Rocky Desert is the "textbook FICSIT location" of many guides: open, mostly flat, and the early resources are clumped together. The landing points sit beside three normal iron nodes; limestone is 150 m east, copper 250 m south-east. Expect hogs and spitters between the nodes and less biomass than in the grasslands – the forests along the biome edges have enough leaves and wood for the burner phase.
Planner factory: Rocky Desert – Starter base · map
Nodes
Miner Mk.1 at 100 %; coordinates in game metres (X east, Y south).
| Node | Resource | Purity | Position (m) | Rate /min |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BP_ResourceNode128_5242 |  Iron Ore |
normal | −1908, −1177 | 60 |
| BP_ResourceNode168 | Iron Ore |
normal | −1879, −1146 | 60 |
| BP_ResourceNode167 | Iron Ore |
normal | −1869, −1183 | 60 |
| BP_ResourceNode159 |  Copper Ore |
normal | −1664, −1296 | 60 |
| BP_ResourceNode132_5908 |  Limestone |
normal | −1732, −1122 | 60 |
For the expansion: pure limestone at (−1650, −1333), two pairs of pure iron 400–600 m west at (−2309, −1151) / (−2274, −1189) and (−2520, −1250) / (−2501, −1264), and the famous cluster 1 km north-east with 3 pure iron (−1704, −283), (−1667, −266), (−1525, −458), pure copper (−1480, −302) and pure caterium (−1785, −798). The Desert Cave north of spawn holds 2 pure + 1 normal quartz and a SAM node.
What it builds
| Product | /min |
|---|---|
 Iron Plate |
20 |
 Iron Rod |
15 |
 Screws |
40 |
 Reinforced Iron Plate |
5 |
 Modular Frame |
2 |
 Wire |
60 |
 Cable |
15 |
 Concrete |
20 |
163 of 180 iron ore, 45 of 60 copper ore and 60 of 60 limestone are used. The set covers the Tier 1–2 milestones (plates and concrete are the bottleneck) and the 20 reinforced plates + 30 cable per Coal Generator.
Machines (default recipes, 100 %)
| Building | Recipe | Machines | Build |
|---|---|---|---|
 Smelter |
Iron Ingot | 5.43 | 6 |
| Smelter | Copper Ingot | 1.5 | 2 |
 Constructor |
Iron Plate | 3.4 | 4 |
| Constructor | Iron Rod | 4.07 | 5 |
| Constructor | Screw | 3.4 | 4 |
| Constructor | Wire | 3 | 3 |
| Constructor | Cable | 0.5 | 1 |
| Constructor | Concrete | 1.33 | 2 |
 Assembler |
Reinforced Iron Plate | 1.6 | 2 |
| Assembler | Modular Frame | 1 | 1 |
≈ 25 machine-equivalents, ≈ 130 MW average plus 25 MW for the five miners. Underclock the last machine of each row; feed rows with a splitter manifold.
Layout tips
- The three iron nodes are on one flat shelf – merge them onto one Mk.1 belt per pair of smelters, or run three belts to three smelter pairs (exactly 60 → 2 × 30 each).
- Copper and limestone sit 20–30 m lower than the iron; a short ramp of foundations keeps the belts straight.
- Coal: four normal nodes at the Rocky Desert lake 800 m east, at sea level – see coal power. Bring the power line here, not the water.