1. Eve Tools Planetary Interaction Productions

Eve: Dust 514 (stylized as EVE: DUST₅₁₄) was a free-to-playfirst-person shooter developed by CCP Games for the PlayStation 3.^[1]Dust 514 took place in New Eden and was directly connected to CCP's game Eve Online. There was direct interaction between the two; player actions in one game affected the political, economic, legal, environmental, and social status of the other. The two games were officially connected on January 10, 2013^[2] in preparation for the open beta on January 22.^[3] The full game was released worldwide on May 14, 2013.^[4] While previews of the game were highly positive, the full game received a mixed reception upon its initial release even with constant updates and hotfixes deployed after release. The game was officially shut down by CCP on May 30, 2016.^[5]

Mar 31, 2013. Hi Guys, I'm looking for some good PI Tool, but I was unable to find one. I need a tool that could help me orginize my production, calculate production plan based on PI BoMs, gather my planet information with it's production capability etc. Feb 23, 2017. A guide about how to do planetary interaction in EVE Online to harvest materials and manufacture goods. Only one of these skills, Remote Sensing, is required in order to do planetary interaction. Use the nearby planets by type search tool to find planets of a certain type near a specific solar system. Awesome-eve - A list of 3rd party Applications and Tools for the awesome Eve Online MMO. Your product should be user friendly and beyond 'beta' stages. If approved, it will be added! Since Eve apps and websites. EVE PI - Android based Planetary Interaction App. Track your extractors. In active development.

• 2Gameplay
• 3Development
• 5Reception

Setting[edit]

Dust 514 took place in the same fictional universe as Eve Online, a science-fiction massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) set 21,000 years in the future. The Eve Online backstory explains that humanity, after using up the Earth's resources, began to colonize the rest of the Milky Way. The development of faster-than-light travel allowed mankind to expand at an extremely fast pace, leading to violent competition between space-faring corporations. A natural wormhole was discovered, and humanity entered through it to find an empty new galaxy which they began colonizing. However, the wormhole connecting the two galaxies collapsed, leaving the young colonies cut off from the worlds that had supplied them. Without support, many of the colonies in the new galaxy died off, and over time the few that remained lost their knowledge of both their technology and of their origins from Earth. Eventually, a new era began when civilization was rebuilt and faster-than-light travel was rediscovered. Five unique space-faring cultures emerged from the colonies to become the only interstellar powers in the new galaxy; the Amarr, Caldari, Gallente, Jove and Minmatar.^[6]

Eve Online players take the role of capsuleers, who are elite starship pilots made immortal using cloning technology and consciousness transfers. For much of Eve history, only capsuleers were immortal because the technology required to download consciousness was linked to a capsule that encloses them and leaves them in suspended animation. The capsule was designed specifically as an interface for pilots to control the ship that they were placed within. However, the discovery of a special implant made it possible to achieve a transfer of consciousness without the use of a capsule, so it became possible to make immortals that were not pilots. Dust 514 players took the role of immortal ground-based soldiers which were created by the military shortly after the implant was discovered.^[7]

Gameplay[edit]

Dust 514 was a first-person shooter with elements of massively multiplayer online games.^[8] Combat took place on the various planets found in Eve Online, each offering a substantial amount of unique maps and sockets. Planets were divided into several large districts, which held resources and installations that dust players had to fight for control over in Planetary Conquest battles, or PC battles for short. Only the natural landscapes of each planet remained constant; the placement of buildings and surface structures was controlled by the player corporations.^[9][10]

Infantry in Dust 514 were equipped with 'dropsuits' which functioned similarly to the ship hulls in Eve Online. Dropsuits had various module slots which players could utilize to fit different weapons, equipment and skins. Dust 514 entities had two different health meters: Shields and Armor; of which each had individual advantages and disadvantages. In addition certain weapons affected one health type more than then the other. For instance, the Scrambler Rifle would deal 20 percent more damage to shields but 20 percent less damage to armor. There were 3 different dropsuit variants for each race with corresponding advantages and disadvantages; light, medium, and heavy dropsuits; each of which branched out to their corresponding specialized dropsuit. Some examples were the Caldari Heavy Frame which could lead to the Caldari Commando and Sentinel, the Gallente Medium Frame led to the Gallente Assault and Logistics, and the Minmatar Light Frame led to the Minmatar Scout. This gave players a broad range of customization choices and the ability to create specialized fits to perform specific roles and tactics on the battlefield.^[11][12]

Skill training, in a manner similar to Eve Online, was also available. CCP has stated that it would take seven years to train all skills, and that it was not intended for any player to learn all of the skills. Instead, CCP believed that players would naturally become specialized by selecting a certain set of skills and becoming 'really, really good at them.' These skills unlocked new and better items, better passive bonuses, as well as unlocking other skills.^[13] Player-driven vehicles were also available in the game; these could be transported to anywhere within the battlefield using 'rapid deployment vehicles (RDV)' at the request of players. Vehicles shared the modular fitting system that infantry dropsuits had but modules cost more than those of a dropsuit.^[14]

Different game modes in Dust 514 were Ambush, Acquisition, Domination, and Skirmish. In Ambush and Ambush OMS, the goal of each team was to deplete the event team's Clone reserves. In Acquisition, the goal was to control timed nodes that move every five minutes. In Domination and Skirmish, the goal of each team was to destroy the opposing mobile command center.^[15]

Although Dust 514 players were mercenaries, they could also seize territory from planets within a section of the Eve universe called Molden Heath for their own alliance and corporation, which took place in the form of Corporation vs. Corporation matches. This allowed Dust 514 corporations to build infrastructure on captured territory, but it was unclear what manufacturing power Dust 514 corporations would have.^[16]Dust 514 players could also work together with Eve players in capturing systems in Eve Online's factional warfare space; Dust 514 players could speed up or slow down the rate at which a system could be captured by winning battles for the attacking faction.

Connection to Eve Online[edit]

All combat within Dust 514 took place, in real-time, on planets found in the Eve Online universe. The player alliances and corporations of Eve Online could hire Dust 514 players as mercenaries to fight for control over planets; the outcome of such battles were expected to eventually affect the sovereignty of player-run political powers in Eve Online.^[16][17][18] A direct form of interaction came in the form of 'orbital bombardments'. Orbital bombardments allowed a player in Eve Online to provide direct assistance to friendly forces in a battle in Dust 514. If a player in Eve Online were in position above a planet with proper bombardment equipment, the player could fire upon a target designated by a friendly Dust 514 player. This was first shown to the public as an actual in-game mechanic during EVE Fanfest 2012,^[19] although it had been previously featured during the 2011 fanfest in a cinematic trailer titled A Future Vision.

Both games shared the same namespace, so a player in Dust 514 could not choose a username that already existed in Eve Online or vice versa. This allowed players from both games to join the same corporation or alliance, as well as communicate between the two games in real-time.^[16]

In an interview conducted by Simon Carless of Gamasutra, Hilmar said that he hoped 'these [Eve Online and Dust 514] communities will meld over time', bridging the two environments. He described the relationship between the flying-oriented nature of Eve Online and the infantry-oriented nature of Dust 514, saying 'while the fleet does the flying, the infantry does the dying'.^[17] The massive Eve universe would have been the platform for all planetary combat. Brandon Laurino, executive producer of Dust 514, stated would not be a set number of maps at launch, saying 'We are covering literally a universe of planets, so there's thousands of different maps and they're all available to everyone who's playing.'^[20]

Development[edit]

Dust 514 was announced on August 18, 2009 at the Game Developers Conference in Cologne, Germany where it was introduced with a short trailer featuring real time footage of the game.^[21]

In 2010, CCP updated Eve Online with the Tyrannis expansion. Tyrannis introduced planetary interaction, allowing players to harvest resources from planets using ground installations. A developer blog by CCP mentioned that, while the expansion alone would not include planetary combat, the upcoming Dust 514 game would deal with the combat aspect by allowing players to 'project military force for attack and defense of planetary installations.'^[22] Planets in Eve Online previously held no value; the Tyrannis expansion was intended to tie into Dust 514 by giving players 'a reason to want to fight over [the planets].'^[23]

CCP Games reached an agreement with Epic Games China in 2010 to license Unreal Engine 3 for use in Dust 514.^[24]

During E3 2011, it was confirmed that Dust 514 would be released exclusively on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita.^[25][26] A beta would be held before the end of 2011 followed by a release in the summer of 2012. However, afterward CCP opted to put more work into the game to improve it further and have a release date in 2013, rather than a 2012 release date. Dust 514 was initially slated to be the first cross platform game, pitting Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 players with each other but CCP later dropped the Xbox 360 as a potential platform; the choice of PlayStation 3 exclusive was determined by Sony's more open platform allowing Dust 514 to connect to the Eve Online server Tranquility, whereas Microsoft's Xbox Live did not.^[27][28] It was also confirmed after E3 2011 that Dust 514 utilized Havokmiddleware technology.^[29]

Dust 514 was connected to Tranquility, the live production server of Eve Online, on January 10, 2013.^[2] The complexity of running two games on one server proved to be a unique challenge for the developers. To mitigate any performance issues that this might have on either of the two games, CCP designed a server architecture such that the majority of Dust 514 gameplay was run on various 'battle clusters' across the world. These server clusters will handle all the latency sensitive first-person shooter aspects of Dust 514. The main Eve cluster, located in London, would only communicate with Dust 514 for information such as character names.^[30]

The game was released on May 14, 2013, with an update titled Uprising. This release build improved many aspects of the game, such as the graphics and character progression, and introduced the planetary conquest mechanic. Although Uprising was the initial release build, CCP said that it would not be the final major update: 'Even when we take off the beta tag the launches don’t stop. We’ll launch significant updates indefinitely.. It’s an on-going service that will keep getting better and better.'^[31]

Future developments[edit]

At CCP's 2012 Fanfest, even before the release of Dust 514, CCP had already revealed ideas for expansions in 2013. Possible future features included the ability to traverse on planets with 'hostile' environments (such as lava planets) and the addition of mechanized exoskeletons that players could use, called MTACs.^[32]

At CCP's 2014 Fanfest, the company revealed that development would be split between Dust 514 and Project Legion, a prototype for a PC-based first-person shooter that would attempt to address some of the shortcomings in Dust 514. They planned on developing a distinct experience in the new prototype that is more aligned with their vision, while continuing to maintain some limited development of Dust 514.^[33] If they decided the prototype was successful they stated they would transfer existing player profiles and assets to the new game. This announcement was met with criticism from some of the player base, leading groups of core players to believe that CCP was abandoning Dust 514 in favor of Project Legion.^[34][34][35] At Eve Fanfest 2015, CCP said that while Project Legion was in works their main focus was on Dust 514.^[36] However, CCP announced that Dust 514 would officially shut down on May 30, 2016.

On April 21, 2016, CCP announced development of the game Project Nova, a free-to-play first-person lobby shooter for the PC using Unreal Engine 4 set in the EVE Online universe.^[37] CCP developer CCP Rattati emphasized that Project Nova was a project not a product; there is no guarantee that it would become a CCP game.^[38]

PlayStation Home[edit]

In the PlayStation's online social gaming platform PlayStation Home, a game space for Dust 514 was released on June 13, 2012. The game space provided information about mercenaries and the Eve Universe as well as a mini-game known as Slay, a tabletop strategy game. Users could also earn special rewards such as a Merc Dropsuit and a Companion Drone.^[39] The game space for Dust 514 became unavailable when PlayStation Home was closed on March 31, 2015.^[40]

Business model[edit]

Unlike Eve Online, Dust 514 did not require a monthly subscription. It instead used a micro-transaction model, making the game free to play. The game had two currencies: Aurum; which could be earned or bought with real money, and ISK; similar to but non-fungible with the primary currency in Eve Online that shares the same name. CCP's chief marketing officer, David Reid, compared this model to that of League of Legends. Reid said that Dust 514 is not a 'pay-to-win' game. While some equipment could have been purchased with Aurum, the only benefit was a slightly different skin and lower skill requirements. Since the skills in question actually improved the performance of the equipment, performance of the Aurum-bought gear was actually slightly sub-par unless the skills were trained anyway.^[41]

Reception[edit]

Pre-release[edit]

Before release Dust 514 was considered innovative for its connection to another game. IGN said that the game was highly ambitious^[55] and called it '..a Glimpse of the Future',^[56] while PC Gamer praised the orbital bombardment mechanic and the unprecedented amount of customization available.^[57]

Release[edit]

Upon release the game received mixed reception from critics. It attained an average aggregate score of 59.10% on GameRankings^[42] and 59/100 on Metacritic, indicating mixed or average reviews.^[43]

Criticisms were generally focused on the bugs and poor execution of the gameplay. IGN's Vince Ingenito stated that Dust 514's incredible depth and customization were eclipsed by its poor graphics and gameplay mechanics. Additionally, Ingenito criticized the way the game implemented the free-to-play business model, saying it took too long for players to get into the equipment that they wanted. He ultimately gave the game a score of 5.8/10, calling it mediocre.^[50]Destructoid's Chris Carter gave the game a rating of 6/10, calling it an ambitious and complex shooter that still needed 'a ton of work'. Among the aspects that he criticized were the underwhelming graphics, the uninnovative game modes, and the tedious grind.^[44]Eurogamer reviewer Paul Dean wrote that Dust 514 has great potential but is 'saddled with a very dull debut.' Dean noted that despite having interesting factors, such as the metagame and social connection to Eve Online, the game itself was mediocre and contained many bugs.^[46] However Alex Locher of PlayStation Universe praised the unique nature of Dust 514, commending its technological accomplishments and meaningful player interaction. As Locher remarked, 'Dust 514 isn't some superficial and meaningless military shooter; it's a pioneering endeavour of programming, technology and consumer communication that has already created something unlike you've ever seen in gaming'.^[54]

Despite having mixed critical reception, CEO of the publisher CCP Games Veigar Pétursson said in 2015-03 that the company is very satisfied with the sales of the game, saying that 'Dust 514 is a profitable business of the company.'^[58]

References[edit]

1. ^'Game - DUST 514'.
2. ^ ^abPhillips, Tom. 'EVE Online, Dust 514 servers will merge tomorrow'. Eurogamer. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
3. ^'Get ready for the DUST 514 open beta'. CCP Games. January 14, 2013. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
4. ^'Dust 514 Release Date Announced'. IGN. April 27, 2013. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
5. ^Phillips, Tom (February 3, 2016). 'Dust 514 will shut down in May'. Eurogamer. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
6. ^Eve Online: Old Storyline Intro (YouTube video). CCP Games. March 6, 2009.
7. ^EVE Fanfest Cinematic Trailer 2012 (YouTube video). CCP Games. March 24, 2012.
8. ^DUST 514 Overview and Recent Content, mmorpg.com
9. ^'Dynamic Battlefields'. CCP Games. April 26, 2012. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
10. ^DUST 514: Seeding The Universe (YouTube video). CCP Games. March 28, 2012.
11. ^'Dropsuits in DUST 514'. CCP Games. December 20, 2011. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
12. ^'DUST 514 - Welcome to New Eden, part 2: When the boots hit the battlefield'. CCP Games. November 11, 2012. Retrieved November 13, 2012.
13. ^'CCP shows off seven years of DUST 514 skill training'. Joystiq. April 19, 2012. Archived from the original on June 14, 2012. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
14. ^'Vehicular Dynamics and Mayhem!'. CCP Games. November 28, 2011. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
15. ^'The Future of War: DUST 514's Mobile Command Center (MCC)'. CCP Games. November 6, 2011. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
16. ^ ^abcDust 514 Interview - VideoGameGeek @ E3 2011 (YouTube video). June 13, 2011.
17. ^ ^abCarless, Simon (August 18, 2009). 'GDC Europe: CCP Announces DUST 514 Console MMO'. Gamasutra. Retrieved August 19, 2009.
18. ^MacDonald, Keve (August 18, 2009). 'EVE Online Dev Unveils Console MMO DUST 514'. Edge. Archived from the original on September 5, 2012. Retrieved August 19, 2009.
19. ^EVE Fanfest 2012: Dust Keynote (YouTube video). CCP Games. March 28, 2012. Event occurs at 22:20.
20. ^EuroGamer.net (March 5, 2012). 'EuroGamer: PS3 MMO Dust 514 will now be free to download and play'. Eurogamer. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
21. ^Sliwinski, Alexander (August 18, 2009). 'FYI: CCP announces 'Dust 514,' FPS RTS MMO in Eve universe'. Joystiq. Retrieved August 19, 2009.
22. ^'Introducing Tyrannis'. CCP Games. February 19, 2010. Archived from the original on May 8, 2012. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
23. ^'EVE: Tyrannis Explored'. IGN Entertainment. April 22, 2010. Retrieved May 31, 2012.
24. ^Marketwire Staff (March 10, 2010). 'CCP Licenses Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 to Power Dust 514'. Marketwire. Archived from the original on December 5, 2011. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
25. ^Nunneley, Stephany (June 7, 2011). 'Dust 514 trailered; to use Move, support PS Vita'. VG247. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
26. ^'Dust 514 Exclusive to PS3 and Vita Next Summer'. The Gaming Liberty.com. June 7, 2011. Archived from the original on May 14, 2012.
27. ^'Interview: CCP On DUST 514 And EVE'. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
28. ^'Interview: Will PS3 exclusive Dust 514 head to Xbox?'. Retrieved June 3, 2012.
29. ^'Havok™ Commends Award-Winning Partners on Recent Awards Sweep at E3 2011'.
30. ^EVE Fanfest 2012: Growing EVEs infrastructure (YouTube video). CCP Games. March 29, 2012.
31. ^MacDonald, Keza (April 30, 2013). 'DUST 514: Almost One Year On'. IGN. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
32. ^EVE Fanfest 2012: CCP Presents! (YouTube video). CCP Games. March 27, 2012.
33. ^'Introducing Project Legion'. CCP Games. May 2, 2014. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
34. ^ ^abKuchera, Ben (May 3, 2014). 'CCP VP admits Dust 514 wasn't a great game'. Polygon. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
35. ^Drain, Brendan (May 3, 2014). 'EVE Fanfest 2014: CCP responds to DUST 514 fans' rage over Project Legion'. Joystiq. Archived from the original on May 10, 2014. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
36. ^http://www.vg247.com/2015/03/21/project-legion-dust-514-ccp-pc-ps3/
37. ^'From Dust: CCP's New Free-To-Play FPS Project Nova'. Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
38. ^CCP. 'Good morning spacefriends - General Discussions - DUST 514 Forums'. forums.dust514.com. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
39. ^Peterson, Cade (June 13, 2012). 'More DUST 514 Beta Codes Available in PlayStation Home'. SCEA. Retrieved June 13, 2012.
40. ^Makuch, Eddie (April 1, 2015). 'PlayStation Home Officially Closed'. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
41. ^'DUST 514′s microtransactions inspired by League of Legends'. April 18, 2012. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
42. ^ ^ab'Dust 514 at GameRankings'. GameRankings. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
43. ^ ^ab'Dust 514 for PlayStation 3 Reviews'. Metacritic. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
44. ^ ^abCarter, Chris (May 17, 2013). 'Flashes of greatness covered in dust'. Destructoid. Retrieved May 24, 2013.
45. ^'Dust 514 review'. Edge. June 7, 2013. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
46. ^ ^abDean, Paul (May 24, 2013). 'Dust 514 Review'. Eurogamer. Retrieved May 24, 2013.
47. ^Kevin VanOrd (June 7, 2013). 'Dust 514 review at GameSpot'. GameSpot. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
48. ^Adam Harshberger (May 24, 2013). 'Dust 514 review at GamesRadar'. GamesRadar. Retrieved May 26, 2013.
49. ^Ben Moore (May 22, 2013). 'Review - Dust 514'. GameTrailers. Retrieved May 26, 2013.
50. ^ ^abVince Ingenito (May 29, 2013). 'Dust 514 Review'. IGN. Retrieved May 30, 2013.
51. ^Valdes, Giancarlo (May 31, 2013). 'venturebeat.com/2013/05/31/dust-514-review/'. VentureBeat. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
52. ^Roger Hargreaves (May 29, 2013). 'EVE: Dust 514 review - connected universe'. Metro. Retrieved May 30, 2013.
53. ^Bradly (May 24, 2013). 'Dust 514 Review'. Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
54. ^ ^abLocher, Alex (May 20, 2013). 'DUST 514 Review - Liberating FPS players from a prison they don't know they're in yet'. PlayStation Universe. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
55. ^Moriarty, Colin (June 6, 2012). 'E3 2012: Dust 514, the Deepest FPS You've Ever Played'. IGN. Retrieved November 6, 2012.
56. ^MacDonald, Keza (March 26, 2012). 'Dust 514 is a Glimpse of the Future'. IGN. Retrieved November 6, 2012.
57. ^Hill, Owen (March 23, 2012). 'Dust 514 preview'. PC Gamer. Retrieved November 6, 2012.
58. ^Kuchera, Ben (March 20, 2015). 'PlayStation 3 exclusive Dust 514 is now a profitable game for CCP'. Polygon. Retrieved March 23, 2015.

External links[edit]

I have three characters in EVE Online who are all trained in Planetary Interaction (PI) skills. I set up two of these characters to produce items needed for making fuel for a POS (player-owned starbase), and they provide enough of those resources to keep a modest industrial operation going. I considered doing the same with a third character, but decided instead to experiment with making something different.

I settled on making Nanite Repair Paste (NRP), which is used to repair overheated modules and which is also used by Ancillary Armor Repairer modules. Making NRP is a moderately complicated PI process, and serves as a good example of how to make more advanced, and potentially more lucrative, items for sale in the market.

First, a caveat: there is no one perfect way to set up a PI production chain, and I've no doubt that the method I used could be improved upon. I share this only in hope that it might be of help to those beginning to dabble in more advanced PI production. If you have ideas for how to do this better, please leave them in a comment, with my gratitude.

If you'd like, you can reinstall the drivers to be safe. You can download the latest Windows driver from the link below: Keyrig49 - Windows 7 Driver Please note, this driver will only support up to Windows 7, and will not be supported for use on Windows 8, 8.1 or 10. This keyboard is class compliant for use on Mac and will not. Keyrig 49 windows 7 driver. Yes, the Keyrig 49 is supported for Windows 7 with this driver: Keyrig 49 - Windows 7 Driver I'm not familiar with Mixcraft, but they do have a large library of video tutorials that may help if you need assistance getting started: I hope this helps! Let me know if you have more questions!

Train Skills

PI skills are relatively low-level and quick to train. The two most important skills for setting up your NRP-producing character are Interplanetary Consolidation and Command Center Upgrades, both of which should be trained at least to level 4. The former skill increases the number of planets upon which you can perform PI. My character is trained to level 4, which allows PI operations on five planets. The latter skill allows you to install command centers with more powergrid and CPU, which in turn allows you to install more facilities on a planet, and make it more productive.

Planetary Interaction skills are relatively low-level and quick to train.

You will also need your Industry skill trained to level 5, in order to conduct the last step in the NRP production process - running an industry job in a station or a POS with a suitable manufacturing facility.

Plan PI Operations

This is by far the most important step in setting up any PI process. Take the time to research and document exactly what you will need to create the items you want. An exceptional resource to use is the EVE University wiki guide to PI - it is comprehensive and provides all you need to set up a successful PI colony.

To create Nanite Repair Paste, one must possess:

• A Nanite Repair Paste blueprint - although all the required materials needed to make NRP come from PI, the actual manufacturing of NRP is an industry manufacturing step, which requires a blueprint. Each run produces 10 units of NRP. You can acquire an NRP BPO (blueprint original) in the market in a wide variety of stations for 50 million ISK.
• Three PI-produced materials:
  • Nanites (minimum 4)
  • Gel-Matrix Biopaste (minimum 1)
  • Data Chips (minimum 1)

The NRP blueprint shows the required ingredients and skills required to produce the item. Each run produces 10 units of NRP.

Working backwards from those required ingredients, using the tables in the UniWiki guide, we can see that we will need to set up PI colonies as follows:

Required items and planet types for NRP production (except for Microfiber Shielding - see text for explanation).

This arrangement produces most - but not all - of the items needed to produce NRP. Microfiber Shielding is a required material that needs items produced on two different types of planets - Silicon from a Plasma planet, and Industrial Fibers from a Temperate planet. Rather than set up seven different colonies in a couple different systems, which would require the use of a second character, I decided to simply purchase that one item from the market. This reduces my profit margins a bit, to be sure, but it makes the production chains easier to manage.

With these colonies, the flow of materials is therefore:

Producing NRP requires moving PI-produced items (and in my example, one additional purchased item) between planets. I've set up advanced processors on these three planets to produce the final required materials.

Build Colonies

With your operations plan in hand, you can then determine exactly what PI structures you need to acquire to set up your colonies. Again, the comprehensive UniWiki guide is a valuable resource for double-checking your shopping list and learning the mechanics of setting up effective colonies.

Many people obsess over their PI colony topography, but I simply place my command center somewhere between the two primary resource concentrations that I wish to extract, and then place my extractors and processors close to those concentrations, linking them all together and setting up routes to move all materials through a central spaceport on each planet. In that way, any excess materials stockpile in the spaceport until needed, and any imported items will be automatically added to the materials routes to the appropriate processors.

Eve Tools Planetary Interaction Productions

I'm not very disciplined about where I put my structures in my PI colonies, I must admit. I set up links and routes to move everything through a central spaceport on each planet.

Shuttle Materials

Once your colonies are operating and stockpiling the required items, you can then begin to shuttle those materials as required to the various planets. I use an industrial ship to move materials around a couple times a week. I made a little checklist to make sure I run it in the proper order:

My checklist for running materials between planets for NRP production. I run this in an industrial ship a couple times each week.

I gather all the required materials into a station, ready to be turned into Nanite Repair Paste.

Reap the Rewards

After collecting all the required materials for NRP production, I typically gather these in a station with a manufacturing facility, and run the job there. If I was trying to maximize returns, I would search for a station with lower usage to reduce job costs, or even better, bring the materials to a more efficient POS facility to make it there.

Using the new Industry window, it's easy to set up and run the short production jobs needed to produce the final NRP product. You can also reduce cost or production time by using Teams, if they are available in your system, though I rarely do this myself.

I do small production runs a couple times a week, slowly adding to my growing stockpile of NRP.

How profitable is all this work, you may ask? Candidly, not that much, especially when compared to other activities in EVE Online. NRP currently sells for about 16,645 ISK per unit in Jita, and I'm producing about 1,500 units per week with my admittedly very casual high-sec production chain - a weekly gross sales value of about 25 million ISK, or close to 100 million ISK per month. After deducting expenses, from planetary import/export fees, purchasing Microfiber Shielding and industry job costs, I estimate that my net profit margin is running at about 20 percent, or maybe a little higher if I manage expenses carefully.

Note also that I am doing this in low-risk high security space. The amounts of materials produced by PI in low-sec, null-sec or in wormholes are much higher, thereby making this enterprise much more lucrative in those types of space. I simply prefer an easier and more casual production process - your mileage can differ according to your personal degree of risk tolerance and attention to detail.

However, as a rule, I don't sell my NRP, but instead keep it for use in my own PvP activities. In that regard, I think of my NRP production chain as a very low-effort way to save 100 million per month in expenses. That alone makes it worth my time.

All the Cool Kids are Doing It

If you've not yet explored planetary interaction, consider doing so. Setting up your initial colonies requires only a small degree of effort and time, and once established, they need just a little nurturing once or twice a week to maintain a nice income stream, or to reduce your operating costs in other aspects of EVE Online. If you are serious about maximizing your returns, you can invest more time and set up your colonies in riskier space, and thereby earn some healthy amounts of ISK for your labors.

I'm teaching a class on PI basics for EVE University on Friday, September 19 at 16:00 EVE Time. The class is open to everyone - join us if you are interested in starting a PI operation. If you can't make the class, you can hear free recordings of that syllabus here.

Fly safe! o7

ADDENDUM

I received an e-mail from Sam asking how I configured my Storm planet to produce Gel-Matrix Biopaste. Here is a picture of that colony: