Buildings are the backbone of every planet. Each building has levels, and every level costs more and takes longer, but has a stronger effect. Unlike research, a building only works on the planet where it stands, so every colony grows its own set.
The buildings at a glance
- Production: Ferrite Mine, Crystal Refinery and Helion Extractor produce resources. The Fusion Core supplies the energy they need (see Economy).
- Storage Vault: raises the storage capacity for all three resources.
- Assembly Works: construction drones that make every building on this planet faster.
- Research Lab: unlocks research and speeds it up (see Research).
- Shipyard: builds ships and planetary defenses. Higher levels unlock larger hulls (see Shipyard and defense).
- Fleet Command: adds one fleet slot per level.
- Habitat Ring: orbital living space that adds five building fields per level.
Requirements
Some buildings need others first, always on the same planet:
- Shipyard needs Assembly Works level 2.
- Fleet Command needs Shipyard level 2.
- Habitat Ring needs Assembly Works level 4 and the research Energy Systems level 3.
If something is still locked, its card shows exactly which levels are missing.
Costs and build times
Every level costs more than the last. The mines and the Fusion Core grow by a factor of 1.5 per level, the Crystal Refinery by 1.6, and all other buildings double their price with each level.
The build time depends on the ferrite and crystal in the cost; helion does not make a building take longer. The Assembly Works speeds up construction: with level 1 you build twice as fast as without it, with level 3 four times as fast. All build times scale with the universe speed.
One construction at a time
Each planet builds one building at a time. Every colony has its own construction slot, so several planets can build in parallel. Construction finishes while you are offline, too. You can cancel a running construction and get the full cost back.
Each card shows what the next level changes on this planet, what it costs and, if you lack resources, when you can afford it.
Building fields
Every building level occupies one field, and a planet only has a limited number of them. Temperate and arid worlds in the middle orbits offer the most space, usually between 150 and 220 fields. Hot inner worlds, gas worlds and frozen worlds usually have between 95 and 165.
When all fields are used, you cannot start a new level. The Habitat Ring is the way out: each level adds five fields. It occupies one field itself, so every level still gains you four.
Tips
- Your first steps: Ferrite Mine 2, Fusion Core 2, Research Lab 1 and your first ship.
- Build the Assembly Works early. Every level speeds up everything you build on that planet afterwards.
- Do not let the construction slot sit idle. A short upgrade before you log off is better than nothing.
- Use colonies with many fields as your industrial centres and keep small planets for production.