Beginner’s Guide#
Welcome, Engineer#
You’ve just crash-landed on an alien planet. Your wreck holds only the barest tools: a pistol, some fuel, and a mining drill. Don’t worry — from here you will build an industrial empire spanning continents
The First 30 Minutes#
Manual Mining#
Hold the left mouse button to mine iron ore, copper ore, coal, and stone near you. Open your inventory to see which tools you can hand-craft
Basic Automation#
Belt Basics#
Belts are the lifeblood of the factory. Use transport belts and inserters to move ore from drills to furnaces, and plates onward to the next stage.
Steam Power#
Hand crafting hits a wall fast. Build steam engines and boilers — one boiler drives up to two steam engines. Use an offshore pump to draw water from a lake.
Automating Science#
Your first research goal: automating production of automation science packs (the red ones). Use assemblers to make gears and plates, combine them into red packs, and feed a research lab.
Early Bus Design#
What Is a Bus#
A bus is a design pattern that carries key materials (iron plates, copper plates, steel, green circuits, and more) along a main thoroughfare. Production lines draw materials from the side of the bus, and finished goods exit at the end or the other side
Early on, lay 4 belts: iron plates, copper plates, steel, green circuits. Leave 2-3 tiles between them for later inserter access
The 4-Belt Starter Bus#
Early on, lay 4 belts: iron plates, copper plates, steel, green circuits. Leave 2-3 tiles between them for later inserter access
As demand grows, expand the bus to 8 or more belts. Common expansions: advanced circuits, processing units, batteries, plastic, stone/bricks, sulfur, engine units, and more
Bus Expansion#
As demand grows, expand the bus to 8 or more belts. Common expansions: advanced circuits, processing units, batteries, plastic, stone/bricks, sulfur, engine units, and more
Practical Tips#
Hotkeys#
- E — inventory
- Q — clear hand / pick up item
- F — pick up items off the ground
- R — rotate entities
- Shift+left click — fast-transfer items between buildings
- Alt — show extra info (recipes, chest contents, etc.)
Don’t Fear Expanding#
Many beginners cram everything around the starting patches. The better strategy: expand outward and belt distant resources back. Space is infinite
Solve One Problem at a Time#
When power runs short, fix power first. When materials run short, trace the shortage to its source. When enemies attack, build defense first. Don’t tackle everything at once
Intermediate Tips#
Splitters and Belts#
Splitters split items proportionally. Use them to distribute raw materials across multiple lines and keep them balanced
Underground Belts#
Underground belts can cross up to 4-5 belts. Use them to route across the bus without breaking it
Balancers#
Balancers even out output across all input belts. Use 4-4 and 8-8 balancer designs to equalize multi-line loads
Early Power Management#
When the factory grinds to a halt, check power first. Shortages slow drills, which deepens the shortage
Steam Setup#
One boiler feeding two steam engines is the standard configuration. Use small pumps and pipes to guarantee water supply
Power Layout#
A medium power pole covers roughly a 7x7 area. Place them symmetrically along both sides of your belts so they don’t block production
Avoiding Power Shortages#
When the factory grinds to a halt, check power first. Shortages slow drills, which deepens the shortage
Research Navigation#
Essential Early Tech#
- Automation — unlocks assemblers
- Logistics — unlocks belt upgrades
- Steel processing — unlocks steel
- Electronics — unlocks circuits
- Engines — the road to blue science
Tech Tree Branches#
- Military — defense upgrades
- Production — efficiency upgrades
- Chemical — oil processing
- Logistics — robot logistics
Common Mistakes#
- Hand-crafting too many items
- Ignoring defense until biters level the base
- Leaving no expansion room, forcing a full factory rebuild
- Mixing many items on one machine
- Not setting up looping science production
- Not zoning production areas
- Overusing chests as buffers
FAQ#
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What should I do first? | Hand-mine → build burner drills → build furnaces → set up steam power → start automating red science |
| How do I fix power shortages? | Check water supply first (1 boiler : 2 steam engines). Add coal supply or switch to solar |
| How do I split belts? | Use splitters to divide one belt into several. Use balancers to equalize multi-line loads |
| When do I start trains? | When the nearest ore patch is over 500 tiles from the base, or you need to haul distant resources back |
Hotkey Quick Reference#
| Hotkey | Function |
|---|---|
| Q | Pick up item / clear hand |
| F | Pick up items off the ground |
| R | Rotate entities |
| Shift + left click | Fast-transfer items |
| Ctrl + C | Copy/paste building layouts |
| P | Production statistics |
| O | Electric network statistics |
| Tab | Toggle weapon/tool |
Early Roadmap#
| Stage | Goal | Key buildings |
|---|---|---|
| Step 1 | Hand-gather resources | Drills, furnaces |
| Step 2 | Steam power | Boilers, steam engines, offshore pump |
| Step 3 | Red science automation | Assembler 1, lab |
| Step 4 | Green science + bus | Assembler 1, belts |
| Step 5 | Defense + oil | Turrets, refinery |
| Step 6 | Blue science + robots | Chemical plants, roboport |
Game Tips#
- Don’t fear wasting resources — ore is infinite (there’s always more farther out). Tearing down and rebuilding is normal
- Leave space — when building the factory, leave 3-5 more tiles than you think you need. You will need them
- Automate everything — if you’ve hand-crafted something more than 3 times, it deserves automation
- Spread out — don’t cram everything together. Scattered builds are easier to expand
- Defend early — build defenses before biters level your base. Retrofitting is too late
FAQ 2#
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Most important early tech? | Automation (unlocks assemblers), Logistics (unlocks belt upgrades), steel processing, oil processing |
| Handling the first biter attack? | Ring the base with 4-6 gun turrets + stone walls. Feed ammo by hand until you automate it |
| What is “spaghetti”? | A factory layout of chaotic belts crisscrossing everywhere. Unavoidable early, but plan neatly later |
Troubleshooting Guide#
| Symptom | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Factory stalls | Power shortage | Add generation |
| Belts run dry | Raw material shortage | Check drills and smelting |
| Products pile up | Downstream consumption too low | Add downstream capacity or expand |
| Biter attacks | Pollution reached nests | Strengthen defense or clear nests |
| One line not working | Wrong item type | Check recipes and filters |
Speedrun-Style Opening#
Many newcomers sink into “too much hand crafting, too little automation”. Here’s a repeatable opening rhythm that carries you steadily toward the rocket.
Phase Breakdown#
| Phase | Goal | Time reference |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | Automate red science production | About 30 minutes |
| Phase 2 | Automate green science, establish the basic bus | About 1-2 hours |
| Phase 3 | Unlock oil processing, build plastic and advanced circuit lines | About 2-4 hours |
| Phase 4 | Complete blue science, enter mid-late expansion | About 4-8 hours |
| Phase 5 | Build rocket part production, meet the win condition | About 8-12 hours |
Key Milestones#
- Get red packs automated ASAP — hand-crafting gears kills momentum; the very first job after landing is the drill-furnace-assembler trio.
- One bus lane each for copper and iron — the opening bus doesn’t need to be greedy; two lanes carry you to the oil age.
- Keep green science on pace — the moment red tech unlocks belts and inserters, build the green pack line, or research sits idle.
- Oil is the first real gate — stockpile iron plates, stone, and advanced circuits so the refinery area can go down the moment oil tech unlocks.
- Expand mining early — don’t wait for a vein to dry up; when a mine’s output drops to 70%, plan the next one.
Beginner Mistakes, Summarized#
| Mistake | The right way |
|---|---|
| Hand-feeding assemblers | Build stable supply with inserters and belts so assemblers never stop |
| Mixing many items on one belt | Give each key material its own belt; cross with undergrounds when needed |
| Using regular poles as your whole power grid | Medium poles suit small builds only — plan substations for the late game |
| Giving up defense at the sight of biters | A few gun turrets plus walls is enough early — prioritize clearing nests at the pollution edge |
| Stopping production once research completes | Research is just a consumer — keep lines running and build more assemblers |
| Building only one train line | Single lines choke mid-game; plan a rail loop with branch space |
| Stuffing every product into one bus | Iron and copper can share, but advanced circuits, processing units, and plastic deserve their own lanes |
| Ignoring logistic robot tech | Late-game material hauling by robots dramatically reduces belt spaghetti |
Further Reading Suggestions#
- When building your second mining site, pre-place a train stop — it saves demolition later.
- Blueprints are worth learning early: Ctrl+C to copy a structure, walk to open ground, Ctrl+V to paste — grid alignment slashes placement time.
- Keep Alt mode on as a beginner: recipe overlays make it easy to read what’s flowing on every belt.