Basic Automation

Lore & Background

In the early days of a colony, every single air exchange is a manual act. A colonist walks to a valve, pulls the lever, watches the pressure gauge, then walks to the next one. It works, but it is exhausting, and the human body was never designed to be a thermostat. The engineers and tinkerers among the colonists recognized that the logic governing when a valve should open or a door should seal was simple enough to encode into a small mechanical circuit. Basic Automation is the fruit of that realization: a modest collection of sensor-and-actuator modules that can be bolted onto existing machine housings to replace the manual interface with an automatic one.

The tech does not create new machines from scratch. Rather, it provides the blueprints for the automated variants of the three most commonly operated devices in a small colony—valves, doors, and fans. Each automated version retains the same core function as its manual predecessor but adds a small control panel where the colonist sets a target condition (a pressure threshold, a temperature differential, a flow rate) and the machine handles the rest. The colonist no longer needs to be present, no longer needs to remember which valve is open, no longer needs to sprint across the base at 2 a.m. because a door is stuck shut and the oxygen is bleeding out.

For a species that has spent millennia building ever more complex automata, Basic Automation is almost quaint. But in the context of a colony struggling to survive in a hostile, oxygen-starved environment, it is the difference between a manageable outpost and a slow-motion disaster. Fans love the moment a new colonist researches this tech and immediately replaces every manual valve in the base, feeling the colony finally start to breathe on its own.

In Their Own Story

The alarm had been going for six seconds when Mira's boot hit the floor. Six seconds. She could count them because she'd been counting them in her sleep, half-dreaming of the red glow on the pressure gauge in Sector 4. The manual valve at the junction had been stuck—she'd felt it grinding last shift, that gritty resistance in the lever that meant the seal was degrading. She'd told herself she'd fix it tomorrow. There was no tomorrow. The oxygen readout on her wrist unit was already climbing into the yellow.

She ran. Corridor, junction, the valve housing. Her fingers found the lever, wrenched it open, and the hiss of pressurized air flooded back into the loop. She stood there, chest heaving, grease on her palms, and thought: *never again.*

Two weeks later, the research terminal chimed. Basic Automation. She read the blueprint for the Auto-Valve twice, then walked the length of the base replacing every single manual lever with a little sensor panel. She set the thresholds, watched the first one click open on its own as the pressure dropped, and leaned against the wall, smiling at the small green light that meant the colony was breathing without her.

Reader's Guide

Basic Automation is a single research tech that unlocks three blueprints. All three are automated replacements for their manual counterparts and function identically except that they operate based on a set condition rather than a colonist's hand.

**Auto-Valve** – Replaces the manual Valve. Opens or closes automatically based on a pressure differential you set. Essential for regulating gas flow between chambers without constant supervision.

**Auto-Door** – Replaces the manual Door. Opens or closes based on a pressure or temperature differential. Keeps your atmosphere sealed while allowing controlled exchange, and prevents the classic disaster of a colonist accidentally leaving a door open.

**Auto-Fan** – Replaces the manual Fan. Blows air automatically when a temperature or pressure threshold is met. Lets you set up passive air circulation loops that run themselves, which is critical once your base grows beyond what one colonist can manually manage.

All three are Tier 1 automation. They do not require any other automation techs and can be built as soon as the blueprint is researched. They consume the same power as their manual counterparts (fans and valves use a small amount of power; doors are passive). The key design choice is the threshold: set it too tight and the machine will cycle constantly, wasting power; set it too loose and you lose fine control. Finding the sweet spot is part of the fun.

Did You Know?

• The automated machines unlocked by Basic Automation use the same core mechanical components as their manual versions; the tech essentially adds a sensor-and-actuator module rather than redesigning the machine from scratc
• In the early game, before Basic Automation is researched, managing a multi-room atmosphere is almost entirely manual, which is why many players describe the moment they unlock this tech as the first 'real' relief in the
• Auto-Doors and Auto-Valves can be chained together to create complex pressure-regulation loops that require no colonist interaction once configured, a technique experienced players use to build fully self-sustaining air
• The research for Basic Automation is one of the earliest automation options available, positioning it as a foundational tech that other, more advanced automation systems build upon.