Hard Drive

Hard Drive
A hard drive with Ficsit data. Analyze it in the M.A.M. to salvage its contents.
Unlocked at	M.A.M. - Hard Drive Research
Stack Size	100
Blueprint Path /Game/FactoryGame/Resource/Environment/CrashSites/Desc_HardDrive.Desc_HardDrive_C

A choice of blueprints after researching the hard drive

Hard Drives are special parts obtained from Crash Sites used to unlock Alternate Recipes (see below). Crash Sites can be located using Object Scanner after Radio Signal Scanning has been researched in the M.A.M..

Each Hard Drive can be researched in the M.A.M. and results in a choice of one of 3 alternate blueprints, chosen from the pool below.

There are 89 Crash Sites, which means a total of 89 Hard Drives can be theoretically obtained. Four of them, however, require unreleased components to unlock ( Quantum Computer and  Superposition Oscillator), reducing the number to 85.

Two Hard Drives can be used for engineer inventory expansions, leaving 83 for alternate recipes. Currently, there are 70 Alternate Recipes, leaving 13 unused.

Total Crash Sites	Requires Unreleased items	Used for Inventory expansion	Number of Alternate Recipes	Unused Hard Drives remaining
89	4	2	70	13

Alternate Recipes

Alternate recipes generally require different input materials than the original, trading between raw material consumption, space, power, simplicity and availability of material.

The set of blueprints to choose from is determined randomly at the beginning of the scan. Because of this, the player can keep re-rolling to get the desired blueprint by saving the game before researching a hard drive, then loading the save and waiting for another 10 minutes if the choices are undesirable. The recipes are determined on the beginning of the scan and are only shown to the player after the research concludes.

The selected alternate recipes is unlocked immediately after it is chosen. All alternate recipes can be only used in factory buildings, none in the Craft Bench; therefore, parts like Compacted Coal cannot be hand-crafted.

To allow an Alternate Recipe to be shown up after a Hard Drive research, the prerequisites as shown below must be fulfilled, whether it is Milestone, Research or other Alternate Recipe. This means if a player builds a factory that requires certain alternate recipes that they have not yet unlocked, they may need to find more Hard Drives than they anticipated in order to unlock the prerequisites blocking their intended alternate recipes.

Note: It appears that there are several alternate recipes that can be unlocked at Tier 3, despite involving a fluid (Water) making them Refinery recipes, which is not unlocked before Tier 5.

In the table below, the Prerequisites are the conditions that are required for a recipe to be able to appear in the research result choices, while the Milestone in italic is the additional requirement that the recipe can actually be automated in a machine.

Alternate name	Product	Ingredients /min	Rate/min	Original Rate/min	Original Ingredients /min	Prerequisites
Copper Alloy Ingot	Copper Ingot	Copper Ore 50.0 Iron Ore 25.0	100.0	30.0	Copper Ore 30.0	Tier 3 - Basic Steel Production
Fine Black Powder	Black Powder	Sulfur 7.5 Compacted Coal 3.8	15.0	7.5	Coal 7.5 Sulfur 15.0	Alternate Recipe - Compacted Coal
Caterium Wire	Wire	Caterium Ingot 15.0	120.0	30.0	Copper Ingot 15.0	Caterium Research - Caterium
Fused Quickwire	Quickwire	Caterium Ingot 7.5 Copper Ingot 37.5	90.0	60.0	Caterium Ingot 12.0	Caterium Research - Caterium Ingots Tier 2 - Part Assembly
Fused Wire	Wire	Copper Ingot 12.0 Caterium Ingot 3.0	90.0	30.0	Copper Ingot 15.0	Caterium Research - Caterium Tier 2 - Part Assembly
Fine Concrete	Concrete	Silica 7.5 Limestone 30.0	25.0	15.0	Limestone 45.0	Quartz Research - Quartz Tier 2 - Part Assembly
Radio Control System	Radio Control Unit	Heat Sink 12.5 Supercomputer 1.3 Quartz Crystal 37.5	3.8	2.5	Heat Sink 10.0 Rubber 40.0 Crystal Oscillator 2.5 Computer 2.5	Quartz Research - Radio Control Unit Caterium Research - High-Speed Connector
Cheap Silica	Silica	Raw Quartz 11.3 Limestone 18.8	26.3	37.5	Raw Quartz 22.5	Quartz Research - Silica Tier 2 - Part Assembly
Seismic Nobelisk	Nobelisk	Black Powder 12.0 Steel Pipe 12.0 Crystal Oscillator 1.5	6.0	3.0	Black Powder 15.0 Steel Pipe 30.0	Sulfur Research - Nobelisk Explosives Quartz Research - Quartz Crystals Tier 5 - Industrial Manufacturing
Casted Screw	Screw	Iron Ingot 12.5	50.0	40.0	Iron Rod 10.0	Tier 1
Iron Wire	Wire	Iron Ingot 12.5	22.5	30.0	Copper Ingot 15.0	Tier 1
Iron Alloy Ingot	Iron Ingot	Iron Ore 20.0 Copper Ore 20.0	50.0	30.0	Iron Ore 30.0	Tier 1 Tier 3 - Basic Steel Production
Bolted Iron Plate	Reinforced Iron Plate	Iron Plate 90.0 Screw 250.0	15.0	5.0	Iron Plate 30.0 Screw 60.0	Tier 2
Stitched Iron Plate	Reinforced Iron Plate	Iron Plate 18.8 Wire 37.5	5.6	5.0	Iron Plate 30.0 Screw 60.0	Tier 2
Bolted Frame	Modular Frame	Reinforced Iron Plate 7.5 Screw 140.0	5.0	2.0	Reinforced Iron Plate 3.0 Iron Rod 12.0	Tier 2 - Part Assembly
Copper Rotor	Rotor	Copper Sheet 22.5 Screw 195.0	11.3	4.0	Iron Rod 20.0 Screw 100.0	Tier 2 - Part Assembly
Steel Rod	Iron Rod	Steel Ingot 12.0	48.0	15.0	Iron Ingot 15.0	Tier 3 - Basic Steel Production
Steeled Frame	Modular Frame	Reinforced Iron Plate 2.0 Steel Pipe 10.0	3.0	2.0	Reinforced Iron Plate 3.0 Iron Rod 12.0	Tier 3 - Basic Steel Production
Steel Rotor	Rotor	Steel Pipe 10.0 Wire 30.0	5.0	4.0	Iron Rod 20.0 Screw 100.0	Tier 3 - Basic Steel Production
Steel Screw	Screw	Steel Beam 5.0	260.0	40.0	Iron Rod 10.0	Tier 3 - Basic Steel Production
Solid Steel Ingot	Steel Ingot	Iron Ingot 40.0 Coal 40.0	60.0	45.0	Iron Ore 45.0 Coal 45.0	Tier 3 - Basic Steel Production
Compacted Steel Ingot	Steel Ingot	Iron Ore 22.5 Compacted Coal 11.3	37.5	45.0	Iron Ore 45.0 Coal 45.0	Tier 3 - Basic Steel Production Alternate Recipe - Compacted Coal
Signal Beacon	Beacon	Steel Beam 2.0 Steel Pipe 8.0 Crystal Oscillator 0.5	10.0	7.5	Iron Plate 22.5 Iron Rod 7.5 Wire 112.5 Cable 15.0	Tier 3 - Basic Steel Production Quartz Research - Quartz Crystals
Biocoal	Coal	Biomass 37.5	45.0	60.0		Tier 3 - Coal Power
Charcoal	Coal	Wood 15.0	150.0	60.0		Tier 3 - Coal Power
Wet Concrete	Concrete	Limestone 120.0 Water 100.0	80.0	15.0	Limestone 45.0	Tier 3 - Coal Power Tier 5 - Oil Processing
Pure Copper Ingot	Copper Ingot	Copper Ore 15.0 Water 10.0	37.5	30.0	Copper Ore 30.0	Tier 3 - Coal Power Tier 5 - Oil Processing
Steamed Copper Sheet	Copper Sheet	Copper Ingot 22.5 Water 22.5	22.5	10.0	Copper Ingot 20.0	Tier 3 - Coal Power Tier 5 - Oil Processing
Pure Iron Ingot	Iron Ingot	Iron Ore 35.0 Water 20.0	65.0	30.0	Iron Ore 30.0	Tier 3 - Coal Power Tier 5 - Oil Processing
Pure Caterium Ingot	Caterium Ingot	Caterium Ore 24.0 Water 24.0	12.0	15.0	Caterium Ore 45.0	Tier 3 - Coal Power Caterium Research - Caterium Tier 5 - Oil Processing
Pure Quartz Crystal	Quartz Crystal	Raw Quartz 67.5 Water 37.5	52.5	22.5	Raw Quartz 37.5	Tier 3 - Coal Power Quartz Research - Quartz Crystals Tier 5 - Oil Processing
Compacted Coal	Compacted Coal	Coal 25.0 Sulfur 25.0	25.0			Tier 3 - Coal Power Sulfur Research - Sulfur
Encased Industrial Pipe	Encased Industrial Beam	Steel Pipe 28.0 Concrete 20.0	4.0	6.0	Steel Beam 24.0 Concrete 30.0	Tier 4 - Advanced Steel Production
High-Speed Wiring	Automated Wiring	Stator 3.8 Wire 75.0 High-Speed Connector 1.9	7.5	2.5	Stator 2.5 Cable 50.0	Tier 4 - Advanced Steel Production Caterium Research - A.I. Limiter Tier 5 - Industrial Manufacturing
Quickwire Stator	Stator	Steel Pipe 16.0 Quickwire 60.0	8.0	5.0	Steel Pipe 15.0 Wire 40.0	Tier 4 - Advanced Steel Production Caterium Research - Caterium Ingots
Rigour Motor	Motor	Rotor 3.8 Stator 3.8 Crystal Oscillator 1.3	7.5	5.0	Rotor 10.0 Stator 10.0	Tier 4 - Advanced Steel Production Quartz Research - Quartz Crystals Tier 5 - Industrial Manufacturing
Heavy Encased Frame	Heavy Modular Frame	Modular Frame 7.5 Encased Industrial Beam 9.4 Steel Pipe 33.8 Concrete 20.6	2.8	2.0	Modular Frame 10.0 Steel Pipe 30.0 Encased Industrial Beam 10.0 Screw 200.0	Tier 5 - Industrial Manufacturing
Heavy Flexible Frame	Heavy Modular Frame	Modular Frame 18.8 Encased Industrial Beam 11.3 Rubber 75.0 Screw 390.0	3.8	2.0	Modular Frame 10.0 Steel Pipe 30.0 Encased Industrial Beam 10.0 Screw 200.0	Tier 5 - Industrial Manufacturing
Caterium Computer	Computer	Circuit Board 26.3 Quickwire 105.0 Rubber 45.0	3.8	2.5	Circuit Board 25.0 Cable 22.5 Plastic 45.0 Screw 130.0	Tier 5 - Industrial Manufacturing Caterium Research - Caterium Ingots
Crystal Computer	Computer	Circuit Board 7.5 Crystal Oscillator 2.8	2.8	2.5	Circuit Board 25.0 Cable 22.5 Plastic 45.0 Screw 130.0	Tier 5 - Industrial Manufacturing Quartz Research - Quartz Crystal
Coated Cable	Cable	Wire 37.5 Heavy Oil Residue 15.0	67.5	30.0	Wire 60.0	Tier 5 - Oil Processing
Rubber Cable	Cable	Wire 45.0 Rubber 30.0	100.0	30.0	Wire 60.0	Tier 5 - Oil Processing
Electrode Circuit Board	Circuit Board	Rubber 30.0 Petroleum Coke 45.0	5.0	7.5	Copper Sheet 15.0 Plastic 30.0	Tier 5 - Oil Processing
Rubber Concrete	Concrete	Limestone 50.0 Rubber 10.0	45.0	15.0	Limestone 45.0	Tier 5 - Oil Processing
Heavy Oil Residue	Heavy Oil Residue	Crude Oil 30.0	40.0	20.0	Packaged Heavy Oil Residue 20.0	Tier 5 - Oil Processing
Coated Iron Plate	Iron Plate	Iron Ingot 50.0 Plastic 10.0	75.0	20.0	Iron Ingot 30.0	Tier 5 - Oil Processing
Steel Coated Plate	Iron Plate	Steel Ingot 7.5 Plastic 5.0	45.0	20.0	Iron Ingot 30.0	Tier 5 - Oil Processing
Diluted Packaged Fuel	Packaged Fuel	Heavy Oil Residue 30.0 Packaged Water 60.0	60.0	40.0	Fuel 40.0 Empty Canister 40.0	Tier 5 - Oil Processing
Recycled Plastic	Plastic	Rubber 30.0 Fuel 30.0	60.0	20.0	Polymer Resin 60.0 Water 20.0	Tier 5 - Oil Processing
Polymer Resin	Polymer Resin	Crude Oil 60.0	130.0			Tier 5 - Oil Processing
Adhered Iron Plate	Reinforced Iron Plate	Iron Plate 11.3 Rubber 3.8	3.8	5.0	Iron Plate 30.0 Screw 60.0	Tier 5 - Oil Processing
Recycled Rubber	Rubber	Plastic 30.0 Fuel 30.0	60.0	20.0	Crude Oil 30.0	Tier 5 - Oil Processing
Plastic Smart Plating	Smart Plating	Reinforced Iron Plate 2.5 Rotor 2.5 Plastic 7.5	5.0	2.0	Reinforced Iron Plate 2.0 Rotor 2.0	Tier 5 - Oil Processing
Coke Steel Ingot	Steel Ingot	Iron Ore 75.0 Petroleum Coke 75.0	100.0	45.0	Iron Ore 45.0 Coal 45.0	Tier 5 - Oil Processing
Flexible Framework	Versatile Framework	Modular Frame 3.8 Steel Beam 22.5 Rubber 30.0	7.5	5.0	Modular Frame 2.5 Steel Beam 30.0	Tier 5 - Oil Processing Tier 5 - Industrial Manufacturing
Turbo Heavy Fuel	Turbofuel	Heavy Oil Residue 37.5 Compacted Coal 30.0	30.0	20.0	Packaged Turbofuel 20.0	Tier 5 - Oil Processing Alternate Recipe - Compacted Coal
Turbofuel	Turbofuel	Fuel 22.5 Compacted Coal 15.0	18.8	20.0	Packaged Turbofuel 20.0	Tier 5 - Oil Processing Alternate Recipe - Compacted Coal
Quickwire Cable	Cable	Quickwire 7.5 Rubber 5.0	27.5	30.0	Wire 60.0	Tier 5 - Oil Processing Caterium Research - Caterium Ingots
Caterium Circuit Board	Circuit Board	Plastic 12.5 Quickwire 37.5	8.8	7.5	Copper Sheet 15.0 Plastic 30.0	Tier 5 - Oil Processing Caterium Research - Caterium Ingots
Silicone High-Speed Connector	High-Speed Connector	Quickwire 90.0 Silica 37.5 Circuit Board 3.0	3.0	3.8	Quickwire 210.0 Cable 37.5 Circuit Board 3.8	Tier 5 - Oil Processing Caterium Research - High-Speed Connector Quartz Research - Quartz
Polyester Fabric	Fabric	Polymer Resin 80.0 Water 50.0	5.0	15.0	Mycelia 15.0 Biomass 75.0	Tier 5 - Oil Processing Mycelia Research - Fabric
Insulated Crystal Oscillator	Crystal Oscillator	Quartz Crystal 18.8 Rubber 13.1 A.I. Limiter 1.9	1.9	1.0	Quartz Crystal 18.0 Cable 14.0 Reinforced Iron Plate 2.5	Tier 5 - Oil Processing Quartz Research - Crystal Oscillator Caterium Research - Caterium Electronics
Silicone Circuit Board	Circuit Board	Copper Sheet 27.5 Silica 27.5	12.5	7.5	Copper Sheet 15.0 Plastic 30.0	Tier 5 - Oil Processing Quartz Research - Quartz
Heat Exchanger	Heat Sink	Alclad Aluminum Sheet 37.5 Copper Sheet 56.3	13.1	10.0	Alclad Aluminum Sheet 40.0 Rubber 70.0	Tier 7 - Advanced Aluminum Production
Turbo Rigour Motor	Turbo Motor	Motor 6.6 Radio Control Unit 4.7 A.I. Limiter 8.4 Stator 6.6	2.8	1.9	Heat Sink 7.5 Radio Control Unit 3.8 Motor 7.5 Rubber 45.0	Tier 7 - Advanced Aluminum Production Caterium Research - Caterium Electronics
Pure Aluminum Ingot	Aluminum Ingot	Aluminum Scrap 144.0	36.0	80.0	Aluminum Scrap 240.0 Silica 140.0	Tier 7 - Bauxite Refinement
Electrode - Aluminum Scrap	Aluminum Scrap	Alumina Solution 90.0 Coal 30.0	150.0	360.0	Alumina Solution 240.0 Petroleum Coke 60.0	Tier 7 - Bauxite Refinement
Electromagnetic Connection Rod	Electromagnetic Control Rod	Stator 10.0 High-Speed Connector 5.0	10.0	4.0	Stator 6.0 A.I. Limiter 4.0	Tier 7 - Nuclear Power Caterium Research - A.I. Limiter
Infused Uranium Cell	Encased Uranium Cell	Uranium Pellet 20.0 Sulfur 22.5 Silica 22.5 Quickwire 37.5	17.5	10.0	Uranium Pellet 40.0 Concrete 9.0	Tier 7 - Nuclear Power Caterium Research - Caterium Ingots Quartz Research - Quartz Sulfur Research - Sulfur
Nuclear Fuel Unit	Nuclear Fuel Rod	Encased Uranium Cell 10.0 Electromagnetic Control Rod 2.0 Crystal Oscillator 0.6 Beacon 1.2	0.6	0.4	Encased Uranium Cell 10.0 Encased Industrial Beam 1.2 Electromagnetic Control Rod 2.0	Tier 7 - Nuclear Power Quartz Research - Quartz Crystals

Total alternate recipes: 70

Non-recipes from Hard Drives

Alternate Name	Effect	Prerequisites
Expanded Pocket Dimension	+5 Inventory Slots
Inflated Pocket Dimension	+5 Inventory Slots	Tier 5 - Industrial Manufacturing

Important notes

• The Hard Drive research is repeatable, as long as there are remaining alternate recipes to unlock.
  • Each alternate recipe can only be unlocked once, it will never appear in the selection screen again once it has been selected.
• If you research a Hard Drive, and there is nothing more available to unlock, the Hard Drive will be returned to your inventory with the following message: "The analysis of Hard Drive is completed! No new research is available. Try again later after further progress. Your Hard Drive has been returned to you.".

Alternate recipe analysis

The analysis below is based on the target production of the following items, which is normally achievable in the late game, see this link for detailed production list->. This amount is chosen to maximize the Coupon farming rate, while maintaining reasonable amount of parts on hands for building additional buildings. All resources on the map are fully utilized.

Resource-efficient recipes

You should use these recipes when progressing towards the end game. These recipes are highly resource efficient, they get the most product out of every single raw resource input. Or if not, they usually are to be used in conjunction with other alternative recipes to be useful as a 'group'. Sometimes, these recipes can be very difficult to be set up due to their complexity, and usually that also means you need to provide a strong power grid before using them. Besides that, you probably need a lot of building space.

• Bolted Frame: Significantly improved production speed with negligible amount of Iron Ore loss.
• Casted Screw, Steel Screw: "Casted Screw" has the same ratio of Iron Ingots to Screws, but removes the need to make Iron Rods first, and produces 25% faster as well. Prioritize "Casted Screw" first for increased production speed. "Steel Screw" is ultimately more resource-efficient, producing nearly 5 times as many Screws per Iron Ingot when combined with "Solid Steel Ingot", at the cost of more steps in the production chain.
• Caterium Computer mixed with original recipe: The alternate recipe is preferred, however Caterium can get used up quickly and this is where the original recipe comes in handy to make up for it.
• Cheap Silica: Limestone is abundant, using it to reduce the load in Raw Quartz is almost a necessity.
• Compacted Coal: Not an alternative really. Used for Compacted Steel Ingot and Gun Powder to improve resource usage and production speed, and mandatory for the production of Turbofuel using either recipe.
• Copper Rotor: Increased production speed by mixing Copper into it.
• Diluted Packaged Fuel: Adds Water to *triple* the Heavy Oil Residue -> Fuel conversion ratio. Combine with "Heavy Oil Residue" for extremely efficient Crude Oil -> Fuel conversion ratios. This recipe is part of a loop that maximizes the utilization of Crude Oil for power using "Turbofuel", and "Compacted Coal", or for Rubber and Plastic using "Recycled Rubber" and "Recycled Plastic".
• Electrode Aluminum Scrap: Relieves the Crude Oil consumption. It also has a better conversion rate.
• Encased Industrial Pipe: Uses ~33% fewer Steel Ingots per unit, but produces 33% fewer beams per minute as well. Saving on steel is worth the additional Assemblers. Stators, Steel Rotors and many other recipes also use Pipes rather than Beams, which can simplify production.
• Gun Powder: All-round winner.
• Fused Quickwire: Caterium is much more precious than Copper, so yes.
• Heat Exchanger: Saves Crude Oil and Bauxite.
• Heavy Encased Frame: All-round winner; only requires a little more Limestone.
• Heavy Oil Residue: *Substantially* improves the Crude Oil -> Heavy Oil Residue conversion ratio. Combine with "Diluted Packaged Fuel" for extremely high Crude Oil -> Fuel ratios, which can be used for very efficient Turbofuel or Plastic/Rubber (via "Recycled Plastic"/"Recycled Rubber") production.
• Infused Uranium Cell mixed with original recipe: The alternate recipe is preferred, use the original recipe to boost the production if Quartz and Caterium are insufficient.
• Insulated Crystal Oscillator: A little bit of Crude Oil is worth it to save on Quartz.
• Iron Wire mixed with original recipe. The original recipe is slightly more resource-efficient and is preferred, unless Copper is fully utilized. Can be used with Stitched Iron Plate for the most efficient Iron-only Reinforced Iron Plate production.
• Nuclear Fuel Unit mixed with original recipe: The alternate recipe is preferred, unless Crystal Oscillators are insufficient.
• Polyester Fabric: Necessary to automate the production of Filters.
• Pure Caterium Ingot, Pure Copper Ingot, Pure Iron Ingot, Pure Quartz Crystal: Substantial increase in conversion ratio by just adding Water. Requires using Refineries for ore processing, though. Recommend using "Copper Alloy Ingot" over "Pure Copper Ingot" until Copper Ore is fully utilized, due to production footprint and _substantially_ reduced production speed per building.
• Radio Control System: Although Supercomputers seem to be difficult to produce, this recipe is actually an all-round winner.
• Recycled Plastic, Recycled Rubber: More complex, but way better than original recipe. Use both along with Heavy Oil Residue and Diluted Packaged Fuel for extremely efficient Crude Oil to Plastic/Rubber production (~3 Rubber/Plastic per Crude Oil, compared to original 0.67 Rubber/Plastic per Crude Oil)
• Silicone Circuit Board: Actually better than "Caterium Circuit Board" since no Oil is involved.
• Solid Steel Ingot: Produces approximately 67% more Steel per Iron Ore (if also using Pure Iron Ingot).
• Steamed Copper Sheet: Half the Copper Ingots per Sheet just by adding Water. Requires processing in a Refinery rather than a Constructor, however.
• Stitched Iron Plate: The most resource-efficient recipe. Combining with "Iron Wire" removes the need for Copper Ingots, at the cost of a very small reduction in raw resource efficiency.
• Turbofuel: Useful for pre-nuclear setup. "Turbofuel" is preferred over "Turbo Heavy Fuel", as it has a better conversion rate from Heavy Oil Residue. Combine with "Heavy Oil Residue" and "Diluted Packaged Fuel" for extremely efficient Fuel Generator supply, with the ability to run ~148 Fuel Generators (22,222 MW) from just 300 Crude Oil per minute.
• Turbo Rigour Motor: Necessary for large scale Turbo Motor Production. The key point is to reduce the need for Radio Control Units which are also not easy to be mass-produced.
• Wet Concrete: Double the conversion ratio just by adding water. Requires using Refineries for processing, though.

Situationally useful, but not resource efficient recipes

You probably going to use a few of these recipes during the mid-game. They may provide small boost or even slightly worse resource conversion ratio compared to the base recipe, but their recipe simplicity, space compactness, or power reduction can prove them to be useful to save you in certain situations.

• Biocoal, Charcoal: Useful if Coal is in shortage and Biomass and Woods are in excess. However it is recommended to craft wood into biomass for other uses instead.
• Bolted Iron Plate: A substantial boost in speed compared to original recipe, at the cost of ~10% more Iron Ingots per Plate. "Stitched Iron Plate" is a more resource efficient alternative.
• Caterium Circuit Board: Can be useful in mid game, however Silicone Circuit Board is more efficient in the late game.
• Quickwire Stator, Fused Wire: Useful in mid-game where Caterium is plenty. Just remember Caterium is rarer than Copper so in the long run these recipes will hurt your efficiency.
• Coke Steel Ingot: A method to get rid of excess Heavy Oil Residue. Safety precaution such as an overflow system is recommended to prevent jamming the Oil production upstream.
• Crystal Computer: Useful in mid game where Quartz is still in excess. Caterium Computer is a more resource efficient alternative.
• Iron Alloy Ingot, Copper Alloy Ingot: When paired together they produce more ingots compared to separated production chains. In later game, pure ingot recipes are more efficient. On their own, "Copper Alloy" is much more useful than "Iron Alloy", as Iron is more than twice as common as Copper, so effectively turning Iron into Copper is extremely useful mid-game.
• Plastic Smart Plating: Involves Oil which is a limited resource, hurting its utility in late-game, but can be useful in mid-game as it is 5x faster and twice as efficient per Reinforced Iron Plate and Rotor used.
• Polymer Resin: Greatly increases Crude to Polymer ratio and Polymer production speed, at the cost of Heavy Oil Residue or Fuel output. Can be useful for supplying a Polyester Fabric factory, but is substantially less efficient compared to the a Recycled Plastic/Recycled Rubber combo for producing Plastic and Rubber (see above).
• Pure Aluminum Ingot: Simplified recipe, better power consumption, diminished conversion rate.
• Rigour Motor: Useful in mid-game. In late game, Crystal Oscillators are to be spent in more important recipes.
• Silicone High-Speed Connector: Use Raw Quartz instead Caterium Ore. Useful for mid-game where Quartz is still in excess.
• Compacted Steel Ingot: Can be used to reduce Coal demand, as it requires only 45% as much Coal per Steel Ingot, at the cost of requiring an equal amount of Sulfur, and an Assembler making Compacted Coal for every 2.22 Foundries.
• Steel Rod, Steeled Frame: Useful if Coal is plenty. Steel Rod in particular produces 3.2x as many Iron Rods per minute for the same number of constructors, and produces 6 times as many rods per Iron Ingot if using the "Solid Steel" alternative recipe, at the cost of requiring 1 Coal per 6 Iron Rods produced.
• Steel Rotor: Shares the same types of ingredients as default Stator, which can simplify production setup. Utilizes less than half of the overall Iron at the cost of a little bit of extra coal if combined with "Iron Wire". Faster production speed than the base recipe.
• Turbo Heavy Fuel: Useful for pre-nuclear setup. Although this is far less resource efficient compared to the original Turbofuel recipe, it is much simpler to be set up.

Inefficient recipes

You should avoid using these as their disadvantages are far greater than the advantages they provide. None of these recipes are resource effective.

• High Speed Wiring: The complexity involved does not justify the speed boost.
• Caterium Wire: Any Wire recipe that involves Caterium Ore as input are not resource effective. If you are going into these, use Fused Wire (see above) instead.
• Coated Cable, Insulated Cable, Quickwire Cable: All involve Oil which is a limited resource. The usage of Refineries also means they will eat away a good chunk of your power capacity.
• Coated Iron Plate, Steel Coated Plate, Adhered Iron Plate: All involve Oil which is a relatively rarer resource.
• Electrode Circuit Board: This recipe will use up your Crude Oil quickly.
• Electromagnetic Connection Rod: Increased production speed comes at the cost of adding Crude Oil and increasing usage of Caterium (or adding Quartz, if using alternate Silicone High-Speed Connector recipe).
• Fine Concrete, Rubber Concrete: Limestone is abundant and there is no reason to use alternate recipes involving rarer resources.
• Heavy Flexible Frame: Oil is more precious than Coal so there is no reason to use this.
• Flexible Framework: Involves Oil which is a limited resource.
• Seismic Nobelisk: Crystal Oscillators are used in more important recipes.
• Signal Beacon: The requirement for Quartz and Coal does not justify its speed boost. Also, the original Beacon recipe can be purely Iron-based if Iron Wire is used.

Detailed Analysis and Powerful Combinations

Diluted Packaged Fuel cycle

This combination uses Heavy Oil Residue -> Diluted Packaged Fuel to increase the Crude Oil -> Fuel conversion ratio by 4.5x. This improved fuel ratio is then combined with Recycled Plastic and Recycled Rubber to produce 3 Plastic or Rubber per 1 Crude Oil input.

The fuel conversion can alternatively be used with Turbofuel and Compacted Coal to greatly improve energy generation, allowing a single oil node to supply over 11x as many Fuel Generators at maximum usage, compared to the normal Crude Oil to Fuel recipe. Even relative to directly using the Fuel produced by the Diluted Fuel combination, Turbofuel increases the number of generators that can be supplied by 2.78x, at the cost of requiring Coal and Sulfur input for the Compacted Coal. Final ratio is 148.15 Fuel Generators (22,222 MW) for 300 Crude Oil and 480 Sulfur and Coal per minute, which can be accomplished, via overclocking, off of a single Oil node of normal or pure quality, and a single node each of Sulfur and Coal at pure quality, or two each at normal quality, using Miner Mk.2's.

Nuclear Fuel

The base conversion rate of Uranium to Nuclear Fuel Rods is 100:1. Uranium Ore converts to Uranium Pellets at 1:1, Uranium Pellets convert to Encased Uranium Cells at 4:1, and Encased Uranium Cells convert to Nuclear Fuel Rods at 25:1. In total, this allows a single normal Uranium node (600/m using a Mk.3 Miner at 250%) to supply 30 Nuclear Power Plants, for a total of 75,000 MW of power. The alternate recipes Infused Uranium Cell and Nuclear Fuel Unit drastically improve this ratio. Infused Uranium Cells convert Uranium Pellets to Encased Uranium Cells at an 8:7 ratio (compared to 4:1, a 250% improvement), and Nuclear Fuel Unit converts Encased Uranium Cells to Nuclear Fuel Rods at a 50:3 ratio (compared to 25:1, a 50% improvement). This increases the number of fuel rods generated by 5.25x, allowing a single normal Uranium node to supply 157.5 Nuclear Power Plants, for a total of 393,750 MW of power. This increases the maximum sustainable nuclear power output from 225 GW to 1181 GW.

Alloyed Ingots

Using Iron Alloy Ingot and Copper Alloy Ingot together can yield significant increases in both for the same input. Normal smelting yields 1 Ingot per Ore input. Iron Alloy Ingot increases yield to 2.5 Ingots per 1 Iron Ore, at the cost of requiring an equal amount of Copper Ore. Copper Alloy Ingot increases yield to 2 Ingots per 1 Copper Ore, at the cost of requiring half as much Iron Ore. If used together, the net number of Ingots is increased by 2-2.5x, depending on ratios of usage between the two recipes.

Solid Steel Ingots

Using the normal recipe, 1 Steel Ingot is produced per Iron Ore and Coal input. Using Solid Steel Ingot combined with Pure Iron Ingot can increase this yield to 39 Steel Ingots for 14 Iron Ore and 26 Coal input. This is 2.79x as efficient with regards to Iron Ore, and 1.5x as efficient with regards to Coal.

Compacted Steel Ingot combined with Compacted Coal can be used instead to ease the demand on Coal at the cost of overall yield (relative to the Solid Steel Ingot recipe) and Sulfur. It provides 10 Steel Ingots for 6 Iron Ore, 3 Coal, and 3 Sulfur. Relative to the normal Steel Ingot recipe, this is 1.67x as efficient on Iron Ore, and 3.33x as efficient on Coal. Relative to the Solid Steel Ingot recipe, this produces only ~60% as many Steel Ingots per Iron Ore input, but requires only 45% as much Coal *per Ingot* (at the cost of requiring an equal amount of Sulfur).

As part of the Heavy Encased Frame chain, use Pure Iron Ingot -> Solid Steel Ingot -> Encase Industrial Pipes -> Heavy Encased Frame to see the cascading effect of resource saving. See Heavy Modular Frame#Tips for more info.

Iron Wire

Best paired with Stitched Iron Plate and default Beacon recipes to see its usefulness.

History

• Patch 0.3.1.0: The 30 new alternate recipes added in 0.3 can now actually be unlocked
• Patch 0.3:
  • Almost all recipes (including alternate recipes) have been adjusted
  • 30 new alternate recipes have been added
• Patch 0.2.1.1: Clients should be able to see Hard Drives in Drop Pods again
• Patch 0.1.14: Added a few alternate recipes
• Patch 0.1.7:
  • Adjusted the Alternate Recipe for Compacted Coal
    • Old: 2 Coal + 2 Sulphur
    • New: 3 Coal + 3 Sulphur
  • Adjusted the Alternate Recipe for Turbo Fuel
    • Old: 5 Fuel + 2 Compacted Coal
    • New: 5 Fuel + 4 Compacted Coal
• Patch 0.1.5:
  • Added several new alternate recipes
  • Alternate recipes can no longer be hand-crafted
  • Fixed the milestone cost of the Alternate Heavy Modular Frame
  • Reduced the Quickwire cost of Quickwire alternate recipes
• Patch 0.103: Fixed the Hard Drive research crash
• Patch 0.1: Adjusted a few alternate recipes
• Patch Closed Alpha 4: Now researchable and gives Alternate Recipes

See Also

• Crash Site
• M.A.M.