FIELD GUIDE / FACTORY PLANNING
Build and improve
your factory.
Begin with one working route. Expand when you know which part of that route is limiting useful output.
QUICK ANSWER
A stone line needs two material paths: dust through a Pressure Chamber to make sand, and untreated dust straight to the Stone Press. Start with a small line, confirm its output reaches the base, then add capacity at the stage that is actually holding it back.
Your first factory: make one line work
Begin processing when you have a steady way to bring dust to a fixed point and can power the machines. A hand-fed test is enough to learn the route; a large robot fleet is not a prerequisite.
- Prove the delivery route first. Send a small amount of dust into the base’s receiving port. Check payment before adding processing.
- Place one chamber and one press. Leave space to see each port and to extend the line. Connect the chamber’s sand output to the press’s sand input.
- Keep a second dust path. Connect untreated dust to the press’s other material input. Sending everything into the chamber leaves the press short of dust.
- Supply power and clear the exit. Watch a complete processing cycle, then follow the stone through to its destination.
- Add the next machine after the test. If the press keeps working and sand is available, a second press is a useful next comparison. Check that the dust branch and power can support it.
Patch 1.0.5 makes adjusting a small test line easier: moving buildings is free and removal refunds the full price. Inspect belt connections after every move.
Keep the raw-dust branch
Sand branchCollected dust → Pressure Chamber → sand input of the Stone Press.
Raw-dust branchCollected dust → dust input of the Stone Press.
Finished stoneStone Press → base receiving port. Check that the sale completes.
A routing sketch, not a placement blueprint. Check the actual ports and available belt connections in your game.
Do not judge the whole factory by whether one machine looks busy. A press can pause because one ingredient is missing, its output is blocked, or power is unavailable. Follow the material to the first persistent queue or empty input.
Already built? Find the limiting stage
Observe the line after its initial stockpiles settle. A full buffer can briefly hide a shortage. Compare the same operating conditions before and after changing one part.
| What you see | Check next | What more machines would miss |
|---|---|---|
| Every input keeps running empty | Dust collection and delivery | Unused processing capacity cannot create feedstock. |
| Dust is present, sand keeps running out | Chamber output and sand distribution | Another press increases sand demand. |
| Sand piles up, a press waits for dust | The untreated-dust branch | More sand does not supply the other ingredient. |
| Finished stone backs up | Outgoing route and base intake | More production feeds the same blocked exit. |
| Ingredients are present, work stops at night | Generation, charge and stored energy | Extra machines add electrical demand. |
For a full Catcher, also check the JOONAS delivery groups. For a Garage that will not unload, read its failure message before moving the whole factory.
Use ratios as a starting point
The comparison uses a chamber consuming up to 5 kg of dust per 12-second cycle. It uses a press consuming 1 kg of dust and 1 kg of sand to produce 2 kg of stone per six-second cycle. Treat these as reference settings and check them against your current machine menus.
If dust converts to equal-weight sand, one chamber can theoretically supply two fully supplied presses, with some sand capacity left over. Two chambers can theoretically supply five presses. Both arrangements still need untreated dust, enough power, and a clear output.
A third press on one chamber is not automatically useless: it can raise the ideal stone ceiling from 40 to 50 kg/min. It cannot make all three run continuously at their full listed speed under the same sand assumption.
These are reference limits, not promised factory output. Sand yield is an assumption in the comparison below. Belt speed, batch timing, power interruptions and stockpiles can change what your line actually delivers.
Would the next change help?
You can use the guide without a calculation. If you have measured the flow of your line, compare a single change here. Use kilograms per minute for material rates, rather than capsule counts.
OPTIONAL / A CONDITIONAL COMPARISON
Compare your next move
A hypothetical example is loaded. Replace these values with your own observations.
In this hypothetical example, one more press raises the ideal stone ceiling to 50 kg/min. The change needs enough power and does not guarantee actual throughput.
Ideal, continuously supplied operation only. This comparison assumes a workable split and the entered sand yield. It does not simulate belts, battery runtime or low-power machine speed. Doubling exit capacity is a scenario to compare, not a promise that one extra belt achieves it.
Guide assumptions
Check your current machine menus and observe a complete delivery route. Read the model assumptions before using a factory estimate.