Dyson Sphere Program - Beginner's Guide

The Dyson Sphere Program is an interesting option for fans of Factorio-style games. Freely building and planning a huge base is not that easy, so you should read the following tips at the beginning. This guide will introduce you to the basics of the game, research and production. Remember that your first base won't be perfect, so keep trying and don't worry when you find that everything needs to be redesigned. The most interesting thing about the game is that you need to constantly improve your production chains.

The guide is based on the game's current version as of November 2022 - v0.9.27. The game is still in early access, but I haven't come across any bugs or shortcomings that would have a bad effect on the gameplay itself. 

How to start the game

The Dyson Sphere Program starts by generating a constellation. The generation has some random variations, but the most important thing for you is to select the game's difficulty. The difficulty level depends only on the amount of available resources, so on the first screen, the most important thing is the "Resource Multiplier" slider. Here's a brief explanation of all the items when generating a world, on the "Set Destination" screen:

Cluster Seed - This is a unique code of the generated map. If you like it, you can use it later, or pass it on to a friend. You can also search the Internet for popular codes and use those recommended by others.

Number of stars - More stars equals more planets. This also means more raw materials. However, don't pay much attention to this at the beginning, because building up all the stars with a minimum number would be an amazing achievement.

Resource multiplier - This is what I mentioned earlier. The main slider for setting the difficulty level. If you want almost sandbox-like gameplay then set it as far to the right as possible. The "infinite" setting will make sure that the resources on the planet never runs out. It sounds great, but with this setting you won't have much need to travel outside the solar system. This is also an important part of the game.

Sandbox mode - Was added to the game in 2022. You can use this mode for fun, testing and planning. A good way to freely create new blueprints (templates that can later be used to quickly build entire complexes). The mode allows you to unlock all research, fast and free travel to any location, instant construction and infinite resources. Don't consider this mode as part of the gameplay, it's just a testing playground.

Metadata contribution - when you change the Resource Multiplier, you'll probably notice the Metadata Contribution changes (right under Sandbox Mode). Metadata is a bonus that you get in your game and allows you to unlock technologies for free when you start the game all over again. The bonus is calculated based on your production of Matrix (research cubes). The more you produce, the more Metadata you will receive. Depending on your resource setup, you can get different amounts of this bonus. Remember that this bonus is for one-time use.

Cluster Address - The ID of your layout, generated from all the above settings.

Starting the game

After selecting your settings, the game begins with a short intro. Your mech is flying towards your starting planet. At some point in the prologue, you'll take control of the rocket, but it's just a matter of getting to the planet in front of you.

For the impatient, a little hint, going to the main menu (ESC), there is an option "Skip prologue"

First steps on the planet

After landing on the starting planet, you can review the available tutorial and messages appearing in the upper right corner. If this is your first game, it's worth reading everything. In the game, you control the yellow Mech with the WSAD keys (yellow is the default, you can color it any way you want). The spacebar allows you to jump up, which makes it easier to overcome obstacles.

After landing on the planet, there will be a platform left from your rocket. Right click on it to dismantle it, as it is no longer usable and only takes up space. After disassembly, you will get some raw materials and efficient fuel for your Mech.
* For the purposes of this tutorial, it is best to not do this right away. You should learn how to obtain raw materials first.

Your planet was generated randomly, so the placement of resources is different each time.

At the beginning start researching the first technology to build basic structures:

1. Go to the technology tree (the largest icon in the lower right corner, or the "T" key).
2. Select the unlocked study, it is second from the left: Electromagnetism.
3. The "Research consumption" field tells you what raw materials you need to complete the study.
4. Click on the "Activate" button and the study will begin.

The research will be completed only when you get all the necessary raw materials.

Making materials

For the first research you need 10 pieces of Magnetic Coil. To find out what raw materials you need, go to the "Replicator" window (F key, or the hammer and gear icon in the lower right corner). You can also hover over a component to see a quick hint.

The following paragraph is for the curious, feel free to skip it to get straight to production:

Replicator is the place where you can create all the components and buildings you need. When you click on the Magnetic Coil icon, you will notice that it is produced from two components: Magnet and Copper Ingot. By hovering your mouse over these components, you can quickly preview what they are made of, or select them in the main window. You don't have to manufacture all the components, just get the basic raw materials and click Magnetic Coil production. Your Mech will automatically make all the necessary materials.

Now what are raw materials? They are those that can be mined on your planet. When you hover over a component, you can identify them by looking at the description under the name: Natural Resource.

However, let's return to the production of the Magnetic Coil. The necessary raw materials required are: Magnet and Copper Ingot. These are the components, they have "Material" written under the name, so they also require other items. The magnet is made from iron ore and the coil from copper ore, and these are the raw materials.

You have 10 Magnetic Coils to manufacture. You need 10 Magnets and 5 Copper Ignots. So you have 10 iron ore and 5 copper ore to collect.

Manual extraction of raw materials

After dismantling the platform from the starting point of the game, you will immediately obtain the necessary materials. Below I have described how to collect such resources manually, so that you get acquainted with the mechanics of the game.

Iron ore is a blue deposit that looks like crystals, copper ore is a red deposit ( lets say :) ).

Right-click on the deposit and your Mech will start collecting.

Once you have 10 iron ore and 5 copper ore, return to the Replicator (F) window.

Launching the first research

Once you have the raw materials you need, you can produce 5x the required material in the replicator. This is enough, because on the fabrication tree, notice the small x2 mark under the Magnetic Coil icon. This means that each manufacture produces two components. As a result, you will get 10 pieces.

When you click 5x on the "Produce" button, the mech will start producing all the materials you need. This will take a few seconds, and the produced materials will immediately be transferred for research. After the research is completed, you will receive a message that you can create 3 new structures: a Wind Turbine, a Tesla Tower and a Mining Machine. As an added bonus, all of these buildings have appeared in your inventory, so you can build them right away.

Building

Buildings are created in the replicator. After the first research, several of them will be added to your inventory so you can proceed to the first construction.

You can select buildings from the bottom menu, which is divided into categories, or from the inventory, or the replicator.

Let's start with building a mine:

1. Click on the second category from the construction menu and select a mine
2. Select the suitable location next to the iron ore deposit

Rotate the building with "R" to cover the maximum number of raw material.

Each press of R rotates the building 45 degrees. To rotate it freely, hold SHIFT and press R at the same time. This will position the mine so that it covers more deposits. The more deposits the mine covers, the faster the extraction. Each covered deposit allows you to mine 30pcs/minute. Two deposits are mined at 60pcs/minute, 1 per sec.

Once the mine is set up, you will notice a yellow icon indicating no power. The mine needs power to function properly. Go to the first category of buildings and select Wind Turbine, and place it within range of the mine (this way, you don't have to put up power poles).

Production chains

The whole game is about creating increasingly complex production chains made up of buildings of different types. The most important tip to start with is to recognize and plan production.

Reconnaissance

Choose the material you want to produce and check what it consists of. You need to check each material needed for production and verify in which building they can be produced. Some of the materials are produced in Arc Smelter, some in the assembly building (Assembler). To check this, have a look at the material description and the "Made in" entry. For example "Made in: Smelting Facility" or "Made in: Assembler".

In addition, putting in the description: "Hand-make Replicator" means that the material can be produced in a replicator by hand using a Mech. If this note is not present and the material has a red background in the replicator window, it can only be produced in the buildings designated for this purpose.

Production planning

If you already know what the material consists of and where it is produced, plan the exact placement and number of buildings needed. This is the biggest challenge in the entire game. You can do this in two ways:

1. Simple building without calculations. Simply put up a certain number of buildings and add more when you don't have enough of a given raw material. The advantage of this solution is that you can simply build without doing any calculations. Unfortunately you will never use 100% of the buildings and raw materials in relation to time.
2. Building ideal production chains - Calculate the exact number of buildings that are needed to produce a given material. This takes into account the number of materials needed and the time required for production. This allows you to build a chain that will consist of the ideal number of buildings needed to produce a specific number of materials.

The first method is a good one to start with, and sometimes to speed up the process it is worth using it.

An example of an ideal chain for a Circuit Board:

One Assembler produces a Circuit Board in 1s. To do this, it needs 2x Iron Ingots and Copper Ingot. So that's how many of these raw materials in a second we need to produce for the Assembler to work efficiently without any interruption.

Iron and Copper bars are produced in furnaces, each at a rate of 1 bar per second. Therefore the ideal production chain is:

1. 2x Arc Smelter with production of Iron Ingot.
2. 1x Arc Smelter with production of Copper Ingot.
3. 1x Assembler with Circuit Board production.

In such a combination, the assembling building will have the perfect number of products delivered every second.

Summary

You already know how to get basic resources, put up buildings and research new technologies. This introduction to the Dyson Sphere Program should be enough for those who are taking their first steps in the game. In the later stages of the game, aim to unlock all of the technologies and upgrades of the Mech. The goal and a kind of storyline of the game is to create the so-called Dyson Sphere - you will unlock this possibility in more advanced technological research. For more information see our other tutorials, have fun!