X3:Reunion Manual - Steam

How to connect FactoriesDoing this is quite straight forward. If, for instance, you hired an Argon Mammoth to carry aCattle and a Cahoona factory, you would also be able to load a Complex Construction Kit intoit for connecting the two. This construction kit will allow you to join two or more stations withinclose proximity together (at least once or twice the width of your station away from the otherconnecting station) to form a station complex and is comprised of a Complex Hub thatcontrols power distribution, central command and control, commodity exchange and centraldocking clamps to the complex. When the TL captain has been ordered to drop the twostations, and you have positioned them relativity close to each other, you can instruct the TLCaptain to drop the Complex Construction Kit, and instead of a position grid, a sector listing ofyour factories will pop up.Select the first factory to combine. The list will change to display the remaining factories.Select another and the Complex Construction Kit will build the tunnels between them.The Hangar Complex transports supplies between the stations, so you can create a loop offactories that are dependant on each other without the need for lots of transporters deliveringresources between them. Hangar complexes cost a lot less than the use of transporters, buthave a weakness, you will have to protect these complexes from attack, for if they aredestroyed, the stations will not be able to get the resources they need, until you buy anothercomplex builder or assign transports to them.Selecting the command console for the HangarComplex will show you the stations and theproduction cycles that are currently running.All the factories in it will use a single pool of Creditstransferred to the complex. You can still set factoryprices as you would a single factory and change themaximum distance that transporter ships can jumpacross sectors for resources.The solutions for choosing the right location will varyaccording to what resources are available in thesector, i.e. which factories are included in your build for the complex and the availableresources in other nearby sectors. There is no hard and fast rule that will apply. You can savea lot of resource effort for your complexes by choosing your location based upon the needs ofyour new factories, so even if resources in the factories become low, there will be localresources to supplement them.As mentioned, the one weakness of complexes is the vulnerability of the tunnels that connectthem. It would be advisable for you to set up sector patrol ships around your factories andtheir complexes to protect them from pirates or other enemies.Transporter ships ‘home based’ to the complex can be assigned to buy at best prices from acollective list of resources for all the factories in the complex. When you add a factory to acomplex all ships with Buy/Buy Best will stop and restart this command, but ‘owned’ shipsfighters though lose their original command, so you will need to re-command them with theirnew instructions.45Transporter ShipsThe different TS class ships are the backbone of the economy and have a range ofspecifications. Some have large cargo bays, but may be slower in speed; these would be bestassigned to buy large volumes of resources from nearby factories. Other ships with smallercargo bays, but much faster, would best be assigned to buy resources that are a few sectorjumps away like Crystals.