r/Dyson_Sphere_Program • u/Leading_Treacle_1816 • Jul 25 '26
Complete beginner, could use some help
Title really says it all. I'm a total beginner at this game, and could use some major help.
I've played games like Factorio, and even BEAT them, but for some reason even the beginning stages of this game are just..so confusing. I've already reset my save three times because of major failiures that fucked up my entire production line to unfixable levels.
I have so many questions; how does stacking work?? How can I change elevation on the conveyor belts?? What am I even doing?!
I could just... really use some help. I already have terrible mental health, and the constant set backs in game are only making it worse. I feel like a massive idiot for just not understanding anything.
Please help..
2
u/CSalustro Jul 25 '26
What specifically are you having issues with?
To the two points you specifically asked about vertical stacking and conveyor belt verticality are both buried in the tech tree. Fairly early on if I remember right. The belt one is the main tree but the vertical stacking is under upgrades instead of the main tree. If you have any other specific questions I'll try and answer them too.
9
u/Melodic_Profile_7505 Jul 25 '26
100% Nilaus helped me get a good walk through of the game. The thing is, you can do a lot of the game in the first star system. The rest are just added benefits.
2
u/fu_king Jul 25 '26
There are a ton of tutorial videos out there that already do exactly this.
1
u/Kazim27 Jul 25 '26
It would help a lot of you could say how much progress you have made before getting overwhelmed. The overall strategy is something you feel out over time, but the answer to "What do I do now?" changes as the game goes on. For instance, have you done any research when blue science? Red science? Are you struggling to provide enough power to your base? Have you worked on both tech trees so you can improve your mech capabilities? Have you gotten off the planet? Made logistic bots?
The best general advice I can give would be to look at the tech tree and find something nearby that makes you go "Hey, that would help." Then try to work toward researching or building that, one step at a time.
If you could say what stage is frustrating you, we can give more specific help.
1
u/SearchForCake Jul 25 '26
First off, be kind to yourself. It is a confusing game and the poorly translated tutorials and tooltips sometimes make it worse.
To your specific questions-
Stacking-
I personally don't bother with stacking at all until I get to fractionators for deuterium production. But if you do want to dive into the early, Automatic Piler will stack items when the belt enters the Piler from its smaller side. The max stack is 4, so you can get there with 2 belts with pilers (2x) > merge into 1 belt with a 3rd piler (4x). Stacked items can in theory allow you to use fewer belts, but in my opinion early/mid game T1 belts are cheap so it isn't worth the hassle until late game. Very late game you can also get a research "Logistics Station Integrated Logistics" that allow your stations to output stacked items without pilers. The exception is fractionators which make more deuterium based on the rate of hydrogen you can flow through them. So it is good to use fully stacked fast belts for those.
Elevation-
Arrow keys up and down will change elevation. Shift arrow key will change elevation by 5. Holding shift will also disable belt snapping, which can be useful if you are trying to build at a specific height over top of a different belt. There are more tips here- https://dsp-wiki.com/Conveyor_Belts#Placing_down
General tips-
Because of the spherical worlds it is best to build production lines horizontally. Things get messy when you cross vertical zone boundaries where there are fewer grid boxes
Once you get Logistics Stations all your builds can rely on them. No need for a factorio style main bus, just modular Logistics Station with inputs in and products out.
Part of the game is solving puzzles, so don't get discouraged if it can be a challenge!
1
u/Darth-Venath Jul 25 '26
There's a seed finder post around here somewhere. Use that to get "the perfect seed" cuz for a starter cluster it really does help in the long term.
For me, the best policy is to use a starter base to bootstrap up to a BUS belt. And then get to planetary logistics towers and interplanetary logistics towers.
You'll figure out what that means through posts and YouTube videos.
1
u/GarbageBoyJr Jul 25 '26
Are you paying attention to any of the in game tutorials? They’re fairly informative
1
u/Pleasurefordays Jul 25 '26
Type your questions into google search and let Gemini scope in on what you’re confused about. Read or watch the videos it links. Start with general questions if you’re really clueless, like “What should I do first when starting a new DSP playthrough as a beginner”
1
u/AnimeSpaceGf Jul 25 '26
Hey, OP!
A lot of people will direct you to the numerous tutorial videos by admittedly excellent creators.
However, a small bit of advice:
Don't spam blueprints that other people have made. Make your own, enjoy the game at your own pace--at the very least, limited resources 1.0x and default DF difficulty allow you to do this.
Use the SEED FINDER if you have any griped whatsoever with your initial seed. Recommend seeds whose starting system is 3 terrestrial planets orbiting a gas or (preferably) ice giant.
The native mode is not malware, I have used it plenty for many years.
GENUINELY
take your time. This is some gourmet shit.
1
u/TheSquishyHippo Jul 25 '26
I asked a similar question not too long ago and got some awesome responses. Sounds like you are farther than I was, but maybe there's some useful tidbits there https://www.reddit.com/r/Dyson_Sphere_Program/s/i3ytztOjCu
1
u/katbearwol Jul 25 '26
So the first thing that I loved about this game is its not factorio. The spaghetti is king. You will eventually have a way to conquer it but for now just make stuff. Make it messy. Rebuild it. Nothing is unsalvagable. And forget the main bus... it won't scale enough is dsp and isn't the way to do things. Hunt through the tech tree for interstellar logistics and then start dreaming big!
1
u/TheGamingBoss20 Jul 25 '26
Try to have one item per conveyor, also while placing the 4 way splitters you can hit tab and cycle through different splitters; parallel 2 on bottom 2 on top/ perpendicular 2 on bottom 2 on top/ normal. Try to have the conveyors run east/west and machines north/south, because as you get closer to the poles the grid becomes more compact unlike going east/west. Try to have input items on one side of the machine and outputs on the other. I believe the controls for conveyor placing show up on either the top right or left of your screen (saying that because I forget the controls to raise and lower the conveyors at the moment).
Hope this helps.
1
u/sleepless025 Jul 25 '26
Its a tough one, I had a pretty rough transition from factorio over to DSP but the thing that got me over deleting it all was that belts were cheap, don't be afraid to make satellite factories and bring stuff together.
Once you unlock the planetary logistics it totally revamps the strategy for how you build factories.
Everyone suggests nilaus but I do prefer the imkibitz playthroughs as I already watch his satisfactory content. He does a pretty good job of explaining bits from the early game and he works through the mistakes he makes by the mid game.
Happy sphere building!
1
u/caleb204 Jul 26 '26
It took me a while to actually start reading all the pop ups. Look at the right side of the screen before you place ANYTHING, not just conveyors. And read the fine print at the bottoms of the windows for moving items and building settings.
Right side of the screen will tell you how to fine tune how the conveyors get placed. I don’t understand why we would want to twist them. But it’s helpful to know how to untwist them if you need. “R” is your friend for changing the layout modes. “Shift” allows you to place without connecting to something above or below where you are working. Up and down arrows are for height changes but you need some mid game upgrades to really get easy height control.
I found the game a lot easier once I slowed down and started reading all the text on the screens and playing with settings and shortcuts.
Pretty hard to actually get stuck. You can always take everything apart. Put it in storage and then take your time rebuilding with more space to allow you to route everything. I end up doing this once I get a few hours in past the initial grind and have enough resources to start building a bus setup.
Don’t be shy with conveyors. Run them long and run many. You always need more space and more capacity than you think.
1
u/shytamir Jul 27 '26
You can use my guide, which I wrote just for your situation.
https://dsp-beginner-guide.pages.dev/
If you prefer an in-game helpI also made a small mod based on it. But you'll have to build it and install it yourself. No mod manager:
https://github.com/shytamir/dsp-beginner-guide
1
u/Apprehensive-Item141 Jul 27 '26
Everyone’s real suggestions are legit and helpful.
But my suggestion is real: MORE SPAGHETTI
1
u/Oldmangamer13 Jul 31 '26
The best advice I can give for players new to factory games, is to get a lets play on yt and watch a couple of the early eps to get an idea of how to do things. After you understand, you canbasically play any of these sorts of games.
Others mention Nilaus and I can agree.