Can we go mining?

[Rabin]

Yes, I played EvE Online for quite some time and I'm one of the people who actually enjoyed going mining :cool:

If I had a SP game that allowed me to mine and sell ore in a similar way, with the odd bits of combat when I get the urge, I'd go for it.

X3-TC on Steam is a great idea (I'm always losing my installation discs!) and very tempting at the current price, but mining would swing the deal for me. I just find it relaxing, and fun. :D

[Smaxx]

It is possible (at least it was in X3: Reunion, didn't get that far in TC so far) but you won't be able to do it right from the start (you'll need a freighter and mining equipment). Later on you can install mining stations on bigger asteroids or set AI ships to do it for you.

[Tericc]

yep in Tc your able to do it as well. Just make sure you dont mine really good asteroids! you will want them for mining stations

[milkweg]

At a trading station if you bring up the comms info computer it tells you of two ways you can mine for minerals.

[Film11]

What happens with regards to asteroids once they've been mined? Do they regenerate?

[Xenon_Slayer]

If you blow up a large asteroid, then yes. It will regenerate over time. If you put a mine on an asteroid, then that asteroid is gone forever, even if that mine is destroyed.

Small debris fields don't disappear.

[Film11]

I see, thanks for the answer. So technically you could mine all the asteroids in the game? I suppose that would take a very long time though :)

[heagar]

i have found a nice guid for mineing Nvidium if anyone is intrested.. i lost the link, but copyed it to notepad for my own use.. its a vary good boost in income but PLZ do not depend sol on mineing Nvidium..

Spoil Alert!!!!
Nividem guide...

the first thing you need to do is get your argon rep to confirmed friend, this will allow you to buy ships.
You will also need about 400,000 to 500,000 k. This assumes you know the basics of the game enough to get to this point on your own.. or with the threads provided and a few reads in the sticky.

Buy a Disco Hauler from Argon Prime, and a Mercury s size ( no need for shields )
Fit disco with 2 -4 ire lasers ( does not matter which ) navigation software, and a mineral scanner.
Fit the mercury s ( the s size will allways be available ) with Navigation software, Special Command software, and ore collector.

Take your tiny fleet to Kingdoms end. ( this guide will let you find these locations on your own by either exploring or a map )

Your disco should arrive loong before the mercury gets to kingdoms end.. if the mercury arrives before you are done here .. be sure to dock it somewhere safe untill you leave the sector.

Now for your Disco ( that you should be piloting ) press y, commands, navigation, move to position. Use the numeric keys to move the positional target around. on the bottum right of the sector map, you should see xyz coordinates. Move it to x -160m y 51m z 3056m and press enter. Your autopilot will kick in and take you there. You do not have to be exact.. just close.
You will have found a small nvidium rock cluster. Make sure you are in the right location and bust up the rock cluster accrding to what you learned in the link I provided earlier.

Now head to Scale Plate Green, once you are out of Kingdoms End, send your Mercury to the Nvidium rock cluster you busted up and under the special commands, choose "collect rocks in sector " and select Kingdoms end. Forget about this mercury for 3 to 4 Game hours.

During this time you should be able to have found Scale Plate Green.
Go to Coordinates x 29.8km y 49m z -32.1k ( not exact but close enough.. you will have no problems finding this )
Now you are at a Huge nvidium rock cluster. Bust this up untill your screen starts to slow down and or there is only collectible nvidium rocks left.
Now, provided your mercury has 200 or more pieces of nvidium in its cargo.. send it to the shipyard in kingdoms end. and sell it. Should get between 2 and 3 million credits.

Now head to Omicron Lyrae.. or PTNI Heasdquarters ( if teladi will sell you ships )
And buy 5 s sized mercury tanker ( this is the light version and is identicle in all but looks to the standard mercury ) or Vulture Tankers ( again the light version of a tanker ) outfit them all with navigation software,special command, and ore collector. Send them to the Nvidium location in scale plate green and get them mobil emining.. be sure to not be in sector with them. the location itself is far enough away from anything else. that them being attacked is a very slim chance.

Now forget about them for 3- 4 game hours.
Go play however you want. explore .. whatever.
after enough time has passed, send those 5 ore collectors to the shipyard in PTNI Headquarters. ( if you want , scout it out first to make sure it is safe, be sure to set your ore collecters to idle when your in same system )
Sell them all. go bust up some more of the nvidium in scale plate green. Then buy 10 of these cheap ore collectors. ( believe me you will have more than enough credits after selling those other 5.. to the tune of 10 to 12 million credits.. maybe more ) and send them to work.

At this point I strongly suggest you get a long term investment going, UT's, st's, factories, whatever you desire. Just so long as you do not become dependant on nvidium.

In 4 hours sell those 10 ore collectors.

Congrats, game day 1 is most likely not even over yet.. and you have made well over 20 million credits. 40 million if you are allready good at mobile mining.

This start is great if you are after Avarice, and it is great if you want to jump right in the game with out using cheat codes. It is up to you if you find this exploitive or not.. I personaly do not. ( save you found 2 nvidium rock clusters.. not on your own Razz )

Do not get spoiled, this may be the fastest way to get rich.. but it is by no means a good way to STAY rich.

edit: the locations I chose are because the one in kingdoms end is not only safe, but also in a sector with a shipyard, the scale plate green is also safe ( the sector is not but the rock cluster location is ) and all that takes is some scouting to make sure the path to or from a shipyard is clear. If your paranoid aboput scale playe green, just drop about 5 lasertowers and put jump drives on the oos nvidium ore collectors. Therefor this guide is "virtualy" independant of what game start you use Wink Well may be difficult on a kha'ak start heh.
Also a advanced sat at the location in scale plate green is very usefull.
There is another rock cluster as big as scale plate green, in Ghinns escape. you will want to provide some laser towers for that one however.

[Shiny-Crowbar]

...

You really should use spoiler tags.Nividium is the most expensive mineral in X universe,not everyone would like to just learn where the clusters are located.

Also instead of buying a Discovery,you can just grab shields and a mobile drilling system for your mercury,and after you blow the big asteroids to bits,you can break any other little asteroids with your shields by hitting them.Hitting them with your sides at low speed will reduce the damage you take.Ore mining on your own mercury will be a quite boring experience(until you get a Mammoth).Just set them to mine minerals in the sector and they will do it on their own while you discover.