How to start building your own station?

[Mr.Killer]

I am puzzled, as the mechanics are slightly different than earlier X-games, this time I found a lot tips on the internet about this wonderful game, still, it leaves me with the simple question how to get a station of any kind into my just purchased Mammoth amd stat building a station for myself and to come home to (Homebase as in X3)
Have tired a few things but no luck, so, I'm hoping that you worked this out and are willing to tell me.....

Thanks fellow space dwellers.....

[Tashine (Da)]

You could use the in game tutorial - press H in game. However, I recommend instead the guide here on steam by Noodle which takes you to youtube.

[AuGuR]

The PHQ questline actually (kind of) runs you through the process. It's given by the first "radio" signal scan you do on a station (not the leaks). After a few hoops and hurdles, you end up having to put a dock on the station to finish up the questline and start the research bit (vanilla game that is).

Other than that, and assuming you have already aquired some blueprints:

1. Find a system you want to build the station in.
2. Pick a location in that system and click on the bottom left icon to place a "plot".
3. Size the plot as big as you want, just realize it'll cost more the larger the plot from the system owner, even more the closer it is to a highway. Pay the fee if required (not paying in NPC owned systems will make your station hostile, if not you yourself).
4. Click the "Create" button which then opens the station build screen. Add/arrange your known blueprint modules. Helps to at least place a 1M6S dock or better at the start, but it can be anywhere in the build queue.
5. Make sure you allot money to buy the resources needed for the build at the bottom of the 3rd resource drop-down, which shows an estimation of the build cost.
6. Pick either your own build-ship or rent one from the NPCs floating around (50K credits avg) and assign the ship to build your station.
7. Click the "confirm changes" button at the bottom.
8. Wait a (long) while for the station to be built as ships bring in the resouces to build your station's build-ship, and/or help buy transfering required wares using the transfer to build storage option.

There's a bit more to some of the modules, the production, storage and defense ones have the ability to mount weapons and shields to protect the station itself. Aligning and rotating the modules are also a thing. The hardest part to get used to is that the camera movement is anchored to the center of the plot, so adding modules high above or down below "center" can be problematic.

Hope this helps.

Side note: IF you have a bunch of credits, create an alternate save and just play around creating plots and stations to get the hang of it all. You can even save the builds you make for easy access in your actual game, just be prepared for the costs.

[Axernite]

This link below should help. It's very informative and to the point:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIkOEXScdmA&t=983s
Hope this helps :)

[Berserk Belta]

Notes if you go through the main quest to build "Unknown station":

1. When you go to build as the quest and tutorial have showed you, you will see in yellow "there is no pier module on this station" or however it is translated. This is just a warning and doesn't stop you queuing the construction and starting it, so if your station is not building despite everything seeming to be in place, this is not why. You may have to revise your layout, if it seems good see 4 below.

2. You have to wait a long time for resources to arrive, give it time, you can watch them come in in the building planner on the right panel.

3. You have to wait minutes for the modules to construct, give this time, too. (You can watch construction timers tick down on the screen mentioned above, or under "owned property" in the map screen).

4. Here's why I mention 1: there is a bug where a valid build will just hang even though you double, triple, quadruple check you have all modules connected correctly, have hired a builder, have waited for the resources and so on - that one green module will sit forever at 0%. A sensible person might review the build planner for Unknown Station and conclude that the pier module is the problem and waste hours saving money, grinding reputation, scanning modules whatever to get one. You don't have to. Move the offending module, right click>remove and add the same module again (making sure it's done properly again obviously) et voila after a short while your station will build properly. Again assuming everything is right.

On the station building tutorial:

An odd choice, but this tut you will presumably go looking for early game, uses your money doesn't check you have the requisite funds before starting. Despite assuring you you'll get your money back it encourages you to buy a plot and doesn't tell you how to get your money back for the plot until you complete the tutorial.

...which you will never see if you have to stop the tutorial because of insufficient funds, leaving a chunk of your meagre early game money tied up in a plot you can't use yet. To fix this, go to map, my property and click the bottom tab on the left (manage plots). Look for the plot you bought and click the x next to the name of it.

[Mr.Killer]

Thanks all, got from first reaction a good whiff, so, I'm gonna submerge myself in YT vids...

[Ram]

Yea those in game tutorials are incredibly buggy and annoying tbh