Yep. You've got it.
"Proto Heat Radiators", Where hell to find?
- Thread starter CervanteX
- Start date
The spawn rates have definitely changed for the worse since I got back from DW2. Before I could get core dynamics in bundles of 2-5 per HGE. Now it is just one with a load of crap mixed in. HGE are now also harder to find. Proto Radiolic Alloys weren't too hard to find and filled up before I left for DW2. I came back (unlocked the Colonia engineers) and re-engineered a few life support systems to grade 5. Now trying to top up my PRA bin and after 3 days of searching I haven't found a single one. It looks to me that Fdev have fiddled the books in the interim.
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I'm pretty sure that all the problems regarding G5 mats are down to the borked BGS. I've got no problem finding PRAs myself but I accept that others may be having problems. It's the nature of the layered RNG based system that is causing so much angst. The algorithms for spawn rates are nowhere near what they need to be. If a system fulfils all the criteria to spawn HGEs then spawning the HGEs should be mandatory. What we can't have is a system where the required parameters are met but due to the RNG or the non-functioning BGS not having been fixed then the HGEs for that state do not appear. That is not something that the player can control or have any influence over and as such we're relying on FDev to maintain an even keel regarding that. They are failing big time.
If FDev are going to persist with system states to give rise to the USS then they need to ensure that the states really do work.
I would like to see an FDev stream to collect Improvised Components without any Dev magic. After an hour I'd bet that most viewers would have turned off. It seems to me that Will et al has no idea what is wrong with this 'game play' and neither does anyone else at FDev. If they do, they have no idea how to correct it.
I have unlimited time to pursue my goals if I should choose to do so as I'm retired but to any player that has children, job etc. then this is totally disrespectful to their time. I have no idea how players with a severely limited amount of time each week cope with this.
Until there is a real outcry about/against the current state of affairs then nothing will change. Too many players just accept the status quo without ever challenging FDev on their so called 'vision' for the game.
Yep this^^
Another "mechanic" I noticed and not sure if it is a feature, RNG or just co-incidence, but if you jump back and forth between systems for a couple of hours collecting materials, spawning of HGE dry up competently for a couple of hours after that. Nothing spawns, unless you jump to a new system before that too dries up for a few hours. Same happens to missions after a couple of hours of play. Eventually it comes back, but you need to play for nearly a full day before it does. I don't have time to jump back and forward for hours waiting for it to finally start spawning again. I simply don't. If I come back the next day, the system state could change and then it gets even worse.
I finally found some in Brestla, but that didn't take long to dry up and now on my day off I have wasted another 2 hours hopping back and forth with no HGEs spawning. I can see why many people just loose patience.
Edit: Just to be clear, I am not new to engineering I have made 7729 upgrades with 4612 of them being grade 5 with 37 weeks of game time (been playing since game launched on Steam). I have fully engineered around 20 ships and 90% engineered another 40 odd. So this isn't the ranting of a new player. Its very disheartening to spend so much time grinding. To be honest the only thing keeping me in game at the moment is trying out new builds and seeing how they perform in game. The way Fdev play with spawn rates is grating on my nerves, because I do this a lot, can see the effect it has and how it negatively impacts my game time. The material gathering can be fun, when the drop rate is just right. It was pretty good just before DW2, but now it is just awful (or is that Offal?)
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Been needing some G5 encoded and manufactured mats for engineering, but RNGeesus wasn't really heeding my desperate prayers.
Gave up, and just went on a scan/murder spree of Wakes and NPCs in High RESés.
Had to collect lots of low end parts to trade up the tree to get at them G5s.
This aside, the trade up rates are horrible. These raw mat traders are taking us for a ride. What's with the 36/1, 6/1 ratio for mats a tier or two lower?
And even if we trade down for lower tier mats, the exchange rate is still crap.
Gave up, and just went on a scan/murder spree of Wakes and NPCs in High RESés.
Had to collect lots of low end parts to trade up the tree to get at them G5s.
This aside, the trade up rates are horrible. These raw mat traders are taking us for a ride. What's with the 36/1, 6/1 ratio for mats a tier or two lower?
And even if we trade down for lower tier mats, the exchange rate is still crap.
This right here is your mistake. System state is irrelevant. It's the state of the Faction attached to the HGE that matters. EDDB only shows you which system's controlling factions are in a given state. You could be flying past dozens of systems where many non-controlling Factions are in the state you want and EDDB would never tell you.
The highlighted portion of your post is exactly what's wrong with the current implementation. Too few players have the necessary time to devote to this mangled, botched state of affairs. The fix is really quite simple;
1. Make ALL Allied missions capable of giving ANY G5 mat or Data not just Biotech Conductors, Exquisite Focus Crystals and MEF.
2. Make ALL systems/factions in the required STATE spawn HGE's concurrent with their state.
3. Make ALL G5 mats tradeable on a 2 to 1 basis as a maximum.
Those three changes would solve practically everything that's wrong with the current system.
The game is five years old it shouldn't be getting harder to play. It shouldn't be getting more time consuming. It shouldn't be getting more of a 'grind'. The devs need to up the game play and lessen the sheer monotony. They've pretty much rested on their laurels since Horizons introducing nothing but grind, repetition and grind, it won't do. If they're not careful there won't be a player base when their NBT surfaces in 2020.
It's not my mistake. I don't fly through any system without doing the honk and FSS. I know exactly what I'm doing, I've been doing it for ever. I don't fly past any systems that have the required state(s) that I need or want.
Want to teach your Grandmother to suck eggs?
Yes I know that whats inside a HGE (and subsequent chance of spawning) depends on the faction state and their level of influence. Which just adds another layer of complexity and subsequently adding to the grind of finding just the right conditions. I used to be able to find things pretty easily before these changes. Now you can jump into a system and not be sure which faction will spawn the HGE (if at all) and if what's inside is at all useful. If anyone has figured out a reliable system to find things I am very interested in hearing them. Not just a few lucky rolls of RNG dice on one day of playing, but consistently reliable over days/weeks etc.
There is no consistent or reliable way to know what state will be available to you. Your only option is to either FSS or Nav Beacon every system you enter. EDDB gives you a basis for looking for the required state, nothing more. It's up to the player to search out required HGEs. Whilst this wouldn't be a problem if the required found state spawned the required HGE it doesn't happen 90% of the time resulting in tedious game play.
I have now maxed out my G5 mats so have no need to do this mind numbing, boring, tedious 'game play' for a while, lucky me. For those who are still looking, good luck. I'm out of here.
Your description of your process clearly indicates you don't understand how it works. You keep mentioning system state - it's irrelevant!
When someone can consistently fill their mats up to g5 and you can't, you gotta start questioning your process.
As for luck, I wish I was that lucky! Then I'd be coasting on Wall St and holding back supermodels with a broomstick. Which I'm not.
Bob Lighthouse
Banned
Yeah, also the system state vs faction state thing is fairly new, so prior experience is about as relevant as system state.
So is there anyway to pre-determine the state of non controlling factors cmdr, if eddb and galaxy map filters can't help? If that info is in the system map against a station then you are already there so may as well hoover up any HGEs regardless?
Try Deciat got 4 HGE's 2 with proto radiolic + proto lightweight, 1 with proto heat rads and 1 with CDC + PC, the system and several factions are in boom state currently so you'll get a good spread of mats.
Essentially a boom system will spawn HGE's but various modifiers will influence the mat drop, from my experience a boom Fed system will default to CDC+PC add a faction state like investment should yield proto heat rads but RNG can also impact the result.
Essentially a boom system will spawn HGE's but various modifiers will influence the mat drop, from my experience a boom Fed system will default to CDC+PC add a faction state like investment should yield proto heat rads but RNG can also impact the result.
Sadly no. But you don't actually need to be in a system to see the system info. If you've already explored a system the system info (and all the states of each faction) are already available to you to see at any time. Maybe someone could petition the tool writers for more flexibility though.