A player who discovers every secret on Balboa Island inRaftwill get access to biofuel, a brand-new source of energy. They’ll even have a reason to use it, because the engines that players need to reach Balboa run on both planks and biofuel.
However, using biofuel is a complex process.Raftplayers first have to refine biofuel in a two-step process, then if they don’t want to waste it they have to build a storage and piping system that takes the fuel from large storage tanks to the machines that need it. This guide will explain how players can set up a refinery and pipe network with as few pipes cluttering up the deck as possible.
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The Refinement Process
Step one of the biofuel supply chain is the biofuel refiner. The refiner doesn’t require any sort of heat source to work, but it does require two ingredients: raw food and honey.
Players can get two units honey by combiningone pane of glasswith six units of honeycomb. Honeycomb can be found in the wild on evergreen and desert islands, or players can build beehives to create honeycomb on their raft. Honey is edible and replenishes both the food and water bars, but it’s far more useful in the biofuel refiner. Honey goes in the small plastic tube on the right side of the refiner, and the refiner consumes one unit of honey for each unit of biofuel it creates.
The more complex ingredient is raw food, becausenot all food sources are equal. A full stack of 20 raw beets or potatoes will only get the tank to the halfway mark, but just four cave mushrooms or two animal heads will completely fill it. The order is as follows:
With all this in mind, the best fuel players can useare the animal headsthat are otherwise nothing but decorative items.
Storage and Piping
Players can add biofuel containers directly to the machines that use it. However, to make the most of this resource they should instead create biofuel tanks and then craft a pipe system that connects these pipes to their enginesand battery chargers. This will prevent wastage, and players can keep track of how much biofuel is in the system thanks to a handy dial on the tank.
Unfortunately, fuel pipes are very particular about where players can place them. The good news is that each pipe takes up one cube that snaps to the foundation grid, and pipes automatically connect to adjacent pipes and machines. This means players don’t have to create different pipe shapes. The bad news is that players can only place pipes directly on foundation squares, raised platforms, floor tiles, and other pipes. On top of this, unsupported pipes will disappear forever the same as unsupported structures.
However, there are ways around this issue. A pipe connected to a machine counts as supported no matter what shape it takes, and so players can build a pipe four cubes high, build a second stack of pipes next to it, and then remove the three lower pipes to create a horizontal pipe high above players' heads. By repeating this process, players can install a pipe network that stays well out of the way.
Another useful trick is that pipes only care about sitting on empty foundations and floor squares when players first install them. Once the pipe already exists and is supported by other pipes, players can remove the structures and place other objects under horizontal pipes. This means players can create a scaffold for pipes and then remove it afterwards, butthis is a waste of woodcompared to the pipe method. Also, pipes can connect through windows and under most types of fence.
All of these issues make laying pipes difficult, but once players know how they work they can create impressive networks that cross the entire raft. Players should also keep in mind that water pipes use the exact same mechanics, so be prepared to do it all over again later on.
