The Dune Desert is huge, flat and full of pure nodes – seven pure iron nodes lie across its centre alone. What makes it "advanced" is the beginning: biomass only grows in the tree oases and along the river, water is at the oasis lakes or the coast, and the nodes are spread out over a couple of kilometres. Once the coal plant runs it is the best megabase start of the map.
Planner factory: Dune Desert – Starter base · map
Nodes
Miner Mk.1 at 100 %; coordinates in game metres (X east, Y south). The cluster is centred on the copper/limestone group; the two pure iron nodes are 350–450 m away in opposite directions, so this base needs two longer belts.
| Node | Resource | Purity | Position (m) | Rate /min |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BP_ResourceNode196 |  Iron Ore |
pure | 2553, −917 | 120 |
| BP_ResourceNode180 | Iron Ore |
pure | 2859, −1277 | 120 |
| BP_ResourceNode141 |  Copper Ore |
normal | 2977, −1080 | 60 |
| BP_ResourceNode194 | Copper Ore |
normal | 2974, −964 | 60 |
| BP_ResourceNode189 |  Limestone |
normal | 3087, −1007 | 60 |
More within 1 km: pure iron (2737, −1482), (2976, −1502), (3195, −1581), (3485, −1238); normal iron (2669, −1207), (2685, −1169); pure limestone (3116, −698); a third normal copper (2776, −941) and pure copper (3428, −1147); normal sulfur (3804, −1095). No quartz and no oil in the biome – the big oil field is just over the canyon to the north-west.
What it builds
| Product | /min |
|---|---|
 Iron Plate |
30 |
 Iron Rod |
30 |
 Screws |
60 |
 Reinforced Iron Plate |
5 |
 Modular Frame |
3 |
 Wire |
90 |
 Cable |
30 |
 Concrete |
20 |
Uses 222 of 240 iron ore, 75 of 120 copper ore and all 60 limestone. Each pure iron node needs two Mk.1 belts or one Mk.2 belt.
Machines (default recipes, 100 %)
| Building | Recipe | Machines | Build |
|---|---|---|---|
 Smelter |
Iron Ingot | 7.4 | 8 |
| Smelter | Copper Ingot | 2.5 | 3 |
 Constructor |
Iron Plate | 4.35 | 5 |
| Constructor | Iron Rod | 6.1 | 7 |
| Constructor | Screw | 4.35 | 5 |
| Constructor | Wire | 5 | 5 |
| Constructor | Cable | 1 | 1 |
| Constructor | Concrete | 1.33 | 2 |
 Assembler |
Reinforced Iron Plate | 1.9 | 2 |
| Assembler | Modular Frame | 1.5 | 2 |
≈ 35 machine-equivalents, ≈ 180 MW average plus 25 MW for the miners – six Biomass Burners. Collect leaves and wood in the oasis by the river before you place them, or start smaller (plates, rods, wire) and grow into the set as the coal plant comes online.
Layout tips
- Put the base on the sand between the copper nodes and the limestone node; the terrain is flat enough for machines without foundations.
- Belt the two pure iron nodes in from the west and south-west (350–450 m of Mk.1 belt each – cheap in this biome, iron is everywhere).
- Coal with water: three normal coal nodes at the oasis lakes 800 m east (Dune Desert coal power). The pure + normal pair on the east coast (4045, −1168) is the next step up.