I thought it might be best to share my experience so far with Autonauts and the different tips, tricks, bugs, and issues that come with it. Hopefully this helps make the game even more awesome than it already is. This is my current world so far. The spot with 40 storage containers is where I plan to have my automated builders later on. I also plan to have automated world cleaners when I have my whole world beaconified and last, but not least, a food hub with all my villagers somewhere.
This is where I make every single item in the game.
This is my beacon factory. More on that later.
This is the infinite resource runoff with automated balancing.
And finally I have my resource production.
Major Bugs:
Long loading times the bigger the file - I barely got this file to load (2.5 megabytes). It took about 2.5mins and I have an Nvidia GTX 970 and an i7 6700k with 32gb of ram.
Load save file while playing it crashes - I am not sure if I was just not patient enough for it to load, but when you try to load the save file (or maybe even a different one) while you have that same save file open, the game hangs endlessly forcing you to close it. Not only that, but if you try to load it normally from a blank slate after that, it won't open. The amount of time I waited for the corrupted file of 2mb was longer than it took to load my newer save of 2.5mb. Maybe someone can try this and do an md5 checksum to try to get to the bottom of this. It could just be that I didn't wait long enough for it to load and the act of closing the game while loading the save file corrupts it, I am just not sure. Just goes to show, always make a backup of your saves.
No name bots - I sometimes get bots with no names that I can't program or control in any way. I think I heard others talking about this before on the forum. I believe they said it was when you get a bot to make the bots for you that it sometimes does this. The way I got around this was to make bots in batches and save before just in case.
Holes - Sometimes bots will avoid certain spots they are programmed for for no apparent reason. Bots will endlessly wait even if they can shovel, plant, or mine. Pausing/Unpausing the bot and even digging the hole yourself is not enough to fix them. Reloading to an earlier save fixed my problem.
Minor Bugs:
Unreachable Ghost Bridge - You are able to build/take away bridges that extend into the undiscovered parts of the map, but the un-built bridges you are not able to demolish. The way around this is to discover that chunk the ghost bridge is in.
Code Upload Overlay - When uploading a longer code from a Crude Data Chip onto a bot with another long code, There is sometimes a visual bug where the old code can be seen behind the new code. This does not upset the function of the new code, but to get rid of it anyways, just clear the code and re-upload.
Aren't cows suppose to eat straw? - If they are suppose to eat the straw...they aren't doing it.
Issues:
Can't rename crude data chips - It would help to remember which code is which by a different name other than "Bob" and "Darrel"
Copying/Pasting between bots is tedious - Select Bot, pause, open inventory, give data chip, exit out of inventory, download code, open inventory, retrieve data, exit out of inventory, unpause, Select another bot, pause (skip if copying to new bot), open inventory, give data chip, exit out of inventory, upload data, open inventory, retrieve data, exit out of inventory (Repeat "Select another bot" through "exit out of inventory" for every new bot).
No easy way to see beacon range/Inaccurate Beacon Shift - The only way to see a beacons range (inaccurately) is by holding it in your hand or looking at it through the record code screen. When you hold the beacon in your hand, or more specifically, when a bot holds it in his hand, there is a minor shift in where the beacon's range is relative to a beacon on the ground in the same location. This depends on which direction the bot faces because the bot holds the beacon slightly in front of him. I think the player also does this as well, but I couldn't tell.
Stand alone beacon factory - I have to separate the beacon factory because the bot that delivers the beacons to storage hinders with the beacon that is already in place at the main factory.
Food Balancing: Maybe the apples could grow slower. I already have an infinite supply to last more than twice the number of total citizens on my world, and that's just 1 apple farm. There are also problems with the other food sources as well, but the apples are already OP so that doesn't matter as much.
Suggestions:
A Manageable Interface: Re-nameable Beacons, Crude Data Chips, Bots, Character, Cows, Sheep, and Citizens. Menu with a list of beacons - Click on the beacon to open a list of bots connected to it - In this menu the bots could have an icon of what item they are currently holding , what hat/clothing they are wearing, and also the name of the bot - Also In this menu you could press a "copy" , "paste", or "clear code" button near the top where it then opens your inventory and asks you to choose which data chip to use if you have more than 1 in your inventory - After choosing "Paste", you could then select multiple bots in the list - You could also click on any bot in this menu to get to the bots normal screen.
Beacon Range Finder - Keyboard shortcut to see an overlay of every Beacon's range
Vehicles - Pfft obviously
Bot Storage - The best way to automate production of bots. This could solve the issue of overproducing bots. Putting them in storage could reset them like how Crude Data Chips work so as to not cause bugs or incompatibilities.
Programmer Machine/Building - Put a Crude Data Chip in to select your code then have another bot deliver more bots to automate programming
Replace Incinerator with Market (or just add)- Allows you to sell excess resources for Mons and select items to buy. Also allows you to see average money earned over a period of time.
Lockable Beacons - A switch that prevents bots from moving a beacon.
Breed-able/Sell-able/Purchasable Animals - We need more poop!
Boat - Can be made out of wood.
Renewable Sticks/Stick Uses - A pole can be made into 2 sticks. Maybe sticks could be useful for something.
Sand/Glass - Shovel the sand. Put sand into clay furnace to make glass. Glass could be used to make a better houses for the citizens.
Farm-able Mushrooms and Berries - 2 small mushrooms for each full grown mushroom and 2 berries for each bush.
Local Multiplayer - I'll leave that idea planted here for way into the future.
Farm-able Flowers - I'm not sure if they are already farm-able or not.
Safebox - Store Items here to separate them from the main production line. In case you run out of tree seeds, apples, or cereal from the general storage, then you don't have to restart your game to get them back
Follow Player or Move to Player Command - For when you want a robo companion.
Conditionals - If...True...Then...Do...While
Besides the market, boat, and glass, I am not trying to add anything that isn't already a part of the game. I will leave those up for you to decide.
Questions for the Dev:
Is there Beta or Nightly builds I could try?
How do I support the cause, will there be a Patreon later or a place to donate?