Non-Cheating, Self-Sustaining, Resource Free, High Render Performance Complexes
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Backstory
Finally, the Terrans have contributed to the Universal economic sciences. Recently discovered and patented compounds discovered in the inner rings of Saturn have led to rapid discoveries in unprecedented cargo compression. The first foray into the manifestation of this highly secretive substance has been implemented in a customized Terran complex hub. As a first sign of interstellar co-operation extended from Terrans to Commonwealth, a new shipyard has been deployed in sector Saturn 3, stocked with all 400 models of the new Saturn Complex Hub. The Saturn Complex Hub allows a company owner to install massive and scalar production complexes within a single station, reducing sector clutter, and most importantly, confining all intermediary resources within the station.
What is this?
Essentially, a Saturn Complex Hub is a single station, based on the Terran Crystal Fab model. Once deployed and configured correctly, it acts as a normal factory producing a single ware, with no resources required, as per a self-sustaining complex. I've modified the model to contain a capital dock port and 20 freighter arms. There's 400 variations, each representing a product's production capability, but otherwise identical. However, it's not a cheating factory. For those wishing for a simple and easy "remove resources" factory, look elsewhere.
Benefits:
- Doesn't cheat.
- Produce the same amount of wares without the FPS bog of vanilla complexes
- No more /!\ flashing stations; no resources required.
- Easy to use.
The Saturn Complex Hub must be fitted with all of the stations as would a regular complex. Here's how:
How do I set up my Saturn Complex Hub?
As an aside, I highly recommend modding your TLs to carry more cargo.
Fly a TL to Saturn 3. Dock at the shipyard in that sector. You'll see a whole load of Saturn Complex Hubs for sale. The number after the sale item is the "production" of the module itself. As a reference, M sized factories would be the equivalent of a Saturn Complex Hub 002, and an L sized factory would be the equivalent of a Saturn Complex Hub 005. They go all the way up to 400. Once deployed from your TL's cargo hold as you would a regular factory in a sector of your choosing (preferably with a lot of scanned asteroids, and I recommend an asteroid moving/combining script), select the command "Saturn Hub Console" under the command console of the station. A new, un-configured Saturn CH console looks like this:
http://members.shaw.ca/litcube/X3/Satur ... urnCH2.jpg
From here, you can decide which products you'd like your Saturn CH to produce. Select the default station at the bottom under "Production Configuration Options" to change to another station to use as the basis of the production configuration. Only stations for sale in the Universe will be available here. For example, if you'd like the Saturn CH to produce Bofu, change the station shown to a Boron BoFu Chemical Lab. Once you're happy with your selection, select "Set production configuration". As the amount of math required to figure out what stations are required is tremendous (this script is essentially a complex calculator, as you've seen around these forums), there's a small wait (3 seconds or so). What you now see, is the requirement of stations to make a self-sustaining complex. A few notes on how the math is done:
- Required to be a self-sustaining complex
- Uses same race factories when possible
- Only uses L sized mines (more efficient)
- Minimum energy surplus now configurable! Note, that even if the minimum is set at 0, even though the SCH will endeavour to put together the lowest overkill in terms of coverage on ware production to be self sustaining, more often than not, you'll see a 104% - 120% energy coverage. This is normal, can't be avoided, and it's what you'd see with a vanilla complex, and just the way the math works, etc. As an example, if you have a big ore complex with many small cargo freighters, and you know there's going to be a shit load of jumps made, you might want to ensure that the complex is built with a minimum energy resevoir of, say, 10,000 e-cells per hour. So when configuring the station, ensure 10,000 is set in the minimum energy reservoir field. The SCH will ensure that more energy production is included in the math. You'll pay for it in terms of having to purchase more/larger SPP and their support factories, but it's your call. Don't bitch to me when your OreComplexOfMassiveness has no energy in its reservoir for your traders to jump to their destinations.. This is non-cheating, meaning the script will include more SPPs to achieve the minimum energy surplus. Sometimes a regular self sustaining complex has more energy surplus than said minimum, in which case, no extra stations above and beyond what would sustain the product ware would be required. As explain previously, energy surplus is added to the secondary resource as per regular cycle time and production. Secondary resources have absolutely no bearing on production, so don't worry if you empty it; you'll still produce.
- Energy producing Saturn Complex Hubs ignore energy surplus (for obvious reasons).
- Suns are taken into account for SPPs. I did the math (with help from members
), to take into account suns from 50% all the way to 2000%+ in 50% increments. So you're safe.- The math accepts 99.85% crystal production to energy cell production as acceptable and self-sustaining. It's a minor fudge that will save you a few credits per year.
Here's an example of a Saturn Complex Hub 020, configured for 1 MJ shields:
http://members.shaw.ca/litcube/X3/Satur ... urnCH3.gif
Before we move on, here's a description of some important elements of this screen:
Reset production configuration: Goes back to the previous screen, to re-set the product of the Saturn CH. This command is unavailable if the Saturn Complex Hub contains installed stations. Also, as all of the products will be removed from the station on a production configuration reset, a docked TL is required with adequate cargo space if there is remaining ware stock in the Saturn Complex Hub.
Operation: Toggle this to change the operation when you select the rows in the third pane down. Either to "Install" the stations in a docked TL cargo hold into the Saturn Complex Hub, or "Remove" the stations from the hub back into the TL.
Source TL: This is the docked TL.
Engage: You can't see it now, but once you've installed all stations and asteroids, this command becomes available. Once selected, it starts the production of the station, and the installation panel is hidden (below).
Production Configuration: This shows you what's going to be produced once the Saturn Complex Hub is engaged, how long the production cycle, how many per cycle, how many per hour (hr), which resources the product is based on internally, whether it's engaged or disengaged, and energy surplus. Energy surplus is calculated, just as a regular complex would have. It represents the total produced energy, minus the energy resource required. This is necessary for your traders to sell their wares while making jumps.
Blue stations (installation panel): This pane is the interactive panel used to install stations from your TL into the Saturn Complex Hub. Selecting a row will remove the stations from your TL, and install them into the Saturn CH. Changing the "Operation" will reverse this process.
Purple mineral wares (installation panel): Some of your stations require asteroids! Selecting this will bring up an asteroid selection screen. Selecting an asteroid at this point will "import" the asteroid (using built in mining drills, tractor beams, and transport devices - what do you think you paid for?). If only a fraction of the asteroid is required, the remainder will be left. Note once an asteroid is implemented, unlike the stations, they cannot be replaced.
Ware production panel: Gives you an idea of what's going on inside your Saturn Complex Hub when it's churning out wares. Figures are listed as wares per hour. You'll note that crystal coverage is 99.58%, and apparently acceptable. That's intentional.
Extraneous Station Info: More info on stations required/installed within this hub.
So as stated above, you're going to have to fill your TL up with the required stations. As you can see from our example, you'd need to go and purchase, 18 Cahoona Bakery M, 18 Cattle Ranch M, 8 Crystal Fab M, an Ore Mine L, 20 Shield Prod. Facility 1 MJ, a Silicon Mine L, and 8 Solar Power Plant Ms. Maker race is important here.
Once you've picked these up, dock the TL at the Saturn Complex Hub. You can then select the blue colour items to install the stations from your TL into the hub. Next, install the asteroids (purple wares).
If everything in this pane is green, and you see the "Engage", you're ready to produce. Hit engage, and the Saturn Complex Hub will start pumping out wares.
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Saturn Complex Hub Shipyard Reset:
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(this is only required if you need to reset the shipyard in Saturn 3. Simply put the script into your script directory, load your game, then save your game, then remove this script from your script directory. The shipyard in Saturn 3 will now be reset.)
Installation & Tech details
- There are two folders, "scripts" & "t". Unpack the contents into your directory.
- The SaturnCH.cat can be renamed as a false patch in your main X3 directory (13, for X3TC 3.0)
- TFactories included in this mod is from X3TC V3.0 vanilla.
- T file: 8386, pageids: 8396.
- This script overwrites !station.cmd.idle.pck, which is only a three line loop.
- Commands: 1118 ( Station 18 )
- Euclid provided most of the basis of his floating point lib, which I've completely molested, but he still deserves credit.
- As per S&M rules: These scripts/models are free to be reused in your scripts/mods as long as you say thankyou in your topic
- Performance details: There's only one script running on the Saturn Complex Hub, and it's used to provide the energy surplus to the station's secondary resource of Energy Cells. It's almost entirely a =wait $cycletime, add x energy cells. So basically no performance impact. Other than that, everything else is vanilla.
Albion Prelude:
DrBullwinkle wrote:Merge TFactories and update the pointers in the setup script, right?Litcube wrote:You just have to merge it with the AP TFactories.
I found instructions in two places:
by Seraph Kaoru on page 14 and
by Megaburn on page 11.
Updates & Versions
0.99b:
- Calculator sometimes couldn't get proper sun sector in rare situations.
0.98b:
- Packing issue. Forgot I had implemented a new station size-checking routine requiring the Lib.Gen.GetPlayerRelVal library script. Woopsie! Not the xtra compatibility patch on page 7 is still valid (install last, obviously).
0.97b:
- As ShdwMarauder pointed out, if you had access to an XXXL station, the SCH configuration will think it needs it, pumping out 200% of wasted e-cells (or more in some cases). The problem is with the change listed in the 0.93b update, wherein the SCH will prefer the largest station. I think my thought process at the time was that it would be so much easier to upgrade the complexes if you had like-stations, but in the end I was being a tool. I can't believe I implemented that. Sorry. It's not you, it's me. I've removed it. It's gone. I'm a fool, and I admit it. I'm your bitch this time. This moment is yours. From here on in your SCH should pick the least overkill station combo, unless you set ->
- Minimum energy surplus now configurable! Before, the SCH would run an auto calc assuming it knew best how to handle extra energy for your complex, as required by traders to jump and deliver wares (it was based on a 5000 cargo based TS, making X jumps, etc., etc.), and it'd make you buy the extra SPPs to compensate for it. However, this might not have been right for you or what you wanted to do with the station. If you had a giant complex pumping out 2GJ shields and it only sat right by your HQ to supply it, then it'd be pretty pointless to have to purchase extra SPPs or larger SPPs just to get extra energy surplus for traders when there's actually never going to be anything jumping from it. Now you can set the minimum energy surplus when configuring the SCH. Note, that even if the minimum is set at 0, even though the SCH will endeavour to put together the lowest overkill in terms of coverage on ware production to be self sustaining, more often than not, you'll see a 104% - 120% energy coverage. This is normal, can't be avoided, and it's what you'd see with a vanilla complex, and just the way the math works, etc. As an example, if you have a big ore complex with many small cargo freighters, and you know there's going to be a shit load of jumps made, you might want to ensure that the complex is built with a minimum energy resevoir of, say, 10,000 e-cells per hour. So when configuring the station, ensure 10,000 is set in the minimum energy reservoir field. The SCH will ensure that more energy production is included in the math. You'll pay for it in terms of having to purchase more/larger SPP and their support factories, but it's your call. Don't bitch to me when your OreComplexOfMassiveness has no energy in its reservoir for your traders to jump to their destinations.
- !station.idle.cmd now runs on the SCH when resetting its production configuration.
- SCH now keeps its name when resetting production configuration.
- For you mod mashers out there, changed files in this release (1 file):
--- Lib.Cmd.SaturnCH.Console
0.96b:
- Fixed critical bug when adding ore or silicone mines as the configuration. It would cause a crash. The bug turned out to be a yield flag not being set (which I thought I had) to 40.
- Another packing issue. Two script files were not included when they should have been, causing the SCH calculator to not function. I've installed a fresh copy of of X3TC, installed my package, and tested all functions to ensure this doesn't happen again.
0.95b:
- Packing issue. I accidentally included my own setup file (which references difference indexes). This has been fixed. If you installed 0.94b, and have a broken shipyard in Saturn 3 (i.e., it's not showing any SCHs for sale), download the Saturn Complex Hub Shipyard Reset. See the instructions by the download link.
0.94b:
- Fixed a bug with removing stations from the SCH, and putting them back into a TL. If your TL didn't have enough cargo, the remainder would disappear. This has been remedied; the remainder now remains in the SCH if there's not enough cargo space in the TL.
0.93b:
- Saturn Complex Hub calculator now implemented as a hotkey. To set it up, go into your controls -> interface, and find "Saturn Complex Hub Calculator". Set a hotkey for it. When you're done, hit the hotkey to bring up the calculator.
- When configuring stations, the SCH engine will now prefer the highest size factories, if the end result is the same. For example, if 5 x Crystal Fab M are required for the support of a factory, it will use 2 x Crystal Fab L instead. As long as there is no difference, the engine will now use the largest factories possible. This should help with upgrading your SCHs by allowing you to keep using installed factories from obsolete SCHs and transfer them into new ones.
0.92b:
- An admittedly huge bug. Setting a SCH's production to energy cells looked like it was working properly, but it wasn't. There was an issue with the size of the station calculated resulting in the support factories being added to the production configuration, but not the main production factories. The result was that the SCH required far less factories to engage than what should have been required. This has been fixed. If you have SCHs that produce energy cells, I'd recommend disengaging them, removing the factories, resetting, and apply the configuration again. If you do not have a currently running SCH producing energy, this bug will not have effected you.
0.91b:
- Fixed a small bug when adding asteroids to the SCH that were of equal value to what was required. Symptoms were values showing up as "0null".
- Possibly left out a debugging comment that enabled the complex hub to be engaged even when stations/minerals didn't meet requirements. This has been uncommented, you cheating whores.
0.9b:
- Now only populates stations available to buy in the Universe (as opposed to the TFactories file), preventing "not installable station" glitch.
0.8b:
- First release
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