Moon Sweepers building guide: foundations, moving and machine placement

Build on dusty ground and around foundations

In update 1.0.5, the developer says every building piece can be placed on dusty ground: building presses the dust flat beneath it, so you do not have to clean that spot first. Aim at the top, underside or side of a foundation to build on, under or beside it. Pieces can extend beyond an edge into the air.

Plan access to ports and walkways while placing pieces. For production, leave room to trace each connection and inspect a machine’s output; the factory calculator estimates material balance, not placement or belt paths.

Move a structure without rebuilding

With the building tool equipped, press R to enter move mode and pick up a piece together with everything standing on it. Place it again for free. Belts attached at its ports follow where they can reach; check their connections after moving.

The newer game files say an independently selected belt cannot be moved: remove it and draw it again. Some moon-base structures cannot be moved, and the game may ask you to get closer. After a move, it can also warn that one or more connected belts could not follow. These messages have not been tested in-game.

1. Press R with the building tool to pick up a piece and the items standing on it.
2. Place the group at its new position; right-click to put it back.
3. Press X to switch to remove mode, or R or Esc to end move mode. On a controller, press Y from remove mode.
4. Read any belt warning, inspect the connections and rebuild a belt that could not follow. Test the route after the move.

Snap machines and copy placement

Stone Press and other machines align with the foundation being aimed at: they can sit square to the foundation, flush with its edges or centred on it, and otherwise use a 0.5 m grid. Use the mouse wheel to turn them in 90° steps, or 30° on hexagonal foundations. Press F for free placement.

Middle-clicking a piece to pick it also copies its rotation and style. The 1.0.5 notes report a fix for rows of Stone Presses and other machines on foundations being refused with the “Keep the whole base on a flat foundation top” message.

Adjust height and recognize special world cells

The game’s building help lists Ctrl + mouse wheel to lift a piece on keyboard and mouse, and the D-pad to lift it on a controller. These instructions also appear in the older analyzed build; they are not newly introduced in 1.0.5. Check the controls in the placement mode you are using.

A separate game message says world hex foundations do not fit the grid’s twelve pentagon cells. This concerns those world-cell foundation pieces; the message does not establish that every hexagonal building piece is prohibited there. Exact placement and alternatives remain to be checked in-game.

Removing a piece and budgeting a build

The 1.0.5 notes say removing a piece returns its whole price, replacing the earlier 75% refund. Move mode is free, so it can be useful when you want to reposition a group rather than remove individual pieces.

The calculator data comes from an older analyzed build. Selected prices and formulas were compared with the newer 0121bf5e package; check current placement and actual behavior in your own save.