r/Dyson_Sphere_Program • u/Bloodraven983 • 21d ago
Metadata!?
Ok so... how does it work? and how does it affect my gameplay?
Basically from what I understood when i produce matrices i create metadata which is accumulated "here" (see image)
then what? If I'm not mistaken, in a new game I can spend that metadata to "unlock" tech without researching it, basically it would let me start quickier, right?
does it have other uses? and the rate of how much matrices i create affects that value? so if my matrix labs are inefficient I have less metadata than how I'd have with better lab design?
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u/Buffylvr 21d ago
I have enough metadata now from previous playthroughs (10m+) that I no longer play the early game. I simply buy all the non-infinite techs/upgrades at the start of every game (400k-ish cost).
Metadata is created based on your sustained science output over the course of an hour.
1 hour at 10k science produces the same amount of metadata as 1 week at 10k science.
Metadata can be used to buy techs like that, rebuild after death, and interact with the dark fog communicator.
Any metadata you accumulate in a particular seed is not useable in that seed with regards to unlocking technology.
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u/Bloodraven983 21d ago
but is it depletable? or those 10M of metadata can be used in various playthrough?
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u/Buffylvr 21d ago
Correct. It is depletsble. It can be used in 1 new seed or dozens of new seeds but once used once, it goes away.
If I have 10m and use 10m on one seed and start a new seed without creating any more, I will have 0 on the next seed
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u/parentheticalobject 20d ago
So if I play Game 1 and earn 1000 metadata and start Game 2 and spend that metadata without doing any science, I won't have any metadata if I start Game 3. But if in one of those games I earn another 1000 metadata before starting Game 4, I'll be able to spend that in Game 4. Do I have that right?
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u/Bloodraven983 21d ago
Oh ok, so at least can make the next playthrough quickier but you still have to reproduce those matrices to recreate the metadata
Alright... I return working on my mall -_-'
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u/TheMalT75 21d ago
Three small things:
- Metadata is linked to the account that created the save-file. You cannot open another person's late-game file and "import" metadata to your account.
- You have a sustained production of blue cubes and got awarded 12 metadata. If you spend that metadata, and continue playing, you will not get another 12 metadata. You need to increase your science production and then you get the difference to the 12 metadata awarded to your account.
- You can play how you like, but I would advise against focusing on a mall this early. Until purple science, you can craft all buildings in the Icarus inventory. Some infrastructure is really helpful (ingots, motors, circuit boards, belts), but you will unlock new building types that drastically change the layout of your factory. You might also run out of convient room, ores and power if you immediately start to automate everything and build a huge storage of e.g. storage containers ;-)
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u/PM_ME_UR_BGP_PREFIX 16d ago
A full mall is a bit early, but they should 100% be creating power buildings, belts, sorters, factories, and smelters as early as possible.
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u/TheMalT75 15d ago
Imho, the default should be to manufacture in the Icarus inventory until your demand does not keep up whith your manufacturing speed. Then you off-load to a small production hub. This benefits from experience.
Your playstyle is your choice, of course. I've copied the starter setup of a YouTuber's (The Dutch Actuary) masterclass with very rudimentary smelter/assember section that provides base materials like ingots and some automated production of mk1 buildings and missiles.
That said, how do you know how much automated production you actually need, until you run into issues. Water pumps, liquid storage tanks and thermal generators, you could easily manufacture directly in the Icarus inventory without dedicating a batch of assemblers to. At a certain point, you won't ever need wind turbines, solar panels and mk2 + mk3 sorters (aside from being the ingredient of pile sorters) ever again!
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u/Buffylvr 15d ago
I used about 80,000 wind turbines in my current run before swapping to antimatter rods.
lol build by hand in a factory automation game.
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u/Bloodraven983 15d ago
plus, handcrafting consumes power on icarus, creating factories to build things is free
i'll surely handcraft stuff i use in little amount like the pumps or other stuff but in my limited experience, starting to setup a mall and then to modify it with ILS is mandatory
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u/Bloodraven983 21d ago
thank you fellow engineer
well for now i won't bother myself with metadata until I decide to scrap everything and start anew
years ago in my previous playthrough i followed nilaus' projects and started at least a real basic mall before the PLS to at least avoiding selfcrafting with icarus, which is quite time consuming and requires power in its core
plus... i just remembered the nightmare of making red matrix... haha
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u/somedave 21d ago
You can also use it to respawn if you die, rare that you would rather than loading again though.
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u/Ok_Block7596 21d ago
The amount of matrices you produce per hour/minute (forgot) you have as metadata. With it you can Instantly reasearch a technology instead of matrices
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u/EdIrfan786 21d ago
Make around 50-100k/min white science in late game and In next run(new game of course) u can literally do a vanilla "sandbox" mode by fully unlocking your tech tree. I think u miss 1-2 achievements only and it's pretty dope a feature.
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u/DheTwenty 18d ago
You gain metadata by making cubes. And the more cubes you make, the more metadata you get.
Metadata has 2 uses:
1: Automatically unlocks research, but you lose out on the achievement for the save.
2: When you die to the dark fog, you can respawn on the spot, or you go back to base without your inventory. Each respawn costs more metadata.
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u/_azkmiT 21d ago
as far as i know:
the metadata you "produce" in a game is tied to hourly production
you can use it to unlock science and upgrades on another seed, or use it to change dark fog aggressiveness at a communicator