Manufacturing Blocks

**Manufacturing Blocks** are blocks mainly used in the receiving of resources, the cycling of said resources, and the processing of them. The category includes refineries, fabricators, scrappers, silos, delivery cannons, the Component Factory and its add-ons, receivers, conveyors, and Singularity Containment Units (SCUs).

Unlike most Techs controlled by the player, which moves around often, TerraTech assumes that all base-like Techs are completely static. Hence these blocks are usually, if not always, only usable when anchored, with very few exceptions. They are manufactured by all Corporations. Note that manufacturing blocks have complex functions, so not all anchored blocks are considered as such. This includes collectors, furnace generators, solar panels, anchored AI Modules, and Payload Terminals.

## Blocks subtypes

### Anchors

Anchors are usually just a simple structural block with the ability to be anchored onto the ground. They have attachment points around themselves, which is helpful when constructing bases from scratch. There are multiple types of anchors that one can choose from, as they are manufactured by all Corporations.

There are several other blocks that also come equipped with the anchors (usually fixed ones), those tend to be blocks that require anchoring to function, such as SCUs, crafting stations, generators, some AI Modules, etc. For them to function, it is not necessary to use their anchors, as any single anchor anywhere on their attached tech will allow them to activate,

* Fixed Anchors have nothing special and are simply used as the basic foundations of bases. They are manufactured by all Corporations excluding Better Future.
* Rotating Anchors are able to rotate, unlike fixed anchors which are completely static. Each rotating anchor has a limited capacity, which varies between each manufacturer and effectively restricts the amount of blocks that can be mounted on it. Putting too much will reduce its rotation speed, with a smaller penalty on larger anchors. Those are useful for sentries or already mobile Techs. Rotating Anchors are manufactured by all Corporations excluding Better Future.
* The Better Future Sky Anchor has a much larger anchor range of several hundred feet, compared to normal anchors which must be close enough to the ground and can be functionally considered a rotating anchor with the speed and capacity heavily dependent on the player's tech design. It fires a ground hook and holds the tech it's attaching with a bonding beam, which heavily restricts horizontal movement while allowing some freedom in vertical movement. Compared to a rotating anchor, it has no capability to support anything by itself and grants no immunity to the physics engine. Hence tech has to be independently airborne or mobile otherwise. In exchange, it can be deployed in a wide variety of locations with little requirement for room. In addition to this, the Ground Hook and the Anchor itself have separate hitboxes and health counters.

While the tech is anchored, it becomes static and can no longer be pushed around by other techs. Players can control anchors and deploy them if there are no nearby enemies. AI techs cannot control their anchors.

Ground anchors have different lengths and will have different clearance requirements, which might be even more demanding on uneven ground, as even with just one anchor and modest 1-cell "skirt" of Shock Plating it might be impossible to anchor on some slopes.

### Conveyors

* **Receivers** automatically pick up resources off the ground or from collectors and drop them onto conveyor system to whatever they are attached to. They are mainly used as a part of refining facilities / bases to swipe items from harvester/transport techs, since they outclassed by collectors for mobile bases.
	+ Receivers are manufactured by GSO, Venture, GeoCorp, and Better Future. All receivers are License Grade 2. Their capacity and pick-up range varies depending the manufacturer. Additionally, the Better Future's receiver can catch a resource chunk launched by a delivery cannon, or even just thrown in mid-air.
	+ The receivers hold items with energy beams. This means items can get stuck in and around an unanchored tech which can lead to some weird behavior, like pushing the tech forcefully in random directions. To avoid it, it is helpful to always leave a direct path to the top of the receiver for the items to go.
	+ It is possible to manually drag any loose resource chunks/components onto the receiver.

[\*] approximate from the closest storage pad cell (e.g. airpad does not collect with its ring)

* **Conveyors** are used to transport resources. Hold right mouse button while the cursor is above them to reverse their direction. They are manufactured by  GSO and  Venture. GSO additionally makes a variety of different conveyors that that allows different types of conveyor placement and thus more complex base designs, such as a conveyor moving things upwards (those can be substituted by rotating the regular pieces, however it takes more place).
	+ Alternator is a special conveyor piece that splits its input to up-to-three directions consequently.

* **Filters** are used to move anything on the conveyor to the direction they are facing. Due to the brief delay after moving three that allows 1 to pass through, they are often used in pairs for their full effectiveness. Currently, they can be used to filter specific resources or components, and certain categories provided by the game, by holding the right mouse button when the cursor is on a filter. They also can be used to force-pull items from silos. Filters are manufactured by  GSO and  Venture.

* **Droppers** can be used to eject the resources from the conveyor system, which can be useful to prevent clutter from clogging up the base, or to cut on some conveyor pieces by feeding collectors/recievers from the other side of the base. Droppers are manufactured by  GSO and  Venture.

* **Silos** are useful bays for holding multiple resource chunks and redistribute them through the conveyor system to reduce possible congestions. They are manufactured by GSO and Venture.

### Crafting

* **Fabricators** are used to simply create a block from the corporation it corresponds to. They are manufactured by all Corporations.
* **Scrappers** are the opposite of Fabricators. They can be fed with any block of their respective corporation, which will cause the block to be destroyed and returning all the resources/components involved in their crafting recipes, thereby effectively enabling the player to "sell" blocks in single player campaign. They are manufactured by all Corporations.
* **Refineries** are used to process raw Resource Chunks and refine them, increasing their sell value in by 50% and allowing them to be used for a variety of purposes, as most blocks in the game requires refined resources, or components made from them, to craft. They are manufactured by all Corporations and effectively interchangeable, albeit the Venture refinery can be used without an anchor.
* **Component Factory** is a GSO-exclusive block that is vital for anyone who wants to use a fabricator, as it is the only way to create components, which in turn are required when manufacturing blocks beyond the very basic.
	+ **Component Factory Dongles** are three blocks exclusive to the GSO, and are designed to use with the Component Factory. Attaching it to one will unlock a specified tier of components, which are required for advanced crafting.

### Other

* **Autominers** - Exclusively manufactured by GSO and GeoCorp, they are used to extract resource chunks from the underground seams of Oleite, Celestite, Erudite, Carbite, Ignite, and Rhodite.

* **Delivery Cannons** are used to sell unwanted resources and components back to Earth earning Block Bucks. They are manufactured by all Corporations. GeoCorp and Hawkeye models must be anchored for usage, while Venture and Better Future have mobile models that, while having anchors, are not required to use them, but have less input nodes. GSO has both, anchored and mobile versions. Items can be placed manually onto a cannon or it can grab any resource block delivered to it with the help of other manufacturing blocks. Upon receiving an item there is a brief animation signifying the item has been fired into orbit to be sold back to Earth, the item's value in BB will then be briefly displayed. The animation can be accelerated/paused/slowed by a GSO Pacemaker which has great effect on the selling process.

* **Singularity Containment Units** (or SCUs) are used to absorb loose blocks around them and store them in the player's inventory. They are manufactured by all Corporations. Venture and Better Future manufacture mobile SCUs instead of anchored ones that do not have, nor require, an anchor, and will function as long as they are attached to a Tech. Different SCUs have varying ranges and attraction force, but their pick-up capacity remains the same. Additionally, they will restart when the tech it is attached to takes damage. The game will alert the player when this happens on an allied tech they are not controlling. SCUs have priority over allied Block Magnets and Scrappers. The blocks also can be directly dragged inside SCU one by one.

* **Resource Blocks** are used to compress refined resource chunks into blocks and allow easy permanent storage. They are manufactured by all Corporations, with a different capacity for each corporation:

 **GSO Resource Blocks** are composed of 24 chunks.
 **GeoCorp Resource Blocks** are composed of 120 chunks.
 **Venture Resource Blocks** are composed of 8 chunks.
 **Hawkeye Resource Blocks** are composed of 64 chunks.
File:BetterFutureResourceBlock.gif **Better Future Resource Blocks** are composed of 42 chunks.
All Resource Blocks are quite fragile, having health equivalent of GSO One Block (250), albeit varying in mass and size.
## See also

Some Blocks, while not categorized directly as manufacturing blocks, are very useful when paired with them.

* Furnace Generators are power blocks that generate energy with certain resource chunks (The plasma Generator will burn all resource chunks), providing a great way to use the extra resource chunks. Likewise, solar generators can also gain a sizable advantage. Most require anchors to function.
* Most weapons, batteries, shields, and repair bubbles can greatly enhance the defensive abilities of a base if it has a control block that allows it to act like an AI Tech. Chargers are also able to allow the base to transfer energy to any nearby techs, Additionally, with a rotating anchor, this allows sentry guns to be created, a technical "base" that is not used for manufacturing in exchange for a larger quantity of defensive firepower.
* Block Magnets can be used to transport salvaged blocks in the nearby vicinity, enabling easy collection for SCUs.
* Collectors can be used to transport loose resources and components en masse and deliver them to the base.
* Better Future's flight blocks can allow the base to go airborne, avoiding ground threats while still keeping it's original capabilities.