Download details
Drone Mining and Trading System
License
Size 130.02 KB
Filedate Saturday, 11 October 2014 19:48
Filename DroneMiner-v1.1.4.zip
Downloads 882
Created Friday, 17 October 2014 18:46
Changed Friday, 17 October 2014 18:46
System
Website Website 
Background
The Drone Mining and trading system is a set of open source tools for turning a TL or other large carrier into a fully automated mobile mining solution that uses common Freight Drones as the primary means of collecting and trading minerals.
System Requirements
Minimum Requirements:
Trade Command Software MK3
Minimum of 1 Freight Drone
Upgrades:
The built in software will take control of the TL and direct it to nearby docks to attempt to purchase and install Jumpdrive, Transporter Device, Ore Collector, Mineral Scanner, Duplex Scanner, up to 100 freight drones, up to 20 Fighter Drone MK2, and a few other minor upgrades. Please ensure that you or the ship's homebase have atleast 5 to 10 million in credits prior to starting this command.
Instructions
The Drone Mine and Trade command can be accessed from the Trade Command menu of any TL/carrier class ship with the Trade Command Software MK3.
Modes of Operation:
Mine and Trade - The TL will go to the designated mining sector and begin collecting rocks using its freight drones as repurposed mining drones. When the cargo bay is full, the ship will
a) fill the homebase with minerals up to the amount you specified in the configuration settings (default is none)
b) sell the rest of the minerals using freight drones to trade with factories.
NOTE: Selling wares with freight drones can be less efficient due to the smaller amounts transactions. For example, if you sell 1000 units of Ore to a factory with 10 freight drones, the factory will automatically reduce its price after each drone sells, thus netting significantly less than average price. This is made up for by the fact that the TL can quickly unload its minerals to multiple factories simultaneously.
Collect for Homebase - Use this command if you only want your TL to mine and dump minerals at the homebase. You can use this option if you prefer to assign other traders (CAGs, OK Traders, etc.) to take care of the trading as these traders will usually net you better prices.
Collect and Wait For Further Instructions - For those who prefer to manage their miners a little more closely.
Settings
Mining Sector - You will have to tell your Drone Miners which sector they are to mine in.
Mineral Settings - Each mineral type (Ore, Silicon, Nividium, and Ice) can be turned on or off. So you can have your traders collecting only a specific mineral or all minerals.
Keep Mineral Stocked - An amount for each mineral that will be stocked up too prior to performing a trade run. This allows you to use a miner as both a resource gatherer and an independent trader at the same time.
Bust Asteroids - Disabled by default. This setting lets you choose a yield threshold from 0 (disabled) to 19 yield. Any asteroid with that yield or lower can be automatically busted for minerals. I recommend keeping this setting at 9 or below. The script will attempt to find the lowest yield asteroid and work its way up. It also respects the mineral types you've chosen for the miner.
Example Configuration
As an example, you can set your Miner to collect Ore and Nividum, homebase it to your PHQ, then tell it to keep Nividium stocked at 999,999,999 and ore stocked at 50,000 then it will continually sell ore when your PHQ has 50k ore, but will always store the Nividium it finds in your PHQ until your PHQ runs out of space for it. You could also use it to supply a factory using similar logic, by telling it how much ore and silicon the factory needs to keep on hand the Mine and Trade thus becomes a fire and forget way to handle mineral gathering (at least until the sector its mining runs dry.)
Known Issues
The Drone Miner does not work properly when the TL is home based to a station that does not have a capital docking port.
Other Features
Each Drone Miner will use its friend / foe settings to determine whether to treat a particular faction as hostile or its territory off limits. For example, if you are friends with both the Terrans and the Argons then the Drone Miners will not recognize the war fleets as being hostile. However, if you set one faction to Foe then the presence of that faction within scanner range of the Drone Miner should trigger defensive actions when trading minerals.
I wanted to share my thoughts and intent in creating this mod so that others would understand what they can use it for and why it is different than other mining scripts.
Inspired by OK Traders, the purpose of this mod is to restore mobile mining to some level of profitability and is intended for use primarily in an XRM-based universe. I found in XRM there isn't really a good way to make money in mobile mining and there are so many better things one could do with credits that mobile mining in XRM was a complete waste of time.
In my first XRM game I spent over 150million on a mobile mining fleet only to find they couldn't even make 300k credits per hour. This script changes that. Using common freight drones and a large TL you can easy clear away sectors and turn free minerals into cash. Imagine 20 TLs with 100 drones each strip mining sectors forcing you to move your fleet and interact with other parts of the universe to get more minerals for your factories and HQ. That is what this mod is about.
Links
Download Drone Miner Version 1.1.4
GitHub Page
Old Versions:
Older Stable Version 1.1.2
Add-ons:
Freight Drone Production - Produce Freight Drones at the PHQ
A little script I made for Echofinder. Run the script on the PHQ from the Command window. It will prompt you to purchase the Freight Drone blueprint for 1 million cr and while running collects freight drones made after production.
Compatibility
X3AP XRM: Yes
X3AP Vanilla: Yes
CODEA: Patch Required - Download
Litcube's Universe: No - See page 4/5.
X3TC Any: No
Other Mods:
If you are looking for mobile mining using Fighters or Transports then I highly recommend Dr. Bullwinkle's Mobile Mining MK2. This script doesn't make use of Fighters or TS class ships for mining.
Version History
1.1.4 - Released - 10/11/2014
+ Fixed drone miner should no longer unload its ecells or any shield 200mj or higher.
1.1.2 - Released - 3/22/2014
+ Fixed Drone Miner with a triplex/military scanner no longer tries to buy a duplex/advanced scanner (reported by Zaknafein).
+ Added a German language file with English texts to prevent readtext errors for German players (reported by Zaknafein).
1.1.1 - Released - 2/14/2014
+ Fixed Drone Miner mining right in front of a gate (reported by Figge04)
1.1 - Hotfixed - 1/12/2014
+ Fixed Fighter Drone Mk2 working themselves to death (reported by d_ka)
1.1 - Released - 1/9/2014
+ Fixed not buying equipment at EQ docks (reported by ManticoreMig)
+ Fixed bugs with Bust Roid setting - it now works fine.
+ Fixed (freighter) drones working themselves to death.
+ Fixed mis-reporting no minerals in sector when in fact there were.
+ No longer tries to collect yield 0 rocks.
+ Using the 'recall drones and stop' command no longer triggers a return to homebase.
+ Now jumps to closest gate to destination when shopping for goods.
+ Will still complete a trade run when it has to stop mining early because the sector is cleared of minerals.
+ New Feature: You can now tell it how many drones to buy: 20-100 for Freight Drones, and 5-20 for Fighter Drone Mk2 (requested by Zaknafein)
+ And a few more bugs that I didn't think to document before crushing.
1.0 - Hotfixed - 1/6/2014
+ Fixed Some Misreported Status Messages (Destination set when mining)
+ Refuel check will now occur before starting mining
+ Free cargo space calculation will now save some space for jumpfuel.
1.0 - First Release - 1/4/2014
Please report any difficulties you experience using this script. I will try to make improvements based on feedback. Current plans are to implement a Universe Miner option sometime in the distant future. However, since I have no pressing need it may not be for awhile.
License
All my scripts unless otherwise noted are licensed as CC-BY-SA version 4.0 International. You have the right to modify and release modifications without asking me. You don't need to get my permission or notify me in any way. You are obligated to mention Zanzal as the origin of the script and to provide others with these same rights and obligations to your modified version (they would have to mention your name as well as my name in their modified versions). You may only combine this script with a larger work if your larger work also shares a compatible license that meets these obligations and confers these rights. Modified versions must not be released under the exact same name to avoid confusion. Your modified version must be called something other than 'Drone Mining and Trading.'
The Drone Mining and trading system is a set of open source tools for turning a TL or other large carrier into a fully automated mobile mining solution that uses common Freight Drones as the primary means of collecting and trading minerals.
System Requirements
Minimum Requirements:
Trade Command Software MK3
Minimum of 1 Freight Drone
Upgrades:
The built in software will take control of the TL and direct it to nearby docks to attempt to purchase and install Jumpdrive, Transporter Device, Ore Collector, Mineral Scanner, Duplex Scanner, up to 100 freight drones, up to 20 Fighter Drone MK2, and a few other minor upgrades. Please ensure that you or the ship's homebase have atleast 5 to 10 million in credits prior to starting this command.
Instructions
The Drone Mine and Trade command can be accessed from the Trade Command menu of any TL/carrier class ship with the Trade Command Software MK3.
Modes of Operation:
Mine and Trade - The TL will go to the designated mining sector and begin collecting rocks using its freight drones as repurposed mining drones. When the cargo bay is full, the ship will
a) fill the homebase with minerals up to the amount you specified in the configuration settings (default is none)
b) sell the rest of the minerals using freight drones to trade with factories.
NOTE: Selling wares with freight drones can be less efficient due to the smaller amounts transactions. For example, if you sell 1000 units of Ore to a factory with 10 freight drones, the factory will automatically reduce its price after each drone sells, thus netting significantly less than average price. This is made up for by the fact that the TL can quickly unload its minerals to multiple factories simultaneously.
Collect for Homebase - Use this command if you only want your TL to mine and dump minerals at the homebase. You can use this option if you prefer to assign other traders (CAGs, OK Traders, etc.) to take care of the trading as these traders will usually net you better prices.
Collect and Wait For Further Instructions - For those who prefer to manage their miners a little more closely.
Settings
Mining Sector - You will have to tell your Drone Miners which sector they are to mine in.
Mineral Settings - Each mineral type (Ore, Silicon, Nividium, and Ice) can be turned on or off. So you can have your traders collecting only a specific mineral or all minerals.
Keep Mineral Stocked - An amount for each mineral that will be stocked up too prior to performing a trade run. This allows you to use a miner as both a resource gatherer and an independent trader at the same time.
Bust Asteroids - Disabled by default. This setting lets you choose a yield threshold from 0 (disabled) to 19 yield. Any asteroid with that yield or lower can be automatically busted for minerals. I recommend keeping this setting at 9 or below. The script will attempt to find the lowest yield asteroid and work its way up. It also respects the mineral types you've chosen for the miner.
Example Configuration
As an example, you can set your Miner to collect Ore and Nividum, homebase it to your PHQ, then tell it to keep Nividium stocked at 999,999,999 and ore stocked at 50,000 then it will continually sell ore when your PHQ has 50k ore, but will always store the Nividium it finds in your PHQ until your PHQ runs out of space for it. You could also use it to supply a factory using similar logic, by telling it how much ore and silicon the factory needs to keep on hand the Mine and Trade thus becomes a fire and forget way to handle mineral gathering (at least until the sector its mining runs dry.)
Known Issues
The Drone Miner does not work properly when the TL is home based to a station that does not have a capital docking port.
Other Features
Each Drone Miner will use its friend / foe settings to determine whether to treat a particular faction as hostile or its territory off limits. For example, if you are friends with both the Terrans and the Argons then the Drone Miners will not recognize the war fleets as being hostile. However, if you set one faction to Foe then the presence of that faction within scanner range of the Drone Miner should trigger defensive actions when trading minerals.
I wanted to share my thoughts and intent in creating this mod so that others would understand what they can use it for and why it is different than other mining scripts.
Inspired by OK Traders, the purpose of this mod is to restore mobile mining to some level of profitability and is intended for use primarily in an XRM-based universe. I found in XRM there isn't really a good way to make money in mobile mining and there are so many better things one could do with credits that mobile mining in XRM was a complete waste of time.
In my first XRM game I spent over 150million on a mobile mining fleet only to find they couldn't even make 300k credits per hour. This script changes that. Using common freight drones and a large TL you can easy clear away sectors and turn free minerals into cash. Imagine 20 TLs with 100 drones each strip mining sectors forcing you to move your fleet and interact with other parts of the universe to get more minerals for your factories and HQ. That is what this mod is about.
Links
Download Drone Miner Version 1.1.4
GitHub Page
Old Versions:
Older Stable Version 1.1.2
Add-ons:
Freight Drone Production - Produce Freight Drones at the PHQ
A little script I made for Echofinder. Run the script on the PHQ from the Command window. It will prompt you to purchase the Freight Drone blueprint for 1 million cr and while running collects freight drones made after production.
Compatibility
X3AP XRM: Yes
X3AP Vanilla: Yes
CODEA: Patch Required - Download
Litcube's Universe: No - See page 4/5.
X3TC Any: No
Other Mods:
If you are looking for mobile mining using Fighters or Transports then I highly recommend Dr. Bullwinkle's Mobile Mining MK2. This script doesn't make use of Fighters or TS class ships for mining.
Version History
1.1.4 - Released - 10/11/2014
+ Fixed drone miner should no longer unload its ecells or any shield 200mj or higher.
1.1.2 - Released - 3/22/2014
+ Fixed Drone Miner with a triplex/military scanner no longer tries to buy a duplex/advanced scanner (reported by Zaknafein).
+ Added a German language file with English texts to prevent readtext errors for German players (reported by Zaknafein).
1.1.1 - Released - 2/14/2014
+ Fixed Drone Miner mining right in front of a gate (reported by Figge04)
1.1 - Hotfixed - 1/12/2014
+ Fixed Fighter Drone Mk2 working themselves to death (reported by d_ka)
1.1 - Released - 1/9/2014
+ Fixed not buying equipment at EQ docks (reported by ManticoreMig)
+ Fixed bugs with Bust Roid setting - it now works fine.
+ Fixed (freighter) drones working themselves to death.
+ Fixed mis-reporting no minerals in sector when in fact there were.
+ No longer tries to collect yield 0 rocks.
+ Using the 'recall drones and stop' command no longer triggers a return to homebase.
+ Now jumps to closest gate to destination when shopping for goods.
+ Will still complete a trade run when it has to stop mining early because the sector is cleared of minerals.
+ New Feature: You can now tell it how many drones to buy: 20-100 for Freight Drones, and 5-20 for Fighter Drone Mk2 (requested by Zaknafein)
+ And a few more bugs that I didn't think to document before crushing.
1.0 - Hotfixed - 1/6/2014
+ Fixed Some Misreported Status Messages (Destination set when mining)
+ Refuel check will now occur before starting mining
+ Free cargo space calculation will now save some space for jumpfuel.
1.0 - First Release - 1/4/2014
Please report any difficulties you experience using this script. I will try to make improvements based on feedback. Current plans are to implement a Universe Miner option sometime in the distant future. However, since I have no pressing need it may not be for awhile.
License
All my scripts unless otherwise noted are licensed as CC-BY-SA version 4.0 International. You have the right to modify and release modifications without asking me. You don't need to get my permission or notify me in any way. You are obligated to mention Zanzal as the origin of the script and to provide others with these same rights and obligations to your modified version (they would have to mention your name as well as my name in their modified versions). You may only combine this script with a larger work if your larger work also shares a compatible license that meets these obligations and confers these rights. Modified versions must not be released under the exact same name to avoid confusion. Your modified version must be called something other than 'Drone Mining and Trading.'
Please share this download, simply highlight and copy the bbcode and paste on the forum. Easy download link.
Direct Download BBCode: