Compute Is All You Need - Data Centers
Why do science with actual materials when you can just use tremendous amounts of energy to simulate it instead?
Data centers make real science packs out of nothing but electricity. The buildings themselves are expensive, and after that you pay for science in megawatts instead of materials. Science doesn't get cheaper, it just changes from a logistics problem into a power problem.
Data centers
| Tier | Power | Speed | Module slots | Built from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mk1 | 2 MW | 1× | 0 | electronic circuits, concrete, iron plates, copper cable |
| Mk2 | 10 MW | 5× | 2 | a Mk1, advanced circuits, GPUs, refined concrete, steel, copper cable |
| Mk3 | 40 MW | 20× | 4 | a Mk2, processing units, GPUs, refined concrete, steel, copper cable |
- Every tier spends the same energy per pack. Higher tiers are just denser, and each tier
upgrades in place from the one before (the upgrade planner works). - All modules are allowed, and beacons affect data centers.
- Data centers run hot, so they never freeze on Aquilo.
- The hologram above each building glows in the colour of the pack it's simulating.
GPUs
Mk2 and Mk3 need GPUs, made through a short silicon chain: silica sand → silicon (furnace) → silicon wafer (chemical plant) → GPU.
- With Expanded Nuclear Fission installed, silica sand comes from its stone crusher (it is the same item).
- Without it, an assembler grinds stone into sand.
What a pack costs
Each pack costs base cost × its multiplier, in MJ. The Nauvis multipliers follow each pack's raw-material cost in the vanilla recipes. Off-world packs are priced so that data centers don't erase the logistics of getting there.
| Pack | Multiplier | Default cost |
|---|---|---|
| Automation | 1 | 3.5 MJ |
| Logistic | 2.3 | 8 MJ |
| Military | 7.1 | 25 MJ |
| Chemical | 8.3 | 29 MJ |
| Production | 31 | 109 MJ |
| Utility | 33 | 116 MJ |
| Space | 32 | 112 MJ |
| Metallurgic, electromagnetic, agricultural, cryogenic | 48 | 168 MJ |
| Promethium | 384 | 1344 MJ |
| Packs from other mods | 48 | 168 MJ |
Unlocks and planets
- Unlocks: each pack has its own simulation technology, placed at the end of that pack's research chain. You have to master a pack before you can simulate it.
- Planetary packs can only be simulated where their normal recipe can be crafted: metallurgic on Vulcanus, electromagnetic on Fulgora, agricultural on Gleba, cryogenic on Aquilo, space and promethium in orbit. This holds for the recipe GUI, blueprints and circuit-set recipes.
- Modded science packs get a simulation automatically:
- the recipe copies the original pack recipe's planet restrictions;
- the unlock tech sits at the end of that pack's research chain;
- the hologram uses a color sampled from the pack's icon, for packs we've seen.
Startup settings
- Base pack cost (MJ): default 3.5.
- A cost multiplier for every pack, plus one shared multiplier for modded packs.
- Simulate planetary science packs: on by default.
- Simulate modded science packs: on by default.
- Craft anywhere: off by default. When on, any pack can be simulated on any surface.
- Allow quality modules on simulations: off by default. A recipe with no ingredients would turn electricity straight into legendary science.
- Never simulate these packs: a comma-separated list of pack names to exclude.
Compatibility
- Works with or without Space Age. Without it, you get the six Nauvis packs and space science.
- Requires CMA Graphics for the building art (CC0).
- Optional integration with Expanded Nuclear Fission (shared silica sand).
- Tested alongside a 180-mod pack that includes extra planets (metal-and-stars, Voidcraft).
AI disclosure
All code was written by Claude Opus 5.5, Anthropic's AI model. That includes the item icons, which are procedural Blender scripts. The building art is from CMA Graphics, also designed by Claude Opus 5.5. The mod was directed and play-tested by trentmkelly.