Essay: ai stations

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AI stations - You see them everywhere, sometimes with 2, 3 or up to 5(!) of them in a galaxy. In mid-Warp 3 they seem to disappear a little, but near the tail they come back. These stations are crucial to the game; they provide you with things such as workers and rations for bases, but also nuclear waste and promethium for your energy banks that need fueling.

There are several different graphics for AI stations: - 4 in total that appear regularly in random spawns - others that are found in pre-set galaxies, like Iq'bana, or Glass Matrix

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The sections found inside AI stations:

General: This is the place where the current status of Emperor is found (middle), the missions in the AI station you are currently docked in (lower part), and possibly a preset message like in Earth Central, Sol galaxy (this is at the top, under the tabs; eg. Earthforce is not responsible for any galaxies out there)

Trade: This is the place for purchasing items. In my opinion, it has the most information of all the main tabs, with several sub tabs: All, Commodity, Weapon, Shield, Ship, Engine, Item, Tractor, Base, Energy, Radar, Cloak, Drone and Augmenters (a tab only used by player bases). Commodities vary in variety and price at every AI station and can be used to trade; if you go to Sol you will see plenty of slaveships and AI ships doing this very thing. The rest of the sub-tabs at trade are the same at every AI station, except for those found in the pre-set galaxies, such as Glass Matrix.

Ships: This is where you can find any docked ship you own on this AI station. The list must be clicked on before it loads properly and afterwards you can transfer goods from your current ship to another at the same AI station. To switch ships, double-click one of them from the list.

Bulletin Board: This is where players pay credits to post messages for all to see in any AI station. Some advertise for their shops, while others are just bored and post whatever comes to mind.

Comodities Record: I am not sure what thid does, but I think it gives the prices of all stations (player and AI) somebody docked at while they were online.

Neuro-training: This is where you train your skills. The image shows you put into a small chamber and the various sharp tools to write the information to your brain (It apparently hurts; if you have sound, you can hear the pain). In most Warp 0, 1, or 2 AI stations, the choices are just Piloting, Weaponry, Shielding, Electrical Engineering, Engine, Radar, and Equipment. However, in higher DF galaxies there are other skills such as Programming or Remote Control (linked with slaveships). Also, these higher DF galaxies have greater skill levels to train in (eg. some Warp 3 galaxies even have Equipment 13!) and sometimes require some sort of commodity or item.

I hope you find this informative.

Created by: -voyager vs borg