@Argh: I actually expected there to be Gas entries in my saves prior to this last update. I was amazed to not be able to find any. I do indeed recall it having been used prior to Next. I do indeed believe that recalculation used to be done correctly prior to this update, considering I had no issues with Harvesters until now.
On a side note, Oxygen collectors use MAINT_FUEL4 and have their product entries as OXYGEN. So even though these harvesters all use Carbon as charge (converted when using Condensed Carbon), they have different fuel entries in the save. Not sure what Autonomous Mining Units use for their entries, as I find them useless at a later stage in-game.
For completeness I will mention there is a 3rd entry for each, containing several timestamps (Unix):
-
LastUpdateTimestamp - time when last change was made
-
LastCompletedTimestamp - time when last refuelled
-
LastBrokenTimestamp - time when last finished/completed
I was doing checks for full cycles, resulting in Update and Completed always having the same timestamp. Broken was always exactly 3600 seconds after Update/Completed. These values only change when actually making a change, so just having a look doesn’t alter any of these values.
I am not sure if this bug is the result of an attempt to fix things, as they used to work just fine. I can only imagine they tried to fix similar behaviour on something that was indeed broken. Maybe the AMUs, as they appeared to show issues from what I heard, forgetting what they were actually collecting. I have no data on them though, so can’t really tell.
@Dex: Those have been some of the issues I had been reading about as well. Mining units turning up empty, not producing the correct product, or even changing product all of a sudden. This has been an issue since Atlas Rises indeed and has yet to be fixed. So it is easy to assume HG were making attempts to solve this, although for all I know, behaviour is still the same.
From what I found out however, if AMUs behave the same, it will not make a difference to wait until it shows a first product. From what I have seen with the Harvesters, it will only store the state when making an actual change. This state is already stored from when you refuelled, so seeing the first result popup, will not make a difference.
@Polyphemus: They did indeed nerf the availability of gasses to buy, some updates back. I actually thought this was a good change, as there was no need for having atmospheric harvesters at all. Ever since, I changed my ways, as I was figuring out how to best approach full Fusion Ignitor/Stasis Device cycles.
I have changed ways several times due to updates and changes made to grow times and availability of resources. Now I basically do everything on my freighter, besides the 3 gasses, crops and Oxygen.
On my freighter I still have crops for exactly 2 Living Glass, 2 Liquid Explosives, and 4 Circuit Boards, to produce 2 Fusion Ignitors and 2 Stasis Devices, just in case. In addition I have Coprite and Mordite for my planet side crops (see below). I have two rooms for refining, although only one is used at a time. Just wanted to keep symmetry in my freighter base. Each of these rooms have 4 Large Refiners and 4 Medium Refiners. I have 5 Fleet Command Rooms, for all my 23 frigates, being able to do all available fleet missions.
I picked 6 planets to cover all possible crops. Made a base at each near a crop spot inside a cave. Because the type of crop and gas is related, I have 2 planets for each gas. Each base has 3 gas harvesters, exact crops for 4 SDs and 4 FIs, and a portal. One of these planets is my home, where I have 12 Oxygen harvesters total.
I can now do my rounds, harvesting crops for 6 SDs and 6 FIs (once a day even though some have regrown sooner), harvesting 1500 of each gas. This totals 187.2mil units in itself. However, I still get the rewards from the fleet missions…
Now those fleet missions are great if you really want to make units and don’t mind some smart refining. The rewards often include Geodesite and Iridesite and if you try to keep up turning all those into SDs and FIs, you’ll be rich in no time. The other resources you get rewarded from fleet missions, are basically hinting at refining to do so. Often some Hot Ice, or Organic Catalyst, ready to be made into something more worthy. Often some of the compacted forms of Oxygen, Carbon, and Sodium. Regularly the heavy metals, usually the Activated version. Not to mention the Magnetised Ferrite, Chloride Lattice, TetraCobalt, and whatever else. With some smart refining, all you actually need is a regular supply of mostly Oxygen and occasional Gasses. Everything you receive as a reward, can be turned into what you need for the ‘top of the bill’ products.
But … that needs crops! Well … I don’t really need crops, because I can refine resources and turn them into crops (duplication). Fusion Ignitors are easiest in my experience, as they do not require an additional step in refining to make Uranium (Gamma Root). Silver is mostly used, to create Paraffinium (Star Bulb), with Pure Ferrite to Ammonia (Fungal Mould). Gold turns to Pyrite (Cactus). Condensed Carbon + Sodium Nitrate makes Dioxite (Frost Crystal), with Pure Ferrite to Phosphorus (Solanium), with Pure Ferrite to Uranium (Gamma Root). All that matters is keeping a reserve of everything, so it can be turned into more (duplication). Any resource required can be turned into more as needed. Even Silver and Gold can be created cheap. Aronium, Herox, Dirty Bronze can be made through refining to turn into Silver. Grantine, Magno-Gold, Lemmium can be made to turn into Gold.
So yeah, I found that basically the fleet missions can make you rich in no-time! Pretty boring though and in my opinion not rewarding at all in any way. I have been doing this for a while just to figure out max results. My ears are numb after a week or two and my balance is at around 4 billion units. I strongly suggest to play the game differently, I can confirm!
I’ve just been frequently expanding it with oxygen in the refiners. I have some oxygen harvesters set up nearby for a steady supply. I don’t mind the grind on these, though I always had several going at once.
