How to move a complex hub

[Mr.Killer]

Something tells me that this is impossible, and It drove me crazy to think that 20 carefully connected stations can't be move without breaking the damn thing up.
Why would I do this you ask, well, as You know by now, the sector Light of heart has a huge Argon shipyard, and because it was a rather slim area at first, not many other stations, so I thought nicely to set up my hub and start attaching stations to it. Now after a few hundred hours, cargo ships seems to become blind and keeps either crashing into the Argon shipyard, or heart stalking close to it, or they get stuck in the construction beams of my hub. (And also ships keep hitting the xenon hub walls)

A mammoth with an tractor beam is no go, but why? Stations hang in space (although the reality is far from it) and should be easily being moved.
Are we gonna ask EGOSOFT to make a thruster complex for stations, so that they are able to move at players will? or is there a hidden solution to do that?

Maybe someone figured this out.... Let's hope so.....

[iXenon]

You always can redeploy the complex from the TL ship menu. If it's not in the planner then you can create a new complex plan, add the existing complex, save it and then redeploy from the TL ship menu, not from the complex planner. I always do complex building stuff OOS, from my experience it'd be placed in a more accurate way in that case.

[Mr.Killer]

You always can redeploy the complex from the TL ship menu. If it's not in the planner then you can create a new complex plan, add the existing complex, save it and then redeploy from the TL ship menu, not from the complex planner. I always do complex building stuff OOS, from my experience it'd be placed in a more accurate way in that case.

I'm sorry to say, but I did not plan this through the mammoth, I had not all the components (build command software Mk1 and Mk2) so I started building on my own.
I tried to keep a neat positioning in the grid of the map, but afterwards it looked like a jungle, so, neat is not possible.
Also your remark, redeploy??? You mean pack station? Then I need 20 Mammoths working seamlesly together to pack 20 stations, so, that too is not possible (as far as I know.)
Any other ideas you have? or am I missing something here?
Please let me know...

Edit: I looked at load out............... no go. As there is nothing there, there is nothing I could use.
I think personally that these options should be mandatory for mammoths and alikes, as they are the only station building ships out there. But alas, this is something that never will be there, it is like telling a car that can go foreward to upgrade some software and it'll be able to go also sideways and more software even go backwards..... Pity this is not mandatory for building ships.
Conclusion? If these options were there from the start, we could make better use of that option(s) and not struggle like I am now doing.

[iXenon]

I'm sorry to say, but I did not plan this through the mammoth, I had not all the components (build command software Mk1 and Mk2) so I started building on my own.
I tried to keep a neat positioning in the grid of the map, but afterwards it looked like a jungle, so, neat is not possible.
Also your remark, redeploy??? You mean pack station? Then I need 20 Mammoths working seamlesly together to pack 20 stations, so, that too is not possible (as far as I know.)
Any other ideas you have? or am I missing something here?
Please let me know...

Of course, you'd need MK3 software for that, but it's worth to have it anyway. If you have money for 20 stations then you probably should think about buying MK3 module. It allows you deploy and re-deploy complexes if needed.
Let's say you did some mistake in manually complex deployment, for example put stations in wrong way or added unneeded stations or missed something to add. What you can do now:

• Create a new complex in Complex Planner in the same sector

• Add your existing complex or stations to that new complex

• Add stations you probably missed and save the plan

• Make sure you have enough money (if new stations are going to being bought) and MK3 on your TL (MK1 and MK2 may be needed, can't say for sure)

• Go OOS (out-of-sector) and order your TL from its command menu to deploy that new complex and point a new place for it

• Wait till it's done. You can use SETA to speed this up

The TL would then go to existing stations or complex, pick up stations (one by one or by some groups) and put them on the new position. Once it's done you go to the sector to finish the build up. I agree that complex related stuff aren't ideal but it's possible to do what you want and I'm pretty sure it will be moved as you want and placed more neatly. Personally, I stopped to do manual deployment because it takes time and it's anyway impossible to put stations ideally. Only if it's needed to put 2-3 stations nearby then I'd go for manual deployment.

[Mr.Killer]

Your explanation should be mandatory for the manual.... ehm, which manual????
Thank you for explaining it so well, now I go find myself a Building software MK3 so I can try your option and hope that this building becomes a lot better...

[Jimmy C]

Thank you for explaining it so well, now I go find myself a Building software MK3 so I can try your option and hope that this building becomes a lot better...

You can buy it (for 55 million) at the NMMC HQ in PTNI Headquarters Beta. If you come in from the West TOA, you can save time and dock at the Shipyard instead.

[Sovereign01]

What about the part where the TL has to buy new stations but can't because either it doesn't have the ecells to jump to the shipyard or it doesn't have enough free cargo space to carry said stations? I've heard that it breaks the command if that happens.

[Jimmy C]

He's talking about moving an existing complex, not setting up a new complex, so I skipped that part.

According to Cycrow, Build MK3 will automatically refuel if you set the auto refuel options and provide Freight Drones.

For myself, I feel it's too slow waiting for a lone TL to jump around buying and placing your stations. Therefore, I manually buy all the stations using multiple TLs, place them in the sector, then add them all to a complex plan and order a TL to build the complex. To speed things up even more, divide the stations into multiple complex plans and order several TLs to start working on them all at the same time. I recommend getting the Mobile Pirate Base TL for this task due to its speed.

As Build MK3 seems to only carry one station around at one time, there shouldn't be any capacity problems. The smallest TL is the Elephant with 34000 capacity. This is enough for even the largest station in the game.

[Sovereign01]

He's talking about moving an existing complex, not setting up a new complex, so I skipped that part.

According to Cycrow, Build MK3 will automatically refuel if you set the auto refuel options and provide Freight Drones.

For myself, I feel it's too slow waiting for a lone TL to jump around buying and placing your stations. Therefore, I manually buy all the stations using multiple TLs, place them in the sector, then add them all to a complex plan and order a TL to build the complex. To speed things up even more, divide the stations into multiple complex plans and order several TLs to start working on them all at the same time. I recommend getting the Mobile Pirate Base TL for this task due to its speed.

As Build MK3 seems to only carry one station around at one time, there shouldn't be any capacity problems. The smallest TL is the Elephant with 34000 capacity. This is enough for even the largest station in the game.

If it only carries one station at a time, then the extra capacity provided by something like an Atmospheric Lifter is wasted and it would be better to use the fastest TL- the Elephant is the second fastest, edged out by the pirate mobile base station which has better shields, a bigger hangar and cargo bay but no weapons.

I have wondered, how many freight drones is that, typically? I've typically 'cheated' by setting the energy cell price on the Xenon hub to max so it's always full and just have the TLs load up when they dock. Now that my station building is done I need to find alternative roles for my TLs. Perhaps mobile storage for my M7Ms so they don't need to dock to replenish their missiles, certainly something to speed up their turnaround time.

[Jimmy C]

If it only carries one station at a time, then the extra capacity provided by something like an Atmospheric Lifter is wasted and it would be better to use the fastest TL- the Elephant is the second fastest, edged out by the pirate mobile base station which has better shields, a bigger hangar and cargo bay but no weapons.

That's why I said so. And if the TL is only doing in-sector station moving, speed is more useful overall.

I have wondered, how many freight drones is that, typically?

I think the capacity of the freight drone is actually mentioned in the info. But I've seen 1 drone being able to carry 10,000 ecells.

[iXenon]

If it only carries one station at a time, then the extra capacity provided by something like an Atmospheric Lifter is wasted and it would be better to use the fastest TL- the Elephant is the second fastest, edged out by the pirate mobile base station which has better shields, a bigger hangar and cargo bay but no weapons.

Cannot say for re-deployment for sure, but when it builds the complex first time it can pick up 3-4 stations at once, so if I have a complex with 20 stations it will be about 5-6 jumps in sum, not 20. And the second point, when it moves stations it doesn't need to go right to the destination place because TL can place stations being at some distance. Thus, from my experience speed matters only if the destination shipyard placed in an RSL sector (it has no gates). In other cases it will be done quick enough on SETA.

[Sovereign01]

If it only carries one station at a time, then the extra capacity provided by something like an Atmospheric Lifter is wasted and it would be better to use the fastest TL- the Elephant is the second fastest, edged out by the pirate mobile base station which has better shields, a bigger hangar and cargo bay but no weapons.

Cannot say for re-deployment for sure, but when it builds the complex first time it can pick up 3-4 stations at once, so if I have a complex with 20 stations it will be about 5-6 jumps in sum, not 20. And the second point, when it moves stations it doesn't need to go right to the destination place because TL can place stations being at some distance. Thus, from my experience speed matters only if the destination shipyard placed in an RSL sector (it has no gates). In other cases it will be done quick enough on SETA.

Dropping a jump beacon in the sector with the shipyard will help in that case, and one at the destination if it also has no gates. Also handy for station upgrade kits- although the shipyard in Heaven's assertion is already close to the gate, a jump beacon makes the docking practically instantaneous. This is necessary because due to the size of L & XL upgrade kits even the atmo lifter can only carry two of the latter resulting in many trips for even a small complex.

[Jimmy C]

Actually, the Atmo Lifter can carry 3 XL upgrade kits. It is the only one that can carry enough to upgrade an entire production line (factory, food, bio plants) in one ship.

[Mr.Killer]

I did this 'move' action, actualy it is a little complex looking for the right action/option/choice that I did. At one point I wanted to let it automatically upgrade to XXL, (I like XXL ) but that made it more complicating. Beginning script made me mortal enemies with Split and Paranid, so it was trying, and I did not agree, to build some Paranid stations in the proces. This I had not forseen, but I would not let the Mammoth do this. So I re-did the action without upgrading and that is, as far I can see, going well.
I await the final moving to the other side of the same sector, just to see what the Build Mk3 can do....

Just a tip for those who are also in the proces of learning like me, I managed to get Build Mk1 and Mk2 as equipable item in my HQ. When I have all three, then I can fair a bit easier... Now first get weapons and the mammoth for reverse engineering, so I can haul much more....

[Sovereign01]

Actually, the Atmo Lifter can carry 3 XL upgrade kits. It is the only one that can carry enough to upgrade an entire production line (factory, food, bio plants) in one ship.

I forgot it was three, they take up 21,000 cargo space. I remember why I got confused- I only had 1 lifter and I had 2 Ozias set to follow it so I would send all 3 to the shipyard in Heaven's Assertion to pick up upgrade kits. I only have a handful of complexes but the smallest of which has 57 stations which equals a lot of trips to the shipyard when the time comes to upgrade them all!

[iXenon]

...which equals a lot of trips to the shipyard when the time comes to upgrade them all!

Is it possible to perform upgrade automatically once stations are ready? For me that's most annoying part where I have to wait for each separate station and upgrade it manually. Would be great just to order TL to take care about it and do other stuff at the same time.

[Mr.Killer]

I wonder why my Mammoth is stationary at my HQ while complex building is not finished. All this time my stations are doing nothing, that's a shame.
I looked at the command I gave it and it says that it is idling because of notoriety too low. I wonder, I am very good friends with Argon, Light of Heart, move a station from one side to the other side of that sector, had bought complex extention kits and hub things there, no problem, I thought that Build Mk3 was able to re-use these items.
Now I do not know who's notoriety it is, or what I should do about that.... Going back to a long lost saved game is impossible. These are the times you wished that everything would work like it should.
Anyone any tips for me and my totally crap complex?

[iXenon]

Please, put the screenshots from the complex planner and from your stats with reputation ranks.

[Mr.Killer]

The planner I cannot show you, I'm afraid if I give any sort of command to the Mammoth, it'll ruin everything.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/ ... 2895537112
This below is the total amount of stations it broke. Except for the two oremines and one solar power plant. Those three were part of complex hub beta and I tried to put everything from complex alpha in complex beta.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/ ... 2895538694

[Sovereign01]

The planner I cannot show you, I'm afraid if I give any sort of command to the Mammoth, it'll ruin everything.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/ ... 2895537112
This below is the total amount of stations it broke. Except for the two oremines and one solar power plant. Those three were part of complex hub beta and I tried to put everything from complex alpha in complex beta.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/ ... 2895538694

Well you can just reload after taking the screenshot, that's no problem . Have you got any stations connected to that complex hub? I'm not seeing any silicon mines in that list of stations despite that sector having four silicon asteroids.