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| Re: catching the MT is discouraging |
Thu, 24 April 2014 01:16   |
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 magic9mushroom |
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Messages: 1361
Registered: May 2008 | |
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iloverushandledzepp wrote on Thu, 24 April 2014 13:31i feel that there is no point. i have tried and caught once but without minerals.
what engine should i use?
also, in my current game which is tiny universe with one AI. i still have long ways before i get a engine better than ones from prop 7. also, by the time i can possibly catch him i could easily defeat the AI. and i tend to run out of fuel fast before i can catch him.
please guys, i would like some encouragement :'(
In a Tiny universe it is indeed rather hard to catch the MT, since Tiny games are over quickly (IIRC the first time an MT can show up is 2430) and empires/the universe are very small so you have little time/space to catch it (MT moves at Warp 8-12, Tiny universe is 400 ly wide, so it can leave in as few as 3 turns!).
In larger universes, however, it's very much worth it, since you can see it heading your way years in advance and thus send your fleet to the spot where it will be in that amount of time. The Mystery Trader can give access to one of several unique and very powerful components, or extra technology, both of which are well worth 5000 kT of Boranium (of which you will usually have absurd excesses).
As for cargo vessel engines, there are three main choices, depending on your race setup:
1) Take Improved Fuel Efficiency and No Ram Scoop Engines, and use the Fuel Miser. The Miser has a reasonably small fuel consumption at Warp 9, so when used alongside Fuel Pod Privateers (or Large Freighters, if they're not fully loaded) as well as the occasional Super Fuel Xport, it will suffice to move cargo.
2) Take neither Improved Fuel Efficiency nor No Ram Scoop Engines, and use the Trans-Galactic Fuel Scoop (this will require some intensive Propulsion research, but that's not too hard to pull off if your race is productive enough). The TGFS is an excellent engine, and when used on Large Freighters will usually have no trouble at all with heavy loads.
3) Take the Primary Racial Trait Hyper-Expansion, and No Ram Scoop Engines, and use the Settler's Delight engine. This choice means you are doing all your cargo shipping with Fuel Pod and Cargo Pod Mini-Colony Ships, but they're decent workhorses - due to the high fuel capacity of a Fuel Pod Mini-Colony Ship, you can just adjust the ratio of Fuel Pods and Cargo Pods to suit your needs, and the ships are very cheap.
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| Re: catching the MT is discouraging |
Thu, 24 April 2014 08:20 |
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Be advised there was a great article on Catching the MT written once and published on the still active StarsFAQ site. Here's the link: http://starsfaq.com/articles/sru/art196.htm
Be sure to check the rest of the site too. It's a wealth of knowledge for any Stars! player.
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| Re: catching the MT is discouraging |
Thu, 24 April 2014 19:20 |
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iloverushandledzepp wrote on Thu, 24 April 2014 05:31i feel that there is no point. i have tried and caught once but without minerals.
what engine should i use?
You can use more or less any engine if you have the chance not to go AFTER the MT but TOWARDS the MT.
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| Re: catching the MT is discouraging |
Thu, 24 April 2014 19:42 |
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Read this link
http://wiki.starsautohost.org/wiki/MT
and I highly recommend Craebild's link here.
http://craebild.dk/MT.html
Once you read these two links, you'll know how to catch the MT.
Use your backup=99 setting in the stars.ini and try catching the MT.
If you fail, reload a save from 5 years ago and try again.
Once you get the hang of it, it's fun and worth catching it.
Nevertheless, it's your choice.
I know my minefields.. but I'm a chaff sweeper.
I used to curse when I got stuck in traffic... till I realised I AM traffic.Report message to a moderator
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| Re: catching the MT is discouraging |
Fri, 25 April 2014 09:48 |
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iloverushandledzepp wrote on Fri, 25 April 2014 01:23So going ahead may be a good idea ?
MTs are shown as soon as they enter the universe regardless of your scanning abilities.
So the very first things you do when an MT enters the universe:
You click on it and then its speed and course is shown. The small knots on the MT's course are the points where it will be after 1, 2, 3 turns of travel. Next thing you are doing is calculating wether and when the MT will cross your territory or come somehow close.
Now you need to decide wether you have enough minerals (5 to 9.8k) to spare: open your planet list (F3). You also need to calculate wether you are fast enough:
# building enough freighters
# loading up enough minerals
# getting all this ships with enough fuel somehow near the path of the MT in time.
While you can merge your freighters on the way, you nevertheless need to have them already merged into one fleet the last turn BEFORE they meet the MT.
Example:
Considering you have already built your freighters and have them in a merged fleet with all minerals on board and the MT is 200ly away, moving at warp 11. If the MT is flying away from your freighters, you failed.
To make the example easy, let's say the MT is heading directly into the direction of your freighters:
# MT moves at warp 11 and is 200ly away.
# your freighters' max speed is warp 7
With warp 11 the MT will move 11^2=121-ly lightyears a turn, your freighters 7^2=49-ly.
A) If you move your freighters into the direction of the MT, they will be 200-49-121=30-ly away from each other in the next turn. Mmmh, looks close enough but the MT will fly another 121-ly the next year and your freighters only 49-ly, so the MT will pass your freighters and at the end of the next turn they will be 42-ly apart from each other but now the MT is flying AWAY and no longer towards your freighters... no more chance to meet the MT.
As you can see, the expression "meeting the MT" means precisely meeting the MT at the point where it will be after the movement of the turn!!!
B) So the right thing to do when the MT is 200-ly away (at least in this example):
After 2 turns the MT has moved 242-ly. Since the distance of now is 200-ly and the MT is heading directly into the direction of your freighters, this means he will be 42-ly behind your position. Most simple approach: don't move your freighters this turn and next turn you target the MT with your freighters at warp 7... voila: next turn ALL your ships in the fleet will have vanished and you get whatever goodie the MT has to offer.
Read all the linked articles abover nevertheless, there are still many small things which might occure or taken into account.
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| Re: catching the MT is discouraging |
Mon, 05 May 2014 04:00 |
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Isn't the 1st (dropbox) link working?
I only had problems with the 2nd (forum) links...
I know my minefields.. but I'm a chaff sweeper.
I used to curse when I got stuck in traffic... till I realised I AM traffic.Report message to a moderator
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catching the MT is discouraging
it took about an hour of copy and pasting files and reloading ect. but i learned how to catch him and use the X/Y system in stars 
