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WhileSteamworld Builddoes a great job overall of explaining all of the rules and mechanics available to you, a couple of key details have been lost to time, quite literally. One aspect of the game that is never properly explained is all the different ways it keeps track of time.
There’s no day and night cycle, but there is a “cycle” that your administration tab tracks. There’s also the train and that vertical bar on the top of the screen. But wait, buildings outline their productivity in seconds. Which one is right?
How Long Is A Cycle?
A single cycle is exactly 60 seconds.
While not prominently displayed, the most important timekeeper isthe cycle. This is what is listed in the Administration window, withSupply and Demand being counted by a per-cyclerate. Since this window is used to determine if you’re producing enough of a resource, it’s worth learning how to convert to this rate.
you’re able to see how far into a cycle by checking the green bar at the bottom of the Graph in the Administration window.
A cycle appears to be howoften an item is consumed by a residential building, but this information is never explicitly shown in-game.
You havethree time options: Normal Speed, Fast Forward, and Pause.
Every Timer In Steamworld Build
The cycle is only one ofa handful of different timersin the game. There are others to consider, like the taxes, building production rates, and the train.
60 seconds
Prefered rate inAdministration window, may also dictate residential consumption rate
Taxes
10 seconds
How often Steambotspay taxesand youpay upkeepon buildings. (white bar near population)
The Train
5 Minutes
How oftenthe train arrivesto make trades and refresh items for sale
Buildings
15 to 90 seconds
Rate ofproduction from a building. Can be tracked by selecting that building
Because Steamworld Build calculatestaxes and upkeep profits automatically, you seldom need to worry about the rate for taxes. Instead, the profit margin itself will matter more.
