Being An Administrator
From Seed
ON BEING A NEW ADMINISTRATOR (by jeffm)
DISCLAIMER: A step-by-step guide, written during beta testing and subject to change at any time. Plus, since I have not personally experienced all the possible duties and combinations of duties of an Administrator in beta, some of what you need to know may be absent or not quite right. Learning to be an Administrator was complex. I hope the guide helps. It is based on my personal experience. There may be different and better ways of doing or explaining all this.
TERMINOLOGY CONFUSION: Right now game terminology related to administrators is somewhat mixed up. In this guide I use "ticket" to equal the "bit" and "admin bit" you read about elsewhere, "hardpoint" to equal "hardpoint", "factory" to equal "factory" and "machine", and "machine" to equal "bit" and some other unclear references to production units that sit on the four corners of the factory. I use "function" to equal "function", as well. I'm trying to get the devs to reconsider the duplicative and mixed up and inconsistent terminology in the game and in their knowledgebase articles. That was one thing that made it hard for me. I'll use consistent terminology in this guide to help you keep it all straight.
THE REALLY SHORT VERSION: So, in this guide it goes: "Get a ticket to get access to a hardpoint to place a factory on which to mount machines to give your factory functions to use to produce stuff." That's simple, direct, and clear, I hope.
Here we go with the long "how to":
Becoming an Administrator
First, win a vote at TAU for a Bit. A Bit is like a Ticket to a sports game that is only available by winning a vote. If you win a Ticket in the voting, you get to attend the game (play as an Administrator). I’m told that a Bit (ticket) represents 1 to 3 Hardpoints. So, potentially, a Bit (ticket) with 3 Hardpoints is more valuable and thus more competitive and harder to get than a Bit (ticket) which only gives you access to one Hardpoint. My first Bit (ticket) gave me access to two Hardpoints. And, I knew I had won when a message came to me in my game in box.
Having the Necessary Administrator Skills
To make, install, and/or have access to a Factory as an Administrator, you need the following skills broken down by Factory type:
- Micro Factory Type A Requires Factory 1 and Factory Administration 1
- Micro Factory Type B Requires Factory 2 and Factory Administration 2
- Micro Factory Type C Requires Factory 3 and Factory Administration 3
- Micro Factory Type D Requires Factory 3 and Factory Administration 4
- Micro Factory Type E Requires Factory 3 and Factory Administration 5
About Factories and Installing Them
If you win the vote and have the skills, you can repair the Hardpoint or Hardpoints and place one Factory on each Hardpoint. Use the Administrator Assets button on the left of the screen to see the Hardpoints and the Administrator Access Points you got when you won the vote.
Each Hardpoint produces only so much Power and CPU, and permits only so much Waste to be produced. The two Hardpoints I obtained in the voting produced:
- Power 4597, CPU 2066, Waste 2066
- Power 4368, CPU 1859, Waste 3992
If your Hardpoint did not come with a Factory on it, the Factory has to be ordered (bought), but the Bit already had 5 million Access Points in its stash. In Beta, Bits start with 5 million AP but this value will change depending on the actions of previous administrators of the Bit.
Ordering a Factory took no time. It was available as soon as I ordered and repaired the Hardpoint.
- Micro Factory Type A Costs 250000 special administrator APs
- Micro Factory Type B Costs 275000 special administrator APs
- Micro Factory Type C Costs 300000 special administrator APs
- Micro Factory Type D Costs 325000 special administrator APs
- Micro Factory Type E Costs 350000 special administrator APs
Each Factory type takes more Power and CPU than the one before it, and produces more Waste than the Factory before it.
- Micro Factory Type A Takes 300 Power and 200 CPU and produces 100 Waste
- Micro Factory Type B Takes 320 Power and 240 CPU and produces 125 Waste
- Micro Factory Type C Takes 340 Power and 280 CPU and produces 150 Waste
- Micro Factory Type D Takes 360 Power and 320 CPU and produces 175 Waste
- Micro Factory Type E Takes 380 Power and 360 CPU and produces 200 Waste
So, determining what Factory Type you can place on your Hardpoint is a function of:
- the Power and CPU and Waste the Hardpoint can accept, plus
- the “cost “ in Power, CPU and Waste that the Factory itself and the sum of the four Machines you will place on the Factory will require, plus
- your skills and the levels of your skills, plus
- potentially, what you want your Factory to produce.
Factories and Machines in General
Once you have your Factory placed on a hardpoint, you get to determine what Machines you will place on your Factory. You can place up to 4, within the Power, CPU and Waste limits the Factory permits. Each Machine has to be made, or inherited from the previous administrator(s).
Making a new Machine requires a certain skill and level of that skill and a component Unit that you buy with regular APs at a Sharepoint.
Inherited Machines also must be mounted and placing each Machine requires your character to have a certain skill and level of that skill. Thus, you may inherit Machines you do not have the skill to mount.
Factories need repairing from time-to-time. After I placed the Factory on the Hardpoint, it needed repair. After I placed the first Machine on the Factory, it needed repair. After I placed the second Machine on the Factory, it did not need repair.
Making and Mounting a new Machine on a Factory
1. Determine what Machines you have the skill and money to make, for the types of production you want that Factory to be able to accomplish.
2. Buy the Machine’s component Unit(s) at a Sharepoint with your own personal APs. Each component Unit is named for the Function that the Machine will perform, not the name of the Machine. This can be confusing, so the List of Factory Functions here in this Wiki can help identify the function the Machine that you need will perform. In other words, if what you need to make requires the Wiring function, buy a Wiring Unit in order to place a Robotic_Ass Machine on the Factory.
3. To make a Machine and get it mounted, first you open your Administrator Assets button on the left of the screen, and place the component Unit in that special inventory, called a “Stash”, by dragging it from your character’s inventory. Then you click on the Factory, open the Admin View window, and select the “Add on” that you want by left clicking it. The Add-ons are listed by the function that they perform, not the name of the Machine that it will become.
4. For example, the Add-on would be “Printing” which will result in the “Foundry Laser” being mounted, and the component Unit you had to buy at the Sharepoint is called a “Printing Unit”. The Add-on function names are shown in red, unless you have the correct skill and the correct Unit for the function you want to add, in which case the name of that function is shown in green. So, click the name of the function that you want to add to the Factory, on the right of the window. Then, check that the Required Resources, the Required Abilities, and the Required Components on the left of the window are all acceptable to the game. If they are all correct, the "Add Add-on" button will be white instead of grayed out.
5. Then you click the "Add Add-on" button. For me, nothing appeared to happen. The machine did not appear on a Factory corner immediately. I waited over 10 minutes and no Machine appeared. You can go to the Examine window on the Factory to check that the function “Printing” now does show as “working”. Also, you probably have to repair the Factory for it to move ahead with the mounting of the Foundry Laser. In order for me to see the mounted Machine, I had to log out and then back in.
Adding More Functions to Machines
Most Machines can provide the Factory more than one function. For instance, a Bio Vat Machine can provide the Factory with Buffering, Fermenting, Mixing, and Processing. That is four functions. There is a list of the functions that each Machine can add to a Factory at the bottom of the list of Functions in the Wiki link previously referenced in paragraph 2 just above.
When you first mount a Machine, chances are you are only putting one function on the Machine. But, you can later add more when you need them.
The process to add functions is about the same as when you first added a Machine to a Factory. You get the component Unit(s) you need, purchased with regular AP from a Sharepoint, put it in the Stash, and have the correct skill(s).
Then you click on the Factory, open the Admin View window, and select the “Add on” that you want by left clicking it. Remember, the Add-ons are listed by the function that they perform, not the name of the Machine.
If everything is ok, the function name you want to add is in green. Click the name of the function that you want to add to the Machine to enhance the Factory's capability. Click the "Add Add-on" button and it's done.
Mounting a Previously Made machine
I'm not clear on this as I've never inherited a Factory already built on a Hardpoint with Machines on the Factory corners. But, it may be, due to limited functionality at this time, that the Machines will stay mounted on the Factory when you inherit it. If not, they will be in the Stash inventory. I think, lol.
Setting Values and Vouchers
Section under construction
Removing and Replacing Factories on Hardpoints
This has not been implemented in beta yet
Managing your Customers, Priorities and Production
Section under construction
