Automation & Belts

The manual loop is sweep → carry → deliver → get paid. Every step you automate removes a round trip, which is where nearly all dead time lives on a map this size. The end state is a line where dust is collected by J.O.O.N.A.S., moved by belts, processed into something worth more, and paid automatically on arrival.

Since v1.0.3, dust and stone delivered by conveyor are paid when they arrive, and payment at the drop-off point matches the amount shown on its screen. That means a belt running into a drop-off point is a continuously paying asset rather than a queue you have to cash in by hand.

• Delivery by conveyor triggers payment on arrival.
• Displayed amount and actual payout now match.
• This also applies to stone, not just dust.

Splitters divide material moving along a belt. The v1.0.3 patch made them snap directly port to port with mergers, which removes most of the awkward manual alignment that made compact layouts painful at launch.

This is the most consequential v1.0.4 change for anyone building production lines. A merger combines two belts into one, and it now alternates between its inputs instead of favouring one side.

Building rules relaxed across both patches, which matters when you lay out dense production:

• Machines can span multiple foundations — pressure chambers, stone presses and garages can sit across several square foundations instead of needing an exact footprint.
• Foundations are placeable next to ramps — a bug blocked this until v1.0.4.
• Machines build when snapped side by side — another failure fixed in v1.0.4.
• Capsules no longer fall beneath foundations after you remove belts beneath them.

Two processing structures are named in official notes: the pressure chamber and the stone press. Their existence, and their ability to span foundations, are confirmed. Their precise recipes are not published.

v1.0.4 introduced shared belt building: any crewmate can place splitters and mergers on belts built by other players. Combined with ground synchronisation — everyone seeing the same cleaned surfaces and robot trails — this means one person can credibly act as the crew's factory builder without everyone stepping on each other.

• Anyone can extend and re-balance anyone else's network.
• Cleaned ground and robot trails are synchronised for the whole crew.
• See Co-op & Crew for the shared upgrade rules that affect what you can build.

Robots supply the line; belts move what robots produce. Since v1.0.4 a J.O.O.N.A.S. unit launches capsules to the nearest Capsule Catcher from wherever it stands, with catcher capacity raised to 100 kg. Placing catchers well is therefore the practical limit on how much your belt network actually gets fed. Full details on J.O.O.N.A.S. Cleaning Robots.