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[fuzzdoug]

I don't typically post on a forum regarding games.

I am trying really hard to like this game.
I've restarted the game...I don't know how many times.

The Supplies mechanic is killing this game for me.
No matter what I do, it's not possible to do most tasks without running out of a Supplies and then losing my progress.
I understand that actions have consequences.

There must be something I'm missing.

I've read through the forums and done the tutorials.
I don't want to have to cheat, mod, or use devmode to enjoy this game.

[Gothars]

Mh, it's a bit hard to help without knowing how far you are in the game and what you're doing.

Are you aware that the biggest drain of supplies is recovering your ships combat readiness? Supplies that will last for months under normal circumstances can be used up within days if your fleet faces hardships, like battles or dangerous terrain. If you don't notice this complete change in supply consumption, you can run dry very suddenly. What you can do if you notice is stop your ships from repairing in the fleet menu (hit F then Q), which should allow you to make it to the next port easily.

Of course you need to take enough supplies with you in the first place. My rule of thumb in core systems is to fill about half of my cargo space with supplies, less if I have big dedicated cargo haulers. For deep space missions, bring and fill up those big haulers, too.

[SafariJohn]

It can definitely be hard to tell how many supplies you need. That's why I made the Logistics Notifications mod: https://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=17379.0

It regularly tells you how many days (a day being 10 seconds) you have until you run out of supplies.

[fuzzdoug]

Ease up on the CR Supply drain please, cause it's not making the game enjoyable.

I'm assuming the end game is stupid easy, so this was designed in.

I've seen people posting about the same issues and how it's explained away by arguments/opinions calling for realism.

The balance between playability and realism needs some tweaking imo.

[intrinsic_parity]

Resource management is one of the core mechanics of the campaign layer. As an experienced player, I can tell you that it is definitely possible to manage supplies successfully. There are skills to help with that if you are struggling with particular issues as well. If you give more details on situations where you run out of supplies, then people can give you advice on how to avoid those situations. The tutorial monthly stipend should be enough to cover running expenses for at least the first few months, so if you're having issues right away, I can guarantee you are missing something.

[Havoc]

try to not grow too fast.
in my first games I have recovered every single ship
better way is to recover only the best ships
avoid hight maintenace dmods.
repairing (also storms) costs supply.(there are skills to lower repairing costs)
Surveying Equipment will lower costs for surveying, try to get some shepherds.
Fleet Logistics is a good skill

[Igncom1]

I feel you that resource management is hard to learn in this.

Always remember to salvage after battles if you can! Having a group of shepherd frigates can be great right up into the late game where you'll probably switch to salvage gantries! Salvaging other peoples battles is another great way of recovering free supplies.

Try to keep around 100-200 heavy machinery on you at all times to use for salvaging, although you'll only need the 200 for breaking down old space stations in the outer sector.

If you must buy, try to look for places that have cheap supplies or a surplus for sale, and try to see if you can buy from the black market beofre the tariff'd ones. I believe you can bring up a menu when in a system with a comm relay to check for good places to buy and sell your goods.

Remember that reputation is a resource, you can spend it when attacking a factions ships without your transponder on (and hopefully they didn't see you turn it off!) to loot their trade fleets for resources and money. Each secret attack or even colony raid when you are unidentified will cost you only -5 reputation! And if you are really cheeky, you can take the loot and sell it back to the faction you attacked to take advantage of their resource deficit that you created!

[DatonKallandor]

Whenever a new player says they keep running out of supplies, I'm assuming they're salvaging ships rather than scrapping them.

Do not salvage ships unless you have a very healthy supplies buffer! You do not make a profit repairing and selling ships! The materials you get from just immediately scrapping them are worth more!

[robepriority]

Supplies are basically a non issue even midgame, with the cap really only being the capacity of markets you buy from.

Exploration of domain-era probes and other derelicts spit supply and fuel out constantly.
You can come out supply positive out of any battle via salvaging - assuming that you didn't take disproportionate CR losses.
Contract trading lands you in ports that allow you to by supply.
Supplies take the same storage as every other item in the game besides fuel - just bringing a freighter means more supply capacity

I'm thinking you're stuck on the tutorial, in which, you need to salvage the military grade ships in the debris field and smash the pirates quickly so the rest of the game opens up.

[DubTre6]

Most likely you're just unbalanced in terms of logistics ships vs combat ships. If you get more freighters you can carry more stuff.

[SaberCherry]

There are a few skills you can take to reduce supply demand.  One of the very first I prioritize is Field Repairs 3; this is crucial, especially if you want to salvage a lot of ships rather than buying/building them.  Combined with Safety Procedures 3 which cuts the negative effects of D-mods in half (and also eliminates supply cost from emergency burn), D-mods change from something you hate to something you love.  Combine that with Fleet Logistics 2 and Efficiency Overhaul hullmod, and you basically don't need to worry about maintenance any more.  At that point the primary thing costing supplies is CR recovery after battles.  This is very important - which ships you field should be based on deployment cost.  Also, it's nice to have a salvage ship in your fleet; that can make you mostly self-sufficient in terms of supplies recovered from battles more than compensating for recovery cost.

The other things that can drain supplies are:

1) Salvaging ships.  Never, ever salvage (aka "recover") a ship you won't use.  If you do so accidentally, either mothball, scrap, or set the ship to "no repairs" immediately.  Field Repairs 3 reduces the cost of salvaging ships.
2) Hanging out near stars.  Or in neutron star systems.  Or especially, in solar flares.  When you are in a corona or flare, it will display in your status bar, and your per-day supply consumption will go up by like a factor of 15, from 6 to 100 for example, and bleed you dry really fast - plus, it's hard to maneuver due to the solar wind pressure so you'll stay there longer than expected.  Don't even bother investigating derelicts in a solar corona unless you really want to recover that particular ship because you can't buy it.  Research stations are worth investigating though.
3) Hyperspace storms.  Don't fly into them.  Often they will shoot you like a pinball into more hyperspace storms, and each one can cost a lot.
4) Sending too many ships into combat.  Only fight with the minimum number of ships you need to have an easy win.  Too few, and they get damaged or destroyed, or run out of peak operating time and start costing CR (which means, more supplies).  Too many, and you waste supplies on post-combat recovery.  I do recommend the "Automatic Orders" mod which will make ships retreat when their peak performance time is over, before their CR starts dropping (which costs supplies).  You can always send in more ships later if your initial batch is insufficient.