There are nine surface vehicles that can be used to improve productivity of your outposts. They allow astronauts and workers to travel further and faster to collect resources, investigate anomalies, and map out the surface. Most of them are constructed at the Workshop, although the basic Rover can be constructed directly in an Outpost or even a Lander. A tenth vehicle, Frontier, is not yet available in the game.
As with all new manufacturing processes, you must first research the technology on Earth, before being able to build in space [Earth screen > Menu > Research], apart from the basic Rover. Some research requires you to develop your understanding of an earlier development to a specific level, before allowing you to unlock subsequent research projects, eg the Ranger requires Scarab level 5, which in turn requires Quad level 5, which requires Rover level 5.
Vehicles will gradually wear out as they are used, represented by their durability score. There is no penalty for using a vehicle with low durability, but if the durability drops to zero, the vehicle breaks and becomes unusable until fixed. This can be done either manually, with an astronaut and a Repair Pack, or automatically, by building a Vehicle Repair Module attached to the Workshop, staffing it with at least one worker, and providing a supply of repair packs (either crafted in the Workshop, or purchased in the Market and shipped from Earth).
Note that vehicles can only be repaired while idle; a manual repair action (and the repair pack) will be wasted if there are not enough idle vehicles to repair. On the other hand, the repair module will use up each repair pack incrementally as vehicles become idle. For this reason, the repair module is generally a more efficient option.
Overview[]
The following table gives an overview over all vehicles and their specs. Range and Durability are given in base (at level 0) and increment (per level), e.g. a Scarab Level 5 would have Range 50+5*15=125.
- Speed reduces both the time taken by an expedition or resource collection, and the life support cost.
- Range increases the time taken by an expedition and the life support cost, but also increases the rewards, and allows collection of more distant resources.
- Durability represents the number of times a vehicle can be used before needing repair (NB Each usage may consume multiple durability points).
- Cargo space is used to collect resources from surface deposits, mines, or expeditions.
- Additional seats are used to carry tourists on sight-seeing trips (one seat is occupied by the driver).
Rover-type vehicles are entry-level and low cost; Rovers and Quads can be constructed purely from vehicle parts, costing only credits, and Rovers can be constructed directly from the lander. Buggy-type vehicles emphasise speed and range, making them ideal for expeditions. Truck-type vehicles are slower than buggies, but have good range and very high cargo capacity for collecting resources.
The Scarab is generally a poor choice, considerably more expensive than the Quad and with no advantages except slightly more cargo space. However, it is required by the tech tree.
The Ranger+ is also suboptimal, with a higher cost than the Ranger but lower speed and range. It has more cargo space, but if cargo is desired, the Hound has even more space and is much cheaper.
Vehicles[]
Vehicle | Type | Seats | Speed | Cargo
Space |
Range | Durability | Production
Costs |
Notes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Base | Inc | Base | Inc | |||||||
(Foot) | Foot | 1 | 3 | 1 | 20 | - | - | - | - | Slow and short range, but infinite durability. |
Rover | Rover | 2 | 10 | 2 | 20 | +10 | 20 | +5 | 3 vehicle parts | Quick and cheap, good for daily assignments and research expeditions. Generally you should build at least one ASAP on each new world. |
Quad | Rover | 2 | 15 | 5 | 50 | +15 | 40 | +10 | 6 vehicle parts | Best vehicle that requires only credits. Useful transitional vehicle for getting resource gathering started. |
Scarab | Rover | 2 | 15 | 10 | 50 | +15 | 40 | +10 | 10 vehicle parts
5 titanium ingots |
Poor performance for its price, but required for the tech tree. Quad is just as good for most purposes. |
Buddy | Rover | 6 | 20 | 2 | 50 | +15 | 40 | +10 | 10 vehicle parts
3 titanium ingots 5 graphene |
Excellent for tourism at a moderate cost. |
Ranger | Buggy | 4 | 25 | 10 | 100 | +50 | 50 | +10 | 12 vehicle parts
6 titanium ingots 5 graphene 1 titanium alloy |
Fastest vehicle, but costly to research and build. High speed offers theoretically the highest possible expedition income per hour. |
Ranger+ | Buggy | 4 | 20 | 20 | 80 | +40 | 50 | +10 | 18 vehicle parts
10 titanium ingots 5 graphene 1 titanium alloy |
Mostly inferior to Ranger, and more expensive. |
Pathfinder | Buggy | 6 | 20 | 20 | 400 | +100 | 100 | +25 | 25 vehicle parts
15 titanium ingots 10 graphene 2 titanium alloy |
Longest range of any vehicle. Useful if you want to "set and forget" expeditions, only logging into the game once a day. |
Frontier | Buggy | 8 | 20 | 40 | 200 | ? | ? | ? | ? vehicle parts
? titanium ingots ? graphene ? titanium alloy |
Not yet added to game. Final vehicle stats may change. |
Hound | Truck | 4 | 15 | 25 | 100 | +50 | 60 | +20 | 12 vehicle parts
5 titanium ingots |
Great value for money, excellent cargo capacity. Very slow when gathering resources. |
Rhino | Truck | 4 | 15 | 50 | 150 | +50 | 75 | +25 | 30 vehicle parts
10 titanium ingots 5 titanium alloy |
Huge cargo capacity, but very expensive to build. May be overkill in most cases. |
Obsolete Vehicles (up to version 1.1.294)[]
Buggy[]
Construct the R1-Recon Vehicle to increase resource collection capabilities.
Upgrades previously researched for the Buggy will apply to the Ranger.
- Seats x1
- Cargo space x10
- Tourist seats x3
Costs/Requirements
- 9x Small Buggy Parts (Can be assembled from ship's cargo or from surface items at Ships and Outposts)
- 1x Astronaut
- 30 minutes (construction time)
- 3 life support
You can also construct a Buggy in the Workshop from refined 'off-world' materials.
- 10x Steel Ingot
- 2x Titanium Ingot
- 1x Astronaut
- 45 minutes
Truck[]
Construct the S2-Truck to further increase resource collection capabilities. (Truck can only be constructed in the workshop)
- Seats x1
- Cargo space x25
Truck[]
- Tourist seats x5
Costs/Requirements
- 20x Steel Ingot
- 5x Titanium Ingot
- 5x Graphene
- 1x Astronaut
- 2 hours
Vehicle Parts can be purchased in the market, on Earth.
An 'off-world' outpost is required to unlock other buildings including the Workshop.
Surface scans (from the outpost) are required to locate resources that can then be collected and refined into construction materials, in the workshop.
Only SRPs, SBPs, raw resources, and construction materials can be transported by ship. Vehicles, once assembled cannot be transported off the surface.
Page will be updated as new features are released.
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