'Storage Priority' setting for any cargo block
I have an archived suggestion that you folks looked at (under review) I think it got rejected. In any case, I have a simplified version that accomplishes what I was hoping for in a different and probably easier to manage way.
Basically allow users to set a priority level for cargo containers, say 1-9 (or low/medium/high or whatever). Any item deposited into the inventory grid linked via connectors the engine would first try to deposit the item into the highest priority storage block (even if the block you're depositing into is itself a storage block). If that block is full, it would then try to put it into the next highest (or group of similar priority) storage blocks until it finally deposited it somewhere.
This allows you to build a primary storage and by default have everything end up there even if you're using a different container to deposit the items. it allows you to more easily group similar items together (so I don't have 5 heavy plates in block a, 14 in block b and 22 in block c)
If all blocks are equal priority (default) then the behavior is exactly what we have now.
I like this feedback
Side feedback, the owner of a ticket should be able to close/delete that ticket in case of mis-clicks like this.
Side feedback, the owner of a ticket should be able to close/delete that ticket in case of mis-clicks like this.
i would also like to add that components try to stack where they are at when deposited from any conveyor point.
currently they just get added to the closest open inventory, in my builds sometimes its the assembler, or smelter, sometimes its conveyored from the other side of the ship to the first container along the conveyor pipeline.
it should first try to add to an existing component pile.
also having priority containers would work as an additional saftey measure for housing ammo in an inner most container, and ore/components in an outer container.
i would also like to add that components try to stack where they are at when deposited from any conveyor point.
currently they just get added to the closest open inventory, in my builds sometimes its the assembler, or smelter, sometimes its conveyored from the other side of the ship to the first container along the conveyor pipeline.
it should first try to add to an existing component pile.
also having priority containers would work as an additional saftey measure for housing ammo in an inner most container, and ore/components in an outer container.
I think this is an amazing idea. In fact, done right, could almost do away with scripted inventory mods, assuming sorters/filters all worked as well. Unloading ships can have P0 on their holds so it naturally gets pulled out, and ships re-stocking can simply have P10 to pull ammo etc on the appropriate holds. (Assuming here that a connector set to pump stuff out would follow the "item deposited" logic you're suggesting.)
I think this is an amazing idea. In fact, done right, could almost do away with scripted inventory mods, assuming sorters/filters all worked as well. Unloading ships can have P0 on their holds so it naturally gets pulled out, and ships re-stocking can simply have P10 to pull ammo etc on the appropriate holds. (Assuming here that a connector set to pump stuff out would follow the "item deposited" logic you're suggesting.)
I like the idea of giving cargo containers a storage priority, but I think there is another way to implement this without making the Conveyor Sorter obsolete.
In Space Engineers 2, we already have the Conveyor Sorter block, although it currently has no real functionality. Instead of adding item filtering and routing directly to every cargo container, the Sorter could be used as the core block for this system.
For example, cargo containers could have a simple Storage Priority value, while Conveyor Sorters could handle more advanced item filtering and routing.
This would give both systems a clear purpose:
This would also preserve the usefulness of the Conveyor Sorter while still solving the problem described in this suggestion.
In my opinion, the Conveyor Sorter shouldn't become unnecessary just because cargo containers gain sorting functionality. It could instead become the foundation for a more flexible inventory and logistics system in Space Engineers 2.
I like the idea of giving cargo containers a storage priority, but I think there is another way to implement this without making the Conveyor Sorter obsolete.
In Space Engineers 2, we already have the Conveyor Sorter block, although it currently has no real functionality. Instead of adding item filtering and routing directly to every cargo container, the Sorter could be used as the core block for this system.
For example, cargo containers could have a simple Storage Priority value, while Conveyor Sorters could handle more advanced item filtering and routing.
This would give both systems a clear purpose:
This would also preserve the usefulness of the Conveyor Sorter while still solving the problem described in this suggestion.
In my opinion, the Conveyor Sorter shouldn't become unnecessary just because cargo containers gain sorting functionality. It could instead become the foundation for a more flexible inventory and logistics system in Space Engineers 2.
Large grinder networks need better inventory automation and transfer performanceI would like to discuss a problem that becomes increasingly noticeable when building large automated recycling systems.
I built an automated ship recycling center using a large network of grinders. All grinders are connected to each other through the conveyor system, and the network is connected to a large central cargo container.
Technically, the conveyor system works. When individual grinders become full, excess components are eventually transferred to the central cargo storage.
However, the grinders do not continuously empty their inventories into the cargo container.
As a result, after dismantling a large ship, a significant amount of material remains distributed across many individual grinder inventories instead of being collected in the main storage.
In my current system I have around 150 grinder inventories. Some individual grinders can retain approximately 16 tons of components after a large recycling operation.
This creates several problems.
1. The central cargo inventory does not represent my actual stockWhen I check my main storage, I cannot see how many components I actually own because a large percentage of them may still be distributed throughout dozens or even hundreds of grinder inventories.
For an industrial base, centralized inventory visibility is very important.
2. Emptying grinders manually creates excessive micromanagementAt the moment I have to open the inventory interface and manually transfer components from grinder after grinder into the main storage.
This becomes extremely repetitive when dealing with a large recycling machine.
The purpose of building an automated industrial system is to reduce manual work. Instead, the larger my recycling system becomes, the more inventory management I have to perform manually.
3. Large inventory transfers cause noticeable performance delaysThere is also a performance issue.
When transferring a large amount of components from one grinder inventory into the central cargo container, the game frequently pauses for around 2–3 seconds, and sometimes longer, before the transfer is completed and I can continue working with the inventory.
When this has to be repeated dozens of times, the inventory management itself becomes very slow.
Possible solutionsI think industrial blocks such as grinders and drills need some form of automatic inventory output.
For example:
Ideally, a grinder should be able to operate as a processing tool rather than also becoming a long-term storage container.
A player could choose a cargo container as the destination, and all recovered components would automatically move there whenever conveyor capacity is available.
This would make large industrial systems much easier to design and operate.
Why I think this mattersSpace Engineers encourages players to solve problems by building machines and automation.
Large recycling facilities, mining systems, automated shipyards and logistics networks are exactly the kind of engineering projects the game makes me want to create.
But inventory management currently does not scale together with the engineering.
The larger and more automated the machine becomes, the more manual inventory work the player receives.
I would really like to know whether improvements to industrial inventory management, conveyor automation or the Conveyor Sorter are planned for future updates.
I built an automated ship recycling center so I would not have to dismantle ships by hand — and somehow I ended up with a new profession:
operator of 150 grinder inventories. :)
Large grinder networks need better inventory automation and transfer performanceI would like to discuss a problem that becomes increasingly noticeable when building large automated recycling systems.
I built an automated ship recycling center using a large network of grinders. All grinders are connected to each other through the conveyor system, and the network is connected to a large central cargo container.
Technically, the conveyor system works. When individual grinders become full, excess components are eventually transferred to the central cargo storage.
However, the grinders do not continuously empty their inventories into the cargo container.
As a result, after dismantling a large ship, a significant amount of material remains distributed across many individual grinder inventories instead of being collected in the main storage.
In my current system I have around 150 grinder inventories. Some individual grinders can retain approximately 16 tons of components after a large recycling operation.
This creates several problems.
1. The central cargo inventory does not represent my actual stockWhen I check my main storage, I cannot see how many components I actually own because a large percentage of them may still be distributed throughout dozens or even hundreds of grinder inventories.
For an industrial base, centralized inventory visibility is very important.
2. Emptying grinders manually creates excessive micromanagementAt the moment I have to open the inventory interface and manually transfer components from grinder after grinder into the main storage.
This becomes extremely repetitive when dealing with a large recycling machine.
The purpose of building an automated industrial system is to reduce manual work. Instead, the larger my recycling system becomes, the more inventory management I have to perform manually.
3. Large inventory transfers cause noticeable performance delaysThere is also a performance issue.
When transferring a large amount of components from one grinder inventory into the central cargo container, the game frequently pauses for around 2–3 seconds, and sometimes longer, before the transfer is completed and I can continue working with the inventory.
When this has to be repeated dozens of times, the inventory management itself becomes very slow.
Possible solutionsI think industrial blocks such as grinders and drills need some form of automatic inventory output.
For example:
Ideally, a grinder should be able to operate as a processing tool rather than also becoming a long-term storage container.
A player could choose a cargo container as the destination, and all recovered components would automatically move there whenever conveyor capacity is available.
This would make large industrial systems much easier to design and operate.
Why I think this mattersSpace Engineers encourages players to solve problems by building machines and automation.
Large recycling facilities, mining systems, automated shipyards and logistics networks are exactly the kind of engineering projects the game makes me want to create.
But inventory management currently does not scale together with the engineering.
The larger and more automated the machine becomes, the more manual inventory work the player receives.
I would really like to know whether improvements to industrial inventory management, conveyor automation or the Conveyor Sorter are planned for future updates.
I built an automated ship recycling center so I would not have to dismantle ships by hand — and somehow I ended up with a new profession:
operator of 150 grinder inventories. :)
Yes, Yes, Yes please. Even just being able to set a single storage container as priority would be great. The amount of time i spend moving things around manually is annoying and I'm still early game. When double clicking on an item to move it from a ship to a station it often says there is no space when there are 3 empty cargo containers connected in the grid or even having the option to sort items in a container would be great too.
Yes, Yes, Yes please. Even just being able to set a single storage container as priority would be great. The amount of time i spend moving things around manually is annoying and I'm still early game. When double clicking on an item to move it from a ship to a station it often says there is no space when there are 3 empty cargo containers connected in the grid or even having the option to sort items in a container would be great too.
My two cents
Ore and component cargo should be different blocks. They should not be mixed inside one universal cargo container.
We can go even further and, besides one universal early game cargo container, have more specialized containers for specific kinds of items. For example, low tier and advanced components could have their own different containers. Steel plates and steel tubes could go into a heavy-duty cargo container, while motherboards and hard drives go into another specialized, lightweight cargo container.
Those specialized cargo containers simply cannot receive other types of items, so you already get a substantial amount of automatic sorting right away. You start with just 2 cargo types: one for ores and one for universal items (non-ore). Later, you can unlock more specialized containers for better organization.
Sorters would still be useful for more granular sorting if you really need that.
On the other hand, I think it is way more important to have an easier way to see items in all connected inventories at once. A unified view where you can see all ore and component containers "collapsed" into one logical container in your inventory screen would be really useful.
So it would not be as important where a specific item is physically stored. The items could also be sorted by different factors like number of items, mass, volume and so on. You should be able to quickly switch between a unified inventory view and a detailed view where you see every individual inventory. Separately on left and right side of the inventory screen.
Sorters can still be useful, but for a different kind of thing.
For example, production blocks could be less efficient if they pull items from far away. So you could use sorters to proactively move the required items into input containers behind the production blocks to improve efficiency and speed. Less distance could mean less energy spent and less waiting.
In a game with "Engineers" in the name, I don't think we have enough engineering problems to solve when it comes to production imo.
My two cents
Ore and component cargo should be different blocks. They should not be mixed inside one universal cargo container.
We can go even further and, besides one universal early game cargo container, have more specialized containers for specific kinds of items. For example, low tier and advanced components could have their own different containers. Steel plates and steel tubes could go into a heavy-duty cargo container, while motherboards and hard drives go into another specialized, lightweight cargo container.
Those specialized cargo containers simply cannot receive other types of items, so you already get a substantial amount of automatic sorting right away. You start with just 2 cargo types: one for ores and one for universal items (non-ore). Later, you can unlock more specialized containers for better organization.
Sorters would still be useful for more granular sorting if you really need that.
On the other hand, I think it is way more important to have an easier way to see items in all connected inventories at once. A unified view where you can see all ore and component containers "collapsed" into one logical container in your inventory screen would be really useful.
So it would not be as important where a specific item is physically stored. The items could also be sorted by different factors like number of items, mass, volume and so on. You should be able to quickly switch between a unified inventory view and a detailed view where you see every individual inventory. Separately on left and right side of the inventory screen.
Sorters can still be useful, but for a different kind of thing.
For example, production blocks could be less efficient if they pull items from far away. So you could use sorters to proactively move the required items into input containers behind the production blocks to improve efficiency and speed. Less distance could mean less energy spent and less waiting.
In a game with "Engineers" in the name, I don't think we have enough engineering problems to solve when it comes to production imo.
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