Little Rocket Lab News

Hey Everyone!

Time for another quick guide to Little Rocket Lab’s early game! Today, we’re diving into Level 2 Furnaces and how to keep them fueled with coal and ore like a pro.

Don’t forget, you can play Little Rocket Lab right now by joining the Playtest!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2451100/Little_Rocket_Lab/

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[h3]No More Shoveling![/h3]

With your small motor line chugging away, it’s time to upgrade your factory and kick your automation game into high gear. And how do we do that?

Say hello to Level 2 Furnaces! These beauties let you feed in both ore and coal via conveyor belts, which means no more running around manually inputting coal.

You’ll want at least three furnaces each for both iron and copper bar production. And unless you fancy setting up mini-factories all over town, that means grouping them together in one sleek, central spot.

All that in one place?!

We get it. Lining up multiple furnaces with ore and coal inputs can look a bit... intense. You’re imagining criss-crossing belts, overlapping lines, chaos at every turn. But don’t panic! We’ve got a simple setup to get you going without the headache.

You’ve already met your new best friend, the underpass, but now it’s time to add splitters to your repertoire (aka robot arms for the old-school crowd).



First up: coal. Bring it on separate lines, and use underpasses to leave a gap in your layout, trust us, you’ll need it.

Pro tip: underpasses can’t feed machines directly, so leave room for at least one conveyor to drop off the goods.

Next, run your copper belt through that lovely gap. Nice and tidy. But wait! It’s only feeding the last furnace in the row. Not ideal.


[h3]Enter: Splitters[/h3]

Add two splitters to pull from the copper belt and distribute the goods evenly to all three furnaces. One belt, three machines, no problem.

Just remember: like underpasses, splitters also need a bit of room—they drop items onto a belt, which then carries them into the furnace. So don’t cram them too close!


To ensure that our splitters aren’t stealing too many of the resources, we need to configure them!

Start by setting the first splitter to grab every third item, this lets two copper ore cruise past it on the main belt. Then, set the second splitter to grab every second item. That way, one copper ore gets through each time for the final furnace.

With that setup, your ore gets split evenly between all three furnaces, no bottlenecks, and no sudden lack of copper on one of your production lines.


From here, go wild. See how far you can push your setup, add more furnaces, spin off extra production lines, or go push yourself to limit and optimise every machine down the line.

Here’s a little extra set up we made earlier!


Most importantly: have fun, and don’t forget to share your creations with us! We love seeing your factory masterpieces and mad hat creations!

Teenage Astronauts and No More Robots
xoxo

Hey Everyone!

Welcome back to another handy guide for Little Rocket Lab! Today, we’re diving into Level 2 research and showing you how to take your factory game to the next level, with even more automation and a whole lot of conveyor belts!

Want to try it out for yourself? Join the playtest! It’s available to play right now on our Steam page! While you’re there, don’t forget to hit the wishlist button so you’re prepped for takeoff!

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[h3]Level 2, Let’s Go![/h3]

Alright, so you’ve made it to Level 2 research.. nice! Time to crank things up a notch. The good news? We’re starting simple.

Over on the iron side of things, just one extra line will do the trick for now. All you need to add is:

Coal + Iron → Iron Bars → Iron Plates → Bearings

That’s it! Clean, easy, and ready to roll.



[h3]Keepin’ It Cool with Copper[/h3]

Our copper setup is even easier. All we’re adding is a line to create heatsinks:

Copper Ore → Copper Bars → Heatsinks



Once you’ve turned in those shiny new heatsinks, you’ll unlock Level 2 Assemblers, and trust us, this is where the automation really kicks up a notch. They let you combine two components into something even more complex!

[h3]Small But Mighty[/h3]

To progress, we need to craft small motors, and that means using a couple Level 2 assemblers in a row. The line looks like this:

Gear + Copper Wire → Stator
Stator + Bearing → Small Motor

It should look a little something like this:



Now, if you’ve been paying attention, you might spot a couple of hiccups right away. Sure, getting gears to the assembler is easy with a conveyor belt, but how about copper wire? That’s across the road.

And look, we can’t go turning every street into a conveyor highway. People have places to be!



[h3]Time for an Underpass![/h3]

Luckily, we’ve got a trick up our sleeve: the underpass! Drop one of these bad boys in and you can run your copper wire under the road, no traffic jams required. Just like that, your stator production is good to go.



Next up the bearings. But uh-oh, the route’s blocked by other conveyor belts. No stress! We’ve got more underpasses! Angle your bearing belt so it ducks under the existing machinery, link it up to your assembler on the other side, and voilà: small motor production is officially online.



With that all set, your small motor line is humming along nicely and you’re ready for what’s next!

Join us next time where we’ll talk about really ramping things up using splitters and level 2 furnaces!


We hope you’ve enjoyed this little dive into the wonderful world of early-game automation in Little Rocket Lab! We’d love to see your factory creations too! Come hang out with us on Discord and share your setups!

We’ll be back soon with another sneak peek, stay tuned! 👀

Teenage Astronauts and No More Robots
xoxo

Hey Everyone!

We hope you’ve been having a blast with the playtest! And if you haven’t jumped in yet... what are you waiting for? It’s available to play right now on the store page! Don’t forget to Wishlist us while you’re there so you’re all set for launch! 🚀

Huge thanks to everyone who's been testing the game so far! We've already added loads of tweaks and shiny new features, here’s a look at what's new in the latest version:

• Robot arms have been renamed to splitters and can now split belts at a configurable ratio.
  
• You can now set a limit for how many items a receiver will accept.
  
• Powerlines are automatically removed and re-added when placing new power poles and wind turbines.
  
• Wind turbines now show their current efficiency.
  
• Arrow keys are now listed on the rebinding screen.
  

Whether you’re a seasoned pro starting fresh or just got off the train to town, we’ve put together a quick guide to help you hit the ground running—check it out below! 👇

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Want to get those conveyor belts rolling out even faster? Keen to fill your inventory with iron plates without all the handcrafting? You’re in the right place! This guide has everything you need to get through Level 1 research and kick-start your journey to mega-automation.



Location, Location

The town is packed with promising spots, each brimming with resources ready to fuel your dream factory. So… where should you set up shop?

Totally your call, but we love that cozy little area right next to the university. Why? Because less walking = more progress!



After helping out your aunt with her chaotic front yard, pack up your gear and head on over to your chosen spot. Or hey, stick around her place if you’re feeling lazy. We’re not your boss.

Ironing out the basics

Early game, you’ll need a lot of just a few key resources. Getting these production lines running ASAP will save you serious grind time.

We recommend two core production lines:

• Coal +Iron → Iron Bars → Iron Plates
  
• Coal +Iron → Iron Bars → Iron Plates → Gears
  

This little setup is your golden ticket to better tech… like drills! Once you get your hands on them, get those drills on your iron and coal, and let the automation magic begin. (Just remember to keep those furnaces fueled, old-school style, with a little manual coal delivery.)

Tips:

• Build long conveyors! You’ll thank yourself when it’s time to expand.
  
• Keep layouts compact. More space for more upgrades and new lines down the road!
  

Power to the people!

Running low on juice? Time to wire things up. That means you’ll need lots of copper wire!

Lucky for you, the copper deposits are just across the road. Set up your drills and furnaces like before, but this time, you only need one output. So one assembler is plenty!

Pro Tip: A single assembler can make copper wire twice as fast if you feed it copper bars from two furnaces! Apply this to your iron plates and gears as well for a sneaky efficiency boost.



Ready to Rock

You’re almost ready to take on the world! Just one more thing: stone. Arguably the simplest resource of all, but just as essential.

Find yourself a big ol’ rock (a mineable one, preferably). There are plenty of them around your aunt’s place if you’re indecisive. Set up a few drills, toss on some power and storage, and you’re good to go!

Tip: The earlier you have a conveyor belt from your stone to the university the better. Don't say we didn’t warn you!



Over to you!

And there you have it! Your very first step into the world of efficient production lines and factory design. With that you’re all set up to complete tier one!

Remember: this is just one of many ways to play. Rather build back at home base and huff it on foot? Go for it. Prefer to automate the entire town? We respect that. The important thing? Have fun and build it your way.

Teenage Astronauts and No More Robots
xoxo

[p]Hi everyone!

We've got some great news - the closed playtest for Little Rocket Lab has ended, and we've now made it open & live for EVERYONE to play!

You'll be able to play through Chapter 1, which has a whole host of stuff to give you an idea on what to expect from the game! You'll be able to play the chapter for as long as you want, so don't worry about rushing through it, take your time & take it all in! Head over to the store page, and you can download the playtest there:

[dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]

You'll be able to meet our young but enthusiastic engineer Morgan, and her super cute sidekick, Leo! Explore & learn all about the town of St. Ambroise, get chatting with the townsfolk, and build sprawling machines on your journey to build the family rocket!


Start by gathering resources & learning blueprints, improve your skills by helping out around town, and learn new contraptions to build at the town University!

For those of you who played the closed playtest, we've made a bunch of changes & improvements based on your feedback, (a big thank you!) and here's what you can expect:
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• [p] NEW interior designs for some buildings
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• [p] We've added a new friendship mechanic - it's not fully finished, but you can start making friendships with the people around town!
  [/p]
• [p] We added rows to the quickbar, so you don't need to keep going into your inventory to swap things
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• [p] You can now drink COFFEE! For the early risers and night owls, different coffees will grant different effects, whether it's running faster, staying up later, gaining more health, or hitting rocks harder! So if you want to start work later & need a lie in, we got you
  [/p]
• [p] If Leo is a bit over-excited and in the way, you can ask him to scoot over with a new command
  [/p]
• [p] Added a deposit button for ease in moving similar items into chests & boxes
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• [p] Increased the build range of floor tiles to 6 from the player
  [/p]
• [p] Improved inventory sorting, dragging & splitting
  [/p]
• [p] We revamped some default controls for quality of life
  [/p]
• [p] Added some UI in certain places for ease of access
  [/p]
• [p] We gave Leo some extra training so now he will ALWAYS respond to inputs, like a good boy
  [/p]
• [p] Lots of small bug fixes[/p]

[p]
We hope you have a TON of fun playing Little Rocket Lab, this is just a sneak peek on what you can expect so don't worry, there's plenty more to come! Be sure to join the Discord & join in on the chatter with our lovely community!

We can't wait for you to get stuck in - thanks again for all love, we'll see you in St. Ambroise![/p]

Hey everyone! 🚀

We’re so excited to invite you to the very first playtest of Little Rocket Lab, happening this Thursday!

This is your chance to be one of the very first players to step into the world we’ve been building—and we can’t wait to hear what you think.

You’ll get a hands-on feel for the game’s core mechanics, explore Morgan’s world, and help us shape the future of Little Rocket Lab with your feedback.

🗝 How to Join?
1️⃣ Join our Discord by clicking HERE
2️⃣ Chat and get to know all of the cool people in there!
3️⃣ Wait for the announcement on Thursday on how to play!



This is a very special moment for us, and we’re thrilled to have you along for the ride. You’ll be part of the first-ever group to play Little Rocket Lab, and your thoughts will help us make it even better.

We can’t wait to see all of your conveyor belt contraptions! 🌟

Teenage Astronauts and No More Robots
xoxo