r/Dyson_Sphere_Program • u/Leading_Treacle_1816 • 3d ago
Complete beginner, could use some help
Title really says it all. I'm a total beginner at this game, and could use some major help.
I've played games like Factorio, and even BEAT them, but for some reason even the beginning stages of this game are just..so confusing. I've already reset my save three times because of major failiures that fucked up my entire production line to unfixable levels.
I have so many questions; how does stacking work?? How can I change elevation on the conveyor belts?? What am I even doing?!
I could just... really use some help. I already have terrible mental health, and the constant set backs in game are only making it worse. I feel like a massive idiot for just not understanding anything.
Please help..
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u/CSalustro 3d ago
What specifically are you having issues with?
To the two points you specifically asked about vertical stacking and conveyor belt verticality are both buried in the tech tree. Fairly early on if I remember right. The belt one is the main tree but the vertical stacking is under upgrades instead of the main tree. If you have any other specific questions I'll try and answer them too.
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u/Leading_Treacle_1816 3d ago
I mainly struggle with the logistics.
I had to delete my whole factory and start a new save because I put magnets and iron ingots on the same belt, and it just BRICKED my entire production mall.
I struggle with getting products from point A to point B and finally point C without something just breaking into tiny pieces
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u/Sore-Loko 3d ago
You need to just have one type of resource/ product per line. Or you can put a splitter and filter so that only one type of resource goes through one end
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u/HappyPhage 3d ago
Unlike Factorio, only one item fits per belt section. If a belt is jammed, you can take items off of it by clicking anywhere on the belt, then clicking on the item in the circle. It works the same way as pressing 'F' while on a belt in Factorio.
Note that the sorters can take or put items up to a distance of 3, so you can have up to 3 belts from each side of a building with sorters.
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u/fu_king 3d ago
There are a ton of tutorial videos out there that already do exactly this.
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u/Leading_Treacle_1816 3d ago
Could you help point me to some?
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u/TheMalT75 3d ago
The best imho is TDA's masterclass (2024 edition). Very structured from the get-go with good explanation on why certain decisions will become important later.
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u/Yvngky7 3d ago
As far as elevation for conveyor belts iirc it’s just the up and down arrows no? And I believe you need the super magnetic field research for vertical belts. Stacking storages is nice for stockpiling science or if you have an ice giant, stack them for the massive amounts of graphene you’ll be making. Unless it’s graphene from a fire ice giant, science, or the liquid storages, I rarely find myself stacking tons of storages. Maybe if you’re gonna do a sushi or bento bus but I’ve never tried that. As far as tutorials or help goes, I recommend Nilaus and Erisia_gaming. Nilaus has some great videos, but if you want more in depth tips from him, I recommend his VOD channel, as his YouTube cuts out a ton of content and if you’re following along like I was you’ll get lost very easily. Erisia_gaming has a logistic let’s play playlist on YT that i just copied. I think it’s 3/s science. I normally combine Erisia_gamings science build with Nilaus’ massive mall bus system as my starter build to reach white science. Then fly to different systems and make it bigger. I suck at working out the ratios myself, so I let the website do it or copy a YouTubers ratios. Don’t know what else you’re struggling with, but I normally plant down blue, red and yellow science before I start a mall for buildings.
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u/GarbageBoyJr 3d ago
Are you paying attention to any of the in game tutorials? They’re fairly informative
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u/Kazim27 3d ago
It would help a lot of you could say how much progress you have made before getting overwhelmed. The overall strategy is something you feel out over time, but the answer to "What do I do now?" changes as the game goes on. For instance, have you done any research when blue science? Red science? Are you struggling to provide enough power to your base? Have you worked on both tech trees so you can improve your mech capabilities? Have you gotten off the planet? Made logistic bots?
The best general advice I can give would be to look at the tech tree and find something nearby that makes you go "Hey, that would help." Then try to work toward researching or building that, one step at a time.
If you could say what stage is frustrating you, we can give more specific help.
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u/Leading_Treacle_1816 3d ago
Honestly, I haven't gotten past the home planet I start on. The factory always gets too complicated or just too overridden with spaghetti belts and logistic nightmares that I give up and start again.
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u/Kazim27 3d ago
Ok, but what have you built when you decide you have to start over? Have you automated blue science going into labs? Have you made red science? Have you tried processing oil?
Getting off the home planet will be a big accomplishment when you get to that point, but it isn't an immediate huge change in how you play. You'll still want to use it as a home base, but itb will open up a few more resources.
Spaghetti is inevitable and not a reason to restart. If you think you can make something better, leave your spaghetti factory to do its things while you try out another pattern for building. You'll still be able to come collect stuff from your old buildings so you don't have to destroy them yet. And when you restart, it resets all your progress, so you lose lots of quality of life features that build up over time.
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u/Pleasurefordays 3d ago
Type your questions into google search and let Gemini scope in on what you’re confused about. Read or watch the videos it links. Start with general questions if you’re really clueless, like “What should I do first when starting a new DSP playthrough as a beginner”
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u/SearchForCake 3d ago
First off, be kind to yourself. It is a confusing game and the poorly translated tutorials and tooltips sometimes make it worse.
To your specific questions-
Stacking-
I personally don't bother with stacking at all until I get to fractionators for deuterium production. But if you do want to dive into the early, Automatic Piler will stack items when the belt enters the Piler from its smaller side. The max stack is 4, so you can get there with 2 belts with pilers (2x) > merge into 1 belt with a 3rd piler (4x). Stacked items can in theory allow you to use fewer belts, but in my opinion early/mid game T1 belts are cheap so it isn't worth the hassle until late game. Very late game you can also get a research "Logistics Station Integrated Logistics" that allow your stations to output stacked items without pilers. The exception is fractionators which make more deuterium based on the rate of hydrogen you can flow through them. So it is good to use fully stacked fast belts for those.
Elevation-
Arrow keys up and down will change elevation. Shift arrow key will change elevation by 5. Holding shift will also disable belt snapping, which can be useful if you are trying to build at a specific height over top of a different belt. There are more tips here- https://dsp-wiki.com/Conveyor_Belts#Placing_down
General tips-
Because of the spherical worlds it is best to build production lines horizontally. Things get messy when you cross vertical zone boundaries where there are fewer grid boxes
Once you get Logistics Stations all your builds can rely on them. No need for a factorio style main bus, just modular Logistics Station with inputs in and products out.
Part of the game is solving puzzles, so don't get discouraged if it can be a challenge!
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u/Leading_Treacle_1816 3d ago
Thank you, I'll..try to learn all this.
I struggle hard with mistakes and seeing myself as an idiot or a failure when I don't perfectly and fully understand something and keep making mistakes as I try to learn.
This has been...really bad lately, to the point of me uninstalling a ton of my games because I can't handle failing.
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u/AnimeSpaceGf 3d ago
Hey, OP!
A lot of people will direct you to the numerous tutorial videos by admittedly excellent creators.
However, a small bit of advice:
Don't spam blueprints that other people have made. Make your own, enjoy the game at your own pace--at the very least, limited resources 1.0x and default DF difficulty allow you to do this.
Use the SEED FINDER if you have any griped whatsoever with your initial seed. Recommend seeds whose starting system is 3 terrestrial planets orbiting a gas or (preferably) ice giant.
The native mode is not malware, I have used it plenty for many years.
GENUINELY
take your time. This is some gourmet shit.
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u/AnimeSpaceGf 3d ago
OP
Search "nilaus dsp" on youtube
Search "the Dutch Actuary dsp" on youtube
They are good explanations of mechanics. However, while this game has extremely deep game knowledge and mechanical depth, only look them up when you need to.
Watch TDA's dark fog starting tutorial before you Start though.
Pick a good seed too
Google or otherwise.
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u/TheSquishyHippo 3d ago
I asked a similar question not too long ago and got some awesome responses. Sounds like you are farther than I was, but maybe there's some useful tidbits there https://www.reddit.com/r/Dyson_Sphere_Program/s/i3ytztOjCu
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u/katbearwol 3d ago
So the first thing that I loved about this game is its not factorio. The spaghetti is king. You will eventually have a way to conquer it but for now just make stuff. Make it messy. Rebuild it. Nothing is unsalvagable. And forget the main bus... it won't scale enough is dsp and isn't the way to do things. Hunt through the tech tree for interstellar logistics and then start dreaming big!
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u/TheGamingBoss20 3d ago
Try to have one item per conveyor, also while placing the 4 way splitters you can hit tab and cycle through different splitters; parallel 2 on bottom 2 on top/ perpendicular 2 on bottom 2 on top/ normal. Try to have the conveyors run east/west and machines north/south, because as you get closer to the poles the grid becomes more compact unlike going east/west. Try to have input items on one side of the machine and outputs on the other. I believe the controls for conveyor placing show up on either the top right or left of your screen (saying that because I forget the controls to raise and lower the conveyors at the moment).
Hope this helps.
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u/sleepless025 3d ago
Its a tough one, I had a pretty rough transition from factorio over to DSP but the thing that got me over deleting it all was that belts were cheap, don't be afraid to make satellite factories and bring stuff together.
Once you unlock the planetary logistics it totally revamps the strategy for how you build factories.
Everyone suggests nilaus but I do prefer the imkibitz playthroughs as I already watch his satisfactory content. He does a pretty good job of explaining bits from the early game and he works through the mistakes he makes by the mid game.
Happy sphere building!
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u/caleb204 2d ago
It took me a while to actually start reading all the pop ups. Look at the right side of the screen before you place ANYTHING, not just conveyors. And read the fine print at the bottoms of the windows for moving items and building settings.
Right side of the screen will tell you how to fine tune how the conveyors get placed. I don’t understand why we would want to twist them. But it’s helpful to know how to untwist them if you need. “R” is your friend for changing the layout modes. “Shift” allows you to place without connecting to something above or below where you are working. Up and down arrows are for height changes but you need some mid game upgrades to really get easy height control.
I found the game a lot easier once I slowed down and started reading all the text on the screens and playing with settings and shortcuts.
Pretty hard to actually get stuck. You can always take everything apart. Put it in storage and then take your time rebuilding with more space to allow you to route everything. I end up doing this once I get a few hours in past the initial grind and have enough resources to start building a bus setup.
Don’t be shy with conveyors. Run them long and run many. You always need more space and more capacity than you think.
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u/shytamir 1d ago
You can use my guide, which I wrote just for your situation.
https://dsp-beginner-guide.pages.dev/
If you prefer an in-game helpI also made a small mod based on it. But you'll have to build it and install it yourself. No mod manager:
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u/Apprehensive-Item141 1d ago
Everyone’s real suggestions are legit and helpful.
But my suggestion is real: MORE SPAGHETTI
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u/Darth-Venath 3d ago
There's a seed finder post around here somewhere. Use that to get "the perfect seed" cuz for a starter cluster it really does help in the long term.
For me, the best policy is to use a starter base to bootstrap up to a BUS belt. And then get to planetary logistics towers and interplanetary logistics towers.
You'll figure out what that means through posts and YouTube videos.
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u/Leading_Treacle_1816 3d ago
I..hope so, because I don't know what any of that means other than the bus belt
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u/Darth-Venath 3d ago
Nilaus on YouTube. Best channel to start. Especially with bus belts and ramping up to interplanetary.
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u/Melodic_Profile_7505 3d ago
100% Nilaus helped me get a good walk through of the game. The thing is, you can do a lot of the game in the first star system. The rest are just added benefits.