Printing Made Easy: Space Engineers Tutorial

A tutorial on how to print grids in survival Space Engineers.
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Space Engineers
0:00 Printing Intro
1:34 Printer Friendly Grids
4:50 Welder Wall
6:12 Projector Ship
9:13 Projector Setup
11:57 Printing Demo.
16:33 Final Thoughts

[@LJay205]

Correct me if i'm wrong, but i think the "Help Others" Setting just means that the welder will not change the ownership of blocks placed by other people when welding them up. 2 Welders welding the same block is already part of their default behaviour.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Hmmm, you might be right on that one. Could have swore I read somewhere a long time ago that it allowed them to help each other. I should probably test it, thanks for the heads up.

[@axialivanov6101]

Help others just means the welder will weld blocks that are already being welded by another wleder

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

That's what I thought, I'm gonna test it though when I get a chance.

[@DoremiFasolatido1979]

@@axialivanov6101 I always thought it led to a more even distribution of materials between active welders. Like when you have refineries or assemblers set to help others.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

After some testing, it does appear that the welders helping each other weld the same block is part of their default behavior. I have not tested exactly what the "Help Others" function does, but I'm inclined to believe your assessment. Thanks again for bringing this to my attention.

[@TheDovensian]

One thing I have learned in my time playing this game, is that in order to build up forces for combat, mining, or industrial purposes. The best thing one can do is specialized printing set ups that you can practice out in creative. For example, if you want to print fighters, build a printer setup in creative that can build them, then recreate the setup in survival mode, or alternatively use a blueprint and manufacture the array by “printing” it with a welding ship! It has honestly helped tremendously in survival mode when we need to mass produce vehicles, we even managed to figure out mass production of tanks in survival mode by doing this! It’s a matter of having 3 key parts. A gun printer, a turret printer, and finally, the chassis printer. It’s more complex this way, but it does allow you to build some absolutely phenomenal tanks and other vehicle types in survival without panicking and even allows for mass production if set up properly!

[@TheDovensian]

For Context: our faction is a terrestrial paramilitary industrial organization, known as Dovensus Defense Industries. In service of The Dovensian Concordant, the national government of the Dovensian Peoples, when it comes to mass production, we have learned that planetary printing and orbital shipyards are the most effective method for large scale military deployment. Due to the fact that planets are the largest concentration of resources in any given solar system, and because of this, we tend to gravitate our resources and attention to planets and securing them, rather than just asteroids or space stations

[@GhostOfSnuffles]

To print sub-grids i'll add a row of blocks connecting the subgrid to the main grid and make the connecting blocks a different color from the rest of the grid to make sure i know to grind them away later. It even works in survival which saves a ton of time.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

True, if you spend the time to prepare a good blueprint you can make anything print. Just might require a little assembly afterwards.

[@slab-dd6vj]

One point to add is: you should use something to block the printer from welding inside of it: usually a glass wall in front of the welders is the only thing you need. If you do not do this, there is a chance, for the larger small grids BP, some of the small blocks will get stuck in the welders. the glass wall stops the welding to the welder's tip Also if the form is not uniform, like the ship from the workshop, you can have multiple point of contact ex: On the workshop ship I would make a row of blocks that would touch both front prongs (that work only for the form, nothing you can do for the subgrids)

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Yeah, a glass wall is nice, works for grinders too. Decided to skip it for visual clarity, even though it's not complicated. The multiple connection points is a great idea, and one I've never thought to do myself (though a few people have suggested it at this point). No matter how long I've played I'm always finding room for improvement.

[@pushingslim]

To expand on this; if you want to "layer print" gigantic ships in space without crushing the server with hundreds of welders, make a line of welders every other block (with the blocks to the sides of the prongs filled in so it does strict layers), then have this welder stick spin on a rotor like the hand of a clock connected to your base/factory. That circle the hand makes is now the area of your printer and you didn'thave to make a football field size printer. Great for welder limits. Then pull out your blueprint with another ship tug boat style. Pi R squared baby. You're welcome.

[@johnm9263]

we now have ways to print subgrids with certain mods and plugins and if you are smart, you can do what he does here, where you just assemble the grid as part of the printing process, which is good for things like minigames where you need many many versions of the same base vehicle, and the only modifications are field modifications on-the-fly

[@JollywoodJoel]

A projection ship with multiple projection blocks for each projection is a convenient concept. I'm gonna have to do this.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Definitely saves me time and helps me share blueprints/ships with friends in multiplayer.

[@Gottaculat]

This is why I love watching basic tutorials like this, despite having over 2,900 hours in SE (almost all of it in survival), because i seem to somehow always learn something new. For example, I was actually surprised by the "help others" part. I didn't even know that was a thing.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Well, you're not the only one. Until I made this video I was under the impression that what I described is what "help others" actually did. Thanks to some helpful comments, and subsequent testing, I've found out that what I described is now a default functionality of welders. (Maybe it was changed, maybe I have always been wrong.) According to comments, "help others" allows your welders to build blocks placed or projected by another player. After they were right about what it didn't do, I'm inclined to believe them. :) Always something to learn.

[@Gottaculat]

@@ShiftyshadowTV Oh, that makes sense. That way your grid doesn't spend resources fixing someone else's ship. That would be embarrassing if your enemies were getting repairs from your welders, lol.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

XD yeah.

[@elementalblaze79]

Agreed, with me having(no joke) +10k hours, I don't know every little trick in SE and watching what others do can help me with my stuff!

[@dirkk.6573]

Thank you so very much for NOT moving the camera constantly like so many other CCs do. Pleasure to watch!

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

I have a brother who gets very sick playing/watching this game. He reminds me constantly that videos with a lot of motion are hard on him. I do my best to accommodate. Glad this one worked out for you too.

[@michealnelsonauthor]

@@ShiftyshadowTV it’s true, many game streamers film as squirrels downing crack with Red Bull. Fight the meme. Lol.

[@shadowcub5751]

A lot of great tips. I flip back and forth between designing in creative and designing in survival. I tend to use creative for more outlandish ideas and experiments, usually involving sub grids and potential Clang mayhem (mostly so blow up my base). If I go this route, I usually build and save a “prototype” blueprint that contains the shell or base idea and flesh it out in survival. But I also really enjoy the sort of organic trial and error building in survival. And having to run off to take care or something else is often a welcome break to sorting out a problem with the build.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Yeah, designing in creatine and survival are very different, but both have their positives. Mostly I design in creative recently, haven't had much time to play survival.

[@alexmay2203]

"Projectors right now do not support subgrids" remains true for the last 10 years.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

I say it that way because there are mods and plugins which make subgrid printing possible. Solutions are out there, Keen just has to implement one. Maybe... Hopefully some day.

[@chrisbensonpdx]

Thank you so much. I'm brand new to SE, still mining in my modified drop pod, and was intimidated by blueprints. But thanks to you I was able to easily print a much nicer mining ship!

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

I made this video because it's something I wish I had known when I was new. Glad it helped!

[@MrBlackdragon1230]

This is great for new players. The spinning ships printer isnt too much more advanced from this as well. Also for those that dont know about it there is a plugin system that allows subgrids to print as well, but it is something you have to be willing to add to your game.

[@shahbazfawbush]

That plugin is great

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Yup, I wish I knew this when I was new to the game. Never tried any SE plugins, but you're tempting me now.

[@MrBlackdragon1230]

@@ShiftyshadowTV you should absolutely try it. There are lots of options in the plug-in menus. I honestly couldn't imagine playing without them especially the subgrid projector plugin.

[@darkehartplays]

@@ShiftyshadowTV The subgrid projector is a godsend if you like fancy ships. I also seriously enjoy the Scroll Rotation plug in, I think it's called. It allows you to rotate blocks with your mouse wheel while holding shift. Hold alt to change which axis it rotates around, and it draws a line through the block to show you which axis is selected. It's so much better than Keen's rotation helper widget.

[@vadernation1233]

Isn’t the plug-in loader not working anymore?

[@ugib8377]

This was cool. Love the detailed explanation. I think I'll do this, but put a rotor on the end of a piston in place of the ship. Just fully extend out, project and retract piston slowly to build. I like the stationary weld wall though, the projected quick repair is a great idea. Rotor will allow you to swap heads from small / large too. So you can on the fly switch grid sizes. Thanks for the concise guide. About to roll up a combat focused survival world tomorrow. And this will def. help me print up some combat rovers/ships with ease!

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Nice, that's a good way to do it too. The repair projector is definitely a great addition to any grid.

[@TalesOfWar]

I always set up my projector ships or control seats with the actual adjustment controls. I also like to have little "pits" I can merge them with on large ships or bases etc that sit on a rotor so I can move them around if the projection is of a bigger ship. It lets you move them over a welder pit too or something. I also tend to use the checkerboard method but fill the alternate block space with a grinder so the same wall or pit doubles up as construction or deconstruction. There's a nice mod on the workshop called compact welders that panel sized welder and grinders for large and small grids. Really nice for putting on landing pads to get your ships a quick repair too.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Mixing the welders and grinders is a good idea, you might as well if you're them. I don't ever set up my hotbar controls for projectors because I only ever use them for projecting a single ship. If I want to project another I build another projector. That way I never have to set up a projector for the same ship twice, and I always have a projector set up to print a replacement. Of course of you're limited on pcu, having one projector is probably better.

[@TheYrrinotherapy]

I've been using moving walls as opposed to moving the projection for over 2k hours by now. For small grid setup of checkered welders plus a large grid piston can weld projections as fast or faster than pull method. Double the piston if you need longer small grids - that's 8 large blocks lengths. Exploring event controller functionality also helps automating the process. Another good tip is to setup welder walls outside gravity wells - allows for a relatively small tug to pull sizeable grids with more control.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Interesting. I've tried the moving wall before, but personally I find that moving the projector is more convenient and forgiving. If I mess up and miss welding something (run out of materials or go too fast) I can usually just spin my ship and finish welding it up from the side. Also, putting the projector on a ship makes setup and teardown much easier (if you're moving your base, or on a moving base) You just bring the ship with you, and only ever have to build a new wall. You never have to mess with settings or subgrids again. That's all mostly for small grids though. For large grids I tend to do it in space with a simple large grid welder ship and a stationary projector. (Most of the servers I play on have limited welder block count, so I cannot easily build a printer for large grids.) Yes, doing these kinds of things is always easier without gravity. I love it.

[@PrimordialNightmare]

In my survival world I have a large grid ship for printing. it has a small projector on an underslung stick on a hinge that I can flip forward when printing small grids. Since I only printed in space so far I've put my biggest thrusters for reverse thrust, so I can keep pulling back at a steady place even when printing a sizable large grid ship. Some considerations I've come across: -putting projectors directly on battery blocks, so you can basically just place those two blocks and start buildign from there, if a proper print setup is currently unavailable. currently making that my standard practice on new blueprints -If PCU is not your biggest concern right now: put merge blocks on your projector ships and blueprints, that way you can print them off and just let go, rather than grinding down and replacing blocks on the projector ship. -I have set up 2 Hotbars per projector to handle blueprint lineup, being able to increase or decrease each offset and angle with a single button tap. ... I did that because doing it rather blindly in the menu annoyed me. I did not know about the reducing opacity option xD -make sure you have enough materials and/or production quotas (per mod or script) set or printing, especially large grids, might not work out as intended. Aside from that, and due to huge PCU costs it's probably only going to be practical on single player or a private server with unlimited PCU, I started building a modular design. After I found the acceleration of the current large grid ship I'm using lackluster I went into creative and worked out the design of a large thruster nacelle which I could simply stick onto my ship and back in survival I made the slight alteration to make my ship compatible (and obviously increased the version number) worked out pretty well, with the caveat that my desing ended up having a few silly blocks that are only attached via 1 face which made the printing process slightly more finnicky.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

All good considerations. I actually had the same thought about putting projectors near batteries years ago. I still thinks it's good for large grids, but I've stopped doing it for small grids as I've never found it relevant in their case.

[@Orsa1305]

very informative, thank you.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Thanks for watching, hope it helps!

[@jareddiscipio1768]

Hey cool tip: try the build vision + build info mod combo. These workshop mods let you see detailed information about blocks (build info) as well as configure any blocks control panel while moving around as the player (build vision). It gives you the option of a radial control panel, or a rectangle control panel that sticks to the viewport so you can fly around and adjust the projector offsets super easy!!!

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Yeah, build info and build vision are great quality of life mods. Definitely worth adding if you can. Good tip.

[@VeilingSun]

11:33-11:36 This a very handy step, and it is over in 3 seconds with not a word xD

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

True, I should have mentioned that you can change slider bar numbers precisely by [Ctrl]+[Left Mouse Button] clicking on the slider bar area. Very useful.

[@RvKsword]

thank you for a very concise tutorial, made it very easy to understand how it works, now i can go make things overly complicated on my own!

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Hahaha, have fun!

[@RvKsword]

@@ShiftyshadowTV so as promised...complications LOL! For anyone else that had my problems....I made a projector ship, made a welder wall, loaded up a super basic little runabout blueprint and...the welders would do nothing. spent hours playing with settings, rebuilt the wall, rebuilt the ship, rebuilt the blueprint, eventually made an exact copy of your setup, went in creative, survival, I could build it by hand, but could not for the life of me get the welder wall to work. After searching forums I figured out the problem, I was at the PCU limit, even tho I had turned on "Ignore PCU limits" in admin, apparently certain things like welder walls still pay attention to the world settings (ignorance was not in fact bliss in this situation). For those who didnt know (like ME) go to Load Game, select your world, Edit Settings, Advanced, and set the Total PCU slider all the way to the left "disabled". Once I did that, welder worked perfectly.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

@@RvKsword Dang, that is an annoying problem to run into. It should give you a popup in red saying you're at your PCU limit, but I suppose if you're not in a control seat of the base (with the wall attached) you wouldn't see it. Which of course you're not when you're flying the projector ship. Figures.

[@RvKsword]

@@ShiftyshadowTVyea little more grief than I'd like to figure it out, but in the end got it done and learned some new tricks so amma chalk it up as a win :)

[@devox6793]

Thanks for these useful tips! me and my friends will now be able to get new ships very fast and repair them easily!

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Awesome, enjoy your ships!

[@Gunslinging_Photographer]

A tip for repairing, for a damaged section, what I do is I have a grinder wall and just chop into the damaged area, damaged or welded so instead of fiddling with what's damaged or slightly damaged or having to do it by hand, I can cut out a hole big enough for a weld buggy or weld wall to go in and redo the section entirely and quickly. Only for big ships. Small ones I just destroy or grind up and reprint.

[@donovonpavloff970]

​@@Gunslinging_PhotographerI'm so confused on what you just said. I've got 21 hours so far lol

[@Gunslinging_Photographer]

@@donovonpavloff970 you'll learn eventually

[@zeonos]

Another easy to follow video for a beginner player! Thanks a lot.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Hope it helps!

[@zeonos]

@@ShiftyshadowTV It did, just made my first printer... tried to print a drone with an active AI Move block, so it got "stuck" until i toggled the block off. The glass wall in front as mentioned in the comments is really nice because it gives a natural stop blok when position the projector ship.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

@@zeonos Yeah, the glass wall is certainly a good addition. If you find yourself unable to move always check that the AI blocks are off. Also check the control seats (or cockpits) of the ship you are printing. If any of them are set to "Main Cockpit" then you will lose control as soon as they are printed.

[@spartan456]

My all-time favorite variety of printer is one I slap together using MArmOS. The guides on this script look overwhelmingly complicated, but the reality is it's as simple as building a tutorial arm by hand, and simply using conveyered rotors in the build to get it hooked into your main base storage. The arms are not that complicated to build by hand either, the most important thing is to memorize the building process and ideally, color code the rotors and name them for scripting purposes later. The cool thing about these arms is, depending on the complexity of the one you decide to use, it can maneuver and pivot around a single point with extreme precision, and can extend quite far. Basically, it's like flying a welding ship, without having to constantly fly back and forth to refill on components, or fight gravity. The other cool part about using MArmOS for this purpose is the arm can be refit for mining. A lot of people like to build drills on the side of their base to convert all the stone into necessary materials, but you can also do the same with with a manually controlled mechanical arm. Hoover up a bunch of stone, then swap the end of the arm out for a welder and you're ready to start welding up anything. It even goes a step further, as these arms can also be used to further build out parts of your base.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

I don't think I've ever used something like that. I've just always kept my printer setups as simple as possible as I generally only use them to produce early game ships. What you're describing might be cool to try some time though. As an end game build in and of itself.

[@christianhorn1999]

never thought about a projector ship, thx

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Thanks for watching, hope you get some use out of it.

[@christianhorn1999]

@@ShiftyshadowTV i'll try that

[@Jack_Wolfe]

With mini merge blocks you can print them as one grid, one ship a while back did this, it had a “setup program” which once printed, you pressed a button and it would detach the merge blocks and attach the rotors and hinges etc at he same time, let you grind off the merge blocks, then you press another button to finish the angling of the hinges and rotors.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

That must have been a complex system, because you cannot merge a subgrid that is attached directly through a hinge or rotor. If the base and head parts overlap at all (which they do for those parts) it makes the merge fail. I'm not sure you can even print a grid with both the piston base and head attached. Must have used a lot of pistons to offset the separated parts. Then, when done printing: extend piston base, attach piston head, unmerge, align rotor and hinge parts with positions, attach rotors and hinges, detach pistons, retract pistons, rotate hinges and rotors to desired angle. Very cool, but complicated and it would add a number of otherwise unused pistons to your grid.

[@christiankomodo]

This is great! Very helpful.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Thanks, glad you liked it. Hope you get some cool ships printed up.

[@christiankomodo]

@@ShiftyshadowTV I wish I had seen this before my buddies and I hand-built the big blue ship from the creative levels. It took like three days.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

@@christiankomodo We've all been there. Printing large grids can be a bit tricky anyway. Depending on how the blocks are placed welders can have a hard time reaching them.

[@TminusDoom]

For extra credit, build a projector on its own (in space or off the ground so that it starts a new grid) then paste your build on to it. The grid pivot point is how the projector orients the blueprint. No need to move the blueprint. (You can see a grids pivot point by turning them on in the info tab) Another thing to watch out for are thrusters. Especially when using a piston to retract a blueprint from the welder wall. Make sure thrusters are off in the blueprint or else Klang will come knocking. There have also been times when printing a bigger ship than the projector ship, the gyros weren't enough to maneuver. In some rare cases I came across a bug that made the projector ship sluggish even after disconnecting. I ended up having to rebuild the ship from scratch after that. (On public servers, I couldn't just copy paste it to fix)

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Pasting onto a projector is a good idea. Would make setup for printing grids much easier. True, thrusters and cockpits which are set up as "main cockpit" can throw off your printing experience. I've never had my ship remain sluggish after detaching though, that's a strange one.

[@TminusDoom]

@@ShiftyshadowTV I can only guess to what actually went wrong. Probably the game having troubles calculating mass correctly when the ship went from around 100k to about 10x that plus the fact that it was running on official server with a max of .8 sim speed with dips to .2 when someone decides to test a new design in atmosphere for the first time. (I swear I had the parachutes set up correctly). Could also have been something to do with the way the gyros were set up on it. It was originally my tunneling miner with 2 gyros, one set to override spin to make a smooth bore. Maybe it was Brick making a sacrifice to Klang to get revenge on me. Who knows for sure.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Oof, yeah, official servers. They're always a little special. Hahah.

[@teddyscraft7284]

Bro you ended with my hours of pain, thank you!!

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Glad I could help. Took me years of playing till I converted to this method (at least for small grids). It's especially useful early in a playthrough, but I use it consistently throughout.

[@ImThe5thKing]

That Scorpius looks sick. It's obviously the Scorpius from Star Citizen but the author did an amazing job on it! I hope the wings fold out like they do in Star Citizen

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Yup, they do. The builder did a really good job.

[@Neuralatrophy]

Complex ships are easy enough to do if you include a jig in the blueprint. Basically a chunk of blocks set up to connect the grid and print from which you remove later. Had to do it for some of my large grids in the past as well.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

That's a good idea. Takes some preparing but can work nicely.

[@Neuralatrophy]

@@ShiftyshadowTV I've also seen multigrid ships done like that too, cut up and printed as one unit with the jig, chop the jig at specific points and the parts fall into place for attachment. used mostly for custom rover turrets on the LSG channel... see it occasionally on the mad max series.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

I can see that being very nice for custom turrets.

[@ElusiveGhost]

*adds to watch later, I needed this!

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Should be useful for your next playthrough. :)

[@ElusiveGhost]

Might be a good one to play on stream 🤔

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Maybe, though it could also seem a bit long winded if you're familiar with printing and/or projector blocks. I tried to cover everything thoroughly.

[@imperialspacemarine1539]

little tip whith welding taps: you can design ships with mergeblocks as connection points: this way you dont need to grind anything and instead just turn them of to seperate the grids. the small mergeblocks work wonder with that. just put one as the welding tap and one on the projected ship in a way that would make them merge et voila easy to print detach and attach to repair ships.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

That's a good tip, I do that for any ships I plan to print many of.

[@TheApawcalypseCats]

been trying to figure out how to get mine to work this was the video i was looking for thanks bro

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Awesome, glad you got it working! Have fun with your new ships. Also, that's a great name you got there. Apawcalypse = 10/10

[@TheApawcalypseCats]

Lol glad someone got the play on words, since I started a series with my friends, who haven't played any se I needed something like this on our base so we can get some better content with out spending all of it on building

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Less time building is definitely good for a multiplayer series.

[@TheApawcalypseCats]

@@ShiftyshadowTV that's what I was thinking, maybe some but not a whole 10 episodes worth unless it's like splitsies series now building a capital ship lol

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Yeah, when it comes to building it depends how much I plan and edit. The more of one I do the less of the other I need. I haven't watched anything from Splitsie recently, but with enough experience you can probably make a series out of anything. He's always had quality content.

[@radamesalvarez-rivera6719]

Hello 👋 new how to video definitely like your how to videos keep them coming

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Will do :D

[@MegaLordOfdestructio]

Well dude, i learn every day.... That projector ship.... Thats something i havent thought of.. and i play SE since planets has been added... Shame on me but also sub for ya... I like your content alot and that projector ship im gonna build it as soon as my work week end

[@dirty_beggar6277]

I have over 3k hrs on this game. I did not know about changing the UI background opacity when aligning a projection though !!! Thanks for the tip :D

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Understandable, its not something I figured out till probably 1k hours in myself. Haha.

[@cabbageplays6710]

Ive got about 800 hours in this game, and 3 days ago was when i first used a weld wall. I am the slowest person on the planet for not doing it sooner. Make a ship in creative, test the ship works for what its meant for, then just print it off in survival. So much better. I was always a fan of symmetry for ships as well, until 3 days ago, and now i think the asymmetry is just as good, if not better. Still cant find a good reason to use the circle armour tho, really need to figure that one out.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

You're not alone, I played for a really long time designing everything in survival. It's not a bad thing though, you get a really good feel for what is easy to build and maintain that way. Yeah, I always forget that rounded armor exists. I'm also a fan of asymmetry. Even if the overall shape is symmetrical having asymmetry in the details, interior, and/or paint is cool.

[@cptlagalot2750]

A great idea is adding glass infront of the welders so that blocks dont weld inbetween the welders. :)

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

True, that is certainly a wise addition. That will keep you from getting your new grid suck in the welders (uncommon, but annoying when it happens).

[@zxmusefabrication6134]

Nice RSI Scorpius in the white and yellow :)

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

For sure, all credit for it goes to AlliedArmor32107-[DGI]- steamcommunity.com/workshop/filedetails/?id=2980092190

[@abacus3550]

Will always use the mod/plugin that allows subgrid support for projectors.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

If it's an option go for it. (Unfortunately I often play on servers without it.)

[@dstyd]

2:25 you could just connect both points with blocks then delete the extra block when done.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

True, that's a good solution.

[@ThatGuy-bx4yi]

Hopefully because I'm not stealing and already 'stolen' design, I like the way the projectors are magazined. I'm gonna use that more often like they're stuffed in open space in my ships lol Taking cargo management to a different perspective :b

[@AlanGChenery]

With regards to maintaining immersion when using creative to prototype for survival: I ensure i always make a 'design room' on my survival bases/ships, with a programmable block and seating (ideally also a desk and holotable), and in my head thats the computer that runs the 'creative design' software. Just the same way you can open up your design aoftware to tweak an STL before 3d printing. Lol.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Nice. I don't usually build a room for it, but in my head that's how it works. If my ship is large enough to accommodate it I might start building those.

[@TheIceThorn]

the solution is a gyroscopic 360° printer that expands slowly and prints ships. Once printed the rings aligns and the ship can leave.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Definitely the solution for slowest and most unnecessarily complicated printer. XD Might look cool in time lapse though.

[@TheIceThorn]

@@ShiftyshadowTV but it can print any possible shape of ship, aside multi-grid ones.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Yeah, it could print more complicated shapes than a linear printer, assuming no printer or blueprint specific modifications. If we're excluding those modifications, I'm fairly certain I could design a ship that that type (or any given type) of printer couldn't print. I don't think there's anything wrong with the idea, it's certainly cool, it's just not simple.

[@TheIceThorn]

@@ShiftyshadowTV of course, it's a rube goldberg printing machine xD

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Haha, yeah. End game printing. It's not about what you print, it's about how you print it.

[@szymusiek22]

When I made printer (ages ago) I found out (for large grids) antenna can be build inside of welder (explosive ouch). Putting windows in front of welders helps with this issue.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Yup, definitely a good safety measure.

[@dham99]

Im not sure if theres a way to add blocks to the build list in a ship, like you can in your suit (hover over a block in the g menu, then tap the mouse scroll wheel to add it, then mouse scroll wheel once over any connected port on your base grid)... but it would be nice if you could be in your ship, connected to a connector, sit there and add materials/components to the ship inventory...then detach, and go print. I have been doing this manually where Ill grab all components needed in my suit, add to ship (alt+center mouse wheel), repeat until i have most blocks I can think of. Another option is to grab a piece of paper, calculate all the materials you'll need by number of each block (30 thrusters, 4 batteries, drills, cargo containers, etc). Even better would be, since the projector already KNOWS what blocks you need, as it can keep track of whats completed, it should have an option to 'collect all materials for projection'...then as long as your base has all the parts and your ship can hold the mats, it'll be nice and full for your one stop print job!

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

To take a phrase from the Keen book, "there are mods for that". Unfortunately there's not much projector to assembler or projector to inventory functionality built into the vanilla game yet. Would certainly be nice.

[@DmytroBogdan]

3:38 that looks so cool

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Yeah, that ship had a lot of parts, was cool to see them all spread out.

[@Gummypuss]

I call it cutting off the umbilical cord lol

[@fredpryde8555]

thank you i just bought game so trying to learn as much as i can

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Welcome to SE, hope this helps speed things up for you!

[@ClimberD-tn3xl]

I never though of doing a projects ship. That would make printing so much easier early game before you have a big base built

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

It certainly does. It's the first ship I build, then I print up drill and construction ships for making bigger things.

[@ClimberD-tn3xl]

@@ShiftyshadowTV completely changed how I'll play my early game!

[@anthonydallalio5716]

First, Thank you for all your videos and help. Your tutorials are excellent and very informative (helpful). I have printed your Atmos B miner and love it. I want to set up a printer like you have in this video. I looked at all of your blueprints but cannot find one for your printer ship in this video. Do you have a blueprint for it? I think I could duplicate it from the video but now you have spoiled me with printing. It is just so much more efficient and a real time saver. Thank you again for all of your information and help! Doc

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying my videos and builds! I do not have a blueprint for my projector ship as I tend to slap together a new one each time, and I only upload polished builds. It's mostly just thrusters and batteries, nothing special. Perhaps I'll make a printer ship with some of my most used small grids already loaded into the projectors. That might be a good upload, we'll see.

[@anthonydallalio5716]

Thanks for the quick reply. I am going to try to build it just from looking at your video. I love your builds. Thanks again.

[@anthonydallalio5716]

I went ahead and try to replicate your build. I actually learned how to use those plates for those nice finishing trims, and that was a good thing to learn. However, it would not thrust up. Just to be certain there’s only two batteries in that build and those are large atmospheric thrusters in the back, correct? They just wouldn’t work And I had everything hooked up right so I want to make sure those are vanilla large atmospheric thrusters and just two regular batteries. All the other thrusters function, but it would not go up in the air. I could go in all other cardinal directions, but not up. I disconnected the landing gear which I put on the front and it fell backwards and the motors just would not come on or thrust it up. as you can tell I’m very new at this, so I apologize for not knowing more about thrusters and batteries and their consumption or their functionality. Thank you again

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

I just saw this, so hopefully you got it working by now. You are correct, the ship only has two large batteries and two large atmospheric thrusters. They are all default blocks that come with the base game. I suspect that your thrusters were just bugged out. It happens with space engineers. At the risk of sounding silly, here's how I usually fix those types of issues: turn them off and back on again, toggle your inertial dampeners [z], check the block menu to see if they have "thruster override" on.

[@anthonydallalio5716]

You were correct. I have fixed it. I just deleted them and re-installed them and it worked so you were right it’s just probably a glitch. However, the information you gave me I will keep in mind for future use. Thanks again for replying👍👍.

[@Gummypuss]

For me I don’t know why creative mode kills the gun for me. I like struggling building a ship I like dealing fuel low energy low the voice I hear in my nightmares. I’ve built stuff in creative mostly space station and big frigates. Survival is just nice I like working for my ships it makes the payoff high amazing!

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Even if you design everything in survival this is still useful if you want to build multiple copies of something, or get something that you designed in a previous survival playthrough. You can also use projectors to make repairing your stuff easier in survival.

[@wrinkmd]

This is fine and good I just wish you would have started from where you made the first ship. How to setup from there

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

I'm noticing that a good number of people feel this way. As someone who's exceedingly familiar with the game I sometimes overlook and underestimate the difficulty of things. With this video, I figured that seeing the projector ship was enough because all of its parts are visible. If paused, one should be able to recreate. In hindsight, I should have taken a moment to explain the ship itself. I've certainly learned from this. Thanks for your response.

[@Redfur2002]

I was curious, so I made a one welder one piston printer, it's able to print small grid 100-350 Block rover, no matter what you build with your printer always ask yourself what you are going to print and keep in mind.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Yup, always good to keep your goals in mind. No need to overbuild.

[@stianaasland9740]

You can print subgrids if you use the multigrid plugin, not sure if server also have to have it if playing MP though

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Good to know. I've never tried it before.

[@stevenwalker933]

Projecting the ship and building all the essentials taking up sooo much time to doing a hole thing while spending resources that are needed else then building it all up simply is the lazy way of doing things going with doing it the old fashion way 😂😂😂 but thx!

[@pwprout]

I also do the same where i design in creative and then transpose the blueprint to Survival.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

It really saves time and lets you focus on other aspects of survival play.

[@metazare]

I can't believe I never thought to have something like a projector ship. I've been playing this since it was first put on early access and I never thought to do something like that. I am not creative enough to think of things like this...

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

That's just part of SE being a sandbox engineering game. Everyone comes up with different solutions to the problems, and no one thinks of everything. I've been playing since around the same time and still I learn something new every time I play. Glad I could share this one with you.

[@eri_c]

Is there a way to make all the components required to weld the blueprint easily in survival?

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Not in the vanilla game, unfortunately. I try to overestimate what I'll need and produce it all ahead of time. With a little practice you can get pretty good at it. There are mods that make it easy, if you're interested. One is called "Projections to Assembler". Never used it myself, but it's highly rated: steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1289485324&searchtext=projection+to+assembler

[@gavinpowell4607]

Great tutorial thanks, the audio is a bit muffled like you're talking through a radio?

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Thanks. Audio sounds fine to me, but I might just be used to it. My microphone isn't high quality by any means.

[@travispluid3603]

I do wonder why you have a grindable tab, instead of a Merge Block that you can just toggle on and off- just for the convenience of not having to have a merge block on the printed ship?

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Pretty much. If I'm going to print many copies of something (and/or fully automate the process) I will add merge blocks. For single time prints I just line it up wherever I can attach. I also often play on PCU limited servers, so I would remove the merge blocks after printing. In which case I might as well not use them.

[@dragonmaster1500]

2:45 I actually think you could print that double forked ship without too much difficulty starting from the back. It would need a T-junction to attach to both of the rear engine pods instead of starting from a single attachment point. They're all part of the same grid so it wouldn't be too hard for it to meet for the middle section. Unless those are subgrid engine pods, then it gets a bit more difficult. It does depend on what sort of printer setup you're using though. Is it a small room with a ton of welders all over the walls? Is it a piston contraption that pulls the projection out of the welder wall? and so on. Edit: I just realized parts of the back of the main body might not get printed properly if you were to use my method, well it could technically still work, it would just need another attachment point for that.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Yeah, if it was just the shape that ship wouldn't be terribly difficult to print. It's was only a decent example for that point. Mainly I chose that grid because it has about 20 subgrids (which wouldn't print in vanilla).

[@dragonmaster1500]

@@ShiftyshadowTV Yeah, 20 or so subgrids is a bit much for printing. An idea just occurred to me though. If one were to blueprint all of the subgrids and have those blueprints being projected with projectors on the main body of the ship, would it hen be possible to print the entire thing in one go do you think? Might need a bit more of a complicated setup than just a welder wall, but it might work. I'd test it myself but my computer still can't run SE. (Or, well, it probably can, but the physics calculations would probably be too much for the amount of RAM I have).

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

I don't believe it would work. The sub grids (even if projected in place) would have no connection point to start welding from unless merged to the main grid. Even if they were, the rotor and hinge heads would fail to print because they're technically trying too take up the same space as their body. You could blueprint all the subgrids and print them separately, then line up and reattach them after (which can be automated, complexly). That's probably your best bet in vanilla.

[@skullyboi1215]

Could you replace the block on the front of the projector ship that you have to manually remove with landing gear or a magnetic thingy

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

You could use a merge block, you would also need a merge block on the vehicle that you are building, and you would have to line up the blueprint so that they are connected when it prints.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Landing gears and magnetic plates won't work because what you print has to be attached to (part of the same grid as) the projector.

[@skullyboi1215]

@@ShiftyshadowTV Damn thats a shame. Thanks for the response tho.

[@majuleznfs]

Can you link here or add the Projector ship you used to the workshop you have listed in the description?

[@wilcojar]

Has anyone experimented with adding a trailer underneath blueprints and using a tow rover to pull the trailer and new ship along to be made.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Yeah, it can work. You need to make sure the blueprint attaches to the front of the trailer so it can print from that point as you drive away.

[@CaptFuzzy]

Any chance that you could upload that projector ship to the workshop? I never thought to do this and I must admit, this is very clever indeed.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

I can do that, but I'm out of town for a couple weeks here. (Away from my PC) It's very bare bones, if you pause the video you can see everything that's on it. Copying it or slapping together your own shouldn't be too bad.

[@CaptFuzzy]

@@ShiftyshadowTV That's fine, I'm a patient person, I can wait... lol

[@ColinJordanVanDerMerwe-tr1kv]

Will the NX 01 Enterprise be hard to print in space engineers ?

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

No, that one wouldn't be too bad. A couple extra support struts for the nacelles and you can do it in one pass. (Assuming no subgrids in the blueprint.)

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

If you're talking about a full scale model, then yeah, that would be hard. Only because SE isn't optimized for grids that big though.

[@sleepdeep305]

Kind of a silly question, but could you theoretically use this to build parts of a space station or base? I am a total noob but this game certainly seems like a streamlined Starmade, which I used to love playing.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Yes, you could use this to build parts of anything. Just load the blueprint of what you want to add into the projector, line it up, gather the parts, and start welding.

[@max_bro34]

that ship is the RSI Scorpius from Star Citizen, isnt it?

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

yup

[@valdemarsimonsen9612]

Not sure why I did it but one time I wanted to print a ship I designed in creative and for whatever reason I wanted a 82K PCU ship for solo survival so I just ended up downloading the Build and Repair System mod because any amount of welding ships wouldn't be enough😅

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Hahaha yeah, that's another option.

[@blackknight4623]

Question, does the projector ship (the one pulling the ship being printed) need to be handbuild?

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Technically no, you could use a previously printed ship to do it. But yeah, if you don't have a ship you can use as a projector ship you'll have to build one to do it this way. Alternatively you could use a projector on a piston to print up your first ship.

[@blackknight4623]

@@ShiftyshadowTVthat’s a mighty shame as I have zero clue how to build a projector ship 😂 I’m sure I can find a tutorial somewhere. Thanks for the advice!

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

If you pause the video you should be able to copy the one I'm using. I know it's not a perfect solution, but all the blocks in the ship are visible, and only the projector requires special setup (which I showed in the video). You're not there only one that pointed this out to me. I'll keep things like this in mind for the future. Thanks for the feedback.

[@CoralCHeads]

Great video. Noob here just started playing. Only thing you might have added would be what kind of “materials” go into the container. Is it ingots or do I need to put rotors, computers, steel plates, etc. cuz I have no idea what to put in the large container so I can start printing l😢😢😂😂😂

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Good point, I didn't cover that. You need components (rotors, computers, steel plates, etc.). And I always recommend overestimating what you'll need before you start printing. When you're new you might not have a good feel for how much you'll need, but after a few tries you'll get good at it.

[@CoralCHeads]

@@ShiftyshadowTV Thanks, is there some where that tells me a list of everything that the ship I’m projecting takes?

[@CoralCHeads]

@@ShiftyshadowTV found the list. 👍

[@DmytroBogdan]

You kind of skipped the process of getting resources into the large cargo container. How to measure how much of stuff do I need and should I create parts or setting assemblers or coveyers will be enough?

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Yup, there have been a lot of questions about those topics. I was so focused on explain the printing that I didn't think to discuss how to get the components. It's hard to strike a balance between being thorough and staying on topic. Unfortunately, I also overlook some things simply because I've played the game a lot and not knowing how to do something doesn't even cross my mind until someone points it out. You do need to create the parts beforehand, and make sure that they are in inventories (cargo containers, assemblers, etc.) attached to your welders. In the vanilla game there is no quick way to tell how much of each component you'll need. I always just overestimate, but if you have access to mods there are ones which will make sure you have the materials. (Projector to Assembler for example).

[@kingket4]

There a mod called nano bots it’s slower but helps

[@mauritz1774]

The biggest problem in survival is how to know what plock is not Finished becurese the Materials are out of stock. How you handle the continius Material supply? And in large Builds, how to reach the Missing Blocks

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

True, with large prints I take it very slow. Monitor the materials and print one layer at a time. If any material runs out, pause and restock it before moving to the next layer. That way you can fly around and check everything in the slice too. Sometimes things won't print on large grids though. This happens when a block is only attached to blocks which cannot be printed yet, and then will be out of range of the welders once the blocks are printed. Most often this happens when a small block is placed on a large block (a gyro on a jump drive for example). In my opinion this is bad ship design, but a lot of people do it. Those blocks often have to be welded by hand, and may be difficult to get to. When designing ships try to avoid small blocks only attached to big blocks.

[@BlackRedDead1943]

Hey, i like your videos, they are structured in a way that really helps new players understand things (^.^)-d But, telling them building a projector ship on a planet, just invites desaster! - the best printers are stationary, using a piston with a wall large enough to cover the whole width&heigh of a ship, and print it from back to front or vice versa - just put the piston at a slow retracting speed to make sure everything along the way is printed properly! (oh, and set the printer up in a way the welding arm reaches all the way into the projection!) Ofc such printers need to be purpose build and aren't as flexible - but the proposed solution is almost exclusively used in space and only viable for small prints on a planet, and eighter way can become very janky very fast if the server has tools shaking left on! (wich is also one of the reason the opposite, a welding ship, is a bad idea - ofc it can work, but this game can have very "funny" moments then xD)

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

True, printing this way is most commonly done in space. I think I mentioned that in the video somewhere. Either way, I've been printing small grids in atmosphere for many years with excellent results. I think it's a good introduction to printing, as it's simple enough to learn and implement. Hopefully new players can innovate and improve from there. That is the joy of this game. There's always something to learn and some way to improve.

[@szap1337]

I have a problem with this method. Whenever i'm printing something the second the welders weld up the cockpit of the projected blueprint i lose all controll of the connected contraption. I have to get out of the control seat of the projector ship and enter the cockpit of the unfinished blueprint to controll it. I tried with many different blueprints and its all the same. If i grind down the connector block everything returns to normal on the projection ship. idk what to do to fix this

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

This will happen if the ship you are printing has its cockpit/control seat set to "main cockpit". The same problem can occur if you try to print AI blocks that are on. You can fix it by changing the settings in your menu once the block is welded. Or you can take a fresh blueprint of whatever you're panning to print, making sure these settings are fixed first.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Active remote controls might also cause this.

[@szap1337]

@@ShiftyshadowTV Thank you for the very quick response! For some reason i had the cockpit on the blueprints set to "main cockpit" and unchecking it then replacing the blueprint with new settings fixed the issue.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Awesome, glad it's working for you now! I should have mentioned that in the video. Hard to think of everything though :)

[@williamlewis1805]

Woah the RSI Scorpius?

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

All credit for it goes to AlliedArmor32107-[DGI]- steamcommunity.com/workshop/filedetails/?id=2980092190

[@amatoyoichi8468]

one thing that i like about subgrid not being printable with main ship is that you can use crane or stuff to assemble your ship isnt that cool.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

It definitely makes the building process more interesting.

[@robinandersson99]

small thing but personally i prefer building a printing rover instead of a printing ship, it feels at least to me that there are way less things that could go wrong

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Yeah, that's also an option. I've had very few problems with my projector ships and I like to use them for a variety of other tasks too. It really depends on your playstyle though, a rover might be better.

[@CaptainSkinnySK]

I feel like more could go wrong with a rover as it requires ground contact and cannot seamlessly move in all directions like a ship can.

[@jackrobson1145]

I'm on xbox and I get if you won't know but how can I tell how much materials the print is going to need? Or do I just need to shove thousands of each type in the storage block

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

In the vanilla game there is no way to do this easily. After printing a few things you'll probably get a feel for how much materials you need. I generally just overestimate as best I can. I do not know what mods are available for xbox, but there are some for PC that will send the required materials from your projector to your assembler production list. It may be worth looking for something like that.

[@jackrobson1145]

@@ShiftyshadowTV thanks ill give it a look!

[@TheArcher455]

Hey is the blueprint for the projector ship available on the workshop lol 😂

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

It's not, I just slapped it together for this video (and that's usually the same thing I do in survival). If you pause you should be able to reproduce it, all the parts are visible. If you're building on a planet I recommend using 2 large atmospheric thruster, 2 normal sized batteries, and two gyroscopes. Then just a few thrusters in every other direction and a control seat. That seems to do the job for me every time. In space you can use ion thrusters and batteries. One large thruster in each direction feels good, but you can get away with small ones too.

[@Forsaken_Soul]

Bro is there a blueprint on the shop for the triangular orange and white ship? That shit is 🔥🔥🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥! 😂😂😂

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Yes, it's in the description.

[@Forsaken_Soul]

@@ShiftyshadowTV I downloading it for my PS5 Server! It's computer compatible too!

[@EasyDeamonslilDeamon]

I skipped through the vid a little bit, sorry bout this. Is there a way to que all required materials for the build in advance?

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Not in the vanilla game. There are mods which will make that possible, here's one example: steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1488278599&searchtext=projector+to+assembler

[@EasyDeamonslilDeamon]

Thanks for the aid bossmans@@ShiftyshadowTV

[@user-se8wf9zo1w]

Please help! Let’s say one wants to print a large grid ship and ones printer setup is connected to the assemblers and refineries. Do I need to manually make all the materials before printing, or do they automatically get added to a que from the projection? I want to make a printer setup for large grid but this has me stumped.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

The assemblers and refineries will not automatically make components. You will have to queue them up manually. You should make sure you have all the components you will need already made before you start printing. If you're unsure how much of everything you will need, try to overestimate. If you want to be very careful you can pause the printing after each layer and look around to make sure everything is getting welded. Also, you could keep checking your inventory and if you run out of any component, pause the print and make more. While they are producing check to make sure the stuff you've already printed is complete and not missing those components. Always best to overestimate and have components left over.

[@user-se8wf9zo1w]

@@ShiftyshadowTV ok appreciate that my man, huuuge help. Perhaps large cargoes with each different component could work too? Wire it up to pause if one goes empty. The new AI blocks should make that possible. Appreciate the help again tho my entire printer design was held up by that lol.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Yeah, that's not a bad idea, some of the components you could use small cargo containers for too (anything that's small or you don't use much of).

[@user-se8wf9zo1w]

@@ShiftyshadowTV Hmm I didn’t consider that, I was thinking about the mess of sorters and some way to keep it compact as possible.

[@targard.quantumfrack6854]

@@user-se8wf9zo1w I believe there is a mod that let the projector "order" components from the assemblers

[@notrefan]

I have a setup but the welders won't print the projected ship

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

You need all the components for welding the blocks in inventories (cargo containers, assemblers, etc.) and attached to the welders (through conveyors or directly). You'll have to estimate the parts you need unless you have access to mods (such as Projector to Assembler). Other than that, make sure your projected blueprint is touching the grid with the projector (and will actually attach when printed).

[@notrefan]

@@ShiftyshadowTV So I need all of the resources met before the printers begin printing?

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

@@notrefan Not all of them, just the materials needed to print the block you're starting with. I recommend trying to have all of them ready though. I don't know how new you are to the game, so don't be offended if this is silly, but make sure your welders are turned on (the tips should be red).

[@drew21t]

Use a welder mod, the welders default range is trash. I use 4x mod.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

If you have the power to do so that's not a bad option. Personally, I've found that my ships which can be printed with vanilla range often have more robust and concise designs. So designing with the printer limits in mind falls into my comfort zone.

[@drew21t]

@@ShiftyshadowTV Indeed. My suggestion is mainly for those who build a printing machine that can accommodate many BPs. The printing machine has to be pretty complex to automate the building of even simple designs. So bumping the welder back to the old range is to me the best option. Especially if you're building a printer on a larger Capital ship. You don't need as many clangy parts.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

@@drew21t Yeah, for complex printers it's super nice. I honestly didn't know the old range was 4x larger. That's crazy. I've been playing the game since it was first available on Steam, but I didn't start printing things till way later.

[@drew21t]

@@ShiftyshadowTV Yea they nerfed welders hard a few years ago, that nerf is why you see a lot of really cool but complex printing machines being built in videos for any large grid ships. Used to be able to print off whole large grids but the nerf made that impossible unless you built a piston rotor contraction with lots of timer blocks to do the auto printing for you. Some people have done it but the amount of time it takes to make the printer makes it not worth it. So I just use a mod to extend the range back to the original.

[@HashknightGaming]

The heck category is the welder in?

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Block Tools. Putting the Grinder on your hotbar will let you scroll to it as well.

[@HashknightGaming]

@@ShiftyshadowTV Thanks the ai blocks are easier than the rest of this so far. 😅

[@Debbiebabe69]

You said 'most of your ships will be small grid ships'... What is the actual use of small grid ships? Ive only ever used large, as a small grid ship cant even mine and haul enough ore to build a single standard refinery .....

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

I said, [referring to small grids] "they are the most common thing you are going to want to be printing, most likely". I believe this because there are far more benefits to printing small grids than there are for printing large grids. However, if you wish to print a large grid ship it can be done in a similar fashion. It's simply less beneficial, so it's less likely you will want to print your large grids compared to your small grids. I did not say that most of your ships would be small grid. Everyone plays differently, if you only use large grid, that's perfectly fine. I assure you a small grid can carry plenty of ore in a single trip if you design it to do so.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

The game is a sandbox, the purpose of basically anything is to give you more options so you can do whatever you like with them, including nothing. Small grids give people the option to create ships at a smaller scale and/or with more intricate detail.

[@Debbiebabe69]

@@ShiftyshadowTV hmm never had any luck with small grids myself, I usually go for 8-drill large grids for starter mining ships, but asap try and move on to 15-drill large grids that can drill a hole big enough for the mining ship with banks of large cargo containers to get through. Really love the printer design though, its MUCH faster to create ships in creative then print them, just managed a 27-drill large grid that I now use as my asteroid miner ;) And if it blows up, it blows up, just print another!

[@noamginat4273]

How can I make a printer ship??

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

If you mean a projector ship, you can pause the video and build exactly what you see on mine. Everything is visible. It's just batteries, atmospheric thrusters, gyroscopes, a control seat, and projectors. There is a connector so you can recharge it off your large grid base/ship.

[@ScrepterWrites]

One thing for people who make blueprints: Please, for the love of god. If you make a blueprint, do it with the thrusters OFF. The amount of times I got a heart attack because the ship suddenly began to flail around, almost breaking everything around it happened way too many times.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

My blueprints always have thrusters on, because I want to be able to paste them into gravity without them falling out of the sky. It also helps with a projector ship setup (the new thrusters help lift the added weight), which is primarily what I use (as opposed to pistons.)

[@ScrepterWrites]

@@ShiftyshadowTV yeah, but in space? With ion thrusters? There were so many ships that almost blew my mothership up with trying to level themselves, and just ending up flailing around that it's really annoying.

[@Ic3bergGaming]

Wait what…I just started to play this game. So if I want to use a ship from Workshop this is the only way to build it ?? Projectors and sht???

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

If you're in creative mode or an admin in a server you can just paste them in. But in purely survival, yes you have to work for it.

[@oscargaming7582]

BuildAndRepair is far more easy and reliable than vanilla welders. There is no concept of printer friendly with BuildAndRepair. Subgrids are not needed in reality, I would consider that as a bad design.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Yeah, I try to avoid subgrids as much as possible. It's a playstyle preference mostly, everyone likes something different.

[@oscargaming7582]

@@ShiftyshadowTV That I agree, I see it as if it were somewhat real. You go to a new planet, atmos or not, and you use the most sophisticated system known at that time to get the job done.

[@user-vu6si6kv3u]

Damn i never notice that it is able to know projector's direction, every face looks all the same to me, and every time I feel pain rorating the blueprints

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Yeah, it helps, but only if the blueprint you're projecting was saved with a reasonable "rotation axis" (not always the case for some people).

[@user-vu6si6kv3u]

@@ShiftyshadowTV True dude

[@caddilacbob]

Tldr use a tug with a welder wall

[@UllyrWuldan]

Mind blown. I won't even admit here what I've been doing to print ships lol.. ffs

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Haha, everyone does it differently. Hope this makes things easier for ya.

[@BinaryCloudChaser]

If u print big ship ... your small ship cand handle it. u will fall down

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

You need to project a large grid ship from a large grid projector in the vanilla game. So you should be using a large grid projector ship to begin with. This works best in space, due to the lack of gravity. Personally when printing large grids I put the projector on a static grid and use a ship with welders to build it.

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

If you're saying a very large small grid will make your small grid projector ship fall. Yes, you need to make sure your projector ship can lift both itself and the grid you're printing. If it cannot, you need a bigger projector ship, or to switch to a different printing setup. You can use pistons to hold and move your projector without worrying about gravity.

[@imperialinquisitor510]

Great video, doesn't help with my terrible designs though :D

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Thanks, haha. Unfortunately I'm not sure how to help with that. Maybe some ship design videos are in order.

[@imperialinquisitor510]

@@ShiftyshadowTV :) oh to be fair I'm really good at making these awesome sci-fi interiors but then outside is huge and looks like a bunch of bricks cemented together :P A ship design video would be good :D

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Yeah, it's tricky to get both the exterior and interior looking nice while also making everything functional and conveyored. Design video is on the list. Will probably do two, one for small grid and one for large.

[@robopenguin5501]

@@imperialinquisitor510 id recommend looking at a bunch of ships on the workshop to see how other people make those big hull shapes. You’ll start to get a feel for what looks good the more you build

[@hasegraphics9931]

1st

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

🏆

[@squigglesmcjr199]

Ok so how to make a print??

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

I don't understand what you're asking.

[@squigglesmcjr199]

@ShiftyshadowTV how to make a print, how do you gwt the projector to show something to build

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Go in to the projector menu and click on "Blueprints" this will bring up a list of all blueprints you have. You can get blueprints off the workshop by subscribing to them or make your own by looking at a grid and pressing [Ctrl]+[B]. Scroll through the list and double click whatever blueprint you want the projector to show, this will load it into the projector. Don't forget to uncheck the box that says "show only buildable". 9:13 I show the process of setting up the projector.

[@squigglesmcjr199]

@@ShiftyshadowTV um whats ctrl b on ps4

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

Ahhhh, I have no idea. I tried looking it up too, no luck :(

[@fluffinn]

Why does he say “opacity” like that 😂😭

[@ShiftyshadowTV]

When recording I often get into a mode where I'm trying hard to enunciate, everything. Sometimes after doing that for a while it comes full circle and I cannot tell if I'm making word sounds at all. It's strange, but that was one of those moments. I noticed it the next day while editing, chuckled, and posted as is. What can you do. XD