What to do now?

[Zonalar]

After playing for about 50~ hours in Co-op with my friend, we have learned the "basics" of the game. Refitted our Drop-pods to mining/exploration ships, got a Base up and running, spitting out ressources, learned how to build a drill that just digs into the ground and I managed to get a Ship from earth to space and mine some asteroids for Platinum!
(Big thanks to Splitsie's Tutorial Series to overcome the initial learning-cliff).
Now i'm kinda out of ideas.
We still have plans for bigger and better things, but the Universe feels pretty... static?
I haven't seen a single faction or NPC in the game (traveled about 20~ Km in all directions around the base + into Orbit (only did the local asteroid mining tho)).
Using F10 i did notice there are apparently NPC 2 bases spawned *somewhere*, but no clue how to get there or interract with them.
And yeah, the lack of interactivity with the World on a PvE level is making me feel like we are the only 2 peeps in this Universe: If i shout into the forest and nobody hears it, do I even exist?

That's why I wanted to ask here! What's the next big step? We have only the vanilla game, do the DLC's spice things up?
Are there any mods you'd recommend? I've found the "Assertive Acquisitions" YT-Series and I'm very interested in the idea of having alot more bases with turrets and drones to "challenge" our experimental spacecrafts!
I'd love to get some suggestions that would spice up the co-op experience.

Edit: I haven't even touched Rotors, pistons or projectors yet. The game is so massive with possibilities. I've tried to build an "elevator" and eventually just gave up after spending a good hour and being nowhere near finished. And that shouldn't even be that hard to actually build. :P
Double-edit: Also, how do we get any skins in the game?? I see videos with people having dozens of skins, and I haven't found a single one.

[Magitek]

You definitely want the MES packages: assertive, reavers, AI enabled, parrallax, imber. These add a huge amount of variety and even communication chat between factions. I'm sure there's some newer packages too but I haven't updated my game for awhile!

Just make sure you understand you need to power down antennas or Reavers will absolutely destroy your base. You also might want to pick up some tiered tech mod so that you have a bit more to collect and upgrade.

edit: I should mention that you should reduce the personal inventory size a bit, it can be a bit more frustrating to work with but it forces you to build machines for every task. Also helps to grab the advanced welding mod so that you can splice vehicles together easier.

[herrschaftg35]

Check the advanced settings, make sure "cargo ships" and the other encounters options are checked.

There is no "end game". I would suggest pasting a base or fortress on a different planet and change the ownership to SPRT. Either destroying or conquering it can be the goal. Adding and renaming the antennas can spawn drones from it.

[Dan2D3D]

Hi, have you found all the Rich ore spots of the game ?

Are you able to survive at all the different Biomes ?

Keep in mind the follwing :

Rich ore spots = Where all ores can be found close to each other, some areas have all ores within 1 Km.

Easy Biome = Where the Ore Detector is not needed because we can see the ore spots with the naked eye on the soil and no "Bad weather" so no lightning.

Medium Biome = Green grass Biomes because it is harder to see the ore spots on the soil and those have lightning that can damage your creations where you will have to build lightning Rods and Safe Zone.

Hard Biome = Where there are more lightnings with bad weather and where the ore Detector block is needed.


+

Make sure you enable all NPCs like encounters and enemy Drones from the world advanced settings.

++
There are enemy stations to conquer on all planets, moons and space in the custom world where we start at a default Faction station if all is enabled, like the one named "Earth Planet".

Not the same in the Star System world, this one got enemy stations to conquer in space only.

Space Pirate station to conquer :
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2654281465

[Dan2D3D]

I also recommend to try Moon start because those have all ores -1 that is Uranium but can be found on asteroids at about 30Km around all Moons.
+
At least 4 Trade Stations will spawn on and around the Moon once the player is there, no need to search for Stores and Contracts because a lot of Trade stations spawn by default over there and are closer to you.

[Dan2D3D]

Another question for you :

Have you found the Warship solution ?

How much turrets a small block ship need to destroy a Pirate Station alone with minimum of damages done to you ?

[Jeff]

What you do is up to you. In vanilla, in your drop pod seat there should have been a data pad with a GPS to a nearby station. That station will have contracts that you can do if you are so inclined. There are also scenarios you can play that have specific goals.

There are lots of mods that add more things like new scenarios. The Modular Encounter System, with other mods that use it, add enemies, structures and such. There are mods that add more contracts to the stations as well.

If you are getting into combat, you will want to figure out the projector as it will make it easier to repair or build a new version of any ship you've blueprinted. There is also a new projector mod that can show you what blocks have been damaged using a console block.

Simple elevators can be fairly easy to set up but a full fledged elevator system can be quite involved. I've spent tens of hours working on them and always enjoy it. I think I'm pretty close to a version I'm willing to share.

To get more skins, they can be purchased and some are included with DLCs but most people find them in game. The "Unknown signals" that appear from time to time will have a button on them. When you press the button you have a chance to get a random skin. You are usually limited to about 3 skins per day or so. If you are playing multi player then there will sometimes be "Strong unknown signals" and they usually have higher tier skins when you press the button. You use the semi-circular opening of the medical room to select the skins you want to use. I believe this can also be access from the main menu of the game. Also in that menu, you have the option to turn your duplicate skins into tokens. Get enough tokens and you can redeem them for other random skins of a particular tier. Higher tiers cost more tokens. I will warn that there is a bug where unknown signals sometimes stop appearing and you need to edit the sandbox.sbc file in your save game directory to fix it. Hopefully they will fix it as it was a bug in multi player that has migrated to single player as well.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Spawn yourself in space with your basic tools, a rifle and maybe 20 mags, an oxygen bottle, a hydrogen bottle, and (if you're not feeling adventurous), three or four medkits and powerkits. Now head off in any direction and survive. You'll need to get to a mayday signal, overcome its defenses, and make it yours. The more you move around in space, the more SPRT spawns that will appear.

[α¯\_(ツ)_/¯Ω]

Finding platinum is a massive achievement, congratulations :D
You're ready, so apparently you both skipped the silly Keen servers, funnily enough, great :D
Now you just have to find a server that is just not normal and has enough adventure and browsing opportunities ready so that it doesn't get boring, congratulations on the next lvl up, welcome to Panopticon :D you just have to go to this server called "panopticon" in find the server list. If done, don't stay long on the moon, although there are some hidden interesting things to be found there.
Oh yes, loneliness is always just a question of perspective ;)

[Zonalar]

thanks for all the answers guys, they were quite helpful!
We started anew as duo, this time on the moon. Having fun with low gravity! i built a whole Garage, built a construction-ship called "the Cobbler" and installed some mods to have abit more "stuff" in the world.