FIELD GUIDE / MATERIAL HANDLING
Put your Packager to work
Give hand-collected dust a clear route from your tool to a belt, then to the place where you want it used.
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A Packager accepts collected material and puts capsules onto an outgoing conveyor. Connect its output before unloading. For a sale, the route must continue into the base’s receiving port and credit your balance.
Packager and Auto-Packer do different jobs
The placed Packager is a handoff between manual collection and a conveyor. It does not sweep the Moon or turn dust into sand. You still collect material, return to the machine and use its unload interaction.
| Item | Its job | What still needs doing |
|---|---|---|
| Packager building | Accepts a collected load and feeds an outgoing route. | Connect the belt to a useful destination. |
| Auto-Packer upgrade | Packs a capsule when your carried container fills while cleaning. | Move that capsule onward; packing alone does not complete a sale. |
Build one short working route
- Place the Packager with room for its output. Start near a destination so you can watch the whole test.
- Connect a conveyor from the output port. Follow the belt’s direction toward the base receiving port, or toward the next machine’s correct input.
- Collect a small load. Use an amount you can easily follow rather than emptying a large stockpile.
- Unload at the Packager. Read the on-screen interaction prompt for your controls. Confirm that material actually leaves your tool.
- Follow a capsule to the end. For a selling route, check that the base accepts it and your money increases before extending the line.
Find the first stage that stops
- The tool still holds the load: check the unload prompt and your interaction with the Packager before changing the conveyor.
- Material enters, but nothing comes out: inspect the output connection and the space immediately after it. A blocked destination can stop the route upstream.
- A capsule stops partway: inspect that connection and the next segment’s direction. Work forward from the first stopped capsule.
- The capsule reaches the base without a visible payment: check the actual receiving port and your balance using the auto-selling test.
On large bases, a packing error can also be version related. Patch 1.0.5 fixed packing failures affecting the Auto-Packer and machines. Update before treating an old packing error as proof that your route is wrong.
Send dust where you need it
For a simple selling route, keep the path to the base direct. For stone production, send some dust to a Pressure Chamber and preserve a separate raw-dust route to the Stone Press. The press needs both dust and sand; sending all dust through a chamber leaves one ingredient missing.
After moving a machine, inspect its connections again. Patch 1.0.5 allows free building moves and full removal refunds, but a belt follows a moved port only where it can reach.
Guide assumptions
Check your current machine menus and observe a complete delivery route. Read the model assumptions before using a factory estimate.