Connect buildings to a generator through touching buildings or Power Lines. In Beyond These Stars, you connect power by maintaining that physical connection: electricity moves automatically, without Peeps carrying it. Look for the power icon in the Construction Menu to identify buildings that need a connection, and keep road access for construction and normal operation.
How do you connect power before unlocking Power Lines?
Make a continuous chain of touching buildings back to your Burner Generator, with no road or empty space interrupting the chain. Each building that needs electricity does not have to sit directly against the generator; connected neighbors can carry power onward.
- Find the building you want to power and check its power icon in the Construction Menu.
- Arrange your early power users, such as the Ore Smelter, Toolsmith, and Metal Smelter, so they touch one another and connect back to the generator.
- Check every join along that route. A road between buildings breaks the touching connection just as an empty gap does.
- Keep the buildings connected to roads on other accessible sides. Road access and electrical contact both matter.
You do not need to pack every consumer around the Burner Generator. Extending the connected chain gives you more freedom to arrange early industry while keeping electricity flowing. Waiting for a Peep to deliver power will not repair a gap, because power is transferred automatically.
For the materials feeding those workshops, see Beyond These Stars resources. Connecting a workshop supplies electricity, but its production chain still needs the resources it consumes.
When do Power Lines unlock, and can they go on roads?
Power Lines unlock after you produce your first few Copper ingots, and you can place them on roads. They connect generators and consumers over distance, so buildings can receive power without touching one another.
Once they unlock, run Power Lines from your generating buildings toward the buildings that need electricity. Prefer a route along roads when you can: it gives your electrical network a route through the settlement that is less vulnerable to new construction or planted forests.
| Connection | What carries power? | What to watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Before Power Lines | A continuous chain of touching buildings | Roads and empty spaces interrupt contact. |
| With Power Lines | Lines linking generators and consumers over distance | Forests and buildings can block the lines. |
| Lines placed on roads | Power Lines occupying the road route | The road alone does not carry electricity. |
That last distinction matters when expanding an early settlement. A road can separate buildings and break their touching connection, while a Power Line placed on that road can provide the electrical link. Building the road is not the same action as connecting the power.
Why did a connected building lose power?
Check the connection route, the generator's fuel, and its Soot storage before changing your whole layout. A stopped building can have an intact electrical connection while its generator has stopped producing power.
- Trace the route back to a generator. Before Power Lines, look for a road or empty tile separating the touching buildings.
- Check for changes around Power Lines. Newly constructed buildings or planted forests can block a line and disconnect the grid. Reroute lines along roads to avoid the obstruction.
- Check the Burner Generator's inputs. It burns Wood or Wood Waste to generate power.
- Check its Soot output. A Burner Generator stops generating when it fills with Soot. Keep usable storage space nearby so that by-product can be moved out.
A full by-product buffer is especially easy to mistake for a connection problem. Adding another line does not empty Soot storage. If the generator is full, address storage before rebuilding the electrical route; Beyond These Stars no output space covers the related production blockage.
Keep road access when tightening your building layout. Buildings need roads for Peeps to construct them and for normal operation, even when their electrical connection comes from a touching neighbor.
Do you need continuous power to connect buildings?
No: the continuous power setting keeps generation running to produce Soot; it is not a connection step. You can enable it in Power Settings when you want that by-product.
The generator still needs its inputs and room for its by-products. Continuous generation can also waste power: when the connected grid has no more power storage space, excess power disappears while the generator keeps running. Turn it on for a reason, rather than treating it as a repair for disconnected buildings.
With a connected route, available fuel, and room for Soot, your early workshops can receive the electricity they need. As your industry grows, continue with Beyond These Stars pollution to deal with the waste produced alongside that power.