Get Your Toothbrush and Start Earning
Take the free Toothbrush from the supply wall inside the starting station, brush nearby Dust into its container, press Q to pack capsules, and carry them to the Depot's deposit interaction. Use your opening earnings for a wider brush when cleaning feels slow, or more container capacity when packing and return trips keep interrupting you.
Complete Your Opening Cleaning Route
- Take the free Toothbrush from the station's supply wall so you can begin cleaning without spending your opening earnings on a tool.
- Clean dirty ground just outside the station, watching the Toothbrush's container fill. Working nearby keeps the delivery route short while your storage is small.
- Press Q when you need to pack collected Dust into a capsule. The packed Dust becomes a portable load you can bring back to the Depot.
- Carry your packed Dust back to the station so it is ready to enter the Depot's receiving system.
Hold E at the station's deposit interaction to transfer your collected Dust into the receiving system.Playing this video connects to YouTube.
- Use the launch control once a shipment container is full and ready, allowing the launch to finish. Packing a portable capsule and launching a shipment are separate actions.
- Buy an improvement that addresses your most frequent interruption, giving your next cleaning trip either wider coverage or more room for collected Dust.
Frequent deliveries are normal with the starting tool. Dust inside your brush has not automatically been sold, and packing it outside the station does not complete a Depot deposit. Before buying anything, make sure your collected material has actually reached the receiving system.
Choose Between More Width and More Capacity
Watch what interrupts your work before choosing an upgrade. A wider brush helps when every pass clears an awkwardly narrow strip, while a larger container helps when you are constantly stopping to handle Dust. Improving coverage alone can leave you with the same carrying problem.
| Purchase | When to Choose It |
|---|---|
| Nail Brush: $5 purchase | Choose an inexpensive width improvement when you want an early step beyond the Toothbrush. |
| Handbrush: $10 purchase | Consider another affordable width improvement, while remembering that it is a transitional tool. |
| Household Broom: $25 purchase | Save for this when you want a more practical tool for clearing a whole hex and can avoid another small purchase. |
| Household Broom capacity upgrade: $30 | Increase its container from approximately 3 kg to 6 kg when repeated packing is slowing your cleaning. |
If you are already close to affording the Household Broom, consider saving instead of buying another temporary brush. Once you have a useful broom, judge its capacity by how often it interrupts your route. A pile of undelivered capsules is a reason to improve delivery before buying still more cleaning width.
In co-op, the crew uses the host's Upgrade Matrix, and an upgrade purchased by any crew member benefits everyone. Older saves retain the highest upgrade level anyone had purchased. Agree on the next useful improvement together so the crew tackles its biggest interruption.
Finish Nearby Hexes Before Moving Away
Finishing a hex can provide a completion bonus separate from the money earned by selling its Dust. That makes nearby, nearly finished ground worth revisiting before starting a distant patch. Work around the edges, sweep through the interior, and inspect corners or thin strips when progress seems to stall.
Use the local cleaning display and the SECTION COMPLETE message to judge whether the area is finished. A mostly clean surface can still hide narrow strips that need attention. Keep your opening route compact enough that you can return to those leftovers without a long detour.
Use the Moon Map to Pick Your Next Patch
Open the Moon Map from a station's main console to distinguish untouched terrain, partly cleaned ground, and completed areas. Blue marks ground where cleaning has started but remains incomplete. Check those nearby unfinished patches before beginning a separate cleaning area, especially when the landscape looks too similar to navigate by sight.
Use a waypoint when your route extends beyond the immediate station area. Before committing to distant ground, establish where you can actually deliver the Dust you collect. A station marker and a delivery setup you have personally prepared should not be treated as interchangeable.
Prepare Delivery Before Buying Your First Vehicle
The Push Sweeper costs $300 and is the cheapest vehicle-stage cleaning option; the drivable Ride-on Sweeper costs $1,000. Treat either purchase as part of a working collection and delivery route. If you still have convenient unfinished hexes and little savings, keep earning with your manual setup before committing.
- Prepare the vehicle's receiving area before filling its hopper, giving the collected Dust somewhere to go when you return.
- Connect the collector's outgoing Conveyor to a working delivery route so unloading does not simply leave Dust waiting in storage.
- Test the unloading route with a Dust load before heading out for a full hopper, checking that material continues toward the Depot.
With delivery working, broad stretches of fresh ground become more useful destinations for vehicle cleaning. Any garage can recall, store, and upgrade vehicles you already own. Keep the Moon Map involved in route planning so greater collection capacity leads to useful deliveries.
Check These Problems Before Spending More
- Dust collected but no sale: check that it reached the Depot's receiving system. Filling your tool or packing a capsule outside does not complete delivery.
- Packing interrupts every route: compare the current tool's capacity upgrade before buying more width. Auto Packer can handle packing, but capsules still need transport and deposit.
- A hex looks clean but remains unfinished: inspect its edges and narrow remaining strips, using the local cleaning display instead of repeatedly brushing the cleared center.
- Vehicle unloaded but income has stalled: follow the outgoing material route. Dust can leave the vehicle successfully while still waiting inside the logistics network.