Building With Drones

[Lone_Puppy]

Idea is to use drones to build from BP instead of instant pop into existence.
Just like we need to build harvesters to gather resources, we should be required to build using a building drone.
This drone would use Astrotech + storage loaded with blocks or maybe connected to a near by storage remotely.
Perhaps a new feature could be to allow us to place a blueprint into the Astrotech Computer similar to the way we do a shipyard computer. Only 1 slot for a single blueprint. A nice logic control for swapping out blueprints would be handy, where you can load/unload different blueprints for the drone to build. Maybe a different way to slave storage for BP's only.
Otherwise have it use our BP library, which probably makes more sense.

Fleet orders for build drones could be;

• Repair Target (Whatever you have selected)
• Build BP here (from Faction Library or using BP stored in Astrotech computer)
• Build BP at selected coords (Give the drone a destination to build. Useful for remote station outpost or something)

I see the visual effect would be the entity grows from the centre out, with the drone moving around the same way harvesters do around asteroids.

To have mass drones working on a project collectively, perhaps have them connected to a local storage remotely somehow. Maybe on a station or carrier, similar to how we can designate a storage for building.

This would allow for coordinated speed building of the entity using more than one drone.

 

[NeonSturm]

I hope they complete a chunk from middle to outside and not fly into chunks which are already finished, else it would be a negative feature instead of a positive one.
Or crash into each other and send one of them to the next sector on a 10'000 light year voyage back to home.

They can first build y=0 from top and every drone use what it has in storage.
When they are done, they fly around the border of xz and continue the underside, and swap to top side to complete the next layer.

But on either side, they should only start a new layer when the old is done.
When they are refilled, they should continue their work on the older of the two not finished layers and continue to the new when they can do nothing else.

When they can do nothing at all for over 2-3 pull ticks and there are 2 unfinished layers, they check if their storage linked to astrotech if all blocks it pulls are in it for the maximum amounts specified or use that time to restock by flying to their dock, look if if they can pick up cargo over pickup-rails and when nothing happens anymore for 2-3 pull ticks they fly off again.

A second storage as puffer between the Astrotech storage and the dock can pull a Puffer-layer of block-amounts so that it doesn't restock because of 1 missing block. Useful values may be between 20% and 300% size of the Astrotech-linked storage.


I think these details cover all the basics.

 

[Crimson-Artist]

i had a similar idea a while ago but in stead of using the Astrotech system it was a completely new one called the Constructor system. It would also be a beam system.

I would've had the BP items cast a image of the BP into space when used. Ships equipped with the Constructor that have a storage chest connected can then shoot the BP ghost to start building. The BP will remember the blocks needed so the constructor only has to add them.

The Constructor will work like the Salvage system except in reverse. blocks will have a construction HP and constructor arrays will deal construction "damage". When a sufficient amount of construction damage is accumulated then the block is taken from the storage chest and placed in real space.

There can also be chambers that can upgrade the speed and efficiency of constructors.

 

[NeonSturm]

i had a similar idea a while ago but in stead of using the Astrotech system it was a completely new one called the Constructor system. It would also be a beam system.

I would've had the BP items cast a image of the BP into space when used. Ships equipped with the Constructor that have a storage chest connected can then shoot the BP ghost to start building. The BP will remember the blocks needed so the constructor only has to add them.

The Constructor will work like the Salvage system except in reverse. blocks will have a construction HP and constructor arrays will deal construction "damage". When a sufficient amount of construction damage is accumulated then the block is taken from the storage chest and placed in real space.

There can also be chambers that can upgrade the speed and efficiency of constructors.

That can use some sections from my comment too (like when they need refill).

But that way, we could also repair blocks of a ship/station, right?

 

[Crimson-Artist]

That can use some sections from my comment too (like when they need refill).

But that way, we could also repair blocks of a ship/station, right?

Astrotech does that now. I wanted to have it be a separate system so we would have to make dedicated ships designed to build BPs.

 

[Lone_Puppy]

I was kinda moving in the path of least resistance by using existing mechanics and systems.
After reading your comment Crimson-Artist , I realised what I want could be achieved in a really simple way by combining your ghost idea with the basic function of the Astrotech.

The Astrotech computer would spawn the BP invisibly or maybe just the core, with all remaining blocks in the equivalent to a damaged state.
Then the Astrotech computer would just do what it does already and that's rebuild the ship.
To the player it would appear as though the ship is being built from scratch, but in reality it's just a spawned wreck being rebuilt.

This would also allow for partial construction, which could be useful. Where maybe you only want the skin or systems separately for a new project.

 

[NeonSturm]

Astrotech does that now. I wanted to have it be a separate system so we would have to make dedicated ships designed to build BPs.

Astrotech undoes up to a certain amount of steps and then is unable to continue.

Setting it back to blueprint is far better, but I haven't tested how many ways there are to mess up logic.
Especially when a circuit requires to be initialized or holds old data in a memory chunk or display block where should be no data at all

I prefer not to get damaged at all and hope we soon get a 4-bit wide logic bridge between entities to run parity and clock bits. Mostly to check for circuits which are only partially loaded.