Large Drill

[Nemesis]

What is the use of large drills when they only have about 1.5 large block diameter? They should have at least 3 large block diameter who designed this ♥♥♥♥.

Is there a way to create a tunnel miner with 5 large drills then? I dont see a way. Why did keen make this ♥♥♥♥♥♥ drill only 1.5 diameter?

[Spaceman Spiff]

Long ago in a galaxy far, far away, I used to think that small-grid ships were only useful for fighters; I never took them seriously. My first serious mining rig, the Dirty Ore, was a large-grid space-only design, and I took for granted that both large and small drills performed in proportion to their size. But the AOE (area of effectiveness) of small drills happens to be identical to large drills (or, at least, nearly the same), so the number and spacing of drills on a small-grid miner is completely different than a large-grid miner.

As you've seen, a large-grid miner requires the drills be adjacent to each other, so the mass of the mining ship becomes large very quickly. (Don't get me wrong, the large-grid Dirty Ore is a mining monster and will retrieve a massive amount of ore in relatively short order and move it over large distances because it has a jump drive, but it's not built to go deep within an asteroid.

All my small-grid miners, and I have a bunch of them for planets, moons, and space, are able to burrow completely within the voxel terrain, something that just can't easily be done with a large-grid design. Not only that, the resources required to build a small-grid miner are significantly less than a large-grid miner. Now I almost exclusively use small-grid mining ships for everything, mostly because of resource requirements and also because of mining versatility.

Yeah, it doesn't seem right. My biggest concern is that instead of increasing the large-grid drill's AOE, KSH will reduce the small-grid's AOE. That would truly suck.

[Nemesis]

Yeah but large drill normal left click mode should be at least the diameter of the right click mode as it stands large drills are completely useless.

[Nemesis]

Is there a way to activate secondary drill mode via a programmable block?

[ShadedMJ]

Originally posted by Nemesis:

Is there a way to activate secondary drill mode via a programmable block?

No. Never has been available. I think by design.

Changing grids from static to ship or reverse cannot be in programmable block either.

[Nemesis]

Hmm i guess they really dont want people to have fun do they? Even using rotors i dont see any way to create a automated tunnel driller with large grid with refinery.

[Nemesis]

It just doesnt make sense? Why is the large drill radius so tiny and why is there a drill limit on official servers? All of this just makes me and presumably everyone else want to quit nothing else why make the game as unfun as humanly possible?

[Buzzard]

The official servers are routinely overloaded, both by players and their stuff. Part of the load mitigation are limits on drills and overall PCU. Private servers will vary between 'budget'-rated servers that barely meet specs for 2 players (when they want large groups playing), and high-end systems with good admin staffing that keeps things ticking along well.

As for not being able to make a craft that has onboard refining and drills... It's possible, as I've seen it done, and done some different things myself. Seriously, take a wander through the Steam Workshop, and you'll see any number of designs. There's nothing that says you can't alter one of those designs to fit your needs. (or take inspiration from some and make your own craft)

[Mojo]

I don't want to be "that guy", but there are mods on the workshop that increase radius of the large grid drill. Or were, not sure if last update or 2 have broken them or not.

Like @Spaceman Spiff, I just stick with Small Grid mining.

[frag2k4]

Drill+ still works, its my go to for big excavation work so I don't need wall o drills

[JarutheDamaja]

It makes totally sense, a drill having greater radius than itself, not so much. :)
If then you should ask why is the small grid drill radius so huge. But as Spaceman Spiff pointed out, it better not come to this point. (Thanks for the explanation btw.)

The drill limit is necessary for performance reasons I assume, but I agree it could be a bit more. Or even better, to design it differently; One could have more drills but only 6 could run at the same time. But then again you don't want to have more because of PCU limit.

When you're playing multiplayer you may also share the drills with your faction members.
Then you can have more drills on one ship.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I really like the small grid drills in a survival game. I'll often build a very compact (i.e., using as few parts as possible) miner with a single drill in front. That single drill will tunnel with a large enough diameter for my scooter to slide right in. This is especially helpful when I'm being chased by a mob of hostile NPCs.

[Mollymawk]

I prefer the way large grid drills work TBH, small grid drills are a bit OP.
re your questions:

" who designed this ♥♥♥♥" - A bit worrying this, it sounds like you want to take revenge on their pet cat. :-)

"Is there a way to create a tunnel miner with 5 large drills then?
If you are making some kind of piston potato press mining machine, yes you need loads of drills but this is the most inefficient method. Its a No elegance, brute force, potentially expensive, inflexible solution. There are better ways.

You do know about the right click excavation mode? makes massive holes for tunnels.
https://youtu.be/1ddFmWGmKmA

Movement of the drill head is the key, if you are drilling with a ship , just move the drill around with piloting skills.

If you are using a "static" machine. pistons/rotors/hinges can give a useful wiggle/rotation. take care with clearances though, as this can cause phantom forces. also If making a moving drill mining system i like to give the ore more than one conveyor route, so damage doesn't ruin your day.

another method i use is overriding gyros on a ship generating spin. with a thruster or gravity gen over ridden to move very slowly forward. you can leave the ship spinning while it carves a tunnel for you.

"Why did keen make this ♥♥♥♥♥♥ drill only 1.5 diameter?" - wrong question .. it should be why do small drill dig so big?