IDIOT'S GUIDE TO FED2
GROAT-MAKING FOR BEGINNERS
CARGO JOBS
There comes a time when even the richest of us have to interrupt our drinking in Chez Diesel (SC of the SS) and do some work. For Commanders and Captains, this means carting cargo around the Galaxy. Cargo jobs pay a pittance, but the pay does add up, and you also gain hauling credits, without which Poor People will not be able to promote.
Cargo is the business of the mega-corp Armstrong Cuthbert, who have offices on all the major Sol planets, usually fairly close to the spaceport. You can find them by looking at the starter maps at http://www.ibgames.net/fed2/maps/planetmaps.html. They also have a presence in other star systems, and automatically set up shop on the landing pad of planets that have been made accessible by the Interstellar Link.
Armstrong Cuthbert controls a workboard, onto which they post details of the cargo jobs they have available. There is one workboard for each cartel, with jobs going to and from the planets within the cartel. 'WORK' shows you the jobs available:
Work available from Armstrong Cuthbert:
22. From Earth to Mercury - 75 tons of Clinics - 7gtu 11ig/tn 2hcr
25. From Mars to Venus - 75 tons of Fruit - 9gtu 8ig/tn 2hcr
27. From Rigel 4 to Pebble - 75 tons of Sensors - 7gtu 6ig/tn 2hcr
30. From Titan to Castillo - 75 tons of Cereals - 7gtu 12ig/tn 2hcr
31. From Venus to Mercury - 75 tons of MicroScalpels - 9gtu 11ig/tn htcr
32. From Earth to Doris - 225 tons of Proteins - 8gtu 11ig/tn 2hcr
Commanders should pay particular attention to the collection and delivery planets - since you cannot leave the Solar System until you have got 50 hauling credits, you won't be able to do jobs to or from out-of-Sol planets, such as number 27 on the sample workboard above. Make sure you know which planets are in Sol and which are not - the Sol planets and asteroids are shown on the Solar System map at http://www.ibgames.net/fed2/maps/solmap.html, and you can also type 'DI SYSTEM' for a list of all the planets in the Solar System.
The number is the identifier for each particular job, which you use if you want to bid for the job.
The quantity to be shifted may be larger than your cargo hold, so take care before bidding for a job.
The time allowed to complete the job is measured in Galactic Time Units (GTUs). Each move you make in space takes up 1 GTU; wandering around on a planet's surface doesn't use any GTU. If you complete the job in less than the time allowed you will receive a fast delivery bonus. Take longer than the time allowed and the payment will be reduced by a late delivery fine. Some jobs will be impossible to complete in the time allowed, but may be worth doing anyway to gain the hauling credit.
The payment for the job is shown in groats per ton.
The final entry for each job is the number of hauling credits you will be awarded on successful completion. These are important because they are the measure of when you are ready to promote to Adventurer.
Armstrong Cuthbert posts jobs onto the board in batches; new jobs appear when there are only a few left. Old jobs that are not taken will be removed from the board after a while to leave space for new ones; the cargo will be consigned to the slowest of government haulers and will probably get damaged on the way. If you want to be notified when new jobs are posted, type 'JOBS ON' and your comm unit will flash up a message; to make it stop, type 'JOBS OFF'. Turning jobs on also notifies Armstrong Cuthbert that you are available for work, so they will tailor the jobs available to your cargo space. Therefore, if you are not doing jobs, don't leave the notifications turned on, because you will skew the jobs posted which might inconvenience other haulers.
So, you want to do one of these jobs. First you have to bid for it, using 'ACCEPT #' where '#' is job number as shown on the workboard. If your bid is accepted, you need to go to the Armstrong Cuthbert office on the "from" planet and 'COLLECT' the cargo. The freight will be loaded onto your ship ready for you. You then fly to the "to" planet and go to the Armstrong Cuthbert office, where you 'DELIVER' the goods, at which point you will be paid.
While you are a Commander, the bank manager will automatically take 10% of your job earnings to repay the ship loan.
If you forget where you are supposed to be delivering the cargo, the details of your current contract are shown on your status.
Should you subsequently decide you don't want a contract, you can cancel the job by typing 'VOID' - and get fined for your impetuousness.
From time to time, particularly valuable jobs might pop up on the board - some pay a much larger amount, others offer extra hauling credits. Keep an eye out for those, because they really can boost your bank balance or trader rating!
A few notes on strategy. Since the clock starts ticking as soon as you accept the job, it can be a good idea to get to the collection planet before accepting the job. However, if competition for jobs is fierce, you may find it works out better to accept the job from wherever you are, and swallow the late delivery fine. After all, hauling credits are more important than actual groats. Alternatively, work in a more leisurely fashion by waiting until a job shows up from the planet you happen to be on. And where better to wait than your nearest bar, such as the excellent Chez Diesel (SC of the SS) on Mars?
Jobs Outside Sol
Once you are have 50 hauling credits you can leave the confines of the Solar System and do jobs to and from other star systems.
If you leave the Sol cartel, the workboard will change completely, with the collection and delivery planets on all the jobs being in the new cartel. In other cartels, the workboard may contain jobs placed there by POs - these are marked with an asterisk. It's worth trying for these because they pay more hauling credits than regular jobs.
You may also be offered jobs directly by a planet-owner in a Plutocrat-owned cartel. If you receive the offer of a job its details will appear on your ship's status display as a pending job. If you have a current job you need to complete that before you can accept the pending job; then you 'ACCEPT' and the job stops being pending and becomes your current job. Alternatively, you can choose to 'REJECT JOB' if it's an offer you can refuse.
If you choose to accept it, you deliver the cargo just as you would any job. The payment will be broadly similar to that for PO-posted workboard jobs.
