Complex Build stuck in idle loop

[delucks]

Hello! First off, thanks to the community for creating this game- I'm really enjoying it about 80 hours in. I created my account to ask about this issue. Running X3FL unmodded on Linux. I'm trying to build a complex in Emperor's Pride using all XXL-sized factories, producing EBC. Every time I try to deploy it, my Build mk3-equipped TLs get stuck in an idle loop. Here's the layout:

• 2x Teladi EBC Forge -> XXL
• 3x Teladi Flower Farm L -> XXL
• 3x Teladi Sun Oil Refinery L -> XXL
• 1x Teladi Flower Farm M -> XXL
• 1x Teladi Sun Oil Refinery M -> XXL
• 1x Teladi SPP XL -> XXL
• 1x Split SPP XL -> XXL
• 1x Teladi Crystal Fab L -> XXL
• 1x Teladi Crystal Fab M -> XXL
• Split Ore Mine L (51) -> XXL
• Teladi Silicon Mine L (18) -> XXL
• Teladi Silicon Mine L (17) -> XXL
• Teladi Silicon Mine L (10) -> XXL
• Teladi Silicon Mine L (9) -> XXL

Some pictures of the Planner screen and Deployment screen if that's not clear enough. Note that my Ozias has >50,000 spare cargo space.

When instructing a TL to deploy this complex plan, it always builds the first 3-4 stations, then gets stuck in an idle loop. It will idle in Emperor's Pride with the message "Idle: not enough cargo space". This made me think the combination of stations & upgrades is too large. However, the size of each station in this complex is smaller than the space available. I thought the upgrade kit may be purchased simultaneously, which would give a maximum possible weight of 44,000 XL units for a station + kit in this complex- but that still fits within the Ozias' limit. All the other complexes I've created using this tool have deployed correctly, so I don't think it's a problem with my installation. Am I hitting a bug or is there an issue with the complex design above?

[Sovereign01]

What happens if you use the Hephaistos complex builder instead?

The complex connection kits are bought at the same time, the upgrade kits are different. In any case, you won't be able to upgrade stations straight away- each station has to complete a set number of production cycles at each level before it can be upgraded to the next. So unless the MKIII software has that functionality, you'll have to purchase and apply each upgrade kit individually. The good news is that if you're on good terms with the Paranid, you can get the L and XL upgrade kits in Heaven's Assertion- the shipyard's proximity to the gate means TLs spend very little time in transit.

[Hwitvlf]

Is this game the latest v1.3? I have seen the builder go idle with an inaccurate message of "notoriety too low" but I've only seen "insufficient cargo" in older versions of the game when the TL couldn't fit enough Connection Kits to finish the job. You might try stopping the builder, then have it buy a needed factory for the complex, then resume the building. If the factory is in the TL's hold, it may bypass whatever is causing the problem.

If some of the asteroids in the complex plan had a station built on them before the TL went idle, you might have to rework the Complex plan, adding them as "existing stations" instead of raw asteroids.

Like Sovereign01 says, the Factory Upgrades are not built automatically by the TL. The Complex Planner lets you select upgrade size to calculate future resource needs, but the initial complex will use factory size shown on the left: i.e. "M -> XXL" means a Medium factory will be built but the "Wares Needed/Produced" display quantities for an XXL factory. You have to apply station upgrade kits manually after the factories 'level up' by completing production cycles. For factories with long production cycles (like Photon Pulse Cannon Forge) it takes days to fully upgrade to an XXL.

[rudi_pioneer]

That error was many things for me, easiest one was needing to add energy cells for jump fuel and restart. In other cases, I could never finish.

[Hwitvlf]

I've built about 5 complexes and upgraded them about 20 times and the only irregularities I've seen in 1.3 are a couple minor problems:

The Terran Fusion Beam Canon Forge seems to break factory placement in the complex.

If using 'Add Existing Factory/Complex' in a plan, stopping/resuming the TL sometimes breaks something. I think it may have to do with mines in the pre-existing complex.

If you acquire the 'Complex Extension Kit' blueprint, the TL will idle saying "insufficient notoriety" rather than buying Kits. If you build one Kit at HQ, the TL seems to pick it up and 'conjure' as many Kits as it needs to complete the complex as if it were buying them at a regular shipyard. This is actually convenient for the player, but seems like a bug.

[rudi_pioneer]

That explains why I couldn't fix last issue - I had few existing mines, and tweaking various ways to start and end didn't help. There was some odd behavior with TL not being visible on map when it came to transport existing mine.

Other TL issues I was able to resolve with buying needed connector(s) or adding energy cells for jump fuel.

[Cycrow]

If you have a save game i can take a look and see if there's anything missing

[rudi_pioneer]

Here's mine - tried to pick save closest to the issue:

https://gofile.io/d/gLfnHH

What happened:

- built complex in Asteroid Belt, which had few mines
- once completed, complex had a connection (visually) that went off way in the distance and didn't connect to anything visible (so if there was a station, it was outside rendering distance)
- i've started new complex that would add few more stations to that one
- only TL in fleet is now building it, and while status says it's doing something, TL actually not visible on map at all, even after waiting for hours
(save game is at this point, i don't remember if i've stopped TL during original or this build but i'm 80% sure i did at some point to nudge build along)

If i try to stop and continue build script, it will forget some of existing buildings and start fresh while leaving other stations as-is, and will eventually stall again. This probably matters less since it's already broken at this point

[Jimmy C]

I recall a few people said they had something like that. Turns out there was a station a few thousand km away at the far end of that connection. Theirs were FBC forges, you don't seem to have one of those though. Have you checked to see if all the connected stations are on the map, including the complex hub?

[Hwitvlf]

This looks like the same issue that happened to me with the FBC forge. Factories are placed at extreme distances from sector-center. They still show up on the sector map so you can see your Orbital Laser factory and Solar Power Plants are effected. Since it's also a new factory, I suspect the Orbital Laser factory is causing the issue. The remaining factories in the Complex seem to inherit the bad coordinates.

If you remake the complex plan without the Orbital Laser Factory, it may build correctly. After the complex is complete, you can drop the OL factory close to the complex, and attach it manually.

To speed up the rebuilding process:
Fly a fast ship to the Solar plants and drop a jump beacon
Jump your TL to the beacon and pack the stations
Immediately deploy them near the complex hub.

EDIT: There seems to be an issue with pathfinding to the Solar Plants when Out-Of-System, probably because of the extreme distances. This is also what is causing the TL to be missing from the map.

[rudi_pioneer]

Thank you, that helps a lot! So, if I skip those factories and stay IS while building, that's safer? (I usually assume SETA IS causes collisions lol)

[Hwitvlf]

I think avoiding FBC and OL factories will prevent this issue in the future.
Staying In-System might be necessary for the TL to successfully travel to your distant stations and pack them, but I'd say it's generally a bad idea to be IS when building.

If you're rich enough, you could just fly to the distant stations and self-destruct them - buy new ones.