The Ultimate Resource FAQ (part 1)

by Wuu Sarin, of Shadowfire

Within this FAQ I refer often to SWG Craft- this is a 3rd party website at www.swgcraft.com.  It is NOT affiliated with Sony or SOE in any way.

I wrote most of this myself, but some of these questions are collated from other threads.  The work and effort is entirely mine, so I'd appreciate lots of suggestions/corrections, and not so much plagiarism.  This guide is for the people, thanks!

If the font size is too small/large, put your mouse over the text, hold Control and roll your mouse wheel.  Or in IE, use View > Text Size.

This is designed for people new to resources.  I expect you've played for a day or two, and know basic command use.  Although a lot of the info is useful for Artisans, ANYONE can benefit from harvester use, so this goes in Game Guides.

** What, really, are resources?  What the heck is an "Akade Carbonite Steel"?

Resources are the materials necessary for crafters to create items.  You need bone and hide to make camp, metal to make a sword, and so on.

Resources are organized as a tree; all resources, for example, are categorized into either organic, inorganic, or power.  Inorganic resources are further classified into mineral, chemical, gas and water.  Mineral resources are further classified, so on, down to a type of material, such as steel, or iron, or carbonate ore.

Furthermore, each type of material comes in specific classes.  Iron, for example: there's Kammris Iron, Axidite Iron, Doonium Iron, Plumbum Iron, Dolovite Iron, Bronzium Iron, Colat Iron, and Polonium Iron.  These classes are set, and you will not see new classes emerge.

Furthermore, just as we consider Alpine water to be different from stream-gathered freshwater, each class of material comes in specific, NAMED instances.  Today, there might exist a Carbonite Steel called "Akade" on Corellia.  Tomorrow you might discover a new kind of Carbonite Steel available on Naboo called "Loka" or such.  This is the most specific it will get- there are no sub-classes of Akade steel, ALL Akade steel is identical.

Steel is classified as Inorganic > Mineral > Metal > Ferrous > Steel.  As such, it can be used to make any item that requires any of the above.  Generic, simple items might only require, for example, 10 units of "Inorganic."  A small stimpack, for example, only requires Inorganic; any kind of Inorganic will do.  High-end items will require specific resources, down to a type of material.  Power Hammers, for example, not only require Iron, but Kammris Iron.  With me so far?

So the classification of ANY resource goes like this:

Type (such as Inorganic) > sub-type (such as mineral) > ... > sub-type > class (such as Carbonite Steel) > Specific resource (such as "Akade").  The name is unique and random, so it completely identifies the resource.  You can say Akade, and every unit of Akade will be exactly identical, even Akade from different planets.

Take a look at this visual "tree" to get a visual understanding:
http://www.swgcraft.com/resourcetree.php

** How are resources collected?  What are harvesters?

Different resources are collected different ways. 

The most different are the animal resources- bone, hide, and meat.  These can only be collected from killed animals, and only by Scouts (and their Ranger brothers).  Milk can be gathered from certain live animals by Scouts/Rangers.  Seafood is collected manually, with a harvesting tool.  Eggs are collected from lairs, also manually.  These are all much more difficult to gather in LARGE quantities, so they tend to be more expensive.

All other types of resources are collected either manually by an Artisan, or by anyone using a harvester of that type of resource.

To collect manually, you must have Novice Artisan skill, which grants you the command /sample and /survey.

There are several different kinds of resource harvesters: mineral, chemical, gas, water, floral, solar, wind and radioactive.

Gas, water, solar, wind harvesters each collect only their namesakes.  A gas harvester only collects gas (but are capable of collecting ANY type of gas).  A water harvester collects water vapor, but any kind of water.  Solar and wind harvesters collect solar and wind power.  A radioactive harvester collects radioactive power.

Mineral, chemical, and floral harvesters collect the rest.  Obviously a mineral harvester can collect any kind of mineral (that's not gas or water).  Floral harvesters collect all floral resources.

Note that since radioactive is considered a mineral, mineral harvesters can also collect that.

In addition, many of the harvesters come in different sizes.  Wind, solar, and radioactive harvesters come in one size only- the radioactive harvester is misleadingly called a "fusion generator."  The others come in 3 sizes: personal, medium, and heavy.

Naturally, the larger size harvesters collect more than smaller sizes.

** How do I manually collect resources?  Why would I want to?

You must be a Novice Artisan at least.

The basic concept is this.  Resources are randomly spread throughout the land in concentrations.  You have to find a spot with a high concentration of a resource by using your surveying skill.  Then you use your sampling skill to try to get a few units of the resource, at the cost of some HAM.  By sampling over and over, you can slowly collect resources.

First, you'll need a surveying device of the appropriate kind; a mineral survey device if you want steel for our example.  Buy one, or construct one since you're an Artisan.  Dismount any vehicles or mounts.  Click it (the first time you use it, you will have to choose a range- as you gain more Surveying skill, you can see a larger range).  You will be presented with all the mineral resources on this planet, down to each specific named instance.

Select a resource you want, and click Survey or enter /survey.  You will start searching, and the nearby land will be displayed on the Surveying screen, with you in the center.  An overlapping matrix of concentrations of that resource will be overlaid on top of the land, so you can see, within your limited range of survey, where the highest concentration is.  In addition, a waypoint will be set to that point, named "Resource Survey".

Once you've done the survey, head towards the highest concentration waypoint, and survey again.  Repeat until you get to the "peak"- this may be very close or really far.

You want to reach the highest concentration before you try to start collecting, because it will affect both how easy it is for you to collect samples, and how MUCH sample you get each time.

Once you're there, click the Get Sample button, or enter /sample.  You will kneel and collect some.  (If you get an error, stand still a few seconds and try again- you cannot sample while running.)

Manually sampling is very slow, it uses up your HAM, and you have a chance of failing to find some.  on the other hand, it's fairly simple if you just need a few units, it's free, and it is the only way to gain Surveying XP, which you'll need to gain Survey skill.

Also, when you're manually sampling, occasionally you'll see a popup box giving you a chance to find an extra rich lode or high concentration.  These are one-time, bonus events designed to encourage manual sampling and discourage AFK sampling.

Note also that sampling radioactive is very painful- you have to first confirm your wish to sample, and then if you sample successfully you will take wound damage to your HAM.

** I'm not an Artisan! Can I still gather resources?

Absolutely, though you cannot manually sample.  Find an Artisan, and offer to pay for waypoints to high concentrations of the resource you want.  Basically, hire someone to survey FOR you.  Once they find you a good spot, go there and use your harvesters!

** What is power and how do I get some?  Is liquid fuel power?

"Power" or "Energy" refer to certain resources that are used in running harvesters and factories. This includes solar, wind, and radioactive resources.  Liquid or Solid Petrochem Fuel "sounds" like power, but they are NOT- they're simply just another kind of resource to collect.

** Okay, how do I set up these harvesters and start collecting automatically?

First, you'll need to acquire an appropriate harvester.  Want steel?  Get a mineral harvester of any size (starting off, you really really should use a Personal size harvester).  Want rice?  Get a floral harvester, etc.

Next, go through the above surveying steps until you find that good concentration spot.

Now, click the harvester deed in your inventory and select Use.  You will be taken to an overhead view of the local area, and you'll be able to move your cursor around to see where you want to construct the harvester.  If your current cursor is over an allowable spot, it will glow green.  Else it will glow red.  Find a green spot, and click it. 

You can right-click to "rotate" the harvester, which may make it fit more easily.  You can also move around while im the Placement mode to view if more than one lot is placable before investing the time by simply measuring the area by surface markings, This becomes Vital in cases where You would rather place more than one structure in the same area before you find out the hard way. (Thanks to Qwiqshot.)

You'll come back to the world, the harvester should disappear and begin constructing at the spot you chose.  (If not, repeat the above paragraph- lag can cause this.)  In a minute or so, the harvester will be completed and you'll get an email.

** Okay, it's set up, now what?

Now you need to provide it with what it needs to run, tell it what you want it to collect, and set it going.

For power (that is, solar/wind/radioactive) harvesters, you need to pay maintenance to make it run.  For other resource harvesters, you need both maintenance, as well as power that's either collected or bought from someone.

So click the harvester and select Pay Maintenance, and put in some money.  If it's not a power harvester, then you'll need to select Deposit Power and add some power as well.  You can click it and select Status to see how much power/maintenance is already in the machine, and how long that will last.

First, dismount if you're on a mount- there's a bug that doesn't let you do certain harvester actions when mounted.

Now, click the harvester and select Operate Machinery.  You'll see an operation window come up. 

First, you'll have to tell it what to extract- it starts off with nothing.  Select "Change Resource" and a list of all the available resources in this spot it can collect will appear.  Each resource available is listed with an efficiency- this is simply the concentration of that resource at this spot.  Choose a resource you want to collect- the higher efficiency/concentration the more you'll collect.

Now start the harvester.  It'll rumble and start moving; wait one minute and it'll have collected some resources.  Click the Hopper button to get at the resources; you'll see a list of all the resources it's collected.  From there on it's self-explanatory- just remember Empty Harvester and Discard Resource are not to be used- unless you just don't WANT whatever it collected.

That's the basics of resource harvesting.

** What are attributes?  What the heck is "Overall Quality" and "Decay Resistance" and etc?

Every resource is "rated" in terms of several attributes, on a scale of 1 to 1000.  Ratings of 500-700 is strictly average quality; 900 or more is good quality, and any ratings over 950 can be considered extremely good.

Resource attributes are random, but tend to have patterns you can learn.  Copper tends to have high Conductivity.  Steel tends to have high Unit Toughness.  Beans tend to have high Flavor.  So on and so forth.

Not all resourcse have the same kind of attributes.  Wood has no Cold Resistance to speak of, and Steel has no Flavor.

Each named instance of a resource is identical.  Two units of Akade steel will have identical attributes.

The attributes of a resource are important to the final quality of an item it's made into.  Different attributes will affect different qualities of the final item.  For example, to make a wind harvester have a large hopper size so it can hold more, the resources used must have high Malleability and Unit Toughness.  But to make the wind harvester have a higher rate of extraction requires materials with high Heat Resistance, Shock Resistance and Unit Toughness.

Much of what separates a valuable, expensive resource from a cheap, useless one is these attributes.  Pay close attention to this; as you become more experienced at resource collecting you'll learn what's a good number for an attribute for a particular resource

** Does survey skill/harvester size/quality/the phase of the moon affect the quality of resources that I get?

Absolutely NOT.  The attributes on any named resource is randomly determined within ranges, when it is FIRST CREATED by the system.  Any named resource is EXACTLY identical- one unit of Akade steel is identical to another unit of Akade steel in all its attributes.

Your survey skill only affects a) how far you can "see" with your survey device, b) the chance of your sampling actually GETTING a sample (affected also by resource concentration where you're standing), c) how MUCH your sampling recovers each time (affected also by concentration).

** Does a high Overall Quality/Decay Resistance/whatever mean a better resource?

Asides from the requirements of each specific crafted item, the attributes themselves have no inherent meaning.  Resources with low "Decay Resistance" do not rot; high Overall Quality does not mean it's valuable by itself.

The ONLY exception is with power resources (wind/solar/radioactive) and the Potential Energy attribute, so pay close attention.

When used as power, these resources are highly dependent on the PE attribute.  Resources with 500 PE is considered normal; a wind/solar/radioactive unit with PE 1000 will function as TWO "normal" units of PE 500.

Units with PE 499 or less are not WORSE; they function just like PE 500.  With me so far?

So the following are identical in terms of "power": 100 units of PE 399 wind power, or 100 units of PE 500 solar power, or 50 units of PE 1000 radioactive, or 67 units of another PE 750 radioactive resource.  Put them into a mineral harvester and they'll all run the harvester for the same amount of time.

There is a detailed explanation of PE for power, at:
http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=artisan&message.id=17294

** I put down some wind generators on a spot with 60% wind concentration, but today the 60% has gone down to 30% or is completely gone!!  What happened??

Ah, the last thing I haven't told you about is the "resource shift."  It's the developer's way of preventing someone from finding a good spot and hogging it forever.

Every resource, given enough time, will eventually shift- either its distribution over the land will change, so that former 60% spot now is only 30%, or vanish completely.

If the resource your harvester is collecting vanishes or "shifts out," your harvester will shut down.

This forces you to check every day or two (or five), to make sure you're still collecting.

Current consensus is that most resource lasts somewhere between 5-15 days, so checking your harvesters every few days is a good idea.

Use SWG Craft's "current resources" to help you find out what's available.  You can search by server and planet, and also enter in stats of resources you've found.

** Do I have to pay maintenance and power?  What if I don't?

For all harvesters, if you don't pay maintenance and it runs out, the harvester will start to take damage.  Once its durability is reduced to ZERO, it is destroyed.  To repair a damaged harvester is simple- put more credits into maintenance; it will self-repair.

For non-power harvesters, if you don't pay enough power, when it runs out of power, it will shut down.

** Can I shut harvesters off to conserve power and maintenance?

If you shut a harvester off, it will no longer consume power.  It WILL continue to use maintenance.

Message Edited by wooshoofoo on 04-22-2004 07:08 PM

Message Edited by wooshoofoo on 04-22-2004 07:13 PM

Message Edited by wooshoofoo on 04-22-2004 07:17 PM

** Which one's better, solar/wind/radioactive power?

All three are interchangeable as power.  Radioactive power tends to have PE above 500, so they are inherently "worth more."  A unit of Radioactive with PE 1000 is worth two units of wind power with PE 500 or less.

Subjectively, most people start off collecting wind, but eventually move on to radioactive.

Wind power tends to be low in concentration, spread out (so a lot of running to get to the peak), and low PE.  However, they sell very fast if you price at market price (which depends on your specific server, so don't ask here).

Solar power tends to have slightly higher PE, and subjectively seems to be found in slightly higher concentrations, but for most people it's not worth it.

Radioactive power tends to have much higher PE, is more abundant and easier to find a high 70% spot.  In addition, a fusion generator has a BER of 14!  On the other hand, fusion generators are an expensive investment.

So I would suggest starting off with two to four wind generators, save up enough to buy two fusion generators.  Then buy ONLY ONE, and use the rest of the money to pay maintenance.

** If I have both solar/wind energy, can I choose which to put in my harvesters?

Not really at the moment- ALL the power you have in inventory will be summed up in one lump (power with high PE counts as more), and when you add power into a harvester it subtracts from the first "stack" of power in inventory.  So if you have a container nearby to place extra into (such as a house), you can.

** If I place my energy harvester next to my other harvesters can they directly power?

NO. Energy harvesters are not power plants- they simply collect the energy for YOUr use.

** Can I take the harvester back into inventory when the resource I'm collecting has "shifted out"?

YES!  The process for this is simple; if you have enough excess maintenance paid in the harvester, then when you try to destroy it, instead of destruction it will turn back into a deed in your inventory.

To do this, make sure you have enough excess maintenance for 50 hours of operation, and the harvester is not damaged.  For personal harvesters, this means at least 1500 maintenance stored up.

Operate the harvester, collect all the resources from it, and turn it off, on and off again (this is very important, see below note on disappearing power).  Then select it and choose Destroy Structure.  A dialog will pop up; the numbers will be listed in GREEN if all the above conditions are met.  If anything shows red, put more credits in.

After you choose to continue, you have to confirm by typing in an onscreen number; this prevents accidental deletion/redeeding.

Remember, though the procses of redeeding will subtract that 1500 credits (more for larger sized harvesters), the rest of the maintenance, as well as the power stored, will all still be stored for next use.

For now, just remember each redeeding will cost you 50 hours of maintenance.

** What is all this about BERs and extraction rates?

This is very important.  Harvesters of different sizes and qualities will perform differently.

The two things to look out for when buying/building a harvester is its Base Extraction Rate, and its Hopper Size.  Both can be examined on the harvester deed.

Hopper Size is the less important of the two; it determines how many units of resource total the harvester will hold.

Base Extraction Rate (BER) is VERY important; it is a factor of how much the harvester will extract.

Harvester BER along with the concentration of the resource will determine how MUCH you extract. 

** How do I find out exactly how MUCH my harvester is collecting??

Find out your harvester's BER.  Find out the concentration of the resource where your harvester is.

BER x Concentration % = How many units you extract per minute.

A BER 4 mineral harvester, placed on a location with 25% concentration of steel, will be able to extract 4 x 0.25 = 1 unit of steel a minute.

Multiply this number of 60 for units per hour, then by 24 for units per day.

A BER 4 harvester will collect TWICe as much as a BER 2 harvester, given the same time.

This means that you definitely want harvesters with as HIGH a Base Extraction Rate as possible.

** How high DO extraction rates get??

For wind/solar harvesters, the average is 5, but the maximum is 9.

For fusion generators (radioactive harvesters), the maximum is currently around 13-14.  There do exist generators from before that have higher BER, but NEW generators cannot be made above BER14.

For other harvesters, the size determines the maximum.

Personal harvesters average BER2, but max out at 4.

Mediums max out at 10.

Heavy harvesters max out at 13.

** What's the most cost-effective harvester size?

Personal harvesters cost 30 credits per hour, with max BER 4. That's 7.5 credits per BER.

Mediums cost 60 credits per hour, with max BER 10- 6 credits per BER.

Heavies cost 90 credits per hour, with max BER 13. That's 6.9 credits per BER.

So for maintenance, mediums are most cost-effective.

Personals cost 25 power per hour- that's 6.25 power/BER.

Mediums cost 50 power, with BER 10- 5 power/BER.

Heavies cost 75 power, with BER 13- 5.76 power/BER.

Again, mediums are most cost-effective when it comes to power.

** All the ones I see for sale have low BER! Who makes these and how much is a good harvester?

Many of the personal harvesters you see on the Bazaar are crafted by newbies who did NOT read this guide. =)  They did not use good resources and did not use Experimentation to boost the BER.

Personal harvesters along with Wind Generators are crafted by Artisans. Everything else is crafted by Architects.

Prices for harvesters can fluctuate, depending on supply and demand at your server.  Ask around, look around.  Find a Master Architect or an Artisan and ask.

** How come I can't deed harvesters in certain places?

You cannot build by a city or player-city.  The range is dependent on the city size; for player cities, it is simple to tell.  Just walk away from the town center until you see the message "You have left City X."  At that point you should be able to put down harvesters.

Existing cities are trickier.  Most large cities do not allow building within several hundred meters.  Just run out until you start seeing the first structures- at which point it should be safe.  Of course, the concentration at that spot may not be the best, so remember to survey!

** How do I find my harvester if I go elsewhere?

When the harvester is first deeded, you will get both an email telling you where, and a waypoint to the harvester automatically set.  Keep these- if you lose both, you will NOT be able to find your harvester without actually running around LOOKING for it!

That said, if you DO delete both and forget, you can try to survey your way to the peak of the resource and hope you placed your harvester there.  Also, if it runs until 50% damage, an email will be sent to you reminding you to repair it.

** My power in my harvester disappeared really fast, but it's still running!

There is currently a bug with harvesters; after you leave and come back, sometimes the remaining power displays incorrectly.  Simply turn the harvester off and on again- the remaining power will now show correctly.

This is ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT to do before you redeed a harvester.  If the remaining power displays incorrectly, and you turn it off and redeed, the remaining power will be RESET to the incorrect, lower value.  Turn it off, on, and off again before you redeed.

** I put in too much power/maintenance and would like to get it back.

Sorry, not possible from resource harvesters.  Once you put in, you can't retrieve.

** How should I best start off?

1. Get a wind survey device- buy or make.
2. Buy a couple wind generators from the Bazaar or other people- make sure it's BER 8 or 9!  Make sure you still have a couple thousand credits left over for EACH wind generator you buy.
3. Start surveying for wind power.  Run out of town until you hit a peak or at least 50%.
4. Put in maintenance on each wind generator- 1440 credits currently will buy you 24 hours of operation.
5. Select the wind resource on the harvesters, and let them run!
6. Wait a few hours or overnight, then check in with the harvesters.  Collect all the wind power that's been extracted.
7. You can now sell the wind power for money on the bazaar, or keep some to power your other harvesters.

8. Now, get a mineral survey device.
9. Buy a couple personal mineral harvesters, BER 4.  Make sure you have enough power and money- each personal harvester will require 720 credits and 600 units of power to run 24 hours.
10. Survey for some steel or other resources. If possible, get a small sample and check out the stats- you'll ideally want to collect resources with high attributes.
11. Run and follow the survey until you get to a peak or a high concentration spot.
12. Put down your mineral harvesters.  Pay in maintenance and power.  Select the resource and run.
13. Come back and collect the resource.  You can now sell it on the Bazaar.
14. Rinse and repeat.

** So I can just keep buying and putting down harvesters??

No.  Each player is allowed 10 "lots."  Each harvester takes one lot.  If you somehow put a house down, it'll take 1 or more lots.  If you put down a factory, that's another lot.

Harvester size doesn't matter- a heavy harvester and a personal harvester both take 1 lot.

** That sucks!  How can I get more lots?

You can't.  There is a workaround, and basically it involves asking people to put down harvesters and allow you to access them.  This is a separate topic on its own, and involves having them put your name on their harvesters' administrator list.  This lets you access their harvesters.

** What resources should I collect?

That's really up to you.  Ask around, find someone who needs resources on a steady basis, and work out a deal where you'll hunt down the resource, harvest it, and he/she will buy it from you.

** How much should I price my resources?

This is a very tricky and controversial subject; my advice is to sell at what price you're comfortable with.  The standard metric is called a cpu or "credit per unit."  3 cpu means the resource costs 3 credits per unit; 1000 units of it will cost 3000 credits.

Current conventions are such that wind/solar power is usually sold at 1-3 cpu, depending on server and demand.  Radioactive is often sold at the same price, but some people realize that radioactives often have higher PE and are thus effectively "worth more units."  For example, 1000 units of PE600 radioactive is really equivalent to about 1200 units of normal PE500 power, so often they'll price that radioactive as such.

Other resources are tricker.  Usually, you'll want to check the attributes; if you have several attributes above 900, it will be valuable to many kinds of professions, so you'll have an easier time convincing others to buy at a high price.

Resourcse vary WILDLY in price, pretty much at the whim of the imperfect supply and demand chain in SWG.  Steel is a perennial favorite, because it often has good stats, and so many items require metal.  Other metals are also popular, as well as ores.

Some professions, in particular, require a LOT of resources.  Architects are well known for their penchant to gobble up thousands of units of resourcse just to make a single house or such.  Master Artisans require thousands of units of metal to make vehicles.

Other professions require less resourcse, but very specific ones.  Check SWG Craft or ask around and find out what exotic resources are popular, and then keep a list.  When one appears, harvest and sell to the appropriate profession.

For example, a recent shortage of Class 4 Liquid Petrochemical (which is required for making many medicines but due to chance simply did not appear in the Shadowfire galaxy for several weeks), caused the demand to soar in the Shadowfire galaxy.  Many doctors were willing to pay 20, 40 or 60 credits per UNIT.  Keeping a diverse stockpile of resources can be a very lucrative business.

Message Edited by wooshoofoo on 04-22-2004 07:14 PM

Message Edited by wooshoofoo on 04-22-2004 07:16 PM

** How should I sell my resources?

When it comes to resources, there are a few ways to sell.  In ANY case, you want to first determine the minimum cpu you'll accept.

If you already arranged a deal, it's the easiest- just deliver and get paid.  Insist on using the Secure Trade feature- don't trust people who tell you to just give it to them and then they'll tip you.

You can sell in the Bazaar.  This is simple, cheap and can be done even if you don't know anyone.

Unfortunately, you cannot sell anything on the Bazaar for over 3000 credits.  And you must use Instant Sale- no one has the patience to bid up for 3000 credits worth of resources.  There is also a limit on how many items you can sell on the Bazaar.

You can also stand around and use /shout to advertise your resources.  This is often considered crass, but if you do decide to do this, pick either a busy place (such as the starport of a major city), or an appropriate gathering place- medical centers if you're selling organics, public crafting stations if you're selling inorganics, etc.  NEVER do this unless you have a sizeable chunk of resources- enough for, say, ten thousand credits worth.

Also, you can use the official Star Wars Galaxies forums- there's a Server Trade forum for EACH server.  Find the appropriate Server Trade forum, look for a few resource auction threads, and then copy their format.  You'll notice that again,you should have a fairly sizeable chunk of resourcse for this- though it can be lucrative indeed.

Finally, one of the best ways to ensure you get a high cpu for your resource is to hold on to it- wait until you meet someone who's shouting or posting that he's looking to buy a resource.  Especially for rare or very specific resources, players are often willing to pay a premium.

One final tip for selling resources- try to sell in even numbers, 500, 1000, etc, especially on the bazaar.  Post your cpu; it makes it easier on the buyers.

** Any bugs with harvesters?

Quite a few, but there are workarounds.

First, often harvesters will display Remaining Power incorrectly.  It is fixed by turning the harvester off and on again, so it's prudent to do that every time you check the harvester, and ALWAYS before you re-deed it.

Also, occasionally lag can cause the harvester to THINK it has resources inside when it is in fact empty- so it will refuse to redeed.  To solve this, select the harvester and enter the command /harvesterdiscardhopper.

Also, it is not advised to be mounted when you access the harvesters.  Dismount before you do ANYTHING with them, for maximal safety.

** How do I transfer a harvester to another person?

Select the harvester and enter /transferstructure PlayerName.

** Is there an easier way to run all the harvester commands?  My hand is tired!

There are indeed commands to mimic many of the actions you can do.  Select the harvester and enter:

/structurestatus (or just /struc) to see the Status.
/name HarvesterName will rename it to "HarvesterName".
/setpermission Admin PlayerName will add PlayerName as an admin.
/paymaintenance X (or just /pay X ) to pay maintenance of X.  Any number you choose, of course.
/addpower X (/addp X) to add X many power units.
/harvesterdiscardhopper to discard everything in the hopper.  Use this if your harvester is already empty but the harvester won't redeed.
/harvesterActivate and /harvesterDeActivate are long to type and useful in macros only; they turn the harvester on and off.

** I'm standing on an 87% concentration of [insert surveyed resource here] but it tells me that the resource density is too low to collect a sample. Why?

This is a known bug with newly spawned resources. Wait a few hours and try again. If you place a harvester, it will be able to draw the resource.

** Is there a place to find good spots of mineral easily??

Resource concentrations shift can happen every few days, so a "good spot" will run dry quickly.  If you're too lazy/busy to survey yourself, you can find Miner's Guilds, players who basically survey and mine for a living.  Possibly you can buy waypoints to good spots from them.

** So when I open my survey device, the resources listed are ALL that's available?

On that planet, yes.  The survey device will automatically list all the resources found all over the planet.  It does NOT tell you about concentartions until you select one resource and actually survey.

** How do I use what resources are used for what??

Check SWG Craft's "resource usage" feature- select a resource and it will show you all the schematics/items that require that specific resource or resource type.

** Why can't I place my harvesters?  Everywhere I try, the ground shows red in placement mode!

The larger your harvester, the harder it will get.  Personals are easy to place; mediums are difficult to place, and heavies very much so.

The land must be relatively flat.  A lair will "invalidate" the land around it for a large (6 by 6 square, for example) part, so don't try to place near lairs.  Buildings and trees also block
placement.

Message Edited by wooshoofoo on 04-22-2004 07:05 PM

Awesome guide... this answer a few questions that I had..

 thanks for the work!

*smacks head* I've always wondered what BER stood for, but was to afraid to ask.

Fantastic guide, I'm going to refer it to people who have a lot of resource questions.

Awesome thread.  I might have to contact you to see if you'll let me include the text in a help file for the HNCT (Hooded Nomad Craft Tool)

http://home.comcast.net/~daniel.rivera/photogallery/nomadcrafter.avi

Thank you all (and Q too!).

Please let me know if you need the guide in a different format for your own projects; I'm just glad I can help out.

Also, if anyone has anything to add, please do.

You should submit this to SWG Stratics.

Good job