Engineering Lab not working in my case

XenonSurf · Post by **XenonSurf** » Sat Apr 16, 2016 11:53 pm

Hi,
yes, I have read the topics and also watched DeathTech's video about the Engineering Lab.

I understand that you need to have ALL components for the 12 slots, and no, if you have a template then you DON'T touch the upper window slots as these are the template composition that would be wrong if you modify them.

I have a template for a Shield Recharger that I got from a NPC. I swear I have ALL components, 1 free cargo bay, 1 free equipment slot, cash in abundance.
My needed items are part in my cargo, part in the Hangar. And yes, I'm on the right station for my hangar

If I hit on Construct And Load I get the red message, and nothing is build.

Please help, it's frustrating that it doesn't work after running all the galaxy to get all components

Thx very much,
XenonS

[Edited on 4-16-2016 by XenonSurf]

XenonSurf · Post by **XenonSurf** » Sun Apr 17, 2016 12:07 am

OK, I go in my hangar and see that BATT-25 and BATT-3 are stored in 2 different slots. I need a total of 28 batteries for my Engineering template. So I guess I have to 'consolidate' them first. But how? If I click on Consolidate, nothing happens.

But as 25 is the maximum for a cargo slot, consolidating is futile here, so what?

Btw, I noticed that after making changes in the Hangar, my progress is saved, but the transaction fee is not substracted from my total cash.

XenonS

[Edited on 4-17-2016 by XenonSurf]

[Edited on 4-17-2016 by XenonSurf]

Post by **Marvin** » Sun Apr 17, 2016 1:43 am

You don't need to consolidate your required materials ... 'though it helps if you put all of them in storage at the station where you plan to build the shield recharger.

Post by **Vice** » Sun Apr 17, 2016 1:47 am

Most likely, if all other material quantities and types match, you are running into a split unit condition between multiple hangar bays. That is:

The key is probably the batteries. You have one bay of 25 and one bay of 3 while two arrays of 14 are required. The lab techs will be glad to take what you have from each bay to apply to a build array, but they won't mix and match for you if the material is sharded... nor will they hunt through multiple bays for subsets of unit counts for particular materials to add up to a required individual array count.

The needed material needs to be in a single bay they can quickly and easily retrieve. So all you probably need to do is make sure the other bay of only 3 batteries instead has 14 units in it, then the build should be allowed. You could do this by either transferring units from the one bay of 25 to add 11 to the other bay (so that they both have 14), or simply buy more on the open market to add to the bay of 3 until it has 14.

If you do that and it still won't build the item, then I can review your profile to pin down the cause if you e-mail it to me.

Post by **Marvin** » Sun Apr 17, 2016 1:50 am

P.S. You need to use the Alt button when transferring if you want to transfer one item at a time.

XenonSurf · Post by **XenonSurf** » Sun Apr 17, 2016 1:55 am

Thank you Vice for your explanations. I exactly fit all cargo/hangar slots as in the template. I report the results here.

XenonS

XenonSurf · Post by **XenonSurf** » Sun Apr 17, 2016 4:48 am

Ok, it worked by doing Vice method.
But is there a trick to split your cargo? I mean, for example you have FUSN-10 in your cargo bay; is there a way to split in 5+5 ?
When buying, there is the trick to first right-click which will buy 1 item at a time, if you then left click, it will get the whole quantity in a new, separate cargo bay.
In EM if you sell stuff it was appearing as a commodity in the selling list, I wish it was the same here.

XenonS

[Edited on 4-17-2016 by XenonSurf]

XenonSurf · Post by **XenonSurf** » Sun Apr 17, 2016 2:27 pm

**> Doesn't work, please skip

<**

Ok, now that I know how it works, I have figured out some useful tips, maybe DaveK or others who will write guides or manuals will get some content if it's useful.

The EngLab will only accept EXACT quantities to consider building a template, so for example if you have a PLAT-25 in your cargo or hangar, this will not help you if the template needs 10 PLAT, you have to adjust your cargo or hangar.
However, that^s very complicated because some commodities are very hard to find, and you would need to buy them several times to be able to 'consolidate' them for the exact quantities needed.
You would have to buy items several times because you will NOT be able to split your cargo in multiple slots if you have not at least 2 instances of the commodity in your cargo.
This can make getting items for a template very tough and time-consuming.

The good news is: I have a simple workaround for this, which is not a cheat at all but will help you to manage the EngLab more efficiently and avoid you to buy multiple items if you already have the necessary overall quantity.

I recommend doing as follows:

- Go in your EngLab and save the empty windows as a template
- if you build a template, take note of the exact composition in all slots (alas with paper, pencil)
- Load the empty template and transfer all components manually

By saving an empty template, you don't need to empty manually an existing full template which is boring.

I hope this helps you, and hopefully you will come to discover many interesting blueprints

Greets,
XenonS

[Edited on 4-17-2016 by XenonSurf]

Post by **Marvin** » Sun Apr 17, 2016 3:08 pm

Excellent idea. Not an exploit ... it's more like a technique for experimentation.

XenonSurf · Post by **XenonSurf** » Sun Apr 17, 2016 3:24 pm

Alas it doesn't work because the Engineering doesn't function as a transfer module, by adding things to the composition area, your cargo doesn't change in the process... No chance to split cargo.

I would be happy to buy a 0-cargo container

I^m just trying if the deploy hangar works, but no, if you discard items, they vanish, they don't materialize in form of a cargo container. Other deploying or building devices (which only cost some metal) will not help either to split cargo I think...

XenonS

Post by **Marvin** » Sun Apr 17, 2016 6:24 pm

From post: 187720, Topic: tid=12639, author=XenonSurf wrote:I^m just trying if the deploy hangar works, but no, if you discard items, they vanish, they don't materialize in form of a cargo container.

They don't vanish if you use the J key and jettison your entire cargo. You can then tractor back those pods you want on board.

XenonSurf · Post by **XenonSurf** » Sun Apr 17, 2016 7:22 pm

Thanks for the tip

I use now a more 'overall' strategy, I will buy rare commodities when I see them and store them asap, this will cost me a pretty penny (hangar fees), but on the long run I figure out it's worth doing.

XenonS

DeathTech · Post by **DeathTech** » Fri Apr 22, 2016 10:05 pm

I do think that it may be useful for vice to create some sort of "split stack" key combo.

XenonSurf · Post by **XenonSurf** » Fri Apr 22, 2016 11:01 pm

From post: 187809, Topic: tid=12639, author=DeathTech wrote:I do think that it may be useful for vice to create some sort of "split stack" key combo.

No, not another combo, please.. There are enough already to the point to get confused...alt+right mouse, alt+left mouse...right mouse...left mouse...

I sometimes just have to reload my game because I got wrong...

The easiest thing to maybe implement is to just make the items you sell visible on the selling list like in EM. This would easily allow you to split cargo.

XenonS

YaroslavUSSR · Post by **YaroslavUSSR** » Sat Aug 20, 2016 9:59 pm

So, there is still no way to split 25 and 3 to 14 and 14? I tried to construct a solar recharger but was not able to do it. Also I somehow lost 6500000 credits during that process when I was experimenting with hangar bays storing may cargo. Had to load a backup:(.

Post by **Vice** » Sat Aug 20, 2016 10:16 pm

Sure there is. Just put the 25 and 3 into two cargo bays on your ship, then hold the Alt key and right click on the 25 unit slot until they both read 14, then put them back in the hangar bay. Sorting is generally best done on your ship. Although you can also consolidate directly in the hangar with the consolidate button.

YaroslavUSSR · Post by **YaroslavUSSR** » Sat Aug 20, 2016 10:29 pm

Vice wrote:Sure there is. Just put the 25 and 3 into two cargo bays on your ship, then hold the Alt key and right click on the 25 unit slot until they both read 14, then put them back in the hangar bay. Sorting is generally best done on your ship. Although you can also consolidate directly in the hangar with the consolidate button.

Thank you, Vice! But why this process cannot be simplified like the weapon lab? If a crafting weapon need 15 metal and there is 25 metal in my cargo bay then the lab simply takes 15 metal from my cargo. In the engeneering lab a player has to arrange his cargo exactly as in the template or nothing happens.

Post by **Vice** » Sat Aug 20, 2016 10:54 pm

Arranging materials in the power, interface, and function arrays is part of the crafting process in the engineering lab since those items involve sequential build formulas. The lab should take what it needs from your cargo bay and/or hangar as needed as it analyzes the list of required materials in the arrays to build from. If that is not working and you are being required to keep specific split quantities of materials in separate bays or something, then please send me your save game (with materials ready) along with the build formula for the item you are trying to build and I'll review it for possible problems. As long as you have the required materials needed in each array stored somewhere on your ship and/or in the current hangar, the system should be able to sequentially take them from the list of materials in your ship's cargo bays and/or hangar bays to build the item.

YaroslavUSSR · Post by **YaroslavUSSR** » Sat Aug 20, 2016 11:58 pm

And finally I've done it. Many thanks for explanation.

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