Hard Light Productions Forums
Off-Topic Discussion => Gaming Discussion => Topic started by: Retsof on July 31, 2012, 11:21:31 pm
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*shrug* Started playing it recently. Was wondering who else has and what your play-styles are. I'm still in a fighter ATM, and in an annoying place, but we'll see how it goes.
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I've taken a recent shine to Split vessels as a player-piloted ship, their Heavy Dragon corvette is a seriously powerful customer. Otherwise, an Argon Raider-variant Nova is always a solid choice, if rather un-specialized.
Early on, I simply try to stay alive, maybe make a small trade transaction here or there if I'm on a low-balance start. Once I'm in at least a decently-fitted M4, I can think about carefully trying to capture other fighters, generally Pirates and smaller than me. An M3 will squash anything smaller than itself with near-contemptuous ease, but persistence and knowledge of your foe can overcome an M3 in time. Just be smart about engaging a turreted M3 if you're outclassed.
Once I'm sitting in my own M3, I shift away from primarily roaming and looking for trouble to setting up a trading business. Capturing ships and scavenging is still a great way to make money, and I often bootstrap my first TS with funds from a captured M3. Outfit a TS with Mk3 Trade Software and send him to a safe system to start autonomously trading (this will cost about 1.5mil Cr/freighter). I actually let X3 run in the background near-constantly when I'm actively working on a game, and my traders often make back their cost (or close to it) overnight on normal speed. This is also a simple and neat way to Universe-qualify your traders in a "hurry".
When I have about a dozen Universe Traders working for me, I'll try to get my own TL so I can deploy my own factory stations with minimal hassle. There's still a lot of hassle involved with stations, but having a TL simplifies one aspect of that. Argon Prime is a good place for a modest Power Plant; there's a lot of demand, and the local Crystal Factories should feed your own demands. Factories tend to make less money than traders, but they're a lot more consistent.
Eventually, I'll settle in a system and plop down my own HQ Station and potentially Shipyards (I played a lot under the XTC mod, and I don't quite remember exactly what can be done in vanilla TC). I try to hold out for my own large station before upgrading my personal ship to a capital ship; first one's usually an M7. Late game begins at this point, and I start to reverse-engineer any ship designs I happen to like, while amassing resources to build them from my own mines and foundries. In my last game, I finished off by launching an all-out assault on the Paranid Empire; my armada destroyed fully half of their inhabited systems before X3 said "no mas" and crashed. Naturally my latest save was hours ago. :rolleyes:
I tend to pick up X3 pretty hard during the summer, if there are any more tips/tactics you'd like to know, just ask.
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AGH! I'm doing an escort mission. Blasting pirates and such, and what gets me? I get onshotted by friendly fire from some bigship nearby.
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*double post*
Well, some pirates were kind enough to "donate" their ships, so I decided to return the kindness and give them a lift. Sadly now all I can do is either enslave them or set them adrift again. Although in a search for what to do with them it seems that if you put them on a ship with no pilot it will say they are the pilot, so maybe I'll put them back in their ships and "employ" them. Or put them on that Vulture Hauler I acquired in a similar manner a while back...
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Terran and OTAS ships are OP.
Use them. :nervous: