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Guide's mission
TLDR: The guide aims to help building late game bases, providing a theory crafting baseline.
Mostly this guide is made for my own use, as I'm learning the game and preparing myself for the very-late-game base, sustaining for thousands of in-game years.
The guide does not rather insists on how exactly you should be building your settlement. It aims for all the neat picky moments, which you may forget about, when planning to build something.
As the game has large amount of recipes and side products, it's very hard to grasp it all in one go, when planning. Accounting for future demand rates of certain materials obligates you to know, what difficulties there are, what technologies and mechanics exist.
Why I've chosen this wiki to be a location for the guide?
- I can easily link all the content (like icons) with convenient templates, and those link will always lead to correct info and recipes.
- Accessibility, not only for me, but for other players.
- I like site's style and formatting a lot more than a simple Google document.
Introduction to the late game
Simply put, the single most important target of the late game base can be described as "infinite sustainability".
Is this a reachable target at any cost? The answer is yes. Is this a reachable target without technological downgrades (using more basic buildings or production chains)? Answer is also yes.
Finished late game base must meet the following requirements:
- All the technologies are researched.
- All population demands are met (exceptions are possible, if it's not possible to infinitely sustain some demands).
- Population health is at adequate level.
- There is enough population for all the required jobs.
- Raw resource income is greater than total consumption rate (recycling is fully utilized).
- All production chains are fault-tolerant and as autonomous as possible, for the least micromanagement required (or better none at all).
- Storage notifications are properly set.
Satisfying the above leads to the state of the game, where you can run the base AFK for many hours, without worrying about base degradation.
This in turn allows you to set up infinitely large mining projects, shaping your island of any size to any shape you like. Theoretically, no matter what you start with, you have infinite supply of 
Compost, which turns into Dirt when dumped, so infinite supply of soil for terraforming.
Resource overview in terms of infinite sustainability
No resource is truly infinite on your starting island (except Water and Seawater) for obvious reason: building plane is finite. Some of the maps have larger initial resource quantity, but in theory, they will eventually expire anyways.
It is possible to achieve "infinite sustainability" only if there are external sources of all raw resources needed for meeting requirements, stated in the above paragraph.
Until such time as it is proven otherwise (being able to obtain alternative resource inputs other than mining, at an earlier time) it is better to start your game on the richest map available, even if it is harder. Ultimately, it still matters how physically large the map is, because Rock is not technically infinite (see below).
Infinitely renewable resources and their sources:
- Electricity is obtainable through solar panels with the only cost being game performance. There is also a mechanical provision possible (and may be more convenient), because Steam (High) is also infinite.
- Water is obtainable at any rate through desalination from an also infinite Seawater. World map nodes are infinite, though it is not recommended to waste ships on importing.
- Steam (High) is infinite, because infinite Water can be boiled with either using Uranium Ore, which is infinite through a contract, or fuels, obtained from infinite biological sources.
- Wood is obtainable through Sawmill, which is an infinite node.
- Iron Ore is obtainable through a contract. Sustain consumption is only a fraction of what it is in the midgame, because of recycling.
- Copper Ore is obtainable through a contract. Sustain consumption is only a fraction of what it is in the midgame, because of recycling.
- Coal is obtainable through a contract. World map nodes are finite. Sustain consumption is only a fraction of what it is in the midgame, because of the Arc Furnace II usage, which greatly reduces Coal consumption overall. It is theoretically possible to stop consuming it completely, but only if Wastewater Treatment is not used, as Coal is a component of Filter Media, and Quartz is not smelted. Graphite can be obtained from infinite biological sources.
- Limestone is obtainable through a contract. World map nodes are finite. Concrete Slab consumption is not infinite, so it will be mainly used in other spots like production of Glass, smelting of Iron Ore, production of Fertilizer II.
- Crude Oil is obtainable through a contract. World map nodes are finite. It is theoretically possible to stop consuming it completely. All of the petrochemical final products, originating from Crude Oil can be obtained from infinite biological sources. Though it shall be noted, that Fuel Gas production from biological sources is extremely slow (workforce-demanding), to a point that it may be more efficient to still use Crude Oil, or at least use a contract converting Slag into Sour Water with further processing.
- Gold Ore. is obtainable through a contract. Consumption can be reduced through recycling.
- Quartz. is obtainable through a contract. World map nodes are finite.
Non-renewable resources:
- Rock. Practically it is very hard to run out of it, but it shall be considered, that there is sustained usage present. It is used to produce Sand. Gravel is used in Filter Media production, if Wastewater Treatment is used. You can dig a lot of it underground, developers have confirmed [1] that there is no limit. However, even if you landfill all the possible space and build inside a crater, there is still a soft limit to depth, because of the inward slopes.
- Sand. Only source of the pure product is the island itself, and will eventually run out there, so Rock will be consumed to produce it.
Table of contents
This list expresses distinguishable parts of the base and its industry. Each page contains it's own sub-guide on that topic, whether it's a factory block, facility, router, etc.
- Settlement
- Crop growing
- Food production
- Animal farm
- Water distribution
- Steam generator
- Power plant
- Exhaust treatment
- Wastewater treatment
- Petrochemical plant
- Smelting plant
- Assembly facility
- Port
Links
Author: L32
