Buildings

Buildings always stand on a specific planet and only work there: a mine produces for its own planet, a Development center only speeds up construction on site. Each building level takes up one field, and every upgrade in the build queue reserves its field as soon as you queue it. Once all fields are taken, nothing more can be built until you gain extra fields – for example through premium upgrades or the Interdimensional Transmitter – or downgrade a level. So decide early which planet takes on which role.

Building in practice

The build queue holds five jobs, six with the Construction Commander – who also cuts all build times by 10%. Every job is paid for as soon as you queue it. If you cancel a job, whether it's already running or still waiting, you get 70% of the cost back. If several levels of the same building are queued, you can only cancel the last one. If you're short of resources, the building card shows when you'll be able to build.

With “Downgrade” you take a building down by one level: it costs nothing and refunds nothing, takes about as long as the upgrade to the current level did, and frees up the field again. You can't finish buildings instantly with Urplasma. Some events, however, offer items that cut the running construction job by one hour.

Mines and the Blast furnace need energy. It comes mainly from the Fusion plant and the Thermosolar plant, supplemented by Solar cells and Energy technology. There is no basic income at all: every resource comes from your mines, trading or loot. If there isn't enough energy, all mines are throttled evenly – the Economy page shows the percentage they are still running at. Warehouses matter just as much: once one is full, anything the matching mine produces beyond that is lost. More under Energy and Resources.

What should I build first?

A proven start: upgrade the Fusion plant, Pig iron mine and Kryptonite mine in turns, and soon add the Blast furnace and Spice mine. The Development center pays off early: levels 2 and 3 unlock the Research lab and Weapons factory, and every level shortens all further construction. Then come your first research, your first ships and at least level 1 of the Fleet base, so you can send fleets out and get them to safety. Build warehouses as soon as your mines would fill them overnight. More tips for getting started under Getting Started.

How to read the level tables

Under “Levels at a glance” every building page shows the cost of upgrading to each level, the build time and, depending on the building, production per hour, energy demand or energy produced, storage capacity or the time bonus. Production and energy are total values at that level, not the increase. Use the drop-downs above the table to set your Development center (starting at level 1) and your Microsystem accelerator, and the build times update instantly. For the Spice mine you can also pick the planet temperature.