Need some help, the cheapest 1st Factory/Space Station that makes profits?

[gunner]

Hi guys, for those who have already started building your own Factory/Space Station, what is the cheapest Factory/Space Station that you can make to make Profits?

Would appreciate if you could give me the details?

[ImHelping]

Originally posted by gunner:

Originally posted by Aieonae:

It very hard to say, it would be wise to check the demand and the saturation first instead of pineing on a miracle product.

@ Aieonae, what method would be advised to check for Supply and Demand?

Be warned that the satelite trade view can be full of false positives.

For example, 3 dot's should mean great prices right?

Oh, whoops! It's a trade station buying and selling for average price and 1 credit off average price!

Or maybe you'd figure 2 dots is just a slightly better than average price like you've seen be the case for other stations. Then it turns out that cattle farm was charging over 20% more than average price, rather than squeaking in at a discount.

Because the trade overlay only cares about bulk, not price.

It IS important to get a sat network up. But trusting the UI or "Common knowledge" for profits can lead to poor results.

"Oh boy, everyone says they make a killing on claytronics!... oh, nobody is buying claytronics this time? welp!"

It's hardly a nonstop issue, but it happens enough that you need to be aware of it and fact check prices.

Much like you should fact check any trade missions "So you want me to solve a food and med shortage for your statoins in sector X?" "Yes." "You only own three stations there, and two of them make food and meds while being fully stocked. If I had an x3 jump drive I couldn't make the sale, so why are you listing a shortage?" "Well, you see..."

Hardest part of profits isn't common sense. The hardest part of profits is having to screen for stuff that sabotages common sense.

[D55]

Ore Refinery or silicon refinery both will make plenty of money,set the ore/silicon price to very low (remove auto) and when you can add miners to get it for you and if you add a solar fab its eventually free money when you have enough miners,the product sells itself

[gunner]

Originally posted by D55:

Ore Refinery or silicon refinery both will make plenty of money,set the ore/silicon price to very low (remove auto) and when you can add miners to get it for you and if you add a solar fab its eventually free money when you have enough miners,the product sells itself

As I am still quite inexperienced with the game, could you provide info about the Modules that are required to make an Ore Refinery or Silicon Refinery?

Much Appreciated.

[Aieonae]

Originally posted by gunner:

Originally posted by D55:

Ore Refinery or silicon refinery both will make plenty of money,set the ore/silicon price to very low (remove auto) and when you can add miners to get it for you and if you add a solar fab its eventually free money when you have enough miners,the product sells itself

As I am still quite inexperienced with the game, could you provide info about the Modules that are required to make an Ore Refinery or Silicon Refinery?

Much Appreciated.

I believe you can buy them from faction reps

[Hakgova]

Originally posted by Aieonae:

Originally posted by gunner:

Does anything bad happen if you have no Station Funds?

It stop operating normally.

It will still run until the input resource runs dry

This also applies to station assigned transports as they will no longer purchase medical or food to transport back your station. One reason why I think people think that station transports are broken is actually that they have not put funds into station management.

[Dovahkiin]

I think manager will not buy drones until you have the minimum in account .

Aieonae, is there a setting that shows ship destinations like is visible in your screen shot?

[gunner]

Originally posted by Aieonae:

Originally posted by gunner:

As I am still quite inexperienced with the game, could you provide info about the Modules that are required to make an Ore Refinery or Silicon Refinery?

Much Appreciated.

I believe you can buy them from faction reps

Are you refering to Refined Metals Module and Silicon Wafers Module?

Never thought of or heard of making profits reducing their product prices. Does being very basic make good money?

[koma-goes-amok]

I went for solar panels ASAP with my PHQ, then for minerals and later for gas as other modules I built needed these resources.

I did buy a few modules but many I got by flying to stations in a scout, turn on scan mode (shift-2) and looking for the small red dots that have radio static as you approach. Exit ship in the spacesuit, get close, save and scan. Reload, wash, rinse and repeat till you get the blueprint you need or till you are sure you can't get it.

One thing to note: if your station doesn't require ore because it has no ore processor it will not instruct your miners to get ore. Having free storage does not help either. Your miners and harvesters will only get the raw resources the station is actually capable of processing.

Once you have several modules you can set the selling price to automatic for what you wish to sell and manual-highest price for what you don't want to sell much of. Made millions that way and saved millions because I manufacture all materials I need.

Important note if you want to build a module using your station's resources: hull parts, claytronics, e-cells - the "big and bulky items" need to be hauled to the build stash using a hauler which is extremely tedious as it can require 30+ hauls for some modules if you use a meduim class hauling ship. Fortunately you have the small station craft haul the small parts (turret parts, shield components et al.) for you.

Useful tip: get 3-4 medium miners and gas harvesters ASAP once you have the appropriate processor modules. Get larege storage ASAP, too. Then get 1-2 L-miners and -harvesters and go to town.

The only impediment I have is when my sector fleet guarding my PHQ somehow aggros locals for no apparent reason. And this usually requires reloading a save as it killy my reputation if my fleet destroys friendly L-class or swarms os S and M ships.

[CloversDrop]

All of my 1.5 games start with only 1 engine factory per faction.
Can't go wrong building a little one for each.

dock, storage, engine production.

[gunner]

Maybe everyone has some difference in their game, but where are good Starting Sectors to build your first factory, any guide lines?

I was thinking of making my First Factory in Argon Prime or Second Contact, and maybe do Microchips and/or Smart Chips once I get the blue prints?

[Elder Drake]

Originally posted by gunner:

Does anything bad happen if you have no Station Funds?

Nobody mentioned this but you also will start to lose workers at the station and given how slowly you get them you should always stay above the minimun threshold.

Another idea is to make Engine Part and Smart Chip factories as you can help stalled stations and wharfs with both (Engine Parts beging a key one) and keep a steady profit with the only downside being you can not rely on the manager to efficiently get those parts out. You will need to find the stations that need them and get some of your M class trade ships to make round trip runs.

Secondly I would advise building credit up fast by going to Faulty Logic and grabbing the XL ship there (it is in the second sectore of that area, take a hard right after leaving the highway there about 90 degress and go to the edge, you will see it pop up on scanners eventually but you will need 1 marine at least and have to be VERY careful as the entire area is heavily set with mines). It will net you 8-9m or so I believe and if you get lucky with Burnite crystals in that sector (the entire area is laced heavy with crystals and you can farm them even in the starter ship with zero upgrades, just be careful of enemy patrols). Sell the ship, farm asteroids for crystal for 30 minutes, scan stations, farm asteroids for crystal for 30 minutes, scan some more stations (for blueprints) and you will have a very solid base of starting capital to get your stations up and going.

Finaly hands down the best money maker though will be a Claytronics factory as it is the highest selling ware in the game and always in demand (even the in game encylopedia will tell you this). It takes a LOT of credits to get going though, and even more to keep the manager in the black (above minimum funds) until the manager gets the initial stocking sorted and starts selling product but once they do, you will make a killing. Combine it with a SETA mode and you will quickly have an empire going and can add more claytronics modules to create a snowball affect. I got an entire closed loop station (I only need raw materials from miners, the station has modules for everything to make claytronics), 3 Claytronic modules, 12 M Class freighters, 24 M Class Miners, and a secondary station making Engine Parts (3 modules again), a SETA drive, a defensive fleet of around 12 M-XL ships, my own builder, all within 4-5 hours or so.

Anyways long post but I wanted to share what I learned and how I get going fast and easy. Good luck and happy hunting.

[CloversDrop]

Originally posted by gunner:

Maybe everyone has some difference in their game, but where are good Starting Sectors to build your first factory, any guide lines?

I was thinking of making my First Factory in Argon Prime or Second Contact, and maybe do Microchips and/or Smart Chips once I get the blue prints?

I put my first engine factory in argo prime, near the wharf

[gunner]

If I setup a Microchip or Smart Chip factory in Second Contact, does it serve any purpose? Does location of Factory make all the difference?

I know in my game the Trinity Sanctum III Wharf needs a lot of Smart Chips and is always in demand as the Wharf is very active in building Fighters until it freezes production without an infusion of Smart Chips.

[Dovahkiin]

if you build it they will come.

[Ketraar]

Originally posted by Elder Drake:

Originally posted by gunner:

Does anything bad happen if you have no Station Funds?

Nobody mentioned this but you also will start to lose workers at the station and given how slowly you get them you should always stay above the minimun threshold.

Funds have no relation to workers, food and meds is what you need to keep an eye on to not run out.

As for location I find this is irrelevant atm, the travel times are short pretty much anywhere.

MFG

Ketraar