Satisfactory can feel a little overwhelming at first. Not to worry, in this post, we’ve put together a few basic tips which should help you out in the start of the game.
At the time of writing this guide, Satisfactory was in its early access. For that reason, there may be a few things different in this guide compared to your own game depending on future updates. If you’re interested, we’ve covered many more Satisfactory Guides here at PwrDown!
Rotate Machines
It’s important to get the rotation of your machines in Satisfactory right. That’s because most machines have two slots, an input and an output. Orange indicates the input slot.
For example, you might have an Iron Miner going into the input slot of a smelter. Then from the output slot, the minerals will move to storage. Using your scroll wheel, you can precisely rotate objects clockwise or anti-clockwise.
Destroy Machines
If you place an item down in an incorrect place, or find a new base location, you can easily pick up all your machines. You can do this by pressing F, and selecting each machine you want to remove, including the Hub.
This doesn’t actually pickup machines. Instead, it destroys/dismantles them. All the components used to create those machines, as well as their inventory will be returned to you, so you don’t lose out on anything.
Use Mods
If there’s something you don’t like about Satisfactory, or wish there was a mechanic that doesn’t exist yet, chances are you can download it as a mod. Already, there are thousands of mods available for the game, and they can be installed with just a few clicks.
Powering Off Machines
At the start of Satisfactory, it can be quite hard to keep on top of fuel. Even if your machines aren’t running, as long as they’re powered, they’ll consume small amounts of fuel. Each machine that requires fuel has an off switch inside its interface. You can also switch off the generators to power off every machine that’s connected at once.
Collect Free Food
There are bushes and trees growing all throughout the world which can provide you with food. Even though there’s no hunger or thirst in the game, you will need to keep on top of your health. You can see your health in Satisfactory in the bottom left corner of the screen. Eat the food you collect to replenish it.
Snapping
When placing structures and machines, you can hold down the CTRL key to enable snapping. This will line your machines up, keeping your factory neat. It will also make lining up conveyor belts a much simpler task.
Give Yourself Space
You’re not limited with the amount of space you have in Satisfactory. You should try and keep some free space between structures for later on if you need to add more machines or make changes to your transport system. Otherwise, you’ll have to recreate your entire factory once you unlock new machines.
Explore
You aren’t supposed to stick in that one area and build your factory. A big part of the game is to explore the world around you. You can find new ores which provide upgrades to your characters, crashed ships to learn alternate recipes and much more.
