Newcomer / Intro What are you up to?

On my newly created Alt, I decided to spend some time getting some G3 on-foot equipment -- suits and weapons -- so I traveled around in the Apex taxi, visiting various stations, outposts, and planetary ports, so I could check the Pioneer store for some good stuff. I took the Apex because it's easier than flying to unknown systems, and also because it unlocks Domino Green when you travel 100 LY in the Apex.

As it turned out, I'm out on the edge of the bubble, in an area where there's been quite a bit of colonization going on. I discovered that many of these new systems have lots of outposts and planetary ports. I guess there's some advantage to building them, or maybe they are easy to build. I don't know much about colonization.

But it works out great if you're doing a search for G3 equipment, because you can just flit around in the Apex visiting all these places, and they have little to no traffic so there's a good chance to find some G3 stuff that hasn't been taken.

In just a few hours I got all my suits to G3, I have all the plasma weapons to G3 (Intimidator shotgun, Executioner rifle, Tormentor pistol), as well as a G3 TK Eclipse, a G3 TK Aphelion, and a G3 Karma L-6. Not a bad haul. My guy is well equipped after just being created yesterday :)

So if you're in the market for G3 stuff, find a place where there are lots of new systems being colonized and hit up all the stations, outposts, and ports.
Kapur's Progress (20250618-135056).jpg


After getting all my gear I decided to jump in and take on a difficult mission, to test things out. I found one that paid 15 Manufacturing Instructions. It was an illegal mission to kill 10 civilians. But after checking it out, I verified that the targeted Faction was an Anarchy faction, which meant I would not get any bounties on my head for killing them, despite the "illegal" nature of the mission. So I went for it.

It was actually pretty difficult. The Faction only had one settlement and it was rather heavily fortified, with lots of guards, anti-aircraft turrets, anti-personnel turrets, a couple of skimmers, and absolutely no unlocked doors. Everything required at least level 1 clearance.

I took my time, weaseled my way into one of the buildings, took out one civilian in an empty hallway, cloned his level 2 clearance, snuck into the Ops room and disabled authorization scans, and turned off all the turrets. But the alarms console wasn't in there.

I eventually found it, in a small alcove with a guard watching. I managed to kill the guard and turn off the alarms, but the base was on alert at that point. I had to blast my way out.

I'd sort of forgotten how intense and exciting these missions can be!

I prevailed, though, and got my Manufacturing Instructions. I need lots of them. Fun times.

My guy looks a bit down, though, even though the mission was a success. I guess killing a bunch of civilians took a toll.
Kapur's Progress (20250618-133934).jpg
 
Yes, if you're just after credits then exploring/exobiology is going to be a bit hit-or-miss. If you stick to it you'll wind up having some days/weeks when you make a ton, and some days/weeks when you don't find much. It won't be a consistent, forecastable income.

You'll still get there, and in a lot less than 5 months, but it won't be predictable.

For predictable income you need something like laser mining for platinum, or stacking pirate massacre missions. Something that earns a consistent amount each time you play, with less randomness.

The downside, of course, is that any method with less randomness will also be less interesting, and more boring.

For me personally, I'd go with less predictable and more enjoyable. But I'm (almost) never in a rush. I've been playing for years and years, and I expect to still be playing for many years more. There's no need to acquire anything immediately. I try to enjoy the journey. :p

Maybe you can mix it up a bit and use more than one form of income gathering, to keep yourself from going mad. "The grind is in the mind" as they say!

Yeah, good advice. Variety is a good thing. I do try to change it up, sometimes just running data missions for the Federation rank, or work on engineering, but mining? I did that for awhile but the payout at the time was not great, good, but not great. Platinum in Delkar. I didn't care for the pirate risk, though low. I wanted to know how to make max credits. Stratum Tectonicas here I am! My goal is a carrier. When I get a carrier, then what? All that's really left is to figure out how I want to make credits with it.

After so many credits, then what? I'm hoping something new will be introduced in the near future, because as it is, I don't see much else. I don't care for any combat stuff, so that's out. The whole soap opera Power Play/BGS stuff isn't interesting at all. I get enough politics in the real world.

True, it's just a state of mind. This is why I set goals. The entertainment is in reaching those goals.

Yes, there are other things out there besides Stratum. One or two pay the same, others are 40+M. Not bad money. I usually go for anything that's at least 20M.

Planets? Indeed, I FSS, then I DSS every "high value" planet. HMC can be about 1.5M, Water worlds, Ammonia, and Terraformables. If it isn't at least 1M I don't bother scanning it. Seems I remember the highest value scan was about 4.5M one planet. I've had a high total system of about 12.5M so far.

Get a 2-3 HMC, a couple Waters, and a couple Terras and you got a decent payout for a system. I found twin Waters recently, orbiting each other. That was cool.

Occasionally I'll hit a few geothermals for materials, but I'm pretty much full on those.

Overall, I'm basically done with unlocking engineers in the Bubble. Not interested in suit stuff, got a G3 Artemis and Maverick with matching G3 weapons, so that's fine since I don't do combat.

Colonization? Not interested.

Not sure if I want to mess with going to Colonia. A black hole? Meh, no big deal, I hear they suck anyways. :sneaky:
 
On my newly created Alt, I decided to spend some time getting some G3 on-foot equipment -- suits and weapons -- so I traveled around in the Apex taxi, visiting various stations, outposts, and planetary ports, so I could check the Pioneer store for some good stuff. I took the Apex because it's easier than flying to unknown systems, and also because it unlocks Domino Green when you travel 100 LY in the Apex.

As it turned out, I'm out on the edge of the bubble, in an area where there's been quite a bit of colonization going on. I discovered that many of these new systems have lots of outposts and planetary ports. I guess there's some advantage to building them, or maybe they are easy to build. I don't know much about colonization.

But it works out great if you're doing a search for G3 equipment, because you can just flit around in the Apex visiting all these places, and they have little to no traffic so there's a good chance to find some G3 stuff that hasn't been taken.

In just a few hours I got all my suits to G3, I have all the plasma weapons to G3 (Intimidator shotgun, Executioner rifle, Tormentor pistol), as well as a G3 TK Eclipse, a G3 TK Aphelion, and a G3 Karma L-6. Not a bad haul. My guy is well equipped after just being created yesterday :)

So if you're in the market for G3 stuff, find a place where there are lots of new systems being colonized and hit up all the stations, outposts, and ports. View attachment 432507

After getting all my gear I decided to jump in and take on a difficult mission, to test things out. I found one that paid 15 Manufacturing Instructions. It was an illegal mission to kill 10 civilians. But after checking it out, I verified that the targeted Faction was an Anarchy faction, which meant I would not get any bounties on my head for killing them, despite the "illegal" nature of the mission. So I went for it.

It was actually pretty difficult. The Faction only had one settlement and it was rather heavily fortified, with lots of guards, anti-aircraft turrets, anti-personnel turrets, a couple of skimmers, and absolutely no unlocked doors. Everything required at least level 1 clearance.

I took my time, weaseled my way into one of the buildings, took out one civilian in an empty hallway, cloned his level 2 clearance, snuck into the Ops room and disabled authorization scans, and turned off all the turrets. But the alarms console wasn't in there.

I eventually found it, in a small alcove with a guard watching. I managed to kill the guard and turn off the alarms, but the base was on alert at that point. I had to blast my way out.

I'd sort of forgotten how intense and exciting these missions can be!

I prevailed, though, and got my Manufacturing Instructions. I need lots of them. Fun times.

My guy looks a bit down, though, even though the mission was a success. I guess killing a bunch of civilians took a toll.
View attachment 432508
Interesting. I've never thought to visit any colonised stations/settlements for gear.

I suppose, if the system architect builds a base with Pioneer Supplies in it, the stock of guns/suits is randomly set and reset like "normal ones". I wonder how other facilities work, like Apex, Frontline, Inter Astra etc. work.
 
Strat Tech is not the only high value exobiology sample. I made about 850 million on my last trip Sag A* back to the bubble using KGBFOAM stars and even neutron highway stars and going to any planet with at least 3 signals and scanning whatever was easy to find there. I mostly ignored bacteria as it s rarely worth much. All first footfall planets.

Same with exploration - if you try to target only Earthlike, Water and Ammonia worlds you miss the bread and butter - the High Metal Content worlds which are common and still worth maybe 2/3rds what a water world is worth.

Right, I do go after others if it's value is say over 20-30M. If it's not at least that, I don't bother. The most I've scanned so far on one planet is 159M value, 2 plants, neither were Stratum!

Where I am, everything is first discovery/first footfall.

Yes, I always scan HMCs. 1M or more I scan it.

Yes, I use KGBFOAM.

Thanks for the tips!
 
Interesting. I've never thought to visit any colonised stations/settlements for gear.

I suppose, if the system architect builds a base with Pioneer Supplies in it, the stock of guns/suits is randomly set and reset like "normal ones". I wonder how other facilities work, like Apex, Frontline, Inter Astra etc. work.
Stocking etc works in the same way as in the “normal” stations.

What is actually present depends on what structures have been completed in the system and how developed it is.
Apex I believe shows up almost immediately even before all the scaffolding is removed, shipyards are affected by what stations and development scores so are not so universal.

The beta nature of colonisation means that things have been subject to change.
 
I never bothered checking for Pioneer Supplies before heading to a station because they all seem to have one anyway. I just restricted myself to high population systems since there seems to be a higher chance of multiple ports.

Most of what I have is G3 but I may make another run after the tick so I can find that G3 Tormentor.
 
Hi All :)

Interesting. I've never thought to visit any colonised stations/settlements for gear.

I suppose, if the system architect builds a base with Pioneer Supplies in it, the stock of guns/suits is randomly set and reset like "normal ones". I wonder how other facilities work, like Apex, Frontline, Inter Astra etc. work.

As of yet I've not come across any pre engineered suits or weapons in the stations of Colonised systems (including my own)...not that I regularly go searching for them.
Incidentally, I'm wondering if any of the Colonised systems have any rare commodities?....stuff similar to Lavian Brandy etc. 🤔...maybe at some point the 'game' might generate some new unique ones for some of the Colonised systems. (Randomly)..not likely I suppose...🤷‍♂️

Yeah, I think the Apex shuttle taxi was pretty much there straightaway in my built stations once they'd been constructed. As for any of the other facilities in your built stations...it's still a bit of a mystery to me!
When I wanted to get a cartographic facility in my Coriolis up and running I took some forum searched advice and built a satellite installation, which worked straight away..but the logic behind that still escapes me! 😵‍💫

Still hauling stuff for my planet surface port...I've still a few thousand commodities to collect, but I can't do it for more than a couple of hours at a time before it becomes mind numbing. I'm just booting up the game now after this Thursdays maintenance...or trying to....'Can't connect to Frontiers Servers'....Mauve Adder....Ah! success after a couple or three re-boots
I also wanted to check to see if my custom station name was implemented after this Thursdays tick, which it has. 'Wild Deer Corporation Headquarters' 😌 ...:D

Right!...a couple of hours haulin' then I'm off to sit in the sunshine and read a book with some refreshment.🍻:)

Jack :)
 
Hi :)

Is it just me or has the anti-aliasing improved?

🤔...It's improved a lot this year, the jagged orbit lines was somewhat overcome by thickening them up I believe, as for improvements generally after the last one or two updates I'm not sure. Now you mention it though, and just looking at the graphics (I'm in a station at the moment collecting commodities, (ALRAI system Bounds Hub) it does seem there's some very slight overall improvement...maybe. :unsure:

LOL, nice.

No can do here in Arizona. Indoors only, seeing it's supposed to be 116F (46.6C) today.

Oh my, that's hot! 🫠
I've just checked outside, roughly 74F in the shade but probably around 80F + in the direct sun. (I live in the Midlands UK btw.) quite hot enough for me today though!
Only a very, very light breeze at the moment so it's a bit humid as well.
Apart from commercial properties, offices and such like it's not a common feature of private houses to have any air conditioning units here in the UK...that's probably going to change though with the dreaded global warming. ;)...annnnd there's talk on the news this week of maybe hose pipe bans, so I've topped up my 3 water butts (barrels) just in case there is.
Quite cool here inside the house though, even with the computer generating some heat, (60 degrees Centigrade CPU, 58 degrees C GPU).

Okay, some commodities purchased here (Building Fabs & Structural Regulators) so I'm going to move my carrier off to another systems station, for some different stuff. 🫡

Jack :)
 
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I'm struggling with this CG still. Not sure what I'm doing wrong, but I'm not making any contribution. Trying one last thing and if that don't work, I may just abandon it altogether.

And how do I sign up for the opposite side? I can't see anywhere to cancel my current campaign and switch sides. Selecting the other side doesn't stop the current one.

I'm so confused :D

EDIT: cracked it. As ever, my brain was failing to work properly. I have given a stern talking to and it it's now behaving normally.
 
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Since I returned to the game, that's the first thing I've read that makes me think on-foot stuff might be worthwhile (y).

Not saying I'm gonna do it, though :)
Once you get used to it, it's really great. IMHO :D

If I was starting over, the advice I would give myself it to try a low intensity GCZ. This helps you learn the basics of ground combat - a skill which comes in useful if you mess up and assassination, have to kill an opposing faction, encounter scavs at a power-on etc.

Secondly, shield use. Don't forget to switch it on and off as required.

Thirdly, line-of-sight; you can hide behind stuff and use it as cover.
 
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I'm still bimbling about, exploring and slowly building the planetside colony between explorer stints.

As people might have guessed from my increasingly crisp tone on a few threads I need some headspace for a bit so I'll keep an eye on this thread and announcements but that'll be about it until the clocks change I think.

I'm slowly turning myself into a Codex completist player (I've joined Canonn and everything) so I think soon I might have to move operations to whatever the nearest next sector is, colony or no colony...
 
Not that I've noticed...

🤔...It's improved a lot this year, the jagged orbit lines was somewhat overcome by thickening them up I believe, as for improvements generally after the last one or two updates I'm not sure. Now you mention it though, and just looking at the graphics (I'm in a station at the moment collecting commodities, (ALRAI system Bounds Hub) it does seem there's some very slight overall improvement...maybe. :unsure:
It's always possible I'm imagining it but things just felt crisper from the moment I got to the main menu. It may even be the case that a new Nvidia driver last night made a slight tweak somewhere. I haven't experienced as much card noise so far.

I suppose a good test would be at an actual GCZ.
 
I'm still bimbling about, exploring and slowly building the planetside colony between explorer stints.

As people might have guessed from my increasingly crisp tone on a few threads I need some headspace for a bit so I'll keep an eye on this thread and announcements but that'll be about it until the clocks change I think.

I'm slowly turning myself into a Codex completist player (I've joined Canonn and everything) so I think soon I might have to move operations to whatever the nearest next sector is, colony or no colony...
Out of curiosity, why has your forum name got "Dormant" on it?
 
Since I returned to the game, that's the first thing I've read that makes me think on-foot stuff might be worthwhile (y).

Not saying I'm gonna do it, though :)
Haha, well if you do, check out the best guide first, to learn the basics of how guards aggro and what you need to do.


I have found that the on-foot missions are in general very well designed, with lots of things that can happen and lots of things that can go wrong if you aren't paying attention. Some of the base layouts are very difficult to penetrate without raising the alarms. You can't just run in there guns blazing, that's for sure.

I should point out that I love stealth games, and so I gravitate toward the Covert stuff in the on-foot gameplay. It is some of the best stealth gaming I've ever had.

The non-mission stuff (the on-foot CGs) is also fun, but in a different way. It's more like Capture the Flag. It can be very exciting though.
 
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