The Desolands asteroid guide: the rocky moonlet start and example seeds
AsteroidsMedium
How to survive the oil-and-rock moonlet start on little food, with in-game seeds and every geyser located.
The Desolands is the rocky moonlet start of the Spaced Out! moonlet clusters: a 128 × 153 cell asteroid of granite, igneous rock and sandstone with two to four oil fields and two to four oil-well biomes. The game rates its cluster, Moonlet Cluster - The Desolands, Moderate, and describes the world as barren, rich in minerals and oil but limited in variety. The same asteroid type also appears as a non-start The Desolands Asteroid in the other moonlet clusters.
| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Size | 128 × 153 cells |
| Survival chance | Moderate |
| Where you find it | Start asteroid of Moonlet Cluster - The Desolands; a non-start version sits in the other four moonlet clusters. |
| Starting biome | Sandstone: Mealwood, Bristle Blossom, Muckroot, Hatches and Shine Bugs, with three or four small sandstone water pockets. |
| Other biomes | Three to five barren granite biomes, a jungle, two to four sparse oil fields, two to four oil-well biomes and space. |
| Teleporter | A Duplicant teleporter and supply teleporter pair to the Radioactive Ocean moonlet of the same cluster. |
| Peak light and radiation | 30,000 lux of sunlight and 218 rads of cosmic radiation at the surface. |
| Neighbours in its cluster | The Radioactive Ocean, Metallic Swampy, Frozen Forest and Flipped moonlets, plus the outer Tundra, Marshy, Moo, Water, Superconductive and Regolith asteroids. |
Strengths
- Water close to the pod: the start version placed a Cool Steam Vent within 51 cells on all three sample seeds, two of them 28 cells away.
- Natural gas and hydrogen roll often: two Natural Gas Geyser vents within 47 cells on two of the seeds.
- Oil Reservoirs in the oil-well biomes and Slickster (Slicksters), 20 to 40 per seed.
- Lead, copper ore and iron ore in the 300 to 500 tonne range, plus a little refined Iron in the rock.
Weaknesses
- Little organic material: about 110 to 180 tonnes of Algae and 440 to 660 tonnes of Dirt. Food and oxygen run short early.
- Only the start pocket grows food. Mealwood and Bristle Blossom live there, but the rest of the asteroid is rock and oil with no room for a second farm biome.
- A small asteroid fills with heat faster than a large one.
What to target first
- Cycle 1: Research Station, Outhouse, Oxygen Diffuser on the start algae.
- Cycle 1 to 5: Microbe Musher on the start water and dirt; ration food carefully.
- Cycle 3 to 10: tap the Cool Steam Vent and plan the Electrolyzer before the algae is gone.
- Cycle 10 to 30: natural gas or hydrogen power, and an Oil Well once plastics are on the research list.
- Cycle 20 onward: the teleporter to the Radioactive Ocean Asteroid for water, forest and uranium, and rockets to the organic moonlets for farms and wood.
Surviving the Desolands
Food is the hard limit. The start pocket has dirt for a few Mealwood plots and water for some Bristle Blossoms, so pick Duplicants and care packages with food in mind. Plan the first rocket early: the organic moonlets in the cluster are where the colony's farms will eventually live.
Seed M-BAD-C-1234567-0-0-0
Frozen Friend and Frozen Core. A Cool Steam Vent sits 28 cells straight below the pod at (63, 47). A Volcano at (12, 89) is 52 cells to the left: wall it off early, tame it later.
A small Leaky Oil Fissure at (116, 49) and a Carbon Dioxide Geyser at (101, 101) round out the roll.
| Geyser | Cell (x, y) | Average output | Temperature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cool Steam Vent | 63, 47 | 1.54 kg/s | 110 ºC |
| Volcano | 12, 89 | 1.30 kg/s | 1727 ºC |
| Carbon Dioxide Geyser | 101, 101 | 140 g/s | -55 ºC |
| Chlorine Gas Vent | 29, 43 | 107 g/s | 60 ºC |
| Leaky Oil Fissure | 116, 49 | 64 g/s | 327 ºC |
Seed M-BAD-C-55555-0-0-0
Crashed Satellites. The best power start of the three: a Cool Steam Vent 28 cells below the pod at (50, 46) and two Natural Gas Geyser vents 31 and 34 cells away.
The Chlorine Gas Vent at (92, 98) sits next to one of the gas vents; seal it before running pipes there.
| Geyser | Cell (x, y) | Average output | Temperature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cool Steam Vent | 50, 46 | 1.38 kg/s | 110 ºC |
| Natural Gas Geyser | 95, 84 | 119 g/s | 150 ºC |
| Chlorine Gas Vent | 92, 98 | 111 g/s | 60 ºC |
| Natural Gas Geyser | 62, 102 | 98 g/s | 150 ºC |
| Hydrogen Vent | 27, 36 | 86 g/s | 500 ºC |
Seed M-BAD-C-909090-0-0-0
Frozen Friend. Two Natural Gas Geyser vents within 47 cells and a Leaky Oil Fissure 46 cells up and to the right at (103, 98). Water is farther: the Cool Steam Vent is 51 cells away at (26, 39).
| Geyser | Cell (x, y) | Average output | Temperature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cool Steam Vent | 26, 39 | 1.37 kg/s | 110 ºC |
| Leaky Oil Fissure | 103, 98 | 124 g/s | 327 ºC |
| Natural Gas Geyser | 100, 44 | 124 g/s | 150 ºC |
| Natural Gas Geyser | 93, 99 | 113 g/s | 150 ºC |
| Hydrogen Vent | 12, 36 | 107 g/s | 500 ºC |
As a rocket target: seed M-SWMP-C-2128955876-0-0-0
The non-start Desolands in the Metallic Swampy cluster, three hexes from the start. Metallic Caves trait, a Volcano, a Polluted Water Vent and a Cool Steam Vent, with 42 Slicksters in the oil fields. As a rocket target it is an oil and lead outpost.
| Geyser | Cell (x, y) | Average output | Temperature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polluted Water Vent | 18, 84 | 2.93 kg/s | 30 ºC |
| Cool Steam Vent | 38, 93 | 1.55 kg/s | 110 ºC |
| Volcano | 44, 14 | 1.21 kg/s | 1727 ºC |
| Carbon Dioxide Vent | 54, 35 | 111 g/s | 500 ºC |
| Chlorine Gas Vent | 74, 34 | 95 g/s | 60 ºC |
Long-term plan
The Desolands works as an industrial start: oil, gas and metal at home, organics from the neighbours. Get the first rocket flying by cycle 30, and move food production to an organic moonlet as soon as you can.