Summary
- Research unlocks key technologies in The Crust, like the Smelting Furnace for steel and silicon production.
- Power generation efficiency is vital, starting with the upgrade to a Medium Solar Panel for better electricity production.
- Enhance mining efficiency with the Extractor and Regolith Refinery to boost oxide production in The Crust.
The Crust is a real-time production and manufacturing simulator with colony-building aspects that is set on the moon. The player has access to two maps, the surface map where they can build power infrastructure among other things, and the subterranean map where the serious mining takes place, and the moon colonists live.
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As with most strategy games, there is a comprehensive research tree that the player needs to work through, unlocking more advanced technologies and capabilities. Some of these are crucial to getting the best start in a new playthrough of The Crust. Juggling mining and manufacturing research with power generation research is the primary challenge in the early part of the game.
7 Smelting Furnace
For Manufacturing Steel And Silicon
- Takes iron and silicon ore in
- Sends steel and silicon out
The Smelting Furnace is the first manufacturing and processing research that players should unlock in a new game of The Crust. The reason for this is that the Smelting Furnace manufactures two of the key basic materials needed for more advanced structures.
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Both Steel and Silicon are manufactured in the Smelting Furnace. However, keep in mind that a single Smelting Furnace can only manufacture one of these two resources at a time, so it is best to build at least a pair of them in this factory sim.
6 Medium Solar Panel
Upgrade Over The Small Solar Panel
- Needed for better power efficiency
- Other options exist in the late game
The Small Solar Panel is automatically unlocked at the start of a new playthrough of The Crust. However, it leaves much to be desired. The amount of electricity generated compared to the space it takes up is quite poor.
Unlocking the Medium Solar Panel early on in the game simply makes sense, as it allows the player to make the most efficient use of map space for building a solar array. Of course, later in the game, there are more advanced power generation options, but until this stage, Medium Solar Panels will be a staple power generation structure in The Crust.
5 Large Battery
More Efficient Power Storage
- More power is stored for space used
- Consider building a Power Buffer
The Large Battery is an efficient way to store power that has been generated in the day by Solar Panels. The Small Battery can be used at the start of a playthrough of The Crust, but these are not the most efficient use of building space. Large Batteries are much better in this regard.
It is worth unlocking the Large Battery as soon as possible, but not until after the Medium Solar Panel research has been completed. The combination of Medium Solar Panels and Large Batteries can take the player all the way through to the late game, when other power generation options become available.
4 Extractor
Faster Regolith Oxide Mining
- Speeds up Regolith mining speed
- Used to feed Regolith refinery
At the very start of a playthrough of The Crust in Sandbox Mode, the player will need to rely on basic mining drones to dig up Regolith. Regolith is used to manufacture Smart Concrete, which is needed to construct most structures. However, this is a fairly inefficient way to mine Regolith.
Unlocking the Extractor upgrades the player’s ability to mine Regolith. This structure is placed on the subterranean map, and starts deep core mining for Regolith. This produces the material much faster than using mining drones to simply dig up areas of the map.
3 Regolith Refinery
Turns Regolith Into Oxide
- Produces iron, silicon, titanium, and aluminum oxide
- Can only produce one oxide type at a time
Although it is possible to dig up both Iron and Silicon directly from resource nodes using mining drones, this is only really useful early on in The Crust. A much more efficient and effective way to gain access to four of the common oxides needed, Iron, Silicon, Titanium, and Aluminum Oxide, is to unlock the Regolith Refinery.
Note though, that the Regolith Refinery can only convert Regolith to one of the four types of oxide at a time. Therefore, it may be smart to build a few of them once the research has been completed, depending on how much power is available.
2 Living Quarters
Unlocks Colonist Hiring Market
- Cannot hire new colonists without this research
- Can only be built on the subterranean map
Once a player has set up basic power generation, Regolith moon mining, and the manufacturing of Smart Concrete, Steel, and Silicon, they need to think about how to tweak production to make it faster and more efficient. One way to increase productivity is the recruitment of colonists, who can be sent to operate machinery and facilities to boost production.
Furthermore, there are some facilities that require an operator as standard to even function. Therefore, the player needs to unlock the Colonist Hring Market research before they can start building a moon base and populating it with colonists.
1 License For Tender System
Unlocks Trading System
- View and accept trade contracts
- Generate income
Generating income from sales of produced goofs is one of the goals when playing The Crust. However, trade contracts need to be established before this can be done. This means unlocking the License for Tender System so that the trading sim aspect of the game becomes available.
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Once researched, the player can then view and negotiate production and manufacturing contracts with various companies and factions in the game. If this is done early on, the player can establish simple contracts for basic resources, rather than waiting until later in the game, and start generating some income sooner.
The Crust
- Released
- July 15, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- VEOM Studio
- Platform(s)
- PC
- Genre(s)
- Strategy, Simulation, Base Building
