This guide attempts to describe the steps to take to get a quick start in Dyson Sphere Program.
Currently, all new games will start you on a Mediterranean Planet, which are fairly "Earth-like" and have a good range of resources that can get you all the way up to mid-game without ever leaving the planet. This guide should work for all new game starts, unless and until they make it possible to change your starting system.
If you wish to follow along more precisely, this guide and its accompanying screenshots were written with the following World Generation settings:
- Seed: 00000000
- Systems: 64
- Resource Multiplier: Infinite
With these settings, you should start at a G-Type star named "Iota Sagittae"
Before We Start
Before we start, we'll go over a few tips.
Conserving Energy
In the early game, your mecha has very little in the way of energy storage and power generation. You also don't have access to the some of the better fuel sources that increase the power regeneration rate. For these reasons it is important to conserve energy as much as possible. In a fresh game, these things consume energy for your mecha:
- Movement -- 600 kW while moving. Alleviate by planning your path in advance to minimize distance
- Drones -- Each drone consumes 288 kW from your mecha while flying to/from a construction. Starting the game with 3 drones, this can get as high as 864 kW. Alleviate by minimizing the distance drones have to fly, and only building one thing at a time.
- Replicator -- Hand-crafting items, as well as smelting ingots by hand, consume 240 kW. Alleviate by automating everything you can, as early as possible.
- Researching -- Researching technologies using materials from your mecha's inventory means your mecha is doing the research and using 360 kW. Alleviate by setting Matrix Labs to do the research.
Without any fuel source at all, your mecha only generates 80 kW of power to recharge itself. Fuel sources change this amount by varying amounts. In this guide, we will aim to keep mecha energy consumption at a minimum, but if you find yourself getting low, you can either just hang back and let the 80kW recharge itself over time, or find some fuel. You will have 5 Hydrogen Fuel Rods at the start of the game, but using them this early is a bit of a waste. This guide recommends that you use nearby natural fuel sources in the early game, such as trees and plants, organic crystal, or Coal Ore if you are lucky enough to have some nearby.
Order of Operations
There is no "one right way" to play a sandbox game like Dyson Sphere Program. The order of operations for getting started that is laid out by this guide is intended to follow the following precepts:
- Briefly introduce core game concepts in a logical order
- Minimize mecha power consumption by:
- Minimizing movement
- Minimizing Drone distances traveled
- Automate things as early as possible
- Show the benefits of setting up automation early
- Show that it's ok to tear down and rebuild an assembly line when needed.
The order things are introduced are not set in stone, and can easily be done out of sequence if the player wishes to do so.
Alright, let's get started!
Prologue
You may choose to listen to and follow along with the Prologue if you wish, or you can skip it by hitting Esc and selecting "Skip Prologue"
After Landing
- Immediately dismantle the landing pod, granting you some hydrogen fuel rods, iron ingots, copper ingots, and magnets.
- Note: There should be no need to use the hydrogen fuel rods just yet. We can find plenty of fuel around us, and this guide will teach you how to conserve energy.