Explorables

Explorables are buildings which appear as part of world generation.

Explorable buildings are one of the earliest naturally generating assets available to the player. Bots can interact with an Explorable to "explore" it, presenting the player with ways to access useful resources and components.

Each Explorable is categorized by its parent racial faction. This determines both the methods required to gain access and the loot rewarded for doing so. Access methods include solving puzzles, spending items and using special components.

Explorable Types

Robot Ruins

Robot Explorables are ruined, nonfunctional versions of buildings which appear in the player's Robot faction. When starting a new game, these ruins are a valuable early source of Robotics Datacubes along with other materials and components. There are two challenge segments to most Robot Explorables. One is a puzzle, picked from Nine Clicks or Circuit. The other is an item request, chosen from early game materials such as Crystal Chunks or Metal Plates. Certain ruins may have higher-difficulty puzzles and

Drop Ships

Old Drop Ships appear commonly within the Desert biome. They require no challenges to open, immediately rewarding the player with small amounts of natural and manufactured materials. Available rewards include Metal Ore, Metal Bars, Metal Plates, Reinforced Plates, Energized Plates, High Density Structures, Crystal Powder, Wires, Cables and Laterite Ore. Additionally, anomalous Drop Ships can spawn as part of an Anomaly alert, disappearing if not claimed within a short time. These anomalies frequently reward Robotics Datacubes and a Component (including a single-use Deployer). An intact Drop Ship is disbursed to players at the beginning of a new game, providing useful components including a Small Advanced Turret and a Fabricator. All types of Drop Ship automatically deconstruct themselves once emptied.

Human Buildings

Human Explorables are structures left behind by the previous Human visitors of the world. There are two categories of buildings: Human Bases, which appear in groups of four 3x3 buildings, and the larger Data Complexes which are hidden within the deep Blight. Unike Robot ruins, Human buildings still retain some functionality that can be reactivated. Some of these functions require the building to be hacked into player control. Power Plants supply energy via an integrated Power Cell component, only accessible when hacked. They require a Transformer to reactivate and supply a Small Modular Reactor when fully repaired. Warehouses feature enhanced storage capacity, only accessible when hacked. They require a Small Modular Reactor to reactivate and supply an Engine when fully repaired. Factories are preconfigured to produce one of several Human-tech items such as Human Datacubes, Low Density Frames, Microscopes or Human Miner Bots if supplied with the requested materials. They require an Engine to reactivate and supply several Microprocessors when fully repaired. If hacked, the Human Factory component can be made to produce the same items as their player-buildable counterparts. Note: Any bots produced by the Factory will be of the World faction and must be hacked to become usable. If the Factory is hacked you may not be able to recover the Human Miner Bot recipe! Research Labs can be used as Uplinks to complete research at 5x speed, only accessible when hacked. They require a Microscope to reactivate. When fully repaired, a Research Lab will yield a single-use Deployer containing a Human-tech vehicle such as a Flyer, Tank or Miner Bot. When accessed by the AI Explorer, each lab also allows a one-time upgrade of a blank Datakey into a Human Datakey. Data Complexes reside within the Blight and are used to convert Human Datakeys into Blight Datakeys. They require a Microscope to reactivate. To access Human Explorables you first need a Small Intel Scanner component to clear the first layer of security. Once opened, you will also need to solve or bypass a Tile Slider puzzle and provide a Human material, some of which may be obtained from other structures within the same base. Data Complexes must be repaired with a Microscope; depending on your progress through Human research this may require you to find several Factories and provide them with the materials necessary to build up to Microscopes.

Alien Structures

There are two sizes of Alien Explorables: small and large. Each is found in a different location and requires varied methods to gain access to the rewards within. Small Alien Explorables are a frequent sight at the edges of the Plateau and Blight Biomes. Be cautions when approaching as each spawns with a single Bug Hole nearby. After unlocking with a Small Intel Scanner and solving or bypassing a Balance puzzle you will need an Alien Decryption Key component to complete the exploration. Rewards include Alien Datacubes and Alien Artifacts. Large Alien Explorables loom large within the Blight biome. Like the smaller structures they require an Intel Scanner to gain access. Each building will demand some type of Data Key in order to provide their rewards. Currently (as of 0.1.14033) only the Console is solved by providing a Blight Datakey; this structure will reward your first Alien Decryption Key and unlock Alien Technology research. Other Explorables such as Monoliths, Time Eggs and Heart Shards require Robot Datakeys which are not yet legitimately obtainable.

Puzzles

Following is a list of the puzzles that can appear when interacting with Explorables and tips on solving them.

Nine Clicks

Nine Clicks is a 3x3 grid with an empty center. Each cell will be randomly colored either red or blue. Clicking on a cell will reverse the color of both that cell and any cells around it (eight-way adjacency). The objective is to turn all cells blue. To solve this puzzle, start by clicking all red cells in the corners, then all red cells at the non-corner sides. Alternate between corners and sides until the puzzle is completed or reaches a state where the solution can be easily read.

Circuit

Circuit takes place on a square of tiles measuring 3x3, 5x5 or 8x8. Each tile hosts a pathway which connects to adjacent tiles in one, two, three or four directions. One tile is the "power source" which is lit blue. Any path that connects to the power source also lights up blue while nonconnected paths are red. Clicking on a cell will rotate its path clockwise; right-clicking will rotate it counter-clockwise. The objective is to light the entire grid blue. The solution starts with rotating the I and T cells at the far sides. Finish the corners and work your way toward the power source (which can also be rotated). Once your work so far is lit up the rest should fall into place.

Tile Slider

Tile Slider involves a 3x3 grid with eight tiles, numbered 1 through 8, and an empty space. A tile can be slid to fill in the space and leave a new one behind it. The objective is to arrange the tiles into the following state: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 - Solving this puzzle can be made easier by first solving the top 1-2-3 row or left 1-4-7 column. The remaining tiles can be slid about in "figure eight" shapes until the final movements become clearer. Most of these puzzles can be solved in between 3 and 15 moves.

Balance

Balance involves three "source" tiles on the left, three "terminal" tiles on the right, and a "power gauge" on the bottom. Linking a source to a terminal fills the power gauge by a certain amount. The objective is to fill the power gauge exactly to the marked center point. The solution to this puzzle becomes clear with two facts: you do not need to use every source, and one source can link to multiple terminals. From there it's simple trial and error to see how much power each source provides.