FIELD NOTE 01
Place the refinery in the loop
Field work creates or exposes resources. The refinery processes materials. Later purchases and progression depend on what the combined system can produce.
That makes refinery efficiency a handoff problem: how quickly inputs arrive, how quickly they are processed and whether outputs are useful now.
FIELD NOTE 02
Measure the bottleneck
Write down input amount, output amount and elapsed cycle or batch time exactly as your build presents them. Observe whether machines wait empty or inputs accumulate.
An empty machine suggests supply or routing may be slow. A growing input queue suggests processing may be slow. This distinction tells you which upgrade deserves comparison.
- Input units available
- Output units produced
- Cycle or batch duration
- Machine idle time
- Input backlog
FIELD NOTE 03
Compare a refinery upgrade
Use before and after throughput only when the unit is the same. If an upgrade changes capacity rather than rate, evaluate how often capacity was constraining you.
Do not convert a qualitative convenience into a fake money-per-minute number. Record it as utility and decide whether the saved attention matters to your play style.
FIELD NOTE 04
Why the numeric calculator is deferred
A trustworthy refinery calculator requires at least one current conversion with defined units and a reproducible formula. Pre-release official sources verify the system but not the numeric contract.
Publishing an empty calculator would create false confidence and a thin indexable route. The reserved route will be promoted only when verified launch data can power a real answer.
EVIDENCE LOG