Is this normal? Lack of spaceship/caravan traders

[BugPowderDust]

I have been running my colony for 79 in-game days, and all is going OK (Cassandra Rough).

However, despite having a Comms Console for the majority of that time, I haven't had a single ship trader. In that same time, I've had 3 trader caravans, and they didn't want to buy hardly any of my stockpile.

So, is this expected behaviour, as I am badly in need of medicine (no growers good enough, and I've harvested what I can of wild meds), and need to sell stockpiled tribal weapons?

Many thanks in advance

[Canute]

Sure it is normal, someone who is called Murphy is greeting you.

If you got a com console, you should invest 700/1400 silver and call a combat dealer if you need medicin and sell weapon.

[BugPowderDust]

How do I request a combat dealer- you mean a spaceship combat dealer ? I am surrounded by tribals, and a pirate band with poor rating so a caravan request will cost 1100. I have 948...

[SpaceDorf]

So which Factions do you have ?

If you only have Tribals, then you might have a problem.

[BugPowderDust]

So which Factions do you have ?

If you only have Tribals, then you might have a problem.

Only friendlies are tribal. One hostile tribal, one hostile pirate faction. Sadface.

[Yoshida Keiji]

I never had more than 3 tribal Factions in a game.

For having a Comms Console in 79, that must be Crash-landed.

I play Lost Tribes only, in my current game, see attached screenshot. I never had more than 5.000 Silver in almost 275 days of game. I always had lots of other valuables, in the left list you can see 3 AI persona cores, 2 Thrumbo horns, 1.000 Jade, then off-screen 4 Scythes blades, 2.000 Plasteel, etc...

I'm already building the ship to launch, so I'm just sitting around to get the next trader with hopefully more "Components", all visible to mine had been taken, I believe there might be more hidden but...

In all this current game I only had 2 traders with only 1 Bionic Leg and the other with a Bionic Eye. Another trader sold me a Prosthetic Leg. All other traders, countless had come, had nothing worth buying for me.

Because of A17 harder Economy, compared to A16 that is, I had played this entire game with half my crew with Peg Legs, while in A16 my Economy would have been like 10 times better and at least everybody with Prosthetics, and like 3 to 5 gone Bionic. Tynan twicked the Economy to makes us raw materials (food) peripheral third world country Economies  instead of industrialized nations.

And it looks like unless you have sufficient capital, the traders with the most wanted goods will not come. Out of 12 pawns, none has a single Bionic Leg. I hope not all my games will be like this one.

[attachment deleted by admin: too old]

[Albion]

Traders of any kind are randomly generated events, so if RNG Jesus (random numbers generator) is not with you, you don't get trade ships.
By the way: do you have an unroofed orbital trade beacon? You can't trade without one.

Regarding calling in caravans: I think there HAS to be a faction of outlanders in our game. Just shovel some silver their way and you can request different caravans than you can request from tribals.

Also: if you want something like components badly enough just create your own caravan and walk to the nearest village.
Either attack and loot them if they are pirates or trade with them if they are tribals/outlanders.

[SpaceDorf]

Okay,

I played it through in a new vanilla game, just to be sure

You can request Trade Caravans from Any Faction with enough goodwill towards you.

What you need to request a Caravan is enough silver next to an active Trade Beacon.
Without that you can't request anything.
Requesting Ships is still only possible with mods ( I don't know if there are some around at the moment )

Your choices for Caravans are :
Tribals:
Bulk Goods
War Merchant
Slaver
Shaman Merchant

Outlander:
Bulk Goods
Combat Supplier
Exotic Goods
Pirate Merchant

[BugPowderDust]

Thanks all for your help with this, <3 this community

To be transparent, I played A16 loads, then barely any 17. The harder economy probably accounts for the major difference I am experiencing. I am crafting assault rifles to make up for the lack of non-tribal assaults and their resulting loot, although this puts a major strain on component stock.

Just to be clear- the orbital beacons DON'T have to be outside, surely? A poster above stated this, but it makes no sense, as how would you sell clothes unless you left them outside (and deteriorating)?

As I have now tamed Muffalo, I'll send a caravan full of the crappy melee weapons I have to the nearest friendly tribal, and try to get some silver. I don't have enough to pay for a requested caravan yet.

[SpaceDorf]

Trade Beacons don't have to be outside anymore.

You can place them wherever you have sellable stuff lying around.
The only requirement is power.

For recieving goods from Space Traders you should have at least one Trade Beacon outside,
because the can't send droppods through roofs, I think, if the can, they should not 

[Yoshida Keiji]

Regarding calling in caravans: I think there HAS to be a faction of outlanders in our game. Just shovel some silver their way and you can request different caravans than you can request from tribals.

BugPowderDust is saying he/she barely has 1.000 silver, so improving Good will and then requesting through Comms Console is counter-productive: Improving relationship cost 300 silver and requesting costs 1.100 silver. So he/she is 400 silver short for that and the trade itself will probably not net any transaction recovery. I highly doubt selling neolithic weapons will profit more than 1.500 silver to make it worth.

Trade beacons can be inside, only need to ensure your goods are within their bubbles.

...and for buying Components directly from Outlanders...well...my closest outlander outpost is 21.4 days away...and I'm in the middle of a Boreal Forest winter... Best to just settle a Components exclusive quarry outpost.

[SpaceDorf]

If his problem would have been lack of ressources,
I too would have recommended that there are  six perfectly good hexes around his base to exploit.

So I answered the question: where are the caravans and how can I order some ?
That this is not cost effective in his case is a sad truth.

[BugPowderDust]

I assume I need to set up a second base to exploit the six hexes around me? I think I have it set to one base only, but I'll look into that option (I think I can change it mid-game)

[SpaceDorf]

I assume I need to set up a second base to exploit the six hexes around me? I think I have it set to one base only, but I'll look into that option (I think I can change it mid-game)

Yes you can, back and forth.
Or you can make it even easier on you and use Nandonalts "Setup Camp Mod"

These Maps are smaller, are not counted as colony and spawn no events on them .. and are newly created every time you make a new camp .. which described this way sounds kind of exploity 

[BugPowderDust]

Thanks, I will try the second base option. It's really only medicine I am struggling for, but I'll try a muffalo caravan to a neighbour initially.

re. the mod, I don't tend to use them, preferring vanilla, but thanks for the recommendation anyway