How does the orbital beacon work?

[Sampsy]

I built an orbital beacon in a room under a mountain, along with a comms console. They are both powered correctly and the stockpile area around the beacon seems to be working ok. However I haven't had any messages telling me there is an orbital trader to interact with since I built it. I read that they still work when they are indoors, does this include indoors and under a mountain? Or am I misunderstanding how they work - am I supposed to interact with something first?

[Grek]

just wait. orbital trader will come

[Uocjat]

should work fine like that, it's just a matter of time before a trader shows up
however unless it's changed you'll need an unroofed area for traders to drop in items otherwise they'll just drop that at the nearest unroofed bit - which if you've tunneled deep into a mountain means alot of running back and forth to get your stuff

[Monarch 🍕]

You need 1 obitial trade beacon in a "outside" space so that when you buy things it can be dropped at that location.

All other obitial trade beacons can be inside can are considered stockplies for trading with trade ships.

[Sampsy]

How long do you usually have to wait? It has been set up for almost a year now without any orbital traders.

[Monarch 🍕]

Originally posted by Sampsy:

How long do you usually have to wait? It has been set up for almost a year now without any orbital traders.

You have a Comms Console right?

[Sampsy]

Originally posted by MayPeX:

Originally posted by Sampsy:

How long do you usually have to wait? It has been set up for almost a year now without any orbital traders.

You have a Comms Console right?

Yup

[Honor's Bastion]

Originally posted by Sampsy:

How long do you usually have to wait? It has been set up for almost a year now without any orbital traders.

It's absolutely random as a trader arriving is considered an event on it's own with a lower chance overall compared to other things.

If you want to increase that, there is a mod for it:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=725465444&searchtext=trade

[Sampsy]

Ok I have it (kinda) figured out now. You DO need to have an orbital beacon outside otherwise you will never get the prompt that traders are available.

Whether beacons which are inside work as Maypex suggested above I don't know. I've tried putting my supplies both next to the inside and outside beacon but in neither case do they appear as tradeable.

[BlackSmokeDMax]

Originally posted by Sampsy:

Ok I have it (kinda) figured out now. You DO need to have an orbital beacon outside otherwise you will never get the prompt that traders are available.

Whether beacons which are inside work as Maypex suggested above I don't know. I've tried putting my supplies both next to the inside and outside beacon but in neither case do they appear as tradeable.

I've played many games with no beacon outside. If you didn't get any until doing that, it was just chance.

Items that aren't tradeable is most likely because that trader just doesn't buy that type of item.

[Monarch 🍕]

When a trade ship does arrive, usually the ship has a name and the event notification gives you a brief discription. They could be a Bulk Goods ship or a Textile ship. These categories determine what you can and can not sell to them.

Textile ships are not interested in weapons, but they are happy to buy any apparal or textile resources off you.

[Pro Stabby]

Also a question about trading with other factions through the comms console, what relationship do you need to trade with them

[Swirler]

Hail the bulk goods trader.

Yeah this part of the construction for offworld trading is not explained well in the game. Would be really nice if there was an indicator on the orbital beacon stating that it does have a valid connection.