In recent years, the gaming community has been disappointed with triple AAA games since they have not delivered what they initially promised. Companies like DICE and EA have received severe criticism for Battlefield 2042 since it seems they have left a skeleton crew to clean up the game's many errors. And because of all the mishaps these triple AAA games have received, some gamers have started to play more indie games, which tend to be cheaper and have fewer game-breaking bugs.
One indie game that players enjoy is that of Dyson Sphere Program, a factory simulation game similar to Factorio that lets players create and manage planet-wide factories. But, players that wish to operate a successful factory will need to learn some tips before jumping into Dyson Sphere Program since its game mechanics aren't always easy to understand.
8 Learn To Use God View Mode
As players will notice, their view is limited to that of their mech, which isn't too much of an issue during the early phases but will quickly become a burden wherever they want to build a bigger factory. Fortunately, Youthcat Studio allows players to view their mech from overhead, widening their field of view.
Players can change their Building View Mode by going to their Settings tab, then Gameplay, and setting their Building View to God Mode. Once enabled, fans can move the camera around without being restricted to the mech. But, players should keep in mind that the placement distance remains the same regardless of the field of view.
7 Focus On Your Mech Energy Level
One aspect of Dyson Sphere Program that makes it stand out from other games like Factorio (where learning to use construction bots is essential) is that players must learn to manage their mech's energy levels. Every action players take in Dyson Sphere Program will consume a power charge, and if players don't recharge it often, their mech will power off.
Players must have a steady fuel source (coal, wood, or plant-based items) to keep their mech charged. The good news is that planets have plenty of these resources, so players will not have to spend too much time searching for them.
6 Use Hotkeys
As with other simulation games, there are numerous actions players will need to perform quite frequently, which is why players should learn to use hotkeys. By learning the basic hotkeys, players can build and control their factories without having to click and drag so much, especially when they're further into the game.
For starters, players should learn to navigate the map with WASD and use their mouse to mine or build objects. Furthermore, by pressing M, players can open the planet map allowing them to navigate to different areas of the planet quickly. But, of course, players can remap the hotkeys if they aren't comfortable with the default ones by going to the Settings menu and hotkeys tab.
5 Automate Production
The main goal of most simulation building games like RimWorld or Tropico is to automate certain tedious tasks. Likewise, Dyson Sphere Program players will want to automate at the very least basic components since, if not, they'll have to manually construct everything, which is time-consuming. So, players do well in first building factories that will automate circuit boards, magnetic coils, magnets, and gears.
Once the player builds these automated factories, they should set up a basic storage area where they can easily access it whenever needed. Players can also create automated smelters, which turn ores into ingots, a primary crafting ingredient for most components.
4 Understand the Research Tree
Like Factorio, Dyson Sphere Program has an intricate Research Tree that players will need to learn to use if they want to optimize their factories. Apart from the main Building Research Tab, players will also have access to Exploration and Mecha Research trees, but for the most part, players should focus on the building tree first.
Even though players have complete freedom of choosing which research branch to focus on, players should prioritize some research. For example, Automatic Metallurgy (Tier 2 Research) is essential for building an automated smelter, while Polymer Chemical Engineering (Tier 5 Research) lets players create Organic Crystal, needed for different building components.
3 Make Use of the Starter Planet
In Dyson Sphere Program, players not only have access to a giant planet but can later travel to other planets (making it a unique and immersive simulation game) to expand their factory empire. And because of that, players should take full advantage of their starter planet since it gives them the freedom to build and experiment with their factories.
So, an essential tip for new players is not to rush to travel to other planets since the starter planet usually has everything they need to understand the game's mechanics. Moreover, players can cover the planet with automated factories, so once they move onto the next planet, they'll still receive a steady income of materials.
2 Create Efficient Factories
Even though most players avoid trying to micro-manage every aspect of Dyson Sphere Program, players will want to have the correct throughput (how many units the factory can process in a given amount of time) of a factory. For example, a conveyor belt can carry a maximum of 6 items while a mining component will mine 0.5 ore per second, so players can figure out the best layout to make the factory efficient.
Of course, players will also need to consider if the conveyor belt has a sorter (sorts the different materials) since that can affect the total throughput. Most importantly, players should strive to make all factories that mine/create basic elements efficient since that'll make the building and crafting process much faster.
1 Stack As Much As Possible
As players will quickly notice, there will be a time when they can no longer place down factory parts since the planet will be filled with them. Players can further increase a factory's throughout without taking up space by vertically placing conveyor belts.
Players can place a conveyor belt on top of another using arrow keys (up or down). Of course, players will need to ensure that they have enough storage units set up since they'll quickly fill up. Moreover, players can create compact factories by stacking them, giving them more space to build other factories.
Dyson Sphere Program is available now for Microsoft Windows.