A very old bug. I have been reporting it for a long time. Personally, I think it has something to do with the "ground". If you use god mode you will see that the ground is actually a thin layer. I think that anything that goes below this layer looses support (because it's empty space below). That's the reason why my large landing pad has "access tunnels" so you can dig them out after spawning the base and (hopefully) help with SI.
The ground is "full" but just like blocks it is rendered by "normals" (faces flagged as "visible"). If you go halfway into a steel block or a device you will see it as "empty" and may only see some of its "outward faces" with an angle, but no face is visible from "inside" as these are never "rendered". So the ground only has the "top layer" rendered, but if a player digs a hole he will see the hole's sides and bottom. In fact long rows of blocks can be placed "below" the surface completely and they will all be "supported". When a blueprint is placed on terrain, the terrain is "flattened" under it following some simple method, and I guess that structures that don't have a flat bottom can have problems since the ground might be "removed" at the lowest block's level. I only have "theories" regarding SI but I think the order in which blocks are placed when holding LMB or CTRL+LMB has something to do with this problem.
Here I just wasted a bit of time to try to understand how bugged the SI might be... I made an "L" shape (base blocks) with a row of blocks not supported (shown in red): I then add a "support" block in the middle and it partly changes the color (support goes many blocks deep in the ground): I then deleted the 1st support block and left the other ones below it, saved the blueprint with this current SI displayed: When I spawned the blueprint, all resting safely on the ground, it shows one block with a different color, the block directly above the "support" I removed previously: I extended my original "L" shape to this (unsupported): I then add a support under it (arrow) but it doesn't seem to change a thing... from the top view: But when I look under the thing, it shows different colors : When I add one more block not related to "supporting" the structure, it "cures the SI color problem" : I then save the blueprint, and spawn it back somewhere : Everything is now fine, except the 1st block that changed color in my 1st "L" shape when I removed a supporting block. SI needs a vacation...
I tried this and it still failed. Seemed to come closer though. With the following as hints... Looking straight down is difficult, but I do think you are on the right track here. I had never thought to position myself in the middle, or near as I could manage, of the space where I would be spawning the large base. While this worked in creative, the problem then is that in survival jump packs don't actually allow you to hover like that. So I tried with my drone. Unfortunately, there is a limit to the range of the drone, and so once again it failed. Still not sure if the having only one small red corner was because I was standing on the ground very near the final placement of the base, or if it was centered on where the drone was when I spawned the base. After creating the video, I realize someone else made a SV intended for aerial building? Where you could have it hover and then step into an area where you could still deploy and use your drone. I might want to find and bookmark that.
Searching the local snow planet... textures are definitely much better now Headed back out, with a pit stop at the starter planet for the water gens And finally, success. After the attack, the crew took Jenny to another system to lay low and repair Now, it's time to strike back. I think we'll start by disrupting Zirax shipping in the sector...
I think the "hints" you point at are indeed close to the solution. I spawned one of my big pre-made platforms (61 x 61 x 10) by floating (god mode) close to the ground behind the blueprint, so it was at the maximum distance from me, and it showed a red corner : All blocks were properly supported though : Then I flew high above the same area and put myself as close as possible to the center of the blueprint below me, and spawned it in the same spot : Perfect.
Thank you for doing all of that testing! Your conclusions explain some of SI's seemingly inconsistent behavior.
@The Tactician[ Λ ] Cool! I'll give that basestar a go over the weekend, I'm planning on trying my hand at creating a custom scenario once A8 goes public and encountering a basestar on my travels should be fitting.
Here I go again, in my basic efforts to create vehicles for us low level people. Available at level 5, and with only a small amount of base ores required, we have the Scooter: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1405598065 A couple of Gats and a mini turret means never having to say you are sorry. This is a great leveling tool, as you can zip around and grease those bugs and spiders. Often I will turn off the turret so I can use the gats and gain XP. Enjoy!
@dpburke2 , @Kassonnade , awesome! Really interesting and informative to see all the tests. Thanks for posting them
POI and other Images Spoiler: images Keep walking, there is no other planet (that) close by. Another strange effect A base i converted to a PV base. Civ hub garden, day (b4) and night (after)
