Empyrion Galactic Survival vs. Space Engineers - Practical Rockets Edition - Now with more Kerbals!!!

Darkfyre99

Darkfyre99
Practical Rockets
Round Nine
Session Three
Empyrion Galactic Survival - Treats and Teleportation

Last evening was shorter than I would've liked. I wasn't actually expecting it to be short, which probably explains why the first thing I did was redo the roof of my completely unnecessary living quarters. ;) I also didn't like the asymmetry between the front and back, so I pushed out the front half a block.


After that, I drove my exploration vehicle to the proverbial lake, and filled it up with ice. I'd forgotten that I'd installed a Survival Kit inside, so I was kind of surprised when it got filled up so easily. 🤦‍♀️ If I still had the large container in there, I probably wouldn't have needed to make a second trip. Still 21 tons of ice was a respectable amount.


After I returned to base, I spent the entire in-game night, and a good portion of the evening before and morning afterwards, fixing the mistake on my launch gantry, and adding the survival kit to the rocket. Sadly, I didn't think to take a screen shots of the entire process. 🤦‍♀️ Seeing the rocket suspended by a tiny line of trusses would've been amusing. :)


Since one load of ice got the rocket filled to 83%, I figured I didn't need to fill the entire cargo pod full of ice. Plus I was kind of hoping to make it into space by the end of the evening.


Still, carrying an additional 17 tons of ice, for a total weight of 38 tons, made the trip back a little more interesting. Especially with all the craters scattered around my base.


I'd just gotten docked when I had to cut my session short. My plan for tonight is to install a few timer blocks to the rocket to set things up properly to launch the ship, as well as setting up the ship's controls. I may also want to set up a proper launch and docking camera... as I write this, I just remembered that I still need to gather up enough gold to be able to build at least one jump drive once I'm in orbit, and to figure out how much raw material I'll need to bring with me. I'm not done with the surface quite yet!

And then, on EGS, I'll be expanding my base!
 

Old Duck

Old Duck
I tried to get into EGS once again, and it really has improved since I last tried, but for some reason it just doesn't do it for me. I'm not sure exactly why. Some factors of "enjoyment" are hard to quantify, as they are more just gut reaction than boxes to be checked. It's definitely not a bad game IMO, it's just not right for me.

Don't worry, I'll still be following your thread with interest!
 

Darkfyre99

Darkfyre99
Old Duck said:
I tried to get into EGS once again, and it really has improved since I last tried, but for some reason it just doesn't do it for me. I'm not sure exactly why. Some factors of "enjoyment" are hard to quantify, as they are more just gut reaction than boxes to be checked. It's definitely not a bad game IMO, it's just not right for me.

Don't worry, I'll still be following your thread with interest!
Click to expand...
Fair enough. It took me ages to identify what it was specifically that I didn’t like about NMS.

On the subject of this thread, my session last night was so short, it doesn’t even count as session. Barely had time to identify how much gold I’d actually need, and unload the rest of the ice off of my EV, then something came up. :( I’ll try again tonight.
 

Darkfyre99

Darkfyre99
Practical Rockets
Round Nine
Session Four (attempt 2) and Session 4.5
Space Engineers - The Cruel Gold Mine

I spent most of this session (which went long, since I decided to finish it this morning) constructing the "Cruel Gold Mine," named after my reaction when I continually found gold on the way back from my first discovery of easily accessed gold 12 kilometers away... including a deposit that was a mere 1.9 kilometers away from base.

As tempting as it is to just hydrogen pack my way up and down the 36 meter vertical shaft to the gold deposit, I actually wanted a proper mine, including sorters to separate the gold ore from the stone, a basic refinery to process the stone into something useful, and a basic assembler to expand the mine in situ.

After deciding what blocks I'd need to get started, I assembled the parts and loaded them onto my Exploration Vehicle. In retrospect, I should've just brought the just the essential parts (windmill, battery, and assembler), and simply brought ingots to construct the rest. Oh, well... live and learn. ;)


I then set out into the night, trying to find a smooth route to the nearby gold deposit.


The surface windmill, along with the connecting port for charging and loading the Exploration Vehicle, went up relatively quickly.


I then started digging downwards, laying out what I could of the necessary infrastructure as I went.


This process took a lot longer than I'd expected...


Especially since I had to make a second trip for more parts...


... Not counting multiple times I'd jet packed back to base to get a few odds and ends. Such as the parts necessary for a proper sign. ;) But eventually, everything I'd wanted on site was completed.



Finally, I did a quick bit of hand mining, just to make sure everything works...


Now I just have to finish filling the EV up, and I'll have enough gold for a jump drive. I'm 10% there already. :)

But first, it's time to build a proper greenhouse in EGS!
 

Darkfyre99

Darkfyre99
Practical Rockets
Round Ten
Session One
Empyrion Galactic Survival - Base Expansion

Despite planning on concentrating on the greenhouse, I did quite a few different things in pursuit of that goal. During my last scouting mission, I’d identified several opportunities for farm-based salvage, so I did that first.


After visiting the second site, I ended up having to limp back to base, my Hovercraft filled to the brim with bulky, heavy blocks. Which probably explains my later actions.


Eventually, I made it back to base, and started building my proper greenhouse, using the steel farming blocks I’d salvaged. I turned out to be one block short of the full set of 18 I needed to produce survival rations, but that was easily constructed by my assembler.


Once it got late enough at nihgt, I hopped into bed to skip to the morning. Once I sent my drone out to continue construction, I discovered that my efforts had attracted some unwanted attention…


It was about that time I decided that maybe I needed a shotgun for close encounters. But first, I wanted to get my next crop planted, so I focused on finishing the greenhouse.


With everything working as planned, I could finally plant my new crops...


This didn’t take nearly as long as I’d expected, thanks to all the salvage work I’d done, so I turned my attention to building an attached Hangar/Garage to work on my Hover Vehicle. I figured I wouldn’t need much more than a 5x7 internal grid for this purpose. Since bases require some support, it game me an excuse to add some interior flare.


I did the same on the exterior…


I also finished fixing the inside of my shelter. This allowed me to install a large assembler, and organize the place better.



I also finally started adding some “smarts” to my home.


I was getting low on unlocking points again, so I decided to finish exploring this world. There’s plenty of wrecks and ruins to explore… some of which are guarded.


I thought at first, the only threat was the wildlife…


But my drone getting shot soon demonstrated otherwise.


Without proper armor, I decided to keep exploring, and found what I hope will be a treasure trove of ship parts.


Eventually, I finished exploring the map, and discovered enough POIs to level up. So I returned to base to finish painting the garage…




Looking at these screen shots, I just noticed that I never actually put that shotgun on my tool bar. Oops. 😊

Next time on EGS, I'll be redoing my Hover Vessel to do some heavier salvage work. But first on SE, it's Mining Time!!! ⚒️
 

Darkfyre99

Darkfyre99
Practical Rockets
Round Ten
Session Two Redux
Space Engineers - Mining Machine

You know... if mining in Elite Dangerous was more like it is in Space Engineers, I would do it more often. ;) Anyways, the nice thing about concentrating on one thing during a session, it's a lot faster to write up. :)

When I returned to mining, it didn't take me long at all to realize that I'd dropped into a particularly thick vein of gold, which I'd already mined out during my aborted session last night. That meant it was necessary to build a mining machine. At first, I was tempted to make yet another attempt at a wheeled miner, but in the end I decided not to reinvent the wheel. Given what I had previously built, it did require a bit of a redesign:


Aside from getting a small amount of cobalt from base, everything else was constructed using ingots refined from waste stone. My improvised "Termite" miner isn't quite as... efficient in its design, thanks to not wanting to place its translation thrusters on the bottom of the vehicle, but it got the job done.


You know, I just realized I could’ve used a custom turret controller to build a small grid mining arm instead of an actual mining vehicle. Maybe next time! Eventually, my Exploration Vehicle on the surface was filled (mostly) to the brim with gold ore, so I returned to base to get it refined.


Next time on Space Engineers, it's time to launch myself into space, and start building the core of a space station. By the time it's done, my gold should be done refining, so I'll be able to build a jump drive to make exploration easier.

But first on Empyrion Galactic Survival, I'll be redesigning my Hover Vehicle to carry bulky and heavy loads I'll need if I intend to do some large-scale salvaging. Though I am tempted to build a flying scout ship first, especially using the so-called lifting wings. Decisions decisions…
 

Darkfyre99

Darkfyre99
Practical Rockets
Round Eleven
Session One
Empyrion Galactic Survival - Garage

Darkfyre99 said:
But first on Empyrion Galactic Survival, I'll be redesigning my Hover Vehicle to carry bulky and heavy loads I'll need if I intend to do some large-scale salvaging. Though I am tempted to build a flying scout ship first, especially using the so-called lifting wings. Decisions decisions…
Click to expand...

By the time I finally sat down to play last night, I’d realized that I'd never really truly tested those "lifting wings," using them as decoration only, and I really wanted to see if an atmospheric flyer was viable. Which meant I needed to build a hangar for it. Of course, before I could do that, there were a few other tasks to queue up first: extracting more crushed stone so I could build concrete blocks... ordering some food, including survival rations, so I wouldn't have to wait for it to produce if I was starving... and of course harvest my crops.


It was while ordering the survival rations that I realized that I really didn't have a real need for berry bushes. There's only one recipe that uses berries that doesn't also require eggs, which aren't readily available, and are also used in the production of advanced pharmaceuticals. Once I'd adjusted my mix of crops, I turned to building the new hangar. I wasn't quite as enthusiastic for detail work as I was earlier, so I went with something a bit more plain for the hangar's design.



Soon enough, the hangar was ready for its coat of paint.



When it came to the exterior, I couldn't resist doing a bit of greebling on the roof. There are several "windowed" wall blocks available for this kind of thing, which allows for things like putting an illuminated texture behind one of those, allowing for finer details. It's one of my major frustrations with Space Engineers: I can't even select textures for each face of a block. This kind of thing also annoys me in Minecraft.


When it became time to build a "runway" for my future atmospheric, I quickly realized that there wasn't enough room for a "proper" runway in front of the new hangar. So it became my garage for surface vehicles instead. The original garage/hangar became the hangar instead.


Tonight, I'm going to be building my atmospheric scout, and see exactly how many, or few, belly thrusters are needed to get it into the air.

And then, on Space Engineers, it's time for this game to live up to its name!
 

Darkfyre99

Darkfyre99
Practical Rockets
Round Eleven
Session Two and a bit extra
Empyrion Galactic Survival - First Flight

When I got up this morning, I realized that the video I'd made of my test flight had a flaw: I'd included a bit of equipment in the test plane that pretty much invalidated most of the test flight.

I'll repeat the test flight tonight, but until then, here's a preview of the test plane...


... and it looks like last night's snowfall was deeper than predicted, so I can't go to work until they plow my street. Which means I'll do that test flight now. :)

Here's the first test flight with the unfinished plane, where I installed an RCS system by reflex.

Source: https://youtu.be/fT2rIYBIN3I


Here's the second test flight with the finished space plane, where I used the game's signal logic to disable everything but the forward thrusters. Without the RCS system, it still has limited pitch, yaw, and roll, which is provided by the wings. The two rear thrusters will also provide yaw, but shouldn't be able to do pitch and yaw.

Source: https://youtu.be/47YJFcT00fk


The main problem I have with this design is that its hangar, and its opening, is barely large enough to get it inside. It's going to be hard resisting expanding that hangar to account for its size. ;)
 

Old Duck

Old Duck
EGS question - is "start with nothing" survival the only new game start available? I ask because I think part of my disinterest in EGS is that I'm just not in the mood to be marooned on a planet with nothing, again. I've already "played that game" that dozens of times in Space Engineers and NMS. Thankfully in SE, I can toggle on admin tools, paste a finished ship into the game, and switch back to survival mode as a proper pilot with a ship rather than Tom Hanks with only a volleyball drill. Does EGS offer such an option?
 

Darkfyre99

Darkfyre99
There are a variety of modes to play in EGS, including scenarios built both by the devs and by the player community via the steam workshop. You can also change a survival game into a creative one, or vice versa, by using the in-game console. The key to open the console is the backwards apostrophe key: `

There's also the "blueprint factory," which I never bother using myself, which basically allows you to dump resources (including complete blocks) into a interdimensional pocket of holding, and then spawn entire vehicles and structures, both the default ones and ones you've built in creative mode or subscribed to via the steam workshop, at your leisure.

I don't bother with using any of those things very much, because I actually like starting with nothing, and then constructing things in survival mode.
 

Darkfyre99

Darkfyre99
Practical Rockets
Round Eleven
Session Three
Space Engineers - SPAAAAACE!

Though my playtime yesterday came in intervals yesterday, I did have enough time to do a whole round. I was ready to launch myself into space... or at least I thought I was. Then I realized I had a lot of things to do before I could actually blasting off. I figured it would be easy if I disconnected the rocket from the base...


Once I got all my controls and timer blocks set up, I reconnected the rocket to my base, and got ready to load my rocket. I wanted to bring ten tons of ingots to build the nucleus of my first space station: eight tons of iron, one ton of nickel, and one ton of silicon... plus 100 kilos of cobalt. I thought I would have plenty of iron on site. As it turned out, I barely had one ton of iron left.

Fortunately for me, I had enough iron at the Cruel Gold Mine, though it took two jet pack trips to bring it all. While jet packing on way back the second time, I saw something that brought me up short:


This wasn't the only surprise I found in meteor craters...





In the end, I had enough platinum for the rocket's last ion MAV thruster, plus an entire kilo of uranium for backup power for whatever surveyor I build.

Though it had taken much longer than I'd anticipated, it was finally time to launch.


As always, I didn't have to rise too high into the sky to see how small Space Engineer's planets are, despite being huge compared to Empyrion Galactic Survival.


After a long while, I finally reached zero-G.


I was tempted to build the space station there, but I wanted a bit more distance between my space station and Earth's gravity well than that. I settled on about 60 kilometers above the surface. Once I'd gotten a pair of solar panels up and running, I started building the on-site basic assembler.


This allowed me to build a docking port, which meant I could use rocket's battery as backup power.


Once I'd finished the basic refinery, as well as hydrogen and oxygen tanks, I offloaded my rocket's hydrogen and oxygen tanks.


I had a bit of time to spare, so I decided to investigate a nearby asteroid. At least, I thought it was a nearby asteroid.


I found nickel and magnesium on that asteroid, before I remembered that the small grid ore detector was annoyingly short ranged. So I returned to base. When I docked, I made sure that my ship was oriented correctly for my return to the surface. Soon afterwards, I saw a red signal on my HUD.


After determining it wasn't a threat, I returned to the surface. In theory, if my launch profile was correct, I should've been able to fall straight down to base. In practice, the result was... mixed.

Source: https://youtu.be/_xmoZYT8HOs


At least I'd landed on the landing pad. :) But my rocket's connector was facing the wrong way, and needless to say, it wasn't standing upright either. I'd actually lucked out on that front: it was sitting flat on the pad, and was pretty much lined up with the launch gantry. My first attempt didn't work so well. Pistons can support a lot of weight. The smallest hinge, though, couldn't get enough torque.


I went with a large-grid piston/landing gear crane instead. This was more than enough to lift it up. To get it facing the right way, I used a rotor. To get it vertical, I used a hinge.




When I return to Space Engineers, I'm going to load up my gold, harvest more iron, and then return to space.

But first, it's time to return to Empyrion Galactic Survival.
 

Darkfyre99

Darkfyre99
Practical Rockets
Round Twelve
Session One
Empyrion Galactic Survival - Distraction

Darkfyre99 said:
The main problem I have with this design is that its hangar, and its opening, is barely large enough to get it inside. It's going to be hard resisting expanding that hangar to account for its size.
Click to expand...

And I was right. Yesterday’s time to play was spent tearing down, and then rebuilding, the hangar. I just didn't anticipate how long it would take to do so. :rolleyes:

One thing I wish I'd done differently was to expand the foundations before I'd torn down three of the four walls. If I'd done that, I would've discovered that the hangar was too close to a sand dune, and probably abandoned the project as “good enough.” Unlike Space Engineers, where I can bury 95% of a block into the terrain and still construct it, Empyrion Galactic Survival requires more than that, though how much needs to exposed seems to be somewhat variable. In the end, in order to lay down the new foundation, I had to remove some of the sand, which left an annoyingly ugly trench around one side. I'd use the drill to "fill" in the gap, but the drill uses a "concrete" texture to fill the gap, rather than a texture that resembles the surrounding terrain.


In hindsight, I feel like I spent way too much time greebling the interior of the hangar. I don't know what it is about EGS, but I frequently spend much more time on this kind of thing here than I do in other survival games like Minecraft, SE, Subnautica, or Planetcrafter. It's probably because unlike those other games, EGS blocks don't come pre-greebled, so my choices aren't as limited. It’s far too easy to go overboard with this kind of thing, losing all sense of time in the process.


Eventually, I was satisfied with the interior of the hangar.



By the time it came time to do the exterior, though, I was running short on time before bedtime, so what I did should be more accurately called abandoned, rather than finished.



I find it particularly irksome that the "runway" is off center, though I tried to correct that at first. Unfortunately, correcting that would require digging yet another trench along the one side, and I really don't want to do that. I should also add some weathering to the rebuilt structure as well, but meh.

Next time in Space Engineers, I'll be mining some more iron, before I return to space with all my gold and as many other ingots as I’ve already mined. And to facilitate this, I'll be converting my "winged" scout ship into a Termite! And after that, this thread will be on hiatus until the upcoming Buckyball Race is completed. Everyone’s welcome to participate! There’s even a “Regulation Cobra” division for those averse to engineering.

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Darkfyre99

Darkfyre99
Practical Rockets
Round Twelve
Session Two
Space Engineers - Prepping for a well-timed Hiatus

When last we left our intrepid Space Engjneer, I’d just gotten my rocket, which had fallen over after landing, back on its launch gantry and repaired. My primary purpose was to bring the refined gold into space to build a jump drive to explore nearby asteroids. But I also wanted more iron, which I needed to mine. I could’ve just hand mined it, but I was in a hurry, so I converted my scout into my old “bug” themed surface vehicles, in this case the termite. It didn’t take too long, thankfully.


After a couple visits to the nearby iron deposit, I had more than enough iron to fill my rocket. One of the many things I like about Space Engineers is the camera system. While I could (and sometimes do) use third person cameras, having access to a variety of cameras does come in handy, and can feel much more “real.”

Not to mention can be downright cinematic at times!


Once my ship was in zero-G, I flipped the ship around, in order to use the main thruster to decelerate. The launch/landing camera came in handy for that as well.


Once I came to a halt relative to my space station, I encountered a bit of a problem… the rocket (and it’s cargo) was too heavy for a single ion thruster to start moving! Once it was moving, the ion thrusters could be used to guide the rocket, but starting it moving was another matter entirely. I ended up unloading about ten tons of ingots by hand, IIRC, before the ion thrusters would get the ship moving on their own.


As I said previously, I’ll taking a break to participate in the upcoming Buckyball race. With luck, the Automation update will be released by then, so I can expand this the station using the new blocks and systems. At the very least, I want to take advantage of the improved custom turret block to build a proper solar array and oxygen farm!
 
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