Re: Contraband
 

In the default game they don't do anything special. Some mods are already in the works that include contraband that does have special benefits, though.

Re: Contraband
 

The silly thing about it is that contraband isn't even worth very much. If it was worth a whole pile of money (at non pirate stations), you'd have to think twice before spacing it.

Also, I looked at some missions at a pirate commerce station... one of the missions was to take contraband to freeport station. Sort of a suicide mission really.

Contraband
 

I've noticed that you can actually buy contraband in the Pirate system in the demo. Do they do anything special or are they just simple trade commodities?

Re: Contraband
 

Actually... in the full game, you get to become a member of the pirates at some point, and you can get contraband cargo run missions that pay piles of money. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Re: Contraband
 

'Piles' of money? Only about twice what the standard cargo missions are worth. It ought to run as high as 10 times or more to my mind. How much is a ship full of cocaine worth compared to a ship full of coal or fertilizer? It's a lot more than double! The range of fees for contraband missions needs to be extended a bit for realism. At the higher difficulty levels of the game where there are lots of TCN ships patroling and waiting to attack you for carrying that contraband it would create some very high-stakes missions!

[ October 06, 2003, 18:29: Message edited by: Baron Munchausen ]

Re: Contraband
 

You can certainly pile 30,000 credits! (assuming you can get them in some form of hard currency http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif )

Re: Contraband
 

hmm...what's soft currency?

Re: Contraband
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Technically, 'hard' currency is made of a precious metal, or at least backed by it in a vault somewhere. 'Soft' currency is what we use today... 'fiat' money with no fixed quantity of any precious commodity to stabilize it. Nothing but the word of the government (cough!) guarantees its value.

The sense in which Fyron is using it just means 'physical tokens' though. Something you can stack. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: Contraband
 

cheese. you can stack cheese. which brings us to the merits of cheese versus gold.

gold: a shiny yellow color. 0 cheese: comes in shiny yellow and many other colors. 1

gold: a good conducter. 1 cheese: not sure. probably not a good conducter. 0

gold: very heavy and difficult to carry. 0 cheese: relitivily light. 1

gold: can only be gained by mining. 0 cheese: just leave some milk out for a while, then bake it. 1

gold: relitivily soft and workable, easily made into coins. 0.5 cheese: even more soft and pliable, perhaps to much. a pLastic bag contains it nicely, though. 0.5

gold: can be measured out to a standard weight. 1 cheese: comes in many different weights, value of different varieties would have to be determined by an independent panel. 0

gold: doesn't rust. 2 cheese: rots quickly. stocks would have to be replaced swiftly. 0

gold: cannot be eaten. no use in times of famine. 0 cheese: can be eaten. in times of famine, retains it's usefullness. 1.5

gold: 4.5
cheese: 5

and thus we see that cheese is 0.5 of a point better as a currency than gold.

oops. little error.

[ October 10, 2003, 01:23: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

Re: Contraband
 

LMAO

Perhaps you should do a mod where cheese is used instead of credits

Re: Contraband
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Not entirely correct. Gold can be eaten, was a very popular garnish historically. Even nowadays you'll see it on certain very expensive, out of our reach sort of dishes. More or less just passes through the system though http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

Re: Contraband
 

That explains those "clinking" noises in the toilet. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

I've heard of those desserts with gold leaf on them. I'd never eat gold; it's a heavy metal no matter how much they say it won't affect you.

Slick.

Re: Contraband
 

uh...are you guys serious?

Re: Contraband
 

Yes, here's an example of a recipe with gold leaf:

http://www.foodtv.com/food/recipes/r..._12202,00.html

Slick.

Re: Contraband
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">But others would; to feel like a "Million Bucks".

Get it? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Re: Contraband
 

'eat gold for a long life'???? i don't care how soft it is, it can't be good for your intestines.

Re: Contraband
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Oh? It's already known that you need several very poisonous metals in your diet for good nutrition, actually. Sodium, potassium, and magnesium, are all metals that are needed in substantial quantities for proper nutrition, not to mention plain old IRON. Many other metals like chromium and manganese are useful in trace amounts. Who's to say that gold doesn't have some role in our biology?

I dunno if 'gold leaf' is the way to consume it, though. I wouldn't eat iron filings to get my iron. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif Much better to get it in some chemically reduced form. Gold chloride maybe?

[ October 15, 2003, 17:02: Message edited by: Baron Munchausen ]

Re: Contraband
 

well, i'm just saying that gold leaf could potentially rub against the lining of your intestine and maybe even break through. but i don't have near enough medical knowledge to comment scientifically.

Re: Contraband
 

Gold is a pretty soft metal, actually. Most of the gold you see is actually gold alloys, since by itself it would dent and deform way too easily.

Speaking of fun required elements: the human body is mostly water. It also requires sodium to function. Sodium, when placed in water, BURNS. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: Contraband
 

1) Gold is non-reactive, kids. That's why it doesn't rust. If you took gold into your system, it would just pass right through, since there isn't an enzyme in your body that can do anything with it. Lead, on the other hand, is highly reactive, and does nasty things to you.

2) Gold leaf is far too soft and delicate to do anything to your internals.

Goldschlager, a very expensive liquor, contains gold leaf.

Re: Contraband
 

never actually handled gold, so i wouldn't know. i just can't wrap my mind around the idea that eating large quantities of metal in reletivily large shapes is safe.

Re: Contraband
 

One of my friends (he's insane) accidentally swoallowed his gold ring...
recovered it in half a day or so thru.. the other side http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

didn't do no harm... however if it has sharp edges it could hurt you intestines