Quick Start Guide

This article covers the very first steps of progression, explaining how resource extraction and machines work, and how to build a small starter factory. New players are also encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Interface article.

Manual Resource Collection

This section explains how to manually gather the resources required for early progression.

Finding Your Way

During the early game, you will need to collect several resources manually.

To avoid getting lost, use the map by pressing M. If you do lose your way, press Escape and select Teleport to Home. This will instantly return you to the Spawner on your starting platform.

Collecting Copper Ore

First, collect at least 50 units of copper ore.

Both Malachite and Chalcopyrite can be used, as they contain copper. These resources can be found in several forms:

• Resource clusters, visible on the map and on the compass
• Surface deposits directly in the terrain

Malachite surface deposits are green, while Chalcopyrite deposits are reddish-orange.

Both clusters and deposits can be mined using the Multitool. However:

• Ore clusters never deplete when mined manually
• Surface deposits are depleted when you dig them up

Collecting Fuel

Next, collect 30 units of any fuel.

The best fuel options at the start of the game are:

• Logs — obtained by cutting down trees
• Coal — mined from clusters or surface deposits, similar to ores

Returning to Base

After collecting the required resources, return to your base manually or by using Teleport to Home.

You are now ready to begin building your first machines.

Smelting Copper

This section explains how to smelt copper and produce your first metal plates.

Preparing Stone

At the start of the game, you have access to 99 units of stone, which is sufficient for early progression.

If you need more stone, you can:

• Mine stone rocks scattered across the world
• Dig underground until you reach the stone layer

Note that the Building Material recipe requires white stone. Red or dark stone variants cannot be used for this recipe.

Crafting the Furnace and Smelter

Return to your base and open the Inventory by pressing E. In the Catalog, select the Unlocked tab.

In the Stone category, craft the following machines by clicking on them with the Left Mouse Button:

• Stone Furnace
• Stone Smelter

Crafting progress is displayed in the lower-left corner of the screen. By clicking on an item currently being crafted, you can cancel its production.

Placing the Furnace

Select the Stone Furnace in your Inventory and close the Inventory.

You will see a placement preview of the furnace. To rotate the preview, press R.

Choose a location on your platform and place the furnace using the Left Mouse Button. If you are not satisfied with the placement, you can always remove the machine using the Multitool.

Notice the red circle on top of the furnace — this is its heat output.

Connecting the Smelter

Working Furnace & Smelter

Next, select the Stone Smelter in your Inventory and place it directly on top of the furnace. This connects the heat output of the furnace to the heat input of the smelter.

The furnace will now supply heat, allowing the smelter to operate.

Machine Inputs and Outputs

Tip: All machines have inputs and outputs.

• Inputs are usually displayed with a solid outline
• Outputs are usually displayed with a dashed outline

However, heat, kinetic, and electrical outputs are always shown with a solid outline. The machine tooltip clearly indicates which resources the machine accepts and which it outputs.

Smelting Copper

Finally, open the Stone Smelter using the Right Mouse Button and place the mined copper ore inside it. Place Fuel into the Stone Furnace.

If everything is set up correctly:

• The furnace will light up with a fire animation
• Molten metal will flow inside the smelter
• The smelter recipe progress bar will begin to fill

Once the progress bar is complete, you will receive the final product — a Copper Plate.

Researching new machines

Before we look at the research tree, we need to do some preparation. You will need 16 copper plate, so pick that up from the smelter.

Create one of each of the following : Stone furnace; Copper Sterling Engine; Copper Compact Generator; Copper Computer. We are going to assemble these items to create Research Points so that we can unlock new machines.

Put down the Furnace. On top, put down the Engine (connecting the red circles). The engine has a dotted Yellow circle, as it coverts heat into motion (i.e. Kinetic energy). Connect the yellow side of the Generator to the engine. This has a dotted Blue circle, as it converts Kinetic energy into Electricity. Finally connect the Computer.

Now fuel the new furnace, and we're ready to do some Research.

Press J to access your research tree. We are going to unlock Automatic Mining, but it's locked behind two other technologies. So first, research Basic Machines by clicking on it, then clicking on Start Research. Once that's complete, unlock Automation and then Automatic Mining. If the research progress stops, you've probably run out of fuel.

Mining

Now we don't want to keep going out and manually mining ore - it's time to automate that. Build the following : Three Copper Hand Generator; A Copper Drilling Rig; and a Stone Chest.

Next we want to find a place to drill for Chalcopyrite. Press M to open your Map. If the ore names are not shown, use the Options button, and select Ore Names. Find the nearest Chalcopyrite Ore to your home and walk over there.

Select the Drilling Rig from your inventory, but don't put it down just yet. Check the text at the top of the screen to make sure that you are over the Chalcopyrite deposit. Next, select your Basic Platform blocks and build a 6x6 platform. You can Drag to build an area or a line of blocks. You could build directly on the ground, but it's easier to keep things tidy on platforms. If there's any dirt on top of the platform, the multitool can remove it. Now place your drilling rig, checking that it's going to mine the correct ore.

On the back of the rig, there are 3 Kinetic inputs. Attach your hand generators to these (match the circles using R to rotate) and once placed, use Left Clicks to wind them up.

On the other side of the rig, there's a square output port. Put your Chest right in front of it, touching the rig. Now the rig will happy mine ore for you while you are away doing other things.

Next Steps (Homework)

Here's some ideas that you might want to do to move forward.

• Feed and Empty your copper smelter. Use a Chest and a Robot Arm to feed ore into the smelter and take out copper plates. Use Conveyors to move items from place to place.
• Replace the drilling rig hand generators with sterling engines. You'll need a fuel source (An Atmospheric Condenser to feed water into an Automatic Farm to feed wood into a Furnace)
• Make copper more efficient. Middle Mouse click on some Chalcopyrite ore. To the right is a series of machines that prosses the ore into different forms. Multiple plates can be made from a single ore.
• Build one of every Copper object. Understand what they do, and how they might fit into production lines. Middle Clicking on a machine will tell you how it's made and what it can do.
• Move from Copper into Steel. As you move up the resource tree, your machines will become faster, but need more energy.

Closing

We hope you find this guide useful. If you have any comments or suggestions, please feel free to put them into the Talk page, and we'll review them. Also, if you have any questions, we have a Discord channel here : General Discord Channel