Build Planner

It's a common problem while building that players forget which components they need to bring to finish welding a block. The Build Planner is a set of shortcuts that memorises, withdraws, and deposits components for you -- and even can pass on the order to an  Assembler.

Quick version: Select the block that you want to place from the toolbar and MMB-click a full inventory port to withdraw the components for the block.

Prerequisites

For the Build Planner shortcuts to work, you need access to an inventory access port (e.g. cargo container). For the full functionality, ensure the cargo container is conveyored to an  Assembler (not a Basic Assembler).

Use Build Planner as the Engineer

In this scenario, the source is a mothership or base that has an  Assembler, and the target is your engineer's inventory.

Use one of two ways to queue up the needed components on foot:

• If you have placed unwelded blocks, hold your welder and RMB-click the blocks.
• Otherwise, select a block from the toolbar as if you wanted to place it, and MMB-click the cargo port with it.

The block's missing components are added to the build queue.

To withdraw the components into your inventory:

1. To start producing the queued components, Shift+MMB click the cargo port.
   Tip: Shift+Ctrl+MMB click to put the tenfold amount of components into production.
2. To deposit all components from your inventory, Alt+MMB click the cargo port.
3. To withdraw the queued-up components, MMB-click the cargo port.
   If the engineer's inventory is full, or the components are not yet produced, you'll get a warning. Then try again a bit later.

Tip: If you are building the same block over and over, queue it up once and then Ctrl+MMB click the cargo port; this also withdraws the components, but keeps the queue as is. Similarly, if you Alt+Ctrl+MMB click the cargo port, you withdraw the tenfold amount of the components, and keep the queue.

Use Build Planner From a Welder Ship

For ships and bases: Build Planner buttons in the Inventory Screen

In this scenario, the source is again a mothership or base that has an  Assembler, and the target is a welder ship.

Tip: This method works best if you give the target and source inventories unique filterable names. For example, name the cargo containers of the welder ship, "welder cargo TARGET" and the ones of the base/mothership "base cargo SOURCE".

There are two ways to queue up the needed components:

• If you have placed unwelded blocks from the cockpit, RMB-click the blocks with the  Welder Block while seated in the cockpit.
• Otherwise, leave the cockpit and press (G key), click to select a block from the list, and click the plus button in the bottom right to queue up its components in the build planner.

The block's missing components are added to the build queue.

To withdraw components into the welder ship's cargo:

1. Dock the ship to a connector of the conveyor system of the station/mothership.
2. Press (I key) to open the ship inventory.
   • On the left side, filter to show the welder ship inventory only (target).
   • On the right side, filter to show the base inventory only (source).
3. To produce the queued components, click the gear button in the middle column.
4. To deposit all components from the left (ship) into the right (base) inventory, click the right-arrow button in the middle column.
5. To withdraw the produced components into your ship, click the left-arrow button in the middle column.

You can always hover the mouse over the Inventory buttons to read the tooltips to remind yourself what they do!

Check the Queue and Clean It Up

When the whole order is completely withdrawn, the block disappears from the queue.

Are you not withdrawing what you expected? Did you use the modifier keys and queued too many or too few components? Then clean up the queue manually!

1. How to open the Build Planner depends on whether you are sitting or standing:
   • While seated in a grid with an Assembler, click the Build Planner button in the Production tab.
     

     

     Build Planner button in the Assembler

   • While standing, check the build planner by pressing (G key) and looking in the bottom right of the toolbar. Hover the mouse over queued blocks to see the missing components.
     

     

     Build Planner in the player's Toolbar Config Screen (G)

2. To remove unneeded blocks from the queue, RMB-click the blocks in the Build Planner.

Caveats

It's more reliable to withdraw things across grids by using the inventory screen and clicking the buttons. The Build Planner loses track of your order when you are withdrawing through multiple grids. For example, if you use the mouse-click shortcuts on a cargo port of a ship that is connected to a station that has the components in it, it often doesn't withdraw them. It also miscounts when it sees only some of the components in one cargo container, but not enough for your entire order.