Overview
(Une version française de ce guide existe. / A french version of this guide exists.)The storage system can be confusing and hard to understand ; in this guide, I will explain how it works to make it clear for everyone !If you still have questions after reading the guide, you can ask in the comments, I’ll always be around ! And if you think of a way to improve the guide, feel free to let me know too.Anyway, I hope you will find it useful !
Modules
First, you need to understand what a module is. If you already know how modules work, you can skip to the next section of the guide. If you’re not sure, have a read !
A module is a device that you install on the walls of your ship, like production, refinery, or storage.
A module must be deployed in order to fully work : a production module won’t produce anything if it’s closed.
Here is a closed production module seen from the outside :
And here it is from the inside :
To deploy it from outside, simply left click or press E while looking at it.
From the inside, you have to left click or press E on the little light at the top.
Here is what a deployed production module looks like from the outside :
And from the inside :
From the inside, the wheel will also be moving as another idicator. This wheel will move faster if the module is working (Producing an item for production modules, producing energy for powerplants, researching for research modules…)
The lights are actually quite useful indicators of the state of a module.
Turned off light means the module is closed.
Yellow light means the module is deployed.
Yellow blinking light means the module is deploying.
Red blinking light means the module is closing.
DrillShip front boiler
What’s the “DrillShip front boiler”, and why am I talking about it in a storage guide ?
Well, let me get to that part.
The Drillship front boiler is some kind of control center of the ship, built in the front of it. All DrillShips have one, and it is unbreakable.
Looks cool, eh ?
This front boiler can be used for basic functions, even if everything else in your ship has been destroyed : it has everything you need to make a basic ship function.
It has a boiler to generate energy, as long as there is coal in it’s storage… (+5 energy per second.)
The boiler opens and has an animation for when it is producing energy !
There are the core panel dials…
The one on top indicates the amount of total core slots and the amount taken, the one on the left indicates the energy balance, and the one on the right indicates the amount of opened modules out of the total of modules installed.
There’s an up/down lever, to always be able to go underground…
A simple press and your ship will start to dive into the earth’s soil !
And these two valves !
The little red one is a “Shutdown valve”, it closes all the module on your ship. Watch out for accidental presses on that one…
And the bigger one is actually a driving wheel, you can use it to drive the ship in the underground travel map.
But, there’s one last thing about the front boiler that I haven’t covered, and it’s what will introduce the part about the DrillShip storage.
You may have noticed that in the middle of the boiler, there is a storage box, that can contain 24 stacks of items. This is referred to as the “Drill inventory”. That is where the resources you pick up on the underground travel map will go, and where you have to put your coal and turret ammo in the beginning of the game. It is always connected to the DrillShip storage, even underground. But what’s the DrillShip storage ? Well, the next section will tell you more !
DrillShip storage
Welcome to the main part of the guide : DrilShip Storage ! This is probably why you’re here.
Now that you know what a module is and how it works, and what the front boiler is, we can start talking about the confusing part.
DrillShip storage is essential to the good functionement of a DrillShip : Production stations, Refinery stations, Scrap and research stations all take items from the DrillShip storage, as well as powerplants will only take coal from the DrillShip storage, and turrets will also take ammo from DrillShip storage. So basically, a DrillShip cannot function without DrillShip storage.
Well then, how does one use the DrillShip storage ? It is surprisingly simple !
I will use my own DrillShip as an example for this guide.
(Please note that this guide was made in a previous version of the game, where the DrillShip storage was called Online storage. When you see “Online” in a screenshot, it corresponds to “DrillShip”. Only the name has changed.)
I have two storage modules : one is closed, one is deployed.
When a storage module is closed, you can still store items in it. However, they will not be in the DrillShip storage.
The closed module only has the “object” tab available.
As soon as a storage module is deployed, it will be connected to the DrillShip storage.
This storage module is deployed, and therefore has the “DrillShip” tab available. There is just nothing in it yet.
With the deployed module, I can access DrillShip storage too :
You can see that there is only 1 ammo in the DrillShip storage : this is because the other module is closed, and is not connected to DrillShip storage.
Storage modules display how much items they currently hold, but only physically ; as you can see, both of my modules hold 1 item.
Now, let’s deploy my other module !
And there we go, you can see my 2 ammo in DrillShip storage, even though my ammo did not physically move ; they are still in their respective modules.
And to finish this section, here’s two questiosn you could ask yourself :
– “I want to deconstruct a storage module, do I have to empty all the items myself ?”
Well, no ! If the module is deployed, when you deconstruct it, all the items inside will be transferred to other deployed storage modules. If there isn’t enough room, you won’t be able to deconstruct the storage module and you will receive an error message “This module is not empty, cannot deconstruct” (or something along those lines.)
So your items cannot be lost when reorganizing your ship !
– “If my storage module is destroyed, do I lose the items ?”
Again, no ! When a storage module with stuff inside (physically) is destroyed, it will leave some kind of box, that you can open like any chest and take the items that were inside. However, make sure to pick these items up BEFORE replacing the breach, because that will remove the box and all the items that were inside !
DrillShip Storage and Crafting
Okay, now you should understand at least a little bit better how the DrillShip Storage works.
Let’s see how it works with other systems.
Here, I will only cover production, but it works the same way for refinery, scrapping and research.
Unlike the worktables that you start with, modules take from the DrillShip storage, not the player’s inventory. They also put the produced item back into the DrillShip storage.
Let’s say I want to make copper plates. First, I open my production module, then I look at the recipe. I see that I need one copper ingot. I have one in my inventory, but it won’t work ; it needs to be in DrillShip storage.
Let’s place my ingot in my storage module then :
Since I placed it in a deployed module, it will automatically and instantly be in DrillShip storage too.
(Note : interacting with a deployed module will bring you on the DrillShip storage tab.)
And as you can see, I can now make my copper plates.
Now that I made them, where are they ?
Well, in DrillShip Storage !
Physically, they are in the closest deployed module to the station.
Note that this doesn’t really matter anyway, since plates are a crafting component, they will be way more useful in DrillShip storage than in your inventory ! Unless you want to use the worktable underground, for example, as it can work on it’s own without the need for a module.
Accessibility, Chests and Stacking
Now, you know almost everything about the storage system !
But there are still one or two more things that are good to know…
(Note that in this section as well, screenshots will show an “online” tab. This is still because the guide was made in an older version, don’t worry ; it is now the “DrillShip” storage.)
DrillShip storage is accessible from everywhere in your ship ! Yes, everywhere, as long as the module you are using is deployed. It works from everywhere in your ship, even if there are two segments between the modules.
For example, I have in my ship a storage module on the ceiling.
As you can see, it is closed, and has nothing inside of it.
Now, let’s deploy it and see what happens ;
I can suddenly interact with all my items in the other storage modules ! And this module is still empty !
But remember, any item that is in a closed module won’t appear in DrillShip storage.
But what about Chests ?
Chests are not modules, they are equipement ; they can store up to 8 item stacks, but can’t connect to DrillShip Storage. The tab is greyed out.
As you can see, if I put my revolver inside of it, it doesn’t appear in DrillShip storage.
Quick note : You may have noticed these round holes on the walls of your ship. These are mounts, and you can use them to mount a variety of objects on them, like controllers, panels… and even chests !
To install a chest (or any device that has a mounted version) on it, simply look at it with your wrench equipped, and a chest in your inventory. If you have other mountable devices, scroll the mouse wheel to get the item you want.
Chests can stock up to 15 stacks of item. They can also be colored, in red, blue, green or yellow. To choose the color you want, simply scroll the mouse wheel to see the different versions (it may be hard to see with the green color of the object before you place it.)
There is also this little square. What is it for ? You can set it up to display an item, which can be used to label chests. To do that, look at the little square and press E (or the key you use to interact). This screen should appear :
You can choose any item from any of the tabs available to put it in the slot to the right, which will make it display on the chest. As you install more schematics, more items will be available to put as display. (Note : the displays work the same way, they just have multiple slots and it’s their purpose, and they track the amount of the displayed items in the DrillShip storage.)
Here, I decided to display the revolver ammo, to indicate that this is my ammo chest :
And there we go ! I will now be able to tell easily which chest contains what. Combined with the colors of the chests, this makes organization super easy !
The displayed icon does not limit what items you can put in the chest. It only acts as a simple icon. You could display revolver ammo but put copper ingots into it, if you wanted to.
And… what is the Storage Door ?
This little device can make your life super easy ! It can only be placed on mounts, and it serves as an access point to the DrillShip storage. It cannot store any items on it’s own, it is only an access point ; but you can still place and take items from the DrillShip storage. Just like modules, it can only access the deployed storage modules, and only the Drill storage when underground or if all modules are closed.
Another thing, is stacking. DrillShip storage will display all items of the same type in one stack, but this is only for practical purposes.
Here, you can see I have 65 coal in my DrillShip storage.
But physically, my coal is stored like this :
So you don’t have infinite storage. Think about it when storing huge amounts of items !
Storage Module Tiers
One last thing I would like to talk about, is module tiers.
T1 storage modules can store 24 stacks of items, and consume 5 core slots when deployed.
T2 storage modules can store 72 stacks of items (x3 the capacity of a T1 !), and still consumes 5 core slots.
T3 can store up to 96 stacks of items, and still consumes 5 core slots.
The higher tiers not only have more storage, but also consume less core, which leaves more room for other modules to function, as the higher tier the modules, the more core slots they’ll take. Upgrading your storage has only advantages !