Shasz
Detox. Black Legion.
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Posted - 2010.06.17 18:27:00 -
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Originally by: Durin Sarga Ok, so for those who are talking about an extractor being a timer, let's do a little thinking OUTSIDE the box.
An extractor is a machine which does just that, it extracts. Kind of like an oil pump. You set the rate at which it extracts and it runs. (i.e. 1500 units per hour)
A survey tells you how much material is in a given location (i.e. below your extractor there are 90,000 units)
Based on your extraction rate, and the material below (taking into account efficiency loss for extracting faster) you can CALCULATE the time to depletion.
Therefore, your extractors are not like OVENS. They operate like EXTRACTORS. This is not baking, this is more like oil drilling.
Now, let's throw into the concept the fact that planets will regenerate material over time (from what we have gathered so far it is every DT).
If you extract less than what the planet regenerates (EXT < REGEN) then you will never reach the bottom.
If you extract more than what the planet regenerates (EXT > REGEN) then you will eventually reach the bottom (may be a long time).
If you extract a LOT more than what the planet regenerates (EXT >> REGEN) then you will reach the bottom of your surveyed deposit quickly (i.e. 5-hrs)
tl;dr - Extractors are not time based, they are material based. The time is the calculated/estimated Time To Depletion (TTD). Planets regenerate, TTD gets recalculated, it appears time gets added.
Again, if any developer sees this and this is invalid, please correct me.
I'm not saying the system is bug free. There have been reports of extractors magically starting, not extracting properly, etc. These are legit. However, this TTD 'bug' I believe to NOT be a bug, but mathematics at work.
If this were true, and you come to the end of a 5 hour cycle, and it stops, you should be out of minerals, right? Because by your logic, it will either keep running beyond 5 hours because the spot has refilled some, or it will stop because you are out of minerals.
Well, when my 5 hour cycles stop (or half hour cycles), and I immediately start a new 5 hour cycle, I get solid extraction rates in the same range of extraction as before. And they run for 5 hours as advertised.
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