How to build / recover Construction Drones

[pecx]

As title says:
Is there a way to build construction drones?
Very annouying for me in my first time playthrough to build every single conveyerbelt, etc manually.

At the start i had 3 drones. But now they´re gone - never seen again :(

[GThoro]

Lol, they can't be gone, what do you mean?

[josmith7]

Construction drones can never be destroyed.

However they draw power from your mech. If you let the mech run out of power the construction drones will freeze midair waiting for more power. To get them to return you need Icarus's battery to have some charge in it.

(Best way is to add more fuel, or if you've unlocked them stand near some wireless power towers. Baring that standing still with the mech's internal replicator idle will very slowly rebuild charge)

[Dragonmaster]

They cannot be destroyed. Now you can “leave them behind” if your super fast but they will always fly back towards you. I believe reloading the save also places any drones out and about back into your storage.

[pecx]

i can just tell ya what i see.
And when i press "c", then there is shown "number of drones 0/3"

I´d love to get them back.
Save/reload game didnt help

[Rymorea]

I lost them at my fisrt play and notice that they are try to come to me from space. When I do this at gas giant I place extractors but icarus too fast and I don't wait them to reach icarus and fly to the planet. After some time they manage to reach me. Yes it is very funny moment :) They are very slow at space so it will take much time.

[GThoro]

Mouse over the power use on bottom right, if it says that drones are using energy it means that they are somewhere out there and trying to get back to you.

[josmith7]

Originally posted by pecx:

i can just tell ya what i see.
And when i press "c", then there is shown "number of drones 0/3"

That's not saying they're destroyed (as noted, they can't be).
What "number of drones 0/3" means is that 0 of them are currently docked in Icarus (aka, they're all flying around, or more likely stuck waiting for power)

Hold still, build up power, and they should return. (because you can't even permanently leave them behind - doesn't matter how far or how fast you run away; once you stop moving for a bit they'll catch back up)

[dhitch89]

An upgrade allows you to get more (once you've got research going), but all automation games start manually.

[josmith7]

Originally posted by HaddockA:

Originally posted by pecx:

Very annouying for me in my first time playthrough to build every single conveyerbelt, etc manually.

Explain to us how you try to built every single belt "manually" when your building drones are still trying to reach you. Good luck with that! lol

Explain what? The game added a manual force-build mechanism a while back.

I'd hate to use it for every belt segments - but I've found it useful on occasion.
(Quickly putting up 40 orbital collectors, or throwing down a wireless power tower when out of fuel and energy)

[pecx]

Originally posted by HaddockA:

Originally posted by pecx:

Very annouying for me in my first time playthrough to build every single conveyerbelt, etc manually.

Explain to us how you try to built every single belt "manually" when your building drones are still trying to reach you. Good luck with that! lol

Hold Right Mouse Button for a few seconds -> Building is manuell built.

Very disencouraging to build Belts over a long distance that way...

[pecx]

Thanks for the Tipps.
So i guess i accidently left them behind with not enough Power.

I'm gonna search them ;)

[GThoro]

Originally posted by HaddockA:

Are you guys using mods (I never do), because that doesn't work for me, heck it doesn't even show as one of the options on the right side of my screen when I hold a building.

No mods needed, OP said wrong button, you need to hold left click over building hologram, it shows then a cog icon that will fill up and once it does you have placed building manually. It's most useful while placing orbital collectors since you got plenty of time before drone will reach build position.
Oh and you can't hold a building, you must have empty cursor.

[pecx]

"absolutely horrible and wrong"

[pecx]

There still is the Option to manually build everything. Just one (left-)click away.

So i'm glad to teach you something as a noob :)

[nix]

If you fly too far away they also reappear as if by magic (I guess Icarus gives up and quietly makes new ones). Noticeable if you accidentally leave them in another solar system, since these little babies can't warp