easy way to find shops

[Aceeclipse]

does anyone know an easy way to find shops?

 

[Edymnion]

does anyone know an easy way to find shops?

Fly around.

Shops only spawn in explored areas, they aren't there when the universe is created. Generally speaking these days build a station where you want and start mining and you'll have tons of shops spawn around you.

 

[terra mining corp.]

And once you find a shop buy a scanner comp and antenna

 

[Edymnion]

For follow up on the "just fly around", its my understanding that the trading guild functions (like shop restock, guild ships flying around, etc) go on whenever there is a shop there. To keep the game from basically crashing or being super slow due to trying to keep track of thousands and thousands of shops, shops only spawn in (are created) when a player actually goes out to find them.

Means there are no shops at all in unexplored space, and its only when you're sitting around in an area for a little bit that the game goes "Welp, okay, player is here, time to see if we want to randomly spawn a shop in this sector or not".

 

[KiloZulu]

Using a scanner should display all shops in the current system on your galactic map.

 

[aRottenKomquat]

For follow up on the "just fly around", its my understanding that the trading guild functions (like shop restock, guild ships flying around, etc) go on whenever there is a shop there. To keep the game from basically crashing or being super slow due to trying to keep track of thousands and thousands of shops, shops only spawn in (are created) when a player actually goes out to find them.

Means there are no shops at all in unexplored space, and its only when you're sitting around in an area for a little bit that the game goes "Welp, okay, player is here, time to see if we want to randomly spawn a shop in this sector or not".

Interesting. I guess that explains all the shops in my system that I don't remember being there before. They weren't there before.

 

[Edymnion]

Interesting. I guess that explains all the shops in my system that I don't remember being there before. They weren't there before.

Yup, and shop spawn rate is a configurable event, so it can vary from server to server.

Its also why shops/abandoned stations appear to be "backwards". The stations (abandoned and pirate) are generated when the system is (aka, when the game first creates the universe), so they show up on the map. Shops generate as you explore.

So we get pirates and abandoned wrecks broadcasting their presence to the galaxy, while trade shops appear to hide like they don't want to be found.