Space Engineers - Building a Ship Printer

Hello everyone, today I will be showing you how to build a basic ship printer for printing small grid ships.

[@Daniel-hq7hm]

"But Clang can get stuffed," Lord Clang forgive him, spare your wrath from this poor engineer. Great video dude! straight to the point, and you did it in survival so props to you!

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Lol this is gold, thanks mate :). Yeah it would have felt weird doing a printer in creative, although the next one will have to be as the printers are massive :)

[@jwadaow]

@@TheGarageGamer86 it is platinum!

[@DelnorShinobu]

For an accurate summary of how long it would take to weld by hand vs this, it took me 48 hours to finish a ship by hand when the printer took me 2 minutes

[@TheGarageGamer86]

😲😲😲 that's crazy lol

[@tevarinvagabond1192]

48 hours for a ship this size..?

[@GoldballIndustries]

Crashes the ship in an irrecoverable manner and the game autosaves

[@davidmiller8871]

Brilliant Video - Loads of concepts I didn't previously use in survival (such as MMB for build planner and withdrawl - what a timesaver) - really well explained! - look forward to building this.

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Thanks mate, appreciate the kind words :)

[@hex5096]

@@TheGarageGamer86 currently installing 3 in my space station and 1 in my carrier

[@ClimberD-tn3xl]

I didn't even know what the build planner was for 😅

[@ratatouille9909]

What I like doing when printing ships is having a powered of version of the ship so it doesn't try to fly away lol.

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Yeah lol one of my blueprints doesn't have inertial dampener enabled and it falls to the ground every time as I keep forgetting 🙃

[@GravitasZero]

Gave me a few ideas for a larger, automated version! Just use more welders and pistons and cascading timer blocks for each piston. Need to try it out now!

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Glad it was helpful mate!!! 😎👌

[@franklinshooter3050]

Watched all the way to the end with a full expectation of you spinning the ship around on the rotor and flying away in it. JEEZE! 😉😁 Otherwise, this is exactly what i needed to know. Thanks for the upload. 🍻

[@crestfallensunbro6001]

pointing out that the build has to be attached to the projector was a life saver, i thaught you could do things like build off of a connector

[@fishingforlikes3093]

Very nice printer, mine involves two massive walls of welders, and they have a habbit of getting stuck

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Thanks mate :). If you have a printer on a planet with alot of welders then the gravity will cause it to sag a bit. I use wheels on the bottom of my printers walls on planets to help prevent it from sagging.

[@fishingforlikes3093]

@@TheGarageGamer86 I see, thanks for the tip

[@TheGarageGamer86]

I plan to do a video on large grid printers as well and I will feature that printer ;)

[@carbonateofsodium]

FINALLY, a video I have been looking for. And to think this might still work 3 years later

[@FirstLast-cc6cv]

A much needed video, all the others are old and saying the guide no longer works due to a welder nerf. Thank you, and I hope your channel catches wind and grows like it should :)

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Thanks mate, really appreciate the kind words :)

[@hennievantonder3349]

I love your content man. Really awesome way you explain everything in detail yet not in a boring way. I have watched 4 of your vids and I like your style. Your builds are awesome and you have clean PG content. You have a new subscriber. Now to start watching all from the start. :)

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Thanks so much mate, really appreciate it 😁👌

[@huntergilmore4193]

Thank you that's one of the best Tutorials have ever heard

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Wow! Thanks mate, glad it was helpful :D

[@julienassali]

I was starting to learn how to use that block , this is awesome !

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Thanks mate, glad it was helpful! 😎👌

[@sortedm]

This was really helpful. Got my first ship printer up and running!

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Awesome man, I'm glad it was a helpful video! 😎✌️

[@creesed9041]

i can't wait for the day you blow up with many subscribers and i can sit here and say i was here as your 195th sub, really good video and i want to see more!

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Thanks so much mate, really appreciate it :). Seeing comments like these and knowing people find the content helpful is very rewarding :)

[@creesed9041]

@@TheGarageGamer86 Well you're one of those people who are naturally gifted to take part as a youtuber. So honestly, Go for it man! :)

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Thanks mate :). I love sharing my experiences in this game :)

[@martinvho]

A welder functions in a 3x3x3 block from the baseblock (so the welder tip falls into the 3x3x3). If you use 6 printers aimed up from the bottom with tube between them, place the rotor and small piston upwards between the tubes, and put a mergebock on top and on the bottom of the ship, you get a much faster print for this size of ship as it rises from below the welders, plus you don't have to grind anything, you just hop in and disconnect. You can even set your blueprint on battery recharge to eliminate the clang, and as long as your stick stays connected it will automatically charge.

[@yamahamadness13]

Need a video of what ur describing

[@zrbytegmail]

If you want your thrusters not to fire on your projected welds there's a simple way that doesn't involve turning off dampeners or switching off thrusters. Go into control panel and raise the height offset of the rotor to maximum then build a line of about 4 blocks in the opposite direction to your projection. Make sure you leave enough clearance to fit a landing gear between the row of blocks and the floor but only just enough room. Fit a landing gear, weld it, lock it (lower the rotor again if you need to) and once locked your projection will be more stable and will not Klang or try to move with its own thrusters.

[@TheGarageGamer86]

That's a really good suggestion actually, thankyou! :)

[@alejandrostrass2559]

Your channel is soooo helpful. Thank you! :D

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Thanks mate, appreciate the kind words :)

[@muwah9713]

Great video!! Thank you so much!! Great info!

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Thanks so much mate, glad you enjoyed it!! 😁👍

[@dylansteed-conway4146]

Fantastic video, thanks mate.

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Thanks mate, appreciate it :)

[@boonethegoon2244]

I have NEVER seen ANYTHING like this before, I can FINALLY make small ships multiples at a time

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Glad it was helpful! 😎✌️

[@kettlepractor]

This was great thank you

[@kubel83]

This was super helpful. Thank you for this. Also I can see that the projector actually shows how many components it needs to build the ship. I always wondered where you could see what was needed to build a ship. Again thank you for this tutorial. Very easy to understand. Subscribed 😊👍

[@TheGarageGamer86]

No problem mate, glad it has helped you out. Thanks for the sub, appreciate the support :)

[@nycos84]

i use this printer since the first time i saw it. If you use advance rotor and conveyer to connect with the connector, you can refill an H2 ship easily. i click the like button that i missed in the past

[@rosspratt9835]

Hey man, great vid, thanks heaps

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Thanks mate, appreciate it :) glad it was helpful :)

[@christopheroriasgomez3776]

Thanks bro, you helped me a lot with this tutorial keep up the good work

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Glad it was helpful mate!! 😎👍

[@grizzly1544]

Nice work ;D

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Thanks mate :) appreciate the kind words!

[@linonormansampaiohawken2045]

Hey man, good video, you just got a new subscriber, looking foward for other nice videos

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Thanks man, really appreciate the support!! :D

[@modx5534]

Cool tutorial; thank you :)

[@TheGarageGamer86]

You're welcome! 😉👍

[@thegamingraptor3573]

Thanks for the help

[@TheGarageGamer86]

No worries mate, im glad it helped you out :)

[@simohickersonta5135]

Bro u deserve more subs love the content bro I feel like you should have 1000000 sub

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Thanks mate :) glad you enjoyed the video :)

[@Malice636]

I sub after this video thanks The Garage Gamer!!!

[@Padringamer]

Very good...thanks for the video...

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Thanks mate, glad it was helpful! 😎👍

[@Jeremy9697]

Just started playing on xbox, ive been using a vertical piston with a rotor on it to build my small ships at base, as i build from the top down i push the piston up little by littlw so i can easily build from the ground. Ita on one of two landing docka i have so i can also rotate the entire project out of the way if needed. I thought it was a pretty cool setup as its been a pain to build underneath my ships before i made this. Im deff going to incorporate some auto welding now, even if its for a ship im still desogning it will save me loads of time just not haing to weld and fetch loads of heavy parts. Probably will have the aetup the same and have the rotor turn and lower the piston into a "welding bay"

[@TheGarageGamer86]

That's a pretty good idea that! You can also swap out the floor with some welders and then put some windows ontop of them and just get it to weld for you 😎✌️

[@battlegroundeurope4636]

Oh thanks dude, I based my fisrt printer on this video.

[@JollyProphet]

Thanks this video help so much

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Thanks mate :)

[@Tallenn]

Great tutorial! Building ships this way is much easier, but I did run into a bit of an issue. The system doesn't automatically build the parts needed, so I found I was having to turn off the welders, and go and manually queue the parts needed into the build planner for each part as it was being constructed, then turn the welders back on. Is there any simple way to just queue all the parts needed in a blueprint into the build planner?

[@shahbazfawbush]

Need an inventory manager that can be programmed to maintain minimums of parts.

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Unfortunately you need to have a Mod to do this, or otherwise you can just build heaps of components ready to go. After a while playing the game you can kind of work out what you roughly need for a given ship or design. Here is a link to the Mod i mentioned (Note: I did not create this mod) - steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1289485324

[@engineerdeluxe]

I use "Isy's Inventory Manager" in a programmable block. Add 2 LCDs with "Autocrafting" in their name and you can set the minimum amount of components by changing the numbers in the text (press F) in the LCDs. Very convenient

[@seanmcdonald5859]

Use the Build and repair BOB instead: it will automatically tell you what is missing.

[@julienassali]

The way I do it is have several thousands of everything before printing, and then it takes only a very little time to print everything! Be careful with what you're printing, ion thrusters when starting on a planet, well...they just won't be complete without platinum.

[@JustCallMeCrow]

Is that ship in the workshop? I enjoy tearing builds apart to see how they work. Especially small grid ships since I cant design those to save my life lol

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Sure is 😁 steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2122582496

[@danieljuno810]

lmao im designing my own ship printer and i was thinking the welders would weld blocks to themselves so i spaced them way too far apart. Thanks for the video.

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Glad it helped you out mate 😎👌

[@WetAdek]

Wow this is great! Also, did you upload this printed, small grid miner to the workshop maybe? I love the look of it!

[@TheGarageGamer86]

I sure have buddy, you can find it here 😎👍 - steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2122582496

[@WetAdek]

@@TheGarageGamer86 Damn, you're awesome, thanks 😁

[@seanmcdonald5859]

Is that a Splitsie miner with modifications? I use that design too because it's a great chassis and easily reconfigured to space, hydrogen power or atmospheric engines.

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Nah this was a ship I originally designed in space and then changed the engines to atmospheric for use on planets, I used a drop pod miner for waaaaay to long 😆. It's not as good looking as splitsies though haha

[@Zeldon567]

Do programmable blocks keep their code when pasted from a blueprint? If so, then I bet you could make some sick drones on the fly.

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Yeah I am pretty sure they do 😎👌

[@yamahamadness13]

How do u get components for what u want to build without starting to build it first and then pressing mmb. At the cargo containers after right clicking on it

[@Sniper_the_protogen]

Add a timer block and you could just fly away for a minute and do some mining for the next ship resources.

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Yeah at this stage of my SE career i had yet to master timer blocks 😅

[@dusty4896]

Where do the componenets for the welders come from? Do you need to assemble all the parts first?

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Sure do! :)

[@dusty4896]

@@TheGarageGamer86 is there a way to make that easier? Ordering every single block from an assembler is painful.

[@idfask]

@@dusty4896 build planner and/or using the completed item tab on the assembler

[@Domaorn]

hello from the future... my server runs build and repair even with two its slow.. this is just amazing. though could you answer a question.. what is the block radius from these large to small? im worried blocks wont get built ya won a fan in me brother man :)

[@TheGarageGamer86]

It's a fairly decent range, as long as you go slow enough to allow the blocks to be fully welded up you shouldn't have any problems 😎👌. As long as you have a welder covering the height and width of the blueprint you should also be fine 😁

[@PleaseLikeMyComments]

Great video, thanks. When I cut my ship free of the projector, power went off and it fell to the ground. I made sure the thrusters were on beforehand. Any idea what happened?

[@TheGarageGamer86]

It would most likely be inertial dampeners we're disabled :). Or the batteries were flat :)

[@PleaseLikeMyComments]

@@TheGarageGamer86 Thanks for the prompt reply. The inertial dampeners were enabled and there was juice in the battery, as evidenced when I got into the cockpit on the ground, turned power back on and flew away. :) It must have something to do with the ship not sensing it was an autonomous entity. I have a lot of other ships that are connected to the grid and another projector that's switched on, so maybe it just got confused.

[@TheGarageGamer86]

@@PleaseLikeMyComments Could it be because the blueprint of the ship was taken while it is turned off?

[@methegamerx]

Wish I saw this video before welding my ship by hand 🙃

[@mechasheep4861]

I see, you are criminially underrated.

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Thanks mate, really appreciate it :)

[@elfbrownie7226]

When I use your foward offset my ship is projected to the middle of the pistons? Everything is exactly the same even the ship I'm projecting is exactly the same length and hight as yours

[@ClimberD-tn3xl]

Why turn off the dampeners? It'll flop to the ground once you cut it loose. Wont fly away unless you have thrust override on

[@neocorricon]

Do you usually check the projector to see if you missed any blocks?

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Yeah especially with large projections, the only problem is it won't show you in-complete blocks, only blocks that haven't been built at all.

[@dustinpeloquin5678]

@@TheGarageGamer86 late as hell but you can just hop in the cockpit to show incomplete blocks

[@TheGarageGamer86]

@@dustinpeloquin5678 Yes you can, but some blocks like conveyor tubes and junctions, armor blocks, catwalks etc etc won't show up in the K menu as incomplete because they are just static blocks, so if they are half welded up the only way you can tell is by looking for them all over the ship lol

[@pixelsafoison]

Clang had mercy on your soul

[@robinchwan]

they really need a filler block where you can actually fill the empty space around thrusters etc. (sealed tight if you will)

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Yeah maybe even a thruster that is more air tight than what they are now with some kind of penalty 🤔

[@jonathan1384]

How do you do that thing when you take the components for a blueprint out of the station inventory by just a key command?

[@bone4crusher919]

To add something to the build planner its RMB (Right Mouse Button), to add components from the build planner to production, select a port thats attached to the assembler and press Shift + MMB (Middle Mouse Button), finally to extract parts for the build planner from the assembler or cargo containers press MMB.

[@TheGarageGamer86]

When you have a block selected ready to build, you can walk up to a cargo port and press the middle mouse button and it will withdraw the components for whatever block you have selected at the time 😎👌

[@jonathan1384]

Thank you both for your fast anwers, building will be much more easier for me in future😊

[@bone4crusher919]

@@jonathan1384 NP

[@joshpeters9825]

I know this is a year old thread, but I've got a related question. I've always had to place a block before I could add it to the build planner (rmb) and then pull the components for that placed block using mmb. In your video it's shown you grabbing components for multiple blocks BEFORE you have even placed anything. How do you do that? I'm constantly struggling to keep some components in my inventory or go back to storage to grab one steel plate or whatever, just so I can place my intended block where i want it, to then add it to build planner and then go back and collect all the supplies. Not a good use of time going back and forth. Playing survival if that makes a difference.

[@BtrayrOfhope]

Any idea why I can't change any settings in my projector? (greyed out). I can click the blueprint button but then a red error flashes up real quick before I can read it. I can confirm it is powered because of the green light and I can toggle the block on and off.

[@TheGarageGamer86]

It's most likely because the blueprint is finished or you have not selected one yet, orrrrrr it is out of power but that's all I can think of 🤔😉

[@Ziplock9000]

So LG welders, so weld SG projections right?

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Yeah, I mean you can use small grid welders but the large grid have a way longer range so I find it is more reliable to print using large grid welders and there is less chance of blocks being unfinished 😉

[@cookietrouble4637]

btw, which ship is that? the 5 drills is cool because thats actually the limit i have for the server where i am at :P

[@TheGarageGamer86]

I believe it is this one here, although it has changed cosmetically 😊. steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2122582496

[@nielsen8145]

How do i do so i always have a set amounts of components in my cargo that the welders can use?

[@TheGarageGamer86]

For thag you would need an inventory management script, i think there is one on the steam workshop by Issy :)

[@lukedaymusic4585]

The official keen servers have all scripts disabled.

[@gsharky8558]

My ship has sub grids, how do I include those on blueprints?

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Honestly I'm not sure mate, I don't really use sub-grids much, but another KZbinr by the name of Kelevra covered that topic if I am not mistaken 😉👌

[@fredpryde8555]

makes it so much easier but i not sure how to use build planner

[@nitrites]

how do you draw components without entering the inventory?

[@neocorricon]

Put the components in your build planner (right click on the component you want to build or use G menu), then walk up to a large conveyor port on your base and middlemouse click.

[@nikopokfurmia2039]

Quite simple

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Thanks 😜 It certainly saves you a boat load of time as well 😎👍

[@jwadaow]

You can go into the menu of the projector and it will show you what components have not been welded.

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Yeah but it won't show you an item that is half welded, it will consider it done :)

[@jwadaow]

@@TheGarageGamer86 I think it will give a list of what components are needed to complete the projection? That could be a mod.

[@TheGarageGamer86]

I believe this is what you are looking for 😁👌 or at least its the closest thing. I remember building the atlas in survival and it had an air leak despite the projector saying every block is complete - steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1289485324

[@TheGarageGamer86]

I eventually found a half welded block on the floor somehwere 😅

[@mr.nobeanz6642]

I have trouble making ships turn and this guy is printing them

[@BrianRonald]

Imagine welding up the rotor by hand when there were three block welders pointing at it (-:

[@TheGarageGamer86]

LOL, yeah I guess you could do that 🤣

[@MrCswarwick]

ok super cool but why rotor with projector

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Because with a rotor you can use a small head, and then use a small grid projector! You can only use a small grid projector to project a small grid ship! 😎👌

[@MrCswarwick]

Oh snap good to know

[@Null0011]

How does one build this in creative mode?

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Honestly I wouldnt really worry about doing that, I would just past the ship in instead lol. But otherwise, exactly the same as in survival but without all the welding 😎👌

[@Null0011]

@@TheGarageGamer86 alright thanks

[@hjx01]

What is the shortcut for adding components to build planner for the block you're looking at?

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Just right click buddy, then MMB to withdraw them. Then if you have a block selected, of you walk up to a cargo port and then just middle mouse button clock and it will withdraw the components for that block.

[@MrTakeshi763]

In creative i can make printers work every time. In survival i have put more than 1000hrs in and I cannot for the life of me get a printer to work on any blueprint. They are all connected and not floating in the air, i have all the materials and the welders are working and connected.. any ideas or are printers in survival not possible?

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Yeah they work in Survival just fine, I build one in this video and the next episode in the series I use it to print a large ship 😎👌 - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qpC9apl4eZtgb5o

[@DRAWKCABLLA]

Do you still play this game? Im looking for people to game with.

[@CTRCHOICE]

Is this vanilla?

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Sure is mate 😎👌

[@maximpikalev9538]

brother your voice is a bit quiet please amp it up a bit take care :)

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Thanks mate 😉👌 Yeah I think this was done on my headset, later on I grabbed a Blue Yeti, and as of Episode 5 of Wasteland Survival it should be a lot better!! 😁👌

[@jdzencelowcz]

Gotta wonder if Star Trek Prodigy cribbed this idea....

[@TheGarageGamer86]

I must admit, I did not even know this show existed until you mentioned it, I may have to watch it now!! 😎😉

[@dewesafavor8275]

What the hell is clang?

[@BigNorbert]

Imagine you just autoclick RMB every 10 seconds to automate this

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Yeah pretty much 😎👌. You could use a timer block as well, just set it to advance the piston every so many seconds. Or just set the piston to a constant speed, but if you do it that way just gotta make sure you have enough components to build the entire thing 😎

[@BigNorbert]

@@TheGarageGamer86 woah man I didn’t realize you saw every comment I appreciate it. I’ve been binging your series to learn about the game because I’m starting a new world with my brother and you really help. I’m gonna use your welder ship design and have sooo much fun

[@TheGarageGamer86]

@@BigNorbert Yeah I try to reply to every comment, sometimes it gets a little busy but I think it is important to engage with people 😎👌. Glad you like the series and the ships mate, thanks for tuning in and watching the series! Really appreciate it 😁👍

[@AlienAirl]

Doesn't work - In surival and creative. Just not welding but repair if shooting at block

[@TheGarageGamer86]

I'm not sure which part you are referring to? 😊

[@AlienAirl]

@@TheGarageGamer86 How you move piston step by step?

[@TheGarageGamer86]

@@AlienAirl just set the Piston speed to a negative value and set the maximum distance in the menu to zero. Then in the control seat set one of the hotbar actions as "increase maximum distance". Then reverse the Piston to a positive speed value. When you press the hotbar button it will advance 0.5m each time.

[@AlienAirl]

@@TheGarageGamer86 got it

[@nouse44]

dude, your keyboard is louder than your voice..

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Yeah I fixed it in later videos...... Might re-create this video when I get some time 😎👌

[@adaptive-tom7143]

The throat clearing is making the video hard to finish

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Sorry, at this point I hadn't been terribly good at editing 😔

[@billrich9722]

Good video. You need to stop smacking your lips.

[@theashenone411]

yo get a bottle of water jesus christ

[@TheGarageGamer86]

Yeah I know lol. I edit that stuff out nowadays! 😁😂