"Development Level >>"? Figuring out what all these numbers do.
- Thread starter Ian Doncaster
- Start date
Having obtained an industrial outpost which is shielded from weak links by an asteroid base, I decided to use it to test what sort of effect Standard of Living has.
Both tests were building a Medium Agricultural Settlement in the system for +7 chevrons of Standard of Living and no other stated effect. Before delivering the final load I checked the market at the outpost, then rechecked shortly after (but before any population tick) to see changes. Nothing else was built in the system between the tests, and all factions remained in State: None throughout, and there is no reason to believe that any of the commodities were not at their supply or demand caps (i.e. there had been no recent trading activity likely)
For each change, the effect on the price of the commodity is shown, as is the change in the quantity, measured in tonnes per economic unit (i.e normalised to the size of the station economy as measured by the H-Fuel supply)
The key result, I think, is that changes to Standard of Living can affect station specialisation and pricing for certain commodities (exactly which ones is tricky to determine, especially since only the Industrial economy is being tested, though the Metals and Minerals categories are notable by their near-complete absence from both lists) but this is not any sort of linear relationship.
Both tests were building a Medium Agricultural Settlement in the system for +7 chevrons of Standard of Living and no other stated effect. Before delivering the final load I checked the market at the outpost, then rechecked shortly after (but before any population tick) to see changes. Nothing else was built in the system between the tests, and all factions remained in State: None throughout, and there is no reason to believe that any of the commodities were not at their supply or demand caps (i.e. there had been no recent trading activity likely)
Commodity | State | T/EC change | Price change |
Agronomic Treatment | Import | -0.02 | 219 |
Clothing | Export | 0.43 | -52 |
Consumer Technology | Import | -0.04 | 0 |
Domestic Appliances | Export | 0.30 | -67 |
Survival Equipment | Export | -0.01 | 0 |
Algae | Import | -2.40 | -7 |
Animal Meat | Import | -0.26 | 0 |
Coffee | Import | 0.11 | 0 |
Fish | Import | -0.36 | 0 |
Fruit and Vegetables | Import | 0.38 | 0 |
Grain | Import | 0.17 | -6 |
Synthetic Meat | Import | 0.25 | 0 |
Tea | Import | -0.19 | 0 |
Liquor | Export | -0.01 | -37 |
Tobacco | Import | 0.18 | 0 |
Wine | Import | -0.64 | 0 |
Atmospheric Processors | Export | -0.04 | 0 |
Building Fabricators | Export | -0.13 | 0 |
Crop Harvesters | Export | -0.45 | 0 |
Geological Equipment | Export | -0.04 | 0 |
Marine Equipment | Export | -0.16 | 0 |
Mineral Extractors | Export | 8.48 | -72 |
Power Generators | Export | 1.41 | 0 |
Skimmer Components | Export | -0.02 | 0 |
Water Purifiers | Export | -0.20 | 0 |
Basic Medicines | Export | 1.30 | 0 |
Performance Enhancers | Import | -0.05 | 0 |
Progenitor Cells | Import | -0.10 | 0 |
Haematite | Import | -12.26 | 219 |
Computer Components | Export | 0.28 | -67 |
Robotics | Import | -0.98 | 0 |
Leather | Import | 0.05 | 0 |
Biowaste | Export | -0.84 | 13 |
Scrap | Export | -2.64 | 0 |
Non-Lethal Weapons | Import | 0.03 | 200 |
Reactive Armour | Import | 0.09 | 0 |
Commodity | State | T/EC change | Price change |
Clothing | Export | 0.04 | 0 |
Algae | Import | -0.33 | 6 |
Coffee | Import | -0.03 | 29 |
Food Cartridges | Export | 0.00 | 0 |
Fruit and Vegetables | Import | -0.09 | 23 |
Grain | Import | -0.15 | 5 |
Beer | Import | 0.05 | -2 |
Liquor | Export | -0.01 | 0 |
Wine | Import | 0.03 | -2 |
Atmospheric Processors | Export | 0.00 | 0 |
Building Fabricators | Export | -0.03 | 0 |
Crop Harvesters | Export | 0.12 | 0 |
Geological Equipment | Export | 0.04 | 0 |
Marine Equipment | Export | 0.15 | 0 |
Power Generators | Export | 0.06 | 0 |
Skimmer Components | Export | 0.01 | 0 |
Thermal Cooling Units | Export | -0.02 | 0 |
Water Purifiers | Export | -0.01 | 0 |
Basic Medicines | Export | 0.01 | 0 |
Leather | Import | 0.00 | 0 |
Biowaste | Export | 0.58 | -13 |
The key result, I think, is that changes to Standard of Living can affect station specialisation and pricing for certain commodities (exactly which ones is tricky to determine, especially since only the Industrial economy is being tested, though the Metals and Minerals categories are notable by their near-complete absence from both lists) but this is not any sort of linear relationship.
- Going from +13 to +20 decreased the Biowaste supply but increased the price. Going from +20 to +27 put the price back to what it was before, and increased the supply (but not to its previous relative level)
- Wine similarly increased demand substantially going from +13 to +20, but then decreased it again (accompanied this time by a minor pricing change) going from +20 to +27
- Many commodities appear on one list but not the other
- The direction of change, even within a particular category of export or import, is not consistent even within a list - on the first list, lots of the foods and legal drugs move in different directions
I have icy planet with volcanoes, extraction / industrial. Space port looks ok, some ores, some machines are there. I built extraction medium settlement on the planet.
1. It is marked as small on left panel but it has big landing pad, while I was building medium sized. I'm confused.
2. It buys ores which space station produces at x2+ price! And sells metals. Are we sure it is not refinery in fact ? :/
This looks like database mess for me.
Does anybody saw like that ?
1. It is marked as small on left panel but it has big landing pad, while I was building medium sized. I'm confused.
2. It buys ores which space station produces at x2+ price! And sells metals. Are we sure it is not refinery in fact ? :/
This looks like database mess for me.
Does anybody saw like that ?
This is them not being consistent. You get in game Tiny, small, medium. In the build menu Small, medium large. You built a medium because small is medium and some mediums have large pads because of course they do.
When I will get to my little corner of the galaxy, I will develop first the systems with ELW and WW, with T3 ports.
It feels almost like a sacrilege to build a simple T1 outpost next to an Earth like World.
But...
A system with an ELW (or WW) is by far the best way to develop a local "watering hole" (refinery system).
Almost every such system has at least a rocky body as well.
With only ~57k commodities, the first outpost (orbiting the ELW - ouch) and the first T1 ground port can be done - and afterwards most of the stuff can be produced locally. The ELW effect on population will ensure large supplies in the markets from the beginning.
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It's pretty random where the primary port goes. It seems just as often as it's at a useful planet it's around the worst body in the entire system.
Most players do not need the massive population that a ELW or WW t3 give in system. Even a fairly low population will give tens of thousands of the high volume goods. Only the most hardcore of commanders will run through that solo. You can delay the t3 for quite a while and if you're in the deep black you're operating from a carrier so you don't need an early coriolis either.
If they revert the market production boosts then the whole equation will change but with current market regen values a t3 is overkill. You build it for style because it's hard to build a refinery that doesn't supply enough goods if you have even a small amount of control over what links you place down. In the rare case where the primary port is actually around the ELW/WW then you'll have to decide but it'd be much much faster to take a different system first and just squat the claim on the nice system until you're refinery is online then release and retake the claim.
Most players do not need the massive population that a ELW or WW t3 give in system. Even a fairly low population will give tens of thousands of the high volume goods. Only the most hardcore of commanders will run through that solo. You can delay the t3 for quite a while and if you're in the deep black you're operating from a carrier so you don't need an early coriolis either.
If they revert the market production boosts then the whole equation will change but with current market regen values a t3 is overkill. You build it for style because it's hard to build a refinery that doesn't supply enough goods if you have even a small amount of control over what links you place down. In the rare case where the primary port is actually around the ELW/WW then you'll have to decide but it'd be much much faster to take a different system first and just squat the claim on the nice system until you're refinery is online then release and retake the claim.
Anyone else feel a little like we're giving up, or is it just my own funk? That it's actually hard to control what happens so we just revert to throwing down the least we can in each system? Like trying to do more than the minimum to get the commodities we want is punished?
We can design big high pop systems but mostly they're for show or occasional BGS trading/mission fun? I guess maybe I'm butting up against the cold reality that is always there in elite. The economy doesn't really matter
We can design big high pop systems but mostly they're for show or occasional BGS trading/mission fun? I guess maybe I'm butting up against the cold reality that is always there in elite. The economy doesn't really matter
There's a lot of burn out and a lot of the changes seem to have removed the motivation to build complex systems. The core mechanics do no support building large complex systems. You can have nice markets or you can have lots of mission sites. You've got lots of slots but the more you use the less you get. Unfortunately it's a negative feedback loop. Most of the pips now have almost no value and what your system has for bodies is your primary effect. Just having a waterworld overshadows all attempts at building pop through development and quality of life.
It's unlikely to change since things somewhat work but the way they work is a negative it encourages simple boring systems that aren't good for much other than trade.
I’ve had a system near my primary claim spot where for one reason or another the primary outpost went and put itself around a non-terraformable high metal content despite having an ELW in it.
Figuring I didn’t want to suffer through a T3 for a system that has either no landables or only one moon which can be landed on (will need to double check), I chose to plan a civilian T1 outpost in orbit instead. Something like “Put in basic infrastructure for the future colonization of the system/planet”. It’s one star and not that many things to build in it, so wouldn’t put anything bigger than that or a planetary T1 port in it.
The exact landing pads depends on the layout you choose for the settlement. Make sure to check them out in Davmats spreadsheet before you place a construction. Or you end up with an M agri settlement with small landing pad, like me.
Then their market has to sell something first. I finished building a Ceres L agri settlement yesterday, and its market was empty when I went to check on it. Active, but selling zilch. Would have been convenient to have nearby for the agri products for further of that settlement type on the planet… (they’re all going to be T2s for the ports I plan to put down on/around it)
Finished a T1 planetary port yesterday. Usually i just start, exit to main menu and then land to check the market and update EDMC.
So market was empty, then 2 hours later it was there. Give it some time.
Regarding S landing pads: nope, sorry, the "Annonna" M agri layout just has an S pad. Which was very disappointing. "Picumnus" layout has an L pad.
Im just tired of solo hauling. Waiting for panter clipper. Also figuring out how to run more accounts at same time.
Even if I just haul 2 ships at same time it cuts grind in half.
We used to be able to choose. Why can't we?
Was there ever a choice? I’m pretty sure it’s been predetermined by an automated script (separate from Stellar Forge? I dunno) since Trailblazers ‘launched’ into beta. They may have added the flag icon to indicate its position at some point, did not pay attention that closely.
There has never been the ability to choose.
There have been corrections to the logic around where the game chooses for you, and also fixes which validated some systems previously deemed as invalid. But we've never been able to choose.
I was asked in the early days (literally days - probably the first week) to select the slot for the initial build. There was no flag.
But irrespective of that - why can't we choose any available slot? What would be the problem?