How to upgrade a Rover in The Planet Crafter

In a recent update, the developers Planet Crafter added a real vehicle to the game. While you could get around just fine with your agility boots and jet pack, the new rover has a few features you won't get from regular gear.

Of course, the rover also has a few drawbacks related to driving a large vehicle on a map without roads or lots of flat surfaces. However, the developers took into account these problems and added some tricks that make it easier to move the rover around the map. However, the first thing you need to know is how to unlock the rover Planet Crafter.

How to unlock and create a Rover

You can build a rover once you unlock the Vehicle Station structure Planet Crafterwhich requires 6.5 MTi. This means that he appears in the early-mid game, after you unlock the missile pad, but before the ice starts to melt in the lake. To create a station you will need:

• 3 Aluminum
• 2 Super alloy
• 1 iridium rod

You can then build a station anywhere outside of your base. Keep in mind that one side of the bus station is a ramp, and that ramp must point in the direction you want the rover to point.

One side of the Vehicle Station has a console with two monitors. The central monitor allows you to create rovers and upgrade them, while the rover itself needs:

• 2 rocket engines
• 1 Uranus
• 1 Pros
• 1 Fabric
• 1 Silicon

The right monitor allows you to revive any rover on the map. You can't name the rovers, so the spawn monitor shows a list of rovers based on their coordinates. You can find your current coordinates at any time by checking the numbers in the lower left corner of the screen.

After using the Back to Garage feature, it takes 600 seconds (10 minutes) before you can use it again. However, this recharge period applies separately to each vehicle station. This means you can build stations around the map to move the rover through obstacles it would have trouble with. This also means you can create car stations and teleports together to move you and your rover around the map in an instant.

How to update Rover

Along with the rover itself, you can use the Vehicle Station to create several rover upgrades. They provide benefits such as extra speed, more cargo and better headlights. However, not all of them are available immediately. To get any of the advanced vehicle upgrades, you'll need to find and decode random blueprint microchips, while the other two require terraforming stages.

How to use Rover

The rover is a complicated machine, and clicking on it does different things depending on what you're looking at.

• When you interact with the main cockpit up front, you'll be in the driver's seat and be able to steer the rover around the map.
• If you click on the black box on the left side of the rover, you will open the equipment slots. Here you can add all the car upgrades.
• If you click on the blue chest behind it, you will open the rover's inventory. Here you can also add or remove supply and demand orders if you have the Logistics update installed.
• If you click on one of the two seats in the back, you will sit and become a passenger on the rover. It's a useful way for players to stick together during multiplayer, but these locations don't make sense in a single-player session. Also, passengers don't get free oxygen even if you have the relevant upgrade installed.
• If you have a beacon installed, you can find the display on the right side of the rover. This allows you to change the color of the beacon. However, you cannot delete or change the outline of the rover in the beacon marker.
• On the back of the rover is a big red button that says “Capture”. When the rover's inventory is emptyclicking this button will add the rover to your personal inventory. You can then deploy the rover by right-clicking on its icon.

Rover driving tips

• It's hard for the rover to climb over rocks and around trees, but water doesn't even slow it down.
• The Unlimited Oxygen upgrade will be useful even after you reach Breathable Atmosphere. Underwater swimming still costs oxygen, but you can drive underwater with no problem if you have this upgrade.
• If you manage to flip the rover and you're carrying too much to use the Grab button, you can press F4 from the driver's seat to reset the rover's location. This places it slightly above and behind your current location with the wheels pointing down.
• Another way to collect your Rover is to head to the nearest bus station and use the Return to Garage feature (see above). Unlike the Grab button, this works even if your rover's inventory is full.
• A fully upgraded rover and a fully upgraded jetpack have about the same speed. The real advantage of the upgraded rover is that it is a mobile outpost.
• Once you unlock the logistics upgrade, set your rover's inventory to “Provide All” as soon as you can. With the right base setup, your drones will empty your rover's inventory almost as fast as you can fill it up.