Space Engineers: Asteroid Ores

A Torch plugin and mod for Space Engineers to better control ores in asteroids.

Code on github.

Installation

1. Install the plugin on your Torch server.
2. Add the mod to your server, so deleted asteroids are synced to clients.
3. Configure the plugin by creating AsteroidOres.cfg, example below.

How it works

Server owner configures which ores spawn by default in space and in certain regions of space.

The plugin patches the server-side procedural asteroid generation so that only asteroids with the desired ores spawn.

Because clients are also generating asteroids procedurally, the plugin uses a companion mod where the server tells the clients which asteroids can spawn or not, and everything stays in sync.

Config

Config is loaded and saved as AsteroidOres.cfg.

There are 2 main sections:

• default value for space
  • you can define if all ores spawn (<AllOres>true</AllOres>) or not (<AllOres>false</AllOres>)
  • if not, then you list which ores are allowed to spawn (<Ores><string>Stone</string></Ores>)
  • any asteroid which would spawn with ores not listed in there will not spawn
• zones
  • asteroid spherical field: specify center and max radius
  • asteroid hollow spherical field: also specify a min radius
  • asteroid ring: also specify a height, and set the planet's CloudLayer with RotationAxis 0/0/0 so it's aligned on the Y plane; gives a washer shape

Example

Imagine we want the following:

• empty space, no asteroids
  • use: <AllOres>false</AllOres> then list no ores
• an asteroid ring with all ores except Platinum
  • use: <Center>, <MinRadius>, <MaxRadius> and <Height> to define the asteroid ring characteristics
  • use: <AllOres>false</AllOres> then list all ores except Platinum
• an asteroid cluster with all ores
  • use: <Center> and <MaxRadius> to define the spherical field
  • use: <AllOres>true</AllOres> so all ores can spawn

The config then looks like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Config xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">

  <!-- no ores spawn in space, so no asteroids -->
  <AllOres>false</AllOres>
  <Ores />

  <Zones>

    <!-- an asteroid ring around planet X:0 Y:0 Z:0, min 130km, max 80km, height 10km, with all ores except Platinum -->
    <Zone>
      <AllOres>false</AllOres>
      <Ores>
        <string>Cobalt</string>
        <string>Gold</string>
        <string>Ice</string>
        <string>Iron</string>
        <string>Magnesium</string>
        <string>Nickel</string>
        <string>Stone</string>
        <string>Silicon</string>
        <string>Silver</string>
        <string>Uranium</string>
      </Ores>
      <Center>
        <X>0</X>
        <Y>0</Y>
        <Z>0</Z>
      </Center>
      <MaxRadius>130000</MaxRadius>
      <MinRadius>80000</MinRadius>
      <Height>10000</Height>
    </Zone>

    <!-- an asteroid cluster centered on X:1000000 Y:1000000 Z:1000000 of radius 100km, with all ores -->
    <Zone>
      <AllOres>true</AllOres>
      <Ores />
      <Center>
        <X>1000000</X>
        <Y>1000000</Y>
        <Z>1000000</Z>
      </Center>
      <MaxRadius>100000</MaxRadius>
    </Zone>

  </Zones>
</Config>

FAQ

Asteroid fields feel too empty

Be mindful of how the plugin works: it deletes asteroids not matching the config rules, so the more ores are restricted, the less asteroids will spawn.

Space Engineers has a tendency to generate asteroids with 2 ores, e.g. Iron and Platinum, rarely a single ore. So if ores are restricted to just Platinum, such asteroid with both Iron and Platinum would be deleted, because Iron was not allowed. Only asteroids with only Platinum will spawn, which is very rare, therefore the asteroid field will be very empty.

Depending on your Asteroid Ores configuration, you can adjust your server <ProceduralDensity> (decimal value between 0 and 1) to give you the right asteroid field density. You can increase it further by modding the vanilla asteroid generator settings (cf. AsteroidGenerators.sbc in the game files).

I can fly through Asteroids

Make sure you installed the companion mod on your server so deleted asteroids are synced to clients.

Bugs, comments, questions

Create a new issue.