Modules — visual identification & loadout planning

Choose the machine’s job before choosing its modules. Too little output, insufficient quality and a battery shortage are different problems. Filling every cell with expensive upgrades may not solve the one you have.

1. Recognize the color, then read every modifier

Green edges identify Efficiency, yellow Quality and red Performance in the tutorial. Color helps you sort inventory; the complete tooltip determines the trade-off. Enhanced modules can improve one stat while reducing others.

Efficiency

Lower the power burden.

+16% Efficiency

Quality

Reach a better output grade or aging rate.

+8% Quality

Performance

Increase throughput where the machine supports it.

+16% Performance

Eco

Save power at the cost of throughput.

+32% Efficiency · −16% Performance

Fineness

Better quality has costs elsewhere.

+25% Quality · −8% Performance · −15% Efficiency

Overclock

Check your battery supply before fitting it.

+36% Performance · −44% Efficiency

Values are examples shown in the video, illustrating trade-offs. Check the complete tooltip on your own module.

Do not read Efficiency as general production speed. Check the machine’s description for its effect on power or other behavior. Performance and Quality also have different value on different machines.

2. Plan the footprint before buying

Module families come in different shapes. The creator compares basic and enhanced footprints: a larger piece is not automatically better per cell, and a small piece can be useful because it fills a gap.

Try the layout in the machine workbenches. Check long pieces and corners against the actual bay outline. Fit useful modifiers first, then fill remaining space without undoing a configuration that already meets your needs.

Removing installed modules requires a Module Extractor. Before buying a Module Bay Expansion Kit, check which spaces it opens. Planning saves repeated removal costs.

3. Allocate modules around your business

Water: reach a useful grade, then compare throughput and filtering costs

The creator compares a Quality-heavy Moisture Collector producing better water directly with a lower-Quality, higher-Performance collector followed by filtering. If you already filter water, the most expensive direct-Pure-Water setup is not automatically the best choice. Compare saleable daily volume, filters and batteries before adding more Quality or Performance.

Use the Moisture Collector workbench alongside the water guide. The recorded modules have different extra modifiers; buying the same number of pieces does not guarantee the same outcome.

Wine: reserve useful Quality modules for the aging rack

The Age Well Wine Rack focuses on aging speed. The creator concentrates Quality there. If the starting wine is poor, improve fruit and water first, then accelerate aging. See the rack workbench and wine guide.

Furnace: keep the modules that enable your processing route

Check whether the Blast Furnace Module or Junk Processing Module enables the process you want before comparing raw stat bonuses. The creator suggests retaining one of each useful functional module rather than filling storage with duplicates. A larger batch also needs materials and power.

Keycards: check supply before chasing speed

A Cryptographic Desequencer still needs its chip and blank cards. The creator compares a heavily accelerated setup with a more economical layout. Decide based on the inputs you can obtain and the speed you need, then try the Desequencer workbench.

Shop equipment: look for an actual operating benefit

For the Mirage Projector, consider attractiveness. For power equipment, consider both battery numbers and storage space. The video’s power totals describe its particular layouts; check your own consumption and battery turnover before expanding.

4. Keep useful special modules without treating them as unconditional upgrades

• Neural Core module: the capped version gives large Performance and Quality gains, but reduced Efficiency and item-tag consequences. The creator looks for it in engineering crates. Read the complete description before choosing a use.
• Blank Module: white modules recur in the creator’s stronger loadouts. Do not discard one merely because it looks plain, or assume it behaves like an ordinary Performance Module.
• Machine-specific modules: furnace and alarm upgrades must match their purpose. Unlocking a processing route is different from adding a percentage.

Before installing

1. Is the machine short of output, quality or power?
2. Do negative modifiers cancel the benefit?
3. Does the shape fit, and what will removal cost?
4. Can materials, containers, buyers and batteries keep up?

For special-module effects, open the illustrated module reference.

Credits

This page follows Suo Yi Kou Lan Du’s module overview and machine-allocation tutorial. The creator presents the later loadouts as personal experience with the pre–September 14 version. Use the decision process rather than assuming every sample is a universal optimum.