First run a plain producer → consumer loop; only then add the buildings that eat its events. Producers such as Mine or lumber cards place resources on tiles, consumers such as Smelter or Nitrary clear them, and the Tool Shed is the documented building that reacts to resource-created events in its range. A Depot then turns “remove here, rebuild adjacent” into fresh removal and creation events — which is where the engine effect comes from. None of this works while produced resources clog every tile.
Build the resource loop first
Every version of this engine stands on the same base: something creates resources, something consumes them, and every producer keeps a free tile to spawn into. Players describing failed Industrial runs repeat one diagnosis — resource producers need room — and the fix is a real consumer, not a second Mine. The pictured Smelter is the documented adjacent-Ore consumer; a Nitrary is the documented remover for other resources in the player threads.
Tool Shed, not Warehouse
The highest-difficulty build thread contains a correction worth repeating verbatim: the building that reacts to resource creation is the Tool Shed — not the Warehouse. Several replies had to un-say it. The Warehouse does a different job entirely: it stores points until an outside trigger releases them, which is its own page on stored-point release. If your “resource engine” is a Warehouse sitting next to a Mine, that is the bug.
With the loop running, place the Tool Shed so its shown range covers the tiles where resources actually appear. The sources do not give a current exact range, cap or accepted category list for it — check the live card, and do not plan around numbers this page does not print.
Depot turns movement into two kinds of events
The documented Depot route, from the same build thread and a separate combinations thread: a resource is removed from one tile and rebuilt on an adjacent tile. That single move produces a removal event and a creation event, so both consumer types eat from it. Players report that two Depots placed to accept each other’s movement can keep shuttling resources, and that a Workshop extends the chain into Gold. Those reports carry no verified current range, target count or cap — treat “two Depots” as a documented direction to test with live cards, not a guaranteed perpetual machine.
Event map · who eats which event
When the engine jams
- Tiles full of Ore or Lumber: the consumer link is missing or not adjacent. Producers with no room stop being an engine and start being clutter.
- Sawmill silent: it needs Lumber it can actually consume to keep triggering, per player reports; the official v1.0.4 patch also fixed Sawmill → Manufacturer not triggering, so very old “it never works” advice may be stale.
- Tool Shed quiet: creation events are happening outside its shown range. Watch where resources land, then move the shed, not the whole map.
- No Depot yet: the base loop plus Tool Shed is already an engine. Depot and Workshop are upgrades, not admission tickets, and Sawmill or Gold Ore branches are conditional extras, not the default.
- Events exist but scores do not: mult and scoring have their own rules — read where multipliers pay before stacking them on producers.
For placement problems that are really “no ground, wrong terrain or overlapping ranges”, see choosing the right neutral fix.
The Tool Shed correction and Depot/Workshop routes come from the highest-difficulty build thread and the powerful combinations thread; the room-to-spawn diagnosis from the Frontier/Industrial thread; patch facts from the official news feed (v1.0.4, latest listed v1.0.6), all read Oct 5, 2026. Player-reported routes without verified current caps — not our client test.