generic content update #1 (aka Introduction to factories)

Bullet point summary

• added 55 new recipes, bringing the total from 67 to 122 recipes

• added the factory building system which introduces a fully enclosed, sealed factory detection.

• added the airlock module and environmental interface

• added factory-specific environmental conditions that mirror the planet (temperature, pressure, atmosphere and gravity)

• added 5 new processable materials: aluminum, lead, silicon, zinc and alu-zinc.

• added a complete industrial manufacturing chain with molds, foundations, sheets and specialized industrial parts

• added several new manufacturing machines, including the molder, caster, and stamper mk1

• added a large number of new industrial components required for factory construction

• refactored environmental, factory and placement systems to support enclosed structures and future factory gameplay

• laid the groundwork for future factory hazards and specialized environments

Today sees a significant content update. Let's compare!

Before

before today you were relying on one single path of making tin items:

• gather ores with a miner,

• process ores with a crusher,

• melt powder into ingots,

• from there make a few dozen different items, raging from plates to more specific things such as tubes, connectors and hinges.

Now

Now, we have an extra branch to make more industrial parts.

Ores are still gathered with the Miner and processed by the Crusher, but from there a second production path opens up... there are 2 molds to make: foundation and sheet, with a molder. Next, we put the two together to make foundations and sheets with the caster.

We can then further process the result of this into a stamper mk1, which is a bigger version of the stamper tool and process the resulting items further into specialized items in the manufactory. Oh, and it's not just tin that you're able to process from now on: aluminum, zinc, lead and silicon are among those that you're able to process, opening up some new possibilities.

It doesn't stop there: the resulting specialized items can be used to make factories to protect the tools and machines from the elements. To build a factory, start with a foundation, then place a floor on top. Further place a wall frame, add insulation, attach the inner and outer sheets until fully wrapped.

You might wanna make sure that you don't forget the airlock part of it, which works the same way. Then: put in a ceiling frame and top it off with a factory roof in the same way a wall was placed: roof frame, add insulation, attach the inner and outer sheets.

Now you've got yourself a nice little enclosure that's safe from the planetary environment.

Caution! Due to infrastructural limitations, you may only be able to place six connected floors at a time. This doesn't stop you from placing multiple detached floors, however.

Later

Factories are only the beginning. The current update introduces the building and a basic factory environment, but future updates will bring some diversity, and an added layer of difficulty.

Environmental conditions inside factories will start to change depending on the tools that have been placed inside them. Heat from furnaces and other heat generating tools, airborne particles from crushers and stampers, and other hazards will soon accumulate, making a basic factory not the fit-for-all it has been made out to be.

With these changes, you should now be able to make nice contained factories all across your planet. Just remember to check the time.

Stay plexum!