The reason you don't see any discussion on any of these topics, or any other similer questions, is that the game is currently under NDA. The official posts from developers to the general forums are the only information available to the public.
Yes, your construct snapshot/blueprint is always yours, unless you delete it.
There will be a mechanism to make copies of the blueprint, or even trade the original blueprint - keeping in mind that once the original is gone, its gone.....
Nopes, see above. (though there is nothing stopping you from making another blueprint from the original physical ship )
There has been talk of automated 'factories/machines' of some sort that will be able to do so while you are offline, so yes.
Either is possible. You can get a blueprint, put it and materials into a manufacturing plant/machine and have the item be created after a set amount of time....
or
Use/buy elements like engines, consoles, fuel tanks etc, to build your own ship voxel by voxel.
No automation in DU, zero, as these are tasks left to players to keep them busy and not give advantages to single players that could swing an individuals powers in a large magnitude compared to others.
If you want to protect investments then get some friends to play with, or, stay in one of the many safe zones in game
All of the above has come from NQ videos, devblogs, and statements in these forums.
Hello, and welcome to the community.
Ok, so regarding blueprints. there are 3 different types that have been mentioned. Snapshots, Master Blueprints, and a Blueprint Copy.
Snapshots: This is basically saved data about a construct. Everything that you build has a snapshot of the voxel data saved into the construct element. If lets say you're building/ship or whatever, is damaged by weapons fire, and you need to repair it, the data of that build is already saved as a snapshot into the Construct element, so can use materials or whatever to rebuild it as is originally was. Basically make repairs/and or rebuild a voxel construct.
Master Blueprints: This is basically a physical item in you're inventory, that can be traded or sold on the market. The Master blueprint is basically the original blueprint that you make, it has no limits to what you can do with that design. You can manufacture an infinite amount of constructs from it, or even make copies of that blueprint.
Blueprint Copy: This is a copy of a master blueprint, it is also a physical item in you're inventory. This type can not be copied, and can have limits put on it. Also, once a Copy
Blueprint is used to build a construct, it disappears. Only the master blueprint remains. So you could sell/trade Blueprint Copies on the market that can only be used to build 10 ships, or something if you wanted.
More info on blueprints: https://dualuniverse.gamepedia.com/Blueprints
Yes, that's the plan basically, But not fully automated. The only part of manufacturing that will be fully automated, is the last part by which a factory unit makes a fully completed construct from the blueprint. The process will go something like this.
First, a player takes raw resources like ore that you mine, and you use the "Foundry Unit" to make alloys, pure metals, and other materials.
Second, a player puts the alloys/metal in to a "3d printer" and/or "Mechanical Press Unit" to make parts and gear. you can make stuff like armor, suit upgrades, storage containers, and even the basic components for engines or complex machines. Those basic components are useless on their own, but are need in the next step of the process.
Third, a player can put those parts/components into the "Assembly Unit". This unit can make complex things like Engines, Scanners, Weapons, etc... some of these things can be created by a player using the nanoformer, but the "Assembly Unit" is both faster and more efficient.
Last, you can take a blueprint, and resources/materials, and elements. put them into a "Factory Unit", and it will make you a fully completed construct (Like a Ship). exactly like you original built it. This is the unit you would use to manufacture copies of you ships that you want to sell, without having to rebuild it manually.
Some constructs may take time for the factory unit to build, but it will still operate offline. So if it takes 5 hours for the unit to build that ship, it will still be working even if you log off.
So, basically the end goal is to give players the ability to setup a manufacturing operation if they want. As long as you have the blueprint, and the necessary materials/elements. Some player/Orgs will most likely buy blueprints off the market and manufacture them, in-house at there own facilities.
So the developers have been adamant about no automation, so no there will not be any droids in-game that can do those types of things. Any droid or robots will be mostly cosmetic. An programmable robots that people can build using LUA scripting, will be very limited.
I hope that helps, and here are some links from the wiki page that has more info on the things that I mentioned.
https://dualuniverse.gamepedia.com/File:FactoryPreAlpha.PNG
https://dualuniverse.gamepedia.com/Industrial_Unit
https://dualuniverse.gamepedia.com/Element
Katulyst reacted to Tordan in Building Ships, Blueprints, and reproducing them?