Guide/Customized POIs

While you will find a lot of pre defined POIs in the Content/Prefab folder, you can create your own POIs and insert them into your Scenario or Multiplayer Server.

Preparation of your POI

1. Create a structure and save it as blueprint (ALT GR + O) or download a workshop blueprint* (*it is good habbit to ask for permission before using it)
2. Start a Single Player creative game
3. Open the console and type "si off" to turn off Structural Integrity, press F2 and spawn your blueprint

POI specific hints

1. Make your POI interesting by thinking of a theme. For example Alien Invasion, Trading Station, Bunker, Puzzle / Labyrinth, Capture a Base, etc.
2. Make sure you know your target group. Try to not mix too many things at once, overwhelming the player or making it too difficult / confusing
3. Make the decision if you want to use an normal Alien Core (red) or the Alien Admin Core (purple)
4. Alien Cores are not visible on the Map for players. Player Admin Cores (blue) are visible for players on the map.
5. Alien Cores and Admin Cores do not consume any energy or fuel

Alien Core vs Alien Admin Core vs Admin Core

Alien Core

Pros

• Players can destroy any block / device to progress faster to the core. Once the Core is destroyed they can harvest the whole POI
• Alien Container can be used to get random loot inside once spawned via the game
• Does not consume any fuel or oxygen

Cons

• Players can destroy anything with SV rockets from outside, ruining probably your good interior design
• There is no challenge for players once they know where the Core of the POI is because they can shoot their way from above straight to the core. Once the core is destroyed the POI is "offline"
• You can't place custom loot inside boxes

Alien Admin Core

Pros

• The POI is indestructible once you placed the Alien Admin Core in it
• Alien Container can be used to get random loot inside once spawned via the game
• Does not consume any fuel or oxygen
• As soon as you damage any block or device just by 1%, it means that the player can later destroy that block or device. Any block / device which has 100% health can't be destroyed in any way
• By deciding what can be destroyed and what not, you can create very detailed and interesting POIs
• If you place items in Container Cargo Boxes that loot is stored with the blueprint and the player don't get random loot. That way you have again more control of the whole POI design. But you can also keep the Container empty for generating random loot

Cons

• It consumes insane more time to create Alien Admin Core POIs because you have to damage things, so the players can destroy it later ingame. You have to be concentrated to not forget any unwanted spawner or turret to not damage by 1%, because this would be otherwise indestructible and the player might get stuck or wasting his ammo to that target
• If work with such POI in survival you can only access it with "godmode invisible" or set it to your faction / public

Admin Core

Similar to above with the difference

Pros

• Players can see it in their Map from far away (teal HUD marker)

Cons

• Any Container Cargo Box must be set to 0000 (public) to be able to be opened by players
• You can't use Alien Container with that core

Blueprint Groups

Empyrion gives you the option to create Blueprint groups. For example if you want 10 similar artifact POIs on your planet, you don't need to define 10 of these POIs in the playfield.yaml. Instead put the 10 similar POIs in one blueprint group and let the game decide which one should be spawned.

Find your POI in the F2 blueprint windowand double-click on it. A new window will open, asking you to set a blueprint group name, a spawn name, elevation, save damage and a checkbox for cutout

Enter a group name - keep it in ONE word like 'customPOI' (without the ' ' ). Add a spawn name (the name you see on the playfield after the game spawned your POI) but do NOT use any symbols. You can also set the elevation (for example -2 = the lowest row of blocks is aligned with the terrain; to place the base any deeper, go in steps of 2 = -4, -6, -8 ...), choose if damages are saved and choose if the base has a CUTOUT ( that means that your base will delete the terrain in its bounding box if the base is submerged into terrain. Note: only works when your sub-terrain base is shaped rectangular. Octagonal or irregular shapes will lead to a rectangular cutout)

If you are done, click SET

Integrate it into your Scenario / Multiplayer Server

1. Leave the game and open your Windows Explorer. Go to the blueprint folder, located  here: ...\games\Steam\steamapps\common\Empyrion - Galactic Survival\Saves\Blueprints\yourEPID\
2. Find your POI blueprint. It is saved in a folder with the same name
3. Copy yourPOI.epb file to this folder: ..\Steam\steamapps\common\Empyrion - Galactic Survival\Content\Scenarios\YOUR_SCENARIO_FOLDER\Prefabs
4. Open the playfield.yaml in ..\Steam\steamapps\common\Empyrion - Galactic Survival\Content\Scenarios\YOUR_SCENARIO_FOLDER\Playfields with an Editor of your choice (Notepad++)
5. Press CTRL + F and find the section "POIs: ... Random:". Example:

        - GroupName: JunkT1
          CountMinMax: [ 4, 5 ]
          DroneProb: 0
          DronesMinMax: [ 0 ]
          ReserveCount: 0
          TroopTransport: False    
          SpawnPOINear: [START]
          SpawnPOINearRange: [500, 1000]
          Properties: 
            - Key: MapDistance
              Value: 600   
            - Key: MapMarker 
              Value: Neutral  
            - Key: RegenAfter
              Value: 720  

6. Change "JunkT1" with your Blueprint Group Name you set before with double click in your F2 window for your POI

7. Make sure your indentations are correct (Yaml syntax) and you pressed CTRL + S (save the file)

8. The other properties you see above are handled by the game but can be customized as you wish. For explanation of these please open the +ExamplePlanet in your steamapps\common\Empyrion - Galactic Survival\Content\Playfields folder

9. Start now a new game with your Scenario selected / configured and check if your POI in that proper playfield got spawned. Make sure to open the console once you are on that playfield to check if any error occurred.

 

Questions and Answers

Q: Why do i need to start a new game?
A: If you edited a playfield that has already been visited in your savegame, changes like adding custom  POIs will not affect the savegame.

Q: Can i add several POIs to one Group?
A: Yes. But each of your POIs can only be member of ONE Group!

Q: I have added a POI to a group but want to change it to another group!
A: Go to the ingame blueprint group menu. Double-click the blueprint, change the blueprint group name and click SET again.

Q: Where can i see the groups created and the contents of this group?
A: That's not possible at the moment (We'll add this). You need to rely on your own notes

Q: How can i change how deep my POI is spawned into the ground?
A: You can set the elevation by double clicking on the blueprint (for example -2 = the lowest row of blocks is aligned with the terrain; to place the base any deeper, go in steps of 2 = -4, -6, -8 ...). Activate "Flatten terrain" (works best with rectangular base designs). Otherwise all underground rooms are all filled with earth and have to be dug up first by the player with the drill tool.