Science & Industry

Having just had the "pleasure" of setting up a 5 planet PI network, I have been reflecting upon what simple changes could be made to make this process less onerous.

While I'm sure ideas like this have been suggested before (let me know so I can properly credit them), I thought I'd write them down and see what support they generated; if it's sufficient, I'll write up a CSM proposal and start bri... er, lobbying the devs. Your CSM tax ISK at work, etc., etc.

Semi-Automatic Route Specification

A major headache with setting up PI networks is all the manual routing that players must contend with, in particular when dealing with complex systems with multiple warehouses, spaceports, and processors. The current system results in a massive, repetitive clickfest.

A simple solution would be to introduce semi-automatic route specification that automates the routing of the most common (container->processor->container) setups.

This would involve adding the following command buttons and menu options:

On containers (spaceports, command centers, and storage facilities):

* A "Flag/Unflag as Source" button. This would flag the unit as a place where source materials can be expected to be found. More than one unit can be flagged as a Source.

* A "Flag/Unflag as Destination" button. This would flag the unit as the destination for manufactured products. Only one storage unit can be flagged as the destination.

On processors:

* An "Auto-Route" button. This would clear all current routes, then set the destination to the current Destination and create routes for all currently needed source materials from the current Sources. So if you were producing Polyamarids, and had 3 spaceports set as Sources and one of them set as the Destination, it would route the Polyamarids to the destination and create routes from all 3 spaceports to the unit for both Oxidizing Compounds and Industrial Fibers.

On the planet right-click menu, in a Routing submenu:

* Clear all Sources
* Clear Destination
* Auto-Route All Processors - performs the auto routing on all the processors.

Note that all of this work gets done in the client -- no changes to how PI works on the server; it just mindlessly automates the current mindless clickfest. If it runs out of link bandwidth, it'll just stop and complain.

This will not be the solution to all PI setup issues (in particular the tricky unbuffered ones) but I think it'll help with the common cases. Instead of dozens of clicks and mouse moves, you just have one.

Special Bonus Timesaver

Add a "Set default schematic" option to the planet right-click menu (maybe with sub-menus for basic, advanced, high-tech schematics). Then when new processors are created, they automatically get set to that schematic.

That would be useful, indeed.

The tradeoff is that I was deliberately trying to prune down the proposal to the absolute minimum needed to get the job done, in particular visible changes to the UI. I'd be happy with being able to do this with right-click menus if that was easier than new buttons. The cheaper the cost, the more likely it'll get picked up and implemented.

If other people really support it, I'll add it as an option.

Hello,
I am a Pi player oriented myself. A simple and very time effective thing to do to pi is this:

• have a sort of select all function, that will select the option from one item for all--->very good for 19 advanced factories when doing mechanical parts for example.

• have a form of option (hold ctrl let's say) while putting down 19 advanced factories one after another,(4 on each branch [thx for the uplift in m3 taken on one branch)] and not go and select them again and place -->select and place like is now.

• And about interconnecting them it should be done automatically, you only selecting from where is coming and where is going.
And again doing so with a sort of shift command to select for all an input, and select for one a exit.

Or even better REPLACE them altogether, and put a single big plant that would have the option of having multiple 1 type factories inside, and what goes for one factory goes for all. We have seen it for the extractor why not for basic/advance/elite industrial building as well.
I my opinion the skill of the PI wold be the hot spot searching, constant care of the colony, and all the fine details of obtaining, max yield..not ripping an building from scratch the hole system.
OK let's see if somebody else is in agreement.

Click here:) is funny.Now who is with me:)

I only want a SAVE button like we have for ship fitting. And give us the ability to select more than 1 processor when editing schematics, outputs, inputs.

As a PI-operator-hater I would welcome any change that serves to reduce click numbers. I like the general idea, I like making stuff and supplementing income with PI, but it is an awful click-fest without much thought given to usability aspects of design ... nice visuals tho.

One suggestion that keeps getting thrown up, and would (IMO) be fantastic, is simply being able to select groups of similar facilities (notably processors) and setup the same activity within the group ... rather than one at a time.
Similarly being able to direct a resource from storage to a group of processors, as a group rather than one at a time.

the obvious tool is ctrl-click within the various menus or on the main screen graphic, but it'd reduce setup and change clicks bigtime.

There's kind of a shortcut way of doing this. If you start at 2) and click on one of the points while holding down ctrl, you can then click on the second point to be linked and the link will be created.

So I recently set up a world to produce P4s from P1s and P2s. After setting up and routing about 25 facilities worth of stuff, I logged off expecting to see good stuff in the morning. I realized that originally I had a second space port that I'd deleted because of PG limitations. The output had been originally routed to it, so instead... I got burned about 10m in materials to end up with nothing.

Heck, even some sort of visual indicator that your facilities aren't routed would be nice. And no, clicking each one in turn and then clicking again isn't a viable answer for a 25 facility setup.

I think grouping them could be helpful or create a few new building types,

Custom Factory – Place it down and it uses no CPU or PW. Give it an interface like the Command station, Upgrade it to take a max number of factory’s based on the max level of the Command Station. CPU and PW are then calculated based on how many factory’s are “inside” make it a bigger node if needed. Then routing goods to and from it become easier.

Command Station upgrade – Add on to the command station upgrade building that increases the CPU OR PG, have it use CPU to create PG or PG to create CPU. Just like getting new servers would user more power or getting new generators would user up monitoring resources. < maybe best on the ideas page.. limit is 1 per planet.

A warning message about missing routes would be nice, and better visual representation of building routings. Pale yellow ghosting behind the buildings is hard to see on some planets. Ability to choose to not have the holographic building appear would help those that have a cluttered setup.

The Idea or Source and Destination would been cool if you could have both options on the one container.

The ideas for reducing clickfest have merit; the ideas for new pins are a bit out of scope.

Keep them coming, there is enough here for a tight PI proposal.

I just want to be able to reset my damn extractors without there being a delay "oh the coms network is busy please wait 9 seconds"....

LOL I suppose I shouldn't complain about 9 seconds on a game where skills take days, weeks and months to complete right?