Tutorial tips?

[a.warringa1]

Hi, the in-game tutorial isn't really helpfull, I don't understand how the layout for belts and sorters work for example. I played around with it but I keep getting 'distance to short' , wrong angle and messages like that. I have no idea what I have to do.
Not looking for a specific answer for this btw, there are lots of things I don't understand and I have no clue what to actually aim for.

So I checked around 10 Youtube tutorials and I couldn't find a single one that explains these basics. A couple of the beginner guides start with an already completely build layout instead of showing from the start how it works.

If anyone can point me to a step-by-step guide for beginners that can't figure things out themself, that would be really great :)

[josmith7]

I've only seen the distance too short error when trying to connect sorters between buildings. They need some space in order to work, if the buildings are right next to each other you can't connect them with sorters - delete one building and move it a square further away.
(Note, the way the building grid compresses as you move towards the planet's pole can mess you up on this. A design that works find near the equator can end up too bunched together in a different part of the planet and just can't be built there).

As for wrong angle message, sorters only work up to about 45 degrees off of perpendicular. If you try to angle them further than that you get that error message. And sometimes they'll try to connect to the wrong port on a building and give you that error due to that.
Try repositioning things so they've got a straighter angle.

The basics:
Sorters work from 1 to 3 squares away.
Sorters work up to about 45 degrees from perpendicular.
Sorters can connect belt to building, building to building, or belt to belt.
Note: Some building types, like miners, use direct belt connections rather than sorters.
Sorters can be filtered so they'll only pick up and move a single item type.
Sorters only work in one direction, from start point to end point, so whether they're loading or unloading depends on where you start them.

[a.warringa1]

Thanks Josmith, really helpfull advice. Meanwhile I found another thread here pointing to the Steam guides section.. which I stupidly enough didn't think of myself. Found some basic starter guides here that will help me getting hang of the basics :)

[Evil Tidings]

You might also consider watching some YT videos from the Nilaus channel. He does a lot of tutorials and actually builds most of his stuff on camera for us while explaining why he does it the way he does... quite educational. I'll admit though that I haven't watched much of his early-game material so I'm not sure how clear his beginner guides are.

[Zigamus]

He has an excellent 'Jump-Start Base' that is recommended for all beginners

[Evil Tidings]

Originally posted by Zigamus:

He has an excellent 'Jump-Start Base' that is recommended for all beginners

Ooooh, and he has a lot of blueprints for some of the more useful builds of his that even in the endgame stretch I find quite helpful.

[Desian]

I found useful at my beginning: youtube search for "dyson sphere program not obvious tips"

[a.warringa1]

Thanks both! I checked out some Nilaus tutorials but they all seemed to be more advanced tutorials, that 'jump start' guide is very helpfull though. Going to check out those 'not obvious tips' guides too. I don't know why but I found Hearts of iron less challenging to learn that this :D

[Zigamus]

If one of these replies answered your question, please mark it so we know it is done and which post solved it for ya, thanx :o)