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 materials and inserting Data Keys.

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 segments to 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. Each segment will grant rewards when its conditions are fulfilled.

Drop Ships

Old Drop Ships appear in the same areas as Robot Ruins above. Additionally, anomalous Ships can spawn as part of an Anomaly alert, disappearing after a short time, while intact Drop Pods occasionally land near the player's starting site in the early game. These buildings immediately reward a small batch of items, frequently including Robotics Datacubes and one Component (such as a single-use Deployer), Once emptied, a Drop Ship automatically deconstructs itself.

Human Buildings

Human Explorables are 3x3 structures which tend to appear in "bases" of up to four buildings. They must first be unlocked by a bot equipped with a Small Intel Scanner. One opened, there are up to three segments to interact with: a Tile Slider puzzle; an item request, chosen from Human faction materials; and on some structures a Data Key, accessible late in the tech tree. Unike Robot ruins, Human buildings still retain some functionality that can be reactivated when completely unlocked: Factories can produce a number of Human tech items such as Human Datacubes, though their selection is limited compared to player-buildable Human Factories. Power Plants contain a hidden Power Cell component which passively generates 500 Power. Laboratories can be used as Uplinks with about 5x work rate (and proportional Power cost). Warehouses gain access to 24 inventory slots. Puzzles are chosen randomly from Power Link or Tile Slider.

Alien Structures

Alien Explorables can often be found in the vicinity of plateau biomes. Approach with caution as a Bug Hole always spawns nearby. There are two segments to interact with: a Power Balance puzzle and an "Encrypted" challenge. As of build Experimental 0.1.11840 these Explorables are functionally incomplete. They give zero loot and currently have no way to interact with the Encrypted interaction.

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 cells randomly measuring 3x3, 5x5, 7x7 or 9x9. Each cell hosts a pathway which connects to adjacent cells in one, two, three or four directions. One cell 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 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.