Meta Data really how does it work?

[TooLateToTalk]

For some reason I am not generating anymore Meta points in my main game. I think i messed it up when i started a new game that i abandoned. I never understood it and youtube has been unclear.

If i start a new game with the intent of farming tones of Meta Data for when the DLC release. Is there any guides or tips that someone can point me towards?

Right now as i understand it you just need to farm lots of matrixes per minute? I think at least.

Thank again

[Kyrros]

The amount of Metadata you produce in a game is based off of the current 'rate' at which you produce science, not the 'total' science you produce in a game. It tallies the total rate across all of your current games (minus any games that use an identical seed that's already been previously counted for you).

In order to 'farm' metadata quickly, you have two options, run several new games until each one reaches 'white science' (again, the total is tallied across all eligible game seeds), or focus on a single game and just massively expand your factories to encompass multiple planets across multiple stars until your computer system cannot add another building before crashing your framerate.

I suspect (though I'm sure someone better at statistical analysis than I could confirm or refute properly) that the most efficient way to increase your metadata is to focus on expanding one big game as opposed to lots of little games, since in each little game you have to spend the majority of your time using un-upgraded technologies and Icarus mech to accomplish tasks, which inherently takes a lot longer, where once you have reached white science, you are mostly upgraded and tasks are just easier and you have access to the entire local cluster immediately.

Where a new game takes ~10-20 hours to actually reach white science (for an experienced speed player) - it would only take an additional couple of hours after that to travel to a new system with a bunch of extra supplies and plant an entirely new factory with it's own supply inputs in that separate system that would essentially double your current output rate.

[Kyrros]

As an aside (and also completely nit-picky so feel free to ignore)... but, the combat update is not actually DLC. The devs have been planning on Combat for the game since day 01, they merely waited until the logistic portion of the game was relatively polished before incorporating an entirely new mechanic. This will be the last major feature to be added before the official 1.0 launch. People forget this is still an Early Access game sometimes.

Obviously, we're hoping that after the Combat update, that there additionally will be a rather significant pass made on optimization of the game itself before 1.0, but that's not content, that's optimization, which many of us are also looking forward to.

Again, totally nit-picky, but sometimes what people call things and how things get labelled affect how people then perceive those things. This isnt some random thing the Devs decided to add in after the fact to make things 'more interesting'... it's been the plan all along.

I don't plan on spending too much time with that content, personally, - which thankfully will be optional - but I know a fair number of people are very interested in that style of play and what that change in dynamics will bring.

[TooLateToTalk]

I think I understand now. I just need to focus on science numbers. I've been thinking it was total of each color made.. Thank you both

[Coops]

Originally posted by TooLateToTalk:

I think I understand now. I just need to focus on science numbers. I've been thinking it was total of each color made.. Thank you both

It is each color independently.

Recently, I made a massive blue cube factory just to get blue metadata. That will jump start a new game and allow me to get all the early tech for free.
Going all the way to white science just means you will have white metadata which will not help you very much until very late game where you already have lots of capability.

[josmith7]

Originally posted by Coops:

Originally posted by TooLateToTalk:

I think I understand now. I just need to focus on science numbers. I've been thinking it was total of each color made.. Thank you both

It is each color independently.

Recently, I made a massive blue cube factory just to get blue metadata. That will jump start a new game and allow me to get all the early tech for free.
Going all the way to white science just means you will have white metadata which will not help you very much until very late game where you already have lots of capability.

While its true that if you just want blue metadata you could only build a blue science production; that's not the only way to get it.

1) Making 1 white science (universe matrix) requires 1 each of every other science. So, assuming constant at-ratio production, if you have an end-game science production that gives you 1000 white metadata it'll also inherently be giving you 1000 blue, 1000, red, etc. metadata.

2) As of 0.9.25.12201 - May 12th, 2022 they added the ability to split white metadata into its five component metadata colors. So if you had 1000 white and 1000 blue; but needed 2000 blue it'd split your white into its rainbow and consume the extra blue thus seperated.

[Dirkels]

An other thing to keep in mind is the resource multiplier, the lower it is the more meta data you produce. If you play with infinite resources, like I do, you don't get any meta data for example.

[josmith7]

Originally posted by Dirkels:

An other thing to keep in mind is the resource multiplier, the lower it is the more meta data you produce. If you play with infinite resources, like I do, you don't get any meta data for example.

That might argue for harvesting metadata in a single game. Get your 0.5x or minimum resource game far enough along that VU level gives you effectively infinite resources anyway and then scale your science massively -- benefitting from the increased multiplier.

Under new game you can see the multipliers; resource level - metadata contribution:
Minimal - 400%
0.5x - 200%
0.8x - 150%
1x - 100%
1.5x - 90%
2x - 80%
3x - 70%
5x - 60%
8x - 50%
Infinite - 40%
Sandbox - 0%

[TooLateToTalk]

If i have a master game and I start a new game. Can i not go back to the previous game and generate more metadata?
I ask because in my main game that has everything in it i can't seem to generate any more matrixdata.

[josmith7]

You can, or at least you're supposed to be able to -- don't have first hand experience.
However, metadata is based off the current average production rate of you science, not the cumulative production of your science. So letting it run longer at the same production rate won't yield more metadata (well, not once its run long enough for its averaged rate to stabilize).

And if you do boost your production rate you only gain additional metadata based on that increase; you don't get credit for the whole production rate again..

Basically it remembers how much metadata you exported before, and so when you go back it basically does <current production rate> - <previously exported metadata> = <additional metadata exported>; only giving you credit for the increase since the last export.

[Kyrros]

Originally posted by TooLateToTalk:

Thank you both

You're welcome...? LOL

[uhmdown]

The game also doesn't check that you have the entire production chain running to produce your cubes. You could stockpile a giant pile of Circuit Boards and Coil and then convert all of it to Blue jelly fast with a stupendous number of Matrix Towers to get a really high rate, yet only needing power to sustain the Matrix Towers for a short period of time.

[TooLateToTalk]

Question: once i start a new game i cant go back to my other game and generate more matrix. I need to just delete and move forward. And there is no way to store these for a certain game. They only feed into the next new seed you use right?

Im just trying to decide whats the best way to start over?

[Coops]

Again, its not the number of matrices, its how fast you make them. So you can go back to an old game and create a larger array to produce cubes faster than you did before and the number will go up.
The meta data is stored automatically and you can choose to use them in the next new game with a different seed. But you do not HAVE to use them. They do not disappear but you use them up when you do decide to employ them. Its like putting them in a bank. You can withdraw at any time.

[TooLateToTalk]

Thank you very much

[uhmdown]

Originally posted by TooLateToTalk:

They only feed into the next new seed you use right?

Yes, but with the key detail that its not pr seed that metadata is collected, but pr "Cluster address".

A cluster address is uniquely identified by:
- Seed nr
- Resource multiplier Setting
- Star count setting

Seed 00000001 with Resource multiplier 1.0 + 64 Stars is one address.
Seed 00000001 with Resource multiplier 0.5 + 64 Stars is separate address.
Seed 00000001 with Resource multiplier 0.5 + 63 Stars is yet another address.

(You can see the Cluster address change when you choose the settings on the New Game view)

The metadata rates of 3 games, 1 in each of the three addresses above, will all be added to your metadata storage, despite having the same seed nr.

That means you can have maaaany different addresses on a single seed nr, one for each combination of Resource Multiplier and Star Count.

But I suppose its not very stimulating to play two different cluster addresses where e.g one has 64 stars and the other 63. It will essentially be an identical map.