X4 Foundations

How do you level up your captains?

My 2nd trader doesn't have the rank for autotrading, so I've been directing him manually, but he's not gone past 2 stars.
 
DEL 707 said:
How do you level up your captains?

My 2nd trader doesn't have the rank for autotrading, so I've been directing him manually, but he's not gone past 2 stars.
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Leave your captains mining until they rank up. It is believed that captains level up piloting through flying and manoeurvering the ship, not by making trades. Because mining is more ship handling intensive (navigating around asteroid fields, getting into position to mine etc) than trading (flying in a straight line between stations); captains level much quicked by automining than doing trades.

Logically it makes sense from a lore perspective too. When automining, the captain is 'thinking' for themselves, working out where to mine and where to sell. When you are doing manual trades, they're just following you're flight instructions and are really not 'thinking' for themselves. One learns more when one figures things out for oneself, rather than being told what to do.


One little trick is as follows. When buying a ship, first select 'Maximum Loadout' from the suggested loadouts, and then downgrade it to what you actually need. The compulosry assigned captain crew member has a increased chance of higher starting stats in piloting. If you happen to roll a low star pilot, you can sell the ship back (remember to strip it back to its cheapest components and then sell it) at cost and try again.

If you're down for a bit of modding, there's a mod called 'Learn All The Things' that increases experience gain rates for captains, crews and marines. Alternatively, there's the TaterTrader mod which both improves the autotrader default behavour options and reduces the experience requirement to one star.
 
Scrutinize said:
Patch 1.6 now live, seems to have helped a few things so far.

Reasonably ambitious future patches scheduled too with player owned shipyards next month.
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shame they aren't bothering to fix faction wars even though mods fixed them ages ago terribly easily..
just missing defence platform layouts basically...
[MOD] Faction Fix Pack 1.2

https://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?f=181&t=413122
Current list of changes

  • General
    • Fixed Holy Order jobs that were incorrectly assigned. (Egosoft has fixed this for an unknown later update but you can have it now! It won't break when they make their fix, it'll just stop doing anything extra)
    • Added the defence station macros needed for the AI to build defence stations. (Same as Faction War Hotfix; will not break if you have both although it's not needed with this)
    • (1.2) Added a workaround to clean up orphaned build storage when loading a savegame
  • Economy
    • Engine Parts production increased by 50%; resources required increased by ~80%; unit volume decreased by ~20%
      • In general player profit shouldn't be significantly different than it was before, but please let me know if it seems significantly off from vanilla
  • AI Scripts
    • Added a workaround so that AI can properly destroy stations that are under construction. This fix works only out of sector.
    • Recon ships don't do full scans since they are just counting the number of enemies.
    • Recon ships used for invasion scouting always flee when attacked.
    • Recon ships that take critical damage now attempt to report their results so far to the faction logic.
    • Tech Traders based in border sectors prioritize supplying invasion takeover stations.
    • (1.1) Fixed ships needing repair not considering equipment docks.
    • (1.1) Ships that want to restock ammo, deployables and/or drones will prioritize equipment docks to reduce unnecessary load on shipyards.
    • (1.2) Fixed ships on 'attack multiple' orders permanently forgetting the initial target when it gets attacked.
    • (1.2) Ships on attack orders with a station as the primary target will no longer lose track of it regardless of range.
  • Faction War Logic
    • Factions will finish Recon goals and not create new ones while recon in the target sector is reasonably recent.
    • Factions will not execute more than one invasion at a time while they have insufficient shipbuilding resources.
    • When preparing an invasion, if the staging zone hasn't seen combat for a long time, temporarily reset Hold Space ship allocations to give the invasion an opportunity to take them instead.
    • Invasions don't start constructing the defence station until after the prep phase, since depending on target the traders generally won't make it and the station would get instantly killed even if they did. (this also fixes Xenon invasions)
    • Invasions continue indefinitely while the majority of invader ships are alive in the target sector and the defence station is proceeding.
    • After an invasion transitions to the 'Hold' phase, a squad is allocated to specifically target enemy stations.
    • If an invasion fails, the incomplete defence station is removed.
    • The 'Hold' goal is now properly dismissed if the faction loses all control in the sector. (the faction will transition to Invade when appropriate to attempt to retake control)
    • (1.2) For the first few invasion attempts on a new game start, factions won't try to build defence stations.
    • (1.2) When attacking enemy stations after obtaining a foothold in a sector, allocate more ships when the target is an enemy defence station.

 
Patch Notes

Version 2.00 Beta 1 (331507) EDIT: HOTFIX 1 HAS BEEN DEPLOYED, INFO AT BOTTOM.

Major New Features
  • New Feature: Player-owned stations with Shipyard, Wharf and Equipment Dock facilities.
Additions
  • Added options to set custom name savegames and to delete savegames.
  • Added ware exchange between ships docked at the same station.
  • Added possibility to start/stop travel mode and SETA while map is open.
  • Added warnings about non-working venture modules due to station layout.
  • Added fighter wings directly subordinate to carriers.
  • Added display of partial skill stars to one third of a star accuracy.
  • Added preview of ship storage capacity after all planned trades to info menu.
  • Added trade menu warning that ware is not available after all planned trades.
  • Added separate Remove all Orders and Wait option, replacing parameter to Remove all Orders.
  • Added failure sound when invalid hotkey is used while map is displayed.
  • Added confirmation before closing station build menu if there are unsaved changes.
  • Added tooltip for greyed-out claim option to show reason.
  • Added full Japanese localisation (text only).
Improvements
  • Improved Xenon threat.
  • Improved turret aiming and target movement prediction.
  • Improved combat movement of frigates.
  • Improved combat movement of capital ships with good captains and crews that do not have forward-mounted weapons against other capital ships or stations.
  • Improved capital ship combat movement against small and medium targets.
  • Improved balancing of capital ship defensive and offensive capabilities.
  • Improved balancing of capital ship use of boost during combat.
  • Improved balancing of capital ship crews bailing when ship is attacked.
  • Improved balancing of missiles.
  • Improved balancing of ware prices and production profitability to emphasize smart business decisions.
  • Improved target acquisition for ships, particularly when attacking stations or capital ships.
  • Improved command information shown by attacking ships when attacking a subcomponent of a bigger target.
  • Improved range over which ships that run out of ammo can look for a known equipment dock from which to re-stock.
  • Improved kinds of stations requested from station building missions.
  • Improved encyclopedia information for production and factions.
  • Improved Logical Station Overview to show station's recommended budget instead of the currently needed money in account settings.
  • Improved quickload hotkey (F9 by default) so it loads the latest saved game, not necessarily a quicksave.
  • Improved playback logic for music tracks from previous games.
  • Improved performance when working with very large stations.
  • Improved menu performance.
Fixes
  • Fixed issues with target elements in the HUD in certain cases (e.g. when using "external view" through the map while standing on a ship/station).
  • Fixed keyboard and gamepad selection not working in scrolling dropdown elements.
  • Fixed previous/next target hotkeys and enemy targets sometimes not working when flying captured venture ships.
  • Fixed previous/next surface element hotkey sometimes not working after loading a savegame.
  • Fixed behaviour of autopilot shortcut in the map (now correctly toggles autopilot on guidance target).
  • Fixed production modules sometimes not updating their animation when production starts/stops.
  • Fixed research wares being listed in economy statistics of the HQ.
  • Fixed storage types in encyclopedia not being localised.
  • Fixed turret modifications breaking ship info menu.
  • Fixed broken Logical Station Overview menu for stations missing a storage type and having no planned modules.
  • Fixed broken menu when firing crew and then hiring new people in the ship buy/upgrade menu.
  • Fixed missing title text in ship construction context menu in map.
  • Fixed ship assignment not being queued correctly (possibly upsetting existing trade deals).
  • Fixed deliver inventory mission not correctly placing the character in some situations.
  • Fixed Bring Item mission offers not being removed properly if destination station or NPC was killed.
  • Fixed several issues with Fleet Delivery mission.
  • Fixed Scan mission not checking for destruction of target station module.
  • Fixed Scan mission to require only normal scan rather than deep scan for station modules. Fixed missing guidance to station module in Scan mission.
  • Fixed Passenger Transport missions to filter out incorrect stations.
  • Fixed Find Lockbox mission to ensure containers remain in mission area.
  • Fixed station ownership not being transferred in Build Station mission
  • Fixed trade and pirate guild mission offers not changing over time.
  • Fixed incorrect faction and other text for several dialog options and briefings in war missions.
  • Fixed introductory mission of war subscriptions getting stuck.
  • Fixed Holy Order outliers sometimes prematurely precipitating conflict with the Godrealm of the Paranid.
  • Fixed attacking ships repeatedly approaching and retreating from target before getting close to it.
  • Fixed ships moving out of pursuit distance to attack targets in their initial approach.
  • Fixed ships attacking stations flying at and firing upon station target box instead of station modules.
  • Fixed patrolling ships attacking build storage.
  • Fixed ships showing excessive DPS when weapons are in more than one active weapon group.
  • Fixed builder ships wandering into hostile territory.
  • Fixed capital ship subordinates of carriers sometimes attempting to dock at their commander's ship.
  • Fixed station-based trading ships setting their current sector as their home sector rather than their station's sector.
  • Fixed ship/station operations being hampered by docked ships working for that ship/station not undocking while player is present.
  • Fixed boarding ships that are missing ammo trying to disable boarding target anyway.
  • Fixed formation skill checks not respecting the player being the pilot.
  • Fixed another case of patrolling player-owned ships chasing hostiles beyond their engagement range.
  • Fixed squadron subordinates apparently trying to attack ships from their own faction.
  • Fixed player-owned ships sometimes inadvertently firing missiles depending on their weapon group setup.
  • Fixed turrets set to Attack my Current Enemy not firing when they should.
  • Fixed turrets set to Attack my Current Enemy firing when they shouldn't.
  • Fixed ships attacking stations stopping their attack after destroying a station module or surface element.
  • Fixed turrets on the player ship that are set to mining mode not firing on asteroids.
  • Fixed boarding ships not launching boarding pods in certain situations.
  • Fixed fleeing ships acquiring a target and attacking in certain situations.
  • Fixed ships attempting to disable a target deliberately destroying it instead.
  • Fixed ships with a Follow order not responding to certain situations.
  • Fixed player-owned ships attacking friendly ships while patrolling player-owned space.
  • Fixed non-police ships (including player-owned ships) sometimes responding to calls for police assistance.
  • Fixed non-Xenon races not constructing defence stations.
  • Fixed build storage of destroyed stations not being cleaned up.
  • Fixed NPCs rubber-banding for a long time after loading a savegame in certain situations.
  • Fixed NPCs getting stuck in elevator if player uses it while NPC is walking in it.
  • Fixed NPC marshalling animations during player docking/undocking.
  • Fixed multiple NPCs standing in the same position on some Argon bridges.
  • Fixed cases of duplicate interior rooms on stations.
  • Fixed frozen movement in bridges of docked capital ships.
  • Fixed cargo trades with Black Marketeer sometimes failing.
  • Fixed module hacking requirements not being respected.
  • Fixed area damage not being correctly applied in certain situations.
  • Fixed ships flying huge curves when going long distances.
  • Fixed multiple shipyards attempting to fulfil the same NPC ship build requests.
  • Fixed NPC ships sometimes requesting more subordinates to be built than they desired.
  • Fixed stations not claiming sector ownership if claiming module is built later.
  • Fixed turrets and shields not being added to station module when not part of a new module.
  • Fixed station module stats and achievements not triggering with the first module of a station.
  • Fixed station module recycling sometimes interrupting an ongoing build.
  • Fixed recycle times of station modules.
  • Fixed exploit where wares could be gained when recycling modules.
  • Fixed inability to remove last remaining module when planning a station.
  • Fixed not being able to cancel ship orders in some cases.
  • Fixed total build time being off by up to one minute for some objects.
  • Fixed onboard units not being factored into object value.
  • Fixed inconsistencies with station hull values.
  • Fixed stations not remembering their Drone/Unit supply settings.
  • Fixed small ships failing to exchange wares with ships they can dock at.
  • Fixed ships needlessly undocking to trade.
  • Fixed faction discounts and commissions not being removed when relations worsen.
  • Fixed transfer of crew from one role to another not being possible at shipyard/wharf/equipment dock if no other changes are made.
  • Fixed EMP-induced signal leaks on unowned small and medium ships claiming them for the player when scanned.
  • Fixed lasertowers spawning in wrong location when deployed from Elite.
  • Fixed lasertowers potentially ending up in the exact same position in space.
  • Fixed objects attracted with the container magnet sometimes getting an unreasonable speed.
  • Fixed ships sometimes oscillating around target positions if SETA is active.
  • Fixed ships docked at other ships sometimes appearing twice in the elevator menu.
  • Fixed issue resulting in data leaks sometimes appearing inside station modules.
  • Fixed roll input in highways steering in the wrong direction.
  • Fixed inability to remap camera input control.
  • Fixed not being able to load certain user-provided files (e.g. custom logos) with non-ASCII file names.
  • Fixed floating geometry on the M-sized Beam Emitter Mk2.
  • Fixed rare freeze related to player ship control.
  • Fixed several causes of crashes.
Known Issues

The following issues in this version are known and may be fixed in a forthcoming update.
  • TBA
HOTFIX 1

Changes in Hotfix 1

• Fixed missing shipyard build module blueprint licences for players who had already undertaken ally ceremony (problem introduced in 2.00 beta 1).
• Fixed ware prices overrides to fit new ware price ranges (problem introduced in 2.00 beta 1).
• Fixed menu crash caused by out of range ware prices (problem introduced in 2.00 beta 1).
• Fixed crash which could occur when saving while certain station components are under construction (problem introduced in 2.00 beta 1).
 
I'd been running this on a GTX 1050 i5 144hz laptop and to be fair, it delivered playable frame rates with highish detail, just a few select graphics options turned off or down.

Upgraded to an i7 GTX 1660TI laptop at the weekend and logged in again after a few months break. The new card, even on battery runs on ultra with no issues.

Was glad to see the updates have kept coming as promised and looking at the expansion, I will happily pay for that even if it's a few ££.

The X series still remains my favourite game series, having played from the original X btf 20 years ago right through to this.
 
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