General Overview
Transportation permits are required to transport dangerous cargo without fines. They are commonly referred to by the AI when transporting this type of cargo. The player is currently issued fines if he is carrying Dangerous, Stolen, Illegal, or Suspicious goods. If the player could obtain a transportation permit, it would not cover illegal or stolen goods. These must be sold at a smuggler hideout.
Permits are sold at faction Trade hubs, There are 4 levels of Permit and each higher tier covers the goods type from the previous.
Fines
The player will be fined based on the type of cargo he is carrying, the value of it, how much he is carrying, how close he is to the core, and whether or not the faction has a greedy trait. Essentially the closer you are to the core, the higher the scale for the fines for the same cargo would be. The calculation for determining how much the good is depends on a number of factors, and is fairly complex.
Fine Calculation
All the factors have been attempted to be included for the full picture, and is listed as follows:
| Fine Variable | Calculation |
|---|---|
| Type | Suspicious = 1.5, Dangerous = 1.5, Illegal = 2.0, Stolen = 3.0. |
| Sector Richness | ((((Dist/Maxdist)+1)^3)*2-2)*6. |
| Total Fine | (Good Price * Quantity + 1500 * Sector Richness * Type). |
| Greedy | +50% fine total. |
Note: It is currently unknown if or how any cargo is marked suspicious.
Strategies
Avoid using warp gates, hyperdrive into sectors. Factions have military craft patrol sectors and can scan your cargo within 4000 meters. Only military craft will make scans and attempt to fine and collect cargo. If a faction has a trait that says that they are paranoid, this radius is increased to 6000m. Military craft most commonly patrol between warp gates. All detections for illegal cargo cause a faction point hit as well as a fine to be issued. If illegal cargo is detected, the player is issued a 60 second compliance order. Jumping out of the sector also causes the player to lose enough relationship points to drop by one relationship level.
The mission involving Bottan will cause ships to spawn at one of the random jumps you make. regardless of whether the system is inhabited or not
tier list of transport license
Dangerous cargo License - allows the player to have dangerous goods in the cargo bay.
Suspicious Cargo License - allows the player to have dangerous/suspicious goods.
Stolen Cargo License - allows the player to have dangerous/suspicious/stolen goods.
Illegal Cargo License - allows the player to have dangerous/suspicious/stolen/Illegal goods.
Upcoming Plans
There are currently no mentioned plans to add this in the future.
Note: It is likely that this is going to be added in the future, however this is not listed in upcoming features or on the forums.