Is this how the DLC is meant to be played?

[doomchicken 3]

First, I know it's alpha and early game only, but it's still good to get feedback on where the mid-end game goes.

Is this how you are meant to approach this DLC?

1) Start base as you would do normally

2) Let's say I want to get some reed fiber / thimble reed but I don't see it in my world.

3) I use a dupe in a telescope to find a planet 2 tiles away

4) I build a rocket with a rover and land there

5) I send another rocket (2) to drop 800kg of refined metal

6) The rover unpacks the metal, the rover digs out a spot for the launchpad, the rover digs up a rudimentary base

7) I send a single dupe in a spacefarer module. Note, this dupe gets dropped and can't return.

8) This dupe lands, finishes off the base by digging up some food, planting 5-6 mealwoods, build a cot, an outhouse, a hamster wheel to get oxygen from slime.

9) Then this dupe constructs the launchpad

10) I launch another rocket here with a cargo bay (600kg)

11) Once landed, I load the bay with the reeds, plus anything else I want up to 600kg

12) This rocket brings the reeds back home, but the original dupe is still stuck on the new planet, but is pretty much self-sufficient by himself.

Now where to from here, for the mid-end game?

Stay on the starting world and upgrade it piecemeal like above? Or move everyone off the starting world?

What do people want to see for the end game?

[blash365 750]

There is a module that allows you to load up to 10 dupes. I think you can bring the dupe back with it.

That being said, i think the real space-faring content is still to come.

More engines, rocket automation for steady supply routes.

I am hoping for a multi-colony game where the lategame are some missions into deep space.

[ghkbrew 216]

Can the rover not build the launch pad and let a rocket carrying a dupe (or 2 if you want a pilot to return the rocket to home base) land?

5 minutes ago, doomchicken said:

Now where to from here, for the mid-end game?

My guess is that "mid game" will involve slowly expanding your interstellar empire to new planetoids. Targeting ones with new resources to unlock useful tech (a la reed fiber and atmo suits)

7 minutes ago, doomchicken said:

What do people want to see for the end game?

I think by definition "end game" is when you have "done everything". Explored all the useful planets, unlock/used all the tech, have access to all the rare resources, etc. In that respect it'll be similar to the current game where "end game" is pretty much doing thing just because. I hope by that point you'll have an automated, many-planet empire with constant rocket based supply lines tying things together.

10 minutes ago, blash365 said:

where the lategame are some missions into deep space.

I love that idea. I want some reason to have extended space missions to make people push the limits of rocketship design and sustainability. I think the entry level here is a temporal tear "planet" that takes 10s of cycles to get to.

[blash365 750]

11 minutes ago, ghkbrew said:

Can the rover not build the launch pad and let a rocket carrying a dupe (or 2 if you want a pilot to return the rocket to home base) land?

Nope.

Rover can only dig, supply, build, but not perform special tasks like activate, dig hard materials or build space-related stuff.

Also they seem to be unusable and unsalvagable once their battery runs out. Not very green!

Edited November 28, 2020 by blash365

[RonEmpire 621]

I've managed to do it like this.

Build 1 only rocket with Trailblazer (400kg refined metal worth),   Orbital Cargo Module,  load up 400kg refined metal  + 200 glass.
When in orbit of the planet,  Deploy Trail Blazer,  Deploy Cargo Module.   Go empty the storage of the payload  (3 of them will drop from the cargo)
Should be 200 glass, 200 refined metal, 200 refined metal.   
Deconstruct the Trail Blazer and get 400kg of refined metal back.  (make sure they're all the same refined metal type when you build them and load the module.
Build the Landing Pad (800kg of the refined metal).   Go back to orbit click on your rocket and land it on the planet.

Work on building a CO2 refuel system.   load your rocket up with stuff and then you can go home. 

Make sure you find a good spot to land with OXYGEN that gives you enough time to build the landing pad to get supplies from your craft to continue survival.    The glass is used for  Solar Panel to help you get power.

 

Edited November 28, 2020 by RonEmpire

[SkunkMaster 254]

we need space stations... planetoids are for cavedupes...

[blash365 750]

1 hour ago, RonEmpire said:

I've managed to do it like this.

Build 1 only rocket with Trailblazer (400kg refined metal worth),   Orbital Cargo Module,  load up 400kg refined metal  + 200 glass.
When in orbit of the planet,  Deploy Trail Blazer,  Deploy Cargo Module.   Go empty the storage of the payload  (3 of them will drop from the cargo)
Should be 200 glass, 200 refined metal, 200 refined metal.   

 

How did you get 2 different materials into the same cargo module?

How do you control the rocket after using the trailblazer?

 

1 hour ago, RonEmpire said:

Deconstruct the Trail Blazer and get 400kg of refined metal back.  (make sure they're all the same refined metal type when you build them and load the module.

Nice, didnt think of that. But the forest planet should have plenty refined metal anyway (volcanos). So you should be able to find some with a few cycles of digging.

1 hour ago, RonEmpire said:

Work on building a CO2 refuel system.   load your rocket up with stuff and then you can go home. 

Yeah, that's kinda the tough part about it. How to run a colony with only 1 dupe? (assuming we dont build a portapod)

[RonEmpire 621]

The "TrailBlazer" rocket  with the 1 man  is more like a "scouting" ship to setup a landing pad.
Once you've established the pad,  You can build a second rocket  and send the trail blazer into orbit.  Going to orbit apparently doesn't take fuel.
The landing pad is now empty for you to bring in the  bigger rocket with more dupes.

1 hour ago, SkunkMaster said:

we need space stations... planetoids are for cavedupes...

Some of my viewers on stream have also suggested  a Space Station / Base idea. 

I think that would be really fun.

Devs can do alot with this,   Have space for creating a space station.  A docking port  could be for the rocket  possibly it can 'dock' with the interior view so we ca see the two interior side by side with a bridge or something connection between the two doors.

 

18 minutes ago, blash365 said:

 

How did you get 2 different materials into the same cargo module?

How do you control the rocket after using the trailblazer?

 

Using the limit bar slide the  bar to 400kg  and fill it with a specific metal type that was used for the trailblazer.
have a bin next to the rock that is 200kg for glass.   After the 400kg of metal is filled  (use "!" to ensure they do it fast).
Then bump the 400kg to 600kg and choose glass. the glass in the  bin, uncheck that and it is on the floor.    use "!" and they'll deliver the glass.
If you need to use a door lock.   Lock dupes from coming  into the room.    the glass is aleady in theroom, so they'll just use that to fill the spot.

As for rocket, it is unmanned.  auto pilot in orbit.   Click on the rocket and 'change destination and it will land.

I did this a few time on stream so you can check it out how I did it on the first  planet I landed to.

Edited November 29, 2020 by RonEmpire

[Tsabo 55]

On 11/28/2020 at 9:36 AM, blash365 said:

That being said, i think the real space-faring content is still to come.

Uhh, I don't think so.

As per the dev post describing the alpha, it sounds like this is pretty much all the content there is going to be for early and midgame rocketry. You can expect balance tweaks of what's there already, but not more content.

That being said - and I'm not in the alpha so I don't know how the gameplay actually feels - but the process OP described sounds pretty hearty to me. Landing on new planetoids has to go through multi-mission stages of robotic exploration, then one-way-trip dupe drop-off, orbital-drop colony supply runs to build infrastructure, and finally self-sufficient colonies? Sounds OK.

[Hellshound38 83]

well unless they change it you can put a lot of supplies in the nosecone.

I just used a trailblazer module to drop a dupe, and he just mad rushes to build a rocketpad so the rocket can land with all his supplies.

Would be easier if I could build atmo suits.

 

 

Edited November 30, 2020 by Hellshound38

[doomchicken 3]

7 hours ago, Tsabo said:

but the process OP described sounds pretty hearty to me. Landing on new planetoids has to go through multi-mission stages of robotic exploration, then one-way-trip dupe drop-off, orbital-drop colony supply runs to build infrastructure, and finally self-sufficient colonies? Sounds OK.

Yeah but it just seems a bit more tedious than trying to do a base in one big map.

e.g in a recent game in Verdante I had to try to balance food and oxygen production, find geysers, find oil, get an arbor farm going to produce ethanol for my primary power supply, then deal with the co2 from said power supply, all at the same time trying to switch my electrolysers from PWater to SaltWater because I needed the PWater for the trees, and trying to reach space all at the same time.

With smaller bases it is much more simple, and linear in progression as well.

[blash365 750]

12 hours ago, Tsabo said:

Uhh, I don't think so.

As per the dev post describing the alpha, it sounds like this is pretty much all the content there is going to be for early and midgame rocketry. You can expect balance tweaks of what's there already, but not more content.

Who said, i was talking about the alpha?

The thread title is talking about the DLC.

The alpha announcement thread clearly said that they have lategame content awaiting for us. Given that the DLC is titled "Spaced out", i figured that late-game content will have some connetion with *gasp* space. And at some point - be it alpha, EA or release - we will surely see it.

Edited November 30, 2020 by blash365

[chemie 737]

On 11/27/2020 at 8:27 PM, doomchicken said:

 

10) I launch another rocket here with a cargo bay (600kg)

 

The cargo bay is useless.  Put all your cargo in the nosecone instead.  You can load 20t in a compactor.  In fact, you can empty/fill and leave multiple 20t on the floor for infinite but micromanaged transport.

Edited November 30, 2020 by chemie

[Gurgel 2056]

4 minutes ago, chemie said:

The cargo bay is useless.  Put all your cargo in the nosecone instead.  You can load 20t in a compactor.  In fact, you can empty/fill and leave multiple 20t on the floor for infinite but micromanaged transport.

Did not try this, but pretty much my thoughts.

[chemie 737]

13 minutes ago, Gurgel said:

Did not try this, but pretty much my thoughts.

I could not figure out how the loader thing worked (turns out you have to build on the right hand side of the platform (which is where I happened to have a ladder).  Saw 600 kg and figured, I have a better way....20 t of gold and 20t of aluminum, and three live dreckos came back with a single rocket return flight.

Edited November 30, 2020 by chemie

[JahwsUF 47]

I know it's a little late, but some confirmation about rover limitations:

I actually managed to access enough Refined Metal (Gold) to build the Rocket Platform... still didn't matter.  At least the Rover can haul the material to the surface (that Storage Bin) for very early Rocket Platform construction whenever I make my way here with a Trailblazer Module, allowing the module's rocket to land shortly thereafter... should I want to do that.