Pilot Archive

chasing after chunks can be a pain, but with this macro, all you have to do is fire the weapons.

first of all, you might want to pick up the biggest ship you can fly. I'm using a krayt as a privateer. I make good use of all 3 weapons and the mass.

Get the overload 3 commands if you havent already.

Load up your ship with 2 mining lasers and a tractor beam (1 laser works fine too, but if you can put 2 in there, why not?). I'd suggest level 3 starship lasers. Level 1s are slooow. Level 2s are decent if you cant get a level 3 yet.

You also might want to get the biggest weapon capacitor you can. I am firing 2 lasers and a tractor beam non stop, and it can drain your capacitor fairly quick even with overload.

Also, get the biggest cargo hold you can muster up.

now here are the 2 macros you need.:
/tar crystal (or which ever type of asteroid you are mining)
/pause .1
/follow crystal
/pause 5
/ui action toolbarSlot23 (very last toolbar on the 2nd row, you can change to whatever)


second macro
/target asteroid
/pause .1
/follow asteroid
/ui action toolbarSlot22

This macro will shoot the big asteroid until smaller chunks fall off, then it will automatically follow the smaller chunks until there are none left, then it will go back to the big asteroid.

Have the tractor beam activated non stop. The default hotkey is pressing 6 to toggle it on/off.

Now all you have to do is hold down 1 and 2 on the keyboard, or whichever buttons to fire both lasers. You can hold them down non stop to make it easier (i dont think putting something on the button to hold them down for you is legal, and i dont know an in-game macro to make your weapons fire for you).

Now you just sit back and watch TV or watch yoursellf mine.

The most difficult part is when asteroid bandits spawn.

If asteroid bandits spawn, it screws up the macro. You will have to /dump and kill them to continue mining.

If you are in an uber defense ship and level 1 asteroid bandits spawn, you will still have to kill them in order to continue mining.

/target asteroid will automatically target asteroid bandits.
/target asteroid chunk will also automatically target asteroid bandits.
This is because B (as in bandits) comes before C (as in chunk) in the alphabet kids

I don't think there is a way around this, it can get very annoying, and i think the only way around it would be to do a client side mod to change the name of asteroid bandits (which i believe is illegal, and i dont know how to do anyway. If it's legal and you know how, please share the info ).

This macro will fill your cargo 100% in about 15 minutes or so, depending on how many bandits you have to deal with.

With weapon overload 3 and level 2 or 3 mining lasers, you can still take out tier 3/4 bandits fairly quick. I fly the krayt so i can stick 2000/2000 armor and 2400/2400 shields in it so i wont die.

So there you have it! If anyone has suggestions, go ahead and reply and i'll edit this post so we can all make life a little bit easier.

hmm nice, ive always like a nice macro might need to figure out command to fire for me so i acn eat my dinner while minning

well if your settings are default and you put your mining lasers in slot 1 and 2, i found that pressing and holding 1 and 2, then placing quarters in the crack of the buttons will keep them down but u shouldnt go afk because those damn bandits will screw it all up, and if you're in a difficult sector like dathomir, u might die if u go afk for 10 min

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TheDarkness4u wrote:

now here are the 2 macros you need.:
/tar crystal (or which ever type of asteroid you are mining)
/pause .1
/follow crystal
/pause 5
/ui action toolbarSlot23 (very last toolbar on the 2nd row, you can change to whatever)


second macro
/target asteroid
/pause .1
/follow asteroid
/ui action toolbarSlot22

This macro will shoot the big asteroid until smaller chunks fall off, then it will automatically follow the smaller chunks until there are none left, then it will go back to the big asteroid.

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if u shot the chunk one or twice it disappears i believe.

add this to your macros for the ultimate in afk mining!!


/ship WeaponGroup fire;(shoots weapons)

/ship WeaponGroup toggleTractor;(do this twice, once ato turn on, once to turn off)

happy hunting!

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TheDarkness4u wrote:

now here are the 2 macros you need.:
/tar crystal (or which ever type of asteroid you are mining)
/pause .1
/follow crystal
/pause 5
/ui action toolbarSlot23 (very last toolbar on the 2nd row, you can change to whatever)


second macro
/target asteroid
/pause .1
/follow asteroid
/ui action toolbarSlot22

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just to cleen up your macro's up a bit, if you replace the "/ui action toolbarSlotXX" with "/macro [macro name];" than it will automaticly loop (and you dont need to hear that nasty beeping all the time. but you need to make sure and add the semi-colon or it wont work.

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Kyyrtek wrote:
add this to your macros for the ultimate in afk mining!!


/ship WeaponGroup fire;(shoots weapons)

/ship WeaponGroup toggleTractor;(do this twice, once ato turn on, once to turn off)

happy hunting!

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No AFK mining because the asteroid bandits, remember? always about them damn bandits. They screw up the /target asteroid chunk hotkeys

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ninjasempai wrote:

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TheDarkness4u wrote:

now here are the 2 macros you need.:
/tar crystal (or which ever type of asteroid you are mining)
/pause .1
/follow crystal
/pause 5
/ui action toolbarSlot23 (very last toolbar on the 2nd row, you can change to whatever)


second macro
/target asteroid
/pause .1
/follow asteroid
/ui action toolbarSlot22

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just to cleen up your macro's up a bit, if you replace the "/ui action toolbarSlotXX" with "/macro [macro name];" than it will automaticly loop (and you dont need to hear that nasty beeping all the time. but you need to make sure and add the semi-colon or it wont work.

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hmm i didn't know that they added a /macro command. i remember the old days of writing out macros in notepad 0_0

Message Edited by TheDarkness4u on 09-06-2005 03:14 PM

Im not enitrely sure there is a way to totally afk mining, just make it extremely lazy.
Yes the bandits are part of the reason, but more so when you shoot the large chunk off the main asteroid (targeted as 'Crystal' or whatever), the other macro will kick in on its first loop, but then will revert to targeting the main asteroid if both macros are combined or even strung together leaving the asteroid chunks to float away. I find its easy enough to manually blast the chunk off the main asteroid. Then I hit the macro "ezminer":

/targ asteroid;
/pause .1
/follow;
/pause .1;
/ship weaponGroup fire 1;(you must specify which slot your mining laser is in and liek toolbars, it starts at 0 and in the example, my laser is in slot 2)
/macro ezminer;

this macro will shoot the large chunks and the small chunks with your laser, with no real need to use the tractor beam. If you want, you can use /ship weaponGroup toggleTractor; at some point and it will use the tractor beam no matter what slot you have it in.

Message Edited by Oshax on 10-21-2005 07:22 AM

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Oshax wrote:

C'mon guys, we can do better than that!

I've got my system set up in such a way that, if there were no asteroid bandits, I could AFK mine right now. I'm not going to post the code just yet, but there's no harm in describing it I suppose.

BTW, I mine with a X-Wing Advanced

01.)Targets the asteroid

02.)Flies towards the asteroid

03.)Intermittently (so it can recharge)uses the booster to increase speed

04.) Arrives at asteroid

05.) Opens wings

06.) Toggles tractor beam on

07.) Begins firing mining lasers on a set interval

08.) Begins counting down a preset amount of time based on how long it normally takes to get a full load

09.)When a chunk breaks off, it turns to follow the chunk

10.) It's already firing the lasers, and the tractor beam is on, so it quickly breaks the chunk and sucks up the pieces

11.) If no chunks are left, it flies back to the asteroid

12.) Repeat steps9 thru 11

13.)When it reaches the end of the countdown started in step 8, it begins the return sequence

14.) Dumps all previously running commands. This ends its targeting and shuts down the lasers.

15.) Toggles the tractor beam off

16.) Closes the wings

17.) Targest the system's space station

18.) Flies towards the station

19.) Intermittently (so it can recharge)uses the booster to increase speed

20.) Arrives at station

21.) Begins conversation with station, selecting appropriate choices to land at the player designated city

Phew! Well, that's it. Every now and then, I get a perfect run (no asteroid bandits) and I don't have to do a thing. If the bandits show up, it, like every other macro I've seen, targets the nearest bandit. I just leave the macro running, and eliminate the bandits. When the last one dies, the macro resumes control and goes after the rocks again.

A few points about this system:

1.) It requires adjustment to fit the times/speeds of your ship/equipment. Not too hard to do at all.

2.) It requires adjustment to fit the station/asteroid/conversation options at station/relevant distances in system. Again, not hard, I promise.

That's all there is. Once you get it set up the way you want it, it works like I said. Completely effortless, until bandits show up, then it resumes control once the bandits are done.

Now, to the reason for posting this, running the risk that someone will replicate it. I've been struggling to get this thing to ignore the asteroid bandits. They can't hurt me anyway, all they are is a nuisance. I've toyed with the idea of hiring a pilot to run defense for me while I mine, but that's just a waste of money IMO. So, here's the deal: you tell me how to get it to go around the bandits, I give you the rest of the macro. If we are on the same server, I'll even offer to be your partner in a mining company. If not, then I'll only ask that you keep this to yourself and a few close friends. Can't have everyone doing it, can we?

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