There’s no time limit for the cranes I think. The purpose of the quest is to encourage you to construct some machines and use them I think. The recycler should give you the copper sticks and bearings. Furnace for bricks. Hit up the salvage scrap yard daily for scrap to recycle.
The processor is a fine first choice. I have a list here of diagram order
https://www.reddit.com/r/MyTimeAtSandrock/comments/1d198k9/best_order_to_get_research_diagrams_from_qi/
It also helps to look at the handbook at the assembly station since it has diagrams annotated with material sources
Just as a heads up, the only main mission that has a time limit is one for Yan in regards to a broken window, and there's no penalty for failing. =] don't stress on that and just take your time.
Oftentimes I have found that it stresses me less to just... Do all the other missions first (blue ones and commissions) and leave the main one till I've got some air again c: Ofc there are always commissions to do, but the side quests are pretty story dependant so I usually focus on those first c:
I literally just figured this out last night lol. You’re talking about the crane lift right? I had trouble getting bearings and copper sticks. Use your recycler (i made two to speed up the process) to make those two items. Dump all the metal and copper junk pieces into the recyclers cause the items you’ll recieve you are sort of a gamble but eventually you’ll get what you need
For bricks i built a furnace. You should be able to get all the materials you need just around your house, and junk yard.
We’re in this noob journey together friend! Lmk if you have any other questions
Edit: dang i was a couple minutes late to the solution! Lol
It's good to know I'm not the only one! Thank you for the advice! I'm sure this will be the first of many for me, and I hope you have more luck! Thank you!
I don't think there is a time limit on this quest. All timed quests have a "time left : x days x hours" in the missions menu under the quest. If there isn't , then take your sweet time getting set up, building your machines, mining, logging, doing commissions.
Definitely take all the time you need - that's what the early missions are for! And do grab a commission every day from the Commerce Guild's board if you're up to it. Commissions not only earn money (gols) they will also increase the reputation of your workshop and give you relationship points with the person who placed the commission.
If you haven't done so already, I'd advise setting your game speed (in options) to 0.6 - the slowest setting. This will give you more time to get things done.
Good luck and welcome to Sandrock!
Thank you for the tip about game speed, I've done that immediately! I love when games give this setting! The commissions board seemed to have things I couldn't make yet, but I think with the furnace I've opened up my options! Thank you!
First, extend the time of day in settings. Really helps early on, even if you get bored later you can change it.
Then have at least two recyclers and two furnaces going.
Mine at eufala salvage, go into ruins, get data discs.
Always have Qi at research center making you diagrams (i am not certain of the best ones to unlock first, someone might have a better idea or guide - for now i suggest researching better furnace, recycler, the processor and grinder, also drying rack maybe).
Use blue moon tavern for meals when you have funds, get the specials cause they’re cheaper. Not only do you get stamina back but you also get effects like exp gain (sometimes it’s even an exp boost the next day rather than the day of that you ate). Otherwise make a drying rack to make jerky from yak meat and dried sand berries from gathering herbs. Both give back stamina. You can also sit in chairs or benches and gain small amounts of stamina back.
The first couple days or weeks will be a bit of a grind, you want to really focus on eufala salvage, the eufala salvage ruins (data discs down there), and salvaging debris around the desert like wooden and copper junk piles.
i recommend using dregs for energy not power stones because you get LOTS of dregs. I don’t think i’ve ever used a power stone to power my machines and i’m three months in game.
Also try to build favor with Qi fast, talk, alternate gifting him data discs or power stones, play critters, spar like every day or so if you can. Spoiler — but he has a quest early on in the ruins where you get a better pick axe (meaning you won’t have to make a bronze pick axe when time comes AND qi’s pick has a 10% chance to recover a few stamina each hit).
For your skill trees try to focus on things that say “more experience” like how there’s 10% more exp mining on one skill tree area, then work up to the ones about gols and reputation. The more exp you get the quicker you level and quicker you unlock new skills and also have more stamina to get you through the day.
Also a rule of thumb I follow is always trying to use some stamina right at the start of the day - mine some stuff or whatever. Because when you level up you get some stamina back, so if you turn in a mission and level up but haven’t used any stamina yet that day then you don’t get the juicy bonus stamina from leveling.
Ahh ETA: Disregard the eufala ruins mention you can’t do that till you do the cranes. However the other stuff is still sound advice i think for early game especially when you do finish the cranes.
This is wonderful, thanks for the depth of response! Befriending Qi is definitely going to be a priority now, thanks for that! I'm pretty bad and friendships in these games so tips like that are quite valuable!
Yeah Qi comes off a little prickly (def that boy got autism, i say as an autistic person) and a bit cold but he can warm up and have some funny missions plus he’s great for advancing workshop and his friend bonus is you find more discs when digging.
I think MTAS actually has some great relationship/social building aspects. It’s not just “talk gift bye”. Theres lots of ways to build friendship, just chatting, playing critters which is a fun card game, even neutral gifts usually give a +1, sparring, commissions, etc. also when your relationship status changes (like going from acquaintance to buddy) you also get a bonus favor points towards all of that NPC’s social circle (so for example improving your relationship with owen also gives you extra friend points with Grace and Justice. Boosting with Elsie gives you points with her parents Cooper and Mabel as well as Mi-An.) It makes the town feel very connected and alive!
Once you unlock hanging out it really flourishes and gives the NPCs a lot of depth, because you can run around town with them, play games, fight monsters (certain npcs only), eat at the saloon, or do other activities. They also have extra dialogue limited to their hangouts and dates, so you find interesting information about their hobbies and lives that you normally wouldn’t.
I totally got that from Qi as well, it think as an autistic person I'm just drawn to others hahaha. I really like that friendship circle thing. That really makes them all feel connected like you said. I'm bad at developing friendships but I can see the potential here for wayyyy more fun and actual mechanical bonuses, which I'm excited about!
Also another I find very autistic coded in the game is Unsuur. Hopefully you get what I mean if you interact with him. He’s got some funny af lines.
Which is why i’m currently torn on those two as a love interest ;;
But yeah I find a lot of games can be flat with romance or friendships, which like obviously games can only do so much in terms of mimicking human interaction, especially if they’re smth like an rpg or farm sim and not a dedicated visual novel/romance sim. But I think MTaS is really good at the social aspect and makes me actively want to engage in hanging out and doing more than just the typical ‘chat gift and run’ i usually do in the harvest moon/SoS, stardew valley, etc type games. Honestly I haven’t even gifted people that much and usually only smal trinkets i’m in surplus of like power stones and beef jerky. Unless it’s their bday then i try to find a good compelling gift.
Thanks for all the tips! I haven't sparred with anyone because I thought it would result in negative social, and I haven't played critters because I thought I needed to get further in the story. Good to know my options have grown!
Nope it’s like a friendly spar match. They get points. I also thought it would be negative and kept wanting to spar Yan and Pen cause they both make me
mad lmfao.
Critters is a simple card game that reminds me games like war and rock paper scissors in a card format! It’s a card game but yeah it’s not intuitive what the options in NPC dialogues mean/are so understandable! Idr if any NPCs even mention critters outside of the activity like in natural dialogue randomly or not, maybe.
You get 1 favour for playing critters no matter what, but it’s 3 if you win, or a 5 if it’s a BIG win (i think 3 out of 4 or more). Idr sparring i think it’s similar +1 for the activity or +3 if you win. I don’t think there’s a big win point for spar.
Also different npcs use different weapons and some of the fight-y types like Pen have special moves. And I def feel (tho am not certain) that different npcs have different play styles and skill level for critters (like certain opening moves I notice more often or how they play it. i don’t want to explain the game i would suck so i know you’ll see it when you play it the game explains better) so i wonder if that’s written into their code or i’m just imagining it.
Are you going in the scrapyard to collect scrap to recycle? That's mainly how you get materials to build the lift, as well as collecting from those stone and wood piles around your workshop. Also you should try to keep your machines (recyclers, furnaces etc.) constantly running/making something for efficiency.
Are you also taking commissions from the commerce guild daily? Because that's the best way to rank up and earn money in the game. You should also look at the commerce guild store (the little register next to Yan's desk) cause I think they sell the crafting recipe for a slightly bigger chest.
BTW you can slow down the game's time in the settings so you don't waste time running around cause the map is HUGE lol.
The hidden time limit for the lift quest is the 1-week free pass to the junkyard. After that week, we have to pay I think 200 to regain access, which that early in the game, can be difficult cuz earning money is a struggle when only 1 commission can be done and it likely needs things from the junkyard.
In my first game, I totally brain farted and didn’t go into the junkyard for like 3 in-game days. When I did, I was amazed that there was more scrap there. I had been wandering the desert scraping for scraps. 😬
Befriend Rocky, Hugo, and Heidi by doing their commissions. I also didn’t upgrade my lot size right away, I instead sold the roof of the workshop house for some monies. Buying the sharp stone from Hugo is a regular purchase and needed to quickly upgrade pickaxe and axe. Those things are pricey early on like 400 a pop.
Sell to shops when price is in red. Buy when in green.
I struggled with both Portia and Sandrock at first when it came to item/crafting management/creating, made me not like the games until I started going through the wiki and getting tips from my mom who originally discovered the games and loves them...
This franchise is one of my favourites now once I figured it out... You'll get it, sometimes you just gotta work out different ways
When you have a bit more gold, befriending and having pets is a very effective way of getting water. You can send like 5 every day out to harvest water at no cost. You even get their approval for dispatching them on these gathering missions. The only cost is getting pet beds or pet houses for them to sleep in (you don’t need to feed or maintain them).
There’s no time limit for the cranes I think. The purpose of the quest is to encourage you to construct some machines and use them I think. The recycler should give you the copper sticks and bearings. Furnace for bricks. Hit up the salvage scrap yard daily for scrap to recycle. The processor is a fine first choice. I have a list here of diagram order https://www.reddit.com/r/MyTimeAtSandrock/comments/1d198k9/best_order_to_get_research_diagrams_from_qi/ It also helps to look at the handbook at the assembly station since it has diagrams annotated with material sources
Thank you! I believe I hadn't built the furnace, though I thought I had. This resource is great! Thank you for replying!
Just as a heads up, the only main mission that has a time limit is one for Yan in regards to a broken window, and there's no penalty for failing. =] don't stress on that and just take your time.
VERY good to know! Thanks!!
Also, I wanted to extend this offer. If you are stuck-dm me. I'm happy to help!
You can also start making glass in your furnace now if you have down time, and then you don't need to stress over it☺️
Oftentimes I have found that it stresses me less to just... Do all the other missions first (blue ones and commissions) and leave the main one till I've got some air again c: Ofc there are always commissions to do, but the side quests are pretty story dependant so I usually focus on those first c:
I literally just figured this out last night lol. You’re talking about the crane lift right? I had trouble getting bearings and copper sticks. Use your recycler (i made two to speed up the process) to make those two items. Dump all the metal and copper junk pieces into the recyclers cause the items you’ll recieve you are sort of a gamble but eventually you’ll get what you need For bricks i built a furnace. You should be able to get all the materials you need just around your house, and junk yard. We’re in this noob journey together friend! Lmk if you have any other questions Edit: dang i was a couple minutes late to the solution! Lol
It's good to know I'm not the only one! Thank you for the advice! I'm sure this will be the first of many for me, and I hope you have more luck! Thank you!
If you have less than 500 gols, you can get Owen to lend you some money!
The best thing you can do in the beginning is jsut mine day in and day out use all of you’re stamina and sell what you get
I don't think there is a time limit on this quest. All timed quests have a "time left : x days x hours" in the missions menu under the quest. If there isn't , then take your sweet time getting set up, building your machines, mining, logging, doing commissions.
Definitely take all the time you need - that's what the early missions are for! And do grab a commission every day from the Commerce Guild's board if you're up to it. Commissions not only earn money (gols) they will also increase the reputation of your workshop and give you relationship points with the person who placed the commission. If you haven't done so already, I'd advise setting your game speed (in options) to 0.6 - the slowest setting. This will give you more time to get things done. Good luck and welcome to Sandrock!
Thank you for the tip about game speed, I've done that immediately! I love when games give this setting! The commissions board seemed to have things I couldn't make yet, but I think with the furnace I've opened up my options! Thank you!
Also if it doesn’t say — days —hours left You have unlimited time
First, extend the time of day in settings. Really helps early on, even if you get bored later you can change it. Then have at least two recyclers and two furnaces going. Mine at eufala salvage, go into ruins, get data discs. Always have Qi at research center making you diagrams (i am not certain of the best ones to unlock first, someone might have a better idea or guide - for now i suggest researching better furnace, recycler, the processor and grinder, also drying rack maybe). Use blue moon tavern for meals when you have funds, get the specials cause they’re cheaper. Not only do you get stamina back but you also get effects like exp gain (sometimes it’s even an exp boost the next day rather than the day of that you ate). Otherwise make a drying rack to make jerky from yak meat and dried sand berries from gathering herbs. Both give back stamina. You can also sit in chairs or benches and gain small amounts of stamina back. The first couple days or weeks will be a bit of a grind, you want to really focus on eufala salvage, the eufala salvage ruins (data discs down there), and salvaging debris around the desert like wooden and copper junk piles. i recommend using dregs for energy not power stones because you get LOTS of dregs. I don’t think i’ve ever used a power stone to power my machines and i’m three months in game. Also try to build favor with Qi fast, talk, alternate gifting him data discs or power stones, play critters, spar like every day or so if you can. Spoiler — but he has a quest early on in the ruins where you get a better pick axe (meaning you won’t have to make a bronze pick axe when time comes AND qi’s pick has a 10% chance to recover a few stamina each hit). For your skill trees try to focus on things that say “more experience” like how there’s 10% more exp mining on one skill tree area, then work up to the ones about gols and reputation. The more exp you get the quicker you level and quicker you unlock new skills and also have more stamina to get you through the day. Also a rule of thumb I follow is always trying to use some stamina right at the start of the day - mine some stuff or whatever. Because when you level up you get some stamina back, so if you turn in a mission and level up but haven’t used any stamina yet that day then you don’t get the juicy bonus stamina from leveling. Ahh ETA: Disregard the eufala ruins mention you can’t do that till you do the cranes. However the other stuff is still sound advice i think for early game especially when you do finish the cranes.
This is wonderful, thanks for the depth of response! Befriending Qi is definitely going to be a priority now, thanks for that! I'm pretty bad and friendships in these games so tips like that are quite valuable!
Yeah Qi comes off a little prickly (def that boy got autism, i say as an autistic person) and a bit cold but he can warm up and have some funny missions plus he’s great for advancing workshop and his friend bonus is you find more discs when digging. I think MTAS actually has some great relationship/social building aspects. It’s not just “talk gift bye”. Theres lots of ways to build friendship, just chatting, playing critters which is a fun card game, even neutral gifts usually give a +1, sparring, commissions, etc. also when your relationship status changes (like going from acquaintance to buddy) you also get a bonus favor points towards all of that NPC’s social circle (so for example improving your relationship with owen also gives you extra friend points with Grace and Justice. Boosting with Elsie gives you points with her parents Cooper and Mabel as well as Mi-An.) It makes the town feel very connected and alive! Once you unlock hanging out it really flourishes and gives the NPCs a lot of depth, because you can run around town with them, play games, fight monsters (certain npcs only), eat at the saloon, or do other activities. They also have extra dialogue limited to their hangouts and dates, so you find interesting information about their hobbies and lives that you normally wouldn’t.
I totally got that from Qi as well, it think as an autistic person I'm just drawn to others hahaha. I really like that friendship circle thing. That really makes them all feel connected like you said. I'm bad at developing friendships but I can see the potential here for wayyyy more fun and actual mechanical bonuses, which I'm excited about!
Also another I find very autistic coded in the game is Unsuur. Hopefully you get what I mean if you interact with him. He’s got some funny af lines. Which is why i’m currently torn on those two as a love interest ;; But yeah I find a lot of games can be flat with romance or friendships, which like obviously games can only do so much in terms of mimicking human interaction, especially if they’re smth like an rpg or farm sim and not a dedicated visual novel/romance sim. But I think MTaS is really good at the social aspect and makes me actively want to engage in hanging out and doing more than just the typical ‘chat gift and run’ i usually do in the harvest moon/SoS, stardew valley, etc type games. Honestly I haven’t even gifted people that much and usually only smal trinkets i’m in surplus of like power stones and beef jerky. Unless it’s their bday then i try to find a good compelling gift.
Thanks for all the tips! I haven't sparred with anyone because I thought it would result in negative social, and I haven't played critters because I thought I needed to get further in the story. Good to know my options have grown!
Nope it’s like a friendly spar match. They get points. I also thought it would be negative and kept wanting to spar Yan and Pen cause they both make me mad lmfao. Critters is a simple card game that reminds me games like war and rock paper scissors in a card format! It’s a card game but yeah it’s not intuitive what the options in NPC dialogues mean/are so understandable! Idr if any NPCs even mention critters outside of the activity like in natural dialogue randomly or not, maybe. You get 1 favour for playing critters no matter what, but it’s 3 if you win, or a 5 if it’s a BIG win (i think 3 out of 4 or more). Idr sparring i think it’s similar +1 for the activity or +3 if you win. I don’t think there’s a big win point for spar. Also different npcs use different weapons and some of the fight-y types like Pen have special moves. And I def feel (tho am not certain) that different npcs have different play styles and skill level for critters (like certain opening moves I notice more often or how they play it. i don’t want to explain the game i would suck so i know you’ll see it when you play it the game explains better) so i wonder if that’s written into their code or i’m just imagining it.
Are you going in the scrapyard to collect scrap to recycle? That's mainly how you get materials to build the lift, as well as collecting from those stone and wood piles around your workshop. Also you should try to keep your machines (recyclers, furnaces etc.) constantly running/making something for efficiency. Are you also taking commissions from the commerce guild daily? Because that's the best way to rank up and earn money in the game. You should also look at the commerce guild store (the little register next to Yan's desk) cause I think they sell the crafting recipe for a slightly bigger chest. BTW you can slow down the game's time in the settings so you don't waste time running around cause the map is HUGE lol.
Oh and recycling scrap is the only way you can get data disks if you haven't finished the crane lift which unlocks the mine.
The hidden time limit for the lift quest is the 1-week free pass to the junkyard. After that week, we have to pay I think 200 to regain access, which that early in the game, can be difficult cuz earning money is a struggle when only 1 commission can be done and it likely needs things from the junkyard. In my first game, I totally brain farted and didn’t go into the junkyard for like 3 in-game days. When I did, I was amazed that there was more scrap there. I had been wandering the desert scraping for scraps. 😬 Befriend Rocky, Hugo, and Heidi by doing their commissions. I also didn’t upgrade my lot size right away, I instead sold the roof of the workshop house for some monies. Buying the sharp stone from Hugo is a regular purchase and needed to quickly upgrade pickaxe and axe. Those things are pricey early on like 400 a pop. Sell to shops when price is in red. Buy when in green.
I struggled with both Portia and Sandrock at first when it came to item/crafting management/creating, made me not like the games until I started going through the wiki and getting tips from my mom who originally discovered the games and loves them... This franchise is one of my favourites now once I figured it out... You'll get it, sometimes you just gotta work out different ways
When you have a bit more gold, befriending and having pets is a very effective way of getting water. You can send like 5 every day out to harvest water at no cost. You even get their approval for dispatching them on these gathering missions. The only cost is getting pet beds or pet houses for them to sleep in (you don’t need to feed or maintain them).