Here's what I've learned so far, having finally gotten to space last night:
1) Rockets are much cheaper. NO MORE ROCKET CONTROL UNITS! 50 blue circuits, 50 rocket fuel, 50 low density structures.
2) Rockets have a payload capacity of 1 ton. This is not a lot. You will need to launch a lot of rockets.
3) You have to build a platform starter kit and launch it into space to start a new platform. This creates the core of the platform.
4) Expanding your space platform requires foundation, made of steel and copper. It's relatively cheap, but heavy. To get a full platform, I think it's going to take 5-10 rockets worth of foundation. Good news: The foundation also acts as a power grid, so you don't need power lines.
5) Once you have a platform, you unlock crushers, asteroid grabbers, and thrusters. Most platform-specific entities take blue circuits and electric motors. Bump your electric motor production up in advance, you're not just using them for yellow science and robots now.
6) Thrusters require fuel sourced from asteroids. Not far enough along to have the recipe figured out.
7) Space Science is built on the platform and then dropped from orbit back to your base. You may end up with a platform that stays in orbit around Nauvis just building white science.
8) Orbital drops are free. Riding up and down is really pretty and cool.
9) It takes an entire rocket to take your engineer up to space. You cannot go to space while carrying any ammo or anything in your inventory. Going to a new planet? Plan to haul along a bunch of raw materials to drop down. You can build cargo pods on the Platform to hold stuff.
Things I don't know or haven't figured out:
A) The Platform Core has an inventory area showing what's been launched to it. You cannot select items here and build out of them. So far in order to place something, I've had to hit E (internal recipe inventory), find the item in the recipe list, then click to place a ghost and it gets auto-built on the platform. This is clunky, and there's probably a better way I haven't found yet. There is no auto-tutorial like we used to get for trains.
B) The platform supposedly has a way to auto-request items from your base's logistics inventory, if the rocket silo is set up to deliver to platforms. Despite having this turned on, I don't have logistics robots auto-fulfilling the requests. I'm not sure what's missing. It reads as though the silo should act as a Requester Chest, but it's not. It is in range of my roboports, and the requested items are in the network.
C) The platform needs to be powered. Solar power works. I think the other option would be nuclear, with fuel launched up by rocket and water produced from asteroids?? Not sure.
Space Platform 101 Discussion
Re: Space Platform 101 Discussion
[Koub] This is actually quite helpful, gonna move it to Gameplay Help.
[Edit] On a second thought, let me even sticky this
[Edit] On a second thought, let me even sticky this
Koub - Please consider English is not my native language.
Re: Space Platform 101 Discussion
regarding things not figured out:
#1 - you can open the inventory of the platform and while you cant select the items there directly - you can just press q (pipette) to effectively grab that item into your hand and place it around.
#2 for some god forsaken reason you *must* have a full stack of the item available in the logistics network at home before it will be loaded and shipped. This is absurd, and i cant find a way to overwrite this without manually putting items in and pressing launch.
#3 Solar is great. Nuclear is really only needed when travelling really far out. But maybe something else becomes an option there. 4th planet might provide.
#1 - you can open the inventory of the platform and while you cant select the items there directly - you can just press q (pipette) to effectively grab that item into your hand and place it around.
#2 for some god forsaken reason you *must* have a full stack of the item available in the logistics network at home before it will be loaded and shipped. This is absurd, and i cant find a way to overwrite this without manually putting items in and pressing launch.
#3 Solar is great. Nuclear is really only needed when travelling really far out. But maybe something else becomes an option there. 4th planet might provide.
Re: Space Platform 101 Discussion
Asteroids on Nauvis orbit don't damage space platform. Take your time.
Building 10 asteroid grabbers at once was an overkill: 1 or 2 probably would suffice to fuel science packs production AND to send surplus iron plates home.
Asteroid grabbers have their own inventory where excessive chunks are stored.
Don't throw carbon overboard. It's a mildly decent fuel for your steam generators at home. Throw ice overboard instead.
Deconstruction moves everything except asteroid chunks and resources to platform's main hub. Rebuild everything as often as you want.
If you order construction of a platform area large enough, the game might actually try to build a hole. If you're fast enough, you can even spot
With enough effort, it IS possible to stick modules into assembling machines on space platform... due to solar power being OP at at least Nauvis orbit and since resources are technically free, speed modules are looking surprisingly viable there.
Space platform pieces are excellent rocket fillers. There are never enough space platform pieces on orbit.
Splitter with priority output selected is your best friend on space platform.
Building 10 asteroid grabbers at once was an overkill: 1 or 2 probably would suffice to fuel science packs production AND to send surplus iron plates home.
Asteroid grabbers have their own inventory where excessive chunks are stored.
Too big inventory, to my taste. Makes cargohold enlargers useless at at least early game.
Don't throw carbon overboard. It's a mildly decent fuel for your steam generators at home. Throw ice overboard instead.
Deconstruction moves everything except asteroid chunks and resources to platform's main hub. Rebuild everything as often as you want.
If you order construction of a platform area large enough, the game might actually try to build a hole. If you're fast enough, you can even spot
a memetic warning about that befor the game would fix its own mistake
.With enough effort, it IS possible to stick modules into assembling machines on space platform... due to solar power being OP at at least Nauvis orbit and since resources are technically free, speed modules are looking surprisingly viable there.
Space platform pieces are excellent rocket fillers. There are never enough space platform pieces on orbit.
Splitter with priority output selected is your best friend on space platform.
Re: Space Platform 101 Discussion
Thanks for this topic! I would have been completely lost without your tip about how to actually build stuff on the platform.
Some of my tips:
1) I was panicking about space...that is, inventory space on the platform...until I realized I could send stuff down to Nauvis whenever I wanted. Sending down stacks of iron ore became a welcome supplement to my mining.
2) If you build platform in the wrong place, how do you un-build it? Find the Deconstruction planner in the bottom right, click-drag to mark the platform deconstructed. (I guess the point is that you're really supposed to know how to ghost build/deconstruct before getting to space.)
A general tip: If you want to have an inserter removing things from somewhere, but only certain things...if you just build the inserter, it'll start pulling out random items before you have a chance to add the filter. My solution: Build the inserter pointing in a different direction so it does nothing; set the filter; then rotate it into position so it starts working.
Some of my tips:
1) I was panicking about space...that is, inventory space on the platform...until I realized I could send stuff down to Nauvis whenever I wanted. Sending down stacks of iron ore became a welcome supplement to my mining.
2) If you build platform in the wrong place, how do you un-build it? Find the Deconstruction planner in the bottom right, click-drag to mark the platform deconstructed. (I guess the point is that you're really supposed to know how to ghost build/deconstruct before getting to space.)
A general tip: If you want to have an inserter removing things from somewhere, but only certain things...if you just build the inserter, it'll start pulling out random items before you have a chance to add the filter. My solution: Build the inserter pointing in a different direction so it does nothing; set the filter; then rotate it into position so it starts working.
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Shalashalska
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Re: Space Platform 101 Discussion
You can view the power statistics of the space platform by placing a power pole anywhere on the platform. I'm not sure if there is a better way to do this, and there probably should be one.
Re: Space Platform 101 Discussion
You can have a blueprint in hand, and drop it in the logistic section of the inventory, to create a logistic group/request for its component
Re: Space Platform 101 Discussion
Amazing! Thank you!
Also, has anyone noticed the warnings for creating donuts or having other invalid placements are a little inconsistent? I feel like it should highlight the entire area that needs to be filled in, not just the final tile that causes the donut, to make it more clear. Otherwise, it just looks like one tile has a weird problem and refuses to build.
Re: Space Platform 101 Discussion
Blueprint of mildly appropriate novice space platform for reference.
Offers white science packs + carbon + iron plates supply.
No modules (no wooden poles this time too!)
Tentacles offer 100% perimeter coverage (which is an overkill - but if you're greedy like me...)
Auto trash excessive ice and chunks.
Cargo bays are kinda redundant too - but who knows... maybe you'll want to slam thrusters (AND thruster fuel+oxidizer mini-factory) on it to go space trucking! There bays would help you. Just remember that inserters don't interact with cargo bays...
Offers white science packs + carbon + iron plates supply.
No modules (no wooden poles this time too!)
Tentacles offer 100% perimeter coverage (which is an overkill - but if you're greedy like me...)
Auto trash excessive ice and chunks.
Cargo bays are kinda redundant too - but who knows... maybe you'll want to slam thrusters (AND thruster fuel+oxidizer mini-factory) on it to go space trucking! There bays would help you. Just remember that inserters don't interact with cargo bays...
Lightning shaped icon on your platform hub.Shalashalska wrote: ↑Fri Oct 25, 2024 7:55 am You can view the power statistics of the space platform by placing a power pole anywhere on the platform. I'm not sure if there is a better way to do this, and there probably should be one.
Re: Space Platform 101 Discussion
How does requesting things from the surface actually work?
So far it seems like all it will do is "If the platform needs these things, AND they've already been manually loaded into a rocket to full capacity, then the rocket will auto-launch."
That's still pretty manual.
So far it seems like all it will do is "If the platform needs these things, AND they've already been manually loaded into a rocket to full capacity, then the rocket will auto-launch."
That's still pretty manual.
Re: Space Platform 101 Discussion
I made some quality Space Platform Foundation and sent it to space, now it is just sitting in the inventory, and not getting used. I have no idea how to use it. And it doesn't appear to have any improvement . 
Re: Space Platform 101 Discussion
It should be usable as space platform starter pack piece. Quality space platform starter pack is expected to have hub with more hit points.
- Screenshot From 2024-10-25 20-17-02.png (95.2 KiB) Viewed 65715 times
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Default Quality for Ghosts is Common.
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Re: Space Platform 101 Discussion
Hello! Can anyone explain how can I build an uncommon solar panel on my space platform? If I make a "ghost" solar panel it just stays "ghost"...
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Re: Space Platform 101 Discussion
Oh. I found a quality switcher...
Re: Space Platform 101 Discussion
Where's the quality switcher?
New things I have learned:
Your first platform is probably just going to stay a space station for science production and testing.
The only place on the spaceship to store things is the Hub. Cargo Pods merely increase inventory space there.
Solar panels appear to have double production in space. 8-12 panels is enough to power 3 grabbers, 3 crushers, 6 green assemblers, 2 furnaces, and miscellaneous arms.
There are 3 types of asteroids, which get cracked in the Crusher into more of themselves, or the following:
Iron Ore (from metal)
Ice
Carbon (from carbon)
So far, I've had the best luck putting all my asteroid-grabbers onto a single belt that runs past all the crushers in a giant loop. The crushers get filtered inserters to feed the actual product out on one side, or to put "We made another of it" results back on the single belt.
One belt for each of those feeds space science production. Space science gets fed right into the hub from the factories, and if you set your Drop Pod Receiver station to a logistics request for space science, there will be a lot of free drop pods coming down.
Excess iron plates, ice cubes, and carbon can be fed into the hub. I haven't implemented it yet, but I think some filtered inserters that power up only if Qty > X can be used to remove excess iron, ice, and carbon from the hub and dispose of it by throwing it overboard.
I'm sure ice and carbon are going to be used for thruster fuel.
New things I have learned:
Your first platform is probably just going to stay a space station for science production and testing.
The only place on the spaceship to store things is the Hub. Cargo Pods merely increase inventory space there.
Solar panels appear to have double production in space. 8-12 panels is enough to power 3 grabbers, 3 crushers, 6 green assemblers, 2 furnaces, and miscellaneous arms.
There are 3 types of asteroids, which get cracked in the Crusher into more of themselves, or the following:
Iron Ore (from metal)
Ice
Carbon (from carbon)
So far, I've had the best luck putting all my asteroid-grabbers onto a single belt that runs past all the crushers in a giant loop. The crushers get filtered inserters to feed the actual product out on one side, or to put "We made another of it" results back on the single belt.
One belt for each of those feeds space science production. Space science gets fed right into the hub from the factories, and if you set your Drop Pod Receiver station to a logistics request for space science, there will be a lot of free drop pods coming down.
Excess iron plates, ice cubes, and carbon can be fed into the hub. I haven't implemented it yet, but I think some filtered inserters that power up only if Qty > X can be used to remove excess iron, ice, and carbon from the hub and dispose of it by throwing it overboard.
I'm sure ice and carbon are going to be used for thruster fuel.
Re: Space Platform 101 Discussion
This is correct, there is no improvement on having quality space platform foundation. And the worse is the space platform doesn't want to use them for flooring. This is like quality concrete, it has no benefit over regular concrete, but both the space platform and concrete are also ingredient of other things, like spaceplatform-hub are made from the tiles, and centrifuges require concrete. If you want the space-platform hub, or the centrifuges to be of quality, you could be wishing to craft them from quality material, in which case you would need and could use some quality Space Platform Foundation and that would be their only use
which is further limited by the fact that a quality space platform hub doesn't do a whole lot for the platform ( more HP for hub).I had made some quality space platform foundation too, and then mmm well i removed the quality module from my space platform foundation making machine for the rest of the game
Re: Space Platform 101 Discussion
Supposedly, you hover over the solar pannel in the inventory of the hub as shown in screenshot, you press Q ( pipette ) when your cursor is over it, you move it on the space platform and build it.
If it stays as ghost it may mean that one of the tile on which you placed it was empty, and the platform is trying to build the floor under it. Since you have enough tiles (20) for a solar pannel (3x3 =9) there should be no problem , the platform should change the ghost to a real "uncommon" solar pannel after completing the floor first.
However it may take 5 to 10 second, the platform can only build tile adjacent to each other, and cannot leave holes. The later may be a problem, if you try to place a solar pannel where it would touch some other parts and leaves some holes surrounded by platform, the tiles underneath it would be "illegal" or invalid and won't get built, which would then cause the solar pannel to stay as ghosth, but the game should give you a warning that tile placement is blocking in this case.
Re: Space Platform 101 Discussion
Cargo pods ? you mean cargo bays ? Those may be more appreciated with quality, as they would still take the same footprint on the platform but provide more inventory space to the hub.
However, you may have noticed that asteroid chunk have a stacksize of 1 which makes the hub/cargobay quite inneficient at storing them, because they take as much room as 200 circuits when they are in there. Whereas if you were to have some kind of long strech of belts running around all your ship to gather those, you can suddenly have 8 chunks on a single piece of belt which is quite good as storage
The asteroid grabbers also have some storage room in them, but it requires a bit of circuits to take advantage of, and you can only use it as a buffer for asteroid chunks. It's quite easy to have more storage capacity in them than in the hub for asteroid chunks because you can have "many" asteroid grabber.
This is the case in some part of space like in Nauvis's orbit but there are darker one and brighter one too, you can see those when in map view, going in the top left corner for accessing the space map and hovering over planets. It will say "solar power on atmosphere" which means on the planet, and "solar power in space", which is the stat you got, 200% is 2x whicch is what is for Nauvis's orbit.
Re: Space Platform 101 Discussion
If you're on another planet and a drop pod lands on you, you will get the Golem achievement... if you survive.
Take construction robots on your first trip to another planet. Also, 2 refineries isn't enough to support ammo consumption in transit!
Take construction robots on your first trip to another planet. Also, 2 refineries isn't enough to support ammo consumption in transit!
Re: Space Platform 101 Discussion
Open the platform hub. Top right of that window is a yellow lightning bolt. Rather Slow and clunky compared to a power pole though.Shalashalska wrote: ↑Fri Oct 25, 2024 7:55 am You can view the power statistics of the space platform by placing a power pole anywhere on the platform. I'm not sure if there is a better way to do this, and there probably should be one.