How to upgrade a Rover in The Planet Crafter

In a recent update by the developers Planet Crafter added a real vehicle to the game. While you could get around well enough with agility boots and a jetpack, the new rover has a few features that you don't get from this regular gear.

Of course, the Rover also has a few disadvantages that come from driving a large vehicle on a map without roads or many flat surfaces. Nevertheless, the developers anticipated these problems and added some tricks that make it easier to move the rover around the map. The first thing you need to know is how to unlock the rover inside Planet Crafter.

How to unlock and craft a Rover

Once you unlock the Vehicle Station structure, you can build your rover Planet Crafterwhich has a requirement of 6.5 MTi. This means that they appear in the early to mid-game, after you unlock the missile pad, but before the ice starts to melt into the lakes. To create a station you will need:

• 3 Aluminum
• 2 Super alloy
• 1 Iridium Rod

You can then build the station anywhere outside your base. Note that one side of the vehicle station is a ramp, and this ramp should point in the direction you want the rover to point.

On one side of the Vehicle Station is a console with two monitors. The central monitor allows you to create rovers and rover upgrades, while the rover itself needs:

• 2 rocket engines
• 1 Uranus
• 1 Iron
• 1 Fabric
• 1 silicone

The right monitor will allow you to bring any rover on the map to life. You cannot name your rovers, so the respawn monitor lists 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 “Return to Garage” function, it needs 600 seconds (10 minutes) before you can use it again. However, this cooldown time applies separately to each vehicle station. This means you can build stations around the map to get your rover past obstacles it would otherwise struggle with. It also means you can build vehicle stations and teleports together to get you and your rover across the map in no time.

How to upgrade a Rover

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

How to use Rover

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

• If you communicate with the main cabin in the front, you get into the driver's seat and can start driving the rover around the map.
• If you click on the black box on the left side of the rover, you will open equipment slots. Here you can add all the upgrades to your vehicle.
• If you click on the blue chest on the back, the rover inventory will open. You can also add or remove supply and demand orders here when you have the Logistics upgrade installed.
• If you click on one of the two seats in the back, you will sit down and become a passenger in the rover. This is a useful way for players to stick together during a multiplayer game, but these places have no purpose in a single player session. Passengers also don't get free oxygen even if you have the correct upgrade installed.
• If you have a beacon installed, you will find the display on the right side of the rover. This will allow you to change the color of the beacon. However, you cannot remove or change the outline of the rover in the beacon tag.
• On the back of the rover is a large red button labeled “Catch”. If the rover's inventory is emptyclick this button to add the rover to your personal inventory. You can then deploy the rover by right-clicking on its icon.

Rover driving tips

• The Rover has trouble climbing over rocks and around trees, but the water doesn't slow it down.
• The Unlimited Oxygen upgrade is still useful after you reach the Breathable Atmosphere milestone. Swimming underwater still costs oxygen, but if you have this upgrade, you can ride underwater with no problem.
• If you manage to flip the rover over 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 position. This places it slightly above and behind your current location with the wheels pointing down.
• Another way to get your rover is to head to the nearest vehicle 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 base.
• Once you've unlocked the logistics upgrade, set your rover's inventory to “Supply All” as soon as possible. With the right base setup, your drones will empty your rover's inventory almost as fast as you can fill it.