Basic Engineering

Lore & Background

When the crew of the colony ship first sets foot on the new world, their survival depends on more than just oxygen and water. The planet's atmosphere is toxic, its water is contaminated, and the only reliable energy source within reach is coal. Basic Engineering is the knowledge that transforms raw survival into structured habitation: the understanding that a coal-fired generator can charge a battery, that a pump can lift water against gravity, and that sealed pipes and ducts can carry life-sustaining fluids and gases from one room to another.

The research itself is modest—any Oxi with a basic workbench can knock it out in a short session—but the implications are enormous. Every subsequent tier of engineering, every advanced reactor, every atmospheric processor, builds on the principles codified here. In the colony's oral history, the first Basic Battery is often treated as a rite of passage: the moment the crew stops being stranded survivors and becomes engineers.

Fans of the game often note the quiet elegance of this design choice. Rather than dumping a flood of machines on the player, the game asks them to think about power flow, fluid pressure, and gas circulation from day one. Basic Engineering is, in spirit, the game's thesis: a colony is not a place you arrive at, but a system you build, one pipe at a time.

In Their Own Story

The workbench hummed with a low, satisfied buzz as Marnie slotted the last schematic into place. Around her, the dim storage room smelled of coal dust and recycled air, the kind of stale tang that meant the filters hadn't been upgraded yet. She wiped her hands on her overalls and stared at the blueprint glowing on the small screen: a Basic Battery, squat and unglamorous, sitting next to a Coal Generator that looked like a brick with a chimney.

"It's just a box," she muttered, half to herself, half to the Oxi hunched over a half-eaten ration in the corner. "A box that stores electricity. A box that makes it."

The other Oxi shrugged a broad shoulder. "And a pipe. And a pump. And a duct. You said so yourself—four boxes and a tube and we stop dying."

Marnie grinned, picked up her wrench, and headed for the construction site. Outside, the toxic purple sky churned, indifferent. Inside, for the first time, something hummed with purpose.

Reader's Guide

Basic Engineering (Tier 1) unlocks the following blueprints, grouped by system:

Power: - Basic Battery — Stores generated electricity for later use; the colony's first energy buffer. - Basic Generator (Coal) — Burns coal to produce electricity; the simplest power source available.

Fluid Transport: - Basic Pipe — Carries liquids (water, fuel) between machines and rooms; the backbone of liquid infrastructure. - Basic Pump — Moves liquids and gases against pressure, enabling vertical transport and circulation loops.

Gas Transport: - Basic Duct — Carries breathable air and other gases between rooms; essential for distributing oxygen.

Lighting: - Basic Light — Provides illumination to a room, enabling Oxi to work in dark areas without a penalty.

All of these are single-purpose, low-power machines. They do not require exotic materials and can be built with basic resources gathered early in the game. Together, they form the minimum viable infrastructure: generate power, store it, move water, move air, and see where you're working. More advanced versions of each appear in Tier 2 and Tier 3 Engineering nodes, but the principles established here remain the same throughout the game.

Did You Know?

• Basic Engineering is one of only three research nodes available at the very start of a new colony, making it a mandatory first step for any player who wants to build beyond bare survival.
• The Basic Pump is the single most-researched machine in the community's early-game guides, because it is the only way to move liquids vertically and is required before any water reclamation loop can function.
• Because Basic Engineering has no prerequisites, players can complete it in the first few minutes of a colony, making it the fastest research node in the entire tree to finish.