Operating Doctrine
Twelve principles that decide 90% of factory arguments before they start. Everything else in this manual is these, applied.
⚡ Underclock producers, overclock generators
Producer power scales at clock^1.321928 — 50% clock costs only ~40% power. Generators are perfectly linear: overclock them for free. Spread production across more machines at lower clocks.
🔀 Manifolds ~90% of the time
Same steady-state throughput as a load balancer, far cheaper and infinitely extensible. The only price is a one-time fill delay. Balance only where startup time genuinely matters.
📐 The 8-meter grid is law
Foundations first, always. One product line per bay, one bay per blueprint unit, and every belt run snaps forever after.
🏭 100% efficiency is a habit, not a goal
Every machine fed exactly what it eats. Trim clocks to make fractions whole: 2 machines @75% beats "1.5 machines" every time.
🗑 Sink the overflow, always
Every line ends in a Smart Splitter with Overflow → AWESOME Sink. Backed-up belts stall factories; sunk parts pay coupons.
🔋 Keep power headroom
A deficit trips the entire grid — binary blackout. Keep max-theoretical draw under capacity, and put generation + fuel production on Priority Switch Group 1.
🚂 Match transport to distance × volume
Belts short & vertical · trucks the temporary middle · trains long-haul bulk · drones high-value low-mass. Don't belt 2 km; don't train 200 m.
🧿 Somersloops are endgame currency
Only 106 exist. Amplification doubles output but quadruples power — spend them on expensive late parts and Alien Power Augmenters, not iron plates.
📦 Feed the Dimensional Depot forever
One uploader per building material, always running. Building from cloud storage is the single biggest QoL upgrade in the game.
🛢 Byproducts are the mid-game boss
Oil stalls on Heavy Oil Residue, aluminum stalls on water. Route byproducts first when designing, not after the line jams.
🧱 Build satellites, keep one home
Process at the resource, ship intermediates. Ugly factories at nodes, one beautiful HQ where you actually live.
🗺 Never explore empty-handed
Every walk returns with slugs, spheres, sloops and hard drives. Exploration is a production chain too — its output is overclocking and free tech.
Key Numbers
The tables worth pinning to your monitor. All values current for 1.2.
| Mark | Speed | Unlock |
|---|---|---|
| Mk.1 | 60 | Tier 0 |
| Mk.2 | 120 | Tier 2 |
| Mk.3 | 270 | Tier 4 |
| Mk.4 | 480 | Tier 5 |
| Mk.5 | 780 | Tier 7 |
| Mk.6 | 1,200 | Tier 9 |
| Miner | Imp | Norm | Pure | Power |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mk.1 (T0) | 30 | 60 | 120 | 5 MW |
| Mk.2 (T4) | 60 | 120 | 240 | 15 MW |
| Mk.3 (T8) | 120 | 240 | 480 | 45 MW |
| Thing | Rate | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Pipe Mk.1 (T3) | 300 m³/min | 10 m free head lift |
| Pipe Mk.2 (T6) | 600 m³/min | — |
| Pump Mk.1 | +20 m lift | 4 MW |
| Pump Mk.2 | +50 m lift | 8 MW |
| Water Extractor | 120 m³/min | 20 MW · needs deep water |
| Generator | Power | Fuel | Water |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biomass Burner | 30 MW | demand-scaled | — |
| Coal (T3) | 75 MW | 15 coal/min | 45 m³/min |
| Fuel (T5) | 250 MW | 20 m³ fuel/min | — |
| Geothermal | 100/200/400 MW | geyser purity | — |
| Nuclear (T8) | 2,500 MW | 0.2 rod/min | 240 m³/min |
| Phase | Deliverables |
|---|---|
| 1 | 50 Smart Plating |
| 2 | 1,000 Smart Plating · 1,000 Versatile Framework · 100 Automated Wiring |
| 3 | 2,500 Versatile Framework · 500 Modular Engine · 100 Adaptive Control Unit |
| 4 | 500 Assembly Director Sys · 500 Magnetic Field Gen · 250 Thermal Prop. Rocket · 100 Nuclear Pasta |
| 5 | 1,000 Nuclear Pasta · 1,000 Biochemical Sculptor · 256 AI Expansion Server · 200 Ballistic Warp Drive |
| Setting | Output | Power |
|---|---|---|
| 50% clock | ×0.5 | ×0.40 |
| 150% (1 shard) | ×1.5 | ×1.71 |
| 200% (2 shards) | ×2.0 | ×2.50 |
| 250% (3 shards) | ×2.5 | ×3.36 |
| Somersloop full | ×2.0 | ×4.00 |
| Sloop + 250% | ×5.0 | ×13.43 |
Production Chain Schematics
Node → machines → product, balanced to 100% efficiency. Machine counts show trimmed clocks so output is exact
(e.g. ×2 @75% = two machines at 75% — same output as 1.5 machines, less power). Every edge carries its flow rate and the
minimum mark that survives it — solid orange = conveyor, dashed blue = pipeline;
a n× badge means no single line carries that load. Click any machine stage (⊕) to expand its manifold strip:
each instance box, the splitter/merger rails with per-segment loads and the mark each segment needs, plus a bay-length hint.
Solve each chain from either end: output mode sets a target product rate; input mode starts from what your nodes actually
give you — enter a supply for each raw input (miner/purity presets included). The solver finds the binding resource,
scales the whole chain to it, highlights the bottleneck in the flowchart, and reports what's left unused on the others.
Every chain now carries two recipe sets: ⚙ standard (vanilla defaults) and 🧬 praxium portfolio — the same chain
rebuilt with your 16 owned alternates (S4 claims), topology changes included. Portfolio trees may list Plastic, Rubber or Fuel as
raw inputs: those are external feeds from the oil campus (belt or depot), priced at the door rather than re-derived from crude.
The 🛡 overflow guard toggle appends the relief layer: a Smart-Splitter→Sink lane for every solid belt, and for fluid byproducts a
selectable mechanism — coke it (solid & sustainable), burn it (overflow becomes MW), or package & sink (canister/tank tax) — each with exact machinery counts.
—
Reading these schematics
Clock-trim notation
Each box reads Nx Machine @ C% -- the machine count and the trimmed clock that makes the block's output land exactly on the stated rate instead of overshooting into a full buffer. Trimming is free efficiency, not a compromise: power scales as base x (clock/100)^1.321928, so a machine at 50% draws only ~0.399x power for 0.50x output. That is why the Smart Plating block runs 14 machines on 45.1 MW while the Motor block runs 35 on 183 MW. Build every machine at 100% and set the clock in the machine UI after placing -- never round a clock "close enough" or the downstream ratio drifts.
Solid orange = belt, dashed blue = pipe — and every edge names its mark
A solid orange edge is a conveyor carrying items/min; a dashed blue edge is a pipeline carrying m³/min. Under each flow rate sits a mark badge — the minimum tier that survives that edge at the current scale: belts cap at Mk.1 60 / Mk.2 120 / Mk.3 270 / Mk.4 480 / Mk.5 780 / Mk.6 1200 per minute, pipes at Mk.1 300 / Mk.2 600 m³/min. A red n× badge means no single line carries it — build parallel lines or split the load upstream. A machine port cannot exceed its pipe's capacity -- split high-flow fluid outputs across multiple pipes rather than hoping a junction absorbs it.
Leaves are raw, byproducts hang off the machine
The bottom of every tree is a raw resource -- ore, limestone, or crude oil -- and that number is what you must actually mine. Purity sets your miner math: Impure x0.5, Normal x1, Pure x2 against a Mk.1 base of 60/min and Mk.2 of 120/min. Byproducts (the 15 m³/min Heavy Oil Residue on the Plastic chain) are drawn attached to the machine that emits them, not as an output leaf -- an unconsumed byproduct stalls its producer, so every dashed byproduct edge needs a destination before the chain is finished.
What the totals do and don't cover
Machine counts and MW are production buildings only. Add extraction on top -- Miner Mk.1 draws 5 MW, Mk.2 draws 15 MW, Water Extractor 20 MW, Oil Extractor 40 MW -- and remember belts and the HUB draw nothing. When you scale, prefer duplicating a block over overclocking: 200% is the only "clean" overclock (exactly 2.5x power for 2x output) and it still costs power shards you do not have yet.
Efficiency & Power
Satisfactory runs on two clock laws that pull in opposite directions: production machines pay a super-linear power penalty (exponent 1.321928) for every point of overclock, while generators scale perfectly linearly and cost nothing extra to push. Learn which side of that line a building sits on and you can trim clocks to hit exact ratios, cut your power bill for free, and stop tripping your grid. Everything below is drawn from the corpus docs verified against the wiki for 1.0/1.1 -- and 1.1 changed no recipe, power, overclock, or Somersloop stats, so all of it is live for 1.2.
The Producer Overclock Exponent (1.321928)
The one formula that governs every producer
power = base_power × (clock% / 100) ^ 1.321928. Output scales linearly with clock; power does not. The exponent is exactly log₂(2.5) -- hand-picked so that doubling the clock costs precisely 2.5× power. It applies to every production machine and every extractor, and to no generator.
50% clock -- half output, 40% power
0.5^1.321928 = 1/2.5 = 0.400 exactly. A 4 MW Smelter at 50% draws 1.6 MW and makes 15 Iron Ingot/min instead of 30. Doc 04 rounds this to ≈0.399; the true value is a clean 0.40.
150% clock (1 shard) -- 1.5× output, 170.9% power
A 15 MW Assembler at 150% draws ≈25.6 MW for 1.5× throughput. Power per unit of output rises to 1.14 -- a 14% efficiency tax.
200% clock (2 shards) -- 2× output, exactly 250% power
The "clean" overclock. A 55 MW Manufacturer at 200% draws 137.5 MW. The exponent exists precisely so this row is exact: 2^log₂2.5 = 2.5.
250% clock (3 shards, max) -- 2.5× output, 335.8% power
2.5^1.321928 ≈ 3.358. Doc worked example: an Oil Extractor at 250% pumps 600 m³/min off a pure node and draws ≈134.31 MW versus 40 MW base. A Water Extractor at 250% gives 300 m³/min for ≈67.2 MW -- exactly one Pipeline Mk.1's capacity.
Ignore any guide quoting 1.6
The exponent dropped from 1.6 → 1.321928 in patch 0.7.0.0 and is baked into 1.0/1.1/1.2. Anything predating 2024-09 that says 1.6, or mentions a 3- or 4-phase Project Assembly, is Early Access and its numbers are wrong.
| Clock | Output × | Power × | Power per unit output | Shards needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25% | 0.25× | 16.0% | 0.64 (36% more efficient) | 0 |
| 50% | 0.50× | 40.0% | 0.80 (20% more efficient) | 0 |
| 100% | 1.00× | 100% | 1.00 (baseline) | 0 |
| 150% | 1.50× | 170.9% | 1.14 | 1 |
| 200% | 2.00× | 250.0% | 1.25 | 2 |
| 250% (max) | 2.50× | 335.8% | 1.34 (34% more power/unit) | 3 |
Underclock Producers, Overclock Generators
Generators are linear -- overclocking them is free
Power out and fuel in both scale 1:1 with clock. A generator at 250% makes 2.5× MW and burns 2.5× fuel and water. Zero efficiency penalty, zero gain. Overclock generators freely to shrink a plant's footprint and building count; underclocking them buys you nothing.
Splitting a load across 2 machines always costs exactly 80% of the power
Because the exponent is log₂2.5, running 2 machines at half clock instead of 1 at full gives identical output for 2 × 40% = 80% power. Split across 3 machines and it drops to ≈70%. The price is double (or triple) the buildings, footprint, and belt plumbing.
Overclock extractors anyway -- the node is the scarce thing, not the MW
A Miner Mk.3 on a pure node at 250% hits 1,200/min, exactly saturating a Mk.6 belt. Node count is finite; power is manufacturable. Shards in extractors are almost always the right call.
Geothermal cannot be clocked at all
It's the only fuel-burning generator with no clock control (the HUB's biomass burners and the Alien Power Augmenter aren't clockable either). It also swings 0.5×-1.5× its average on a ~1-minute cycle with a random phase at build time -- buffer it with Power Storage or keep it on a grid with real headroom.
The 0.1 MW idle floor
A producer underclocked below 0.1 MW still draws 0.1 MW. Underclocking to near-zero to "turn off" a machine bank doesn't zero its draw -- use a Power Switch instead.
| Building class | Clock → power | Doctrine |
|---|---|---|
| Generators (coal, fuel, nuclear, biomass) | Linear (^1) | Overclock freely to 250%; density with no penalty |
| Geothermal Generator | Not clockable | Build on the geyser, buffer the ±50% swing |
| Production machines | ^1.321928 | Underclock for efficiency and exact ratios; overclock only with a reason |
| Extractors (miner / oil / water / pressurizer) | ^1.321928 | Overclock to consume a node or saturate a belt tier |
| Somersloop amplification | ^2 on power (stacks multiplicatively) | Endgame only; input-neutral but brutal on MW |
Power Shard Economy
3 slots, +50% each, 250% ceiling
Every producer, extractor, and clockable generator has 3 power-shard slots. Each shard raises the max allowed clock by +50%: 1 shard = 150%, 2 = 200%, 3 = 250%. Shards are only needed to go above 100% -- underclocking needs no shards once the clock slider is unlocked (MAM Overclock Production).
Slug yields: Blue 1, Yellow 2, Purple 5
Power Slugs found across the map convert to shards via the Constructor's Power Shard recipe (MAM-unlocked). One Purple slug = 5 shards -- enough to max one machine to 250% with 2 left over. A Blue slug is one +50% step.
The arithmetic: 3 shards per fully-maxed machine
Maxing a bank of 8 coal generators to 250% costs 8 × 3 = 24 shards -- roughly 5 purple slugs. Since generator overclock is linear, those 24 shards buy 12 gens' worth of extra MW (the 900 MW gained = 12 more coal generators) at 2.5× fuel with no efficiency loss: 600 MW becomes 1,500 MW off the same 8 buildings.
Shards stop being scarce at Tier 9
The Quantum Encoder makes Synthetic Power Shards: 10 Time Crystal + 10 Dark Matter Crystal + 60 Quartz Crystal + 60 Excited Photonic Matter → 5 Synthetic Power Shard/min. Until then your shard supply is hard-capped by slugs found on foot.
Late game, shards become a consumed ingredient
Don't blow the whole stock on marginal overclocks -- Ionized Fuel eats 2.5 Power Shard/min in a Refinery, and Alien Power Matrix eats 7.5 Power Shard/min in a Quantum Encoder. Shards are a currency, not just a tuning knob.
| Power Slug | Shards yielded | Clock steps bought | Machines maxed to 250% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue | 1 | one +50% step | 1/3 of a machine |
| Yellow | 2 | two +50% steps | 2/3 of a machine |
| Purple | 5 | five +50% steps | 1 machine + 2 spare shards |
| Synthetic (Tier 9, Quantum Encoder) | 5 / min, unlimited | unlimited | 1.67 machines per minute |
Somersloop Amplification Math
Linear output, quadratic power
output_multiplier = 1 + (slots_filled / total_slots), capped at 2.0×. power_multiplier = output_multiplier ^ 2, capped at 4.0×. Full amplification is always 2× output for 4× power, on every machine, regardless of slot count.
It is input-neutral -- that's the whole point
Amplified output does not consume extra raw input. A fully-slooped Smelter turns 30 Iron Ore/min into 60 Iron Ingot/min while drawing 16 MW instead of 4 MW. Sloops buy output-per-input; overclocking buys throughput-per-building.
More slots means finer granularity, not more ceiling
A 1-slot Smelter jumps straight to 2×/4×. A 4-slot Manufacturer can sit at 1.25×/1.5625× with a single sloop -- 55 MW → 85.9 MW. Same 2×/4× ceiling either way; the 4-slot machine just costs 4 sloops to reach it.
Amplification and overclock stack multiplicatively
power = base × (clock/100)^1.321928 × amp_multiplier^2. Full amp at 250% clock = 4 × 3.358 = 13.43× base power for 5× throughput. Doc example: a full-amp 250% Quantum Encoder averages 13,431 MW (peak ~26,862 MW) against its stock 1,000 MW average / 2,000 MW peak.
106 sloops exist. Ever.
The whole map holds 106 Somersloops, non-renewable. Wasting them on Screws or Iron Plate burns an irreplaceable global resource to save trivial ore. Save them for deep endgame parts (AI Expansion Servers, Nuclear Pasta, Biochemical Sculptors) or for Alien Power Augmenters at 10 sloops each.
What cannot be amplified
Packagers, all Miners, Water and Oil Extractors, and Resource Well Pressurizers have zero sloop slots. Raw extraction can never be amplified -- only overclocked to 250%. Also: sloops clog the AWESOME Sink, so retrieve them from a building before you dismantle it.
| Machine | Sloop slots | Base MW | 1 sloop (output / power) | Full amp (output / power MW) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smelter | 1 | 4 | 2.00× / 16 MW | 2.00× / 16 MW |
| Constructor | 1 | 4 | 2.00× / 16 MW | 2.00× / 16 MW |
| Assembler | 2 | 15 | 1.50× / 33.75 MW | 2.00× / 60 MW |
| Foundry | 2 | 16 | 1.50× / 36 MW | 2.00× / 64 MW |
| Refinery | 2 | 30 | 1.50× / 67.5 MW | 2.00× / 120 MW |
| Converter | 2 | 250 avg | 1.50× / 562.5 MW | 2.00× / 1,000 MW |
| Manufacturer | 4 | 55 | 1.25× / 85.94 MW | 2.00× / 220 MW |
| Blender | 4 | 75 (constant) | 1.25× / 117.19 MW | 2.00× / 300 MW |
| Particle Accelerator | 4 | 250-1500 (variable) | 1.25× / 1.5625× band | 2.00× / 4× band |
| Quantum Encoder | 4 | 1,000 avg / 2,000 peak | 1.25× / 1,562 MW avg | 2.00× / 4,000 MW avg |
| Packager | 0 | 10 | cannot amplify | cannot amplify |
| Miners / Oil / Water Extractor | 0 | 5 / 15 / 45 / 40 / 20 | cannot amplify | cannot amplify |
The 100%-Efficiency Doctrine & Clock Trimming
Feed every machine exactly what it consumes
The target state is 100% uptime on every building: input rate in = consumption rate. A starved machine still cost you the build materials. Balance the whole chain to a round output number, then manifold it.
Clock-trim instead of rounding up
You need 1.5 machines' worth of throughput. Don't build 2 at 100% (overproduces, starves) and don't build 1 at 150%. Build 2 at 75%: 2 × 0.75^1.321928 = 2 × 0.6837 = 1.367× base power for the identical 1.5× output -- versus 1.709× for one machine at 150%. That's 20% less power, zero shards, and no half-fed machine.
Any odd feed rate is a clock, not a problem
Facing 20 Iron Ingot/min into a Constructor that wants 30? Clock it to 66.6667%. The game accepts any value from 1% to 250%. Underclocking to match an awkward upstream rate is always better than leaving the machine input-starved and cycling.
Watch the belt tier ceiling
If a belt is slower than the machine feeding it, output backs up and the source idles -- efficiency loss, not overflow. Belt caps: Mk.1 60 / Mk.2 120 / Mk.3 270 / Mk.4 480 / Mk.5 780 / Mk.6 1,200 per minute. Pipes: Mk.1 300 m³/min, Mk.2 600 m³/min.
Manifold, don't balance -- and don't panic at the tail
Manifold and load balancer have identical steady-state throughput; the manifold is just slow to fill. The last Constructor in a 10-machine line may idle for minutes while upstream buffers fill, then start. It self-saturates. Community consensus: manifold ~90% of the time -- cheaper, more compact, trivially extendable.
Blueprint the proven block and tile it
Design a self-contained N/min block, save it as a Blueprint, tile it. Tiling a verified ratio beats bespoke wiring every time -- and it keeps every copy at 100% because the ratio is already solved.
| Stage | Buildings | Feeds |
|---|---|---|
| 120 Iron Ingot/min | 4 Smelters | splits to plates + rods |
| 90 ingot → 60 Iron Plate/min | 3 Constructors | → assemblers |
| 30 ingot → 30 Iron Rod/min | 2 Constructors | → screws |
| 30 rod → 120 Screw/min | 3 Constructors | → assemblers |
| 60 Plate + 120 Screw → 10 RIP/min | 2 Assemblers | output |
Power Headroom, Priority Switches & Fuse Recovery
The grid is binary -- there is no brownout
If consumption exceeds production and all Power Storage is empty, the entire connected grid trips. Every generator and consumer on it stops instantly, with a distinctive map-wide sound. There is no throttling.
Build ~20%+ headroom, and mind the restart trap
After a trip the grid must cold-start every machine simultaneously, which can exceed steady-state draw -- so a grid that "had enough power" can fail to come back up. Aim for 20%+ spare capacity and read the power graph's four metrics: max capacity, current production, current consumption, and max theoretical consumption. Capacity above max theoretical is the safe posture.
Fuse trip recovery, in order
1) Add generation or shed load first -- disconnect cables, switch off consumers -- or it re-trips the instant you reset. 2) Interact (E) with any Power Pole or generator on the tripped grid. 3) Pull the breaker lever. Watch hidden loads: the Hoverpack draws 100 MW and does not appear on the power graph -- it will silently re-trip a small grid.
Priority Power Switch turns a blackout into a brownout you chose
It adds 8 priority groups plus "Undefined" and auto-sheds load on shortage in the order Undefined → Group 8 → 7 → ... → Group 1 last. Cost: 2 High-Speed Connector, 6 Steel Beam, 50 Quickwire (MAM Caterium). Plain Power Switch: 20 Quickwire, 4 Steel Beam, 1 AI Limiter.
Power Storage: unlimited discharge, slow charge
100 MWh capacity, charges at max 100 MW (so ≥1 real hour from empty), discharges without limit -- it instantly matches the exact deficit. Cost: 5 Encased Industrial Beam, 10 Modular Frame, 100 Wire. Caveats: Biomass Burners cannot charge it, and storages cannot charge each other.
Size to the peak, not the average
Particle Accelerators, Quantum Encoders, and amplified machines draw in peaks. The Converter alone swings 100-400 MW (250 avg) on a triangle wave. Size generation to the peak or bank the peak-minus-average gap in Power Storage.
Segment your grids
Power Switches let you run isolated grids so a volatile subfactory's trip can't cascade. Corollary: if one section is dark and the rest is fine, you accidentally built two networks -- check a Power Pole's stat graph to find the split.
| Group | Shed order | What belongs here |
|---|---|---|
| Undefined | Drops 1st | Nothing you care about -- assign everything deliberately |
| Group 8 | Drops 2nd | Decorative lighting, defenses, radar towers |
| Groups 7-5 | Next | Non-critical or experimental subfactories |
| Groups 4-2 | Later | Ordinary production lines |
| Group 1 | Drops last | Power plants, fuel / fuel-rod production, water pumps -- never shed |
Generator Reference & the Coal Block (3 : 8 : 600 MW)
One formula covers every fuel
items (or m³) per minute = MW × 60 ÷ MJ. Check it: Coal is 300 MJ, so a 75 MW Coal Generator burns 75 × 60 / 300 = 15 coal/min. Turbofuel is 2,000 MJ, so a 250 MW Fuel Generator burns 250 × 60 / 2000 = 7.5 m³/min.
The coal block arithmetic, in full
One Coal Generator = 75 MW on 15 Coal/min + 45 m³ Water/min. A Water Extractor is a fixed 120 m³/min regardless of placement. So 3 × 120 = 360 m³/min = 8 × 45 → 3 extractors feed exactly 8 generators, delivering 8 × 75 = 600 MW off 8 × 15 = 120 Coal/min.
Your coal feed is exactly one Mk.2 miner
120 Coal/min is precisely a Miner Mk.2 on a Normal node. It's also within a Mk.2 belt's 120/min cap -- with zero margin, so run Mk.3 (270/min) if you plan to expand the block.
The pipe trap that starves your last two generators
8 generators pull 360 m³/min but a single Pipeline Mk.1 caps at 300 m³/min. Feed the water manifold from both ends, or split the main, or the tail generators throughput-starve and your "600 MW" plant quietly delivers less. Pipeline Mk.2 (600 m³/min) carries up to ~13 generators and 5 extractors on one line.
Same 75 MW from any solid fuel
Coal 15/min (300 MJ), Compacted Coal 7.142857/min (630 MJ), Petroleum Coke 25/min (180 MJ). Water stays at 45 m³/min regardless. Petroleum Coke is how you dump Heavy Oil Residue into power instead of the Sink later.
Biomass Burners are the only demand-scaled generator
They burn only what the grid actually draws, so fuel is never wasted idling -- and for the same reason they cannot charge Power Storage. Standalone = 30 MW; the two HUB-attached burners = 20 MW each, burn ~1.5× slower, and cannot be overclocked. Feed them Solid Biofuel (450 MJ = 15 s per item at 30 MW), not Leaves (15 MJ = 0.5 s) -- 30× the runtime per slot.
Overclocking the coal block scales everything together
Because generators are linear, an 8-gen block at 250% is 1,500 MW on 300 Coal/min and 900 m³ Water/min -- you'd need 7.5 Water Extractors and two Mk.2 pipelines -- a single Mk.2 caps at 600 m³/min. Density, not efficiency: the trade is fewer buildings for proportionally more input.
| Generator | Power @100% | Fuel(s) | Fuel rate @100% | Water @100% | Overclockable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biomass Burner (standalone) | 30 MW | Solid biomass fuels | Demand-scaled (no idle waste) | none | Yes |
| HUB Biomass Burner ×2 | 20 MW each | Solid biomass fuels | Demand-scaled, ~1.5× slower | none | No |
| Coal-Powered Generator | 75 MW | Coal / Compacted Coal / Petroleum Coke | 15 / 7.14 / 25 per min | 45 m³/min | Yes |
| Fuel-Powered Generator | 250 MW | Fuel / Liquid Biofuel / Turbofuel / Rocket Fuel / Ionized Fuel | 20 / 20 / 7.5 / 4.17 / 3 m³/min | none | Yes |
| Geothermal Generator | 100 / 200 / 400 MW avg (impure/normal/pure) | none (geyser-sited) | n/a | none | No |
| Nuclear Power Plant | 2,500 MW | Uranium / Plutonium / Ficsonium Fuel Rod | 0.2 / 0.1 / 1 rod per min | 240 m³/min | Yes |
| Alien Power Augmenter | 500 MW flat + 10% (unfueled) / +30% (fueled) grid boost | Alien Power Matrix (optional) | 5 APM/min for max boost | none | No |
Logistics & Transport
Logistics is the circulatory system of the factory: belts and lifts for solids, pipes for fluids, and trains, trucks, and drones for anything too far to belt. All passive belt logistics -- belts, lifts, splitters, mergers -- draw zero power, so the only real costs are parts, throughput ceilings, and your patience. This section covers the speed ladder, the manifold-vs-balancer decision that shapes every production line you will ever build, and the rules for scaling past belt range.
Belts & Lifts: The Speed Ladder
Lifts match belts exactly, mark for mark
A Conveyor Lift moves the same items/min as its belt equivalent. Each lift segment caps at 48 m of height, but segments stack end-to-end (and connect through Conveyor Lift Floor Holes since 1.1) for effectively unlimited vertical runs. Since 1.1, splitters and mergers snap directly onto lifts -- vertical stacked factories got a lot cleaner.
Match the belt to the actual output, not to ambition
Overclocking a miner past its belt's cap wastes the extra output. A Mk.1 Miner on a pure node = 120/min (needs Mk.2 belt). Mk.2 Miner pure = 240/min. Mk.3 Miner pure at 100% = 480/min (Mk.4 belt). A Mk.3 Miner on a pure node at 250% overclock = 1,200/min -- exactly one Mk.6 belt, no more.
780 is not the maximum belt speed
Before 1.0 the fastest belt was Mk.5 at 780/min, which could not carry a fully overclocked Mk.3 miner. Mk.6 at 1,200/min was reintroduced at 1.0 and fixed that. Any guide quoting 780 as "the cap" is Early Access and is stale on more than just belts.
Physical limits worth knowing
Max single belt length is ~56 m; belts are 2 m wide. Belt speed is exact and continuous -- a belt never bursts, it delivers up to its rated rate steadily, and an undersupplied belt simply runs at the input rate. Everything here is 0 MW.
Right now, you are on Mk.1/Mk.2
Mk.2 (120/min) comes at Tier 2 -- Logistics Mk.2, which is where you are. Mk.3 (270/min) arrives at Tier 4, so plan your coal-power build around 120/min per belt lanes. If a line needs more than 120/min before Tier 4, run two parallel belts rather than waiting.
| Mark | Items/min | Unlock | Belt cost (per piece) | Lift cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mk.1 | 60 | Tier 0 -- HUB Upgrade (lift: Tier 1 -- Logistics) | 1x Iron Plate | 2x Iron Plate |
| Mk.2 | 120 | Tier 2 -- Logistics Mk.2 | 1x Reinforced Iron Plate | 2x Reinforced Iron Plate |
| Mk.3 | 270 | Tier 4 -- Logistics Mk.3 | 1x Steel Beam | 2x Steel Beam |
| Mk.4 | 480 | Tier 5 -- Logistics Mk.4 | 1x Encased Industrial Beam | 2x Encased Industrial Beam |
| Mk.5 | 780 | Tier 7 -- Logistics Mk.5 | 1x Alclad Aluminum Sheet | 2x Alclad Aluminum Sheet |
| Mk.6 | 1,200 | Tier 9 -- Peak Efficiency | 1x Ficsite Trigon + 1x Time Crystal | 2x Ficsite Trigon + 2x Time Crystal |
Manifold vs Load Balancer (the centerpiece decision)
They deliver identical steady-state throughput
This is the whole point and most players miss it. A saturated manifold and a load balancer are indistinguishable in steady state -- both run every machine at 100% as long as the input rate meets total demand. They differ only in startup behavior and build cost. Nobody is trading efficiency here.
How a manifold works
One belt runs past all the machines in a line; each machine taps off in sequence via a splitter, and the belt continues to the next. Trivial to build, trivial to extend -- add a machine plus a splitter on the end. The one hard requirement: the feeder belt must carry the full sum of demand. Ten Constructors eating 30/min each need a belt rated for 300/min, which means Mk.4 -- a Mk.3 at 270/min silently starves the tail.
Saturation time is transient, not a defect
Machines nearest the source fill first, then the next, then the next. The last machine in a 10-Constructor line may sit idle for minutes while the upstream input buffers fill. This is the #1 reason beginners tear down a working manifold thinking it's broken. Manifolds self-saturate. Hand-load each machine's input buffer to skip the wait, or just walk away and go build something else.
How a load balancer works
A splitter/merger tree divides the stream into exactly equal shares before it reaches the machines, so every machine runs at full rate from t=0. The costs are real: far more parts, far more floor space, and it is hard to expand -- adding one machine unbalances the whole tree and you rebuild it.
The decision rule
Community consensus is manifold roughly 90% of the time. The distilled rule of thumb: "Will you expand this line later? Yes -> manifold. No -> balancer." Reserve balancers for lines you will never touch again, for splitting a resource into clean integer fractions (halving or thirding a bus), or for genuinely time-critical startup -- which is rare. Some builders default to balancers for the immediately-full look; that is a valid style preference, not an efficiency win.
The third tool: Priority Merger (1.1)
Added in Patch 1.1.0.0, the Priority Merger lets you merge an overflow or backup line with explicit priority, so a primary feed drains before a secondary -- without building any balancer tree at all. Standard mergers only round-robin, so before 1.1 there was no way to guarantee "drain A before B."
| Aspect | Manifold | Load Balancer |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | One belt runs past all machines; each taps off in sequence via splitters | Splitter tree divides input evenly so every machine gets its exact share instantly |
| Startup | Slow -- machines nearest the source saturate first; the tail waits on upstream buffers | Instant -- every machine runs at full rate from t=0 |
| Steady state | 100% efficient once saturated (input rate >= total demand) | 100% efficient |
| Build cost | Trivial -- a straight belt plus splitters | High -- large splitter/merger trees, lots of parts |
| Expandability | Excellent -- extend the belt, drop another machine | Poor -- adding a machine unbalances the whole tree |
| Footprint | Compact | Bulky |
| Verdict | Default choice, ~90% of lines | Fixed lines, clean integer splits, aesthetics |
Splitters, Mergers & Sorting
The Overflow rule is your byproduct safety valve
Put a Smart Splitter on a main production line with one output set to Overflow, routed to an AWESOME Sink. Excess only diverts once the primary line backs up -- so you never starve real consumers, and a backed-up byproduct never halts the chain. This is the single most useful splitter pattern in the game and it becomes mandatory once you hit oil (Heavy Oil Residue will stop plastic and rubber production dead if it has nowhere to go).
The four filter rules
Any behaves like a plain splitter. Any Undefined passes only items with no explicit rule on another output -- the catch-all lane. Overflow fires only when the other outputs are full or blocked. Item-specific passes only the named part. The Programmable Splitter adds None (output disabled) and allows multiple item rules per output, up to 64 rules total.
Splitters sort by type, never by ratio
A Smart or Programmable Splitter cannot split a stream into an exact numeric ratio like 40/60. It filters by item type only. For numeric ratios you use belt geometry -- chains of plain splitters and mergers -- or you underclock the consuming machines to match the feed instead.
Mergers round-robin unless you pay for priority
A Conveyor Merger takes one item from each connected input in turn. The Priority Merger (1.1, MAM Quartz research -- Material Resonance Screening) gives 3 priority levels: the higher-priority input drains first and exclusively, equal priorities alternate. Use it to make a buffer or overflow line the fallback rather than a co-equal contributor.
The 2,000/min internal ceiling
All splitters and mergers share an internal processing ceiling of ~2,000 items/min. No single belt reaches it (Mk.6 tops out at 1,200), so it is almost never a real constraint -- but it exists if you merge three saturated high-mark belts into one node.
| Building | Function | Unlock | Build cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conveyor Splitter | 1 in -> 3 out, even round-robin; reroutes around a backed-up output | Tier 1 -- Logistics | 2x Iron Plate + 2x Cable |
| Smart Splitter | One rule per output: Any / Any Undefined / Overflow / specific item | MAM -- Caterium research | 2x Reinforced Iron Plate + 2x Rotor + 1x AI Limiter |
| Programmable Splitter | Multiple item rules per output (64 total), adds None rule | MAM -- Caterium research | 1x Heavy Modular Frame + 2x Computer + 5x AI Limiter |
| Conveyor Merger | 3 in -> 1 out, round-robin | Tier 1 -- Logistics | 2x Iron Plate + 2x Iron Rod |
| Priority Merger (1.1) | 3 in -> 1 out with 3 priority levels; high priority drains first and exclusively | MAM -- Quartz (Material Resonance Screening) | 2x Reinforced Iron Plate + 1x Modular Frame + 1x Crystal Oscillator |
Pipelines: Flow, Head Lift & Sloshing
Machines get 10 m of lift for free
Any fluid-producing machine (extractor, refinery) can push fluid 10 m upward on its own. If the pipe rises more than 10 m above the output port with no pump, flow stops entirely. Even a perfectly horizontal pipe needs ~1.3 m of head lift just to fill its cross-section, and a pipe stores ~1.327 m3 per meter of length.
Pumps accumulate along the run -- but only if you space them
Head lift is cumulative along a pipeline: a 100 m climb needs about five Mk.1 pumps or two Mk.2 pumps of total head lift. But the pumps must be spaced up the riser, roughly one every 20 m (Mk.1) or 50 m (Mk.2). Head lift does not stack when pumps sit adjacent -- two Mk.1 pumps side by side at the bottom do not give you 40 m; the second just sees the first's output and wastes its capacity. Mk.2 is the better deal: 2.5x the head lift for 2x the power.
Sloshing: why your last machine starves
Pipes model fluid dynamically, so in a pipe manifold fluid oscillates back and forth between partially-full segments and downstream machines starve intermittently -- the line never settles at 100%. Fixes, in order of ease: keep the pipe completely full (run it as a loop or oversupply slightly), add a loopback pipe at the end of the manifold, or gate consumption with Valves so flow is one-directional. Valves also throttle to a set limit, 0.0--600.0 m3/min.
The oversupply trick
Build one more pump than the head lift strictly requires, then underclock all pumps to about 1% above the line's true demand. The pipe system misbehaves when run at exactly 100%; a slight overproduction keeps pipes full and flow stable. Placing pumps, junctions, or valves directly on an existing pipe can also transient-throttle it by ~1 m3/min.
Your coal build will hit the Mk.1 ceiling
The 8:3 coal ratio -- 3 Water Extractors (120 m3/min each) feeding 8 Coal Generators (45 m3/min each) -- pulls 360 m3/min total. A single Pipeline Mk.1 caps at 300 m3/min. Feed the generator manifold from both ends or split the water main, or the last generators throughput-starve and your grid browns out.
Gases ignore head lift entirely
Nitrogen Gas, Rocket Fuel, Ionized Fuel, Excited Photonic Matter, and Dark Matter Residue flow freely in any vertical direction -- no pumps needed. That's a later-tier concern, but it means your nitrogen risers cost nothing in power. Fluids that do obey head lift: Water, Crude Oil, Heavy Oil Residue, Fuel, Turbofuel, Liquid Biofuel, Alumina Solution, Sulfuric Acid, Dissolved Silica, Nitric Acid.
Escape hatch: package the fluid
A Packager turns fluid into canisters or pressure vessels that ride belts, trains, drones, or trucks, then an Unpackager restores it at the destination. Costs you the Packager/Unpackager overhead, but it beats a pump chain over brutal terrain and lets trains and drones carry fluid without a fluid platform.
| Building | Key value | Power | Unlock | Build cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pipeline Mk.1 | 300 m3/min | 0 MW | Tier 3 -- Coal Power | 1x Copper Sheet |
| Pipeline Mk.2 | 600 m3/min | 0 MW | Tier 6 -- Pipeline Engineering Mk.2 | 2x Copper Sheet + 1x Plastic |
| Pipeline Pump Mk.1 | +20 m head lift (~22 m actual) | 4 MW | Tier 3 -- Coal Power | 2x Copper Sheet + 2x Rotor |
| Pipeline Pump Mk.2 | +50 m head lift (~55 m actual) | 8 MW | Tier 6 -- Pipeline Engineering Mk.2 | 1x Heavy Modular Frame + 2x Motor + 10x Plastic |
| Valve | One-way flow; throttle 0.0--600.0 m3/min | -- | Tier 5 -- Oil Processing | 4x Rubber + 4x Steel Beam |
| Fluid Buffer | ~400 m3 tank | -- | Tier 5 -- Oil Processing | Beacon-tier parts |
| Industrial Fluid Buffer | ~2,400 m3 tank | -- | Tier 7 -- Aluminum era | Aluminum-tier parts |
Trains: Throughput, Signals & Anti-Deadlock
Think in round trips, not items/min
Train throughput is gated by the 27.08 s transfer cycle and the round-trip time, not a fixed rate. Worked example: one Freight Car of a stack-100 item holds 32 slots x 100 = 3,200 items/trip. On a 2-minute round trip that is ~1,600 items/min sustained from a single car -- more than two Mk.5 belts -- and it scales linearly with car count. That is why trains dominate bulk ore hauling.
But feeder belts still cap you
A platform can only be filled as fast as the belt(s) feeding it. A single Mk.5 belt tops out at 780/min into a platform no matter how big your consist is. Use multiple platforms per station and multiple belts to load faster. The Freight Platform's internal buffer is 48 slots; the Fluid Freight Platform holds 3,200 m3.
Block Signal, in one line
A Block Signal enforces simple occupancy: it reserves an entire block of track and turns red while any train is in the block ahead. Use them on straight double-track sections and station approaches.
Path Signal, in one line
A Path Signal reserves only a path through the block, subdividing a junction so multiple trains may enter simultaneously if their reserved paths do not cross -- and it "looks ahead" so a train never stops mid-junction. Use them at merges, crossings, all complex junctions, and bidirectional single track.
"Path in, block out" -- the anti-deadlock pattern
Path Signals at every junction entry, Block Signals at the exits. All entry signals to one block must be the same type. Deadlocks happen when trains reserve overlapping space and each waits forever; Path Signals prevent a train from stopping inside an intersection, which is the main cure. Signals are directional -- on bidirectional track you place them for both directions.
Block sizing and physical gotchas
Make blocks roughly the length of your longest train, ~300--400 m (3--4 track pieces), to avoid signal spam while letting trains queue. Touching rails share a block -- rails that clip or overlap count as one block even if not snapped, so keep opposing-direction rails at least one block apart. Trains begin braking ~250 m before a red or error signal, so leave room. Error state means invalid placement: a station inside a path block, mismatched entry signal types, or a signal loop.
1.1 changed the ends of your lines
Buffer Stops are required at rail ends or manual trains derail. Path and Block signals also gained left/right build modes in 1.1. Track itself is 6 m wide, needs a ~17 m minimum 90-degree turn radius, and maxes at 1:3.375 slope on foundations (1:2.7 on ramps). Rails conduct power to locomotives and connected stations, so a rail line can power a remote outpost for free.
| Unit | Key stats | Power | Build cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electric Locomotive | 120 km/h top speed; 300 t; 2,000 kN max force | 25 MW idle, up to 110 MW accelerating; regen braking recovers up to 33 MW (net gain up to ~8 MW) | 5x Modular Frame + 10x Motor + 20x Steel Pipe + 20x Rubber + 50x Wire |
| Freight Car | 32 inventory slots (or fluid via Fluid Freight Platform); 30 t empty / 100 t full | None of its own | 5x Modular Frame + 10x Steel Pipe + 10x Steel Beam |
| Train Station | 27.08 s load/unload cycle | 50 MW constant | 10x Encased Industrial Beam + 50x Plastic + 50x Concrete + 200x Wire |
| Freight Platform (solid) | 48-slot internal buffer; 27.08 s | 50 MW transferring, 0.1 MW idle | 5x Motor + 10x Encased Industrial Beam + 25x Plastic + 50x Concrete + 100x Wire |
| Fluid Freight Platform | 3,200 m3 internal buffer; 27.08 s | 50 MW transferring, 0.1 MW idle | As Freight Platform, plastic-heavy |
| Block / Path Signal | Divides track into blocks; only one train per block | -- | 2x Steel Pipe + 1x Computer each (Tier 6 -- Railway Signalling) |
Trucks & Tractors: Early Automated Routes
The Tractor is your first automated hauler
Unlocks at Tier 3 -- Vehicular Transport, the same tier as coal power, and costs only 5x Modular Frame + 5x Rotor + 10x Reinforced Iron Plate. 25 slots, 69 km/h, 55 MW draw while accelerating -- the cheapest thing to run. This is the right answer for hauling coal or limestone from a node that is too far to belt comfortably but nowhere near worth a rail line.
Truck Stations move cargo fast but refuel stingily
A Truck Station transfers up to 120 stacks/min (2 stacks/s) to or from a docked vehicle, drawing 20 MW while docking and 0.1 MW idle. The trap: it refuels the vehicle just enough for one round trip, not a full tank. A longer detour or a route you extended later can strand a truck mid-map. Keep fuel headroom.
Routes are recorded by hand -- and replayed literally
Drive the loop once with the self-driving menu (Q) recording; the vehicle replays it exactly. Autopilot follows the path literally and gets stuck on terrain, rocks, or shifted foliage, and slides on steep grades. Physics can be janky -- vehicles drift, clip, and launch on bumps. Build graded foundation roads and reliability improves dramatically.
Buy the Factory Cart, it's basically free
10 coupons in the AWESOME Shop, 4x Reinforced Iron Plate + 4x Iron Rod + 2x Rotor to build, 1 slot, 50 km/h, and no fuel at all. Perfect for hopping around a growing factory before hypertubes. Note that Truck Stations will pointlessly load fuel into a cart, which burns it with zero benefit.
Fuel ladder
Vehicles accept Leaves, Wood, Mycelia, Biomass, Solid Biofuel, Coal, Compacted Coal, Petroleum Coke, Packaged Oil, Packaged Fuel, Packaged Turbofuel, Battery, and Uranium/Plutonium/Ficsonium Fuel Rods (higher-tier vehicles take the higher-energy fuels). Vehicles only draw fuel while accelerating -- acceleration time equals fuel MJ divided by vehicle MW.
| Vehicle | Slots | Top speed | Draw (accel) | Automatable | Unlock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Factory Cart | 1 | 50 km/h | None (no fuel) | No | AWESOME Shop -- 10 coupons |
| Tractor | 25 | 69 km/h | 55 MW | Yes | Tier 3 -- Vehicular Transport |
| Truck | 48 | 89 km/h | 75 MW | Yes | Tier 5 -- Logistics Mk.4 |
| Explorer | 12 | 107 km/h | 90 MW | Yes | MAM -- Quartz research |
| Truck Station (solid) | 120 stacks/min transfer | -- | 20 MW docking, 0.1 MW idle | -- | Tier 3 -- Vehicular Transport |
| Fluid Truck Station | Fluid load/unload | -- | -- | -- | Tier 5 |
Personal Traversal: Hypertubes, Jump Pads, Ziplines
Hypertubes are Mk.5-belt speed for pioneers
Tier 4 unlock, 1x Copper Sheet + 1x Steel Pipe per piece. You auto-accelerate to ~50 km/h (roughly Mk.5 belt speed), gaining speed downhill and losing it uphill or on sharp turns. The tubes carry no power -- each Hypertube Entrance must be powered separately, so remember to run a line to the far end.
The Hypertube Cannon
Chaining many powered entrances a few meters apart compounds entry velocity exponentially -- roughly v ≈ 12.4 x 1.203^(entrances) (empirical, treat as indicative). A 14-entrance cannon reached ~382.5 km/h and covered 1.7 km in ~16 s; large cannons exceed 500 km/h, over 4x a locomotive. It is FPS-dependent -- higher framerates reduce the gain, so cap FPS while tuning. Fall damage comes only from vertical impact velocity; horizontal slams into rock are harmless. Carry a Parachute or Jetpack and land flat.
Jump Pads are cheap and available now
Tier 2, 2x Rotor + 15x Iron Plate + 10x Cable, 5 MW active / 0.1 MW standby. Launch angle adjusts 0--90 degrees in 5-degree steps with a trajectory preview. It buffers ~5 uses, replenishing about 1 use every 4.4 s -- which also means it works up to 5 times during a power outage. Pair with a U-Jelly Landing Pad for a damage-free arrival.
Ziplines turn your power grid into a transit network
MAM Caterium research (100 Quickwire + 50 Cable to research; 1x Xeno-Zapper + 30x Quickwire + 3x Iron Rod + 10x Cable to craft). It attaches to power lines only, transitioning at Wall Outlets and Power Towers with a max 60-degree turn. Speed is ~13.5 m/s level (about Blade Runners), dropping to ~5 m/s uphill, with a sprint-boost cap around 100 km/h. Vertical lines are unusable. String Power Towers between distant factories and you get free, fuel-less commuting.
| Method | Unlock | Speed | Power | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hypertube | Tier 4 -- Hyper Tubes | ~50 km/h base (cannons exceed 500 km/h) | Each entrance powered separately; tubes carry none | 1x Copper Sheet + 1x Steel Pipe per piece |
| Jump Pad | Tier 2 -- Jump Pads | Arc launch, 0--90 deg in 5-deg steps | 5 MW active, 0.1 MW standby | 2x Rotor + 15x Iron Plate + 10x Cable |
| Zipline | MAM -- Caterium research | ~13.5 m/s level, ~5 m/s uphill, ~100 km/h sprint cap | None (rides existing power lines) | 1x Xeno-Zapper + 30x Quickwire + 3x Iron Rod + 10x Cable |
Dimensional Depot Doctrine
It is cloud storage for building, not for production
Items uploaded via a Dimensional Depot Uploader are drawn from anywhere on the map for hand-crafting and the Build Gun. Because upload is capped at 240/min per item and storage tops out at 5 stacks, the Depot is construction feedstock and hand-craft inputs only -- it does not replace belts or trains between factories. Do not try to route production through it.
Upload the things you carry constantly
Early priority: Concrete, Iron Plate, Iron Rod, Screws, Wire, Cable -- the tedious hand-build staples. Once they are in the Depot you never haul them again, which is an enormous quality-of-life gain for construction and exploration. Later add foundations-tier materials, walls, and frames.
One Uploader per item type
Each Uploader has a 1-stack internal buffer and one belt input. Do not try to multiplex item types through a single Uploader. Storage is a per-item quota by stack size, independent across items -- not a shared slot pool. Two Uploaders feeding the same item stack their rates: 2 x 240 = 480/min.
The research bill is real
Both tracks upgrade four times via MAM Alien Technology research. Total across all eight upgrades: 92 Mercer Spheres (46 per track) plus 1,000 SAM Fluctuators (500 per track). There are only ~298 Mercer Spheres findable in the world, so this is a meaningful commitment -- but it is still the standard advice to grab the upload-rate research early, because it compounds across the entire rest of the game.
| Upgrade level | Upload rate (items/min) | Stacks stored per item |
|---|---|---|
| Base | 15 | 1 |
| +1 | 30 | 2 |
| +2 | 60 | 3 |
| +3 | 120 | 4 |
| +4 (max) | 240 | 5 |
Choosing a Mode: Distance & Volume Rules of Thumb
Belts for short and medium, always
Zero power, goes vertical, routes through walls (Conveyor Wall Holes, 1.1), and needs no infrastructure. Up to 1,200/min per belt at Mk.6. The cost is object count -- belting every node across the map bloats CPU and memory and you can genuinely hit the object limit. Belt sprawl is beginner mistake territory.
Trains for long-distance bulk
Best throughput scaling of anything -- add cars, add trains, add stations to one line. High fixed cost (rails, signals, 50 MW per station, 25 MW idle per locomotive) but it is the performance-preserving choice for moving raw ore across the map. One line serves many resources by just adding stations.
Trucks and Tractors for the awkward middle
Too far for a comfortable belt, too little or too temporary to justify a rail line. Cheap, easy to record and re-record, good for links you expect to move. Needs graded roads for reliability. This is the mode that fits right now at Tier 3.
Drones for a trickle of premium parts
Tier 8 Drone Ports draw a flat 100 MW constant whether or not a drone is docked, and a drone carries only 9 item slots per trip. Land/takeoff burns ~51 s per port (~102 s combined) regardless of distance, so drones get relatively more efficient the farther they fly -- the fixed animation amortizes. Ceiling is roughly ~250/min for a stack-100 item. Use them for high-value, low-quantity endgame parts over impassable terrain, never for bulk ore.
Batteries are the drone fuel sweet spot
Higher-energy fuels also fly faster. Battery: 6,000 MJ at 75 m/s -- cheap enough to mass-produce, high energy, fast. Packaged Fuel is 750 MJ / 50 m/s; Packaged Turbofuel 2,000 MJ / 60 m/s; Packaged Rocket Fuel 7,200 MJ / 75 m/s; Packaged Ionized Fuel 10,000 MJ / 100 m/s. Uranium (750,000 MJ) and Plutonium (1,500,000 MJ) rods carry absurd energy but are wasteful in a drone. Only one port in a pair needs to supply fuel.
The siting rule that beats all of the above
Build extraction and smelting AT the resource; ship refined intermediates, not raw ore. Raw ore is the lowest information-density cargo there is. Smelt at the node and ship ingots -- or go further -- so every belt slot and every freight car carries more finished work. This single habit cuts your logistics load more than any mode choice.
| Mode | Best distance | Best volume | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conveyor Belt / Lift | Short--medium | Any (match belt tier) | 0 power, vertical, through walls; tedious and FPS-costly over very long runs |
| Train | Long | High / bulk | Best throughput scaling; high fixed cost; ideal for ore -> refinery hauls |
| Truck / Tractor | Medium | Low--medium | Cheap, easy to reroute; good for temporary links; needs graded roads |
| Drone | Long | Low (high-value) | Straight line over any terrain; 100 MW port, 9 slots/trip, expensive fuel |
| Pipeline | Short--medium | High fluids/gas | Mandatory for raw fluids; watch head lift and sloshing |
| Packaged fluid (belt/train/drone) | Any | Low--medium fluids | When a pipe run is impractical; costs Packager/Unpackager overhead |
Progression Roadmap
You're on coal-power eve: HUB in Grass Fields, Tiers 1-2 open, biomass still being hand-fed. Everything from here is one loop -- pay Milestones with parts, feed the Space Elevator to unlock the next Tier pair, and detour into the MAM only where the payoff compounds. This roadmap runs Tier 0 through Tier 8 with exact costs, the five Space Elevator phase manifests, the hard-drive picks worth rerolling for, and early warning on the two chains that stall most playthroughs.
Tier 0-2: Escape Hand-Crafting
Iron first, copper second, concrete third
Iron Plate and Iron Rod appear in nearly every early recipe. Automate Iron Ingot -> Plate + Rod + Screw off a single normal iron node before you touch copper. Then copper (Wire + Cable), then Concrete -- concrete gates every foundation you will ever pour.
Node math sets your building count
Miner Mk.1 pulls 30 / 60 / 120 per minute on impure / normal / pure nodes. A normal node at 60/min exactly saturates one Mk.1 belt (60/min) and exactly feeds 2 Smelters. Don't over-plan past what the node can deliver.
Buy Field Research and Logistics early; Jump Pads can rot
T1 Field Research (300 Wire, 300 Screw, 100 Iron Plate) unlocks the MAM, Object Scanner and Map -- it gates every MAM detour below. T1 Logistics (150 Iron Plate, 150 Iron Rod, 300 Wire) gives Splitters/Mergers, which you cannot build a manifold without. T2 Jump Pads (50 Rotor, 300 Iron Plate, 150 Cable) is pure fun -- buy it last.
Unlock the Sink at Tier 2, not later
Resource Sink Bonus Program (400 Concrete, 500 Wire, 200 Iron Rod, 200 Iron Plate) opens the AWESOME Sink + Shop. Every hour it sits unbuilt is coupons you didn't bank. Logistics Mk.2 (50 Reinforced Iron Plate, 200 Concrete, 300 Iron Rod, 300 Iron Plate) doubles belts to 120/min -- also high priority.
Solid Biofuel is a bridge, not a plan
T2 Obstacle Clearing (500 Screw, 100 Cable, 100 Concrete) gives the Chainsaw and Solid Biofuel so Biomass Burners (30 MW each) stop demanding constant hand-feeding. It buys you time to reach coal -- nothing more.
| Recipe (building) | Input /min | Output /min |
|---|---|---|
| Iron Ingot (Smelter) | 30 Iron Ore | 30 Iron Ingot |
| Copper Ingot (Smelter) | 30 Copper Ore | 30 Copper Ingot |
| Iron Plate (Constructor) | 30 Iron Ingot | 20 Iron Plate |
| Iron Rod (Constructor) | 15 Iron Ingot | 15 Iron Rod |
| Screw (Constructor) | 10 Iron Rod | 40 Screw |
| Wire (Constructor) | 15 Copper Ingot | 30 Wire |
| Reinforced Iron Plate (Assembler) | 30 Iron Plate + 60 Screw | 5 RIP |
| Rotor (Assembler) | 20 Iron Rod + 100 Screw | 4 Rotor |
| Smart Plating (Assembler) | 2 RIP + 2 Rotor | 2 Smart Plating |
| Concrete (Constructor) | 45 Limestone | 15 Concrete |
Classic Early Targets: 30/min Plates, the RIP Line, the Rotor Line
30 Iron Plate/min is the first round number
One Constructor makes 20 Iron Plate/min from 30 Iron Ingot. For a clean 30/min, run two Constructors at 75% clock off 45 Iron Ingot/min. Underclocking costs no Power Shards (the clock slider itself unlocks via the cheap MAM Overclock Production node) -- it's the correct tool for hitting odd ratios instead of leaving a machine starved.
The canonical 10 RIP/min block
The archetype every tutorial converges on: balance the whole chain to a round output, then manifold it. 14 buildings, one normal-plus iron feed, and it feeds Rotors, Modular Frames and Smart Plating for the rest of the early game. Blueprint it once Tier 4 lands and tile it.
Rotor line: watch the screw drain
Standard Rotor is 20 Iron Rod + 100 Screw -> 4 Rotor per Assembler. Screws are the classic early bottleneck -- 100/min of them per 4 Rotor. Overbuild screw Constructors now, or rush a Cast Screw / Steel Screw alternate the moment one is offered.
Manifold, don't balance
Community consensus is manifold ~90% of the time: one belt runs past every machine, tapping off via splitters. It's cheaper, more compact, and trivially extendable. The slow-start is transient -- manifolds self-saturate. The tail machine will fire; it isn't broken.
Phase 1 is 50 Smart Plating -- almost free
A single Assembler makes 2 Smart Plating/min from 1 RIP + 1 Rotor per craft. That's ~25 minutes of one machine for the entire first Space Elevator phase. Build the Elevator (500 Concrete, 250 Iron Plate, 400 Iron Rod, 1,500 Wire), point the Smart Plating line at it, and go build coal while it fills.
| Stage | Buildings | Feeds |
|---|---|---|
| 120 Iron Ingot/min | 4 Smelters | splits to plates + rods |
| 90 ingot -> 60 Iron Plate/min | 3 Constructors | -> assemblers |
| 30 ingot -> 30 Iron Rod/min | 2 Constructors | -> screws |
| 30 rod -> 120 Screw/min | 3 Constructors | -> assemblers |
| 60 Plate + 120 Screw -> 10 RIP/min | 2 Assemblers | output |
Tier 3-4: Rush Coal, Then Steel
Coal Power is the whole point of Tier 3
150 Reinforced Iron Plate, 50 Rotor, 500 Cable buys the Coal Generator, Water Extractor, Pipeline Mk.1, Fluid Buffer and (1.2) the Pipeline T-Junction. It is the first fully automatable power source -- the moment the factory can scale unattended. Buy it first, before anything else in Tier 3.
The 8:3 ratio -- memorize it
A Coal Generator burns 15 Coal/min + 45 m³ Water/min for 75 MW. A Water Extractor is a fixed 120 m³/min. So 3 Water Extractors feed exactly 8 Coal Generators = 600 MW off 120 Coal/min. Two normal coal nodes (60/min each) or one pure node covers it.
Pipeline gotcha at 8 generators
Eight gens pull 360 m³/min but a Pipeline Mk.1 caps at 300 m³/min. Feed the water manifold from both ends or split the main -- otherwise the last generators throughput-starve and your fuse trips at the worst moment.
Build 20% headroom or the grid dies twice
Satisfactory power is all-or-nothing: exceed supply for an instant and the fuse trips and everything stops. Worse, restarting requires cold-starting every machine simultaneously, which can exceed steady-state draw. Keep ~20%+ spare capacity. Note generators overclock linearly (150% clock = 150% power for 150% fuel, no penalty) -- overclock them freely to shrink footprint.
Then steel, then Tier 4's three real milestones
T3 Basic Steel Production (50 Modular Frame, 150 Rotor, 500 Concrete, 1000 Wire) unlocks the Foundry and Versatile Framework -- you need 3,500 of those across the campaign, so build it permanent. In T4, prioritize Advanced Steel Production (Miner Mk.2, Motor, Automated Wiring), Logistics Mk.3 (270/min belts) and FICSIT Blueprints (tile your proven blocks).
| Tier | Milestone | Cost | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Coal Power | 150 RIP, 50 Rotor, 500 Cable | FIRST -- automatable power |
| 3 | Basic Steel Production | 50 Modular Frame, 150 Rotor, 500 Concrete, 1000 Wire | Second -- Foundry + Versatile Framework |
| 3 | Vehicular Transport | 25 Modular Frame, 100 Rotor, 200 Cable, 400 Iron Plate | Can wait -- Tractor/Truck Station |
| 3 | Enhanced Asset Security | 100 RIP, 600 Iron Rod, 1500 Wire | Wait -- Xeno-Basher + slots |
| 4 | Advanced Steel Production | 100 Steel Pipe, 100 Modular Frame, 200 Rotor, 500 Concrete | High -- Miner Mk.2, Stator, Motor, Automated Wiring |
| 4 | Logistics Mk.3 | 200 Steel Beam, 200 Steel Pipe, 400 RIP | High -- Mk.3 belts at 270/min |
| 4 | FICSIT Blueprints | 100 Modular Frame, 200 Steel Beam, 500 Cable, 1000 Concrete | High -- Blueprint Designer Mk.1 |
| 4 | Expanded Power Infrastructure | 50 EIB, 100 Steel Beam, 200 Modular Frame, 2000 Wire | Medium -- Power Storage rides out spikes |
| 4 | Hypertubes | 50 EIB, 300 Steel Pipe, 500 Copper Sheet | Wait -- QoL traversal |
Tier 5-6: The Oil Era (and Its Wall)
Oil Processing is the gate to everything mid-game
50 Motor, 100 Encased Industrial Beam, 500 Steel Pipe, 500 Copper Sheet unlocks the Oil Extractor, Refinery, and the Plastic / Rubber / Fuel / Circuit Board recipes. Nothing past Tier 5 exists without plastic. Petroleum Power (100 Motor, 100 EIB, 200 Rubber, 200 Plastic) then gives you the Fuel Generator: 250 MW on 20 Fuel/min, no water.
FORWARD WARNING: the Heavy Oil Residue trap
Standard Plastic and Rubber both emit Heavy Oil Residue as a byproduct. If the HOR line backs up, plastic and rubber production stops dead even with crude still flowing. A fluid chain only runs if every output has a destination. Give HOR somewhere to go before you switch the refinery on.
Four ways to kill HOR
(1) Refine HOR -> Fuel for generators (60 HOR -> 40 Fuel); (2) refine to Petroleum Coke and burn it in coal gens (25 Coke/min = the same 75 MW as 15 Coal/min); (3) run Recycled Plastic + Recycled Rubber alternates as a closed loop; (4) last resort, Packager the surplus and sink it.
Tier 6 is where the factory grows up
Industrial Manufacturing (200 Motor, 200 Modular Frame, 400 Plastic, 1000 Cable) unlocks the Manufacturer, Computer, Heavy Modular Frame, plus Modular Engine and Adaptive Control Unit -- both Phase 3 parts. Monorail Train Technology (250 Motor, 500 EIB, 1000 Steel Beam, 1000 Steel Pipe) ends cross-map belt sprawl; smelt at the node, haul ingots by train.
Pipeline Mk.2 when fluids start hurting
Pipeline Engineering Mk.2 (50 Heavy Modular Frame, 1000 Plastic, 1000 Rubber) doubles flow to 600 m³/min. Wait until an actual pipe is the bottleneck -- 1,000 plastic and 1,000 rubber is a real bill at this stage.
| Recipe | Input /min | Output /min | Byproduct /min |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plastic | 30 Crude Oil | 20 Plastic | 10 Heavy Oil Residue |
| Rubber | 30 Crude Oil | 20 Rubber | 20 Heavy Oil Residue |
| Residual Fuel | 60 Heavy Oil Residue | 40 Fuel | -- |
| Recycled Plastic (alt) | 30 Rubber + 30 Fuel | 60 Plastic | -- |
| Recycled Rubber (alt) | 30 Plastic + 30 Fuel | 60 Rubber | -- |
| Diluted Fuel (alt, Blender) | 50 Heavy Oil Residue + 100 Water | 100 Fuel | -- |
Tier 7-8: Aluminum, Nuclear, and the Endgame Feed
FORWARD WARNING: aluminum's self-referential water loop
Aluminum is a three-stage chain where stage 2 emits water back at you. You must loop that water to stage 1 and top up only the shortfall from a Water Extractor. Get it wrong and the loop floods (stalls scrap) or starves (stalls alumina). Standard balance: 2 Alumina refineries feed 1 Scrap refinery -- 240 Alumina Solution/min in, ~360 Scrap/min out. Prime the pipes or accept a slow sloshy startup.
Two alternates delete the aluminum headache
Sloppy Alumina (200 Bauxite + 200 Water -> 240 Alumina Solution) produces no silica byproduct at all. Pure Aluminum Ingot (60 Aluminum Scrap -> 30 Aluminum Ingot in a Smelter) needs no silica input. Together they turn the wall into a straight line -- reroll hard for these.
Control System Development is the Phase 4 gate
T7 Control System Development (200 Alclad Aluminum Sheet, 400 Aluminum Casing, 200 Computer, 1000 Plastic) unlocks the Blender, Battery, Radio Control Unit, Supercomputer and Assembly Director System -- 500 of which Phase 4 wants. Get Bauxite Refinement (100 Computer, 100 HMF, 250 Motor, 500 Rubber) first; it gates the whole aluminum chain.
Nuclear pays for itself, waste and all
Nuclear Power (50 Supercomputer, 200 Heavy Modular Frame, 1000 Cable, 2000 Concrete) gives a 2,500 MW plant on 0.2 Uranium Fuel Rod/min + 240 m³ Water/min -- and 10 Uranium Waste/min you must plan for. It also unlocks the Magnetic Field Generator (500 needed for Phase 4).
Particle Enrichment turns coupons into hard drives
T8 Particle Enrichment (50 Turbo Motor, 100 Fused Modular Frame, 200 Cooling System, 2500 Quickwire) unlocks the Particle Accelerator and Nuclear Pasta -- and makes Hard Drives repeatable in the AWESOME Shop at 100 coupons each. From here you can mop up every alternate recipe you missed.
| Stage | Building | Recipe | Trap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Alumina Solution | Refinery | 120 Bauxite + 180 Water -> 120 Alumina Solution + 50 Silica | Silica byproduct must be consumed or sunk |
| 2. Aluminum Scrap | Refinery | 240 Alumina Solution + 120 Coal -> 360 Aluminum Scrap | Emits water -- loop it back to stage 1 |
| 3. Aluminum Ingot | Foundry | 90 Aluminum Scrap + 75 Silica -> 60 Aluminum Ingot | Silica-NEGATIVE: the chain eats more silica than stage 1 makes -- top up from quartz or take Sloppy Alumina |
| Fix A | Refinery | Sloppy Alumina: 200 Bauxite + 200 Water -> 240 Alumina Solution | No silica at all |
| Fix B | Smelter | Pure Aluminum Ingot: 60 Aluminum Scrap -> 30 Aluminum Ingot | No silica needed |
Space Elevator: All Five Phase Manifests
The Elevator, not your Milestones, opens Tiers
Past Tier 0, tier gating is driven entirely by Project Assembly. Phase 1 -> Tiers 3 & 4. Phase 2 -> Tiers 5 & 6. Phase 3 -> Tiers 7 & 8. Phase 4 -> Tier 9. Phase 5 -> campaign end. If you feel stuck, you probably owe the Elevator a delivery.
Build a modest permanent rate and walk away
Phase totals are one-time counts, not rates. Consensus comfortable sizing: ~10 Smart Plating/min and ~10 Versatile Framework/min for Phase 2; ~10-15 Versatile Framework, ~5 Modular Engine, ~2 Adaptive Control Unit/min for Phase 3; ~2-5/min each for Phases 4-5. Overbuilding shortens the wait but wastes ore -- a modest permanent rate plus patience is the cheap move.
Never dismantle a Phase factory
Phase 4 and 5 sub-components (rockets, warp drives, servers) are also needed for research and construction. Build them as standing factories feeding storage between deliveries; the totals fill passively while you work the next tier.
Ignore stale Phase 4 numbers
Old guides list Phase 4 as 4,000 / 4,000 / 1,000 / 1,000 -- that's Early Access. Current 1.0+ Phase 4 is 500 / 500 / 250 / 100. Also note 1.2's Game Modes menu can multiply Elevator costs from 0.25x to 100x; the table below is default 1.0x.
Career totals -- what you're actually signing up for
Across all five phases: 1,050 Smart Plating · 3,500 Versatile Framework · 100 Automated Wiring · 500 Modular Engine · 100 Adaptive Control Unit · 500 Assembly Director System · 500 Magnetic Field Generator · 250 Thermal Propulsion Rocket · 1,100 Nuclear Pasta · 1,000 Biochemical Sculptor · 256 AI Expansion Server · 200 Ballistic Warp Drive. Versatile Framework is the single biggest line item -- size that factory generously at Tier 3.
| Phase | Name | Deliverables | Unlocks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Distribution Platform | 50 Smart Plating | Tiers 3 & 4 |
| 2 | Construction Dock | 1,000 Smart Plating · 1,000 Versatile Framework · 100 Automated Wiring | Tiers 5 & 6 |
| 3 | Main Body | 2,500 Versatile Framework · 500 Modular Engine · 100 Adaptive Control Unit | Tiers 7 & 8 |
| 4 | Propulsion | 500 Assembly Director System · 500 Magnetic Field Generator · 250 Thermal Propulsion Rocket · 100 Nuclear Pasta | Tier 9 |
| 5 | Assembly | 1,000 Nuclear Pasta · 1,000 Biochemical Sculptor · 256 AI Expansion Server · 200 Ballistic Warp Drive | Launch (endgame) |
MAM Detours Worth the Trip
Power Slugs first -- it gates overclocking
Overclock Production costs 1 Power Shard + 50 Iron Plate + 50 Wire and is the single highest-value early node. Each shard raises a machine's clock ceiling +50%, up to 250% with 3 shards. Blue slugs give 1 shard, Yellow 2, Purple 5. Overclock extractors almost always -- the node is the scarce thing, not power.
Caterium is the biggest QoL detour in the game
Chain: Caterium (10 ore) -> Caterium Ingots (50 ore) -> Quickwire (50 Caterium Ingot) -> Caterium Electronics (100 Quickwire). That opens AI Limiter -> Smart Splitter (your overflow-to-Sink tool), Power Poles Mk.2 at 300 Quickwire (7 connections), Power Switch for grid segmentation, and the Zipline for 100 Quickwire + 50 Cable. Standard rates: 45 Caterium Ore -> 15 Caterium Ingot, then 12 Caterium Ingot -> 60 Quickwire.
Quartz buys mobility and, crucially, more hard drives
Blade Runners (50 Silica + 10 Modular Frame) transform traversal. But the real prize is Radio Signal Scanning (100 Crystal Oscillator + 100 Motor + 1 Object Scanner), which lets the Object Scanner find Crash Sites -- your entire alternate-recipe supply. Inflated Pocket Dimension (200 Silica) adds +6 inventory slots.
Sulfur is optional early, mandatory later
Black Powder (50 Sulfur + 25 Coal) -> Nobelisk Detonator (50 Black Powder + 100 Steel Pipe + 200 Cable) is how you clear rock and open terrain. Compacted Coal costs 1 Hard Drive + 25 Sulfur + 25 Coal and lets a coal gen run on just ~7.14/min instead of 15 -- and it's the prerequisite for the whole Turbofuel -> Rocket Fuel -> Ionized Fuel ladder (1 Hard Drive each).
Grab the Dimensional Depot the moment you find a Mercer Sphere
Dimensional Depot costs 1 Mercer Sphere + 11 SAM Fluctuator and makes uploaded items available to the Build Gun anywhere. Base is 1 stack per item at 15 items/min; fully researched it's 5 stacks at 240/min. Upload Concrete, Iron Plate, Iron Rod, Screws, Wire, Cable and never carry them again. Skipping this research is a top-12 beginner mistake.
Hard-drive mechanics, current version
118 Crash Sites, one drive each. Each scan takes 10 minutes and shows 2 options with 1 reroll (up to 4 recipes seen) -- not the old Early-Access 3. The Hard Drive Library lets you bank unselected scans, and banked options are removed from the pool for new scans, so spreading drives shows you more of the pool. Only one drive researches at a time. Disconnect powered pods after looting -- they keep drawing their full load (up to 400 MW; only 7 pods exceed 100 MW).
| Tree | Node | Research / extra cost | Payoff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Power Slugs | Overclock Production | 1 Power Shard + 50 Iron Plate, 50 Wire | Overclocking / underclocking unlocked |
| Caterium | Quickwire | 50 Caterium Ingot | Opens the entire Caterium electronics tree |
| Caterium | AI Limiter -> Smart Splitter | 200 Quickwire + 50 Copper Sheet; then 10 AI Limiter + 50 RIP | Overflow routing to the AWESOME Sink |
| Caterium | Power Poles Mk.2 | 300 Quickwire | 7 connections per pole |
| Caterium | Power Switch | 100 Steel Beam + 50 AI Limiter | Segment grids so one fault isn't a blackout |
| Caterium | Zipline | 100 Quickwire + 50 Cable | Ride your own power lines |
| Caterium | Geothermal Generator | 100 High-Speed Connector + 1000 Quickwire, 50 Motor | Free ~100/200/400 MW avg per geyser |
| Quartz | Blade Runners | 50 Silica + 10 Modular Frame | Movement + fall protection |
| Quartz | Radio Signal Scanning | 100 Crystal Oscillator + 100 Motor, 1 Object Scanner | Scan for Crash Sites (hard drives) |
| Quartz | Inflated Pocket Dimension | 200 Silica | +6 inventory slots |
| Sulfur | Compacted Coal | 1 Hard Drive + 25 Sulfur, 25 Coal | Denser coal fuel; gate to Turbofuel |
| Mycelia | Gas Mask | 10 Coal + 50 Fabric, 50 Steel Pipe | Survive gas clouds (bauxite country) |
| Alien Tech | Dimensional Depot | 1 Mercer Sphere + 11 SAM Fluctuator | Build-gun cloud storage |
Hard Drive Priorities: What to Pick, by Stage
Rank by bottleneck removed, not by tier letter
Prioritize alternates that remove a bottleneck part (screws, circuit boards, computers, heavy frames) or multiply a fluid (fuel, plastic, rubber) -- those compound across the entire factory. Deprioritize marginal ingot tweaks unless a specific node is actively starving you.
The consensus S-tier shortlist
Named across nearly every community list: Diluted Fuel, Recycled Plastic / Recycled Rubber, Solid Steel Ingot, Steel Screw, Fused Wire, Coated Iron Plate, Heavy Encased Frame, Steeled Frame, Wet Concrete, Dark Matter Trap. On the algorithmic efficiency score, Heavy Encased Frame tops the chart at 97.7, with Copper Alloy Ingot (92.3) and Pure Aluminum Ingot (92.0) right behind.
Availability is RNG -- treat these as 'grab if offered'
A recipe only appears if its prerequisites are met, and each unlocks only once. Use the reroll and the Library to spread the pool rather than save-scumming. The 118 drives comfortably cover the ~106 alternates plus 4 fuel researches plus 2 inventory expansions (~112 consumed).
Watch the point-negative traps if you're coupon farming
Roughly eight alternates output fewer Sink points than their ingredients -- Compacted Steel Ingot and Caterium Wire among them. Conversely Silicon Circuit Board reportedly returns ~7.19x the points of its inputs, making it an outstanding sink feedstock.
| Stage | Alternate | Recipe /min | What it saves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early T1-3 | Cast Screw | 12.5 Iron Ingot -> 50 Screws | Skips the Iron Rod step entirely |
| Early T1-3 | Steel Screw | 5 Steel Beam -> 260 Screws | Collapses screw sprawl; one machine replaces a row |
| Early T1-3 | Stitched Iron Plate | 18.75 Iron Plate + 37.5 Wire -> 5.625 RIP | Screw-free Reinforced Iron Plate |
| Anytime | Wet Concrete | 120 Limestone + 100 Water -> 80 Concrete | 80/min vs 15/min standard |
| Anytime | Rubber Concrete | 100 Limestone + 20 Rubber -> 90 Concrete | Highest concrete throughput per machine |
| Anytime | Fine Concrete | 15 Silica + 60 Limestone -> 50 Concrete | 50/min vs 15/min; uses surplus silica |
| Steel T4-6 | Solid Steel Ingot | 40 Iron Ingot + 40 Coal -> 60 Steel Ingot | 60/min vs 45/min; relieves the steel bottleneck |
| Steel T4-6 | Steel Rod | 12 Steel Ingot -> 48 Iron Rod | 48 rods/min vs 15/min standard |
| Steel T4-6 | Steeled Frame | 2 RIP + 10 Steel Pipe -> 3 Modular Frame | Drops screws out of frame production |
| Steel T4-6 | Coke Steel Ingot | 75 Iron Ore + 75 Petroleum Coke -> 100 Steel Ingot | Turns oil waste into steel; 100/min |
| Iron/Copper | Coated Iron Plate | 37.5 Iron Ingot + 7.5 Plastic -> 75 Iron Plate | 75/min vs 20/min (needs plastic -- T5+) |
| Iron/Copper | Copper Alloy Ingot | 50 Copper Ore + 50 Iron Ore -> 100 Copper Ingot | Stretches copper nodes with iron (score 92.3) |
| Iron/Copper | Fused Wire | 12 Copper Ingot + 3 Caterium Ingot -> 90 Wire | 3x standard wire output, ~53% less resource |
| Oil T5-7 | Diluted Fuel (Blender) | 50 Heavy Oil Residue + 100 Water -> 100 Fuel | Turns waste HOR into the game's best fuel route |
| Oil T5-7 | Recycled Plastic | 30 Rubber + 30 Fuel -> 60 Plastic | 60/min vs 20/min; closes the crude loop |
| Oil T5-7 | Recycled Rubber | 30 Plastic + 30 Fuel -> 60 Rubber | Pairs with Recycled Plastic to cancel byproducts |
| Electronics T4-7 | Silicon Circuit Board | 27.5 Copper Sheet + 27.5 Silica -> 12.5 Circuit Board | 12.5/min vs 7.5/min; best sink-point feedstock |
| Electronics T4-7 | Caterium Circuit Board | 12.5 Plastic + 37.5 Quickwire -> 8.75 Circuit Board | Sidesteps copper strain entirely |
| Electronics T4-7 | Caterium Computer | 15 CB + 52.5 Quickwire + 22.5 Rubber -> 3.75 Computer | Copper-free computers; 3.75/min vs 2.5/min |
| Electronics T4-7 | Crystal Computer | 5 CB + 1.67 Crystal Oscillator -> 3.33 Computer | Assembler instead of Manufacturer |
| Frames T6+ | Heavy Encased Frame | 7.5 MF + 9.375 EIB + 33.75 Steel Pipe + 20.625 Concrete -> 2.8125 HMF | Top efficiency score (97.7); no screws |
| Aluminum T7-8 | Sloppy Alumina | 200 Bauxite + 200 Water -> 240 Alumina Solution | Eliminates the silica byproduct |
| Aluminum T7-8 | Pure Aluminum Ingot | 60 Aluminum Scrap -> 30 Aluminum Ingot | No silica input; simplifies the whole chain |
| Endgame T8-9 | Dark Matter Trap | 1 Time Crystal + 150 Dark Matter Residue -> 2 Dark Matter Crystal | Doubles crystal yield per residue batch |
AWESOME Sink Doctrine: Overflow Always
Overflow, never divert
Put a Smart Splitter on the main line with one output set to Overflow, routed to the Sink. Excess only diverts once the primary line backs up -- you never starve a real consumer, and a backed-up byproduct never halts the chain upstream. This is the single highest-value logistics pattern in the game.
A clogged byproduct belt is a stopped factory
Sink your dead-ends: convert Heavy Oil Residue to Petroleum Coke and sink or burn it, sink surplus Silica from aluminum, sink leftover Screws and Concrete. Keeping every line flowing is the point -- the coupons are a bonus.
Sink the highest-tier part you can automate
Points scale with production complexity, not quantity: Iron Ore 1 · Screw ~2 · Concrete 12 · Cable ~24 · Rotor ~140 · Modular Frame ~408 · Motor 1,520 · Computer 8,352. Early on, sink Cable, Concrete or Rotors; later, sink whatever high-value part you overproduce. Max intake is 1,200 items/min (one Mk.6 belt). The Sink itself draws a constant 30 MW.
The coupon curve: cheap start, steep climb
The first 3 coupons cost 500 points each (a FICSIT starter discount -- the formula would say 1,000). After that, cost rises in groups of three: cost(n) = 250 × (⌈n/3⌉ − 1)² + 1000. It plateaus at coupon 2,998 at a flat 249,501,250 points each. Collecting all non-repeatable shop rewards runs 347 coupons ≈ 382,231,750 points.
Never feed uniques into the Sink
Somersloops and Mercer Spheres clog the input -- they cannot be sunk. Retrieve Somersloops from a building before dismantling it. There are only ~106 in the world; losing one to a Sink jam is a permanent own-goal.
What coupons are actually for
Blueprints and building sets (walls/roofs/ramps at 1-10 coupons), the Factory Cart (10), Cyber Wagon (20), and -- post-Tier 8 -- repeatable Hard Drives at 100 coupons each. That last one is the real endgame use: coupons convert directly into alternate recipes.
| Coupon # | Points each | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | 500 | Fixed starter rate (special-cased discount) |
| 4-6 | 1,250 | Formula takes over |
| 7-9 | 2,000 | |
| 10-12 | 3,250 | |
| 13-15 | 5,000 | |
| n ≥ 4 (general) | 250 × (⌈n/3⌉ − 1)² + 1000 | Rises in groups of three |
| 2,998+ | 249,501,250 | Plateau -- constant thereafter |
Building & Quality of Life
Satisfactory rewards discipline more than speed: an 8 m grid laid down correctly on day one is worth more than ten hours of clever belt routing later. This section covers placement mechanics (grid, zoop, nudge, clearance), the Blueprint Designer and what to stamp with it, factory organization doctrine, the Customizer, the Update 1.1 construction toolkit, and the exploration habits that quietly compound. Every number here is pulled from the verified corpus docs -- construction/blueprints, strategy/optimization, and exploration/collectibles.
Foundations First: the 8 m Grid Is the Whole Game
Pour floor before you place machines
The standard foundation is 8 m x 8 m with selectable heights of 1 m / 2 m / 4 m, and it exposes an 8 m grid of snap points that every other building inherits. Plan the floor plan and material-flow routes before placing machines -- that ordering is the single biggest source of avoided rework.
Hold Ctrl on the first foundation of every site
Holding Ctrl while placing a foundation snaps it to the world grid: nearest 800 cm (8 m) horizontally and nearest 100 cm (1 m) vertically. Do it once on the anchor foundation and every piece that snaps off it inherits alignment, which is what keeps long belt runs from drifting.
Know your build range
The Build Gun places and dismantles out to 100 m (~12.5 foundation lengths). It cannot be used while swimming, though submerged structures can be placed from the surface -- useful when you finally site Water Extractors for coal power.
Rotation has three step sizes
Foundations rotate in 45 degree increments, with fine 5 degree adjustments and 10 degree steps via Ctrl + scroll on stacked foundations. Off-grid angles are for decoration -- keep production floors square to the world grid.
Pre-coal, pick the cheap floor material
Concrete and Asphalt cost 7 Concrete per foundation with no metal component; the FICSIT default wants 5 Concrete + 2 Iron Plate. Before coal power your iron plate throughput is the bottleneck, not limestone -- pour plain Concrete and re-material later (material swaps are refundable).
| Style | Cost per foundation | Look / note |
|---|---|---|
| FICSIT (default) | 5 Concrete + 2 Iron Plate | Yellow-trim industrial; unlocks Tier 1 |
| Concrete | 7 Concrete | Plain concrete; no metal cost |
| Asphalt | 7 Concrete | Dark road surface; needs Tier 3 M2 |
| Grip Metal | 5 Concrete + 2 Steel Beam | Diamond-plate; needs Tier 3 M3 |
| Coated Concrete | 5 Concrete + 2 Plastic | Smooth sealed; needs Tier 5 M1 |
Zoop, Lock & Nudge: Placement Precision
Zoop places 10 pieces in one drag
Tap R to toggle Zoop mode (hold R for the radial mode menu). It builds up to 10 pieces in any of the four cardinal directions in a single placement, supports vertical stacking of foundations/walls/pillars, and auto-snaps diagonals when zooping ramps.
Know what cannot be zooped
Zoop-compatible: Foundations, Ramps, Walls, Roofs, Fences, Walkways, Pillars, Beams, stackable poles/supports, Railway pillars. You cannot zoop production machines or Blueprints -- machine rows are a manifold job, not a drag job.
Hologram Lock is the precision unlock
Press H to freeze a hologram in place, then reposition it without fighting your crosshair. Lock plus Nudge is how you place a belt-hole, a pillar, or a machine at an exact offset instead of eyeballing it.
Vertical nudge and the removed distance cap are 1.1 features
Page Up / Page Down nudge vertically in 1 m steps, shipped in patch 1.1.0.0 along with the removal of the maximum nudge distance -- you can now nudge a locked hologram any distance from its origin. Arrow keys move 1 m horizontally; Ctrl + direction halves the step to 0.5 m.
Copy instead of hunting the menu
Middle Mouse eyedroppers an existing building straight into the Build Gun, N opens Quick Search by name, and E cycles related buildables. Three keys that remove most build-menu scrolling.
| Action | Key | Step / note |
|---|---|---|
| Build menu | Q | Category browser |
| Quick Search | N | Type to find a buildable |
| Eyedropper (copy placed building) | Middle Mouse | Samples into the gun |
| Quick switch buildings | E | Cycles related buildables |
| Zoop / build-mode switch | R | Tap toggles; hold = radial mode menu |
| Hologram Lock | H | Freezes hologram for nudging |
| Nudge horizontal | Arrow keys | 1 m |
| Nudge vertical | Page Up / Page Down | 1 m (added 1.1.0.0) |
| Fine nudge | Ctrl + direction | 0.5 m |
| Dismantle mode | F | Hold ~1 s to confirm, 100% refund |
| Dismantle filter | G | Restrict to one building type |
| Customizer | X | Unlocks Tier 2, Milestone 4 |
Clearance, Snapping & the Tight-Packing Trick
Yellow is a green light
Hologram colors encode validity: blue = valid, yellow = soft clearance (minor or overlapping obstruction tolerated, usually still builds), red = hard clearance (true collision, cannot build). Beginners retreat at yellow; veterans build at yellow.
Soft clearance is how factories get dense
Soft clearance is the forgiving zone that lets buildables slightly interpenetrate or brush a neighbor. That tolerance is exactly what lets you pack machine rows, decorations, and pillars tightly instead of leaving a wasted meter around everything. Lock the hologram (H) and nudge in 0.5 m steps into the overlap until it stops being red.
Two guideline types, two jobs
Alignment guidelines (solid color) snap to the side/edge of an existing structure; connection guidelines (gradient green lines) snap a hologram's input/output to a nearby machine's output/input. Aim at the face you want to snap to -- the guideline you get tells you which system engaged.
Dismantle refunds 100%, so experiment freely
Every dismantle returns 100% of materials. There is no cost to tearing out a bad layout beyond your time -- the fear of 'wasting' a build is the wrong instinct in this game.
Mass dismantle and the filter
Hold Ctrl in Dismantle mode to marquee-select up to 50 structures; tap the modifier on an item to deselect it individually. The Dismantle Filter (G) restricts targeting to one building type -- it treats a placed blueprint's members as a unit, and it combines with the Customizer for bulk repainting one building type across an entire factory.
| Color | Meaning | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Blue | Valid placement | Will build |
| Yellow | Soft clearance | Minor/overlapping obstruction tolerated -- usually still builds |
| Red | Hard clearance | Blocking obstruction -- cannot build here |
Blueprint Designer: Volumes, Costs & Rules
Tier 4 is the target, and it is close
Blueprints unlock at Tier 4, Milestone 1 -- FICSIT Blueprints. The Mk.1 Designer costs 15 Modular Frame, 25 Cable, 100 Concrete, 100 Steel Beam and draws no power. Coal power (Tier 3) is the gate before it -- build the coal plant, then beeline blueprints.
Everything must fit inside the frame
A buildable is only captured if it sits fully within the boundary. The one exception: Pillars may partially intersect the edges. Design to whole 8 m multiples -- blueprint dimensions are stored in 8 m unit increments and the snap point is centered on the blueprinted buildables, so grid-multiple designs tile cleanly.
Use the Blueprint Storage Box
A Storage Box on the Control Bench supplies materials while building inside the Designer and is drawn from first, before your personal inventory. Dismantled items return there -- so iterate on a design without shuffling your own pockets.
Auto-Connect saves the plumbing
Press R to toggle Auto-Connect (patch 1.1.0.0): blueprints containing conveyors, pipelines, railways, or vehicle paths automatically connect to nearby inputs/outputs within 16 m, prioritizing alignment over proximity. Stamp-and-go instead of stamp-and-hand-belt.
Contents ride along
Ingredients/fuel in Input Buffers and items in Storage Containers are saved into the blueprint and reappear when it is placed. Pre-load a manifold blueprint's machine buffers once and every stamp starts warm instead of waiting on saturation.
What the Designer refuses
Never allowed at any tier: Miners/Extractors, Water & Oil Extractors, Resource Well equipment, The HUB, Space Elevator. Mk.2+: Train Stations, Freight Platforms. Mk.3 only: Geothermal Generators, Nuclear Power Plants. Also: a Mk.1 blueprint cannot be edited in a Mk.2/Mk.3 Designer, though lower-tier blueprints can be added into higher-tier Designers.
Files: back them up yourself
Blueprints live at %LOCALAPPDATA%\FactoryGame\Saved\SaveGames\blueprints\{SESSION NAME}, are not stored with game saves and are not cloud-synced. The .sbp (design) is required to share; .sbpcfg (description/icon/color) is optional. Categories are save-file constructs that must exist before use, and the library sorts lexicographically (z1, z10, z11, z2) -- zero-pad names like 01-smelter-bank.
| Model | Internal build volume | External footprint | Unlock | Build cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mk.1 | 32 x 32 x 32 m | 40 x 40 x 34 m | Tier 4 -- FICSIT Blueprints | 15 Modular Frame, 25 Cable, 100 Concrete, 100 Steel Beam |
| Mk.2 | 40 x 40 x 40 m | 48 x 48 x 42 m | Tier 6 -- FICSIT Blueprints Mk.2 | 10 Heavy Modular Frame, 20 Computer, 100 Concrete, 100 Rubber |
| Mk.3 | 48 x 48 x 48 m | 56 x 56 x 50 m | Tier 9 -- FICSIT Blueprints Mk.3 | 10 Neural-Quantum Processor, 20 Fused Modular Frame, 50 Time Crystal, 100 Ficsite Trigon |
Six Blueprints Worth Stamping First
A good blueprint unit is a whole ratio, not a single machine
The doctrine is blueprint the repeatable unit: design one self-contained N/min block, save it, and tile it. Tiling a proven ratio block beats bespoke wiring every time, and it converts manual repetition into grid-aligned, scalable expansion.
Build the canonical 10 RIP/min chain as four stamps
The archetypal starter chain -- 4 Smelters (120 Iron Ingot/min) -> 3 Constructors (60 Iron Plate/min) + 2 Constructors (30 Iron Rod/min) -> 3 Constructors (120 Screw/min) -> 2 Assemblers (10 RIP/min) -- decomposes into four blueprint tiles that recombine into any iron factory you build for the rest of the game.
Include the infrastructure, not just the machines
The best tiles carry their own foundation, a power pole, the manifold belt, and a Conveyor Wall Hole or lift stub at the edge. A tile that arrives already powered and already belted is worth three tiles that need hand-finishing.
Leave the belt lane inside the blueprint
Community bay practice is one empty foundation lane between bays for belts, splitters, and walkway. Bake that lane into the tile itself so the spacing is automatic instead of remembered.
| Blueprint | Contents | Rate | Why it earns its slot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ingot bank | 4 Smelters + input manifold + output belt | 120 Iron Ore in -> 120 Iron Ingot/min | Every iron chain starts here; also works 1:1 for Copper (30 ore -> 30 ingot per Smelter) |
| Plate cell | 3 Constructors on Iron Plate + manifold | 90 Iron Ingot -> 60 Iron Plate/min | Plates feed RIP, foundations, and nearly every early recipe |
| Rod + Screw cell | 2 Constructors (rods) + 3 Constructors (screws) | 30 Ingot -> 30 Rod -> 120 Screw/min | Screws are the classic bottleneck; a stampable screw block is permanent relief |
| RIP pair | 2 Assemblers + twin-input manifold | 60 Plate + 120 Screw -> 10 RIP/min | First two-input logistics puzzle -- solve it once, stamp it forever |
| Coal power cell | 2 Coal Generators + water manifold + coal manifold | 150 MW off 30 Coal/min + 90 m3 Water/min | Tiles to the 8:3 ratio: 3 Water Extractors (120 m3/min each) feed exactly 8 generators = 600 MW off 120 Coal/min |
| Depot uploader pod | 1 Dimensional Depot Uploader + belt stub + storage | 15 items/min base, 240/min fully researched | One Uploader per item type (single belt input, 1-stack buffer) -- stamp one per staple: Concrete, Iron Plate, Iron Rod, Screws, Wire, Cable |
Factory Organization: Bays, Bus, Manifold, Vertical
Modular bays, fixed size, one product each
Use fixed-size bays (commonly 4x8 or 8x8 foundations), one product line per bay, inputs on one edge and outputs on the opposite edge, with one empty foundation lane between bays for belts, splitters, and a walkway. Predictable geometry is what makes a factory extensible.
Marry the bus to the manifold
Run a wide trunk -- the main bus -- of parallel belts carrying fundamental intermediates (ingots, plates, rods, wire, screws) down a central spine, then split manifold offshoots from it into each bay. The bus does distribution; the manifold does the last 20 m. Oversize the trunk and the power lines for growth you haven't planned yet.
Size the bus to the belt you actually have
You start on Mk.1 (60/min), pick up Mk.2 (120/min) at Tier 2 -- before coal at Tier 3 -- and Mk.3 (270/min) arrives at Tier 4. Plan bus lanes in those units and leave spare empty lanes -- adding a lane later means re-plumbing everything beside it.
Manifold ~90% of the time
Both topologies deliver identical steady-state throughput. The manifold is trivial to build, compact, and trivially expandable; a load balancer only buys instant startup. Feed a manifold a belt that meets total demand and it converges -- the tail machine will start.
Build vertical once floor space bites
Floor space is the scarce resource and sprawl means long belt runs. Conveyor Lifts span roughly 4-48 m each; chain them through Floor/Pipeline Holes to reach effectively any height, and dedicate riser columns so busy belts live in known locations. 1.1's splitter/merger-on-lift attachments plus vertical nudging make stacked builds far cleaner than before.
Start modular, not mega
Consensus is dedicated per-item factories as the default: easy to build incrementally, easy to reorganize one without touching others, gentle on framerate. Megafactories are an advanced, performance-costly choice -- and explicitly not recommended for beginners or low-end hardware.
| Aspect | Manifold | Load balancer |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | One belt runs past all machines; each taps off in sequence via splitters | Splitter tree divides input evenly so every machine gets its exact share instantly |
| Startup | Slow -- nearest machines saturate first, the tail waits | Instant -- every machine runs at full rate from t=0 |
| Steady state | 100% efficient once saturated (input >= total demand) | 100% efficient |
| Build cost | Trivial -- a straight belt + splitters | High -- large splitter/merger trees, lots of space |
| Expandability | Excellent -- extend the belt, drop another machine | Poor -- adding a machine unbalances the whole tree |
| Footprint | Compact | Bulky |
The Customizer: Free Color, Cheap Readability
Unlocks at Tier 2, Milestone 4
The Customizer (X) arrives with Resource Sink Bonus Program, replaces the old Color Gun, and adds a tab to the Build Menu. Basic coloring is free -- there is no reason to defer color-coding your product lines.
20 swatches, and one of them is a trap
There are 20 swatches: 5 Default (instanced -- editing one recolors every building using it), 1 Custom (persistent and consequence-free -- editing it never retroactively recolors anything), and 14 Regular instanced swatches. Known caveat: never set the Custom swatch as a building type's default.
Right-click assigns a default per category
Right-click a swatch to make it the default for Foundations, Walls, Vehicles, and so on -- the five Default swatches are FICSIT Factory, Project Assembly, FICSIT Foundation, Concrete Structure, and Pipeline. Editing uses HSV (Hue 0-359, Saturation 0-1, Value 0-1), direct hex entry, and savable presets.
Hotbar your colors, then Alt+number
Colors, finishes, and materials bind to hotbar slots 0-9, and Alt + number applies a material to all applicable buildings on that hotbar location. Pair that with the Dismantle Filter for bulk repainting one building type across an entire factory.
Finishes are free, materials are cheap and refundable
The five finishes -- Chrome, Copper, Carbon Steel, Caterium, Unpainted -- are bought once from the AWESOME Shop and then free to apply. Materials cost 2 pieces of that material's primary resource, and converting back refunds the prior material (overflow spawns an inventory crate).
Patterns for labeling floors
58 patterns across 6 groups (Arrows 7, Icons 15, Lines 14, Numbers 10, Paths 8, Zones 4). Rules: one pattern per foundation center, they use the foundation swatch's Secondary color, rotate with the mouse wheel before placing, and do not display on glass/frame variants. Corpus caveat: doc 06 lists the apply cost as 1 Color Cartridge (refunded on removal), while doc 11 records Color Cartridges as removed at 1.0 -- verify the current cost in-game before planning around it.
Signs double as lights
Remove the icon and text, set a background color, and raise Emission Strength to 2-3 (range 0-3) and a sign becomes a light fixture. Cheapest readable labeling in the game -- a 2 m Label Sign is 2 Iron Plate + 2 Quartz Crystal.
| Feature | Cost to apply | Scope | Persistence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colors | Free | One color per buildable | Default swatches affect all instances (Custom excepted) |
| Finishes | Free after Shop unlock | One finish per buildable | Independent |
| Patterns | 1 Color Cartridge (refundable) -- see caveat | One per foundation center | Persists on surface |
| Materials | 2 primary-resource pieces (refundable) | Structural pieces only | Persists; swapping refunds prior material |
Update 1.1 Construction Kit (and Version Anchors)
Conveyor Wall Holes killed the fixed conveyor wall
The Conveyor Wall Hole (patch 1.1.0.0, AWESOME Shop) is 2 x 2 x 2 m, costs 2 Iron Rod + 2 Iron Plate + 2 Concrete, and is placeable anywhere on a wall or window -- unlike the legacy Conveyor Walls with fixed x1/x2/x3 belt positions. Pipeline Wall Holes and Pipeline Floor Holes do the same for fluids. Enclose factories without contorting belt routing.
Personnel Elevator: 25 stops, 196 m, and it carries power
A zoop-placed vertical lift with stackable Floor Stops (name, icon, color per floor), max 25 stops and 196 m in a single unit, 8 x 8 m footprint. It draws 20 MW moving / 0.1 MW idle and acts as a power line between stops -- only one stop needs a grid connection. Main elevator: 1 Steel Beam + 1 Silica; each Floor Stop: 2 Modular Frame + 1 Motor + 5 Steel Beam. Unlock: MAM Quartz Research (Silica) and Tier 4 Advanced Steel Production.
Priority Merger replaces overflow balancer trees
The Priority Merger has three priority levels controlling output order, so a primary feed is drained before a secondary without building splitter/merger trees. Pair it with a Smart Splitter set to Overflow routed to the AWESOME Sink -- excess only diverts once the primary line backs up.
Lift attachments, throughput monitor, hypertube junctions
Conveyor Lifts now accept a Splitter/Merger at input, output, or intermediate points; the Conveyor Throughput Monitor reports parts/min after roughly 1 minute of sampling (your bottleneck-finder); Hypertube Junction is a three-way junction with path selection via E, and Hypertube Branch splits a tube into two paths. Pipelines gained Straight and Curved build modes mirroring conveyors.
Version anchor -- and what this corpus does NOT cover
Corpus dates: 1.0 released 2024-09-10; 1.1 Experimental 1.1.0.0 2025-04-01, stable 1.1.1.0 2025-06-10; 1.2 stable 1.2.2.2 on 2026-06-02 (Experimental 1.2.0.0 on 2026-03-17), with all world-collectible counts re-verified unchanged. The three source docs do not document game modes, the 1.2 single-player real pause, or fluid-hauling trucks -- treat those as unverified here and confirm against the 1.2 patch notes rather than assuming.
| Addition | What it does |
|---|---|
| Conveyor / Pipeline Wall Holes | Belts and pipes cross any wall, window, or floor at an arbitrary point |
| Personnel Elevator | 25 floor stops, 196 m single-unit height, 20 MW moving, doubles as a power line |
| Blueprint Auto-Connect | Links conveyors/pipes/rails/vehicle paths within 16 m on placement (toggle R) |
| Priority Merger | Three priority levels controlling output order |
| Conveyor Lift splitter/merger | Splitters and mergers clip on at input, output, or mid-lift |
| Conveyor Throughput Monitor | On-screen parts/min after ~1 minute of sampling |
| Hypertube Junction / Branch | Three-way junction (select path with E); branch splits into two paths |
| Pipeline build modes | Straight and Curved modes, mirroring conveyor build modes |
| Vertical nudge / no distance cap | Page Up / Page Down nudging; maximum nudge distance removed |
| Crash Site dismantling | Tear down a looted crash site for ~6 wreckage pieces of resources |
| New architecture pieces | H-Beam, Shelf Beam, Cross Beam, Round Concrete Beam, Roll-Up Gate, Road Barrier Corner, Basic Shelf Unit, Large Vent, Large Fan |
Scanners, Map & Markers
Object Scanner finds collectibles; Resource Scanner finds nodes
Two different tools. The Object Scanner unlocks at Tier 1 -- Field Research, is built in the Equipment Workshop for 4 Reinforced Iron Plate, 20 Wire, 50 Screws, occupies the Hands slot, and has a 250 m scan radius -- point toward a target and the white-noise hum becomes a beeping that quickens as you close.
A scanner target you haven't researched is a target you will miss
Every scannable type must be unlocked by MAM research first -- the scanner is nearly useless out of the box. Priority order for most players: flora scanning early (cheap heals), then Slug Scanning, then Crash Sites (Radio Signal Scanning, deep in the Quartz chain), then Mercer Sphere and Somersloop analysis.
Resource Scanner is the Build Gun on V
Hold V for the radial dial, pick a resource, and it pings the 3 nearest nodes/patches on compass and map. Range is effectively unlimited (the scan sphere travels ~120 m/s, the visual dissipates around 350 m but the search continues); results persist about 25 s. Coal unlocks at Tier 3 -- that is literally your coal-plant siting tool.
Markers vs Stamps
Markers are fully customizable: name, icon (Home, Vehicle, Water, Warning, Hazard, more), color, size, and compass view distance of Invisible / 500 m / 1 km / 2.5 km / Infinite. Stamps take no customization but drop instantly without opening the map via Alt + Right-Click, and previously placed stamps become visible in-world while holding Alt. Both project a laser beacon when highlighted.
Map and fog of war
The Map unlocks at Tier 1 -- Field Research (M). Fog clears only where you have physically explored above ground or scanned via Radar Towers -- caves do not reveal the surface above them, and the map cannot render factory layouts. Radar Towers also report flora/fauna/resource counts and slug/artifact presence in radius, converting exploration into passive collectible intel.
Standalone Beacons no longer exist
Beacons were removed at 1.0; old saves auto-convert placed Beacons into Map Markers with the hazard icon. If a guide tells you to craft Beacons, it is Early Access material -- use Markers and Stamps.
| Target | Required MAM research |
|---|---|
| Blue / Yellow / Purple Power Slug | Slug Scanning (2nd node of the slug chain) |
| Beryl Nut | Nutrients -- Beryl Nut |
| Paleberry | Nutrients -- Paleberry |
| Bacon Agaric | Nutrients -- Bacon Agaric |
| Crash Sites (Hard Drives) | Radio Signal Scanning (deep in the Quartz chain) |
| Mercer Sphere | Mercer Sphere Analysis |
| Somersloop | Somersloop Analysis |
| Hostile Creatures | Hostile Organism Detection (bottom of the alien-organism chain) |
Every-Walk Collectibles: What Each One Buys
Tamed Lizard Doggos are the only renewable slug source
Power Slugs are fixed in place and do not respawn -- the world total is finite -- with the sole exception of tamed Lizard Doggos, which periodically produce slugs of random color indefinitely. Taming doggos is the closest thing to a slug farm in the game; do it whenever you meet one.
Slug math: 1,242 slugs, 2,650 usable shards
596 Blue (1 shard each), 389 Yellow (2 each), 257 Purple (5 each) = 1,242 slugs / 2,659 raw shards. Nine are eaten by research (1 of each color during Power Slug research = 8 shards, plus 1 shard to unlock Overclocking), leaving a usable non-renewable ceiling of 2,650. Each shard raises a building's max clock by +50%, up to 3 shards = 250%.
Grab flora on the way past
Beryl Nut heals 5 HP, Paleberry 10 HP, Bacon Agaric 20 HP. Only Beryl Nuts and Paleberries regrow (about 3 in-game days) and only if hand-harvested -- chainsawing or running them over destroys the plant. Bacon Agaric and Mycelia never respawn.
Hard Drives are gated by what you can build, not by luck
118 Crash Sites, one Hard Drive each, each trading for one alternate recipe (choose 1 of up to 3 offered, re-rollable later). Pods are free, power-only (most under 100 MW, but 7 exceed 100 MW, up to a 400 MW maximum), or item repair. Carry a mobile power source and a stock of common intermediates on every sweep.
Spheres buy the Dimensional Depot -- the biggest QoL swing in the game
298 Mercer Spheres exist; roughly 98 are consumed completing the full Depot MAM research, leaving about 200 free at 1 sphere per Uploader. Fully researched, the Depot goes from 1 stack to 5 stacks per item and from 15 to 240 items/min per Uploader. Upload the hand-build staples -- Concrete, Iron Plate, Iron Rod, Screws, Wire, Cable -- and stop carrying them forever.
Somersloops: 104 free, spend them late
106 exist; 2 go to MAM (analysis + Augmenter unlock), leaving 104. Output scales linearly with sloops but power scales with the square -- full amplification is 2x output for 4x power. The most power-efficient placement is a single-slot machine (Constructor or Smelter): a free virtual duplicate machine for roughly +12 MW. Never sink Somersloops or Mercer Spheres -- they clog the AWESOME Sink input.
Early loadout for collectible sweeps
Pre-jetpack, carry ~10 foundations and pillars -- most purple slugs and spheres are vertical problems. Zipline (Tier 1) rides your existing power lines. Mid-game upgrades that transform sweeps: Blade Runners (MAM Quartz: 50 Silica + 10 Modular Frames; +50% run, +100% jump, reduced fall damage) and a Gas Mask (1 Gas Filter per 45 s) for the yellow slugs sitting in gas pillars.
| Collectible | World total | What it buys | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Power Slug | 596 | 1 Power Shard each (596 total) | Open ground, stone spires, trees/hills; easiest and earliest |
| Yellow Power Slug | 389 | 2 Power Shards each (778 total) | In and around Gas Pillars -- bring a Gas Mask |
| Purple Power Slug | 257 | 5 Power Shards each (1,285 total) | Cave walls, peaks, ravines -- needs scaffolding or a jetpack |
| Hard Drive (Crash Site) | 118 | 1 alternate recipe each | Free / power-gated (7 pods over 100 MW, 400 MW max) / item-repair |
| Mercer Sphere | 298 | Dimensional Depot research (~98) + 1 per Uploader (~200 left) | Cannot be sunk; guarded spots near uranium, spore flowers, gas pillars |
| Somersloop | 106 | 2x output amplification, or 10 per Alien Power Augmenter | 2 consumed by MAM; 104 free; cannot be sunk |
Common Traps and the Fix
The two that will bite you at coal power
A blown fuse is a full-grid shutdown -- and after a trip the grid must cold-start every machine simultaneously, which can exceed steady-state draw. A grid that 'had enough power' can fail to restart. Build ~20%+ spare capacity from the first coal generator onward.
Water is the coal-plant gotcha, not coal
Eight generators pull 360 m3/min, but a single Pipeline Mk.1 caps at 300 m3/min. Feed the water manifold from both ends or split the main -- otherwise the last generators throughput-starve and you will blame the coal belt.
A dark section means two networks
If one part of the factory is unpowered while the rest runs, you built an accidental split grid. The Power Pole stat graph shows per-grid load -- use it to find the break. Segment deliberately with Power Switches so a fault isolates instead of blacking out everything.
Patience is a manifold feature
The last machine in a 10-Constructor line may idle for minutes while upstream input buffers fill. That is transient, not broken -- once saturated a manifold is indistinguishable from a balancer. Hand-load the buffers or just walk away.
| # | Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hand-crafting everything | Automate the moment a recipe is unlocked; the game is automation |
| 2 | Not overbuilding foundations early / building too small to expand | Leave room and spare belt lanes; factories always grow |
| 3 | Ignoring the screw bottleneck | Rush a Cast Screw / Steel Screw alternate, or overbuild screw constructors |
| 4 | Treating power as 'set once' | Build ~20%+ headroom; a single spike trips the whole grid |
| 5 | Not understanding fuse-trip restart | After a blackout the grid must cold-start every machine at once -- keep margin or batteries |
| 6 | Accidental split grids | If one section is dark you built two networks; check the power-pole graph |
| 7 | Fluid byproducts clogging (HOR, aluminum water/silica) | Give every byproduct a sink or loop before starting the chain |
| 8 | Belting everything across the map | Smelt at the node and haul intermediates by train; belt sprawl wrecks framerate and hits the object limit |
| 9 | Wasting Somersloops on cheap parts | Save the 106 finite sloops for deep endgame parts or Alien Power Augmenters |
| 10 | Assuming an un-saturated manifold is broken | Manifolds self-saturate; pre-load buffers or just wait |
| 11 | Skipping MAM QoL research (Depot upload rate, Power Slug crafting) | These compound over the whole game; grab them early |
| 12 | Chasing a perfect megafactory as a beginner | Start modular/dedicated; megafactories are a late, performance-costly choice |
Your Map — Praxium Session
Measured from your HUB in Grass Fields. These match the pins in your save (category Claude Resource Pins).
| Resource | #1 | #2 |
|---|---|---|
| Iron | Normal ×3 — 56 m | Impure ×2 — 214 m |
| Limestone | Impure — 63 m | Impure — 202 m |
| Copper | Normal — 248 m | Normal — 389 m |
| SAM | Normal — 559 m (cave) | Pure — 962 m |
| Water (wells·T7) | ×7 [6P 1N] — 641 m | ×7 [5P 2I] — 747 m |
| Caterium | Pure — 668 m | Pure — 745 m |
| Coal | Pure — 726 m (island) | Normal ×4 + lake — 915 m ← power site |
| Geyser | Impure ×2 — 964 m | Pure ×2 — 1,466 m |
| Sulfur | Pure — 1,058 m | Impure — 1,094 m |
| Quartz | Normal ×3 — 1,140 m | Normal ×2 — 1,407 m |
| Nitrogen (wells·T8) | ×7 all-Pure — 1,345 m | ×10 all-Pure — 1,865 m |
| Bauxite | Pure — 1,425 m (hostile) | Impure — 1,877 m |
| Uranium | Normal — 1,636 m | Normal — 1,742 m |
| Oil | Normal — 2,260 m W | Impure ×2 — 2,279 m E |
Praxium status — census from SprocketBog (2026-08-05)
| Domain | State |
|---|---|
| Progression | Project Assembly Phase 2 · Tiers 1–4 complete · Tier 5 deep · Tier 6 started |
| Research | 122 MAM nodes · 6 alternate recipes · 9 crash sites cleared, 108 remaining |
| Power fleet | 18 Coal Gens (1,350 MW) · 9 Fuel Gens (2,250 MW cap) · 5 auto biomass · 10 Power Storage |
| Production | 52 Constructors · 20 Smelters · 12 Assemblers · 17 Refineries · 13 Mk.2 Miners · 9 Water Extractors |
| Logistics | Mk.4 belt era (419 segments) · 91 splitters / 89 mergers · 72 Storage Mk.2 · tractor route live |
| Play clock | 192 h in-game (idle-inflated — the Shadow rig never sleeps) |
🔎 Factory Audit — SprocketBog
Machine-level census of your save (2026-08-05): every building's set recipe and clock, spatially clustered into your real factory areas, extractors matched to their nodes, cross-checked against recipe math. This is what your factory actually does — and where it leaks.
Your eight areas
| Area | What it is | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| HQ Complex | HUB + Sink/Shop, 36 storage · Iron Ingot 360, Rod 300, Screw 480, Steel Ingot 270, Steel Beam 67.5, EIB ×12 asm, Concrete 45, Biofuel 450 | ⚠ EIB farm starved (see F2/F3) |
| Iron Annex (S) | 4× Impure iron miners → 240 ingot, 180 rod/min | ✅ clean satellite |
| Copper Works (E) | Normal node @100% → 120 ingot: Wire 120, Cable 30, Sheet 20 | ✅ tight balance (100/120 ingot used) |
| Coal Power Campus | 18 Coal Gens + 9 Water Extractors = 1,350 MW | ✅ ratio-perfect (810 need / 1,080 supply) |
| Coal Mines | 3 of 4 Normal nodes @250% = 900 coal/min + odd biofuel outpost | ✅ feeds power + steel with margin |
| Coal Island (Pure) | 1 miner @200% = 480/min → storage | ✅ turbofuel/compacted reserve |
| Oil West | Normal pump @250% = 300 m³ · Plastic 40, Rubber 40, Smokeless 20, Turbofuel (manual), burn-off gen · Packaged Fuel (moot) | ✅ smart-splittered + burn-off; one deletion pending |
| Oil NW (2× Pure) | 2 Pure pumps @125% (300+300 m³) → 2×5 Fuel refineries → 2 rails × 4 Gens @250% = 5,000 MW | ✅ textbook-balanced (F1 retracted) |
Findings, ranked
F1 · RETRACTED — NW plant is textbook-balanced at 5,000 MW
Pipe-graph trace (v2.0.1) found the third pump: two Pure pumps @125% (300 m³ each, both at Mk.1 pipe cap) feed two independent 5-refinery rails (60→40 each) → two 200-fuel rails → 4 gens @250% per rail (50 m³ apiece = exactly 200). Zero slack, zero waste. The Normal pump @250% separately feeds the plastic/rubber factory, whose lone fuel generator is a burn-off — the "🔥 burn it" relief mechanism, field-built. Original finding was a clustering artifact: pumps were matched by distance, not by walking pipes.
F2 · AMENDED — plate infrastructure exists; recipe-flip workflow
Splitter-rule trace confirms the HQ subfloor system: smelter/constructor bank → lift shaft → smart splitter (IronPlate→container · IronRod→container · overflow→sink), rod-gated screw farm (2 splitters × 6 constructors = the 480/min), paired plate+screw / rod+screw containers, mirrored at the annex. Plates simply weren't the active recipe at snapshot time. Standing recommendation stays: the Mk.2 re-plan (away 1-1-1 ≈ 100 plates + 150 rods + 480 screws · hub 1-2-1 ≈ 160 plates + 480 rods + steel at the coal drop) makes every Phase-2 feed permanent — no more recipe flipping.
F3 · The EIB farm is 5× overbuilt vs its feeds
12 assemblers = 180 EIB/min capacity, fed by 67.5 steel beam (needs 288) and 45 concrete (needs 240). That's the hand-feed pattern you described — it works, but 4 assemblers @94% would match your real feed exactly. Better: automate concrete first — a Pure limestone node sits 255 m from the Iron Annex (pinned).
F4 · Depot uploaders — array green-lit (rules verified)
Concurrent uploads work; upload speed is per-uploader (each independently runs the researched rate: 15→30→60→120→240/min tiers). One item type per uploader (single input, one-stack buffer). The only shared limit is the cloud cap per item (1 stack → 5 via Mercer research) — a full item just pauses its own uploader. Build the array: Concrete, Iron Plate, Iron Rod, Steel Beam, Steel Pipe, Wire, Cable, Screws, EIB. Tap each uploader off a main line with a splitter — dead-ending a belt into an uploader stalls the line when the cloud cap fills.
F5 · CORRECTED — the coal truck route is real and running
Two Truck Stations found (Pure coal island mine ↔ HQ east), tractor coal-fueled and mid-route at trace time. Island coal (480/min mined) hauls to HQ and feeds the steel foundries — clean separation from the Coal Mines cluster that feeds the power campus locally. Rail spine remains the future answer for the 2.5 km oil legs and west-side expansion, not a correction of anything.
F9 · RESOLVED — grid fully integrated (user-confirmed)
HQ + coal campus + coal island + iron annex + oil production + fuel plants all on one grid via the power-tower line; biomass-fueled node stations retired. ~6.9 GW deliverable behind a single fuse. The remaining circuit IDs are switch/sub-circuit partitions, which is healthy doctrine.
F6 · Confirmed moot: the Packaged Fuel refinery
Census agrees with you — it fed the turbofuel bootstrap and nothing consumes it now. Delete freely. The Packaged Turbofuel line (jetpack/vehicle supply) is worth keeping as-is, manually run.
F7 · Surplus ledger (your hidden budget)
Spare right now: ~180 rods/min, ~360 screws/min, ~400 iron ore/min unsmelted, 60 wire/min, ~600 coal/min. This is exactly the budget the Phase 2 plan below spends.
F8 · Sinks: present and placed well
Sinks at HQ and both oil sites — the NW one matters most (Polymer Resin byproduct would stall the fuel refineries without it). Guard doctrine already in practice. ✅
The Phase 2 build plan — spend the surplus
| New line | Machines | Feeds from | Output |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iron Plates | 2 Smelter + 3 Constructor @100% | spare ore (90/min of ~400) | 60 plates/min |
| Reinforced Iron Plate | 2 Assembler @100% | plates 60 + spare screws 120 | 10 RIP/min |
| Rotors | 1 Assembler @100% | spare rods 20 + spare screws 100 | 4 rotor/min |
| Smart Plating | 2 Assembler @100% | RIP 2 + rotor 2 | 2/min → 1,000 in ~8.3 h |
| Modular Frames | 2 Assembler @100% | RIP 3 + spare rods 24 | 4 MF/min |
| Versatile Framework | 3 Assembler @83% | MF 2.5 + steel beam 30 (of 67.5) | 5/min → 1,000 in ~3.3 h |
| Stators + Cable top-up | 1 Constr (steel pipe) + 1 Asm + 1 Constr (cable) | steel ingot spare + wire surplus | feeds AW |
| Automated Wiring | 1 Assembler @100% | stator 2.5 + cable 50 | 2.5/min → 100 in 40 min |
Infrastructure & next nodes
🚂 Rail spine (T6) — first-train primer
Route: HQ → Coal Campus → Sulfur Pure (1,204 m from NW) → Coal Pure (1,027 m from NW) → Oil NW. Build order: foundations → track → snap stations onto the track (same path-first workflow you liked for tractors). Stations are directional (arrow = entry), need a grid connection (the rails then power the train), freight platforms attach in-line behind the station. One train on one line needs zero signals — two-station shuttle timetable, load at mine / unload at plant. One freight car = 32 slots (3,200 coal) — a full car covers ~24 min of max turbofuel burn, so cadence is a non-issue.
🔥 Turbofuel conversion, sized (per 200-fuel rail)
Take one NW rail's 200 fuel/min + 133 Compacted Coal/min (= 6 Assemblers @89%, eating 133 coal + 133 sulfur/min — one Pure node each covers it) → 9 Turbofuel refineries @99% → 167 turbo/min → 22 gens @100% (or your 8 existing @250% + 1). Yield: 5,556 MW vs 2,500 direct-burn — ×2.22 from the same crude. Convert both rails: 11.1 GW. The binding local step is compaction, not delivery. Bioreactor black-start bank: fine to delete now the grid is unified — just keep the 10 Power Storage charged and generation on Priority Group 1 as trip insurance.
⛏ Node queue, in order
1) Pure Oil NW #2 (312 m from plant — F1 fix). 2) Pure Limestone (255 m from Iron Annex — concrete). 3) Sulfur Pure @1,058 m — Compacted Coal automation turns your turbofuel from manual novelty into gen fuel (7.5 m³/min/gen: your 15/min turbo could run 2 gens at 250% forever). 4) Caterium Pure ×2 for quickwire → AI Limiters (Phase 3's Adaptive Control Units want them).
🗺 Marker changelog (rounds 6–7)
Round 6: your 3 hand markers converted to proper icons (2× Crude Oil → icon 202, Water POI → 852; one typo fixed: "Foind"→"Found"); 12 Claude Area Pins added — but a template-clone bug typed them as unlabeled stamps. Round 7 (ActuatorSwale): all 12 repaired to labeled markers; NW oils relabeled by purity + usage (2 pumped plant intakes + 1 unmined spare); coal ×3 + sulfur ×1 pinned near the oil plants for the turbofuel build; W-half collectible sweep — 29 Somersloops, 80 Mercer Spheres as 58 cluster pins, 14 cave entrances (already-collected excluded). 153/250 marker slots used.
⚡ Power ledger (corrected v2.0.1)
Nameplate ≈ real: ~6.9 GW deliverable (1,350 coal + 5,000 NW fully fed + ~540 misc) · current draw well under 1 GW. Verdict upgraded: your generation is over-provisioned in the best way — confirm the grids are bridged (F9) and then power is a solved problem until nuclear.
Alternates & Architecture
The 16-recipe portfolio as built (S4, 2026-08-15), why each pick beat what it was rolled against, and the factory doctrines they compose into. Rates are per machine @100% from the corrected canonical reference (doc-05 v1.1.0). Strategy layer + community reasoning: docs/23-alt-recipes-strategy.md.
The portfolio
| Recipe | Machine | In → Out (/min @100%) | Why on this save |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copper Alloy Ingot | Foundry | 50 Cu ore + 50 Fe ore → 100 Cu ingot | Iron surplus subsidizes copper; carries the Phase-4 copper wall (Nuclear Pasta ≈ 120k ingots) |
| Fused Wire | Assembler | 12 Cu + 3 Cat ingot → 90 wire | 3× wire at a 20% caterium ante — wire stays copper-cheap forever |
| Fused Quickwire | Assembler | 7.5 Cat + 37.5 Cu ingot → 90 QW | 2.4× QW per caterium ore — one Pure node feeds the T8 electronics wall (AIL 100, HSC 210 QW/min per machine) |
| Stitched Iron Plate | Assembler | 18.75 plate + 37.5 wire → 5.625 RIP | RIP without screws — closed the screwless lineage |
| Coated Iron Plate | Assembler | 37.5 ingot + 7.5 plastic → 75 plate | 0.5 ingot/plate (vs 1.5); a plastic trickle feeds a whole plate campus |
| Pure Iron Ingot | Refinery | 35 ore + 20 water → 65 ingot | Water-into-iron — the rebuild-era iron recipe, sited at iron+water confluences |
| Solid Steel Ingot | Foundry | 40 Fe ingot + 40 coal → 60 steel | +33%/foundry and eats ingots — Pure Iron multiplies straight through it |
| Molded Steel Pipe | Foundry | 50 steel + 30 concrete → 50 pipe | Pipes feed frames/rotors/EIB — the steel campus currency |
| Steeled Frame | Assembler | 2 RIP + 10 pipe → 3 MF | Rodless, screwless frames from the pipe bus |
| Heavy Encased Frame | Manufacturer | 7.5 MF + 9.375 EIB + 33.75 pipe + 20.625 concrete → 2.8125 HMF | Deletes 240 screws/min per machine; the community's most-agreed pick (97.7) |
| Steel Rotor | Assembler | 10 pipe + 30 wire → 5 rotor | Same input types as default Stator — whole motor factory = two belts |
| Wet Concrete | Refinery | 120 limestone + 100 water → 80 concrete | Halves limestone/concrete; feeds HEF + EIB + Molded Pipe pressure |
| Sloppy Alumina | Refinery | 200 bauxite + 200 water → 240 alumina | +20% alumina/bauxite, zero silica byproduct — the S4 jackpot roll |
| Pure Aluminum Ingot | Smelter | 60 scrap → 30 ingot | Deletes the 75 silica/min input — smelt at the bauxite node |
| Insulated Crystal Oscillator | Manufacturer | 18.75 quartz crystal + 13.125 rubber + 1.875 AIL → 1.875 CO | Cheap oscillators cascade: Crystal Computers, Rigor Motors, RCUs, Uranium Fuel Units |
| Recycled Plastic | Refinery | 30 rubber + 30 fuel → 60 plastic | Half the famous loop; Recycled Rubber still fishable to close it |
also drive-funded Compacted Coal research · Turbofuel research · 2× (+6 inventory slots)
Architecture — what the portfolio composes into
🔩 Screwless lineage (complete)
Plate+wire → Stitched RIP → +pipe → Steeled Frame → +EIB+concrete → Heavy Encased Frame, with Steel Rotor+default Stator making motors from pipe+wire. Automated screw demand on this save: zero. Rod demand: hand-crafts only. The steel factory consolidation arrives via pipes, not rods — fewer conversion steps than the Rod/Screw school.
🏭 Steel campus
Solid Steel (ingot-fed, +33%) + Molded Pipe + Wet Concrete on-site → frames, EIB, HMF from one hub. Only imports: iron plates, wire, concrete feedstock. Iron-side alternates multiply through the ingot input.
⚗️ Silica-free aluminum (⅔ built)
Sloppy Alumina + Pure Aluminum: per 240 bauxite/min — 1.2 Sloppy refineries → 1.2 scrap refineries (+144 coal) → 7.2 smelters → 216 ingots/min. Scrap stage emits 120 water/360 scrap: recycle into Sloppy intake (priority junction), top up ~96/min fresh. Electrode Scrap (coal→coke, 1.667/alumina) completes the trifecta — still in the pool.
🥇 Caterium economy
Reserve doctrine, engineered: Fused Wire keeps wire copper-cheap, Fused Quickwire stretches one Pure node to ~960 QW/min. Spend QW only where nothing else works: AI Limiters, HSCs, supercomputers. Known traps skipped: Quickwire Stator (1.5 vs 1.0 ingot/stator), Caterium Wire (4× the caterium of Fused Wire per wire).
🏗️ Iron rebuild pair
Pure Iron anchors ingots at water+iron sites; Coated Iron Plate turns them into plates at 3× machine density for a 7.5/min plastic trickle. Doctrine: move the cheap ingredient (plastic) the long way, plates the short way — site the plate campus near the plastic factory.
⛽ Oil ladder position
Current: fuel gens ~5 GW. Next rung (owned tech): convert NW rails to turbofuel — 200 fuel/rail → ~9 TF refineries → 167 TF → ~22 gens = 5.55 GW/rail (11.1 GW total) for 267 CC/min (coal 267 + sulfur 267). Diluted Fuel (CSD-wave fish) then upgrades upstream: same plant → 20+ GW. Ladder: 8.3 → 33 → 74 → 240 MW/crude.
🥉 Phase-4 copper wall
Nuclear Pasta = 100 Copper Powder + 0.5 PCC — no uranium. 100 Pasta ≈ 20,000 powder ≈ ~120,000 copper ingots. CAI turns the iron surplus into that copper. Plan a copper campus into the rebuild; uranium only matters if nuclear power is chosen.
🎣 CSD-wave fish list
Buy T7 Control System Development only when holding 5–8 drives, then fish: Diluted Fuel › Electrode Scrap › Plastic AI Limiter › Rigor Motor › Recycled Rubber › HOR alt › Silicon CB › Crystal Computer › Insulated Cable. T8 windows: Heat Exchanger, OC/Super-State Computer. T9: Dark Matter Trap.
Decision log — how the portfolio was picked
📜 S2 board (2026-08-08, 8 drives)
Steel Rotor over Molded Steel Pipe's C-tier rival · Molded Steel Pipe over Molded Beam (feeds rotors+frames+stators) · +6 Slots over Fused Quartz · Fused Wire over Heavy Flexible Frame · Recycled Plastic over Pure Caterium · Steeled Frame over Coke Steel · Heavy Encased Frame over Steel Screw (the screwless turn: HMF demand had no line yet, screws already farmed) · Copper Alloy over Insulated Cable. Doctrine set: bank everything, reroll while banked, unchosen recipes return to the pool.
🎰 S4 board (2026-08-15, 7 drives + the scum arc)
Opening pairs held 2 keepers (Fused Quickwire over Caterium Wire — caterium-ore economics; ICO over Plastic Smart Plating — deeper cascade, PSP re-fishable). Four dead pairs rerolled while everything stayed banked (max pool exclusion): drew Silicon CB + Coated Iron Plate (double hit), Wet Concrete, Pure Iron, Solid Steel. Drive #15's reroll ran the community save-scum lever (reroll outcomes re-randomize per load; scan pairs don't): 9 cycles, 5 take-worthy draws — Sloppy Alumina jackpot on cycle 9 (~the predicted 1-in-9). CIP beat Silicon CB on timing: the iron rebuild is now, the sink farm is T8 — and the loser stays in the pool.
meta Scan → bank → reroll (weakest last) → claim last. Prereqs gate pool appearance; unclaimed losers return on claim; only unlocks remove recipes permanently. 118 drives vs ~111 uses — never hoard, time bursts to eligibility waves.
🏭 Factory Designer
The designer has graduated to a dedicated full-page tool — too good to live in a tab. It solves whole multi-product factories: drag machine groups, extractors, generators, supplies, AWESOME Sinks and output targets onto an infinite pan/zoom canvas; wire ports; and the demand solver sizes everything — feedback loops exactly, byproducts honestly, supply caps binding each network independently. Somersloop amplification, shard math, sink points, undo, named blueprints and JSON import/export included.
FICSIT Factory Designer
Open guides/factory-designer.html — it sits right next to this manual.
Blueprints autosave in your browser; export JSON to move them between machines.
Calculators
Overclock power cost
Producer power ×1.00 (clock^1.321928)
Shards needed 0
Coal plant sizer
Coal 120/min
Water 360 m³/min → Extractors 3
Node → belt planner
Belt needed Mk.1