Commercial Extractors aren't worth the cost

[Brian9824]

I took the numbers off a reddit post that someone had made

Base Copper Extractor uses the following resources (cost/per item)

4x Aluminum (7/p = 28)
2x Tugsten (16/p = 32)
1x Iron (8/p = 8)

At a total cost of 68, uses 5 Power and extracts 1 Copper every 35 seconds.

Commercial Copper Extractor uses the following resources (cost/per item):

2x Isotopic Coolant (25/p = 50)
3x Adaptive Frame (24/p = 72)
1x Drilling Rig (143/p = 143)
4x Tungsten (16/p = 64)

At a total cost of 329, uses 10 Power and extracts 1 Copper every 30 seconds.

So every 3.5 minutes you get 1 extra copper. It makes no sense, you'd get far more value just making 2 basic extractor and ignoring the high tier ones.

I almost think they need to do what Fallout did and require extractors to be staffed. Then boost the resources the commercial ones make, or reduce the amount the basic ones get significantly. So if a staff member can only man 3 extractors for instance, then it makes sense to have 3 higher tier ones as you can't just have near infinite extractors, and the limits encourages you to make bigger ones

[Brian9824]

I'll be curious to see what everyone else thinks.

[Gilgamesh]

I think I didn't even bother with the outposts beyond building a small one then forgetting about it.

[dulany67]

They are unnecessary.

[Brian9824]

Or thinking about how Star Wars galaxies did it, if there was a process to identify resources in your base radius, and then you'd have to move your extractors around or re-identify where the resources were.

So something like you place a small extractor down and it can extract 500 units of a resource before the vein is tapped out.

A commercial extractor could extract say 2000 before its tapped out.

Then you'd need to do "something" to identify a fresh vein and then your resource extractors go back to work. I have no idea how the "something" could function, but it should require input from you, be boosted by having crew assigned etc.

This would give far more value to commercial extractors, while at the same time helping eliminate infinite credits with no work.

[bLaCkShAd0w]

Wow I didn't realize how little you end up getting for upgrading them.

So basically the only reason to use upgraded ones over lvl 1 extractors is... build limit reduction? Because based on the cost, lvl 1's seem the way to go otherwise.

[Brian9824]

Originally posted by bLaCkShAd0w:

Wow I didn't realize how little you end up getting for upgrading them.

So basically the only reason to use upgraded ones over lvl 1 extractors is... build limit reduction? Because based on the cost, lvl 1's seem the way to go otherwise.

I mean I'll need to test it more, i know when I did it i saw very little difference which is why i never suggest using them, but i never really thought about how little and how it made no sense. Seems like something a mod can fix easily.

I'll test tonight and i'll post at a new base how much I get for 1 extractor of each size and test and see if the ratios vary based on the material its extracting

[*****]

The math is missing some factors. No spoilers but the commercial and industrial extractors are a vast improvement once you know how to use them.

[Brian9824]

Originally posted by *****:

The math is missing some factors. No spoilers but the commercial and industrial extractors are a vast improvement once you know how to use them.

The problem is that they aren't based in real time, but game time. So simply waiting in a bed for a few hours means you really don't need anything bigger then the most basic ones.

[Jaggid Edje]

My reason for upgrading where I did do the upgrade is about the space. There's a limit to how many extractors you can place on any given resource field. So you can't just "stack more of the lower tier ones".

Edit: Just saw your post about "just waiting for a few hours". I don't play games that way. I don't do that method to restock vendor credits either. The only time I use the "wait" function in the game is when I need to use it for a specific time-specific mission.
It's a role playing game, so I play as a mortal human being that doesn't have unlimited time to live.

[AoD_lexandro]

Um what? My commerci

Originally posted by brian9824:

Originally posted by *****:

The math is missing some factors. No spoilers but the commercial and industrial extractors are a vast improvement once you know how to use them.

The problem is that they aren't based in real time, but game time. So simply waiting in a bed for a few hours means you really don't need anything bigger then the most basic ones.

This is true. In point of fact you do not need anything other than basic extractors because the games economy for deliveries is broken.

You will never get a mission to supply thousands at time, so you end up with vast stocks of materials you cant use or sell.

I have a base thats full of storage and nothing to do with it. The games system is bad.

[Jaggid Edje]

I got a mission to supply 800-something of a resource. It's not thousands, but it was a helluva lot.

[AoD_lexandro]

Originally posted by Jaggid Edje:

I got a mission to supply 800-something of a resource. It's not thousands, but it was a helluva lot.

I have over 20k iron, aluminuim etc. There is nothing to do with it.

[TargetLost]

I honestly don't get it how the factory in this game should ever work.
Given the limited outpost area space and limited cargo link limits and factory requireing not just one resorce and doesn't really produce much more value goods per weight...

If you produce something how can you convert it to money?
There is no auto sell. Seems you have to transport it manual. (disregard that missions)
But even with a 1000 Kg Cargo hold you can only make a few 1000 credits per transport.
And doing such manual is pointless boring.

And then on the other hand you have those combat mission where you get drowned in credits.

It is almost like they don't want us to build factories and produce anything..
but then why do they have this in the game and so extremly limited?

That's really the stranges game I have seen when it comes to fabrications so far.

[AoD_lexandro]

This is what I mean -

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3047342532

That's just one bases storage for materials.

I have literally nothing to do with it because the missions are so few and far between with tiny loads.

[Doombringer]

Typical numbers on extractors:
common resource, basic extractor: 1.66/min
Commercial: 1.25x
Industrial: 2x
uncommon: x2/3
rare: x2/4
exotic/unique: x2/5
rarer materials have larger exclusion zones than common, so you can get less on a node.
(although rarer doesn't always mean bigger, dysprosium exclusion zone is smaller than tungsten despite it being exoctic (vs uncommon)...)

There are some exceptions, like basic heluim extractor only makes 50% of what you would expect & basic nickel 80%
(Commercial & Industrial extractors have standard output though, so basic helium extractors are just bad.)

Originally posted by Jaggid Edje:

I got a mission to supply 800-something of a resource. It's not thousands, but it was a helluva lot.

Demios Shipyard can give orders for a few thousand of a couple basic materials.

Originally posted by TargetLost:

If you produce something how can you convert it to money?

You do have to manually sell, without commerce the best rate for inorganic resources is $5 per cargo space for non-uniques and a little over that for uniques.
You can get more if you set up factory chains, but the main point of factory chains is the rarer manufactured goods give more xp/craft.
9xp each for rothicite magnets, 10xp each for vytinium rods.
(instead of 1 for adaptable frame/isocentered magnet)

Once you have your uber ship money becomes sort of irrelevant, and just dropping stuff you craft instead of trying to selling it is a thing.