Just a matter of interest..

[bjp646]

I was wondering how long it took everyone to get your X2 empire up and running. I have been playing for a long time, say about 24hrs game time, and I only have two ships a Mako and a Mercury and it takes me a really long time time to get the money for my pultry two ships! Firstly. have I been playing it for very long? Secondly, is there any techniques for begining an empire. For example, should I have invested in a factory earlier, and my current status as a Professional Privateer and Enlisted don't enable to access that many hih earning jobs. Any advice/answers would be much appreciated as I love the game but I don't seem to of advanced that well. Cheers.

[TerraGT]

ive got a game time around 7-8 days now and i have 2 SPPs a m3(would have 2 but one got killed) around 8 TS and a m6 and soon will have a 2nd m6 it takes time but it will come

[simonnance]

no you havent been playing long, i had 26 days on my last game.

your first game is invariably slower coz you are trying tog et the hang of how to get money, if you restarted, you would prob get up to a Mako a lot earlier.

try capturing ships to boost you bank ballance, its a good early game earner. only invest in factories when yuo have at least 1mil to make a good go of it, rmrmber you need to pay fo the facotry, the ships and the starting capitol, it all adds up!

[Pollo Loco]

no you havent been playing long, i had 26 days on my last game.

your first game is invariably slower coz you are trying tog et the hang of how to get money, if you restarted, you would prob get up to a Mako a lot earlier.

try capturing ships to boost you bank ballance, its a good early game earner. only invest in factories when yuo have at least 1mil to make a good go of it, rmrmber you need to pay fo the facotry, the ships and the starting capitol, it all adds up!

You know i think i'd go for a sector/Universe Trader instead of a factory early on the game, it involves less micro-managment and the credits really strat to role in at higher levels. That or mobile mining as this also can be very profitable. I'd only go for a station or 2 after having a seriously healthy bank balance.

[bjp646]

So this attacking ships buisness is this just pirate ships or others. Also, is the mako alright for this sort of lifestyle, I have taken on a few pirate TS and got suitably destroyed, the only ship I have destoyed is a pirate transporter and this left me feeling rather hollow! Capturing a ship what does this involve? Cheers.

[Pollo Loco]

So this attacking ships buisness is this just pirate ships or others. Also, is the mako alright for this sort of lifestyle, I have taken on a few pirate TS and got suitably destroyed, the only ship I have destoyed is a pirate transporter and this left me feeling rather hollow! Capturing a ship what does this involve? Cheers.

A mako is fine, go after Mandaleys, Bayamons and even Orinocos if you've just saved. As for capturing, well first things first, you must get the targets hull down to 87% or less. Then it depends you can take them away and pummel them with Ion Disruptors till they bail, although this can take an age and i personally haven't tried it in 1.4 and have heard people say this isn't as effective as it used to be. The advantage is you can fry the equipment on the ship so eventuall it won't ba able to fire back. Or you could stick with normal weapons, take the target's shields down, then allow them to recharge and repeat. What it mainly takes is patience, the amount of time it takes them to bail is random (I think) so some will bail immediately and some will just keep going. You've just got to keep plugin away. I'd suggest a Police License for the species who's sector you're in, at least you still get paid for failed captures then, even if it is only a pittance.

[NeckCuttah]

Spoiler tags on - this doesn't spoil the storyline, but will greatly increase your ranks and duckets - beware ...

Spoiler

Show

After restarting for the 8th time, I found a formula that works for me.
First off I start in Xtreme mode. Doesn't do anything but give you a wrecked ship to start. I then go to the equipment dock and search for hidden cargo containers. If luck is with me, I find something I can sell at the equipment dock, like missles. First thing I upgrade is SETA. I continue to look for hidden cargo containers until I've upgraded the engines and cargo bay enough (35 cargo bay) until I can take on the first mission. Usually takes about an hour of gameplay. Take on the first mission. Complete it. Take on the second mission. When I get back with the transport ship from the second mission, I dock and sell off the shields and guns. Transfer whatever else I can to my other ship. This will give you enough credits to purchase a cargo ship. I then buy a cargo ship from the Argon. On this cargo ship, I equip it with an ore collector, mineral scanner, mobile mining gun, engine upgrades max and special command software. I then transfer everything I have on my small ship over to the cargo ship. I then take it to the Terracorp HQ and get a jump drive. At this point, you should be very low on money. Take your shiny new ship out and do some mobile mining. There are some juicy asteroids in Barren Shores and Elena's Fortune. After about 15 mobile mining runs of silicon, I will usually have enough credits (2.2 to 2.5 million) to get a Nova. I equip my Nova with everything. Put on 1 Ion D, 2 BHEPT's and 1 BPAC. Then I go on a capturing spree. I capture ships and sell them off for a couple of hours. After awhile, I have about 10 million credits. I then upgrade to an Osprey and the fun begins. You can greatly increase your trading ranks in the early stages of the game by trading weapons. If you have 4 million in the bank, you can purchase 2 GPSG's for 2 million a piece. They sell these at the Boron Equipment Docks. Sell them to the Split. Your trade ranks will jump like crazy - for awhile. I usually will send my mobile mining ship around to do the shopping while I'm off slaying in my new Osprey. Just keep the mobile mining ship rolling around buying and selling guns until you notice that your ranks aren't really increasing too much anymore. You won't make any money from trading guns to the different docks, only reputation. Within 2 days of gameplay, I will have about 50 million in the bank and a few really nice ships. At this point, I complete the storyline and then start building my empire. Hope some of this helps. Good luck.

[bjp646]

Thanks everyone for the advice I will now go and try these out!

[simonnance]

for taking on pirates, a Mako can handle anything in the pirate arsenal 1:1

just watch for the rear turret of the TS, try and fly above them to avoid its arc of fire. Another trick is to set a monitor to rear view so you can pick up on (and evade) incoming laserfire before it hits.

Capturing involved getting a ship down to 87% hull and their either using Ion Disruptors to fry the sheilds till it bails or use a weak weapon to file the hull down slowly until he bails or eats space.

Remember, always save before going into a combat environment.

[Blacktooth67]

Using a Mako for capturing ships, I prefer to target solo
pirate madalays, orinocos, and bayamons. I leave the
transports alone....the rear turrent gets on my nerves.

Just swing in behind them and chip away till they give
up.

The best early trade runs, in my opinion, is hauling
silicon wafers out of Herron's Nebula. Sell them either
down south of Argon Prime, or east of Kingom's End.