Although factory simulation games have grown in popularity over the past decade, the gameplay of many titles in the genre can be quite daunting for someone who hasn’t played them before.Nova Lands, with its charming visuals and accessible mechanics, serves as a great entry point for those who are new and curious about the genre.

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If you find yourself intrigued by the prospect of setting up a factory on an alien planet but don’t know where to begin, then you’ve come to the right place. We will provide you with the necessary starter tips to better prepare you for your interplanetary industrial adventure.

Gather Resources

The first step towards a thriving factory empire is by collecting resources.

Your island will befilled withstones, twigs, water balls, andore depositsthat are ripe for harvest.

A character extracting iron ore on the starter island.

These resources will form the foundation of your operation as they each have a purpose in your production chain. Twigs can be turned intocharcoal for fuel,stones intomodular bricks, and iron ore can besmelted into iron ingots- an important ingredient for many basic buildings and pieces of equipment.

Resources will respawn after a short period of time, so don’t worry if you ran around harvesting all the available spawns on your island.

A furnace on the left and an oxygenator on the right.

Just be sure tobuild at least one Oxygenatoras the respawn mechanic won’t begin without one.

If you have any doubts about what you may harvest, justhover over the object in question and fire your extractor at it. You’ll know you can harvest it if ahealth bar appears, gradually depleting as you focus your beam on it.

The research tree showing the various routes of research to take.

The space pods that you and your space-faring teammates crash-landed in can be broken down for rare resources.

Build Your Factory

you may use the resourcesthat you gatherto construct a variety of buildings,including furnaces, refineries, assemblers, and storage facilities.

Furnaces are the first buildings that you can construct, and you will use them tocreate new resources and materials to build more complex structureslike farm plots and deposit areas.

Chasing a wild animal who was causing havoc.

During the early game, feel free toexperiment with your factory layoutwhile learning what the various buildings are for andhow they function together.

However, as with other games in the factory simulation genre,planning the layout in advance can help with optimising the gameplay flowwhile also making the overall factory look more aesthetically pleasing.

As you progress further into the game andunlock robots to complete your manual, repetitive chores, the efficiency of these helpful droids is largely dependent on the proximity between buildings in your factory.

Don’t place a furnace on one end of the island and a deposit area on the other; instead,place the two beside each otherfor the robot to travel between faster.

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Unlock Technologies

After building your first Oxygenator, you will be able to construct your first Research Processor. This building isintegral to your factory’s progressas it provides access to the research menu.

There are plenty of technologies that can be researched, and they will eachgrant you new crafting items and buildings that will aid in your factory’s expansion.

There’s no right or wrong way when it comes to research. While you could plan ahead and draft a specific research route to have the most optimised Nova Lands experience, picking whichever upgradeyou feel most beneficial for you and your factoryat that moment in time is perfectly viable.

When you’re able to, consider researchingautomation technologies.

These upgrades will provide you with robots that will perform the menial, repetitive tasks, giving you more time to explore and take on quests, trade with other survivors, and fight bosses.

Exploration And Expansion

There is more to the alien world than the small island you crash-land on.Exploration is a key component of Nova Lands,and as you venture beyond the seas of your starting island, you’ll uncover new varieties of resources, quests, and encounters on the neighbouring islands.

In addition to resources, you’ll encounterother characterswho can provide you with quests and trading opportunities.

Completing quests for these characters can net you with unique upgrades, equipment, and access to new features and areas.

Be wary, however, as some inhabitants and creaturesmay not take too kindly to someone newstrolling around in their territory. Of course, if you have the means and the confidence to defend yourself against hostile creatures, then, by all means, do so, but there’sno harm in taking care to avoid confrontations altogether.

As you explore and expand, remember to maintain a balance between farming resources and developing your factory.