# Worked progression — a powered workshop and the first lunar return

## WP05-PLAN-01 — The question this example answers

A completed Explorer should be the visible outcome of a workshop the player understands. A successful Moon expedition should then give that workshop something useful to do. This worked example follows that complete relationship: existing mechanical competence, the first useful electrical service, a finite Tier 1 production order, a prepared round trip, and two possible uses for the returned material. The end is a better light or habitat component installed somewhere the player already cares about.

The starting point is after the bounded First Playable's repaired guesthouse, crossing, quarry, first alloy demonstration and useful hoist improvement. Their construction costs are already documented under FP-C01–FP-C06 and FP-R01–FP-R04. They are not charged again. Old Valley can host the next work, but an independently built workshop with equivalent reachable services is equally valid. Chapters 4 and 5 remain part of Old Valley's continuing story; they do not become unstated permission checks for every Tier 1 component.

This is a complete design walk-through at the level of obtainable resource families, machine roles, supply custody and player consequences. Final machine bills, numerical recipes, route costs and cargo capacities remain proposals. The small numerical ledgers below are expressly illustrative accounting examples. They show whether one proposed allocation can be followed without duplication; they do not establish measured gameplay balance or claim that a six-slot illustration already fits the manifest. No mod implementation has been inspected or authorized by this document.

Source basis: IP02, IP03; T1-OV01–T1-OV03; FP-PLAN-02, FP-PLAN-09–FP-PLAN-10; T1-SPEC-01–T1-SPEC-02. Machine aliases retain their source identity throughout: IND-M02 is T1-M01; IND-M46 is T1-M02; IND-M45 is T1-M03; IND-M40 is T1-M05.

## WP05-PLAN-02 — What enters the workshop

The player begins with known ordinary sources and opens only the branches that answer a real project. Iron supports frames and replaceable fittings. Copper supports electrical conductors and familiar service connections. Glass provides windows and early optical parts. Redstone supplies the control vocabulary. Clay, fuel, ordinary fibers and supported sealing materials complete the first preparation family. Stone and timber continue to give machinery a place to stand.

| Input family | Reachable first source | First relevant use | Avoided dependency |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Iron, copper, stone and timber | Familiar Earth gathering, approachable Shallows exposures and existing quarry access | Frames, conductors, tools, supports and common fittings | A crusher, electric refinery or space material is not required to obtain the first stock. |
| Glass and basic circuit stock | Established Earth glassmaking and reachable redstone; ordinary prepared components | Windows, navigation hardware and machine controls | Improved lunar optics are a later refit. |
| Clay and furnace fuel | Accessible Earth deposits and an audited coal or renewable-charcoal route | Simple fired insulation and vessels | A technical kiln cannot require its own first finished lining. |
| Cloth and sealing stock | Ordinary fibers, safe cultivated/fringe sources, and the supported honeycomb or early seal option | Sealed cloth, filters, gaskets, suit service and shelter joints | Deepwilds resin may offer another route; hazardous deep collection is not mandatory. |
| Water and renewable carbon feedstock | A reachable source and familiar fuel preparation | Candidate compact propellant process and supported workshop service | No lunar ice, advanced fermentation plant or new rare ore. |
| Survey knowledge | Earth observation service, existing field records and initial mission data | A supported Explorer lunar route | The Navigation Chip never asks for its own first lunar sample. |

These are availability obligations for the eventual content plan. A seed must offer a practical earlier source or a deliberately supported substitute for each required family. A rare tree, unique ruin chest, scarce creature drop or distant mandatory biome cannot become a hidden bottleneck because a placeholder recipe happened to use it. Where a substitute changes performance, the interface should explain that property; it should not quietly make the accessible option incapable of the advertised mission.

Source basis: original “Familiar resources that remain useful,” “Biological gathering and cultivation” and “Processed products”; MAT01, MAT09–MAT11; industry “Chain A” and “Chain B”; T1-OV01; T1-M01; T1-M05.

## WP05-PLAN-03 — Electricity earns its place

The first powered installation should answer a small visible need. The player mounts a workshop dynamo and source assembly, links it to a modest stationary bank through the switchboard, and connects a field-cell charging position. The first output is an existing EQ19 battery with usable SUPPLY03 charge. A work light and survey instrument can now leave the bench ready for an expedition. This result matters even if the rocket project is postponed.

A suitable existing mechanical source can drive the dynamo. A small fueled source supplies an alternative where water or wind is inconvenient. The construction of that first source uses earlier common stock; refined aluminum, high-duty alloy and the output of an electrical materials cell are excluded from its bootstrap bill. Furnace fuel used to make charcoal, raw logs consumed by that preparation, and active generator fuel are separate costs. A prepared fuel allowance never proves that producing the allowance was free.

The switchboard initially has an essential service branch and a workshop branch. The player can read current supply, stored charge, permitted delivery and connected demand. When a fabrication order exceeds delivery, it waits or uses an explicitly supported slower mode. It does not extinguish an occupied test enclosure to keep producing fins. Stored energy and maximum delivery are separate constraints: a well-charged field cell is not automatically an acceptable refinery supply.

An expanded forming press, rolling stand or powered handling line is attractive when repeated shaping becomes the inconvenience. It remains an IP04 capacity investment rather than a compulsory machine between every common ingot and the first rocket. Simple shaping, hand loading and small batches retain useful places. This is the same machine family becoming more convenient through selected tooling and power, without turning an early bench into a universal factory.

Source basis: IND-M04, IND-M05, IND-M32, IND-M37–IND-M39; EQ19; TEC07; IP02; industry “Power as a set of visible decisions.”

## WP05-PLAN-04 — A selected workshop, with distinct jobs

The first space program uses compact functions within recognizable installation families. The player need not construct a separate building for each line below. Related tests and services can share an appropriately equipped work surface, while the actual material transformation remains visible and inspectable.

| Working place | Function and output | Why it remains useful |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Metalworking and ordinary bench | Common fittings, supports, prepared stock and service parts | Repairs, paths, lifting equipment and later construction reuse the same vocabulary. |
| Kiln and ceramic station, IND-M09 / TEC02 | Earth-fired vessels and insulation | The station later accepts a documented lunar ceramic procedure. |
| Textile, panel and seal work, IND-M10–IND-M12 / TEC04 | Sealed cloth, protection layers, service gaskets and enclosure parts | The same stock repairs the suit and refuge rather than producing a unique seal for each object. |
| Part Fabrication Table, T1-M01 / IND-M02 | Recognized rocket structural parts and prepared component assemblies | Refit and replacement orders remain available after the first launch. |
| Rocket Assembly Station, T1-M02 / IND-M46 | One registered Explorer from its complete component order | It services the existing vehicle; assembly is not repeated merely to travel again. |
| Fuel Refinery, T1-M03 / IND-M45 | SUPPLY01 Standard spacecraft propellant | The product serves supported Tier 1 routes through one typed supply family. |
| Oxygen Generator and refill service, T1-M05 / IND-M40–IND-M41 | SUPPLY02 prepared on Earth and transferred into compatible vessels | Empty tanks remain refillable hardware. |
| Equipment service and test functions, IND-M42, IND-M47, IND-M49 | Inspected suit, enclosure and vehicle components | They identify missing hardware, missing supply and bounded faults separately. |
| Sample and optical work, IND-M50–IND-M51 / TEC08–TEC09 | Interpreted specimens and a relevant light-guide or survey component | Returned observations lead to a visible improvement. |

The simple fabrication route prepares a small structural family, an Engine Module, a Fuel Tank, Navigation Chip and Launch Key. Decorative details such as individual rivets, every nozzle, each bracket silhouette and each screw do not automatically become independent inventory requirements. The assembly record explains which prepared parts become the body, cockpit, service supports and installed propulsion. The four visible nozzles remain one managed engine cluster under T1-SPEC-13.

The complete order includes functioning cabin and cargo services. A hull without them is a visibly incomplete vehicle, even if its silhouette resembles the finished reference. The player can commission the pad while the assembly station waits with a completed craft; that delay cannot create a second rocket bill. T1-I01–T1-I05, REF10, REF09, REF11 and REF15 govern the relevant identities and source appearances.

## WP05-PLAN-05 — Supply production without a circular recipe

For further review, this example recommends a compact Earth propellant recipe family based on prepared renewable carbon feedstock, process water and electricity. It deliberately names game input categories rather than asserting an actual rocket chemistry. The final accepted feedstock, quantities, batch output, service use and bounded residue destination still require recipe design. An advanced chemical train may improve throughput or flexibility later; it cannot be silently inserted into this first route.

Write the candidate batch as C units of accepted carbon feedstock plus W units of accepted process water plus E_P units of workshop energy, with any declared service consumption, producing Y_P units of SUPPLY01 and R units of identified residue. C, W, E_P and Y_P are positive defined recipe values before implementation. R may be zero only if that is an explicit design decision. When residue exists, it occupies a supported buffer or named destination and cannot yield more inputs on reprocessing than the process consumed. These letters are ledger parameters, not collectible items.

For the first Oxygen Generator, the recommended default is a powered Earth atmosphere-processing mode with a valid local intake, defined service media and a compatible breathing receiver. The environment supplies the allowed intake; electricity and service stock pay the process cost. Rejected intake exits through the declared Earth exhaust behavior, without creating a new mandatory industrial gas item. The eventual recipe defines output per supported operation and service interval. A water-processing alternative can be added once its whole input and byproduct chain is specified. Neither option claims real gas chemistry.

On the Moon the Earth intake mode is unavailable. The first shelter provides stored-supply transfer, equipment checks and service using what was brought. A machine mesh does not establish local production. If later local processing is offered, its location-specific recipe, energy demand, service stock and actual feedstock become a separate commissioned capability. The first trip's reserve calculation assumes zero local manufacture of fuel or breathing supply.

Both candidate processes must expose a complete production order before the player spends the build cost. At this planning stage, the dependency graph closes at obtainable Earth categories; it does not yet yield a final whole-project bill of materials. That is a concrete remaining numerical design task, not a reason to invent definitive recipes from an illustrative grid.

Source basis: T1-M03, T1-M05, T1-S01; IND-M16–IND-M17, IND-M40–IND-M45; industry “Chain D,” “Chain E,” and “Fluids, gases, and heat.”

## WP05-PLAN-06 — The complete order and its accounting

The manufacturing ledger has three different kinds of cost. Infrastructure is installed once: the required workshop functions, launch services and assembly equipment. Reusable mission hardware includes the Explorer, suit, tanks, field equipment and shelter structure. Active use consumes defined propellant, breathing supply, energy and actual service stock. A second visit normally pays replenishment and chosen upgrades, not a new hull, another key and an entire duplicate factory.

For every recipe j, record an integer batch count n_j, input vector a_j, output vector b_j, permitted machine and available earlier sources. Gross demand for input i is the sum of n_j × a_ij plus direct construction and mission consumption. Existing unreserved stock and legitimate outputs reduce new gathering demand. A reusable pattern is counted once as installed tooling; a component committed to the Explorer is counted as part of that craft and is unavailable for a simultaneous shelter order. Uncommitted queued stock remains in its actual source inventory.

| Ledger line | Proposed scope | Accounting boundary |
| --- | --- | --- |
| WP05-B01 | Existing mechanical workshop and First Playable result | Starting infrastructure; its previous bill is neither erased nor charged again. |
| WP05-B02 | Required electrical, fabrication, supply and launch functions | Exact common-material build recipes remain to be filled. Optional capacity upgrades are separate. |
| WP05-B03 | One Explorer, one supported pilot configuration, one suit/helmet system | The pilot is a passenger record, never an item. Installed tanks, chip, key and service parts retain their identities. |
| WP05-B04 | One EQ25 starter refuge kit and actual commissioning stores | Packed construction contents transfer into one supported structure. Materials and installed result cannot both remain in cargo. |
| WP05-B05 | Selected personal and route equipment, supplies and repair stock | Equipment is reusable unless a particular active action consumes its stated part. |
| WP05-B06 | First outbound leg, lunar activity and return | Supply allocations draw from actual vessels. Reserves are purpose labels within real stock. |
| WP05-B07 | Returned specimens and one selected material application | Study, preserved display samples and processing have different custody; the same sample cannot satisfy all three consumptively. |

The companion progression_ledger_05.json records these distinctions, supply allocations, dependency edges, assumptions and acceptance conditions. It is a design ledger with deliberately unresolved parameters; empty numerical recipe fields must not be interpreted as zero-cost crafting.

## WP05-PLAN-07 — An illustrative round-trip supply ledger

The following numbers are a closed arithmetic illustration, identified WP05-EX01. “PU,” “BU,” and “EU” mean illustrative propellant, breathing and electrical accounting units respectively. They have no prescribed relationship to liters, seconds, real energy or future inventory capacity. They are different quantities and cannot be exchanged. Their purpose is to make allocation, consumption and remaining custody inspectable.

| Supply | Initial mission allocation | Baseline active consumption | Remainder after homecoming |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| SUPPLY01: 120 PU | Outbound 50; protected return 50; contingency 15; optional manoeuvre allowance 5 | Outbound 50 plus return 50 = 100 | 20 in the same returned Explorer; unused allowance is retained. |
| SUPPLY02: 240 BU | Outbound cabin 20; surface work 40; descent 40; refuge 60; protected return 20; emergency 40; unassigned refuge stock 20 | 20 + 40 + 40 + 60 + 20 = 180 | 40 emergency BU returns in its real vessel; 20 BU remains in the parked refuge. |
| Stored electricity: 320 EU | Cabin/travel 80; suit 60; field light/survey 50; refuge 100; emergency 30 | 80 + 60 + 50 + 80 = 270 | 30 emergency EU returns in real storage; 20 EU remains in the parked refuge. |

The propellant example begins with 150 PU already produced in an Earth reservoir. Loading 120 leaves 30 there. After the round trip, the system therefore holds 30 PU at home plus 20 in the returned vehicle, with 100 consumed. Refilling the craft changes location, not total supply. The example does not specify how many refinery batches produce 150; that follows only when Y_P and its input costs are defined.

The breathing example assigns 40 BU to the cabin, 60 to the fitted field vessel, 60 to a spare and 80 to the refuge's imported storage. The fitted vessel supports 40 BU of surface use and the first 20 of the descent allocation. The spare provides the remaining 20 of descent use while preserving 40 emergency BU. The refuge consumes 60 and retains 20. A transfer between these vessels must debit one and credit the other once. Its displayed mission labels never create a second stockpile.

The electrical example assigns 90 EU to vehicle storage, 70 to supported suit storage, 60 to field-device storage and 100 to the refuge. Ten EU in each of the first three locations remains reserved, for a total 30 EU emergency allowance. Device compatibility and delivery limits still apply. The returned 30 EU is not one universal cell that can power any machine. Charging input is at least delivered charge divided by a defined efficiency, with conversion loss and workshop process energy charged separately.

Actual values must eventually come from a route's measured active demand, protection settings, transfer losses where supported, and a fair return margin. Required storage must fit the selected physical configuration with all other essential cargo present. If the example cannot fit, change the configuration or rebalance the complete mission; do not remove its refuge, repair means or protected return simply to preserve a reference screen's slot count.

## WP05-PLAN-08 — Cargo is a player choice after essentials fit

The default illustration assumes one pilot, matching the current Explorer recommendation. Additional travelers require supported seats, per-person suit and breathing allowances, appropriate cabin service and actual carrying space. A second participant does not fit by sharing the pilot's oxygen figure or becoming a cargo icon. Co-op can also use independently prepared craft and shared local projects.

The required pack includes the suit system, reusable field and spare breathing vessels, charged portable equipment, EQ25 with its complete first-stage contents, EQ06 rope/anchors, EQ07 harness, EQ11 lamp, EQ13 markers, EQ14 survey instrument, EQ15 journal, EQ16 sample kit, EQ26 beacon mode, EQ27 repair stock and ordinary food. A working cabin, route hardware and installed supply are checked as vehicle configuration, not automatically charged again as loose cargo. Ordinary tools already owned remain usable; a powered drill, rover, bulk refinery and observatory shipment are optional.

For a representative first loadout, reserve six marker placements, two usable anchor placements and one compatible repair/patch action. These are proposed route-service allowances inside existing equipment families, not six new marker species or an automatically consumed kit. The eventual route must be navigable within the supported allowance or offer a fair earlier alternative. Unused markers and repair stock return; installed anchors remain at their recorded positions unless recovered after everyone has passed.

Reserve room for eight regolith feedstock units and four glass-bearing sample units as a proposed collection target. These count actual accepted sample inventory units once the item's stack rules are defined, not kilograms. The player may bring fewer and still complete the observation outing. One preserved unit from each family is withheld from processing; six regolith and two glass units are provisionally assigned to first product work; one unit of each remains unprocessed reserve. Product yields stay symbolic until recipes are chosen. A small collection should support a useful first application at the final balance, rather than forcing a second trip merely because its first batch threshold was never checked.

## WP05-PLAN-09 — Commissioning and the first expedition

Before launch, the player completes a ground service rehearsal: fill an actual empty breathing tank, fit it, check the suit, commission the cabin, load and access the full cargo, verify return records, and inspect the three separate supply services. The console combines vehicle completion and mission preparation into one current answer. Missing seal stock is a different action from missing oxygen; a filled Fuel Tank is not a breathing reserve. A valid Launch Key requests the authorized sequence after checks, with a cancellable interval.

The lunar activity follows MO-EXP-01, expanded in LE05-PLAN-01–LE05-PLAN-15. The player lands on Earthrise Rim, makes a short inspection loop and returns, commissions the independent starter refuge, then descends through Regolith Hollows to an accessible Basalt Gallery overlook. They collect common regolith and reachable glass-bearing feedstock, record the chamber and observe Earth through a roof opening under supported viewing conditions. The dark branch is optional. Shadow Basin, the reflector mission and Glassfall Vaults remain further reasons to visit.

The protected return allocation remains in the Explorer while local activity uses its own supplies. An instrument can recommend retreat using known route demand and uncertainty, but a machine may not silently cancel the return reservation to permit another optional sample. If the player deliberately revises the plan, the consequence must be visible before transfer. Pausing the managed surface project while the participant is underground does not pause that participant's active suit demand or turn the cave breathable.

Source basis: T1-X01–T1-X04; T1-SPEC-15–T1-SPEC-18; MO-PLAN-01, MO-PLAN-04, MO-EXP-01.

## WP05-PLAN-10 — Interruption, alternatives and honest recovery

| Interruption | Available response | Conserved result |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Workshop generation is insufficient | Schedule one demanding order, use an appropriate bank or source, or hand-prepare ordinary stock where supported | Existing power and material remain recorded; incomplete output is not granted. |
| Advanced processing seems required by a proposed recipe | Use the early common-material recipe or correct that recipe's gate | No aluminum, Core material or lunar stock becomes its own bootstrap requirement. |
| Refinery or refill receiver is full | Stop at the requested target; select another compatible receiver explicitly | Supply stays in its actual vessel or supported in-process buffer. |
| Refuge placement is obstructed | Return to the cabin, choose another valid preview or clear the obstruction deliberately | Uncommitted construction stock returns; completed stages are not refunded as new duplicates. |
| Field supply is lower than expected | End the optional branch, retreat along the marked route, use the declared emergency allowance if needed | Observation progress survives; protected vehicle return remains separate. |
| A bounded part needs service | Use the supported EQ27 repair action or retreat for workshop service | A repair consumes its named stock once; cleaning does not manufacture fuel or air. |
| A craft is disabled or a person cannot retreat | Use the explicitly configured EQ26 recovery association and its stated difficulty consequences | One player/craft state, recoverable knowledge and a visible cargo/salvage outcome; no free second Explorer. |

Manual alternatives apply to sensible work: ordinary smelting, simple shaping, sample collection, hand loading and small construction. They reduce dependence on bulk machinery. They do not bypass the specific process that produces propellant or invent oxygen through handcrafting. The first dedicated refinery and preparation service remain meaningful machines with obtainable construction and inputs.

Region parking preserves committed input, partial work, installed construction and real stored supply without absence production or consumption. Active teammates continue to receive the region's real services. A departing owner cannot freeze someone else's occupied refuge. Already reserved freight obeys its established receiving-region rule and does not run a remote factory. These rules are requirements for a future implementation, not verified runtime behavior.

## WP05-PLAN-11 — The discovery becomes something useful at home

On the return pad, the player unloads sample containers, inspects the suit and sees the same Explorer that departed. The journal already holds verified observations; processing an actual specimen has a separate material cost. A preserved glass fragment belongs on a shelf if the player chooses, while a different accepted unit enters the refinement order. Samples are neither infinitely copied by scanning nor destroyed merely to remember the route.

The regolith route uses screening/preparation, forming and firing through TEC02 with its TEC08 procedure. The first PM01 Regolith Ceramic output should support a limited habitat or thermal component. That can improve a supported panel in the lunar refuge or a relevant Earth workshop enclosure. Its benefit is a specific service or construction property, not an unexplained universal armor increase. Imported common frames, seals and energy still pay their part of the finished component.

The glass route uses sorted feedstock, controlled refinement and forming through established materials and optical work. PM02 Lunar Glass Filament can support a compact light guide or an improved survey housing. The recommended first display is an existing work light at Old Valley's quarry, or an equivalent lamp in the player's own workshop, fitted with the new component. A familiar location makes its change easy to judge. It should improve a stated property such as compact routing or useful instrument integration; brightness, power demand and range remain tuning choices.

The player chooses one application first. The other route remains known and the retained sample stock remains available. A future lunar line can process bulky material near its source, but this outing already paid off without one. The next preparation order reuses hardware, replenishes consumed supplies, checks service and adds a chosen upgrade. That shorter cycle is the practical reward for the workshop investment.

Source basis: PM01, PM02; MO-PLAN-05, MO-PLAN-09; industry “Chain F”; T1-X04; IND-M09, IND-M50–IND-M51.

## WP05-PLAN-12 — What this pass establishes and what must be tuned

This example establishes an acyclic capability route at the design-family level. Every first-launch input originates on Earth, a first lunar sample rewards arrival rather than enabling survival, and ordinary workshop services remain valuable after the expedition. The ledger separates construction, reusable hardware, active consumables, protected reserves and optional production. The scenario has a conservative success path and recoverable optional failure.

| Completion reference | Evidence required before this becomes a build specification |
| --- | --- |
| WP05-AC01 | Every nonempty mandatory input has a reachable earlier source or a named working substitute; no lunar ingredient appears in first-launch production. |
| WP05-AC02 | All infrastructure and first component recipes have explicit batch inputs, outputs, energy/service costs and byproduct destinations. No unresolved parameter is treated as zero. |
| WP05-AC03 | The selected Explorer physically accommodates its pilot, operating systems, full first shelter, personal/route supplies and proposed sample allowance. |
| WP05-AC04 | Fuel, breathing and energy ledgers conserve their own quantities through loading, transfer, active use, return and parked storage. |
| WP05-AC05 | Walking and construction demands, supply warnings and retreat margins are measured together during later playtesting. No proposed units imply minutes without evidence. |
| WP05-AC06 | Interrupted orders, region parking and vehicle handoffs preserve one cost, one result and one owner/location record. |
| WP05-AC07 | The first returned quantity supports a useful application with all supplemental Earth inputs counted; preserved specimens remain unconsumed. |
| WP05-AC08 | A second mission reuses the existing spacecraft and useful workshop; repeated supply work becomes simpler through saved bounded orders. |

The recommended next numerical work is therefore concrete: choose the two starter supply recipes, fill the relevant common-material component bills, pack the complete manifest against the resolved cabin/cargo proposal, and measure the first route once implementation is explicitly authorized. The present edition supplies the connected design and honest accounting structure needed to do that work without undoing the existing creative direction.