hasn't been terribly popular. The forums are full of tumbleweeds, links have winked out over the years like dying stars, if you'll pardon the metaphor (along with some avatar and signature embeds), and the dedicated "X community celebrities" with thousands of posts who've probably written a bunch of guides and/or made a bunch of mods can't play X3 24/7, 365 days a year, forever.

As for the developers, they have to focus on the future.

It's awfully quiet around here. I'm seriously considering taking a couple of my spare external HDDs and just filling it methodically with every script, mod, tool, and graphical enhancement for X3/TC/AP I can find. It would be a shame for the once-vibrant old X community to fade away entirely, even if X4 comes out and blows everyone away.

jlehtone · Post by **jlehtone** » Sun, 12. Mar 17, 11:29

The description of the tool is similar to Sector Planner by LordSuch: http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=44238
That, however, is for X2 only.

The galaxy map is dynamic. Even in X2 NPC Factories could get (permanently) killed -- an event that the Sector Planner did no know about.

Since the introduction of GoD in X3R the NPC Factories do appear and disappear. Furthermore, the Station Build generic missions will produce "ungodly" NPC Factories.
The only way for an external tool to give accurate statistics is to transfer ingame state to the tool. Reading a savegame is would be a way, if you know its format. Exporting a list of stations with a script is what Scorp does? Btw, the use of a script to export data does not require the oh so terrifying modified tag; you simply never save a modified game.

The ingame Stock Exchange does give some statistics. The "Local Stocks" list ware/need status for their areas. (I have Xenon Hub linking western and eastern Argons; both Local Stocks cover the same combined area.)

There is "an economic gap" that the presence of Factories does not reveal: the Free Traders. More precisely their inefficiency. Mere addition of "smarter" ships (CLS2 or Trade Mk3) improves the NPC economy (and generatess profitss for the player).

Silverbox · Post by **Silverbox** » Mon, 13. Mar 17, 13:58

That's what it was! Sector Planner by LordSuch - Crikey, it must have been X2 I was using it in then! Thanks jlhetone - I knew someone would know on these forums. This is still easily the best game related forum of any that I have used.
Thanks for the tip with the Stock Exchanges - I will take a look at that when I next play.
I can't see any working links for the Sector Planner which is a shame as I am considering replaying X2 for nostalgia reasons at some point after I've completed X3AP - I loved X2, took over my life all those years ago!
If anyone has any info on archived links for Sector Planner I would be very interested.
Thanks all.