Litcube's Universe

[eugene171]

Y and Z sectors are for a few things:

If your player ship is in a sector and you remote-drop a station for a mission, that station moves to the sector where your player ship is. I use this to populate empty sectors with stations.

You can use the plutarch tractor beam to move asteroids into empty sectors and build up industry.

Y and Z sectors are dead ends, and useful places for your PHQ or MLCC docks.

Also, there's no cops in Y and Z sectors, for you pirates out there.

[zibafu]

I had an inkling that Phanon would colonise these sectors! Thanks for answering my question. Now, to answer yours:

So anyway, if I build stations in one of these strange sectors, could Phanon potentially invade full-scale?

I think its random where phanon start tbh unless somethings changed, I restarted litcubes universe a day or so ago after a year or so of not playing x, and i seem to remember them spawning in an unknown sector on the very southern western side of the universe map last time.

[siddham]

Some confusion is evident here. X3AP puts its additional files (including its BP) into an 'addon' folder inside the X3TC game folder. While X3AP also uses many TC core files, it does not use the TC BP held in the TC scripts folder. Pure X3TC play does not access the 'addon' folder at all.

When you install LU, the installer wipes several folders in the X3AP 'addon' folder including the scripts folder where the X3AP BP is held - so you don't have to worry about either BP version being present in LU unless you try to reinstall the X3AP BP after LU is there.

The above is the reason you should apply LU to a moved vanilla copy of X3TC/X3AP and not to the Steam TC game folder itself where files may be updated or restored to vanilla.

Hi Alan
I think I get what you say about LU and how to set that up

One question...concerning vanilla X3...
At the moment I have TC installed
If I install AP will I still be be abe to play TC?
or only AP?

Is TC absorbed into or overwritten by the AP install?

[zibafu]

One question...concerning vanilla X3...
At the moment I have TC installed
If I install AP will I still be be abe to play TC?
or only AP?

Is TC absorbed into or overwritten by the AP install?

Yes you still can, if you go into the vanilla folder youll see 2 applications, one for terran conflict and one for albion prelude.

[Zaitsev]

Here's a quick random question for anyone who's got this far

Where did you put your PHQ in LU and why?

I was thinking this:

Spoiler

Show

Put it in Y Alpha and militarise Unknown Sector Beta as there are plenty of rich asteroids in that sector (hence the spoiler tag), however I don't know why the V, Y and Z sectors are there for.

To follow up what I put in spoilers, will the V, Y and Z sectors play any role in the game later on?

If you plan on building anything in Unknown Sector Beta, you might want to check the sun intensity first ...

To answer your question, I tend to put my PHQ in either Y Alpha or, if I feel particularly brave, Unknown Sector Alpha, west of Xenon Sector 534. The last one is a dead end with only the odd N and M poking around, so anything built a bit away from the ecliptic seem to be relatively safe. It also mean I have a bunch of Xenon guarding my front door, so anyone wanting to visit will have to first run the Xenon gauntlet and then deal with whatever defenses I have prepared.

*****

I think its random where phanon start tbh unless somethings changed, I restarted litcubes universe a day or so ago after a year or so of not playing x, and i seem to remember them spawning in an unknown sector on the very southern western side of the universe map last time.

It was changed some time ago. Phanon now have their own home sector,

Spoiler

Show

north, then west from Elysium of Light.

[siddham]

One question...concerning vanilla X3...
At the moment I have TC installed
If I install AP will I still be be abe to play TC?
or only AP?

Is TC absorbed into or overwritten by the AP install?

Yes you still can, if you go into the vanilla folder youll see 2 applications, one for terran conflict and one for albion prelude.

Thank you zibafu

[Xe-131]

If you plan on building anything in Unknown Sector Beta, you might want to check the sun intensity first ...

To answer your question, I tend to put my PHQ in either Y Alpha or, if I feel particularly brave, Unknown Sector Alpha, west of Xenon Sector 534. The last one is a dead end with only the odd N and M poking around, so anything built a bit away from the ecliptic seem to be relatively safe. It also mean I have a bunch of Xenon guarding my front door, so anyone wanting to visit will have to first run the Xenon gauntlet and then deal with whatever defenses I have prepared.

Ew, 50%. At least there's that asteroid teleportation device, as I was planning to take asteroids from there to Z Alpha anyway as that's 300% and I've planned a 99.5M Cr HQ supply complex for a 300% sector

Also, I like the idea about Unknown Sector Alpha, in vanilla I put a huge complex in there that made weapons and lasertowers. Just slightly concerned about how close that is to the OCV, because...

Spoiler

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I was told that they expand at a decreasing rate, but will eventually push into Bluish Snout

[deadmoomin]

hi, i'm attempting my first boarding. i'm trying to board a pirate M6 but i'm having no luck because my Blue Wing keep killing it before i get a chance to release my marines. basically, as i approach, i issue the "attack shields" command but not only do the idiots attack the shields, they continue to mindlessly assault the hull until the ship is destroyed. they're behaving as though i issued a regular "attack my target" command.

am i missing something? how do i do this? don't tell me i have to micro manage their every shot.

[dizzy]

deadmoomin, yeah the Attack Shields command isn't too smart, especially with groups of ships doing it, they don't coordinate between each other so each one acts "independently" trying to do only the necessary damage to keep the shields down but of course if there are more than one ships doing that they will be doing hull damage. This is less of an issue with large hull ships (like large capitals) but a very serious issue with small capitals like Corvettes.

What I usually do is that I split my attacking ships into 2 groups (they don't need to be distinct):
- one group that I'll use to take the shields down
- one group that remains behind to keep it down, much smaller than the first

Also, you want to set the turret commands of all your ships so that they don't attack the ship you want to board while they are just flying around (turret attack commands also work independently from the command of that ship, the command only controls the main guns). Usually I define a custom turret command (Gamma) that is set to attack missiles and fighters, then set this custom command to all turrets of all ships participating in a boarding operation, that way their turrets will fire at any incoming missiles or any fighter escort but they won't be firing at the ships that are to be boarded.

[deadmoomin]

thanks for explaining how it's working memeics. so basically the more idiot-AIs you have "attacking shields" the faster the rate of hull damage will be. a smaller group attacking shields should give me more time. i'll try your suggestion of creating two groups. sounds like that will work out better from what you say.

in the end, i did actually manage to board that M6 (before my wing destroyed it). but my 8 3-4 star marines were unable to get past its internal defenses. on further reading, i realized there were further complications involved with boarding ships (sentuary guards, firewalls, etc)

it's pretty frustrating trying to find anything i could potentially board with these 8 marines and training more is going to take ages. :/ meh

[zibafu]

It was changed some time ago. Phanon now have their own home sector,

Spoiler

Show

north, then west from Elysium of Light.

But phanon are in Y beta in my current game

[Zaitsev]

It was changed some time ago. Phanon now have their own home sector,

Spoiler

Show

north, then west from Elysium of Light.

But phanon are in Y beta in my current game

It was changed quite a while ago, so unless you're running an older version of LUV (current version is 1.5.1 btw) that shouldn't happen.

[zibafu]

Hmm, maybe I am, I imagine if I update, I'll have to restart my game yes ?

[Zaitsev]

Hmm, maybe I am, I imagine if I update, I'll have to restart my game yes ?

In theory you should be fine doing an export/import, which will preserve all your progress, but if your version of LUV is really old it might not work properly. So it kind of depends on what version you are running now.

[zibafu]

haha, come to think of it, I didnt update it last week when I started playing again, and its been on my computer since last time I played over a year ago, so yeah pretty damn old

[zibafu]

Sigh, decided to do a fresh install with the up to date version, apparently the no steam exe I have isnt accepted by the installer - must be an older version of the no steam exe or something, but egosofts main page is down so I cannot re-download it


edit*

barring any issues

Great success!

[Fun-X]

If you want to know where the sectors are located, you can always download a map off of the Litcube Wiki.

Spoiler:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/a5ac3qla1ry3kbp/Litcube&#

[Fun-X]

@zibafu: I won't post a link to the software, because it is copyrighted.

but.... maybe when you downloaded it before, you left zipped a copy in your download directory? Just a thought...

Also, the link appears to be working for me. Remember that you have to be logged in on your account, and you have to have registered your game. By the way, your signature shows the checkmark showing that you are registered, so that should not be a problem.

But if you have a copy, it should work. You may want to open the properties of the link, and make sure it is pointing to the right place. And then check the actual exe and make sure it is in the right place. I did that before, and when I installed a fresh version, I forgot to copy the exe and re-point the link on my desktop.

[Xe-131]

Do OCV capitals ever abandon ship? I've salvaged a Python and a Tiger from failed attempts to attack OCV sectors... and seen some #deca.fade class ships go neutral... and I've been told that you can't board OCV ships (WHY NOT?! That's the ultimate goal! )

I have found a V that's at 44% hull, at the tail end of another failed attack on "weakened" OCV defences. I can get it down to 24% by jumping my Python in before the Python is destroyed. Theoretically, if I reload the game enough, is there a chance that the V will become neutral, ready for the plundering?

[DerHeiligeApfel]

thanks for explaining how it's working memeics. so basically the more idiot-AIs you have "attacking shields" the faster the rate of hull damage will be. a smaller group attacking shields should give me more time. i'll try your suggestion of creating two groups. sounds like that will work out better from what you say.

in the end, i did actually manage to board that M6 (before my wing destroyed it). but my 8 3-4 star marines were unable to get past its internal defenses. on further reading, i realized there were further complications involved with boarding ships (sentuary guards, firewalls, etc)

it's pretty frustrating trying to find anything i could potentially board with these 8 marines and training more is going to take ages. :/ meh

Boarding is not that hard, once you really know how it works. Relevent info I found here: http://www.x3wiki.com/index.php/Marines

- For the start, pick easy targets. That is m6 with nothing of the following: hull polarization, internal sentry lasers, firewall. You might need some time to find suitable targets. I found Ceo's Doubt has some suitable pirate m6 flying through quite often.

- Your marines don't need training in everything. When you train marines, never use the "train all", as that is a big waste of time. The reason is, the higher the skill, the longer it takes to train. Repeatedly use "quick training" on the skills you need. This is the fastet way to get decent marines.

- What skills do I need at what level? (for m6)
The tl;dr upfront: Buy 2 marines with good hacking (~40) and give them 2 quick fight training. Buy 6 with the most in fight skill you can find. give 4 of them quick mechanical training untill they have mechanical >17 (about 2-3 trainings). Optional: give all of them 2 quick engineering training if they have low engeneering skill.

- Mechanical: When boarding, marines form groups of up to 5. When you use 8, you will get 2 groups of 4. Grouping is important for mechanical skill, as only two marines per group count for cutting hull (always the highes skilled ones are selected). So for your 8 marines (2 groups), only the mechanic skills of 4 actually matter. Their skills are added. The wiki says spacewalking an m6 needs >17 mechanical (or a cumulative 35 on two marines per group). That is quite easy to get. From 0 skill, you need only 2-3 quick trainings to get that. 3 quick trainings starting from 0 skill take 29 minutes to complete. So that is easy enough to get.

- Hacking: Only 2 marines are ever used for hacking. That means, you never need more than 2 marines with any skill in hacking (assuming they both survive to the hacking stage). That's why "train all" is such a big waste of time. You train hacking for nothing becuase only the top 2 marines count. I've bought a marine with some decent hacking (~40) and that was enough to hack m6 without firewall. Have two and you are save. They can be bought with high enough skill level, so no problem there.

- Engineering: How much the ship gets damaged while boarding. With no skill, you do 50% hull damage. So unless the ship you want to board is below 50% hull, you need no engineering skill at all for a succesfull boarding. If you have time, give those marines with really low engineering skill 1-2 quick trainings as they complete really fast at low skill levels.

- Fighting: How fast your marines die. If they die fast, average fight rank is too low. Individual fight rank does not matter, all fight skill is just added up. If you have one marine with 60 and one with 10, train the one with 10 as it goes much faster and does the same.
With no internal sentry lasers and no marines on the enemy ship, an average fightrank of ~50 gets you the ship with no losses, assuming you have the maximum number of marines on the ship you board. The maximum is actually one more marine than it says. For example if it says there can be 20 marines on a ship, you can board with 21. If you do this +1 trick, you can get a capture without losses with even less fight rank. If you are willing to reload a lot, even less works.
Note on reloading: You have to reload from a save where the marines are still cutting hull. LU is different than vanilla here. In vanilla you could reload on every deck, in LU once the marines start fighting the outcome is always the same if you reload.


Hope that info helps.