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TaterTrade

This mod includes two scripts: Tatertrader and DeadTater.
DeadTater is a completely rewritten script from scratch by me, and it uses the logic of comparing trade offers from Ludsoe. The name is a nod to the work from both of us and even as less of his code remains, it would not be possible without his work.
TaterTrader is the original script updated by me with permission from Ludsoe.

If you ask me which you should use: DeadTater would be my answer. It is designed to be as efficient and reliable as I could code. Just like the original, it does not use any information unavailable to the vanilla autotrader. It has a built in logistics mode in the option of my faction first that is still "profit based."

Why is TaterTrader still included? While I have not maintained all the options (homebound, assign to station), it still provides valuable options to the users who prefer it. It is still head and shoulders above vanilla autotrader. I have zero plans to add more factions to the ban section as long as it requires hardcoding factions.

Check the images for explanations on the features of both scripts.

Both DeadTater and TaterTrader use buy/sell offers to function. This means that stations must have funds in their account or they will not generate buy offers.

Both DeadTater and TaterTrader have mimic support built in. You can create trading fleets that each individually perform their respective script.

Both DeadTater and TaterTrader do not cheat information. They use the same information available as the vanilla trade script.

Both DeadTater and TaterTrader respect blacklist and traderule settings, unless overridden.

DeadTater features:

Profit based trader.
Adjustable distance penalty calculation.
My faction first - simplified logistics between player owned stations in range.
Prefer my buy offers - simplified logistics for supplying player owned stations in range.
Prefer my sell offers - simplified exporting of wares from player owned stations in range.
Auto wares - Automatically adjusts ware basket based on trades available in range.
Illegal wares - Allows trading in illegal goods.
Minimum fill - Traders will no longer accept trades below cargo capacity percentage.
Ignore Carrier / Auxillary - Prevents trading with the often buggy ship buyers.
Logbook entries - Enable or disable log entries showing estimated profit and the traders performance up to that point.
Global tater queue - Spreads performance impact and prevents individual traders from grabbing the same trade at the same time. Allows large numbers of traders to have near zero performance impact since only one is running intensive logic at a time.

The three prefer options are run in sequence in the order they are presented.

Author: DeadAir

TaterTrader Features:
Attempts to find the best profit based on the configurations of the order given.
A bunch of settings you change to tweak how and where it trades.
Only trades with trade offers known to the player.
Uses the games own built in trade orders to conduct its trades.
When the Traders home is set to a station, the station becomes the traders commander.
Traders use their commanders money if they have one.
The Traders follow faction trade restrictions, unless told otherwise.
There's ware list presets you can copy within the configuration options.
Fancy outputting to the player log.
Station Trader Mode allows you to focus the trader onto a station, to handle all its trade offers. Can be used on both player and NPC owned stations, even accounts for the stations build storage.

Configuration Options:
You can define a home sector or station.
Can set the trader to always return "Home" before attempting to seek another trade.
You can configure which wares the trader attempts to find trade deals for.
The maximum distance from home the trader can buy or sell at.
Change the Price the Traders perceive wares are set at your own stations. (Doesn't actually affect the cost)
You can set the Traders to bypass faction trade restrictions.
You can exclude sectors from the trade offer search.
You can use preset ware lists, I copied the ones used by the game itself.
You can set the Trader to compare distances between stations when searching for deals.
Enabling Station Trader Mode allows you to focus a stations offers, allowing you to automate your own stations or even NPC owned ones.

(Updating details might cause issues with my steam workshop update procedure, yay!)

Author: Ludsoe
Maintainer: DeadAir

Patch notes available on:
https://github.com/DeadAirRT

Best place to contact me:
Egosoft discord X4 Modding channel