Wayward Scion and first station: why I can't build it?

[marcos_zy]

Hi there,

I know that probably this is a question I already know the answer, but who knows. :D

I started X4 Foundations doing the Wayward Scion starting scenario. Everything looks good, except that I am now in that part where I need to complete building that station I've received from that Boron.

Initially, some things led me to believe that I only needed around 51.000 credits. But there's a certain part in that intrincate reports regarding station building that mentions an amount of more than 2 million CR.

I think that the correct value is really this one (more than 2 million CR), but I am a bit lost. I already got to hire a manager, even the game does not asking me directly to do so, and this solved some "problems".

But the station building is now stucked, while the reports already displays informations about constructor ships and a certain ship that perhaps is trying to deliver the necessary goods.

So, what I am doing wrong? Or is that amount of 2 million really correct and I must first have it so the construction can progress?

Thanks in advance.

[MykeEll]

Presumably you've "built" the station in the construction screen.
Sounds like you've assigned a builder.
On the same screen it has an area showing the estimated cost and how much is in the stations account. Be aware that stations can have 2 accounts, 1 only for construction and 1 for it's actual funds. It is quite possible it will cost millions to build.

[conrado.lacerda]

Isn't there an in-game tutorial for station building?

[Veter]

look at construction planner in right low part information about what resources and at what prices is set by default and set them manually or make it better and get trader ship and buy all necessary construction materials manually at as low price as possible.
And 2 millions is very cheap station.

[marcos_zy]

I think I understood, thanks, guys.

I watched the in-game tutorial, but even so I still confused there.

I'll try again tonight, and will follow your suggestions. I am most confused because some part there mentions a really very low amount (around 50.000), but I really think that the correct one is that 2 milliion mention.

I'll see. :)

[Azunai]

Hiring a builder costs 50k credits. I guess that's where you got that number.

However, buying the plot for the station usually costs a lot more than the builder and that's really the first step (unless you build it in a neutral system where you pay nothing for the plot)

Construction itself doesn't have a fixed price. The modules require energy cells, hull parts and claytronics to be built (plus water for boron starions and various other goods if you added weapons to the station modules).

the estimated sum in the construction screen is the value of the wares you will have to provide. If you dump the suggested money in the account, the station will attract NPC traders and purchase the wares automatically.

Alternatively, you can also buy the wares with your own tradeships and deliver them to the build storage of the station.

Later in the game you can also build factories for the construction goods and the tradeships assigned to them will also automatically ship goods to your construction sites in range, so technically at this stage you no longer have to spend money at all for the construction (of course it's still not "free" - after all you would have earned millions by selling the wares instead of using them)

[marcos_zy]

Understood. Thank you so much.

I'll check everything tonight.

As I expected, this being a sandbox game, there are always many ways to play and achieve certain goals. Really amazing.

[SiliconStew]

To see the info others described above, you go to the station's Build Planner. On the right side you'll see a section for "Build Resources". Click the "+" icon next to "Resources needed to complete changes" to see the total quantities of resources required as well as any active deliveries for those resources.

Below that, click on the "+" icon next to "Manage buy offers for needed resources" to configure the buy offers. You can set rules on who to buy from and the maximum price you are willing to buy for. Setting a lower buy price can delay construction as your trader's have a harder time finding cheaper wares.

At the bottom of the buy offers section you will see the "Estimated price to buy all resources". This is calculated from the buy prices you set on the wares and assumes you will buy everything from NPC's. Below that is the "Available money for construction". This is how much money the station has to buy wares. You can set it to any amount up to the estimated price. If you click Accept Estimate, it will simply assign the estimated amount to the station's account. But if you don't have enough to cover everything, you can still set it lower and the station will buy as much as it can with the money you give it and can begin partial construction. Once you gain more money you can come back and add more funds to the account.

If you will delivery everything yourself (wares already purchased) or have your own stations that can fully supply the wares needed, the construction account can actually be left at 0. That's because one of your own stations buying wares from another one of your own stations (if they have trader subordinates) does not require any money to change hands.

[marcos_zy]

Thank you very much for the detailed explanation. Much appreciated. :)

I am starting to understand everything there.

The last thing I really don't understand very well is related to a certain "mission" which asks me to assign a (ship?) certain task to someone.

It seems I need to assign a commerce ship to this task on my station. But do I need to search for a NPC ship or a ship of mine (which I would have to buy)?

[db48x]

Unless you quote the name of the mission or the instructions I can only guess. However it is extremely common to assign ships to stations for various purposes. It is very useful to assign a cargo hauler of some kind to your HQ so that it can go out and fetch research materials for you. To do this, select the ship and right click on your HQ, either the map icon or the name in the property list, and choose “Trade for commander”. In the submenu that pops up, pick your favorite greek letter. This assigns the ship to a squadron, and every ship in that squadron will use funds from the station’s account to buy things that the station needs. They will also sell materials that the station produces, if there are any.

[Azunai]

Stations generate tasks to assign tradeships or to assign money to their production budget. You don't actually have to fulfill those tasks.

See them as a recommendation. You don't get a reward for those tasks anyway, so they are safe to ignore.

[marcos_zy]

Hey guys,

Many thanks.

I'll try purchasing a cargo ship in order to start all of this and assing it to the station (I can't do that with a NPC ship, right?).

That's that mission which that Boron gives us. He is also inside my station (in some kind of scientific area), and thought Dal Busta was an intruder. :D

[db48x]

“Intruder, would you kindly take two steps back so that I can enact the purge protocols?”

[marcos_zy]

Yes, that's it! :D