Surviving in The Alters is not easy, but luckily, the planet is teeming with many different materials that players can use to make handy items. These crafted items will help you get through the tough days and maybe, just maybe, help you escape the planet before sunrise.
The Alters: How Many Rapidium Arks Should You Build?
Building Rapidium Arks is one of the main tasks for Jan Dolski and the Project Dolly space mission, but how many of them do players need to build?
When you first start playing The Alters, you will be able to find early materials like Metals easily. But pretty soon, players will realize that they need something better to find more resources. That’s where the scanner comes in. The scanner helps you get resource deposits, and you’ll need to build it in the early hours during the Organics Matter mission. So, how do you make a scanner, and how do you actually use it? This guide is here to help.
How to Get a Scanner in The Alters
To get a Scanner, you will need to craft it yourself. Most crafting happens in the Workshop module, so if you haven’t unlocked that yet, that’s your first step.
Fans will need to head over to the Command Center and use the left terminal to open the build menu. From there, you can unlock the Workshop. It will cost you 40 Metals, which you can find pretty easily while exploring. Once you’ve got enough, build the Workshop and add it to your base.
Once you’ve got the Workshop set up, building the Scanner is easy. Go to the Workshop Queue on the left and add the Scanner to the list. After that, interact with the Workbench to start crafting it. You only need 20 Metals to make it.
How to Use a Scanner in The Alters
The Scanner helps you find deep resource spots that you can’t see by yourself. To use it, first look for areas with blue smoke. This is how you can tell there’s a deposit nearby. Once players find one, they’ll need to equip the Scanner and place probes around the area.
Make sure to connect the probes and make a closed shape.
When you place and connect the probes, you will start to see where the resources are underground. The bright red color indicates the best part of a deposit. If there’s no red, pick up your probes and try again in a different spot.
Once The Alters players have found a deposit, they’ll need to place a Mining Outpost to start collecting the resources. You can craft one in the Workshop using 30 Metals. And, just to quickly mention, you also have to connect the outpost to your base. You’ll need Pylons for that, and those also cost 30 Metals to craft in the Workshop.
The Alters
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 86 /100 Critics Rec: 94%
- Released
- June 13, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Use of Drugs and Alcohol, Violence
- Developer(s)
- 11 Bit Studios
- Publisher(s)
- 11 Bit Studios
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- PC Release Date
- June 13, 2025
- Xbox Series X|S Release Date
- June 13, 2025
- PS5 Release Date
- June 13, 2025
- Genre(s)
- Survival, Strategy, Management
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
