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Exploration Farm (No Saving)

The title of this "world" IS: "Exploration Farm (No Saving)" ("No Saving" refers to the suggestion that you not save this world as it will most likely (<-speculation) make loading longer for future uses).

Attached is a "world" that I use to gather derelict ship and station blueprints in as fast a manner as possible.

Here is a link to the exact same world (called: "Exploration Farm (GPS Version)"):
http://sp.zhabite.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=399347585

In this "GPS Version" world, my goal is to GPS pin-point the closest location of each of the current 42 derelict ships (and those in the future as more are added) in relation to the world's center (0,0,0). I will update the world frequently as I locate more derelicts. If you'd prefer to find them yourself using one/some of the methodologies (or your own) described below, use the world attached here.

For those that desire the "true" exploration mode experience this "world" and methods discussed is NOT a "world" for you. This "world" is more for those wishing to see what's "out there", take a snapshot of the blue-print and paste the blue-print in another "world" where one might be collecting derelicts for whatever reason. If that other "world" IS a survival world then you will have to decide how you want to transfer in the derelict ship (although "Midspace's Admin Helper" can make light work of this as I will explain later).

Basically it is an asteroid world with auto-save turned off, the mods listed below and minimal advanced settings with a 20km "pop-in" range (this can be lowered to 7km). Certain advanced toggles can be activated "in-game" along with a client save to change some of the settings (naturally, you can modify the settings before loading the world).

With a LOT of experimentation discovering the methodology used by the developers to spawn in derelict ships/stations, this "world" is best not saved, rather re-used in its original form where you begin at coordinates (0,0,0). The reason that the "world" is best left in its original state is that all the asteroids (although set to the lowest density) WILL increase the size of your save file and WILL make the "world" longer to load and begin using (if this is not an issue for you, then auto-save/save as you wish, but doing so adds NO benefits).

The "world" comes with 5 mods authored by other community members (the first of which of crucial):
-Midspace's /scan Mod <--Crucial
-Midpsace's Admin Helper Mod <--Has commands that can help speed things up
-Ludicrous Speed Mod <--For those wanting to take it slower
-GPS and Waypoints <--Nice info to have at the top of your screen for reference
-Autopilot <--Nice to have for being less involved

I also employ the use of an exploration ship that itself was a derelict (I am not the author of this fine ship). It is call the "Renaissance" and the version contained within this "world" has been modified to make the process faster by eliminating most of the cockpit glass making egress and ingress from and to one of the ship's Flight Seats as fast as possible. However, use whatever exploration ship you are most familiar/comfortable with.

Below I will illustrate a few methodologies, going from slowest derelict blueprint retrieval to fastest (recommended). I recommend the fastest method because the game likes to spawn in several ships repeatedly (I've even seen them spawned in as pairs side-by-side) and if you've already gotten that blueprint then you've just wasted a lot of time for no gain to your collection.

Snail (impossible) Methodology:
Well you really need not have subscribed to this "world" for this method as this method uses no mods whatsoever and you'll find derelicts in accordance to "blind luck" as the developers may (or may not) have intended. Simply dly towards a glittering speck and hope that it's not an asteroid.

Regular (slow method) Methodology:
This method strictly uses "Midspace's /scan Mod" and no other mods. Simply fly around willy-nilly, issue an occasional "/scan" command after first hitting the <ENTER> key and hope for the best. When you have located a derelict follow the section in the comments below called "Homing in on Derelicts".

Normal (fast method) Methodology:
This method uses the above methodology, but with the addition of a command available in "Midspace's Admin Helper" mod. The command is "/j <distance>". This command jumps your character (and the ship they are piloting FORWARD the <distance> specified. Like with all commands, you enter them into the chat console by hitting <ENTER> before and after the command has been issued. I have experiment with "/j 10000", "/j 15000" & "/j 20000" and I have gotten the best results using the latter. If you get no "/scan" (or "/scan2") results, repeat and rinse. Eventually derelicts will spawn into the world.

Turbo (fastest) Methodology (quite "cheaty"):
This method uses the above methodologies, but add's the continued use of the "/j <distance>" command to close in on the range of results found using the "/scan" (or "/scan2") command. You will find dozens and more derelict items using this method.

Ultra-Turbo (insanely fast) Methodology (extremely "cheaty"):
This method uses all of the above but utilizes the "/listships" (or "/listships2") command in conjunction with the "/tps <Ship Name>" teleportation command. This is not a recommended method as it requires you to not be piloting a ship THUS you have to teleport back to your ship to resume hunting.

Mega-Ultra-Turbo (ludicrously fast) Methodology ("cheat city"):
Like the above method, create a world with an infinite 50km view-able distance world with low asteroid density, and get rid of (CTRL-X) your starting ship. Repeat the process of "jumping" ("/j <distance>") forward (I recommend 100,000km as it gives you an entirely "new hand") -AND- issuing the "/listships2" command. When you find a derelict in the "list" that you have yet to "explore", use "/tps <Ship Name>" teleportation command. I personally use this method to gauge the "rarity values" (probability) that the devs have set for each derelict.

Ultima-Mega-Ultra-Turbo (instantaneus) Methodolgy ("ruinous and no fun"):
On your PC, go to the "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\SpaceEngineers\Content\Data\Prefabs" folder and take note of a particular derelict that you want to paste into the world. This list includes ALL of the ships in the game including cargo-ships, respawn ships and ship's included in the "Easy Start" worlds, etc. Alternatively, you can issue a "/listprefabs <filter>" command and get the exact same listing in-game. To paste in a derelict, simply issue the "/pasteprefab <name>" command and use underscores ("_") for spaces. If the blue-print won't past because your engineer is INSIDE the block, use one of the F7/F8/F9 "spectator modes" to move the "camera" outside of the block. This method can also be accomplished using SEToolbox though a bit more time-consuming.

Polite and constructive comments/questions are welcome! If you don't like the concept and have nothing constructive to add/say, please keep your comments to yourself and ..."Move on, these are not the droids that you are looking for..." ;P

Cheers to those that subscribe. Check back as methodologies may change due to updates in the mods used as well as ideas contributed by the community.

-abordoli

Here is a link to my SE Steam Workshop where you can browse through other exploration finds as well as a few designs of my own:
http://sp.zhabite.com/id/abordoli/myworkshopfiles/?appid=244850

Derelict Summary and Spawn Rarities:
Batch 1-3: http://sp.zhabite.com/app/244850/discussions/0/617328967247045667/
Batch 4-?: http://sp.zhabite.com/app/244850/discussions/0/617328967248217785/

DarkExcalibur42's "Exploration Ships" Link:
http://sp.zhabite.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=373064835