Space Engineers - "Open" Changes Everything

Thankfully, I thought to put my Imgur links into Notepad, since this form was down this morning, because that particular site hates me on mobile... ;)

I logged on to the server, and was greeted by the Sun low on the horizon to the east. I quickly hopped into my new Star Flea, eager to get into space. Meanwhile, Casey decided to invite the rest of those online to witness this momentous occasion. Sadly, I had at best two hours available to me, they were many jumps away, and I was burning valuable daylight. So I shot for the stars!

Just one problem:


I actually forgot to switch over the H2 tanks from stockpile. I really should’ve made a checklist... or even better, I could use a timer block for liftoff. After adding one, and setting up the necessary actions, I was ready to go!


Having someone to chat with made the long wait between asteroid clusters more interesting. The plan was to rendezvous over my base, though the night was getting long by the time they were ready for the last jump. I’d managed to map four asteroid clusters, finding iron and nickel, by the time I was almost out of fuel. Finally, they jumped to my location... and the RNG dropped them into the gravity well. I didn’t know about that little quirk of the game mechanics, otherwise I would’ve made GPS coordinates further out. 🤦‍♀️


I was maneuvering for a closer look, and moments after I took this screenshot, my game froze. :( By the time I got online again, my tiny ship was already 20km down, and falling fast. Thankfully, I installed and armed a parachute!


I landed less than 300m from home. I jet packed back to base, and used the Dragonfly’s landing gear to return the Flea to base. Casey and company were still trying to sort things out in orbit when the server crashed. The last update was about 30 minutes ago. Everyone found themselves respawning at survival kits and medical rooms.

It was already late for me, so at that point I decided to call it a night.

The good news is that I retained all my bookmarks from scouting. That was valuable information. The bad news is that unless I get very lucky, my Star Flea is very likely drifting into the void, batteries completely drained. The great news is that I realized my strategy to establish a presence in space was flawed, and my new plan is going to be much more efficient. :)

Especially if the Flea is recoverable. ;)

... what happened to the preview button???
 
Last edited:
What is this "subgrid" you frequently talk about? Part of some modular design? Something you can undock and make part of another construct?
When you want moving parts on your ship or base, you use things like pistons, rotors, and hinges to do this. Anything attached to those moving blocks become "subgrids", since they basically have their own XYZ in space separate from the main grid (your ship or station). It usually is a "behind the scenes" mechanic, but it can cause some issues in unique cases.
 
When you want moving parts on your ship or base, you use things like pistons, rotors, and hinges to do this. Anything attached to those moving blocks become "subgrids", since they basically have their own XYZ in space separate from the main grid (your ship or station). It usually is a "behind the scenes" mechanic, but it can cause some issues in unique cases.
Ahh, I tried to refrain mostly from rotors and that. They used to be buggy. A shame, I'm a piston guy, and not because I'm male.
Well, who knows, maybe it is.
 
I was maneuvering for a closer look, and moments after I took this screenshot, my game froze. :( By the time I got online again, my tiny ship was already 20km down, and falling fast. Thankfully, I installed and armed a parachute!

For me this is usually the internet quitting. I've lost too many small ships to this (thankfully no big ships yet). So I install both parachutes and dead-man switches to help. The latter is a timer that I reset ever couple of minutes, and if I don't, it brings my ship to a stop (so I don't face-plant into an asteroid or moon).

Speaking of your adventures, I still have an adventure equal but opposite of yours - bringing my large spaceship down to a planet (in survival). I'm curious how these atmo thrusters will work!
 
In other news, I used to be able to post to this forum with Javascript turned off, but apparently Frontier broke that
Here you go.



Unfortunately, the only option is the on/off toggle, as opposed to having a proper on and off option as well.
Interesting! Well I can't use that directly in a timer, since it might just turn them off instead of on, but with scripting I could add a conditional toggle (only toggle if ID is off to begin with). In the meantime, turning off braking thrusters works fine without scripting. The only time I really like having ID off is "orbiting" asteroids or enemies, or making approaches to connectors in space.

Speaking of ID, I really wish FA-off in ED worked like ID in SE - where you have gyros to stabilize your spin instead of thrusters.
 
I popped in this morning just long enough to add some landing gear to my explorer, and a stinking pirate ship once again started closing in on my position. I jumped my ship out in hopes that it'll fly past my starbase without noticing it, but this seals the deal - I need to build a moon base so that I can work in peace! These NPC pirates are worst than Harry on the CA2 server. :mad:
 
I don’t know what I was expecting when I logged in last night, but it certainly wasn’t a “party” at my base. ;) I ended up giving everyone a tour... after I loosened security levels in my base. Naturally I set them back to normal before I logged off for the night. Everyone on site lined up for a group shot.



Both ships are repurposed NPC ships that they captured.


Which made them kind of cramped... with stuff everywhere, though they did try to give them a little character.


During the tour, the conversation turned in an interesting direction...


Not a productive night, but it was definitely a fun one. It was great to be able to show off my work. Unfortunately, it looks like my Star Flea either despawned after it lost power, or it hit an asteroid and took enough damage to despawn. No great loss, it just means I'll have to build a new one.
 
I have a confession... I'm beginning to have second thoughts about this new server I've joined. It's a great server and the people seem nice, but Casey (the admin) is constantly breaking "the 4th wall" as an admin by teleporting to my location, and today she made a giant base just magically appear in front of me using creative tools. It really takes me out of the game. CA2, on the other hand, there I felt properly isolated and remote when I wanted to be. She's very friendly, maybe a bit too friendly. I like losing myself to immersion, and having the admin use wizard powers to pop in and out all the time breaks that immersion big time.
 
I have a confession... I'm beginning to have second thoughts about this new server I've joined. It's a great server and the people seem nice, but Casey (the admin) is constantly breaking "the 4th wall" as an admin by teleporting to my location, and today she made a giant base just magically appear in front of me using creative tools. It really takes me out of the game. CA2, on the other hand, there I felt properly isolated and remote when I wanted to be. She's very friendly, maybe a bit too friendly. I like losing myself to immersion, and having the admin use wizard powers to pop in and out all the time breaks that immersion big time.
If you wish to move, just let me know. I’m not particularly wedded to this one either. They keep offering to “help” me get ahead, and as you know I consider the early game the best part. Applying what I learned from the last attempt to advance faster the next time.

Although I think it’ll be hard to find another “realistic settings” server..
 
If you wish to move, just let me know. I’m not particularly wedded to this one either. They keep offering to “help” me get ahead, and as you know I consider the early game the best part. Applying what I learned from the last attempt to advance faster the next time.

Although I think it’ll be hard to find another “realistic settings” server..

Have you logged into CA2 any since switching over? I log in a couple times a week to check on my stuff, and every time I have it's been running at 100% speed. I might pick up where I left off there. The major "challenge" to that server is the PvP aspect (you have to hide to avoid detection) and the limited PCU. I like the PvP side, but I confess I was looking forward to 10x the PCU to play with.

As for NPCs, I enjoy having NPCs in the game, but they too are starting to break my immersion. No matter where I am in this vast solar system, pirates are finding me. At least with "Harry" I could hide in deep space. And while CA2 doesn't have NPCs, it seems to have way more players all doing their own thing, were our new server has been rightly renamed to "Casey's Space" which is basically what it is - Casey and some friends goofing around and using admin tools way too liberally. The fact that the moon is almost empty (compared to Keen where it's full of people) is telling.

If you haven't logged in, I recommend doing so just to reset the counter on the garbage collection algorithm, otherwise you might be starting all over AGAIN. CA2 may have had issues in the past, but it seems Casey's server also suffers from its own bugs. And crazy as CA2 can be, my best memories and adventures are from that server.
 
If you wish to move, just let me know.

UPDATE - I just tried CA2, and it was "Game Paused" every 5 minutes! I went back to Casey Space, and she and her crew were on so I just brought up my dislike of admin magic being displayed in front of me, and they understood and agreed not to do any magic tricks in front of either of us, unless it's necessary for server-related issues. It was a bit "awkward", but I think that's because we're using a primitive game chat, and I think we're all good now. I'll let you bake them cookies and make them laugh again ;)
 
Now I'm looking for inspiration for different architecture to implement in my new moonbase, and ironically this may have me playing Elite Dangerous again for the first time in many months. ED has some impressive planetary outposts that should (on a smaller scale) be easy enough to replicate using SE blocks.

Remind me - how do I take screenshots in ED?
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom