How do ore processors work, really ?

[Uriel]

Hi there. I love how this game makes you think and figure stuff, but there is one thing I can't fathom : ore processors.

So, those things separate water from ore, inject water into propellant tank for on-the-fly refill, and stack processed ore at the back of the cargo hold. So far, so good.

What I don't get is the conditions for it to happen. More often than not, I happen to have significant amounts of ore waiting to be processed, and nothing happens. Initially I thought it was because I had a full tank, so I stopped using low-propellant-requirement engines and gave it several tries. And still, with half a tank, sometimes nothing happens. I can see my propellant go up very, very slightly when I'm not using it, at times... And sometimes it goes down with the power plan consumption... But ore is STILL not being processed. Then at some point I ear a loud "clang", and some ore has been processed. Or sometimes nothing happens at all.

Also, they seem to have a top limit to how much processed ore they can have. I'm using the 80% ore processing efficiency / 50% remass efficiency one on an Eagle, IIRC the cap is 16 ton. If I happen to have, say 16 tons of processed tungsten, and both berylium and tungsten in the cargo hold, sometimes it will process tungsten and make it disapear, instead of refining berylium. Why does the processor believe it is more important to make excess tungsten disapear instead of processing berylium ? Also, it seems to me, but I can't be sure, that sometimes once ANY material reaches the cap, nothing is processed anymore.

I can't for saving my life figure the conditions, priorities and whatnot. So far it hasn't caused me any major problem, the tank somewhat refills, the ore is somewhat processed, but I have no idea what is going on there, or why some stacks are growing and some others don't.

If remass is given priority, then it makes sense that the processor wouldn't refine cargo if your tank is full enough, but then why does it not always happen when your tank is at half ? Maybe a slider in the tuning options could help balance "priority to ore processing (vent excess fuel if needed)" and "priority to remass (do not process cargo if tank is full)".

Also (yeah, I have a LOT of interrogations on the cargo bay !), the voyager unit says in the description it reduces cargo bay to fit a fabricator. But it doesn't say by how much, and the simulation doesn't seem to display a lower available space than with other processors. So, does it really reduce cargo bay size ? If so, by how much ?


Also, on a side note, the anti-ejection device is considered an upgrade in the same category as the cargo hold itself, meaning when you upgrade from it to that fancy half-a-million ore processor, you no longer have the ability to prevent cargo ejection. Maybe for that price all ore processors could come with an anti-ejection system ? Or maybe it should be a different type of upgrade, so people can chose not to have them if they with so, and others can have them with the processor bay ?

[Koder]

Condition is actually pretty simple. There is a processing chamber at the end of your cargo hold (should be visible on your cargo hold scanner) and it processes everything that gets there. Different models have different shapes and sizes of processing chambers - some have small with a bottleneck, some are asymmetric, and some just cover all of your cargo hold. If you ever process too much, reminder is just ejected out of the ship.

Amount of processed cargo available depends mostly on your chosen chassis, but there is new storage pod upgrade that's being tested right now in experimental branch, if you feel adventurous. If that's the case, drop in to #experimental-feedback on discord.gg/dv so you can get real-time support.

[Uriel]

Originally posted by Koder:

Condition is actually pretty simple. There is a processing chamber at the end of your cargo hold (should be visible on your cargo hold scanner) and it processes everything that gets there. Different models have different shapes and sizes of processing chambers - some have small with a bottleneck, some are asymmetric, and some just cover all of your cargo hold. If you ever process too much, reminder is just ejected out of the ship.

Ah, so the "empty" space at the bottom of the hold is actually the processing chamber. Makes sense once you know it :)

So, if something is blocking the way, say an evac pod I picked up on the way, everything that I pick up afterward will be prevented from getting to the processing chamber and won't be refined. Correct ?

However, I still can't figure what chamber takes what space. Maybe it's because I'm flying an Eagle with a non-Eagle HUD, maybe I'm just dumb... If there is one that covers the whole cargo bay of an Eagle, no matter how bad it processes ore, in the end it's likely to be a better haul if i spend long enough in a dive.

I have to say, I was already impressed by how very good and realistic this whole game feels, but you managed to impress me even more. It's that sort of details that make a simulation awesome. Thanks for a great game !

Originally posted by Koder:

there is new storage pod upgrade that's being tested right now in experimental branch, if you feel adventurous. If that's the case, drop in to #experimental-feedback on discord.gg/dv so you can get real-time support.

Ah, I would, but I won't have enough time on my hands to provide proper feedback for now. Still, good to know something is in the pipes. Thanks :D