Trade beacon placement

[Boba Phat]

Does anyone know what the most efficient pattern is for completely covering square rooms with circular trade beacons?  It's something I dread every game.  By the time I'm ready to trade, I have a warehouse full of goods.  Trying to figure out where to place all the beacons is annoying, especially since you can't see the blueprinted beacons through the item spam.  As near as I can tell, you have to have a beacon every 6 spaces (fig. 1) vertically and horizontally to make sure a square room has complete coverage, but I suspect aligning them diagonally (fig. 2) might be more efficient.

1.

x     x     x     x     x     x

x     x     x     x     x     x

x     x     x     x     x     x

2.

x            x            x

       x            x            x

x            x            x

[BlackSmokeDMax]

Does anyone know what the most efficient pattern is for completely covering square rooms with circular trade beacons?  It's something I dread every game.  By the time I'm ready to trade, I have a warehouse full of goods.  Trying to figure out where to place all the beacons is annoying, especially since you can't see the blueprinted beacons through the item spam.  As near as I can tell, you have to have a beacon every 6 spaces (fig. 1) vertically and horizontally to make sure a square room has complete coverage, but I suspect aligning them diagonally (fig. 2) might be more efficient.

1.

x     x     x     x     x     x

x     x     x     x     x     x

x     x     x     x     x     x

2.

x            x            x

       x            x            x

x            x            x

You can click on the orbital beacon (after it is constructed) and then choose to create a stockpile from its menu along the bottom. It will be the exact size you need. I'd rather have a couple tiles wasted in a square room than use more metal/electricity running multiple beacons for minimal gain. Those extra corner spaces in the room can also have other things your base may need- lights, heaters if desired, art or plant pots to help moods when going through that area, etc.

[Jimyoda]

A single room usually can't be big enough to support multiple beacons. You didn't mention it, but maybe you have a large room with pillar walls to support the roof.
For large areas use your second configuration with this spacing...

x(11 spaces)x(11 spaces)x(11 spaces)x
         x(11 spaces)x(11 spaces)x
x(11 spaces)x(11 spaces)x(11 spaces)x
         x(11 spaces)x(11 spaces)x

x=trade beacon
place beacons every 12 cell so that you have 11 spaces between them
for the next row, go down 12 so that you have 11 spaces between the rows, and offset it by 6 cells
then repeat ad infinitum

[Boba Phat]

Thanks, this makes it somewhat easier.