egosoft.com

Dynamic Trading System

Description : Allows universe-wide auctions to take place
Version : 1.42
Date : 19/02/06
Author : al_main

Using cycrows script installer:
Download DTS - Auctions here or mirror

Or extract to your x3 folder:
http://www.freewebs.com/x3scripts/Dynam ... m_1.42.zip <= for some strange reason might need to copy and paste this link into your browser


Any feedback is greatly appreciated! (Selling prices are too low/high?, how often NPC auctions should be held? or anything else!)

Thanks to alot of other scripters, without their previous scripts to look at for reference i wouldnt have got this far. Also thanks to Boron Ol Fh'art (M N Lawrence) for using/testing through this script and bringing a couple of errors to my attention. And thanks to arcana75 for hosting the mirror here.


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Advert:

What can you do with the 10,000 ore inside your industrial complex that produces ore faster than a fleet of freighters can remove it? Or do you have a station that just doesnt cut it?

Want the opportunity to buy discounted goods and stations?

Well the answer to your problems is here. Start trading with InterSteller Auction Services today!

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Background Information:

Primarily a Teladi led field, Auctioneering is now a universal way to dipose of excess wares, an unprofitable station or even an ill-gotten ship! (ship trading coming soon) By taking a small commission the Teladi are happy to arrange an auction for whatever people are willing to sell. Alternatively this also allows the purchase of these items for possible discount prices to a skilled bidder.

Currently stations sold through the Auctioneering Services are melted down for scrap and dissasembled for their component parts - you should first remove any ships docked at your station. However given the rapid expansion of this growth industry it is expected that they may soon be kept in production or manually moved to another location by a TL from the purchasing company (coming soon!).

Their are currently up to 79 companies willing to bid for goods at auction including TerraCorp and The Profit Guild but more and more companies are starting to trade in this way all of the time. (either post here or personal message any company names operating in your universe to al_main to add extra depth to the purchasing database)

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Use (sell):

Select in the command menu of a station.

1. Choose the ware to trade
2. Choose the amount of ware to trade

Wait afew seconds for the bid to come in and the auction to take place and then recieve your money!

When selling a complex the hub and tubes will be auctioned off for scrap and the factories will remain. If the factories are also unwanted these will have to be auctioned off seperately afterwards.

TIP: When selling a factory, auction any wares it may contain first to obtain a better price


Use (buy):

1. Ensure that the 'Player bid in auctions' artificial life setting is set to 'yes' (Should be set to yes by default)
2. In the custom command menu of your ship select 'GalNet: Upload Preferences' and select your option of auctions to bid in: wares, stations, both or none
3. You will then get a message when an auction that you can bid in arises.
4. Won wares can then be picked up at your leisure from the Teladi Profit Guild Headquarters (added to Ianamus Zura as per the sector description).

(If the 'GalNet: Upload Preferences' command is not there then the 'Player bid in auctions' artificial life setting may be set to 'no' or alternatively set it 'no' (press enter) and then set it to 'yes' again)

The artificial life menu is accessed through the main options menu, gameplay, artificial life settings.

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Install:

Just extract the rar file to your main X3 directory or use cycrows script
installer.


Changelog

1.42
Text file fix
1.41
Improved decisions on station auctioning
Improved bidders name aquiring
1.40
Improved pricing system for auctions of stations
A small text file spelling fix
1.33
Removed testing code generating log messages
1.32
Changed script format slightly
Fixed problem when choosing high end products
Shipyards can not be bought at auction anymore
Fixed minor text file issues
Fixed grammar on auction reports slightly
Fixed problem transferring wares
Bulk transporter upgrade no longer added to Profit Guild HQ
1.30
Added auctions that the player can bid in for wares and stations
Added Teladi Profit Guild HQ
Added artificial life setting
Added Upload preferences command
1.20
Variable numbers of bidders dependent on demand
Major recoding of the auctioning system
Now asks for confirmation before auctioning station
Fixed check for docked ships before auctioning station
Initial implementation of demand on prices
Initial implementation of goods bought by relevant companies
(Bids from pirates for spaceweed, etc.)
Now recieve bids from individual traders
Temporary rename of station being auctioned until sold
1.10
Initial release after primary testing
-Can auction stations to highest bidder
-Can auction wares to highest bidder


Files and wares used:

448112.xml

COMMAND_TYPE_STATION_22
COMMAND_TYPE_STATION_23

Nice idea! Ur readme link is dead tho.

Works beautifully! One question tho, does the factory auction include ware stock? I did separate auctions and noticed the wares present don't affect station auction prices.

Heeeyyyy its EBAY turned XBAY !!!



Good idea.

arcana75 wrote:Nice idea! Ur readme link is dead tho.

Sorry, slight file naming error - FIXED

999-JAY-999 wrote:Heeeyyyy its EBAY turned XBAY !!!

Good idea.

U have no idea how close i was to using that as a name for one of the auction companies.....

arcana75 wrote:Works beautifully! One question tho, does the factory auction include ware stock? I did separate auctions and noticed the wares present don't affect station auction prices.

Currently due to the way the bids are generated any stock in the station does not affect the bids. Hence the tip to auction any wares first. This may change in one of the next versions.

You think it Works beautifully now?..... Cheers! (This was very much a 'rough' version to see what I could do.) I'm glad people like it. I've got alot more planned for this yet tho, including anything with 'coming soon' stated above but also:

variable number of bidders depending on demand - NOW BETTER
improving on safety issues - NOW DONE
tweaking the bid generator - NOW BETTER
better interaction with companies
and working with my other scripts if they are installed (only Bulk Transporter released public so far), for consistency.

Dont get me wrong, it does work fine at the moment. These are mostly just aesthetic changes to make the game more immersive. (Plus the additional functions coming soon)

Maybe for a later version u might want to consider not forcing a popup when the bid ends... leave it as an Incoming is better IMHO.

arcana75 wrote:Maybe for a later version u might want to consider not forcing a popup when the bid ends... leave it as an Incoming is better IMHO.

Its certainly something that could be easily changed. I originally wrote it this way as the report was available as soon as you initiated the command. And so it made sense that u press the button to have the auction and then your looking at the report. The delay between ordering the auction and recieving the report was something i added in later, in effect you wait afew seconds for people to place their bids and the auction to take place, which is more realistic.

One of the next releases will have a command for wether to recieve invites to other companies holding auctions that you can bid in so i may make that more of a preferences menu and add it as an option in that. I believe that should be possible if i get round to it.

Is the general opinion that it would be better having it solely as an incoming message and not as a popup? If thats most peoples opinions i'll get that done. Also what do people think about the confirm before auction of station message? Put in as it would be annoying to sell your station if you only meant to auction a ware!

Also what do people think about the current prices recieved and the guild fees charged?

Please post any feedback as it can only work to help make this script closer to what you would like it to be.

After getting my first 2 scripts and an update for each done in 3 days the next release/update will probably be on monday eve. Although I do aim to get a third script out soon.

(I've got a good weekend planned and post-pub scripting is a recipe for disaster!!! )

AL

They seem to have a 'security content issue', XP does say more. I can download all the other files from cycrow, AL, etc, so its on your side. Looking forward to install your scripts may you have to fix something (donno what).

I'm not sure what the problem is here.

They're hosted on www.freewebs.com and whenever i try the link to check them they seem fine.

I'll get them hosted on a second site aswell at some point soon then.

In the mean time if anyone cant download them let me know and i'll e-mail you them.

still have the same pb, your site is defined as 'restricted' never seen that before anywhere, anychnace you can post the 2 scripts elsewhere?

Am going to soon, but not got much time this weekend at the mo.

Is anyone else having this problem???

In the meantime if you PM me your e-mail and i'll e-mail them to you.

Possible Large Company Names:

TIPU: Teladi Industrilized Profits Union
BBFI: Boron Big Fish Investments
APSE: Argon Peaceful Space Empires
SHTA: Split Hostile Takeover Alliance
TPT: The Paranid Triad
SDI: Shady Deals Incorperated (pirate faction?)

May come up with more later

Cheers Dgn Master

These'll be going in the t file me thinks.

Any more that you come up with will also be welcome

Glad you liked the others.
Here's A few more for you.


SC: Shyster Corperation (over 99 million cheated..lol - Pirates)
OSH: Order of the Silken Glove (Pirate)
ARHT: Association for the Repopulation of Home Territories (Argon)
TMM: Teladi Muliti-Sector Megacorp (Teladi)
TTP: The Transgalactic Preservationists (Goner)
TCP: The Circle of Peace (Goner)
ECE: Empty Coffers Enterprises (Goner)
TFT: The Fellowship of the Three (Paranid)
MCL: Mass Conquest League (Split)
HMS: Hive Mind Securities (Split)
UF: Universal Freetraders (Teladi)
SPTP: Spawning Pool Trust Partnership (Boron)

Cheers Dgn Master - afew are now in, more to follow when I double the size of the amount of companies soon (and hence need to check half the code for references to races and companies )

- version 1.30 is now available including auctions where you can bid for wares and stations

Can people let me know if they think that the auctions are too few/too many. I'm really not sure how frequent to make them. You get an incoming message when theres an auction you can bid at (can turn them off if you want to just use for selling your stuff) What do people think as to how fast you should get them???

Also please post any text errors you may come across, despite how minor they may be.

al_main, I'm using ur earlier version with auction own stuff only and I think it's fantastic.

One thing tho, ur new version includes buying NPC wares and stations via auctions. Player auctions are always at a discount (read loss). Does it also apply to NPC auctions?

If so, does this give the player a way to cheaply buy high-end goods (eg GPPCs/1GJ/10GJ shields) for use or sale at EQ docks, without having to scour the universe?

Currently the NPC held auctions use the same 'auction engine' for want of a better description, so in theory the prices should be the same. Tho you run the risk of being outbidded if you put in a bid thats not much higher than the current bid. So if its something you really want (like a batch of 8 gamma PPCs, or even just 3 25MJ sheilds) then you might not get it if you dont put in a good bid....

(and incase anyones wondering - it isnt 'rigged' whether u win the auction or not with a particular bid right from the off, as it uses the same 'auction engine' to determine further bidding as when you are selling wares so you may or may not win it with a particular bid. It would take forever to even start calculating the odds!)

Also what do people think of the current amounts of the goods being auctioned? They currently all fit inside a TL but you can pick them up in smaller batches if your ship isnt that big. If anyone gets any lots that they think are abit odd (ie. 10000 gPPCs) then let me know. Though this shouldnt happen....

There seems to be something wrong with the zipfile link. Everytime I click on it it starts to open, then opens a new window from the first page of this topic (The DTS descruption). The other link seemed to start a download, but nothing is present in my save folder.

al_main... ur script adds a Teladi Profit Guild Headquarters EQ Dock in Ianamus Zura.

I think u should mention that.

Also, u added Bulk Transporter Upgrade into the HQ, regardless of whether the player has installed this script or not...

Sorry, its in the changelog, but i'll sort that now. (it was 2.20am by the time i finally uploaded and did the links and first page)

And secondly: sorry, i wrote the code late at night and added sensibly seeming wares to the station. I meant to put in a line to check if bulk transporter upgrade was installed. For anyone not using the bulk transporter upgrade simply dont buy any and ill put a check in the next version that will automatically remove it from the station.

Alternatively you can get it here to make it functional:
http://forum2.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=124830

I'm not sure what happens with that zip link. I just tested them now and the .spk file link works fine whereas the zip file like you said opens the page again. Dont really know why it does that, i just tested i and it works fine if you copy and paste the link into the address bar. If it still doesnt work you might wanna check that you dont have freewebs.com in your restricted sites list.

Think I need to stop the scripting till the early hours!

Cheers for pointing these out guys!

AL