Tips and pointers requests.

[jwrichards1982]

So I am very new to the game. I have had it for only a couple days now, but I've pumped in some hours just getting a feel for things. I am a bit slow, having a full time job does not let me spend nearly as much time as I would like...for instance, when I found Minecraft, it was a bit before the Halloween update and I was out of work. I had pretty much ignored tutorials and Youtube videos and figured many things out on my own.

Starmade is a different beast, and I really like it. I have some basics and other concepts down. I spent hours mining asteroids and selling the stuff to make a larger mining "cannon" and earned enough credits so when I found a space station, I used almost all my credits to fix it up, placed a build block and faction block on it. I have plans.

I have been watching videos, but a VERY large number of them seem to be for earlier version of the game and before there seemed to be a major shift in the way various aspects work. Like Minecraft, I will be role-playing this game heavily and learning all I can. To that end, I am setting up a kind of weapons test area to learn various weapon computer linking combinations and such.

My question, or request, is this:

I am wanting to start building larger ships.
1) Is it a common practice to build your "innards" then create the shell and hull to make a decent looking ship?
2) I am having difficulty understanding some principles (ie, in a video based on a previous version of the game, I see salvage cannons firing constantly, no cool-down. Doesn't matter how much power I give to the system, it stops firing for a cool-down) Are there any collection of articles, forums posts, Youtube videos aimed at (and I do not mind the title) complete newbies that is also current on the newer version of the game?

 

[Thalanor]

1) Everyone has their own way of building ships, but yes, that is a perfectly valid strategy. It usually produces ships that value function over form, but with some refinement these ships can be just as beautiful.

2) Apart from the forums here, you can try the chat (if it is populated) for some quick answers. Usually people on multiplayer servers help out new ones, too.

Have fun!

 

[Lidren]

1) As Thalanor said, just about any way you pump out a proper ship is legit. Outside in mostly functions on hull shape (I start with a frame, then systems). Inside out focuses on either systems first, or interior layout first, again really depending on play style. The general consensus of the community is that ships need both form and function, and that they are not mutually exclusive.

2) Chats a good idea. As are these and other forums. For your specific question, salvage beams can be linked to a secondary cannon system of matching block count to achieve a continuous beam that mines a tad slower. (Press c on salvage comp and v on cannon comp, build systems as normal)
Weapons also have this linking system with each other, and can have added tertiary effects. Also the weapon menu will tell you approximate power draw and damage I believe.

Single player rp survival is fun as heck, but if you're into multi then there's more and more rp servers to choose from. Each with their own spin, rules, etc. Even most of the rest of servers are friendly to it to varying degrees.

Finally, if you're after ship parts, switch from credit mining to using the material in factories. Only sell the materials you won't need for your ship modules.

 

[ToyotaSupra]

1) Go to jobcentre
2) talk to the nice reception lady
3) fake Autism syndrome/depression
4) Go on the dole
5)No matter how hard you scrub, you'll never be clean. More bleach?

NEET master race here, after step 5 you'll love it. More likely than not your job will go to a 3rd world immigrant who works twice as hard and for half the pay and doesn't know much about his rights, or a worker robot within 10 years, who works thirty-two times as hard for no pay at all. Don't feel bad, even doctors are out of pocket because there's no medical jobs. All because CEO's don't give a toss as long as their rich mates are getting richer.

BTW I would point you to the wiki, but it's shit so nah. Hope you enjoy the game, still makes me smile to see so many new guys already getting into it. So I'd suggest doing single player, press enter and up/down keys to give yourself some cheats and that. Use that to get a quicker feel before moving on. This game's still in beta/alpha, so there isn't much to do besides battles and shipbuilding. Don't sweat it. It's changing all the time.

 

[CaptainTaz]

For your specific question, salvage beams can be linked to a secondary cannon system of matching block count to achieve a continuous beam that mines a tad slower. (Press c on salvage comp and v on cannon comp, build systems as normal)
Weapons also have this linking system with each other, and can have added tertiary effects. Also the weapon menu will tell you approximate power draw and damage I believe.

To expand on this one, c and v are connector commands, and can be used on most blocks that have a computer/enhancer relationship, or logic (Which I recommend you don't get into unless you're good with logic stuff)

Weapon connection can also be done through the Weapons menu (Press T by default). Each of the four main weapons (Cannon, damage beam, damage pulse, and Missile) can be used as secondary bonus effects on (most) other weapons.
Let's take salvage beams for an example.
You mentioned never ending salvage beams, that's how the old (And really unbalanced) system used to work.
Now to get that effect, you need to have a cannon support of about 75% or higher. (Example, you have 100 salvage module blocks places in groups, you would need to place at least 75 cannon modules connected to a cannon computer in order to have a continuous stream.)

Of course, there are many other ways to salvage now :3

Salvage beams plus a Missile will enhance the amount of beams emitted from the machine. For example, 100 salvage beams supported by 20 missiles will fire (I think, i may be wrong) 3 beams from each group of salvagers all with slightly less damage.

Beams and Pulse aren't really too useful for salvaging in my opinion, but I'll tell you what they do anyway.
Beams will increase your range (Meaning you can salvage farther away)

And Pulse will increase the salvager 'damage' so you can harvest more in a long-cooldown burst.

These weapon effects are more or less the same when used on other weapons, Missiles normally give shotgun-like effects for higher power cost, Cannons increase fire-speed for less damage per shot (Same DPS and power drain I believe) Beams will increase range, and pulse will raise damage(And blast radius on pulse and missiles) for a hefty cooldown. The only different things I know of are that Beams supporting missiles will also allow you to use lock-on, on top of range increase (Lock-on speed does not get changed no matter the support %).

Hopefully I was helpful ^_^ I'm a self-proclaimed expert on internal ship systems, so feel free to send me a PM with questions, i can answer most of them if they pertain to Ship systems.

 

[QuantumAnomaly]

One of the things that I have learned, is I would stay away from ANY of the other wikis, and stick to the official one. It looks better, and only after reading about how power generation works there did I finally see something that not just showed it, but explained it properly. The best link for any starmade wiki is all the way at the top of the forums page lol.

As for how you build, that's totally up to you and your style. I personal focus on systems first, but with an aesthetic in mind. I also like to kind of RP it out, making sure that things seem at least a little "logical". You can start with systems and still make something organic looking (and not a total brick) with a good understanding of how power generation works and making sure you force yourself to NOT build squares lol.

As for salvage beams, that one's been answered. I'd just like to add that you dont have to go for 100% patch of 1:1, thats only if you want a constant beam, but each cannon module you add will increase the time that your salvage beams fire. This is better early on when cannons can be expensive to buy or craft, but you want a little mining boost.

 

[Runeseer]

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”

Form vs. Function

I suggest mastering the system functions
Power Generation
Weapon linkage and effects
Logic application (master builder level)

Once you have a feel for how the systems work you can apply your creativity to the ship’s form.

I am a novice of all the above, but am learning fast from reading and participating in this forum.

-Runeseer

 

[jayman38]

Another tip: Try to develop designs that make good use of the advanced-build functions, especially multiple-block-placement. Symmetrical build mode is a key component of this strategy.

Ships I build that are based on preexisting works are generally slogfests with lots of single-block placement. My original designs are much more enjoyable, because I can generally place an average of 40 blocks in one click. Very satisfying that way.

 

[jwrichards1982]

I have been aware of the slaving system when it came to weapons, and I was beginning to experiment with the salvage cannon, because it looked like it's computer could have a slave for it, but now that the question "if it could" has been answered, then I can move forward on that.

I have a few ship designs...I am an amateur 3D modeler and have a few original designs...
Question... is there a limit on ship sizes? For instance, I know that ships of a certain length/size will spill over into the next sector, and I know that can be a problem for the game engine... Is there a suggested limited size? Do we know how many blocks a sector is? For instance, I have a design from bow to stern that is 488 meters in length. I would like to work out a good scale for it so I can begin it's construction. So again, is there a suggested size that people have found to make sure their games don't crash?

EDIT Oh and...any common scales everyone goes by? ie 1 block = how many meters?

EDIT 2 - Nevermind, found the size of a sector... 2,000 blocks.

 

[jayman38]

There is not really a set limit on ship size. Bottom line: as long as you still have free RAM on your computer, you have room to grow.... I have seen demos on YouTube involving in-game reviews of ships that are over 1000 blocks in length, so less than 500 should be no problem at all. I would have trouble with 2 GB (I have since upgraded to more RAM), but if you have 4 GB or more, 500 block ships should not pose a problem.

Generally, based on the size of the character model, a block is considered a meter.

I'm tempted to consider my astronaut only one meter tall instead of 1.5-2m, so I can give myself permission to build ships at double scale with more detail.