Plan B: Terraform tech tree

Plan B: Terraform tech tree progression is closely tied to production chains rather than isolated research choices. The clearest confirmed milestone for advanced manufacturing is Level 7, when High-tech Parts become available. From that point, your colony must connect raw materials, intermediate products, factories, and city demand into one stable industrial network.

High-tech Parts are produced in a Factory using 2 Aluminum Bars and 1 Polymer Bar per unit. This makes the item a planning checkpoint: reaching the unlock is only the beginning. You also need enough aluminum, polymer, factory capacity, storage, and transport coverage to keep the chain operating.

The official High-tech Parts page on the Plan B: Terraform Wiki is the best reference for the confirmed recipe and production figures. Use it alongside your current colony layout when checking whether the next technology milestone is practical.

The High-tech Parts chain has a simple recipe but a demanding operating rhythm. One Factory consumes 2 Aluminum Bars and 1 Polymer Bar to create 1 High-tech Parts. At the listed annual rate, one Factory produces 30 High-tech Parts per year, requiring 60 Aluminum Bars and 30 Polymer Bars per year.

This ratio matters because a shortage in either input can interrupt the entire output. A surplus of Polymer Bars cannot compensate for missing Aluminum Bars, and the reverse is also true. Plan the chain around the slower or less reliable input.

A useful way to read the figures is to convert them into yearly demand:

• One Factory: 60 Aluminum Bars and 30 Polymer Bars per year.
• Two Factories: 120 Aluminum Bars and 60 Polymer Bars per year.
• Three Factories: 180 Aluminum Bars and 90 Polymer Bars per year.

These totals describe factory consumption, not the full extraction and processing burden. Your colony must also account for the materials required to make the input bars. Keep buffer storage between stages so a short delivery delay does not immediately stop the final factory.

The most reliable early setup is usually a single monitored Factory rather than several factories with unstable inputs. Add capacity only after the first chain has consistent deliveries and the colony can support the increased demand.

High-tech Parts sit inside a wider industrial economy. The available resource categories include natural resources, construction materials, tech materials, organic goods, and greenhouse gases. For this chain, focus on the Tech Materials category and the buildings that transform inputs into usable products.

The documented production flow is:

Aluminum Ore and Polymer-related inputs → Aluminum Bars and Polymer Bars → Factory → High-tech Parts → City growth support

The exact number of extraction or processing buildings needed depends on your wider colony and the condition of your supply network. Instead of copying a fixed layout, build the chain in stages and watch where inventory falls.

Transport options in the wider construction list include Depot, upgraded depot variants, roads, trucks, rail, trains, container ships, and their related stops. Use the method that matches your colony’s distance and throughput needs. Keep production and distribution routes readable so future upgrades do not require dismantling essential links.

High-tech Parts become strategically important when cities exceed 999 population. This requirement changes the item from a general industrial good into a direct growth constraint. A city may have available land and other supplies, yet still fail to grow if High-tech Parts are not delivered.

The safest expansion pattern is to establish production first, then expand the city. This reverses the common mistake of pushing population beyond the threshold and attempting to build the supply chain after demand has already appeared.

Use separate storage or clearly marked logistics routes when possible. This makes it easier to identify whether a problem comes from production, transport, or city distribution. If the Factory is working but the city is not receiving High-tech Parts, inspect the route between the finished-goods output and the destination rather than immediately adding another Factory.

A practical expansion review should answer four questions:

• Is Aluminum Bar production keeping pace with Factory demand?
• Is Polymer Bar production keeping pace with Factory demand?
• Can transport move inputs and finished goods without persistent delays?
• Does the colony have enough factory capacity for the next city-growth target?

A tech tree route is only useful when it remains stable during expansion. High-tech Parts problems usually appear as an imbalance: one input accumulates while the other disappears, factories wait for deliveries, or cities stop growing despite apparent production.

Use the following diagnostic order:

1. Check whether the Factory is unlocked and active.
2. Check Aluminum Bar inventory.
3. Check Polymer Bar inventory.
4. Check transport connections to the Factory.
5. Check whether finished High-tech Parts can reach the city.
6. Add capacity only after locating the limiting stage.

Do not automatically solve every problem by building another Factory. If the input chain is already constrained, additional final assembly buildings can increase shortages without improving finished output. First identify whether the limiting point is resource extraction, bar production, transport, or city distribution.

The most dependable approach is to treat High-tech Parts as a connected progression objective. Reach Level 7, balance the two required input materials, operate the Factory at a sustainable rate, and verify distribution before expanding population. This keeps the technology path aligned with the colony’s actual industrial capacity.