The Planet Crafter offers players a complicated yet rewarding experience. The game tasks players with terraforming a desolate world using smarts and the resources at their disposal. The straightforward presentation of this mission belies the true challenge of doing so. Terraforming a planet is a long and arduous process that demands much more than a single person and a simple landing pod.
Even the prologue of The Planet Crafter proves to be difficult, despite being a beginner's introduction to the game. It will guide players through many basics of the game but leave them ill-informed of details vital to their survival. Consequently, newbies will find themselves dying often and unable to progress beyond the earlier stages. With beginner tips, however, players will find the prologue much easier.
6 Always Have Oxygen Capsules
The prologue communicates the importance of Oxygen but fails to mention how quickly it runs out. Players will often overestimate the Oxygen they have or the distance they can travel before it runs out. In doing so, players will stray a great span from their base or landing pod, realize they have little Oxygen, and succumb to the lack of air. These needless deaths are avoidable so long as players always have Oxygen Capsules on hand.
Oxygen Capsules are consumable items that will completely refill a player's Oxygen supply. Thus, offering player's a literal second wind, allowing them to travel further and avoid an untimely end. Players can craft Oxygen Capsules using two Cobalt or find them in Storage Chests instead. Regardless, these items prove beneficial, especially during the prologue's earlier stages when Oxygen Tanks — equipment that extends Oxygen capacity — are not as effective.
5 Stock Up On Food And Water
Players begin the prologue with nothing more than some Space Food and a Water Bottle. While this may suffice for a couple of days, players will eventually need to find or make more food and water. Gathering these resources is relatively simple, to the extent that players refrain from stocking up. Instead, they allocate time to acquiring other resources, and when the moment arises, they find themselves with inadequate food and water.
Players should stockpile food and water to ensure that they never have this problem. Doing so requires time and effort initially but becomes much less demanding as players progress. Eventually, players will acquire advanced machinery capable of producing troves of food and water. Players should always confirm that they have a surplus of these resources, especially when they venture far from their base or landing pod.
4 Build A Base Somewhere High
One of the first and most exciting things that players will do is build a base. They will find a location that suits their preferences and begin getting to work. This base will likely grow and expand, becoming the foundation of a player's terraformation efforts. However, as they progress through the game, players that built their bases too low will soon acknowledge their mistake. The last thing that players consider when making a base is elevation.
Nevertheless, this factor is more important than players realize, as a planet will eventually develop lakes. When a world reaches the Lakes Terraformation Stage, large bodies of water will begin to form. Bases built on lower regions of a planet will become flooded, and everything within will cease to function. Players should preemptively build their bases somewhere high to avoid this problem entirely.
3 Build Outposts Throughout The Planet
A player's base is where they spend most of their time and do most of their work. This location is where many of a player's most valuable devices and resources will be. For this reason, there seems to be little incentive for building other structures beyond their base. However, having locations or outposts outside of a base proves beneficial, as they offer players a place to perform various functions.
There should be numerous outposts throughout a planet, especially in regions distant from a base. Players must equip these locations with essentials such as a Craft Station, Food Grower, Water Collector, etc. Chiefly, anything that a player may need while out exploring. Outposts will allow players to venture further without a need for returning to their base. Thus, saving them valuable time and effort while ensuring easy access to practical amenities.
2 Take Advantage Of Meteor Showers
Throughout a playthrough, players will experience their fair share of meteor showers. These are celestial events where cosmic debris falls from the sky in a violent display. Players are often taken aback by the sheer chaos and destruction resulting from meteor showers. Thus, causing them to retreat to the nearest shelter and await the end of these catastrophic happenings.
In truth, meteor showers are not as detrimental as they seem. The disastrous nature of these events belies the benefits that they offer. When a meteor impacts the ground, it shatters into pieces of rock and ore, including valuable minerals such as Iridium, Uranium, and Osmium. Meteor showers are an effective and renewable source of precious resources that players should take advantage of.
1 Take Things Slow
The Planet Crafter is a game that requires a great deal of time and effort to play. After all, the terraformation of a planet is not something that happens within a short period. Despite this, many players feel the need to power through the game as quickly as possible. Doing so and rushing through The Planet Crafter will sully the experience and cause players to make grievous mistakes.
These errors often involve poor resource management, ineffective base planning, and unproductive terraformation. Such blunders will prove more costly than players initially realize. Making these mistakes will deter players and ultimately slow their progression. Thus, having the opposite effect of what these impatient players intended. They should instead take their time and enjoy the experience.
The Planet Crafter is available now on PC.