Why is there literally no information in game about space platforms

[Firecats]

You think they would have written something into the tips or something. Not just because its new, but because it contains a whole series of (forced) mechanics to make space as aids as possible

- weight is nonsensical to force you to craft ammo on the platform (1 mag is 20 kg... okay...)
- why is there two fuels?
- the craft is a pile of metal and concrete that just sits there. Nothing is enclosed, protected, there is no shields despite being in game already and you just eat asteroids until you have collected enough to craft ammo
- interface is garbage and doesnt explain anything. Power cant be read from the solar panels it just says no gfy

the whole platform system is the biggest pile of ♥♥♥♥ I have seen in a game. I heard there was a mod for the same concept, did they even alter it? The platform feels too much like some amateur take on the concept. Couldnt they have made the craft interesting? They just used assets and existing mechanics, seems really lazy and unfinished.

[Khaylain]

Oh, geez. Well, at least they identify themselves pretty quickly with trying to say it's just Space Exploration. If you feel like giving OP a clown award, give one of the others to either me or maybe one of the people that might take the time and patience to try to explain things to OP. From what I understand the Factoripedia has a lot of information if one just takes the time to look there.

EDIT: Yup, thanks for the points.

[JustSmile]

There's an entire category on platforms in the tips menu with several sections to it.

[Boothy]

What are you talking about? There is a whole entry in the Tips section on platforms, and you get a pop up linking to this as you progress.

- I've ignored weight.
Also you can just make ammo on the ground and ship it up, I've never crafted ammo on a platform yet.
- There is only 1 fuel, the other is an oxidiser. You can't have a rocket engine without fuel + oxygen, same for anything that burns a fuel. For example aircraft use the atmosphere for the oxygen, but there isn't an atmosphere in space. It's also why liquid rockets have two sets of tanks, one for the oxygen the other for the fuel.
- Ship sized shields would consume masses of power, so you have to build even bigger for the solar panels (or other power). You need to shoot the larger asteroids anyway, as you need them for fuel and oxygen, so shields would be mostly pointless anyway.
Also as mentioned above, you can ship ammo up, just set up a request on the platform, and switch one of your silos to auto supply mode.
Also Nauvis is safe, no ammo usage in orbit, so if crafting on the platform you can just sit in orbit around Nauvis producing ammo with no risk to damage.
- Power is in the hub display, although I do think you should be able to click on any power producer to see the same info. So I'll give you this one.

Edit: Typo.

[Firecats]

Originally posted by Khaylain:

Oh, geez. Well, at least they identify themselves pretty quickly with trying to say it's just Space Exploration. If you feel like giving OP a clown award, give one of the others to either me or maybe one of the people that might take the time and patience to try to explain things to OP. From what I understand the Factoripedia has a lot of information if one just takes the time to look there.

what are you babbling about? Oh gee jiminy willikers. Theres nothing on the wiki or in game encyclopepia that coherently instructs you on how to get to space, wtf you are supposed to do there, how to get to other planets, what to bring, nothing. It just describes the actions of the platform entities. Have a clown award since you are so fond of them

[Khaylain]

Originally posted by Firecats:

Originally posted by Khaylain:

Oh, geez. Well, at least they identify themselves pretty quickly with trying to say it's just Space Exploration. If you feel like giving OP a clown award, give one of the others to either me or maybe one of the people that might take the time and patience to try to explain things to OP. From what I understand the Factoripedia has a lot of information if one just takes the time to look there.

what are you babbling about? Oh gee jiminy willikers. Theres nothing on the wiki or in game encyclopepia that coherently instructs you on how to get to space, wtf you are supposed to do there, how to get to other planets, what to bring, nothing. It just describes the actions of the platform entities. Have a clown award since you are so fond of them

Hahaha. You're mad that you're expected to problem solve in a puzzle game?
People should have more games that don't actively hold their hand all the way through. Helps with learning to try and fail, then try again.

[Slphapalme]

Originally posted by Firecats:

You think they would have written something into the tips or something. Not just because its new, but because it contains a whole series of (forced) mechanics to make space as aids as possible

- weight is nonsensical to force you to craft ammo on the platform (1 mag is 20 kg... okay...)
- why is there two fuels?
- the craft is a pile of metal and concrete that just sits there. Nothing is enclosed, protected, there is no shields despite being in game already and you just eat asteroids until you have collected enough to craft ammo
- interface is garbage and doesnt explain anything. Power cant be read from the solar panels it just says no gfy

the whole platform system is the biggest pile of ♥♥♥♥ I have seen in a game. I heard there was a mod for the same concept, did they even alter it? The platform feels too much like some amateur take on the concept. Couldnt they have made the craft interesting? They just used assets and existing mechanics, seems really lazy and unfinished.

Because they assumed that there are players who have a brain. They were probably wrong

[Firecats]

Originally posted by Alphapalme:

Originally posted by Firecats:

You think they would have written something into the tips or something. Not just because its new, but because it contains a whole series of (forced) mechanics to make space as aids as possible

- weight is nonsensical to force you to craft ammo on the platform (1 mag is 20 kg... okay...)
- why is there two fuels?
- the craft is a pile of metal and concrete that just sits there. Nothing is enclosed, protected, there is no shields despite being in game already and you just eat asteroids until you have collected enough to craft ammo
- interface is garbage and doesnt explain anything. Power cant be read from the solar panels it just says no gfy

the whole platform system is the biggest pile of ♥♥♥♥ I have seen in a game. I heard there was a mod for the same concept, did they even alter it? The platform feels too much like some amateur take on the concept. Couldnt they have made the craft interesting? They just used assets and existing mechanics, seems really lazy and unfinished.

Because they assumed that there are players who have a brain. They were probably wrong

You cant tell me you think the space platform system and travel is any good. Its the crappiest possible way they could have implemented it. Looks like cellphone game slop

[Overeagerdragon]

Wow....

1) There's an option on the rocket silo to travel to the platform... hard to ignore considdering you need to click/setup logistics on said rocket silo in order for it to ship stuff to your platform in the first place
2) When clicking on the space platform hub the right side of your screen looks suspiciously like the train interface... so maybe when I unlock a new planet then... hey; look at that; new planets are considdered stations; who woulda thunk it
3) You can either ship ammo to the platform or make it there...or you know; why not both? both is good
4) You know what you need for combustion in space? Air... no air = no fire = no combustion... hence oxidizer... Guess what the O2 in H2O stands for... guess why we need water in space? Guess how you get that in ample supply... tedious, sure, unintuitive? Nah; explained plainly in the Factoriopedia

5) and on that... all of the above IS explained in that Factoriopedia with some ommittence because it leaves the player to figure some stuff out (like shipping up water in barrels or smelting ammo on the platform)


6) Finally weight is just a gamemechanic and yes it's VERY restrictive... which means you can't just build a megabase and put insta-fab platforms in space en masse... or can you? Ofc you can; just make 100 rocketsilo's and bulk ship that stuff up there

You may not LIKE how it's handled but you can't state there wasn't thought behind making spaceplatform and or spacetravel another part of the logistics puzzle

[Mike Garrison]

Originally posted by Boothy:

You can't have a rocket engine without fuel + oxygen

You can, actually. Compressed gas can feed a rocket without any combustion at all. These are known as "cold gas thrusters". Also, some rockets work by using fuel that does not need a separate oxydizer. Solid rocket motors, for example. And also some liquid rocket motors where the fuel is stable until it comes into contact with a catalyst. These are known as monopropellant rockets.

[Pr0wn]

I found the space platform system straightforward with some trial and error but I guess a beginner could get stuck.

It’s quite refreshing imo as you need to think differently to a planetary base.

[Overeagerdragon]

Originally posted by Mike Garrison:

Originally posted by Boothy:

You can't have a rocket engine without fuel + oxygen

You can, actually. Compressed gas can feed a rocket without any combustion at all. These are known as "cold gas thrusters". Also, some rockets work by using fuel that does not need a separate oxydizer. Solid rocket motors, for example. And also some liquid rocket motors where the fuel is stable until it comes into contact with a catalyst. These are known as monopropellant rockets.

All of the described rely on sudden expansion of gasses... the easiest and cheapest of which require an oxydizer... keep in mind that a catalyst CAN be an oxydizer at the same time; in the realm of chemistry a catalyst is nothing more than a substance which is used to provoke a chemical reaction (like Oxydising) whilst usually not being consumed itself (or in very small quanities). The most known for this is nuclear fission which is what the term cataclysmic (derived from the very word Catalyst) reaction is most known for.. the chain reaction of which is caused by shooting a single neutron at fissable material which then gives off more neutrons causing more reactions etc etc etc

And btw; Solid fuel rockets do actually use an oxydizer. The rocket that took us to the moon was a SRB (Solid Rocket Booster) and actually used an oxydiser :)

[Mike Garrison]

Originally posted by Overeagerdragon:

Originally posted by Mike Garrison:

Also, some rockets work by using fuel that does not need a separate oxidizer. Solid rocket motors, for example.

And btw; Solid fuel rockets do actually use an oxydizer.

I said a *separate* oxidizer. Most solid fuel rockets use a plastic that contains its own oxidizer. (There is a "hybrid" system where the fuel is solid but the oxidizer is separately applied, but these are still essentially experimental/theoretical.)

Anyway, all you need for a rocket is a source of pressurized gas. You don't need combustion at all, except that combustion is one of the best ways of generating pressurized gas.

[Overeagerdragon]

Originally posted by Mike Garrison:

Originally posted by Overeagerdragon:

And btw; Solid fuel rockets do actually use an oxydizer.

I said a *separate* oxidizer. Most solid fuel rockets use a plastic that contains its own oxidizer. (There is a "hybrid" system where the fuel is solid but the oxidizer is separately applied, but these are still essentially experimental/theoretical.)

Anyway, all you need for a rocket is a source of pressurized gas. You don't need combustion at all, except that combustion is one of the best ways of generating pressurized gas.

AH; my bad... missed the nuance of stating it would be a seperate oxidizer. Though in practise it would mean they would have to use natural combustant solids (think of white phosphorous) and I doubt they'll get that going anytime soon as those materials are very expensive.... maybe supercool's (Bose-Einstein condensates)... but in effect that would make the fuel itself the oxidiser too

It's an interesting concept though from what I've read about it (I worked in petrochem for 13 years so it holds a certain interest)

[Nonotorious]

Man, so many joke threads lately.

[HyperLightDrifter]

I was actually fairly surprised at how little there was to it and how easy it was to build up massive amounts of Space Science more than anything. Also how cheap rockets were/are.
I agree though, it wasn't made apparent that you needed to build the starter kit and platforms to build the space station and expand it but it's not like it was hard to figure out without spending a few moments building one of the 6 or 7 things the tech unlocked.