INVENTORY MANAGEMENT
AND TRADING
Inventory
Console (default F3 key and third console button): Displays and manages
on-board inventory items. When you are docked at a station, you will be able
to buy and sell items by simply clicking on them. Auxiliary equipment is
displayed in yellow, commodities are displayed in purple, and weapons are
displayed in green. To sell and unload an item, simply click on it from one
of the sections of the console showing loaded equipment/commodities. The
selling value (displayed when you hold the mouse pointer over an item) of
what you sold will then be added to your account. Selling items on a planet
or station will give you full market value for the system you are in while
selling to other ships usually results in lower values. To buy an item,
click on the one you want from the Items for Sale section. You can use the
slider bar on the left side of the list to scroll through all of the
available items. With the mouse pointer held over the list, you can also use
the mouse wheel to scroll through the list. If your ship can store or load
the equipment/commodity item you want, it will be loaded and the cost
deducted from your account. Each item will be automatically routed to the
default installation option. Commodities will be loaded into your cargo bay
while equipment and weapons will be installed onto your ship. Right clicking
on an item provides alternate functions for buying, selling, and
installation. To load upgrades, weapons, and equipment into your cargo bay
instead of installing them on your ship, right mouse click on the item(s)
you want instead of left clicking on them. This way, you can use your cargo
bay as a storage point for items other than commodities. You can later
install desired items in your cargo bay onto your ship by right clicking on
them from your cargo bay list. Likewise, you can transfer installed items on
your ship to your cargo bay by right clicking on them instead of left
clicking on them. If you only want to buy or sell one unit of a commodity at
a time, simply right click on the listed item. To consolidate commodity
cargo, dock at a station or city and use the ALT key with either the left or
right mouse button. Left click to combine matching commodities up to the
limit of 25 per cargo bay. Right click to transfer one unit at a time. For
the list of equipment installed on your ship, you can also use the slider
bar on the right side of the list to scroll through all installed items, if
your ship has more than 5 equipment slots. You can also hold the mouse
pointer over the list and use the mouse wheel to scroll, just like the items
for sale list. The inventory console also lets you refuel, search for
contracts, or buy a new ship. If you buy fuel, your countermeasures will
also be refilled free of charge. A description of items you highlight with
the mouse pointer is provided at the top middle of the console display. Most
of the descriptions are self-explanatory, but when you highlight a weapon,
the Y: stands for Yield, S: stands for Speed, C: stands for Cycle rate, and
R: stands for Range.
Click image to view a video on how to manage inventory and Trading!
This console also provides the shipyard and crew management consoles. The
shipyard lets you design a ship by selecting a frame and then installing the
various components for fuel capacity, cargo capacity, engine, wing design,
and shield capacity.
You can further enhance the design parameters of your ship with additional
upgrades and crew members. Crew members can be hired for various roles and
you need to pay them based on their loyalty, trade, and skill. The fair wage
for each crew member is displayed in the crew management console. If you pay
them less than the fair wage indicated, their loyalty to you will likely
drop, which increases the chance they will leave your ship. Pay them well
and their loyalty will increase. The longer you keep your crew, the more
loyal and skilled they will become, which also increases the amount of money
they expect to be paid. Checking and adjusting your crew's pay levels each
time you dock is a good habit to get into for improving loyalty. Your crew's
loyalty will also increase if you successfully complete contract objectives
and their loyalty will decrease if you fail contract objectives.
The news console is also available in the main inventory console display.
The news console give you local news headlines which provide details on
market conditions and recent events specific to the system you are in. Your
statistics are also displayed at the lower right while market prices for
commodities and fuel are displayed in the two lower columns on the left. The
'System Information' option gives you a brief background on the system you
are in and details on local factions/groups.
The inventory console will automatically open when you enter a hangar at a
station or carrier. When the inventory console opens, the hangar's tractor
beam will engage and hold you in place until you close the console. You can
disable automatic inventory console control by pressing the default Alt-F3
combination You will then need to manually open the console when you dock to
engage the hangar's tractor beam and access docked options available in the
inventory console.
Ship-to-Ship Trade
Console (default F4 key and fourth console button): Lets you arrange
commodity and money trades with other ships. Commodities and other items in
your cargo bay aren't part of your ship, so they can be exchanged with other
ships in flight. You can also exchange credits, so you can arrange to sell
or buy items if the pilot of the other ship agrees to the terms. You can try
to bribe other hostile ships with this console by just sending cash. However,
the other pilot may not agree to open the trade console if they want to
attack you for something in your cargo bay. So the best time to bribe
another pilot is when your cargo bay is empty. When you've selected the
items or money you want to trade and agree to the offer from the other
pilot, click on SUBMIT to accept. In multiplayer, both pilots must click on
SUBMIT for the deal to be finalized. Pilots can also exchange small 30 unit
fuel pods in multiplayer as well as challenge each other to races using the
trade console. When a race challenge is submitted and accepted, the race
course is placed in front of the player who sent the challenge at a heading
of 0. You can also link with another player as a gun turret operator for
their ship. Simply click on the CONNECT GUNNER BINDING button in the trade
console to activate. You will then be in control of a ball turret that
surrounds the ship you've linked to while the receiving player will continue
to be the pilot of their ship. Either you or the pilot player can click on
the DISCONNECT GUNNER BINDING option to terminate the gun turret mode. When
that happens, or if the pilot ship leaves the sector, you will be returned
to your ship.
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