I tend to build ships and then test them with actual server gameplay. I then refine the build based on changes I made to accommodate actual server stresses and building the ship from a blueprint.

So you usually make a ship in creative then use a projector to build it in survival?

this might seem really simple but my goals are almost always, "I should create X" and then "can I make X pretty" Usually the former takes a long time, but this has kept me going for almost 8,000 hours so depending on the kind of person you are goals like these do work.

I try to design the simplest, lightest, cheapest designs that will do the job reliably and well. If skill is enough, use skill, otherwise design the simplest gizmo that'll help enough that skill can cover the rest, if that starts to feel all rube-goldberg it's time for a different approach entirely.

Basically iterating on ~I'm going to make this design work better or know the reason why~ and tinkering with the design or how I use it or both until I get that "reliably and well" part working.

Big moments in my memory looking back on it, I've been playing on and off since (checking…) 2014, are all moments where I realized the answer to that "it *can't* be this tedious" feeling was "it isn't, if you're clever".

Hi, I like to build at least one Respawn station per planet/moon and do so at my Favorite Rich ore spot of the planet.

Rich ore spots = Where all ores can be found close to each other next to ice lake.
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Planets and Moons have the ores at the same GPS coords so it's the same areas in new created worlds, just the ores in space are random,

I like to start at one of the 3 available Moons because those have all ores -1 that is Uranium but a minimum of 20 Uranium asteroids can be found at +/- 35Km in space around it,
so I build my Station at a ice lake having all ores within 600m around it and under at least one Uranium asteroid.

Planets ore veins have more ores compared to Moons ore veins and the best area to create all the needed are Ice lakes,
some Ice lake have all ores close to each other within 1000m, so that is where I build all the needed stations.

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I also like to build specific stations at perfect areas to create those,
for exampe :

-> Best to do the "Automatic Gas station" challenge on Europa because that Moon is made of ice.

-> Best to build an "Ammo Factory" at Pertam Huge dried out lake Full of Magnesium that is needed to build ammos.

-> Alien planet gives a different airlock challenge, I mean the airlock setup is not the same as the one in space so it forced me at finding a new solution for airlock.

Originally posted by Blueberry Muffins!:

I try to design the simplest, lightest, cheapest designs that will do the job reliably and well. If skill is enough, use skill, otherwise design the simplest gizmo that'll help enough that skill can cover the rest, if that starts to feel all rube-goldberg it's time for a different approach entirely.

Basically iterating on ~I'm going to make this design work better or know the reason why~ and tinkering with the design or how I use it or both until I get that "reliably and well" part working.

This echoes my design philosophy. I will never win awards for bringing forth a "pretty" design because I place performance far ahead of pretty. My designs will always (unless I've had a major brain-fart) perform as advertised, and every design I've published for the last bunch of years can be built in survival using a projector without the builder ever having to tweak the projector's settings to build it properly.

My Goals I set this playthrough in order:
1. An atmospheric Flying Craft than can carry cargo to rapidly enable 2.
2. Hydrogen Flying Craft ... that can get to space, and has some cargo/mining drill
3. Make an asteroid miner (and at same time first Ion craft)
4. Replace 2.. make Hydrogen Ion combo that can carry another small craft, with defenses, Jump drive, and can land on Europa/Titan. (0.25g)
^ These were the main goals

5. Visit a few stations, complete a few missions
6. Build a much bigger hydro / Ion combo that has jump drives, a hangar, defenses, still able to land on Europa/Titan and carry other craft, yet can still mine using its own drills also.
^ All of the above have now been achieved but 6. looks like a flying brick.

Still to go:
Drones
Combat Ship to take on the Factorum
Harvesting of Prototech parts/upgrading ships with Prototech parts.
Something impressive and not ugly that uses prototech and can land anywhere.

All of the above I've done before on a previous playthrough months ago - but I have a memory like a goldfish so completely forgotten how to do some things - like make a decent drone :-)

I will add :

I don't like to add all blocks on only one station.

I prefer to create stations that have only one Job to do and I have way more fun than adding all blocks on only one station.

Stations example :

- Respawn station = Only contain Medic room, Cryo chambers, O2/H2 Gen and power.

- Refinery station
- Gas station
- Recharging station
- Garage/Building station (can be ship Printer)
- Defence station
- Underground hangar

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All the needed "Worker ships" like Grinder, Welder, Drill, Cargo ship, etch...

Originally posted by Dan2D3D:

I like to start at one of the 3 available Moons because those have all ores -1 that is Uranium but a minimum of 20 Uranium asteroids can be found at +/- 35Km in space around it,
so I build my Station at a ice lake having all ores within 600m around it and under at least one Uranium asteroid.

This is why I like Europa/Titan and set my bases there, the only catch being it's usually seams of ore... unlike big spheres of ore found in asteroids

My latest, though not recent, goal is a mix of two connected ones:

1. Develop a plan for fastest progression from Space Pod ship towards proper station or bigger ship, on full realistic + block progression;
2. Design a very ergonomic mobile base/ship for one, and deploy in survival;

First one worked to learn to get out of the early game quickly, to then build bigger in general, and the second is a lookout for options on what tool ships to build. Two goals then merge, designing in creative first, then trying in survival, then repeat. So far technically best designs are large drones for welding & grinding plus a command ship, but the most satisfying one is a version of that ship with two huge robot arms.

Once enough of improved versions of these are in blueprints, time would be to hit the servers. Then the plan is to just find people and join them in building stuff. Less profit there may be, but more gameplay.

Extremely missing purely construction-based work sinks. Combat one exists, yet from the outside it looks like devolves into a race to build meta battlebricks, then hunt everyone possible to deny them the same. And economic sink is more like building and selling ships for scrap, or selling/gifting to others.

Originally posted by Marakith:

Originally posted by Dan2D3D:

I like to start at one of the 3 available Moons because those have all ores -1 that is Uranium but a minimum of 20 Uranium asteroids can be found at +/- 35Km in space around it,
so I build my Station at a ice lake having all ores within 600m around it and under at least one Uranium asteroid.

This is why I like Europa/Titan and set my bases there, the only catch being it's usually seams of ore... unlike big spheres of ore found in asteroids

My first Favorite start was the Flat Area on the Earth Moon for years, because all ores close to each other over there and no Spiders.

GPS:Moon All Ores:13504.02:144348.12:-109074.79:#FF758BF1: (edited)

I now prefer to start on Titan but I disable all enemy encounters on creating the world and only keep Economy enabled especially to have Trade Station close to me on start,
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I enable enemy encounters later once I have the needed to survival that does not take long time because all ores around ice lakes.

I kept on random encounters, but disabled the option that lets them spawn backup ... as that was crashing the game to the point of having to rollback. The pirates were spawning either in the atmosphere, or in the planet itself. Disabled spiders as well.

I disable all enemy encounters because Trade station spawn on the Alien planet when I start on Titan, well less Trade stations spawn in when all is enabled.

I have noticed that disabling All enemy encounters on creating a new world give a Trade Station close to me starting on Titan.

For my current run I was playtesting some of my mods that make the start of the game a bit more challenging: disabled encounters and unknown signals as those would give me too many resources too soon, and spawned in a minimal rover with no survival kit (BEAST). So I needed to find ores and slowly craft the components to build the survival kit first (Handcrafting mod). I just wanted to see if I could survive a landing on Earthlike on the standard 10 food packs and ... I did.

With the new Services block. I can swap out entire sets of grids to maximize my current purpose:
Mining and Refining
Battling for Prototech
Running NPC station missions
Trolling other players