Promethium research?

[Joman]

So, I need biter eggs for the promethium research. Is it so, that biter eggs can only be made on nauvis? And promethium can only be found far outside the solar system?

So I need a ship, that commutes between nauvis and the scattered planet and has a research factory on board?

[Fletch]

biter eggs can only be made on nauvis?

yes

promethium can only be found far outside the solar system?

yes

So I need a ship, that commutes between nauvis and the scattered planet and has a research factory on board?

The science packs have to be made on "a" platform (true), but that doesn't necessarily mean it has to be "the same" platform that you are gathering promethium with... For example, you could potentially have multiple platforms gathering promethium chunks and delivering them to Nauvis -- and then a dedicated stationary promethium science platform that crafts the science packs above Nauvis -- though the rocket capacity (10) to uplift those chunks likely makes that idea prohibitively expensive without a massive silo farm on Nauvis...

I think I'll just big a single massive platform that does it all when I get to that point in the game.

[Liro Raériyo]

Basically, other option is to ship out with biter eggs on board in the cargo hold and make the science packs as you collect the asteroids.

i think someone said they set their ship up to do both? they set it up so it goes through phase one where it turns through their biter eggs to make the science while collecting asteroids, but once they run out of biter eggs in their cargo hold belts open up to store a lot of asteroids in underground belts, then it heads back and takes large shipments of biter eggs again and churns through its horde of stockpiled asteroids after which it loads up on biter eggs and goes out to get more asteroids, all while dumping its entire stock of science packs onto nauvis.

not a bad system to double dip on constantly maxing out your inventory of 1 thing at each end while churning through your stockpile of another to reduce delays from travel.

from what i understand you can also load a crapload of upscaled products that use biter eggs then recycle them down to get biter eggs as well to use at location if you dont want to deal with the hassle of spoiling times.

[Joman]

Well, do biter eggs hatch on the space ship and then hundreds of biters destroy the ship?

[anmana]

Originally posted by Joman:

Well, do biter eggs hatch on the space ship and then hundreds of biters destroy the ship?

Yes and probably yes.

[Nonotorious]

Originally posted by Joman:

Well, do biter eggs hatch on the space ship and then hundreds of biters destroy the ship?

Yup, isn't it great design? They couldn't have just added a processing recipe, the eggs HAVE to be live. Enjoy losing your cryoplants every time your science backs up.

[Chindraba]

Biter eggs can be 'stored' without spoilage in tier 3 Productivity modules. Might be a bit expensive on the recycling end, but cheaper than rebuilding a cryoplant and its support.

Unfortunately modules only have a stack size of 50 and a rocket capacity of 50, unlike the egg's 100 and 500 sizes.

[Khaylain]

Originally posted by Chindraba:

Biter eggs can be 'stored' without spoilage in tier 3 Productivity modules. Might be a bit expensive on the recycling end, but cheaper than rebuilding a cryoplant and its support.

Unfortunately modules only have a stack size of 50 and a rocket capacity of 50, unlike the egg's 100 and 500 sizes.

Could you make the T3 productivity modules on the platform to "save some rockets"?

[Chindraba]

Originally posted by Khaylain:

Originally posted by Chindraba:

Biter eggs can be 'stored' without spoilage in tier 3 Productivity modules. Might be a bit expensive on the recycling end, but cheaper than rebuilding a cryoplant and its support.

Unfortunately modules only have a stack size of 50 and a rocket capacity of 50, unlike the egg's 100 and 500 sizes.

Could you make the T3 productivity modules on the platform to "save some rockets"?

That would be the best way, for my guess anyway. Drop size don't matter so much and they will still be 'fresh' when they get to the platform so no real risk. The rest of the ingredients, other than the tier 2 modules, have generous rocket sizes. Still, with the module capacity being 50 all the way down, you'd have to do the math from chips to tier 3 and see if the rockets really are being saved.

Edit:
Well, it sounded like a good idea. It's not.
One rocket of eggs will make 500 tier-3 modules. To get the green/blue/red chips to build from tier-1 up will take another 115 rockets of chips.
To just ship up the 500 modules straight is only going to take 10 rockets.
Big "L" for that idea.

[Chris!!]

Originally posted by Nonotorious:

Originally posted by Joman:

Well, do biter eggs hatch on the space ship and then hundreds of biters destroy the ship?

Yup, isn't it great design? They couldn't have just added a processing recipe, the eggs HAVE to be live. Enjoy losing your cryoplants every time your science backs up.

You can program inserters to not harvest eggs when belts are sufficiently filled (eggs inside nests don't spoil), or move eggs close to hatching into assembers for processing into nutients, which you burn or use afterwards.

[Chindraba]

The big problem is that the promethium science can only be made on a platform, the eggs can only come from Nauvis and the promethium chunks can only be found in the Shattered Planet trip. Somewhere all three elements have to be united.
Keep the eggs too long and they destroy stuff.
Carry the promethium chunks around and you're using massive space (stack size 1 like nuclear fuel was in 1.1)
The eggs are 'free' to make, just dangerous to hold.
Working out the balance, and the system, is the puzzle. And one idea, which I shared, turns out to have a few issues of its own.

[Joman]

I'm already dealing with biter eggs on nauvis for producing the productivity modules. There it's not a problem because I keep them in the nest. I get only out of the nest, what is needed just in time. When one biter hatches, it gets lasered.

So, that doesn't work for the promethium research...

[Khaylain]

Originally posted by Joman:

I'm already dealing with biter eggs on nauvis for producing the productivity modules. There it's not a problem because I keep them in the nest. I get only out of the nest, what is needed just in time. When one biter hatches, it gets lasered.

So, that doesn't work for the promethium research...

As someone wrote; turn them into modules (they'll be stable there) and recycle the modules for the eggs when you need them.
Or just go into deep space to gather promethium on long belts (maybe with belt weaving) and come back to Nauvis and only request the eggs needed to make the science in orbit with the stockpiled prometium?

[Joman]

That all sounds like sollutions that will work somehow.
Does anybody know, what the intention of the devs was, concerning the promethium research?

Until now, I never needed any weird kind of workarround to solve the "problems" in the space age DLC...
What was in the minds of the devs, when they created the promethium research "problem"?

[Chindraba]

Originally posted by Joman:

That all sounds like sollutions that will work somehow.
Does anybody know, what the intention of the devs was, concerning the promethium research?

Until now, I never needed any weird kind of workarround to solve the "problems" in the space age DLC...
What was in the minds of the devs, when they created the promethium research "problem"?

I've read nothing to give an answer with high probability of correctness. I can only offer a theory.

Choice.

In a recent interview Kovarex mentioned how important choice was to him in a game. That so many of the builds, especially in late-game and megabases, looked the same because there was really only 1 'best' way to use beacons was the reasoning behind the change in beacon mechanics. The spoilage system and the promethium problems look like there will be multiple, and equal, solutions so that after playing many times, and watching others play, we will still have choices on how to solve those problems, and can make new and interesting designs. Each player might settle on a preferred solution, but the community as a whole might never make a 'one true solution' for those problems. To a lesser degree the scrap recycling seems to offer the same no one way potential. I hope so.

[CasualGamer]

I would think that eventually I will have multiple platforms out collecting the promethium chunks. They'll return back to Nauvis where the eggs get shipped up for science production before the platform heads back out to collect the promethium chunks again,