How important is the lifepod?

HeartOfTheKING

My lifepod seems to have drifted to the other side of the planet. No matter how far I travel I cant seem to get to it. So I was wondering if it's vital to the game and should I restart? Or should I let it go in hopes that it will one day drift all the way around the planet and back to me?

Luke27262

Do you already have a base and etc set up?

TenebrousNova

The lifepod becomes irrelevant as soon as you have a basic base with a fabricator and power source. It's just there to help you get started.

HeartOfTheKING

thanks, thought i'd have to start over. Again.

FrogmanFreeman

Even when you build a base the life pod acts as a decent reference point for navigation in conjunction with the crashed ship .

Lhast

FrogmanFreeman wrote: »

Even when you build a base the life pod acts as a decent reference point for navigation in conjunction with the crashed ship .

That's how I've been using it so far as well. Everything to me is in varying terms of the Aurora, the lifepod and Floater Island. Plus there's nothing else like it in the game (usable ones at least...) so if anything it's purely for aesthetic value once you already have something else set up.

EverReddy

As @TenebrousNova says, once you have a base with a fabricator and power source the pod is no longer vital, although it does act as a good visual aid for roughly triangulating your position relating to it and the Aurora. That only works within a limited range though, but once you start placing beacons it starts to become easier to work out where you are (although I really wish they'd add distance meters as well).

HeartOfTheKING

@EverReddy I agree about the distance meters. Also is there a way to turn off all the beacon signals temporarly? I keep trying to take screenshots and they're littered with beacon labels. Also, since my lifepods halfway around the planet by now, it'd be nice if I could turn off that beacon permanately.

EverReddy

@HeartOfTheKING No, although I've seen a lot of people asking for that ability. Personally I think it would be great if you could set each beacon to a particular circuit/frequency. That would allow you to set groups of landmarks (bases, wrecks, biomes, resource nodes or whatever else you want) to a set frequency that you could toggle on and off in your HUD depending on what you're after.

TenebrousNova

EverReddy wrote: »

@TenebrousNova No, although I've seen a lot of people asking for that ability. Personally I think it would be great if you could set each beacon to a particular circuit/frequency. That would allow you to set groups of landmarks (bases, wrecks, biomes, resource nodes or whatever else you want) to a set frequency that you could toggle on and off in your HUD depending on what you're after.

I think you meant to reply to him rather than me.

EverReddy

TenebrousNova wrote: »

I think you meant to reply to him rather than me.

Ooops! Sorry about that, have amended the comment.

scubamatt

TenebrousNova wrote: »

The lifepod becomes irrelevant as soon as you have a basic base with a fabricator and power source. It's just there to help you get started.

This is true.

However, Alterra Corporation would like to remind you that, as a crewman, when you took command of that Lifepod, you assumed responsibility for a valuable company vehicle, filled with valuable company property. Your PDA has logged your acceptance of this responsibility, and copies of that acceptance will be recovered by Alterra Corporation's legal department at a future date (see PDA entries Welcome/Readme and Welcome/Survival Checklist). After your eventual rescue, you will be held accountable for the Lifepod and all issued survival equipment (reference PDA entry on Data Downloads/Operations Logs/Standard 2-Berth Emergency Lifepod). Please ensure that you do not misplace, misuse or destroy any company equipment, or it may be deducted from your back pay upon rescue. Thank you, and once again, Good Job On Surviving!

DrownedOut

A tip for next time in case you want to keep the lifepod: build a bay. You can encircle the lifepod (and the mobile vehicle bay) with hallways just above water and they'll stay where they are (though I had my lifepod mysteriously teleport just outside once, but then it "stuck" to the hall anyway so it didn't matter). You can also move the lifepod with the current generator, but it's way more work than it's worth over large distances. Keep in mind to enclose them as soon as you have the lifepod where you want it to be because it can be really stubborn about returning where you got it from.

The benefits of keeping the lifepod this way:

• Free energy, medkits, and storage space whenever you have immediate need for it and your base can't provide it.
• Extra dynamic to your base.
• Having the lifepod as your base beacon, which spares you having to make a separate one and have the lifepod one clutter your view.
• Pretending the lifepod's circles are its eyes and that it's watching you whenever you are in the upper halls, silently waiting for the day that will bring revenge for the incarceration.

Not today, Lifepod 5, not today.

scubamatt

I anchor mine by placing 4 pieces of Pipe around it, one on each side, close but not touching the actual pod.

Slackerstu

I think it is supposed to prefer its original spawn location with some gravity lock mentioned in the tablet. I have moved mine a bit by gently aligning the seamoth and give it low throttle but as soon as I let it go it will creep back to spawn location. Would be very nice to be able to reassign that preferred location at some point like hacking the pod CPU and reprogramming it.

Yargish89

wish we could connect it physically to our base be awesome like that

Slackerstu

Yargish89 wrote: »

wish we could connect it physically to our base be awesome like that

one of the base riser tubes into the bottom would be great

oelikoelie

HeartOfTheKING wrote: »

@EverReddy I agree about the distance meters. Also is there a way to turn off all the beacon signals temporarly? I keep trying to take screenshots and they're littered with beacon labels. Also, since my lifepods halfway around the planet by now, it'd be nice if I could turn off that beacon permanately.

Jip same here. Wish i could turn them on and off because they are very annoying when you have more than 10! And also when sightseeing they are very distracting!

TenebrousNova

@DrownedOut

That's actually a pretty nifty idea that I haven't seen used before. I must try it on my next save!

HeartOfTheKING

@EverReddy That'd be a great idea. As you get farther in the game it's going to start getting crowded with labels. Another idea would be an active map. As you map out areas with the scanner room it could fill up your map and then you'd be able to add your own markers to it.

HeartOfTheKING

@DrownedOut I'll have to try that next time. I thought those looked like eyes that were staring at you too

mrsnutnut77

HeartOfTheKING wrote: »

My lifepod seems to have drifted to the other side of the planet. No matter how far I travel I cant seem to get to it. So I was wondering if it's vital to the game and should I restart? Or should I let it go in hopes that it will one day drift all the way around the planet and back to me?

Mine has done this too I try and get to it and it's never ending. Like you I have been clinging to the idea that it will b back where it was magically!

itsspartan313

scubamatt wrote: »

I anchor mine by placing 4 pieces of Pipe around it, one on each side, close but not touching the actual pod.

i like it thank you for the idea

itsspartan313

DrownedOut wrote: »

A tip for next time in case you want to keep the lifepod: build a bay. You can encircle the lifepod (and the mobile vehicle bay) with hallways just above water and they'll stay where they are (though I had my lifepod mysteriously teleport just outside once, but then it "stuck" to the hall anyway so it didn't matter). You can also move the lifepod with the current generator, but it's way more work than it's worth over large distances. Keep in mind to enclose them as soon as you have the lifepod where you want it to be because it can be really stubborn about returning where you got it from.

The benefits of keeping the lifepod this way:

• Free energy, medkits, and storage space whenever you have immediate need for it and your base can't provide it.
• Extra dynamic to your base.
• Having the lifepod as your base beacon, which spares you having to make a separate one and have the lifepod one clutter your view.
• Pretending the lifepod's circles are its eyes and that it's watching you whenever you are in the upper halls, silently waiting for the day that will bring revenge for the incarceration.

Not today, Lifepod 5, not today.

i like it thank you

HeartOfTheKING

mrsnutnut77 wrote: »

HeartOfTheKING wrote: »

My lifepod seems to have drifted to the other side of the planet. No matter how far I travel I cant seem to get to it. So I was wondering if it's vital to the game and should I restart? Or should I let it go in hopes that it will one day drift all the way around the planet and back to me?

Mine has done this too I try and get to it and it's never ending. Like you I have been clinging to the idea that it will b back where it was magically!

I figure what goes around comes around, right

mrsnutnut77

Lol @ drowned out life pod watching u!!!

WarViper

Life pod drifting is a known bug. If you have the welder you can use it to repair the inside of the life pod which is supposed to activate the gravity anchors and keep it in one spot but even then it is known to keep drifting away. If you already have a base built and have a fabricator then you are fine without the life pod. Ohh and do not stand on top of the life pod as this can cause it to suddenly start rocking around wildly usually throwing you off the top of it and is a possible link to it to begin drifting away. Also like others suggested you can build around the pod to keep it in one spot.