Using the mechanic station

Here's what I suggest you do:

• Explore
• Get food
• Make a craftbot
• Secure the station
• Make a Fant autocrafter

Exploration

Inside the station there's a raised area with a control panel. Outside the mechanic station you should find a wheel, a plastic crate. Between the two large pipes you'll find a damaged crate - this respawns. Near the station you'll find water, lots of trees, some corn, some flowers and some cubic shaped rock outcrops. If you are lucky you may find a bee colony. If you are unlucky it may have a beebot.

Get food

As in Getting Started 1 near the water plant a block of 9 crops. That makes 18 plots altogether but provided the plots are at least 256 blocks apart you won't get bots raiding them. The two plots you have are well over that distance. By now you should have the soil bags needed, and seeds. I suggest you plant 9 red beet in preference because they boost hunger and thirst equally. If you don't have enough then plant carrots and rely on woc milk to satisfy thirst. Remember those wood blocks and metal items you salvaged from the pond building? Use those to suround your crops with a protective wall.

Use 'Q' to change the orientation of the roof and scrap wall parts and use it also to change the direction in which you can left drag the wood blocks to build a wall.

Make a craftbot

Go back inside the mechanic station to the raised area. Press 'E' on the control panel and you'll see this:

'Craftbot' should already be selected. To make it you'll need 90 scrap metal, 10 circuit boards and 10 component kits. If the numbers in the highlighted area are yellow then you already have enough. If the numbers are red then you'll need to find more. The easiest way to get scrap metal is to fight haybots, get their arms and refine them by pressing 'E'. You'll get 10 scrap metal from each. If you need circuit boards then again fight bots - any of them. If you need component kits then the best way is to enter buildings there, fight haybots and look in chests.

When you are able to make the craftbot you'll find it in the middle of the mechanic station floor. You can leave it there for now or pick it up (right click on it) and move it to somewhere better. Leave space either side if you do move it.

Secure the mechanic station

The mechanic station has two large open doors and bots can enter easily. It's a good idea to stop them doing that. I suggest a temporary barrier made from a single row of metal 1. This isn't the strongest metal but it will stop bots wandering in while you can jump over it. To make metal 1 press 'E' on the craftbot and select Metal 1. Each 10 blocks of it will require 15 blocks of scrap metal. The doors of the mechanic station are 50 blocks wide each so you'll need at least 150 blocks of scrap metal.

I didn't have enough so I needed to find and destroy at least 8 more haybots. Head into the forest and start looking for buildings if you need more metal. There will be haybots around and in those.

One ruined building later I had the scrap metal needed plus lots of other goodies. My inventory (press 'I' to see it) was starting to look very full.

Make use of the cabinet you removed from the crashed ship and place other items on the floor and table.

Make a Fant autocrafter

The craftbot is a little clumsy to use and there's a much better alternative available from the Fant mod. You don't have to stand over it and it will also disassemble items. That makes it the next item to make. You'll need 30 metal 3 blocks, 10 circuit boards and 10 component kits.
To make the 30 metal 3 blocks you'll need 60 metal 2 blocks, 6 embers and 12 water containers.
To make 12 water containers you'll need 12 buckets of water.
To make 60 metal 2 blocks you'll need 90 metal 1 blocks, 6 embers and 12 water containers
To make 90 metal 1 blocks you'll need 135 scrap metal
Altogether you need the metal from 14 haybots, 12 embers and 24 buckets of water. In my case I already have the embers. Let's make the water containers first.

1. Pick up your craftbot by right clicking it.
2. Take it and the buckets you have to the nearest water.
3. Arrange your hotbar so that you have all your buckets on it with two empty spaces next to them.
4. Fill your buckets then press E on the craftbot
5. Use the craftbot to produce some water containers; you'll find them under the 'consumable tab.'
6. Repeat untill you have 24 water containers.
7. Pick up the craftbot and take it back inside.

Now go find 14 haybots and destroy them to get 135 scrap metal blocks.

...and

...you can make an autocrafter. Place it here:

As you can see, it's a lot smaller and neater than the craftbot. It will do everything the craftbot can do and more except for one thing. It can't make water containers from buckets of water; but we'll get to that later.