Yesterday, I punched out from work on time for a change, getting home with enough time to spare that I couldn't resist making sure everything was still functioning. I meant to just drop in and drop out. Then inspiration struck, so I ended up flitting between my desktop and my kitchen as I prepared supper.
The first thing I did was use up most of my remaining iron on my Shipyard's assembler, as well as a basic refinery. I also connected everything properly with conveyors. Needing more iron, I set about making a mining vehicle. I just didn't start from scratch.
The nice thing about my bug-headed utility vehicle design is that its modular. The “head” contains the important stuff, leaving the “thorax” for things mission critical equipment. Starbird, even though I didn't use that same core design, turned out to be the same way. It's probably a subconscious thing on my part. It was fairly trivial to remove the "life support" module, and replace it with two cargo pods. Normally, I'd attach a drill on the nose, but there's a thruster there I didn't want to move, so it got two instead. Finally, I painted it "construction vehicle yellow," with neon highlights, just because.
When next I logged in, all that remained was to weld everything. I also ordered the parts I’d need to expand power production, as well as add a (minor) source of O2. Inspiration struck once again, so I added a camera to the entire array. All I have to do is center the sun in the camera, and it’s perfectly aligned. A rotation rate of 0.0083 isn’t perfectly in sync, but it’s close enough that only minor adjustments need to be made from time to time. This’ll make things a lot easier.
The entire array required more silicon than I brought with me, though. Fortunately, there was a silicon deposit I’d originally missed nearby. I gathered a whole load’s worth, about 40 tons of ore, so I have silicon for days now. At least I will once the refinery is finished processing it.
After making a second iron run, I turned to making a proper landing platform. I want to add a gravity generator (set to 0.1g) eventually, so having a “floor” is a must. I’d like to eventually make a properly pressurized small vehicle bay, but that’s in the far future. I also remembered my power woes planetside, so I made sure to quadruple my battery storage capacity.
Next up on my agenda is making my Prospector. Correction... next up is making a small ship “dry dock” which I can use to make my Prospector. Might as well take advantage of everything I’ve learned to date to make life easier for me. After that, I want to create some living quarters. Finally, assuming I find platinum of course, it’ll be time to create a jump capable ship!
The first thing I did was use up most of my remaining iron on my Shipyard's assembler, as well as a basic refinery. I also connected everything properly with conveyors. Needing more iron, I set about making a mining vehicle. I just didn't start from scratch.
The nice thing about my bug-headed utility vehicle design is that its modular. The “head” contains the important stuff, leaving the “thorax” for things mission critical equipment. Starbird, even though I didn't use that same core design, turned out to be the same way. It's probably a subconscious thing on my part. It was fairly trivial to remove the "life support" module, and replace it with two cargo pods. Normally, I'd attach a drill on the nose, but there's a thruster there I didn't want to move, so it got two instead. Finally, I painted it "construction vehicle yellow," with neon highlights, just because.
When next I logged in, all that remained was to weld everything. I also ordered the parts I’d need to expand power production, as well as add a (minor) source of O2. Inspiration struck once again, so I added a camera to the entire array. All I have to do is center the sun in the camera, and it’s perfectly aligned. A rotation rate of 0.0083 isn’t perfectly in sync, but it’s close enough that only minor adjustments need to be made from time to time. This’ll make things a lot easier.
The entire array required more silicon than I brought with me, though. Fortunately, there was a silicon deposit I’d originally missed nearby. I gathered a whole load’s worth, about 40 tons of ore, so I have silicon for days now. At least I will once the refinery is finished processing it.
After making a second iron run, I turned to making a proper landing platform. I want to add a gravity generator (set to 0.1g) eventually, so having a “floor” is a must. I’d like to eventually make a properly pressurized small vehicle bay, but that’s in the far future. I also remembered my power woes planetside, so I made sure to quadruple my battery storage capacity.
Next up on my agenda is making my Prospector. Correction... next up is making a small ship “dry dock” which I can use to make my Prospector. Might as well take advantage of everything I’ve learned to date to make life easier for me. After that, I want to create some living quarters. Finally, assuming I find platinum of course, it’ll be time to create a jump capable ship!