After spending some time exploring the starting planet in Astroneer, you will likely wonder what the limitations are. You have probably explored deep into some caves to find lots of resources and interesting stuff. How far can you go through? Can you dig to the centre of the planet?
Unlike Minecraft, there is no bottom floor that you can’t dig through any further. It is actually possible to dig down into a planet and come out the other side. There are going to be some pretty awesome secrets you discover along the way though.
Can You Dig To The Center of A Planet?
The answer to this is yes! You can dig to the centre of a planet. In fact, you can dig through the planet and come up on the other side. Something we would have seen in cartoons as kids. The process of doing this is a bit difficult and probably isnt worth the time, but it can be done if you have the right tools at your disposal.
Best Way To Dig Into a Planet
Depending on the planet, you may or may not need a drill bit if you plan on digging deep into the core of the planet. There are some planets that have dense rock that requires sharper drill bits in order to break through this rock.
You can dig to the center of the planet by hand, but I would suggest you follow my tutorial for build a tunnel digging machine. This machine will allow you to quickly dig down into the ground, gathering all of the resources automatically and building a clean smooth tunnel that brings you all the way to the bottom.
What Is In The Center of a Planet?
The million dollar question! We know it is possible to dig to the center of a planet, but what is there? Does the center of the planet contain lava? Hell? Can you meet the devil? The contents at the center of the planet are not quite the fire and brimstone that most people might expect, but there is something pretty crazy down there.
Spoilers ahead! – If you plan on digging to the center of a planet and have not done it before, it is best to just drill down on your own and not read the rest of this post until you have done this. You can of course read this if you just want to know and do not want to go drilling. The experience of finding out yourself is pretty fun and exciting. It is best you do not spoil it for yourself.
The contents of the center of a planet in Astroneer is pretty crazy and is what you will end up spending most of the game doing when you have bases built on all of the planets.
Welcome To The Gateway Engine
The center of every planet in Astroneer contains a structure called a gateway engine. A pretty crazy looking structure that looks a lot like those big structures you may have found on the surface of the planet.
So what do these things do? I have created a far more detailed guide on what the gateway engine is and how to use it. The short answer to this is that the gateway engine serves as a means to teleport. You can teleport from the gateway chambers on the surface of the planet to other chambers or down to the core. It allows you to save a lot of time having to walk around and it is pretty cool.
Each chamber has a platform that will accept a specific resource in order to activate it. The list of resources can all be found in the link in the previous paragraph.
