Is there a setting to make Factorum encounters linger for more time?

[EmberStar]

I've noticed that the Factorum encounters self-delete and respawn every hour or so. I'm playing in single-player, and this means that they're essentially unusable for me - even if I managed to reach and defeat one that quickly, I have no idea how I'd manage to extract and remove all the Prototech blocks in time. Nevermind if I wanted to actually try to salvage something like the Factorum warship completely.

As is, I haven't bothered to interact with them, even when one appeared less than 20km from where I was. The ship I have right now could never fight even most NPC Cargo Ships, nevermind the Star Destroyer insanity of the big Factorum cruisers.

[Bullslayer]

its meant for those who want that higher tier challenging end game content, it is possible to do, many like Zero's Legion have done videos on how to do it, my issue personally is that when the Factorum bases delete the asteroids they spawn on stay behind eventually cluttering world files, each spawn getting progressively more impactfull on sim.

[MekaDovah]

Originally posted by Bullslayer:

my issue personally is that when the Factorum bases delete the asteroids they spawn on stay behind eventually cluttering world files, each spawn getting progressively more impactfull on sim.

Seriously? Does Keen think nothing through?

[Bullslayer]

Originally posted by MekaDovah:

Originally posted by Bullslayer:

my issue personally is that when the Factorum bases delete the asteroids they spawn on stay behind eventually cluttering world files, each spawn getting progressively more impactfull on sim.

Seriously? Does Keen think nothing through?

For the most part yes they do, its probably a small oversight they missed cause not to many have probably noticed the roids stay behind. Its simular to the spawn system that procs in roids when you venture into space, once they spawn they are ment to stay there for the rest of the game, its a once and done RND for them, these ones are just special instances.

[EmberStar]

I don't know how it would work for an encounter spawned asteroid. But I thought there was an optional (and not enabled by default) setting in the Cleanup tool that would cause it to eventually delete voxel deformation data if there are no grids nearby for a certain amount of time. If I understood it correctly (which I very possibly did not) the intent was that if you cored out an asteroid 100km from anywhere and then didn't build on it or visit it again, it would eventually delete the deformation data so the game didn't have to keep track of it.

I'm almost sure when I played on the Official server for a bit it had something like this running, because I actually had to put small solar powered battery beacons on any asteroid I was mining or the tunnels would start filling themselves back in. On that server though it would fill them in with what seemed like "null" voxels, which didn't even count as stone when I had to dig them out again. They looked different too, a flat grey that almost looked more like concrete than anything else.

Anyway, I assume this means there's no setting to make the Factorum encounters last longer? Maybe I should just disable them then. I don't need them clunking up my savefile with junk asteroids - the ones from random encounters usually don't have any resources, so without the attached base it's just a useless lump taking up savefile space.

[MekaDovah]

Originally posted by Bullslayer:

For the most part yes they do

A game engine so outstripped by their game design that they need a sequel to "fix" it. Multiple limits and encouragement to build small, yet giving us ridiculously oversized blocks to fit on our ships and a mass/thrust issue that demands more and more bloat on the ship because everything is stupidly complex and heavy. And now every world is doomed because the game keeps spawning in excess asteroids no one can do anything about.

Could have fooled me.

[Governor]

as soon as you gain access to the grid claim it and it will stop the timer. Just make sure to do the same to the sub grids

[Dan2D3D]

Hi, we have to stop the deletion timer specified in the Official Guide :

Grid ownership “Claim NPC grid”
Grids stolen from NPCs will need to be claimed to prevent them from despawning. Claiming an NPC grid will transfer all of the grid’s PCU to you. Please note that you will still need to hack blocks to gain access and get full ownership!

Ref.:
Broadcast Controller & Action Relay Guide
https://www.spaceengineersgame.com/new-players/broadcast-controller-action-relay-guide/

Must find a way to stop the timer :
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3372051436
Must click the Claim button :
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3372051564

[Captain Canard]

Originally posted by EmberStar:

Anyway, I assume this means there's no setting to make the Factorum encounters last longer? Maybe I should just disable them then. I don't need them clunking up my savefile with junk asteroids - the ones from random encounters usually don't have any resources, so without the attached base it's just a useless lump taking up savefile space.

I've gotten in the habit of doing this in my single-player saves. I didn't know about the asteroid issues, but every time a new encounter spawns, there is a notable and annoying pause to the game. Also, why allocate game resources to something I'm not interacting with? My thinking is that once I reach a point in the save where I'm ready to take on an encounter, I can flip the switch back on.

It's too bad that Factorum encounters weren't designed by Keen to be "smart" end-game content, in that they don't spawn until after the game recognizes that you're ready for them. For example, wait until you have at least have a ship with a jump drive before turning this on (single-player game). After all, the Vulcans ignored us until we had warp drive capability.

[Dan2D3D]

Indeed, best to disable the world advanced setting named "Global Encounter Cap" that add the Factorum Faction in space, well when starting new because we need a Warship able to Jump that will take time so best to enable Factorum Faction way way later.

There are 2 other Warship solutions to find before the "end game" Warship able to win the battle against Factorum.

[Ronin Planetary Industries]

Practice. It's actually like an hour and a half as the timer doesn't start at 60 minutes. It only appears at 60. The encounters can seem a little tough at first. But then you'll learn how to beat them. Also, if you can stash a ship or respawn as close as possible, you're good. The only encounter that takes a tough ship is the large Factorum ship encounter. You just have to slug it out with at least the smaller ships so you can hydroman to the large one.

[A_O_A]

The encounter spawn lasts for two hours. You're not going to get the first few raids right on your first attempts because prototech is meant to be endgame and your suppose to show up long after you're self sufficient in the game and looking for a challenge.
There's only a handful of encounters (for now atleast) so it's easy to memorize the steps for taking over each and running off with your loot long before the timer runs out.
You can always save right before you start your raid then reload and try different tactics until you get the most efficient one for your play style.

Also, the asteroids that are left behind after the proto stuff despawns are all marked as "GE_Voxel" in the entity list (towards the bottom of the of the asteroids list), after every few raids i'll go in and manually delete all the now empty asteroids just to keep things clean. It's a half measure until Keen figured out a way to get them to vanish along with the unclaimed grids.

[Bullslayer]

Originally posted by A_O_A:

Also, the asteroids that are left behind after the proto stuff despawns are all marked as "GE_Voxel" in the entity list (towards the bottom of the of the asteroids list), after every few raids i'll go in and manually delete all the now empty asteroids just to keep things clean. It's a half measure until Keen figured out a way to get them to vanish along with the unclaimed grids.

Yeah, the roids clutter the game unnecessarily but hopefully this gets addressed soon, we have a new update coming in just a few days so its possible we could see a fix then but if not they just need enough people mentioning it as an issue on their little report site, the more flags such a post gets the more attention they will give it, people seem to think complaining on steam is an end all when keens been clear you need to submit a post on their support site for years now.

[Oparator Stalker]

Originally posted by MekaDovah:

Originally posted by Bullslayer:

my issue personally is that when the Factorum bases delete the asteroids they spawn on stay behind eventually cluttering world files, each spawn getting progressively more impactfull on sim.

Seriously? Does Keen think nothing through?

I can see his point, I chased them down with one of my battleships, limped from that loss, and came back with the next gen model Battleship, won, and seized the Logistics station. But that is the only time I went after them. But lest I know what to do when I feel like going after them again. However I also agree it gets old with them always deleting, and respawning. It Keeps stuttering the game...

[A_O_A]

Originally posted by Bullslayer:

Originally posted by A_O_A:

Also, the asteroids that are left behind after the proto stuff despawns are all marked as "GE_Voxel" in the entity list (towards the bottom of the of the asteroids list), after every few raids i'll go in and manually delete all the now empty asteroids just to keep things clean. It's a half measure until Keen figured out a way to get them to vanish along with the unclaimed grids.

Yeah, the roids clutter the game unnecessarily but hopefully this gets addressed soon, we have a new update coming in just a few days so its possible we could see a fix then but if not they just need enough people mentioning it as an issue on their little report site, the more flags such a post gets the more attention they will give it, people seem to think complaining on steam is an end all when keens been clear you need to submit a post on their support site for years now.

Their support site is a joke. There's been ongoing support tickets for 5+ years and near 7K tickets in limbo. You'd have better luck winning an arm wrestling match against a Yeti riding the back of a unicorn then getting their support site to actually provide support. I've been following the game since 2016 and the only time i've ever seen issues addressed is if one of the YouTube content creators complains enough about it.
It took them almost 5 years to fix the issues with randomly exploding wheels so i doubt the issue of asteroid clutter is going to be fixed any time soon. It's far better to find a solution on your own an assume this is going to be another one of those things they're going to ignore for several years at least.
I have no doubt they'll fix it... eventually... just not any time soon.

[Dan2D3D]

The OP should not have problems in Solo because we just have to stop the deletion timer.