VIG Spawns are a lie

[Stoats not Goats]

From all the Vigour Syndicate jobs I've looked at (I only looked at combat jobs to save myself some time) all the ships appear to have the <environment buildatshipyard="true"/> node, indicating that they are all constructed at wharves. I wouldn't be surprised if some are teleported to the borders of sectors like 18 Billion before they trickle back in as OP asserts as that may be explained by the encounters mechanic as other posters have commented, however, the inference that VIG ships are spawned and not built is incorrect. Sorry if the topic is largely resolved already but I just wanted to provide a definitive answer on the subject.

Source:
extensions\ego_dlc_pirate\libraries\jobs.xml v5.10

[Ehli]

Wait, NPC's building ships at NPC shipyards only need hull parts and energy?! I always assumed they also need weapon, shield, turret components etc. etc. I don't think the VIG SY is getting these components in via trade..

[Rei Ayanami]

Wait, NPC's building ships at NPC shipyards only need hull parts and energy?! I always assumed they also need weapon, shield, turret components etc. etc. I don't think the VIG SY is getting these components in via trade..

Ships and equipment of RIP and VIG (the ToA factions) only need energy cells, claytronics and hull parts. They are factions that build equipment by recycling wrecks, aka they only use wares produced by recycling stations.
It's quite an interesting advantage, as it allows them to mass-produce ships, but they lack special weapons (Ion Blasters, for example).

[Stoats not Goats]

Wait, NPC's building ships at NPC shipyards only need hull parts and energy?! I always assumed they also need weapon, shield, turret components etc. etc. I don't think the VIG SY is getting these components in via trade..

The Vigour Syndicate follows a simplified build method (appropriately called in the DLC wares.xml "closed loop") much like the Riptide Rakers. They only require 3 wares, energy cells, hull parts and claytronics to produce all ships and ship parts. As an example the Astrid can be produced in the default and closed loop methods.

Code: Select all

<ware id="engine_gen_m_yacht_01_mk1" name="{20107,9004}" description="{20107,9002}" group="engines" transport="equipment" volume="1" tags="engine equipment noplayerblueprint">
      <price min="601290" average="707400" max="813510" />
      <production time="20" amount="1" method="default" name="{20206,101}">
        <primary>
          <ware ware="antimatterconverters" amount="200" />
          <ware ware="energycells" amount="100" />
          <ware ware="engineparts" amount="250" />
        </primary>
      </production>
      <production time="20" amount="1" method="closedloop" name="{20206,1201}">
        <primary>
          <ware ware="claytronics" amount="34" />
          <ware ware="energycells" amount="460" />
          <ware ware="hullparts" amount="197" />
        </primary>
      </production>
      <component ref="engine_gen_m_yacht_01_mk1_macro" amount="1" />
      <icon video="engine_gen_m_yacht_01_mk1_video_macro" />
      <restriction licence="generaluseequipment" />
      <use threshold="0" />
      <owner faction="loanshark" />
    </ware>

I hope this clarifies things a bit further, the game doesn't make it super obvious so its easy to miss.

[Rei Ayanami]

The Vigour Syndicate follows a simplified build method (appropriately called in the DLC wares.xml "closed loop") much like the Riptide Rakers.

I really would have preferred if Egosoft used different names for these production methods.

While "Terran" is pretty self-explanatory, neither "universal" nor "closed loop" give any indication of what they actually mean.
Every faction can have a closed loop system, and "universal" sounds as if everything can be used (using terran wares to produce Argon fighters, for example).

I'd prefer something like "Commonwealth production"/"Community of Planets" and "Avarice recycling" (and Xenons simply would have a hidden method called "Xenon", since they have their own production system which use raw ores).

[Ehli]

Thanks.. learned something new, even with 3000 hrs in X3 and 800 in X4
It does make sense, albeit a bit "magic".