Electromagnetic Generators

[SNappi Gonzales]

So u cant build them far away from your main base.U cant transfer power between bases.Then whats the point this mechanic?Do I really have to use cheap tricks and glitches (which isnt working for me no matter what i do) to extend my base building radius to get power from hot spots?

[Maelstrom]

You have to use the correct scanner to find the hotspot you're looking for.

When I built my silver and gold mining base I had to use the drop-trick to extend my base radius out far enough to mine the gold and it was a pain in the ass but it worked. The bases I built after that I surveyed the relevant hotspots and decided where I wanted to plant the actual base ahead of time and I was always able to find a place to drop the base computer where I could build everywhere I wanted to without any janky workarounds.

[Maelstrom]

Originally posted by Ygolnac:

Electromagnetic Generators are only usefull for automines with hundreds of extractors, and probably huge farms with dozens domes.

Large cuboid buildings draw more power than anything else I've encountered so far. A 5x5x2 cuboid room uses 250 power just to keep the lights on.

My current main base is made mostly from cuboids and I ended up needing 12 EM generators (on a C-class hotspot) to power it all without any extractors at all.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2201299697

[skananote]

Originally posted by jmcg44:

I knew there were 2 types, does it make a difference?

It is kind of important. You can't build power generator in mining hotspot... It just won't work...

[jmcg44]

I see, thanks for the help, I didn't realise there was a difference. It's a pity they don't tell you these things.

[Maelstrom]

Originally posted by jmcg44:

I see, thanks for the help, I didn't realise there was a difference. It's a pity they don't tell you these things.

Power falls of pretty quickly from the center of the hotspot, so if you want to get the most out of your generators you need to stack them vertically.

Mineral extractors too, but they have to be placed on terrain so there's no way I know of (without mods) to stack them. You can arrange them very close to each other though, as long as you don't mind them looking fugly with all the overlapping.

[Jaggid Edje]

You don't need your base "near" the electromagnetic hotspot, just close enough that you can extend your base to cover it. The electromagnetic generator itself has to be near the hotspot though, you have to run wires from it to your actual base.

[Wizard of Woz]

Originally posted by Maelstrom:

Originally posted by jmcg44:

I see, thanks for the help, I didn't realise there was a difference. It's a pity they don't tell you these things.

Power falls of pretty quickly from the center of the hotspot, so if you want to get the most out of your generators you need to stack them vertically.

Mineral extractors too, but they have to be placed on terrain so there's no way I know of (without mods) to stack them. You can arrange them very close to each other though, as long as you don't mind them looking fugly with all the overlapping.

Mineral extractors do not need to touch the ground. You can stack them like everything else.

[Jaggid Edje]

Just a general tip for if you're going to stack your extractors. Use the alt key and shrink them first, makes it easier to make a tall stack...plus makes it less ugly.
I usually put the first one down normal size, cause they are cool looking....but then shrink all the ones I stack on top of it like those are little antennas. haha

[MyProfile]

I think the default key for changing scanner mode is (3). I don't remember changing it and that is what it was when I came back to my old save from the NEXT update.

You have normal, gas, mineral and power all cycled via hot key. In my case it was (3). I had to look through my keybinds to find it under 'on foot'.

The best idea I've come up with and I'll be trying this today is to look back through all of my discoveries of systems and planets to find the ones that offer the best bang for buck in minerals and gases and then check the surface with my scanner until I find a spot with the most possible various and lucrative hot spots and build centrally in that area in order to reach them all. I plan to use markers and then camera mode or fly to find the best place to build out storage and silos for crafting.

What I noticed yesterday experimenting with building around my old base was that I could use wire itself to move outside the initial base limit, not the ultimate limit as some have suggested but that first initial area that will stop you from building out. I was easily able to reach gas, mineral and power hotspots without anything other than wire.

Originally posted by Jaggid Edje:

Just a general tip for if you're going to stack your extractors. Use the alt key and shrink them first, makes it easier to make a tall stack...plus makes it less ugly.
I usually put the first one down normal size, cause they are cool looking....but then shrink all the ones I stack on top of it like those are little antennas. haha

Thanks!

[jmcg44]

Hi, due to your help I've found an S type energy source on a planet, very suitable for building my base with plenty of energy available, thanks again.

[Jaggid Edje]

@MyProfile You should have 9 to 12 hotspots (3 to 4 of each type) in range of pretty much any base. It can just take a bit to locate them all.

Just another tip for you as you work at this, using save beacons for the resources you plan to tap as you find the hotspots is useful. You can even color code the beacons to match the resource type. That's what I do.

The reason it's useful is because the beacons are persistent even if you have to leave the game, whereas any markers and even the fact that you found the hotspot in the first place are cleared if you exit, meaning you have to start hunting them down all over.

Once you have everything built, you can then just go back and pick up all the beacons that you used, and thus you can reuse them on the next base where you go out resource hunting.

My approach is generally like this:

1. locate the hotspots using the survey visor.
   
2. Drop a beacon if I plan to use that particular hotspot, then move on to locating the next.
3. Once all hotspots are located I start building, I start by building all the Storage silos that I will need at the base location.
   
4. I then drag an electrical wire out to a beacon.
   
5. Once I arrive, I place the extractor, then connect the wire I just dragged.
   
6. I pick up the save beacon (after saving my progress], then build the pipeline back to the base and connect it to storage silo.
   
7. Now that I'm back at the base, i start back at step 4 for the next hotspot.

I like to color code the storage silos as well, so they match the resource that will go into them. Just a general preference (i.e. blue for dioxite, yellow for uranium, etc.)

[Rexxer]

I've built the power for a base nearly 1200 u from the base itself, so you can easily build power into any base. ANY BASE. There is always a power source, sometimes multiple sources within 1000 u of any base. But to make things easier for yourself, that's why you should survey BEFORE you build the base, so your base can reach everything.

But if you have to extend your base radius, which is only 300 u initially, this is how you do it:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2131892753

[MyProfile]

Originally posted by Jaggid Edje:

@MyProfile You should have 9 to 12 hotspots (3 to 4 of each type) in range of pretty much any base. It can just take a bit to locate them all.

Just another tip for you as you work at this, using save beacons for the resources you plan to tap as you find the hotspots is useful. You can even color code the beacons to match the resource type. That's what I do.

The reason it's useful is because the beacons are persistent even if you have to leave the game, whereas any markers and even the fact that you found the hotspot in the first place are cleared if you exit, meaning you have to start hunting them down all over.

Once you have everything built, you can then just go back and pick up all the beacons that you used, and thus you can reuse them on the next base where you go out resource hunting.

My approach is generally like this:

1. locate the hotspots using the survey visor.
   
2. Drop a beacon if I plan to use that particular hotspot, then move on to locating the next.
3. Once all hotspots are located I start building, I start by building all the Storage silos that I will need at the base location.
   
4. I then drag an electrical wire out to a beacon.
   
5. Once I arrive, I place the extractor, then connect the wire I just dragged.
   
6. I pick up the save beacon (after saving my progress], then build the pipeline back to the base and connect it to storage silo.
   
7. Now that I'm back at the base, i start back at step 4 for the next hotspot.

I like to color code the storage silos as well, so they match the resource that will go into them. Just a general preference (i.e. blue for dioxite, yellow for uranium, etc.)

This is exactly what I needed to know. The most logical process with detail.
Now all I have to do is find the right places to do it and that's going to take personal research and going through my huge catalog of systems that I explored over a year ago.

This is a great thread guys. Thanks!

[Rexxer]

Originally posted by Jaggid Edje:

@MyProfile You should have 9 to 12 hotspots (3 to 4 of each type) in range of pretty much any base. It can just take a bit to locate them all.

Typically though, you will never find a "perfect" averaging of the planets resources in that group of 9 or 12 hotspots. That means, let's say, you have an Indium Hot planet, and you want to connect Phosphorus, Indium, Sulphurine, Oxygen, and Magnetized Ferrite to your base. You may quickly find out that in the range of the base you are planning you find:
(6 X) Phosphorus
(1 X) Indium
(3 X) Oxygen
....but no Sulphurine and Magnetized Ferrite within range of your base. But just a little farther out you may find both of these.

You MUST survey first to find out where all the rare hotspots are first so you can ensure you can connect them. Hotspots clump up and are not always well distributed. Therefore your base has to conform to what is there.

[Jaggid Edje]

Originally posted by Rexxer:

Originally posted by Jaggid Edje:

@MyProfile You should have 9 to 12 hotspots (3 to 4 of each type) in range of pretty much any base. It can just take a bit to locate them all.

Typically though, you will never find a "perfect" averaging of the planets resources in that group of 9 or 12 hotspots.

Agreed.

But I do it a bit different than what you're saying. I scout for locations that I want to build a base, THEN look for the hotspots in range of it. If there aren't all the ones I want, I scout for a new location.
I do not find the hotspots first and then put the base in the middle, because I'm far too picky about base location for that to work. I just find locations I like, and then make sure the hotspots are nearby.

So far, on most planets where I wanted a base it has only taken me 2 to 3 location choices before I find one that has all the hotspots I want. Though there was one instance where it was pretty much my whole afternoon.

My reply was worded the way it was because the person I was replying to already has his bases built and is looking to exploit resources near them. Hence, I'm telling him what should be near those bases.