Dyson Sphere Program — Practical Progression Guide

A practical route from your first factory to Mission Completed

I made this guide while learning DSP because I kept losing the thread between one successful build and the next. It's meant to stay open while you're playing, not be read once from top to bottom and memorized.

The rhythm that worked for me is:

check the guide → play for a while → come back when you need your bearings → find the next useful action → return to the game

The default route is:

Bootstrap → Blue → Red → Flight → Titanium → Yellow → ILS → Purple → Green → Dyson → Photon → White → Mission Completed → Logistics

Cube names used in this guide

DSP gives every cube a formal name, but in the middle of a build you mostly need to recognize the color. This guide therefore uses the color as the normal name:

blue cube (Electromagnetic Matrix) · red cube (Energy Matrix) · yellow cube (Structure Matrix) · purple cube (Information Matrix) · green cube (Gravity Matrix) · white cube (Universe Matrix)

When a formal Matrix name appears later, it's because the guide is naming the technology you click in the tech tree. Manufactured items, rates, stockpiles, and recipes are referred to by cube color.

Warp, a permanent pre-photon Dyson Sphere, broad PLS deployment, Gas Giant Exploitation, interstellar power transmission, advanced mining, and Dark Fog industry are optional paths. They're real options, but this guide doesn't make them mandatory. Take one when it solves a problem you can already name.

How to use this guide without constantly rereading it

Build-ratio assumptions

The build cards use standard recipes, no rare-resource substitutions, and no proliferation. They assume Assembling Machine Mk.I at 0.75× speed and baseline-speed Smelters, Chemical Plants, Oil Refineries, Matrix Labs, and Miniature Particle Colliders.

Upgrading assemblers changes how many machines you need, but not how many ingredients the recipes consume.

Card presentation: Every manufactured output that benefits from a repeatable line appears in the collapsed card index; travel loadouts, route configuration, and other non-production requirements remain in the phase text. The phase text tells you what matters; opening a card reveals one checked construction method. The cards stay closed until you ask for the answer.

Card grammar: Read every card in the same order. Input names the resources, components, power, or prepared hardware entering the card's scope, together with their required rates or quantities. Pipeline contains only the intermediate machines, conversions, routing, or configuration needed to connect those inputs to the endpoint. Output identifies the final building or completed deliverable and the rate or batch named by the card. Surplus Yield appears only for a real net byproduct at the stated output. Minimal pickup interval appears instead on buffer-oriented cards and reports how long the stated pickup quantity takes to become available. Operating note appears only when a rate assumption, spare capacity, storage limit, route alternative, or measurement caveat would otherwise be easy to misread.

Strategy, phase timing, research order, and explanations of why a build matters stay in the surrounding phase text. A checklist or configuration card follows the same grammar without inventing a production rate that the game doesn't support.

Ratio provenance: Production recipes and recipe times were checked against the supplied runtime-derived canonical dataset. Rates describe steady operation at the advertised output unless a bullet explicitly says “full-load”.

That's the whole pattern: find your place → take the detail you need → go back to the game.

Jump to the phase you're in. Use the phase strip on the right. If you're unsure, use the Quick Progress Index below.
Read YOU ARE HERE first. It reminds you what you just solved, what matters now, and what comes next.
Scan the phase dashboard. Your useful rate, next research, likely trouble spot, and move-on condition are all there.
Use the collapsed build cards only when you want the how. Every required phase output is listed; open one card, several, or none.
Read the rest only when you need the why. You shouldn't have to reread a chapter just to recover one number.

And when you do come back:

You aren't expected to remember where every table or ratio lives. Leave the guide open, disappear into the game for a while, and come back when you can no longer remember why half the belts exist.

Quick Progress Index

Quick jump: BOOT · BLUE · RED · FLIGHT · TI · YELLOW · ILS · PURPLE · WARP · GREEN · DYSON · SPHERE · PHOTON · WHITE · LOGISTICS

Stage	Search tag	What you're aiming for
0	[BOOTSTRAP]	The factory builds the factory
1	[BLUE]	Keep blue cubes flowing
2	[RED]	Keep red cubes flowing and stabilize oil
3	[FLIGHT]	Drive Engine Lv2 and safe planetary escape
4	[TITANIUM]	A serious off-world titanium supply
5	[YELLOW]	Make 200 yellow cubes and unlock ILS
6	[ILS]	Automated interplanetary titanium and silicon
7	[PURPLE]	Keep purple cubes flowing and unlock both paths to green
8	[WARP]	Optional targeted pre-green scouting
9	[GREEN]	Keep green cubes flowing and unlock cheap Space Warpers
10	[DYSON]	Default swarm route to ≥1.655 GW Dyson generation
11	[SPHERE]	Optional slower permanent route to the photon-power target
12	[PHOTON]	Critical Photons and Antimatter
13	[WHITE]	Keep white cubes flowing and finish Mission Completed
14	[LOGISTICS]	Automate the stations and carriers that make postgame expansion repeatable

Quick reference — Cube production targets

These are useful targets for keeping the run moving, not commandments for how every factory must be built.

Cube color	Minimum when first established	Comfortable in its own phase	Later target
Blue	20/min	40/min	~60+/min before the long green/endgame run of research
Red	10/min	20/min	~60+/min before the long green/endgame run of research
Yellow	7.5/min	15/min for the ILS bootstrap	~60+/min once later research is waiting on yellow
Purple	12/min	24/min	~40/min before sustained white-cube production
Green	10/min	20/min	scale toward ~40/min for a comfortable endgame pace

Don't build the endgame factory during the blue phase. Expand the older cube line that research is visibly waiting on.

0. [BOOTSTRAP] — Stop Handcrafting the Factory

Phase dashboard

At a glance	What matters now
Main goal	Automate basic mining, smelting, components, belts, sorters, and factory buildings
Useful cube target	Start around 20 blue/min once the line is running
Research next	Electromagnetism → Automatic Metallurgy → Basic Assembling → Basic Logistics System → Electromagnetic Matrix tech (unlocks blue cubes)
Keep an eye on	Power headroom and repeated handcrafting
Move on when	Adding ordinary factory machinery no longer sends you back to handcrafting

Goal

Your first job is to stop being the factory. Reach the point where the machines, rather than Icarus, produce the materials needed to expand.

The bootstrap is complete when adding a miner, smelter, assembler, belt line, or sorter no longer sends you back to the replicator for another round of handcrafting.

Research first

Electromagnetism
Automatic Metallurgy
Basic Assembling
Basic Logistics System
Electromagnetic Matrix — unlocks blue cubes

The early tech tree is full of useful distractions. Ignore most of them for now and unlock the machinery that stops you doing the same jobs by hand.

Quick reference — How much is enough

There's no useful megabase target yet, and no prize for pretending there's.

Build enough iron, copper, Magnetic Coil, and Circuit Board capacity that every new machine doesn't immediately rob cube production.

For blue cubes, begin at 20/min and move toward 40/min only when the basic factory can feed it cleanly.

Quick reference — Required builds

The card titles cover every required output in this phase. Open one when you want the numbers; leave it closed when you'd rather solve the production chain yourself.

Starter Ingots — 60 Iron/min + 60 Copper/minMANDATEDBUFFERED

Input

1 Mining Machine — Iron Ore — supply 60 Iron Ore/min.
1 Mining Machine — Copper Ore — supply 60 Copper Ore/min.

Pipeline

1 Arc Smelter — Iron Ingots → 60 Iron Ingots/min.
1 Arc Smelter — Copper Ingots → 60 Copper Ingots/min.

Output

1 Storage Mk.I — Iron Ingots — receives 60/min; an unrestricted 3,000-item box fills in 50 minutes.
1 Storage Mk.I — Copper Ingots — receives 60/min; an unrestricted 3,000-item box fills in 50 minutes.

Minimal pickup interval

200 Iron Ingots accumulate in 3 minutes 20 seconds.
200 Copper Ingots accumulate in 3 minutes 20 seconds.

Basic components — 90 Magnetic Coils/min + 90 Circuit Boards/minMANDATEDBUFFERED

Input

1 six-vein Mining Machine — Iron Ore — the line draws 180 Iron Ore/min.
1 six-vein Mining Machine — Copper Ore — the line draws 90 Copper Ore/min.

Pipeline

3 Arc Smelters — Magnets → 120 Magnets/min capacity.
1-slot Storage Mk.I â€” Magnets â€” limit to 200 Magnets.
2 Arc Smelters — Iron Ingots → 120 Iron Ingots/min capacity.
2 Arc Smelters — Copper Ingots → 120 Copper Ingots/min capacity.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Magnetic Coils → 90 Magnetic Coils/min.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Circuit Boards → 90 Circuit Boards/min.

Output

1 Storage Mk.I — Magnetic Coils — receives 90/min; an unrestricted 6,000-item box fills in 1 hour 6 minutes 40 seconds.
1 Storage Mk.I — Circuit Boards — receives 90/min; an unrestricted 6,000-item box fills in 1 hour 6 minutes 40 seconds.

Minimal pickup interval

The 200-Magnet buffer fills from the line’s 30 Magnets/min spare capacity in 6 minutes 40 seconds.
200 Magnetic Coils accumulate in 2 minutes 13 seconds.
200 Circuit Boards accumulate in 2 minutes 13 seconds.

Operating note

Place the Magnet storage inline before the Coil assembler. Set Limit for Automation Input to one slot, let the box reach 200 Magnets, then connect its output sorter. The 30/min capacity margin refills what you pick up while the Coil line keeps running.

Starter mall — Belts, Sorters, production buildings & FoundationsMANDATEDBUFFERED MALL

Input

6 six-vein Mining Machines — Iron Ore — collectively cover the 1,020 Iron Ore/min full-load draw; split them across three Mk.I belts.
1 six-vein Mining Machine — Copper Ore — supplies the 142.5 Copper Ore/min draw.
2 six-vein Mining Machines — Stone — collectively cover 225 Stone/min, including the independent Glass buffer.

Pipeline

16 Arc Smelters — Iron Ingots → 960/min.
2 Arc Smelters — Magnets → 80/min capacity.
3 Arc Smelters — Copper Ingots → 180/min capacity.
3 Arc Smelters — Stone Bricks → 180/min capacity.
3 Arc Smelters — Steel → 60/min capacity.
1 Arc Smelter — Glass → 30/min.
6 Mk.I Assemblers — Gears → 270/min capacity.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Magnetic Coils → 90/min capacity.
3 Mk.I Assemblers — Circuit Boards → 270/min capacity.
1-slot Storage Mk.I — Gears — limit to 200 items.
1-slot Storage Mk.I — Magnetic Coils — limit to 200 items.
1-slot Storage Mk.I — Circuit Boards — limit to 200 items.
1-slot Storage Mk.I — Glass — limit to 100 items.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Conveyor Belt Mk.I → 135/min.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Sorter Mk.I → 45/min.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Mining Machine → 15/min.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Arc Smelter → 15/min.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Assembling Machine Mk.I → 22.5/min.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Foundation → 45/min.

Output

Storage Mk.I — Conveyor Belt Mk.I — limit to 600; satisfied in 4 minutes 27 seconds.
Storage Mk.I — Sorter Mk.I — limit to 400; satisfied in 8 minutes 53 seconds.
Storage Mk.I — Mining Machines — limit to 50; satisfied in 3 minutes 20 seconds.
Storage Mk.I — Arc Smelters — limit to 50; satisfied in 3 minutes 20 seconds.
Storage Mk.I — Assembling Machine Mk.I — limit to 50; satisfied in 2 minutes 13 seconds.
Storage Mk.I — Foundation — limit to 200; satisfied in 4 minutes 27 seconds.

Minimal pickup interval

The Gears buffer reaches its pickup reserve from spare capacity in approximately 13 minutes 20 seconds.
The Magnetic Coil buffer reaches its pickup reserve in approximately 6 minutes 40 seconds.
The Circuit Board buffer reaches its pickup reserve in approximately 4 minutes 27 seconds.
The Glass buffer reaches its pickup reserve in approximately 3 minutes 20 seconds.

Operating note

For each intermediate buffer, set Limit for Automation Input to one slot and place the box inline before its consumers. Let the reserve fill before connecting the outgoing sorter. Output boxes use the stated limits; raising a limit increases stock, not production rate.
This block is sized for all six output assemblers to run together until their limits are satisfied. Once the boxes fill, the shared intermediates become ordinary mall pickup stock.

Watch for

Power headroom. Add generation before sustained demand reaches the grid ceiling; don’t wait for a brownout cascade. The starter grid should absorb the blue Labs and the coming Oil Extractors and Refineries without repeated intervention.

Overbuilding the starter layout. Most early long-distance belts have an expiration date, whether they know it or not.

The right bootstrap factory is the one that keeps you moving, not the one you'd preserve for fifty hours.

Ready to move on when

Iron and copper arrive continuously.
Basic smelting runs without manual feeding.
Magnetic Coils and Circuit Boards are automated.
Belts and sorters are readily available.
Adding ordinary factory machinery no longer requires repeated handcrafting.
Power has enough headroom for Matrix Labs and the coming oil setup.

Go to [BLUE].

1. [BLUE] — Get Blue Cubes Running

Phase dashboard

At a glance	What matters now
Main goal	Keep blue cubes and research labs running without hand-feeding
Good target	20 blue cubes/min minimum, 40/min comfortable
Research next	High-Efficiency Plasma Control → Plasma Extract Refining → Energy Matrix tech (unlocks red cubes)
Keep an eye on	Don't overbuild blue while oil and mobility are still missing
Move on when	Blue is continuous and your grid has room for the oil setup

Goal

Blue cubes should become background noise—in the good sense. Keep them running so research no longer waits for you to remember the recipe.

Research first

To open the next cube tier:

High-Efficiency Plasma Control
Plasma Extract Refining
Energy Matrix — unlocks red cubes

Take Steel Smelting and Thermal Power before the oil setup and first off-world outpost turn into a last-minute materials hunt.

Quick reference — How much is enough

Minimum: 20 blue/min
Comfortable: 40 blue/min
Later: ~60+/min when the long run of purple, green, and photon research starts waiting on blue

Quick reference — Required builds

The card titles cover every required output in this phase. Open one when you want the numbers; leave it closed when you'd rather solve the production chain yourself.

Blue cubes — 40/min + component reservesMANDATEDKEEP

Input

1 six-vein Mining Machine — Iron Ore — the full line draws 180 Iron Ore/min.
1 six-vein Mining Machine — Copper Ore — the full line draws 90 Copper Ore/min.

Pipeline

3 Arc Smelters — Magnets → 90 Magnets/min used, with 120/min installed capacity.
2 Arc Smelters — Iron Ingots → 90 Iron Ingots/min used, with 120/min installed capacity.
2 Arc Smelters — Copper Ingots → 90 Copper Ingots/min used, with 120/min installed capacity.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Magnetic Coils → 90/min.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Circuit Boards → 90/min.

Output

2 Matrix Labs — blue cubes → 40 blue cubes/min.
1 Storage Mk.I each — Magnetic Coils and Circuit Boards — collect unused component output.

Surplus Yield

50 Magnetic Coils/min and 50 Circuit Boards/min remain after the Labs consume 40/min of each.
Each unrestricted 6,000-item component box fills from empty in 2 hours while blue science runs continuously.

Operating note

Use the two storage boxes as the destination for spare component capacity. Scale Matrix Labs first; thicken the component line only when the boxes stop recovering between research bursts.

Watch for

Don't make blue your first giant factory district. The next important transition is:

red cubes → Drive Engine Lv2 → leave the starter planet

A beautiful oversized blue complex does nothing for you if oil and mobility are still missing.

Ready to move on when

Blue cubes are produced continuously.
Research labs run without hand-feeding.
Blue-cube output is at least 20/min.
Power has room for oil extraction and refining.
Basic factory components no longer consume every iron/copper batch.

Go to [RED].

2. [RED] — Build the Oil Economy and Keep Red Cubes Flowing

Phase dashboard

At a glance	What matters now
Main goal	Keep both refinery outputs moving and produce red cubes continuously
Good target	10 red/min minimum, 20/min comfortable
Research next	Mecha Core Lv2 + Drive Engine Lv2, while lining up the listed PLS/ILS requirements
Keep an eye on	Hydrogen or Refined Oil filling up and stopping the refinery line
Move on when	Red is stable, flight is ready, and the important pre-ILS research is queued or done

Goal

Oil is the first part of the game where a line can stop because you've got too much of something. Keep red cubes running, keep both refinery outputs moving, and line up the research for flight and the later ILS rush.

Research first

Get ready to fly

Mecha Core Lv1
Mecha Core Lv2
Drive Engine Lv1
Drive Engine Lv2

Research the ILS requirements early while the needed techs still use red cubes

Research or visibly queue:

Titanium Smelting
Magnetic Particle Trap
Processor
High-Efficiency Logistics System
Thruster
Vertical Construction Lv1
Planetary Logistics System
Reinforced Thruster

The tech tree makes one dependency especially easy to miss:

To research PLS, you also need Thruster and Vertical Construction Lv1. Queue them now rather than discovering the gap after the titanium trip.

Later, ILS also needs High-Strength Titanium Alloy and Reinforced Thruster.

Quick reference — How much is enough

Minimum: 10 red/min
Comfortable: 20 red/min
Later: ~60+/min when the long run toward green and the endgame starts waiting on red

Quick reference — Required builds

The card titles cover every required output in this phase. Open one when you want the numbers; leave it closed when you'd rather solve the production chain yourself.

Red cubes — 20/min with balanced refinery outputsMANDATEDKEEP

Input

1 six-vein Mining Machine — Coal — the line draws 80 Coal/min from its nominal 180/min base-speed capacity.
1 Oil Extractor on a seep displaying at least 2.0 Crude Oil/s — comfortably exceeds the required 1.33/s or 80/min draw.

Pipeline

2 Arc Smelters — Energetic Graphite → 40 Energetic Graphite/min at stated output, with 60/min installed capacity.
3 Oil Refineries — Plasma Refining → collectively produce 40 Hydrogen/min at the stated cube rate.
3 Oil Refineries — Plasma Refining → 80 Refined Oil/min at the stated cube rate.

Output

2 Matrix Labs — red cubes → 20 red cubes/min.

Surplus Yield

80 Refined Oil/min.

Operating note

One 10,000-unit Storage Tank fills with Refined Oil in 2 hours 5 minutes. Chain another tank before that interval expires until Plastic and Organic Crystal production can consume the oil; a full oil outlet blocks Hydrogen and stops red science.

Watch for

The classic refinery failure isn't lack of crude oil. It's one output filling up and silently stopping the other.

Don't panic-burn or discard Hydrogen; later phases will ask for absurd amounts of it. Early on, however, a finite buffer is still better than letting a full tank stop research.

Ready to move on when

Red cubes are produced continuously.
Red-cube output is at least 10/min.
Neither Hydrogen nor Refined Oil can permanently jam the refinery line.
Drive Engine Lv2 and Mecha Core Lv2 are reachable or complete.
The technologies needed before ILS are researched or visibly queued.

Go to [FLIGHT].

3. [FLIGHT] — Drive Engine Lv2 and Planetary Escape

Phase dashboard

At a glance	What matters now
Main goal	Reach the titanium planet safely and leave behind useful mining and smelting
Good target	No cube-rate target here; bring enough fuel, power, and buildings to avoid a token trip
Research next	Drive Engine Lv2 → Titanium Smelting → finish PLS requirements → Magnetic Particle Trap → Processor → Reinforced Thruster
Keep an eye on	Fuel margin, destination power, and remote defense on Dark Fog runs
Move on when	You can mine and preferably smelt titanium off-world without improvising the whole outpost by hand

Goal

This isn't a sightseeing trip. Leave the starter planet safely and come back with the ability to exploit off-world titanium.

The starter planet has no normal Titanium Ore veins. Silicon can be bootstrapped inefficiently from Stone, but Titanium has no ordinary synthetic fallback.

To reach yellow cubes, you eventually have to leave the starter planet.

Research first

Drive Engine Lv2
Titanium Smelting
Finish the research needed for PLS:
- High-Efficiency Logistics System
- Thruster
- Vertical Construction Lv1
- Planetary Logistics System
Magnetic Particle Trap
Processor
Reinforced Thruster

Drive Engine Lv2 also needs Drive Engine Lv1 and Mecha Core Lv2.

Quick reference — How much is enough

There's no cube target here. The target is a trip that changes what your factory can do.

Before launch, carry enough fuel and core-energy margin to survive a bad approach, plus enough construction material to leave a real outpost behind. A token miner and a promise to come back don't count.

Watch for

Persistent remote outposts on Dark Fog runs

An unattended mining world can acquire an unpleasant new neighbor while you're away.

Before leaving a persistent outpost behind, make the choice explicitly:

provide minimum autonomous local defense; or
accept that you may need to return and clear a new base later.

Don't configure early defenses to attack orbital or Relay targets unless escalation is deliberate.

Ready to move on when

Drive Engine Lv2 is researched.
Titanium Smelting is researched.
PLS is researched or immediately researchable.
Magnetic Particle Trap and Processor are researched or queued.
Reinforced Thruster is researched or queued.
Fuel and core-energy margin are comfortable.
The titanium destination and its power plan are understood.

Go to [TITANIUM].

4. [TITANIUM] — Your First Off-World Industrial Expedition

Phase dashboard

At a glance	What matters now
Main goal	Establish remote titanium mining and smelt it before transport
Good target	First haul: 810–860 Titanium Ingots; remote source: 60/min minimum, 120/min comfortable
Research next	Only what's needed for the Structure Matrix tech (yellow cube unlock) → High-Strength Titanium Alloy → ILS
Keep an eye on	Don't spend scarce first titanium on a broad PLS rollout
Move on when	You've built a serious titanium stockpile and direct silicon is available or planned

Goal

Make the first trip count. Return with enough titanium to break through the yellow/ILS transition instead of commuting between planets with pocketfuls of ore.

Research first

This is a poor moment to wander into interesting side research.

Finish only the research you need for:

Structure Matrix tech (yellow cube unlock)
High-Strength Titanium Alloy
Interstellar Logistics System

Quick reference — How much is enough

First serious haul

Aim for 810–860 Titanium Ingots.

That's a practical target for:

the 200 yellow cubes used by the ILS rush;
two initial ILS towers;
roughly 5–10 Logistics Vessels.

The hard technical minimum for the 200-yellow research batch, two ILS towers, and one vessel is about 770 Titanium Ingots.

Persistent remote smelting

Minimum: ~60 Titanium Ingots/min
Comfortable starter source: ~120/min
Later: expand only when the home ILS is emptying the source faster than you can refill it

Quick reference — Required builds

The card titles cover every required output in this phase. Open one when you want the numbers; leave it closed when you'd rather solve the production chain yourself.

Remote Titanium Ingots — 120/minMANDATEDKEEP

Input

2 six-vein Mining Machines — Titanium Ore — collectively supply the required 240 Titanium Ore/min. One miner covering eight veins can replace them when the patch geometry permits.

Pipeline

4 Arc Smelters — Titanium Ingots → 120 Titanium Ingots/min.

Output

1 Storage Mk.I — Titanium Ingots — receives 120/min; an unrestricted 3,000-item box fills in 25 minutes.

Minimal pickup interval

860 Titanium Ingots accumulate in 7 minutes 10 seconds after the line starts.

Operating note

At base Mining Speed, each covered vein contributes 30 Ore/min. Six veins therefore produce 180/min, not 240/min; a Mk.I belt can carry twelve such veins. Two ordinary six-vein miners provide comfortable coverage, while one eight-vein placement feeds the four-smelter block exactly.

High-Purity Silicon — 120/minMANDATED OR PLANNEDBUFFERED

Input

2 six-vein Mining Machines — Silicon Ore — collectively supply the required 240 Silicon Ore/min. One eight-vein placement is an exact alternative.

Pipeline

4 Arc Smelters — High-Purity Silicon → 120 High-Purity Silicon/min.

Output

2 stacked Storage Mk.I — High-Purity Silicon — hold 6,000 items and fill in 50 minutes.

Operating note

The later 24-Processor/min science demand requires 192 Silicon Ore/min. The four-smelter block is sized to 240/min so it also supports the Processor reserve built in PURPLE.

Watch for

PLS is tempting, but your first titanium has a more important job: ending manual interplanetary hauling.

Before ILS, PLS can tidy local transport, but it can't move titanium between planets. Build only the units that will become your first ILS pair unless the local belts are genuinely costing more time than another titanium trip.

Ready to move on when

Remote Titanium Ore extraction is operating.
Titanium is smelted at source.
The first serious return haul is large enough for the ILS rush.
Direct Silicon Ore mining is established or planned.
A persistent outpost has a power plan and, where relevant, a defense plan.

Go to [YELLOW].

5. [YELLOW] — Make 200 Yellow Cubes and Break the Hauling Loop

Phase dashboard

At a glance	What matters now
Main goal	Produce 200 yellow cubes and have the first ILS hardware ready when research finishes
Good target	7.5 yellow/min minimum, 15/min comfortable for the ILS rush
Research next	Chemical branch → Structure Matrix tech (yellow cube unlock) → High-Strength Titanium Alloy → confirm PLS + Reinforced Thruster → ILS
Keep an eye on	The oil-heavy Organic Crystal chain and missing ILS prerequisites
Move on when	80 yellow has gone to Titanium Alloy, 120 to ILS, and the first station pair is ready to build

Goal

This is one of the cleanest bargains in the run: produce 200 yellow cubes, spend them on the two technologies that matter, and retire yourself from interplanetary freight duty.

Default allocation:

80 yellow → High-Strength Titanium Alloy
120 yellow → Interstellar Logistics System

Make 200 yellow, spend it, and move on. The game will give you plenty of reasons to build more later.

Research first

If the chemical branch is incomplete:

Basic Chemical Engineering
Polymer Chemical Engineering
High-Strength Crystal
Structure Matrix — unlocks yellow cubes
High-Strength Titanium Alloy
Confirm the PLS required research
Confirm Reinforced Thruster
Interstellar Logistics System

ILS requires:

Planetary Logistics System
High-Strength Titanium Alloy
Reinforced Thruster, an easy-to-miss requirement

Quick reference — How much is enough

For the ILS rush:

Minimum: 7.5 yellow/min — 200 yellow cubes in about 26m40s
Comfortable: 15/min — 200 yellow cubes in about 13m20s
Later: don't build your final yellow setup yet; ILS and PLS are about to change how you move materials around the planet

Quick reference — Required builds

The card titles cover every required output in this phase. Open one when you want the numbers; leave it closed when you'd rather solve the production chain yourself.

Yellow cubes — 15/minMANDATEDKEEP CUBE LINE

Input

1 six-vein Mining Machine — Coal — the line draws 90 Coal/min.
1 six-vein Mining Machine — Titanium Ore, or the equivalent imported supply — the line draws 90 Titanium Ore/min.
1 Oil Extractor on a seep displaying at least 2.0 Crude Oil/s — comfortably exceeds the required 1.25/s or 75/min draw.
1 Water Pump — supply 15 Water/min.

Pipeline

2 Arc Smelters — Energetic Graphite → 45/min used, with 60/min installed capacity.
3 Oil Refineries — Plasma Refining → 75 Refined Oil/min.
3 Oil Refineries — Plasma Refining → 37.5 Hydrogen/min.
2 Chemical Plants — Plastic → 30 Plastic/min.
2 Chemical Plants — Organic Crystals → 15 Organic Crystals/min.
2 Arc Smelters — Titanium Ingots → 45 Titanium Ingots/min.
2 Mk.I Assemblers — Titanium Crystals → 15 Titanium Crystals/min.
1 Arc Smelter — Diamonds → 15 Diamonds/min.

Output

2 Matrix Labs — yellow cubes → 15 yellow cubes/min.

Surplus Yield

37.5 Hydrogen/min.

Operating note

Hydrogen is a coupled refinery output. Route it to storage or a consuming line before the outlet fills; blocked Hydrogen stops Refined Oil, which stops Plastic, Organic Crystals, and yellow science.

Steel — 20/minMANDATEDILS SUPPORT

Input

1 six-vein Mining Machine — Iron Ore — the line draws 60 Iron Ore/min.

Pipeline

1 Arc Smelter — Iron Ingots → 60/min.
1 Arc Smelter — Steel → 20/min.

Output

1 Storage Mk.I — Steel — receives 20/min; the required 80 Steel take 4 minutes and a full 3,000-item box takes 2 hours 30 minutes.

Titanium Alloy — 10/minMANDATEDILS SUPPORT

Input

1 Mining Machine — Titanium Ore — supply 20 Titanium Ore/min.
1 Mining Machine — Iron Ore — supply 30 Iron Ore/min.
1 Mining Machine — Stone — supply 40 Stone/min.
1 Oil Extractor on a seep displaying at least 1.0 Crude Oil/s — the line draws 30/min.
1 Water Pump — supply 20 Water/min.

Pipeline

1 Arc Smelter — Titanium Ingots → 10/min.
1 Arc Smelter — Iron Ingots → 30/min.
1 Arc Smelter — Steel → 10/min.
2 Oil Refineries — Plasma Refining → 30 Refined Oil/min.
2 Oil Refineries — Plasma Refining → 15 Hydrogen/min.
1 Chemical Plant — Sulfuric Acid → 20/min.
1 Arc Smelter — Titanium Alloy → 10/min at stated output.

Output

1 Storage Mk.I — Titanium Alloy — receives 10/min; the required 180 Alloy take 18 minutes and a full 3,000-item box takes 5 hours.

Surplus Yield

15 Hydrogen/min.

Processors — 20/minMANDATEDILS SUPPORT

Input

1 Mining Machine — Iron Ore — supply 40 Iron Ore/min.
1 Mining Machine — Copper Ore — supply 60 Copper Ore/min.
1 six-vein Mining Machine — Silicon Ore — the line draws 160 Silicon Ore/min.

Pipeline

1 Arc Smelter — Iron Ingots → 40/min.
1 Arc Smelter — Copper Ingots → 60/min.
3 Arc Smelters — High-Purity Silicon → 80/min used, 90/min capacity.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Circuit Boards → 40/min.
2 Mk.I Assemblers — Microcrystalline Components → 40/min.
1-slot Storage Mk.I â€” Microcrystalline Components â€” limit to one item slot.
2 Mk.I Assemblers — Processors → 20/min at stated output, with 30/min installed capacity.

Output

1 Storage Mk.I — Processors — receives 20/min; the required 130 Processors take 6 minutes 30 seconds and a full 6,000-item box takes 5 hours.

Operating note

Limit the Microcrystalline Component buffer to one 200-item slot so the component remains available for pickup without turning the support line into a warehouse.

Electromagnetic Turbines — 20/minMANDATEDILS SUPPORT

Input

2 six-vein Mining Machines — Iron Ore — collectively cover the 200 Iron Ore/min draw.
1 Mining Machine — Copper Ore — supply 40 Copper Ore/min.

Pipeline

2 Arc Smelters — Iron Ingots → 120/min.
2 Arc Smelters — Magnets → 80/min.
1 Arc Smelter — Copper Ingots → 40/min.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Gears → 40/min.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Magnetic Coils → 80/min.
2 Mk.I Assemblers — Electric Motors → 40/min.
1-slot Storage Mk.I â€” Electric Motors â€” limit to one item slot.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Electromagnetic Turbines → 20/min at stated output.

Output

1 Storage Mk.I — Electromagnetic Turbines — receives 20/min; the required 50 Turbines take 2 minutes 30 seconds and a full 3,000-item box takes 2 hours 30 minutes.

Operating note

Limit the Electric Motor buffer to one 100-item slot. The earlier Magnet, Gear, and Magnetic Coil buffers may feed this line instead of being duplicated.

Particle Containers — 10/minMANDATEDILS SUPPORT

Input

2 six-vein Mining Machines — Iron Ore — collectively cover the self-contained line’s 200 Iron Ore/min draw.
1 Mining Machine — Copper Ore — supply 60 Copper Ore/min.
1 Mining Machine — Coal — supply 60 Coal/min.
1 Mining Machine — Stone — supply 20 Stone/min.
1 Oil Extractor on a seep displaying at least 1.0 Crude Oil/s — the line draws 15/min.
1 Water Pump — supply 10 Water/min.

Pipeline

2 Arc Smelters — Iron Ingots → 120/min.
2 Arc Smelters — Magnets → 80/min.
1 Arc Smelter — Copper Ingots → 60/min.
1 Arc Smelter — Energetic Graphite → 30/min.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Gears → 40/min.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Magnetic Coils → 80/min.
2 Mk.I Assemblers — Electric Motors → 40/min.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Electromagnetic Turbines → 20/min.
1 Oil Refinery — Plasma Refining → 15 Refined Oil/min.
1 Oil Refinery — Plasma Refining → 7.5 Hydrogen/min.
1 Chemical Plant — Sulfuric Acid → 10/min.
1 Chemical Plant — Graphene → 20/min.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Particle Containers → 10/min at stated output.
1-slot Storage Mk.I â€” Electric Motors â€” place before the next consumer.
1-slot Storage Mk.I â€” Electromagnetic Turbines â€” place before the next consumer.
1-slot Storage Mk.I â€” Graphene â€” place before the next consumer.

Output

1 Storage Mk.I — Particle Containers — receives 10/min; the required 80 Containers take 8 minutes and a full 3,000-item box takes 5 hours.

Surplus Yield

7.5 Hydrogen/min.

Operating note

This is the self-contained standard line. If the Electromagnetic Turbine card above is already running, feed its output box into this line and omit the duplicated Motor/Turbine branch.

Watch for

The 15/min line is a bridge to ILS, not your final yellow factory.

The first 200 yellow cubes only get you through the ILS rush. Later research will eat thousands more, but ILS will make the eventual expansion far less painful.

Ready to move on when

Yellow production is continuous.
Yellow-cube output is at least 7.5/min; ~15/min is comfortable.
200 yellow cubes are reserved for High-Strength Titanium Alloy and ILS.
High-Strength Titanium Alloy is complete.
ILS is complete or finishing.
Most non-yellow ILS hardware is already prepared.

Go to [ILS].

6. [ILS] — End Manual Interplanetary Hauling

Phase dashboard

At a glance	What matters now
Main goal	Keep the first ILS routes running and start using PLS where it actually saves effort
Good target	Titanium and silicon arrive unattended; later, move older blue/red/yellow cube lines toward ~60/min each only when research is waiting on them
Research next	Applied Superconductor if needed → High-Strength Material → Particle Control → Processor if needed → Information Matrix tech (unlocks purple cubes)
Keep an eye on	ILS charging spikes and the temptation to rebuild the entire planet at once
Move on when	Logistics is stable and the research queue is clearly pointed at purple

Goal

You're no longer the cargo ship. Replace manual interplanetary hauling with continuous supply, then convert only the worst global belts into local logistics districts.

Research first

Point the main research queue toward purple:

Applied Superconductor, if still missing
High-Strength Material
Particle Control
Processor, if still missing
Information Matrix — unlocks purple cubes

The Information Matrix tech (purple cube unlock) requires Processor + Particle Control.

Unlocking ILS feels like a victory lap. It isn't a reason to research every yellow-tier utility technology before pointing the queue at purple.

Quick reference — How much is enough

The target here isn't a prettier planet or a larger cube number. It's:

Titanium arrives automatically.
Silicon arrives automatically or has an equally sustainable source.
Manual interplanetary hauling ends.
The grid can absorb ordinary ILS operation without repeated brownouts.

Once logistics is working, check the older cube lines occasionally. Before the long run to green, around 60/min each for blue, red, and yellow is comfortable—but expand only the color research is actually waiting on.

Quick reference — How much is enough

ILS is complete when the route works without you. These are configuration checks, not production lines.

Route	Source	Destination	Enough when
Titanium Ingots	Source ILS: Remote Provider; Local may remain Depot. Belt Titanium Ingots into the station.	Powered home ILS: Remote Receiver. Install vessels and set the outbound belt-port filter to Titanium Ingots.	Titanium arrives automatically and manual hauling ends. The powered home station may collect from an unpowered source.
Silicon Ore	Source ILS: Remote Provider with enough mining throughput for Processor demand.	Home ILS: Remote Receiver. Use a dedicated tower only when other bulk traffic can starve Silicon.	Silicon delivery is sustained automatically, or an equivalent local source demonstrably covers demand.
Imported material to local district	Home ILS: imported item set to Local Provider after remote receipt; install Logistics Drones.	Consumer PLS: same item set to Local Receiver. Keep belts short inside the district.	The long global belt is replaced by Drone transport while the production district remains locally legible.

Watch for

ILS charging spikes

A newly placed ILS charges a large internal buffer and can make the power graph look as though the factory has suddenly lost its mind.

The spike is real but temporary. Don't size the whole grid around it; lower the station charging-power setting if the early network can't absorb it comfortably.

Premature total rebuilds

Don't celebrate ILS by demolishing the planet. Replace one irritating long-distance belt at a time, and leave anything that still works alone until it becomes the problem.

Ready to move on when

Titanium arrives automatically.
Silicon arrives automatically or has an equally sustainable source.
Manual interplanetary hauling is no longer routine.
Home-station charging no longer destabilizes the grid.
Imported materials can enter local PLS distribution where useful.
The main tech queue is explicitly pointed toward the Information Matrix tech (purple cube unlock).

Go to [PURPLE].

7. [PURPLE] — Build the First Truly Wide Production Tier

Phase dashboard

At a glance	What matters now
Main goal	Keep purple cubes flowing and complete both the Strange Matter and Quantum Chip paths
Good target	12 purple/min minimum, 24/min comfortable
Research next	Miniature Particle Collider → Strange Matter → Gravitational Wave Refraction and Casimir Crystal → High-Strength Glass → Wave Function Interference → Quantum Chip → Gravity Matrix tech (unlocks green cubes)
Keep an eye on	Processors, Particle Broadband, Graphene/Carbon Nanotubes, and older blue/red/yellow cube rates
Move on when	Purple cubes are stable and both tech branches needed for green are finished or nearly finished

Goal

Purple is where the tidy little chains stop pretending they're independent. Keep the cubes running and finish the two branches that meet at green.

Your next clear goal is:

sustain purple → complete the Strange Matter branch → complete the Quantum Chip branch → unlock the first green cube

Once you can make the first green cube, purple has done its job. Stabilize the weak links, but don't hold the run hostage until the whole district looks respectable.

Research first

Work on both paths as the factory allows; neither branch is optional if you want green.

Branch A — Strange Matter / gravity side

Miniature Particle Collider
Strange Matter
Gravitational Wave Refraction

Branch B — Quantum Chip side

Casimir Crystal
High-Strength Glass
Wave Function Interference
Quantum Chip

Wave Function Interference sits downstream of Casimir Crystal and High-Strength Glass.

Then unlock green

Gravity Matrix — unlocks green cubes

The Gravity Matrix tech (green cube unlock) only becomes available after both the Quantum Chip path and Gravitational Wave Refraction are finished.

Quick reference — How much is enough

Minimum: 12 purple/min
Comfortable: 24/min
Later: ~40/min before sustained 40-white/min production

A 12/min purple-cube line takes about 83 minutes to produce 1,000 cubes if purple alone sets the pace. At 24/min, the same amount takes about 42 minutes.

Quick reference — Required builds

The card titles cover every required output in this phase. Open one when you want the numbers; leave it closed when you'd rather solve the production chain yourself.

Processors — 24/min supplied + 6/min reserveMANDATEDKEEP

Input

1 six-vein Mining Machine — Iron Ore — the installed line draws 60 Iron Ore/min.
1 six-vein Mining Machine — Copper Ore — the installed line draws 90 Copper Ore/min.
2 six-vein Mining Machines — Silicon Ore — collectively cover the installed line’s 240 Silicon Ore/min draw.

Pipeline

1 Arc Smelter — Iron Ingots → 60/min.
2 Arc Smelters — Copper Ingots → 90/min.
4 Arc Smelters — High-Purity Silicon → 120/min.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Circuit Boards → 60/min.
3 Mk.I Assemblers — Microcrystalline Components → 60/min.
2 Mk.I Assemblers — Processors → 30/min installed capacity.

Output

1 Storage Mk.I — Processors receives the 6 Processors/min not consumed by the 24/min purple branch.
With no downstream draw, the unrestricted 6,000-item box fills at the full 30/min output in 3 hours 20 minutes.

Surplus Yield

6 Processors/min while purple science consumes 24/min; the unrestricted box fills from that reserve in 16 hours 40 minutes.

Operating note

Keep the reserve visible. Quantum Chips use Processors next, and later production uses them again.

Graphene — 40/min with synthetic Sulfuric AcidSUPPORT ROUTESTANDARD RECIPE

Input

1 six-vein Mining Machine — Coal — the line draws 120 Coal/min.
1 Mining Machine — Stone — supply 40 Stone/min.
1 Oil Extractor on a seep displaying at least 1.0 Crude Oil/s — the line draws 30/min.
1 Water Pump — supply 20 Water/min.

Pipeline

2 Arc Smelters — Energetic Graphite → 60/min.
2 Oil Refineries — Plasma Refining → 30 Refined Oil/min.
2 Oil Refineries — Plasma Refining → 15 Hydrogen/min.
1 Chemical Plant — Sulfuric Acid → 20/min.
1 Chemical Plant — Graphene → 40/min.

Output

1 Storage Mk.I — Graphene — receives 40/min; an unrestricted 3,000-item box fills in 1 hour 15 minutes.

Surplus Yield

15 Hydrogen/min.

Operating note

Fire Ice or a Sulfuric Acid ocean can replace much of this standard chain later.

Carbon Nanotubes — 24/min from standard GrapheneMANDATEDSTANDARD RECIPE

Input

1 Mining Machine each — Coal, Titanium Ore, and Stone — supply 108 Coal/min, 24 Titanium Ore/min, and 36 Stone/min.
1 Oil Extractor on a seep displaying at least 1.0 Crude Oil/s — the line draws 27/min.
1 Water Pump — supply 18 Water/min.

Pipeline

2 Arc Smelters — Energetic Graphite → 54/min.
1 Arc Smelter — Titanium Ingots → 12/min.
2 Oil Refineries — Plasma Refining → 27 Refined Oil/min.
2 Oil Refineries — Plasma Refining → 13.5 Hydrogen/min.
1 Chemical Plant — Sulfuric Acid → 18/min.
1 Chemical Plant — Graphene → 36/min.
1 Chemical Plant — Carbon Nanotubes → 24/min at stated output.

Output

1 Storage Mk.I — Carbon Nanotubes — receives 24/min; an unrestricted 3,000-item box fills in 2 hours 5 minutes.

Surplus Yield

13.5 Hydrogen/min.

Particle Broadband — 12/minMANDATEDKEEP

Input

1 Mining Machine each — Coal, Titanium Ore, Silicon Ore, and Stone — supply 132 Coal/min, 24 Titanium Ore/min, 48 Silicon Ore/min, and 36 Stone/min.
1 Oil Extractor on a seep displaying at least 1.5 Crude Oil/s — the line draws 51/min.
1 Water Pump — supply 18 Water/min.

Pipeline

3 Arc Smelters — Energetic Graphite → 66/min.
1 Arc Smelter — Titanium Ingots → 12/min.
1 Arc Smelter — High-Purity Silicon → 24/min.
1 Arc Smelter — Crystal Silicon → 24/min.
4 Oil Refineries — Plasma Refining → 51 Refined Oil/min.
4 Oil Refineries — Plasma Refining → 25.5 Hydrogen/min.
1 Chemical Plant each — Sulfuric Acid, Graphene, Carbon Nanotubes, and Plastic → 18, 36, 24, and 12/min respectively.
3 Mk.I Assemblers — Particle Broadband → 12/min at stated output.

Output

1 Storage Mk.I — Particle Broadband — receives 12/min; an unrestricted 6,000-item box fills in 8 hours 20 minutes.

Surplus Yield

25.5 Hydrogen/min.

Purple cubes — 12/minMANDATEDKEEP

Input

24 Processors/min from the Processor card above.
12 Particle Broadband/min from the Particle Broadband card above.

Pipeline

Bring the two buffered products to the cube district on separate visible feeds.

Output

2 Matrix Labs — purple cubes → 12 purple cubes/min.

Operating note

See the four cards above for the complete Processor and Particle Broadband support. When scaling toward roughly 24 purple/min, copy the prerequisite capacity as well as the final Labs.

Watch for

Purple feels messy because it exposes several old resource networks at once:

silicon production rate
Processors
Plastic
Graphene
Carbon Nanotubes
Hydrogen
older blue/red/yellow cube production rates

Judge each one by whether it keeps up, not by whether the district deserves a screenshot.

A synthetic Sulfuric Acid district can be ugly and still be perfectly adequate. A beautiful Processor district that only makes half the required rate is the real problem.

Ready to move on when

Purple cubes are continuous.
Purple-cube output is at least 12/min; ~24/min is comfortable.
Processor production keeps pace.
Particle Broadband is stable.
Graphene and Carbon Nanotubes are stable.
Branch A is complete or actively progressing.
Branch B is complete or actively progressing.
Older blue/red/yellow cube rates have been rechecked.

Default route: go to [GREEN].

For a targeted rare-resource detour, read [WARP] first.

8. [WARP] — Optional Pre-Green Interstellar Scouting

Phase dashboard

At a glance	What matters now
Main goal	Warp for a named resource with a clear payoff
Good target	Make only a small stock of expensive pre-green Space Warpers
Research next	Gravitational Wave Refraction → Drive Engine Lv3 → Mecha Core Lv4 → Drive Engine Lv4
Keep an eye on	Aimless exploration and confusing personal warp with vessel warp
Move on when	The target resource has been collected and you can explain exactly which painful chain it replaces or simplifies

Goal

A warp drive isn't an itinerary. Use personal warp early only when you can name the rare resource you want and the production pain it will remove.

Warp isn't required for Mission Completed. The standard chains can carry you through the starting system just fine.

Research first

For personal warp before green:

Gravitational Wave Refraction
Drive Engine Lv3
Mecha Core Lv4
Drive Engine Lv4
Optional Universe Exploration Lv3 when better scouting information has a concrete payoff

Drive Engine Lv4 also needs Drive Engine Lv3, Mecha Core Lv4, and Gravitational Wave Refraction.

Personal warp and vessel warp are separate capabilities. Icarus learning to cross the stars doesn't magically teach the ILS fleet to follow.

Quick reference — How much is enough

Before green:

1 Graviton Lens → 1 Space Warper

After green:

1 green cube → 8 Space Warpers

That economic difference is why the default route still goes to green first.

Quick reference — Required builds

The card titles cover every required output in this phase. Open one when you want the numbers; leave it closed when you'd rather solve the production chain yourself.

Pre-green Space Warpers — 4.5/min per Mk.I AssemblerOPTIONALEXPENSIVE ROUTE

Input

Graviton Lens production supplying 4.5 lenses/min per fully utilized Mk.I Assembler.

Pipeline

Keep the assembler output in deliberately limited storage; this is a scouting supply, not a routine logistics line.

Output

1 Mk.I Assembler — Space Warpers, feeding deliberately limited expedition storage.

Operating note

The standard pre-green recipe is 1 Graviton Lens → 1 Space Warper. Green later changes the bargain to 1 green cube → 8 warpers, which is why this route stays small.

Named rare-resource expeditionOPTIONALDECISION CARD

Input

A specific named rare resource and an identified production chain it will replace or simplify.
Personal warpers, fuel, construction supplies, and return margin.

Pipeline

Scout or retrieve only the target resource; avoid open-ended exploration before cheap warpers and vessel warp.

Output

A concrete production problem becomes easier, after which the run returns to the green path.

Watch for

Exploration is very good at becoming the whole evening. Before cheap warpers or vessel warp, that's a large detour rather than harmless sightseeing.

A good pre-green warp trip answers:

If you can't answer that question cleanly, continue to green.

Ready to move on when

The detour has a named resource target.
Expensive pre-green warpers aren't being used for routine logistics.
The target resource clearly makes an existing production problem easier.

Return to [GREEN].

9. [GREEN] — Green Cubes and Cheap Warp Logistics

Phase dashboard

At a glance	What matters now
Main goal	Keep green cubes flowing without letting Hydrogen or Deuterium take over the whole factory
Good target	10 green/min starter, 20/min comfortable, scale toward ~40/min for the endgame
Research next	Quantum Chip + Gravitational Wave Refraction → Gravity Matrix tech (green cube unlock); then take vessel warp or Gas Giant Exploitation when they solve a real need
Keep an eye on	Hydrogen, Deuterium, Strange Matter power use, and whether Orbital Collectors would now save real effort
Move on when	Green is stable, cheap warpers exist, and Dyson/photon preparation is already moving

Goal

Green is where the factory begins to feel genuinely interstellar. Keep the cubes running, stabilize their expensive ingredients, and scale far enough that the photon and white-cube research doesn't become a surprise multi-hour wait.

Research first

By now both prerequisite paths should be finished:

Quantum Chip
Gravitational Wave Refraction
Gravity Matrix — unlocks green cubes

After the first stable green line:

use the efficient 8:1 Space Warper recipe;
take vessel warp when an actual interstellar route needs it;
take Gas Giant Exploitation when Hydrogen, Deuterium, or Fire Ice will solve a production problem you already have;
keep the Dyson/photon lane moving in parallel.

Quick reference — How much is enough

Starter: 10 green/min
Comfortable: 20/min
For the endgame: scale toward ~40/min if you want the later research to move at a comfortable pace

Quick reference — Required builds

The card titles cover every required output in this phase. Open one when you want the numbers; leave it closed when you'd rather solve the production chain yourself.

Deuterium — 50/min by ColliderMANDATEDSTANDARD ROUTE

Input

1 Mk.I belt from Hydrogen storage — carry 100 Hydrogen/min; one Mk.I belt can carry 360/min.

Pipeline

1 Miniature Particle Collider — Deuterium → 50 Deuterium/min at stated output.

Output

1 Storage Tank — Deuterium — receives 50/min; a 10,000-unit tank fills in 3 hours 20 minutes.

Operating note

Watch the feeding Hydrogen tank while the Collider runs. If its level trends downward, the belt is fast enough but the source isn’t sustaining 100/min.
Use this checked standard line unless a Fractionator loop or Orbital Collector route already delivers a measured 50 Deuterium/min.

Quantum Chips — 5/minMANDATEDKEEP

Input

10 Processors/min from the PURPLE Processor card.
20 Graphene/min from the PURPLE Graphene card.
1 Mining Machine — Coal — supply 40 Coal/min.
1 Mining Machine — Titanium Ore — 100/min.
1 Mining Machine — Stone — 40/min.
1 Oil Extractor on a seep displaying at least 2.0 Crude Oil/s — the modular line draws 50/min.
1 Water Pump — supply 30 Water/min.
1 Mk.I belt from Hydrogen storage — carry the 120 Hydrogen/min gross demand; one Mk.I belt can carry 360/min.

Pipeline

4 Oil Refineries — Plasma Refining → 50 Refined Oil/min.
4 Oil Refineries — Plasma Refining → 25 Hydrogen/min.
1 Arc Smelter — Energetic Graphite → 20/min.
1 Chemical Plant — Plastic → 20/min.
1 Chemical Plant — Organic Crystals → 10/min.
2 Arc Smelters — Titanium Ingots → 50/min.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Titanium Crystals → 10/min.
1 Arc Smelter — Glass → 20/min.
2 Mk.I Assemblers — Titanium Glass → 20/min.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Casimir Crystals → 10/min.
3 Mk.I Assemblers — Plane Filters → 10/min.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Quantum Chips → 5/min at stated output.

Output

1 Storage Mk.I — Quantum Chips — receives 5/min; an unrestricted 6,000-item box fills in 20 hours.

Surplus Yield

25 Hydrogen/min from Plasma Refining reduces the external demand to 95 Hydrogen/min.
Put the refinery Hydrogen on a short return belt into the same tank that feeds the line. The tank then supplies the 120/min gross belt while the external source replaces only the 95/min net draw.

Operating note

Watch the Hydrogen tank after the loop is connected. A falling level means the outside supply still isn’t sustaining the 95/min net demand.
This card deliberately reuses the established Processor and Graphene outputs instead of rebuilding those earlier chains.

Strange Matter — 5/minMANDATEDKEEP

Input

10 Particle Containers/min from the YELLOW Particle Container card.
50 Deuterium/min from the Deuterium card above.
1 Mining Machine — Iron Ore — supply 10 Iron Ore/min.

Pipeline

1 Arc Smelter — Iron Ingots → 10/min.
1 Miniature Particle Collider — Strange Matter → 5/min at stated output.

Output

1 Storage Mk.I — Strange Matter — receives 5/min; an unrestricted 3,000-item box fills in 10 hours.

Graviton Lenses — 5/minMANDATEDKEEP

Input

5 Strange Matter/min from the card above.
1 Mining Machine — Coal — supply 40 Coal/min.

Pipeline

1 Arc Smelter — Energetic Graphite → 20/min.
1 Arc Smelter — Diamonds → 20/min.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Graviton Lenses → 5/min at stated output.

Output

1 Storage Mk.I — Graviton Lenses — receives 5/min; an unrestricted 3,000-item box fills in 10 hours.

Green cubes — 10/minMANDATEDKEEP

Input

5 Quantum Chips/min from the Quantum Chip card above.
5 Graviton Lenses/min from the Graviton Lens card above.

Pipeline

No intermediate production building — route the two buffered card outputs directly to the final Labs.

Output

2 Matrix Labs — green cubes → 10 green cubes/min.

Operating note

The preceding cards contain the complete modular support. Scaling only the final Labs does not increase green output.

Watch for

Green is where Gas Giant Exploitation often changes from “expensive detour” to “why am I still making all this locally?”

If Hydrogen or Deuterium production is taking over the factory, Orbital Collectors are solving a real problem rather than adding another system for its own sake.

Rare resources can also change the build ratio substantially:

Fire Ice can simplify Graphene
natural Organic Crystal can remove its synthetic chain
Optical Grating Crystal can alter the Casimir route
gas-giant Hydrogen/Deuterium can replace local production pressure

These routes change how you make the materials, not which technology comes next.

Ready to move on when

Green cubes are continuous.
Green-cube output is at least 10/min.
Quantum Chips are stable.
Strange Matter is stable.
Hydrogen and Deuterium have a deliberate supply route.
Cheap 8:1 Space Warpers are available.
Green is being scaled toward the desired endgame pace.
Dyson and photon preparation is already underway.

Take the default route to [DYSON]. Choose [SPHERE] instead only when you deliberately prefer a slower build that doesn't expire.

10. [DYSON] — Build the Photon Swarm

Phase dashboard

At a glance	What matters now
Main goal	Sustain 511 Solar Sail launches/min and ≥1.655 GW live swarm generation at Ray Transmission Efficiency Lv0
Good target	23 Mk.I Solar Sail assemblers feeding 80 EM-Rail Ejectors that average at least 32% firing duty
Research next	Solar Collection → Photon Frequency Conversion → Super Magnetic Field Generator → Solar Sail Orbit System → Ray Receiver
Keep an eye on	Solar Sail lifetime, star luminosity, measured Ejector firing duty, and the live Dyson generation readout
Move on when	The live swarm meets the GW target and the Ray Receiver technology is ready for the photon phase

Goal

The swarm route isn't a one-time build; it's a running bill:

raw materials → Solar Sails → EM-Rail Ejectors → sails in orbit → live Dyson power → Ray Receivers in [PHOTON]

Every sail adds power only for its researched lifetime. When sails expire, generation falls with them. Reaching the target once isn't enough: production and long-run launches must keep replacing the sails that disappear.

Why the target is 1.655 GW

The number is large because the photon economy is large. The default finish pace is 40 white cubes/min; the next phase uses four fully warmed, lensed Ray Receivers to make 48 Critical Photons/min. Those receivers convert 960 MW at full output. At the starting 58% Ray Transmission Efficiency, the swarm must generate approximately 1.655 GW to deliver that power after losses.

Why the baseline needs 511 sails/min

At luminosity 1.0 and the base 5,400-second Solar Sail lifetime, a 1.655-GW swarm holds roughly 46,000 active sails. Keeping that population steady requires approximately 511 replacements/min. Use:

required launches/min = target watts × 60 ÷ (36,000 × star luminosity × sail lifetime seconds)

Higher luminosity, longer sail-life research, and better Ray Transmission Efficiency all reduce the replacement stream. Use the calculation to size the factory, then trust the live Dyson generation readout over your spreadsheet.

How the launch block works

An EM-Rail Ejector launches 20 sails/min while it's firing, but planets rotate and injection points wander out of view. The reference block uses 80 Ejectors: at a measured average duty of 32%, they sustain roughly 512 launches/min. If your duty is lower, add Ejectors; if it's higher, enjoy the spare capacity.

Research first

Solar Collection
Photon Frequency Conversion
Super Magnetic Field Generator
Solar Sail Orbit System
Ray Receiver

Solar Sail Orbit System has Super Magnetic Field Generator as an implicit requirement.

Quick reference — How much is enough

Requirement	Baseline target
Critical Photon capacity prepared for	48/min
Fully warmed lensed Ray Receivers prepared for	4
Receiver conversion capacity	960 MW
Live swarm generation at Ray Transmission Efficiency Lv0	≥1.655 GW
Solar Sail production and long-run launches	511/min
Reference Ejector block	80 at ≥32% average duty

Launch setup: feed the 511/min sail buffer to 80 EM-Rail Ejectors. Each launches 20/min while firing; a measured average duty of 32% produces about 512 launches/min. Reserve 96 MW of peak grid capacity and judge the block by its long-run measured launch rate, not its installed Ejector count.

Quick reference — Required builds

The card titles cover every required output in this phase. Open one when you want the numbers; leave it closed when you'd rather solve the production chain yourself.

Solar Sails — 511/minMANDATEDKEEP

Input

2 six-vein Mining Machines — Iron Ore — cover 255.5/min.
1 six-vein Mining Machine — Copper Ore — 127.75/min.
5 six-vein Mining Machines — Coal — cover 766.5/min.
10 six-vein Mining Machines — Stone — cover the combined 1,788.5/min draw.
Oil Extractors — collectively display at least 4.0 Crude Oil/s for the 191.625/min draw.
1 Water Pump — 127.75/min.

Pipeline

5 Arc Smelters — Iron Ingots → 255.5/min.
3 Arc Smelters — Copper Ingots → 127.75/min.
26 Arc Smelters — Glass → 766.5/min.
13 Arc Smelters — Energetic Graphite → 383.25/min.
7 Oil Refineries — Plasma Refining → 191.625 Refined Oil/min.
7 Oil Refineries — Plasma Refining → 95.8125 Hydrogen/min.
4 Chemical Plants — Sulfuric Acid → 127.75/min.
7 Chemical Plants — Graphene → 255.5/min.
3 Mk.I Assemblers — Circuit Boards → 255.5/min.
12 Mk.I Assemblers — Prisms → 511/min.
18 Mk.I Assemblers — Photon Combiners → 255.5/min.
23 Mk.I Assemblers — Solar Sails → 511/min.

Output

1 Storage Mk.I — Solar Sails — receives 511/min; an unrestricted 6,000-item box fills in 11 minutes 44 seconds.

Surplus Yield

95.8125 Hydrogen/min.

Watch for

Ejector count isn't launch throughput. Measure sail consumption or actual launches over a long enough interval to include day/night and orbit-angle downtime.

The swarm is the faster route to photons, but the meter never stops running. If the continuing sail draw feels disproportionate, use [SPHERE] and turn the same industrial base into permanent structure.

Ready to move on when

Solar Sail production sustains the recalculated replacement rate.
Measured long-run launches sustain that same rate.
The researched Ray Transmission Efficiency level is known and the matching GW target is being used.
The live Dyson Swarm generation readout meets or exceeds that target.
Ray Receiver is complete.

Go to [PHOTON].

11. [SPHERE] — Optional Permanent Dyson Sphere

Phase dashboard

At a glance	What matters now
Main goal	Build permanent nodes, frames, and shell cells until live Dyson generation reaches the four-receiver power target
Good target	5 Small Carrier Rockets/min, 5 rocket launches/min, and 15 shell-cell sails/min
Research next	Solar Collection → Photon Frequency Conversion → Super Magnetic Field Generator → Solar Sail Orbit System → Ray Receiver → High-Strength Lightweight Structure → Vertical Launching Silo
Keep an eye on	Processors, Quantum Chips, Deuteron Fuel Rods, completed frame boundaries, and the live sphere-generation readout
Move on when	The permanent sphere meets the same GW target required by the receiver array

Goal

The sphere route trades speed for permanence. Instead of maintaining an expiring swarm, you complete a construction project:

raw materials → Frame Material → Dyson Sphere Components → Small Carrier Rockets → Vertical Launching Silo → nodes and frames → Solar Sails absorbed as shell cells → permanent Dyson power

What rockets build

Use the Dyson Sphere Editor to create a layer, place nodes, connect them with frames, and designate enclosed shell areas. Small Carrier Rockets launched by the Vertical Launching Silo build the nodes and frames. Until those boundaries exist, the sails have nowhere permanent to go.

What the Solar Sails do

Once completed structure encloses a shell area, launched Solar Sails can leave the temporary swarm and become permanent cell points. The production block below makes 45 sails/min: 30/min go into Dyson Sphere Components, leaving 15/min for shell-cell filling.

Why this route is slower

The one-Silo reference line launches only 5 rockets/min, and the layer you draw determines how long the project takes. Large radii and dense frames require more structure before sails can be absorbed. This route comes online more slowly than the swarm, but completed structure and cells don't expire.

What counts as complete

Your design determines the final rocket and sail count, so there's no honest universal material total. The endpoint is still numerical: reach ≥1.655 GW at Ray Transmission Efficiency Lv0, or the lower target for your researched level. The live generation readout decides when you're done.

Research first

If you came directly from [GREEN], complete the shared solar-launch path before the sphere-specific technologies:

Solar Collection
Photon Frequency Conversion
Super Magnetic Field Generator
Solar Sail Orbit System
Ray Receiver
High-Strength Lightweight Structure
Vertical Launching Silo

Solar Sail Orbit System has Super Magnetic Field Generator as an implicit requirement. The sphere route still uses Solar Sails, EM-Rail Ejectors, and Ray Receivers; it changes how the power is built, not what happens downstream.

Quick reference — How much is enough

Requirement	Reference target
Small Carrier Rocket production	5/min
Vertical Launching Silos	1 supplied continuously
Rocket launches	5/min
Solar Sails available for shell cells	15/min
Reference shell Ejector block	2 at ≥40% average duty
Live permanent generation at Ray Transmission Efficiency Lv0	≥1.655 GW

Launch setup: feed the rocket buffer to 1 Vertical Launching Silo for 5 launches/min at an 18-MW active draw. Feed the separate 15-sail/min shell stream to 2 EM-Rail Ejectors; at 40% measured average duty they provide about 16 launches/min and draw up to 2.4 MW while firing.

Quick reference — Required builds

The card titles cover every required output in this phase. Open one when you want the numbers; leave it closed when you'd rather solve the production chain yourself.

Casimir Crystals — 20/minOPTIONAL ROUTEBUFFERED

Input

40 Graphene/min from the PURPLE Graphene card.
1 six-vein Mining Machine — Coal — the line draws 80 Coal/min.
1 six-vein Mining Machine — Titanium Ore — 120/min.
Oil Extractors on seeps displaying at least 2.0 Crude Oil/s — the line draws 100/min.
1 Water Pump — 20/min.
1 Mk.I belt from Hydrogen storage — carry the 240 Hydrogen/min gross demand; one Mk.I belt can carry 360/min.

Pipeline

4 Oil Refineries — Plasma Refining → 100 Refined Oil/min.
4 Oil Refineries — Plasma Refining → 50 Hydrogen/min.
2 Arc Smelters — Energetic Graphite → 40/min.
2 Chemical Plants — Plastic → 40/min.
2 Chemical Plants — Organic Crystals → 20/min.
2 Arc Smelters — Titanium Ingots → 60/min.
2 Mk.I Assemblers — Titanium Crystals → 20/min.
2 Mk.I Assemblers — Casimir Crystals → 20/min at stated output.

Output

1 Storage Mk.I — Casimir Crystals — receives 20/min; an unrestricted 3,000-item box fills in 2 hours 30 minutes.

Surplus Yield

50 Hydrogen/min from Plasma Refining reduces the external demand to 190/min when returned to the feeding tank.

Operating note

Use a short return belt from the Refineries into the same Hydrogen tank that feeds the Casimir line, then watch the tank to verify that the external source sustains the 190/min net draw.

Quantum Chips — 10/min for rocketsOPTIONAL ROUTEBUFFERED

Input

20 Casimir Crystals/min from the card above.
20 Processors/min from the YELLOW Processor card.
1 six-vein Mining Machine — Stone — supply 80 Stone/min.
1 six-vein Mining Machine — Titanium Ore — 80/min.
1 Water Pump — supply 40 Water/min.

Pipeline

2 Arc Smelters — Glass → 40/min.
2 Arc Smelters — Titanium Ingots → 40/min.
3 Mk.I Assemblers — Titanium Glass → 40/min.
6 Mk.I Assemblers — Plane Filters → 20/min.
2 Mk.I Assemblers — Quantum Chips → 10/min at stated output.

Output

1 Storage Mk.I — Quantum Chips — receives 10/min; an unrestricted 6,000-item box fills in 10 hours.

Small Carrier Rockets — 5/minOPTIONAL ROUTEKEEP

Input

10 Quantum Chips/min from the Quantum Chip card above.
20 Casimir Crystals/min from the Casimir Crystal card above supply that Quantum Chip line.
120 Carbon Nanotubes/min by scaling the PURPLE Carbon Nanotube card fivefold.
40 Titanium Alloy/min by scaling the YELLOW Titanium Alloy card fourfold.
30 High-Purity Silicon/min from the TITANIUM silicon card.
30 Processors/min from the complete PURPLE Processor card.
15 Graphene/min from the PURPLE Graphene card.
15 Circuit Boards/min from the BOOTSTRAP Basic Components card.
30 Magnets/min from the BOOTSTRAP Basic Components card’s Magnet buffer.
20 Electromagnetic Turbines/min from the YELLOW Electromagnetic Turbine card.
10 Energetic Graphite/min from established production.
200 Deuterium/min by scaling the GREEN Deuterium card fourfold.
1 six-vein Mining Machine — Stone — supply 90 Stone/min for the sail branch.

Pipeline

4 Mk.I Assemblers — Frame Material → 30/min.
2 Arc Smelters — Glass → 45/min.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Prisms → 30/min.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Photon Combiners → 15/min.
2 Mk.I Assemblers — Solar Sails → 30/min.
2 Mk.I Assemblers — Dyson Sphere Components → 10/min.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Super-Magnetic Rings → 10/min.
3 Mk.I Assemblers — Deuteron Fuel Rods → 20/min.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Small Carrier Rockets → 5/min at stated output.

Output

1 Storage Mk.I — Small Carrier Rockets — limit to one 20-rocket stack; satisfied in 4 minutes.

Watch for

Rockets can't fill a shell by themselves, and sails can't become permanent until completed nodes and frames enclose a designated shell area. If either launch stream sits idle, check the Dyson Sphere Editor before building more machines.

Processors feed both Dyson Sphere Components and Quantum Chips. Deuteron Fuel Rods feed both rockets and fusion power. The sphere route therefore leans hardest on lines green science may already be using at full stretch.

Ready to move on when

Small Carrier Rockets are stable at 5/min.
One Vertical Launching Silo sustains 5 launches/min.
Completed nodes and frames enclose at least one designated shell area.
At least 15 Solar Sails/min are launched for shell-cell absorption.
The researched Ray Transmission Efficiency level is known and the matching GW target is being used.
The live permanent sphere generation readout meets or exceeds that target.

Return to [PHOTON].

12. [PHOTON] — Critical Photons and Antimatter

Phase dashboard

At a glance	What matters now
Main goal	Sustain 48 Critical Photons/min and convert them into 48 Antimatter/min
Good target	4 fully warmed lensed Ray Receivers feeding 1 Miniature Particle Collider
Research next	Planetary Ionosphere Utilization → Dirac Inversion Mechanism; then Controlled Annihilation Reaction only when Antimatter Fuel Rods are useful
Keep an eye on	Continuous Receiving, Receiver Strength, lens supply, available Dyson power, and returned Hydrogen
Move on when	48 Critical Photons/min and 48 Antimatter/min are continuous, and all five cube colors can reach 40/min

Goal

This is where the enormous orbital project finally turns back into items on a belt:

live Dyson power → lensed Ray Receivers → Critical Photons → Miniature Particle Collider → Antimatter + Hydrogen → white cubes in [WHITE]

How Ray Receivers become production buildings

Ray Receivers normally turn Dyson output into grid power. Dirac Inversion Mechanism unlocks the Photon Materialization recipe and the Receiver’s Photon Generation mode. In that mode, each fully warmed receiver supplied with a Graviton Lens converts up to 240 MW and produces 12 Critical Photons/min.

Three conditions must agree: Continuous Receiving has to warm up, Receiver Strength must reach 100%, and the swarm or sphere must have enough uncommitted generation to meet the request. A Receiver can be built, lensed, and configured correctly and still underperform if any one of those is missing.

What the Graviton Lenses do

Planetary Ionosphere Utilization allows Graviton Lenses to support the Receiver array. Four lensed Receivers consume only 0.4 lenses/min in total. Your green-science line already makes far more than that, so reserve a feed and local buffer instead of building another factory out of habit.

How Antimatter is made

The Photon Materialization recipe unlocked by Dirac Inversion Mechanism runs in a Miniature Particle Collider. It converts Critical Photons into Antimatter one-for-one and returns the same amount of Hydrogen. One Collider handles 60 photons/min, so the four-Receiver stream of 48/min fits with headroom.

Technology order

The naming is confusing enough to deserve one plain statement: Photon Materialization is a recipe, not a technology, and there's no separate “Antimatter” technology. Research Planetary Ionosphere Utilization, then Dirac Inversion Mechanism.

Controlled Annihilation Reaction is a real later technology. It unlocks Annihilation Constraint Spheres and Antimatter Fuel Rods for Artificial Stars, but you don't need it to manufacture Antimatter or complete the main mission.

Research first

Planetary Ionosphere Utilization
Dirac Inversion Mechanism

After Antimatter is flowing, take Controlled Annihilation Reaction only when you intend to make Antimatter Fuel Rods or continue toward Artificial Star.

Quick reference — How much is enough

Finish pace	Lensed Receivers	Critical Photons/min	Antimatter/min available
Relaxed — 20 white/min	2	24	24
Comfortable — 40 white/min	4	48	48
Fast — 80 white/min	7	84	84

The two required technologies also test the older cube lines:

Planetary Ionosphere Utilization: 2,000 blue, 2,000 red, 2,000 yellow, and 2,000 green.
Dirac Inversion Mechanism: 3,000 blue, 3,000 red, 750 yellow, 750 purple, and 1,500 green.

Quick reference — Required builds

The card titles cover every required output in this phase. Open one when you want the numbers; leave it closed when you'd rather solve the production chain yourself.

Critical Photons — 48/minMANDATEDCOMFORTABLE TARGET

Input

At least 1.655 GW live Dyson generation at Ray Transmission Efficiency Lv0 and 0.4 Graviton Lenses/min.

Pipeline

4 fully warmed Ray Receivers — Photon Generation → 12 Critical Photons/min each.

Output

1 Storage Mk.I — Critical Photons — receives 48/min; an unrestricted 3,000-item box fills in 1 hour 2 minutes 30 seconds.

Antimatter — 48/minMANDATEDKEEP

Input

48 Critical Photons/min from the card above.

Pipeline

1 Miniature Particle Collider — Photon Materialization → 48 Antimatter/min at stated output, with 60/min installed capacity.

Output

1 Storage Mk.I — Antimatter — receives 48/min; an unrestricted 3,000-item box fills in 1 hour 2 minutes 30 seconds.

Surplus Yield

48 Hydrogen/min.

Watch for

Receivers don't begin at full output. Let Continuous Receiving warm up before declaring the array broken, then verify that the Dyson source is supplying the full requested power.

The Collider returns Hydrogen at the same rate as Antimatter. Give it somewhere to go; the final production chain shouldn't be defeated by a full Hydrogen belt.

Ready to move on when

Four Ray Receivers remain continuously lensed.
The array reaches 100% Continuous Receiving and 100% Receiver Strength.
The array sustains 48 Critical Photons/min.
One Miniature Particle Collider sustains 48 Antimatter/min.
Returned Hydrogen can't block the Collider.
Blue, red, yellow, purple, and green cube lines can each reach 40/min.

Go to [WHITE].

13. [WHITE] — White Cubes and Mission Completed!

Phase dashboard

At a glance	What matters now
Main goal	Research the white-cube recipe, sustain 40 white cubes/min, and feed the final 4,000 into Mission Completed!
Good target	20/min relaxed, 40/min comfortable, or 80/min fast — only if every feeder can match it
Research next	Universe Matrix → Mission Completed!
Keep an eye on	The slowest older cube line; white-cube production can't run faster than its weakest input
Move on when	Mission Completed! finishes

Goal

The last phase is less a new production chain than a roll call for everything you built before:

five established cube lines + Antimatter → white-cube Matrix Labs → white-cube stock and research feed → Mission Completed!

Unlock the recipe first

Universe Matrix unlocks white-cube manufacturing. It consumes 2,000 blue, 2,000 red, 2,000 yellow, 2,000 purple, and 2,000 green cubes. Treat that as the admission price, not part of the production build.

Then build the synchronized production line

Each white cube consumes one cube of every earlier color plus one Antimatter. A baseline Matrix Lab produces 4 white cubes/min, so the comfortable target uses 10 production Labs and requires 40/min from each of the six inputs.

The white Labs are rarely the real bottleneck. All five earlier Matrix lines must now work at once, and the slowest one sets the final rate. Watch the feeds separately and expand the starving color instead of adding more white Labs to stand around looking important.

Finish the main mission

Once white cubes are flowing, queue Mission Completed! in the research Labs. It consumes 4,000 white cubes. At a sustained 40/min, the final batch takes 100 minutes; 20/min takes 200 minutes, and 80/min takes 50 minutes.

Research first

Universe Matrix — unlocks white-cube manufacturing
Mission Completed! — consumes the final 4,000 white cubes

Quick reference — How much is enough

White cube rate	Production Labs	Required from each cube color	Antimatter/min	Time for 4,000
20/min	5	20/min each	20	200 min
40/min	10	40/min each	40	100 min
80/min	20	80/min each	80	50 min

The default [PHOTON] array supplies 48 Antimatter/min, leaving 8/min of headroom over the comfortable white-cube line.

Quick reference — Required builds

The card titles cover every required output in this phase. Open one when you want the numbers; leave it closed when you'd rather solve the production chain yourself.

White cubes — 40/minMANDATEDCOMFORTABLE TARGET

Input

40 blue cubes/min from the BLUE card.
40 red cubes/min from the RED card.
40 yellow cubes/min from the YELLOW card.
40 purple cubes/min from the PURPLE card.
40 green cubes/min from the GREEN card.
40 Antimatter/min from PHOTON.

Pipeline

No intermediate production building — route the six established inputs directly to the final Labs on 6 independent visible feeds.

Output

10 Matrix Labs — white cubes → 40 white cubes/min into research.

Operating note

White science is a convergence test. Expand the starving upstream card, not the final Labs, unless every input feed is full.

Watch for

The most common endgame mistake is assuming the newest line must be the important one. White cubes call every earlier color back to work; the bottleneck may be a tiny blue, red, or yellow setup you stopped thinking about hours ago.

Ready to move on when

Universe Matrix is complete.
All five cube colors sustain the chosen white-cube rate.
Antimatter sustains the same rate; the default photon line provides 48/min.
The white-cube line is continuous.
Mission Completed! is consuming or has consumed the final 4,000 white cubes.

Finish Mission Completed!, then go to [LOGISTICS].

The main quest is over. Before choosing a megabase, exploration, combat, or permanent-sphere project, automate the hardware that lets you build the next factory without handcrafting its transport network.

14. [LOGISTICS] — Automate the Infrastructure That Moves Everything

Phase dashboard

Main goal	Automate Logistics Distributors, PLS, ILS, Logistics Bots, Logistics Drones, and Logistics Vessels
Useful rates	1 Distributor/min · 5 Bots/min · 0.5 PLS/min · 5 Drones/min · 0.25 ILS/min · 2 Vessels/min
Research check	Distribution Logistics System · Planetary Logistics System · Interstellar Logistics System
Watch closely	Use the smallest logistics layer that fits the job; don’t ask little Bots to replace a bulk station network
Move on when	All six lines refill small buffers without handcrafting, and you can configure a route without guessing what Local and Remote mean

Goal

You’ve already built all six of these things during the main run. The difference now is that expansion will consume them repeatedly. A new mining planet wants an ILS and Vessels. A new production district wants PLS towers and Drones. A useful storage box wants a Distributor and Bots. Handcrafting each batch turns every expansion into another shopping trip.

This phase builds a small logistics mall. The rates are deliberately modest: fast enough to refill between projects, slow enough that they can share the component factory you already own. The cards show complete standard-recipe support, but you don’t need six isolated raw factories. Feed the output assemblers from your established smelting and component network wherever it already has spare capacity.

Use the three logistics layers for different jobs

Logistics Distributor + Logistics Bots: last-mile movement between a Depot, another Distributor, and Icarus. Use them for personal resupply and low-volume items. A Distributor handles one selected item; it isn’t a tiny PLS.
PLS + Logistics Drones: bulk transport on one planet. Use them to replace long cross-planet belts and connect production districts.
ILS + Logistics Vessels: bulk transport between planets and, after vessel warp is available, between stars. An ILS can also join the local Drone network.

Read the route settings literally

Provider offers the selected item to that network. Receiver requests it. Depot stores it without asking that network to move it.

Local controls same-planet Drone traffic. Remote controls Vessel traffic. A common import pattern is:

Remote source ILS: Remote Provider → Vessels → Home ILS: Remote Receiver + Local Provider → Drones → PLS: Local Receiver

For a local production relationship, use:

Producer district → PLS Local Provider → Drones → PLS Local Receiver → consumer district

Replace one painful long-distance relationship at a time. The aim isn’t a blueprint-perfect planet. It’s still the respectable middle ground:

global spaghetti → logistics network → local spaghetti

Research first

Distribution Logistics System — unlocks Logistics Distributors and Logistics Bots
Planetary Logistics System — unlocks PLS towers and Logistics Drones
Interstellar Logistics System — unlocks ILS towers and Logistics Vessels

You’ll normally have the station technologies long before this phase. This is a production checklist, not a reason to postpone logistics until after the mission.

Quick reference — How much is enough

Output	Target rate	What that feels like
Logistics Distributor	1/min	One new bot-served storage point every minute
Logistics Bot	5/min	A ten-Bot Distributor loadout every two minutes
Planetary Logistics Station	0.5/min	One new PLS every two minutes
Logistics Drone	5/min	Fifty Drones every ten minutes
Interstellar Logistics Station	0.25/min	One new ILS every four minutes
Logistics Vessel	2/min	A ten-Vessel fleet every five minutes

Quick reference — Required builds

The card titles cover every required output in this phase. Open one when you want the numbers; leave it closed when you'd rather solve the production chain yourself.

Logistics Distributors — 1/minMANDATEDMALL

Input

8 Iron Ingots/min from the BOOTSTRAP Starter Ingot card.
16 Magnetic Coils/min from the BOOTSTRAP Basic Components card.
4 Processors/min from the YELLOW Processor card.
1 six-vein Mining Machine — Stone — supply 24 Stone/min.

Pipeline

1 Arc Smelter — Glass → 12/min.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Prisms → 8/min.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Plasma Exciters → 4/min.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Logistics Distributors → 1/min at stated output.

Output

1 Storage Mk.I — Logistics Distributors — limit to one 50-item stack; satisfied in 50 minutes.

Logistics Bots — 5/minMANDATEDMALL

Input

10 Iron Ingots/min from the BOOTSTRAP Starter Ingot card.
10 Copper Ingots/min from the BOOTSTRAP Starter Ingot card.
5 Magnetic Coils/min from the BOOTSTRAP Basic Components card.
5 Processors/min from the PURPLE Processor card’s 6/min reserve.

Pipeline

1 Mk.I Assembler — Engines → 5/min.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Logistics Bots → 5/min at stated output.

Output

1 Storage Mk.I — Logistics Bots — limit to one 200-item stack; satisfied in 40 minutes.

Planetary Logistics Stations — 0.5/minMANDATEDMALL

Input

20 Steel/min from the YELLOW Steel card.
20 Processors/min from the YELLOW Processor card.
10 Particle Containers/min from the YELLOW Particle Container card.
20 Titanium Ingots/min from the TITANIUM production card.

Pipeline

No intermediate production building — 1 Mk.I Assembler — Planetary Logistics Stations → 0.5/min at stated output.

Output

1 Storage Mk.I — PLS — limit to one 10-station stack; satisfied in 20 minutes.

Logistics Drones — 5/minMANDATEDMALL

Input

25 Iron Ingots/min from the BOOTSTRAP Starter Ingot card.
30 Copper Ingots/min from the BOOTSTRAP Starter Ingot card.
20 Steel/min from the YELLOW Steel card.
10 Processors/min from the YELLOW Processor card.

Pipeline

1 Mk.I Assembler — Thrusters → 10/min.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Logistics Drones → 5/min at stated output.

Output

1 Storage Mk.I — Logistics Drones — limit to one 200-drone stack; satisfied in 40 minutes.

Interstellar Logistics Stations — 0.25/minMANDATEDMALL

Input

0.25 PLS/min from the Planetary Logistics Station card above.
10 Titanium Alloy/min from the YELLOW Titanium Alloy card.
5 Particle Containers/min from the YELLOW Particle Container card.

Pipeline

No intermediate production building — 1 Mk.I Assembler — Interstellar Logistics Stations → 0.25/min at stated output.

Output

1 Storage Mk.I — ILS — limit to one 10-station stack; satisfied in 40 minutes.

Logistics Vessels — 2/minMANDATEDMALL

Input

40 Titanium Alloy/min by scaling the YELLOW Titanium Alloy card fourfold.
20 Processors/min from the YELLOW Processor card.
20 Electromagnetic Turbines/min from the YELLOW Electromagnetic Turbine card.

Pipeline

1 Mk.I Assembler — Reinforced Thrusters → 4/min.
1 Mk.I Assembler — Logistics Vessels → 2/min at stated output.

Output

1 Storage Mk.I — Logistics Vessels — limit to one 50-vessel stack; satisfied in 25 minutes.

Watch for

Shared upstream lines. Each card’s references cover that card by itself. If several logistics boxes refill at once, add their shared Processor and alloy demands together; the same upstream surplus can’t feed every card simultaneously.

Small buffers matter more than maximum speed. Limit station and carrier storage so these lines don’t quietly consume the whole component factory while you’re designing something else.

If a route starves, decide whether the problem is production or transport before adding machines. Full source storage plus an empty receiver usually points to carrier count, travel time, station power, or route settings—not a shortage of the item.

Ready to move on when

Logistics Distributors and Logistics Bots refill automatically.
PLS towers and Logistics Drones refill automatically.
ILS towers and Logistics Vessels refill automatically.
Your personal construction inventory can be resupplied without visiting every storage box.
You can trace a bulk route from Provider to Receiver across its Local and Remote legs.

The critical path is finished and the transport layer is reusable. Pick a project: interstellar expansion, a permanent sphere, Dark Fog industry, a cleaner factory, or something gloriously unnecessary.

Optional Paths

These aren't side quests you owe the tech tree. Take one when it solves a problem you can already see; otherwise leave it alone and keep moving.

[PILE SORTER] — Integrated Logistics

What it's for

Fix production lines that are being held back by how quickly items can enter or leave the machines.

Take it when

dense blocks back up at machine inputs or outputs;
ordinary sorters force awkward parallel lines;
purple or green scaling is visibly held back by insertion speed.

Do this

Research it when machine input or output speed is already the problem—not when the icon merely starts glowing.

Don't take it merely because it's available.

Return to the main route when

Once the sorters are no longer what's slowing the line down, return to the main progression path.

[GAS GIANT] — Orbital Collectors

What it's for

Use Orbital Collectors when making enough Hydrogen, Deuterium, or Fire Ice locally is becoming more trouble than it's worth.

Take it when

Hydrogen is actively holding back Casimir or green production;
making enough Deuterium locally is taking over too much of the factory;
Fire Ice would noticeably simplify Graphene;
your starting gas giant provides something that would solve a problem you already have.

Do this

Take Orbital Collectors because you need the gas, not because the technology happens to be sitting there looking affordable.

Green is often the point where the economics become obvious.

Return to the main route when

Once gas supply is no longer slowing green or later production, return to the main route.

[INTERSTELLAR POWER] — Energy Exchangers and Accumulator Shipping

What it's for

Use this when powering remote worlds locally is awkward and shipping charged accumulators is genuinely easier.

Take it when

a remote mining world has poor local power options;
you deliberately want centralized generation;
charged-accumulator logistics are simpler than maintaining many remote plants.

Do this

Compare the continuing logistics burden with the unglamorous alternative of simply building local generation.

Remember that a new ILS can create a large temporary charging spike; don't mistake that brief load for the remote world's permanent demand.

Return to the main route when

Use the simpler power system. Don't create a logistics network merely to avoid a few easy local generators.

[ADVANCED MINING] — Large Remote Extraction Networks

What it's for

Make large multi-world mining networks quicker and less tedious to build.

Take it when

many remote mining worlds are already operating;
laying individual miners and collection belts dominates outpost setup time;
ILS-based extraction networks are already mature.

Do this

Treat it as a convenience upgrade for a factory that's already spread across many worlds, not as permission to spread too early.

It isn't required for an efficient Mission Completed run.

Return to the main route when

If mining is no longer what's slowing expansion down, go fix whatever production or logistics problem actually is.

[DARK FOG] — Hidden Industrial Technology

What it's for

Access the hidden Dark Fog industrial branch in a long-run combat-focused game.

Take it when

deliberate Dark Fog farming is already part of the run;
the enemy has reached the levels needed for the relevant drops;
the upgraded industrial buildings will operate long enough to repay the farming effort.

Do this

Treat Dark Fog industry as a separate progression lane.

Holo Beacon can help you manage deliberate Relay interaction, but you still need the Dark Fog to reach the right levels and drop the required items.

Return to the main route when

For the default Mission Completed route: don't enter this branch at all.

One-Screen Default Checklist

[BOOTSTRAP]

Basic mining and smelting automated
Magnetic Coils and Circuit Boards automated
Belts and sorters readily available
Power margin exists

[BLUE]

Sustained blue cubes
20/min minimum; ~40/min comfortable
Plasma refining path open

[RED]

Sustained red cubes
10/min minimum; ~20/min comfortable
Hydrogen and Refined Oil both managed
Drive Engine Lv2 + Mecha Core Lv2
Research needed before ILS prepared

[FLIGHT]

Titanium Smelting
Research needed for PLS prepared
Magnetic Particle Trap + Processor prepared
Reinforced Thruster prepared
Reliable expedition fuel and outpost kit

[TITANIUM]

Remote titanium extraction
Titanium smelted at source
810–860 ingot practical first-haul target
Direct silicon established if convenient
Persistent outpost power/defense decision made

[YELLOW]

7.5/min minimum; ~15/min comfortable
80 yellow → High-Strength Titanium Alloy
120 yellow → ILS
First ILS hardware prepared in parallel

[ILS]

Automated titanium
Automated silicon or equivalent sustainable supply
Manual interplanetary hauling retired
ILS charging spike understood
Long import belts beginning to move onto PLS where useful
Information Matrix tech (purple cube unlock) prioritized

[PURPLE]

12/min minimum; ~24/min comfortable
Processor production keeps up
Particle Broadband stable
Graphene/Carbon Nanotube production keeps up
Miniature Particle Collider → Strange Matter → Gravitational Wave Refraction
Casimir Crystal + High-Strength Glass → Wave Function Interference → Quantum Chip
Older blue/red/yellow cube rates rechecked

[WARP]

Concrete rare-resource payoff? → optional detour
No concrete payoff? → continue directly to green

[GREEN]

10/min minimum; ~20/min comfortable
Hydrogen/Deuterium route deliberately chosen
Cheap 8:1 Space Warpers available
Scale toward ~40/min for a brisk endgame pace

[DYSON]

Solar Sail line automated
Ejectors operating
Ray Receiver technology ready for PHOTON
Live swarm generation meets the DYSON phase target

[PHOTON]

Planetary Ionosphere Utilization
Dirac Inversion
Critical Photons continuous
Antimatter continuous
Photon rate matched to intended finish pace

[WHITE]

2000 of each cube color budgeted for the Universe Matrix tech
Chosen white-cube rate supported by every cube color
Antimatter supports the same rate
4000 white cubes supplied to Mission Completed

[LOGISTICS]

Logistics Distributors and Bots automated
PLS towers and Drones automated
ILS towers and Vessels automated
Provider, Receiver, Depot, Local, and Remote settings understood

When you aren't sure what's wrong

When the factory stops making sense, resist the urge to rebuild it on instinct. Ask these questions in order:

Can I research the technology?
If not, check which earlier technology is still missing.
Can I build the recipe or machine?
If not, check whether you're missing another technology or the machine that actually makes it.
Can I keep supplying every required material?
If not, find the material you can't yet mine, make, or import reliably.
Does the line still depend on me carrying or hand-feeding materials?
If yes, automate the missing transport or storage step.
Does everything work, but progress still crawls?
Compare your production rates with the numbers in this guide and fix the slowest line.

A line below the minimum for the phase is usually the first thing worth fixing.

A line between minimum and comfortable is usually doing its job. Leave it alone unless the evidence says otherwise.

A line already above the comfortable target has probably earned some peace until the next phase starts asking more of it.

Dyson Sphere Program — Practical Progression Guide

A practical route from your first factory to Mission Completed

Cube names used in this guide

How to use this guide without constantly rereading it

Quick Progress Index

Quick reference — Cube production targets

0. [BOOTSTRAP] — Stop Handcrafting the Factory

Phase dashboard

Goal

Research first

Quick reference — How much is enough

Quick reference — Required builds

Input

Pipeline

Output

Minimal pickup interval

Input

Pipeline

Output

Minimal pickup interval

Operating note

Input

Pipeline

Output

Minimal pickup interval

Operating note

Watch for

Ready to move on when

Next

1. [BLUE] — Get Blue Cubes Running

Phase dashboard

Goal

Research first

Quick reference — How much is enough

Quick reference — Required builds

Input

Pipeline

Output

Surplus Yield

Operating note

Watch for

Ready to move on when

Next

2. [RED] — Build the Oil Economy and Keep Red Cubes Flowing

Phase dashboard

Goal

Research first

Get ready to fly

Research the ILS requirements early while the needed techs still use red cubes

Quick reference — How much is enough

Quick reference — Required builds

Input

Pipeline

Output

Surplus Yield

Operating note

Watch for

Ready to move on when

Next

3. [FLIGHT] — Drive Engine Lv2 and Planetary Escape

Phase dashboard

Goal

Research first

Quick reference — How much is enough

Watch for

Persistent remote outposts on Dark Fog runs

Ready to move on when

Next

4. [TITANIUM] — Your First Off-World Industrial Expedition

Phase dashboard

Goal

Research first

Quick reference — How much is enough

First serious haul

Persistent remote smelting

Quick reference — Required builds

Input

Pipeline

Output

Minimal pickup interval