Alchemy Factory — production dataset & optimizer

Dataset and working production-line optimizer for Alchemy Factory (Steam appid 3669570), current as of game version 0.5.0.4471 / patch v0.5.4467 (June 2026).

Dataset assembled 2026-06-12 from a verified deep-research pass (24 confirmed claims, 19 sources, 3-vote adversarial verification per claim). Optimizer architecture chosen via a multi-agent design debate — see DESIGN.md.

Visual planner (web UI)

npm install
npm run serve                             # → http://localhost:8347

Pick an output item and rate, optionally restrict the allowed external inputs (the feedstock + coins you're willing to feed the factory — leave empty to allow anything), set cauldron/byproduct/skill knobs, and hit Solve. You get an interactive left-to-right factory graph: each machine node shows its integer count, utilization, and runs/min; edges are labeled with the item and flow rate; HEAT and NUTRIENT appear as resource hubs; surplus byproducts get explicit discard nodes; and cauldron routes riding fragile/tie margins or face-value coin mints are badged. Pan with drag, zoom with the wheel, Fit to reframe, toggle ⇄ Horizontal / ⇅ Vertical layout (vertical fits deep builds on screen better), or Copy Graphviz DOT to export. The graph is solved server-side by the same LP, so the browser needs no WASM.

The layout (src/layout.js, shared by the UI and the SVG exporter) uses dagre (@dagrejs/dagre) for proper layered graph drawing — virtual nodes for long edges, crossing minimization, and routed edge paths — so even dense graphs with shared intermediates read as a clean dependency flow chart. A spanning-tree pass marks non-primary edges (an intermediate feeding several lines, or a byproduct fed back) as dashed "recycle" links. dagre runs in the browser (web/dagre.js) and in Node for the SVG export.

Optimizer quick start (CLI)

npm install
npm test                                  # 36 tests: cauldron golden + Mars regressions + graph/layout

# min-cost plan for an item (route tree, external inputs, binding capacity)
node src/cli.js cost Mars --rate 0.1 --pool buyables --no-self-fert

# export a standalone SVG of the factory graph (opens in any browser, no server)
node src/cli.js svg Mars --rate 0.1 --pool buyables --no-self-fert --out mars.svg
node src/cli.js svg Mars --rate 0.1 --pool buyables --vertical --out mars_tall.svg  # top-to-bottom

# restrict to a specific set of purchasable inputs via a config file
node src/cli.js cost "Bronze Ingot" --rate 20 --config inputs.json
#   inputs.json: {"buy":{"allow":["Logs","Gelatinous Gridlock","Copper Coin"]}}

# resolve a single cauldron triple
node src/cli.js triple "Gelatinous Gridlock" "Gelatinous Gridlock" "Gelatinous Gridlock"

# max gold/min for a machine budget; integer machine counts for a target
node src/cli.js profit --machines 5
node src/cli.js machines "Healing Potion" --rate 30

It is a flow-balance LP (HiGHS) over machine recipes, catalyst variants, buy/sell/burn/fertilize columns, and all 419,220 cauldron triples via column generation with a full-rescan exactness backstop (DESIGN.md §3). Heat, nutrients, and per-machine capacity are explicit resources, so self-fuel/self-fert/matter-duplication loops are priced correctly and bounded by machine counts.

Key knobs (CLI flags or --config file.json, see src/config.js for the full schema):

• Cauldron overrides: --forbid-cauldron "Item,..." (never via cauldron), --force-cauldron "Item,..." (only via cauldron), --no-cauldron, --pool buyables / --pool-allow / --pool-deny (input pool restriction).
• Byproducts: --byproducts reuse|trash|sell globally, --byproduct-trash "Item,..." per item. reuse credits byproducts to downstream demand (free disposal of excess); trash deletes non-primary outputs entirely; sell also lets byproduct sales offset cost.
• Anchoring: --no-self-fuel / --no-self-fert (fuel/fertilizer must be bought), --machines N / --machine-count "Cauldron=10" (capacity), --skills "factory=4,alchemy=2".

Verified behaviors (see test/optimizer.test.js): Mars is infeasible without the cauldron under a buyables-only economy and costs ~160k g with it (within 1.1% of DESIGN.md's hand trace); with farming the optimum mixes the Athanor joint recipe with the GG×3 cauldron shortcut; with unrestricted crafted-input triples the economy is materially self-sustaining (cost → 0, the loop regime) and stays bounded by capacity rows. Solves run in tens to hundreds of ms.

Game state (June 2026)

• Early Access on the v0.5.x branch. Latest builds: v0.5.4467 (2026-06-02, major balance patch), 0.5.4471 (June 3–4, Black Powder cauldron tweaks), v0.5.4485 (June 5, hotfix, no data changes). 1.0 is scheduled for Fall 2026.
• v0.5.4467 is the dataset watershed. It reworked recipes for Unstable Catalyst, Black Powder, Star Dust, all four Advanced Athanor recipes (Silver Powder, Obsidian, Lapis Lazuli, Gold Dust), and downstream Blast Potion and Moon Tear; doubled Black Powder's sell price and heat value; removed the Cauldron's output-generation multiplier (the Cauldron is now fully deterministic); and added the four-catalyst Advanced Athanor system. Any data sourced before June 2026 is wrong for these items — validated here by diffing against a January snapshot.
• A Rail Logistics System (8x transport capacity) is roadmapped for Summer 2026 but has NOT shipped — current throughput math excludes it and will need rework when it lands.

Layout

src/
  cauldron.js                    # exact-arithmetic compiler for all 419,220 triples (31 ms),
                                 #   tie/fragility/self-consuming flags, curated-row validator
  normalize.js                   # DB+config → Process column table (recipes, catalyst variants,
                                 #   buy/sell/burn/fertilize/mint, same-item netting, quarantines)
  config.js                      # config schema/defaults + skill formulas
  model.js                       # LP/MILP builder, column-generation loop, min-machines MIP,
                                 #   infeasibility probe (HiGHS)
  explain.js                     # flow vector → route tree, regime detection, fragility warnings
  cli.js                         # cost / profit / machines / triple commands
test/
  golden.test.js                 # 15 pinned cauldron-formula behaviors (DESIGN.md §4)
  optimizer.test.js              # 14 Mars-scenario + override + byproduct regressions
data/
  alchemy_db.v41.json            # CANONICAL: items (146), machines (36), recipes (168)
                                 #   from starfi5h DB v41, gameVersion 0.5.0.4471 (June-current)
  alchemy_db.joejoes.jan2026.json# STALE cross-validation snapshot (Jan 2026, pre-patch)
  skills.json                    # 5 upgrade-track formulas (belt/machine speed, alchemy yield,
                                 #   fuel/fertilizer efficiency) — medium confidence, see _meta
  mechanics.json                 # cauldron model, catalyst system, heat/fuel, fertilizer,
                                 #   logistics, economy, throughput formulas
raw/
  starfi5h/                      # github.com/starfi5h/AlchemyFactoryCalculator @ develop
                                 #   (NOTE: develop is the default/current branch; main is stale)
  joejoes/                       # github.com/JoeJoesGit/AlchemyFactoryCalculator (Jan 2026)
  moldy530/                      # github.com/moldy530/alchemy-factory-planner data/ + LP engine
                                 #   (Jan 2026; includes a linear-programming planner worth reading;
                                 #    repo has NO LICENSE — reference only)
scripts/
  validate.js                    # integrity + freshness checks (node scripts/validate.js)

Optimizer assumptions & open items (DESIGN.md §6)

• Bank Portal coins are priced at face value (sellPrice/coin) — an assumption until verified in-game; flagged [ASSUMPTION] in every plan that mints. Disable with {"quarantine":{"bankPortal":false}}.
• The curated Ruby cauldron row is excluded (contradicts the deterministic formula); the other three curated rows are replaced by the formula block whenever the cauldron is enabled.
• Nursery seeds are treated as plot capital (not per-harvest inputs) and crop growth consumes nutrients but no machine-seconds.
• Plans that ride fragile cauldron margins or exact ties are flagged in the route tree — verify in-game before building; a balance patch can flip them.
• Not yet implemented from DESIGN.md: stacked catalyst columns (co-load unverified), belt-cap rows / λ-sweep Pareto frontier (M4), branch-and-price certification of the min-machines MIP.

Canonical schema (alchemy_db.v41.json)

• items (name-keyed): category, buyPrice, sellPrice (46 sellable), wholesalePrice, heat (fuel energy), nutrientCost/nutrientValue (crops/fertilizer), maxFertility, cauldronCost/cauldronTarget (47 craftable)/cauldronMulti, tier, maxStack, liquid, charges (catalysts), id (in-game id, used for cauldron tie-breaking).
• machines (name-keyed): buildCost (item map), heatCost (per-sec draw; -1 on Cauldron/Advanced Cauldron = output-dependent), parent (attached heat source — NOT an upgrade lineage), slotsRequired.
• recipes (array): id, machine, inputs/outputs (item→qty), baseTime (sec; absent on Nursery crops, which are nutrient-driven via nutrientCost), heatCost (recipe-level, 4 recipes), ChargeCost + unstableOutputs/resonantOutputs (Advanced Athanor catalyst recipes), sharedOutputs, buildCost (seed for crops).

Key mechanics for the optimizer (full detail in data/mechanics.json):

• Cauldron (deterministic post-patch): T = (c1+c2+c3) × ratio where ratio = 0.5 (3 identical) / 0.65 (2 identical) / 1.0 (all different); output = item minimizing |T − cauldronTarget| × cauldronMulti, ties to lower item id. Time/heat interpolate piecewise-linearly on the output's target: targets [1, 100, 1k, 10k, 1M] → time [3, 6, 12, 24, 60]s, heat [1, 20, 200, 1500, 10000].
• Catalysts (Advanced Athanor): consumption = recipe.ChargeCost / catalyst.charges per batch. Unstable (180 charges) swaps to unstableOutputs; Fertile (240) doubles outputs; Resonant (1500) swaps to resonantOutputs (all products at once); Eternal (99999) zeroes material inputs.
• Throughput: outputsPerMin = (60 / (baseTime / speedMult)) × batchYield; alchemyMult applies only to Extractor / Thermal Extractor (×3 extra) / Alembic / Advanced Alembic.
• Heat per item is speed-invariant (speedMult cancels), so Factory Efficiency saves time, not fuel.

Sources and currency

Source	Format	Currency	Role
starfi5h/AlchemyFactoryCalculator (develop)	JS-wrapped JSON	DB v41, 2026-06-03, gameVersion 0.5.0.4471 — June-current	Canonical data + mechanics formulas
alchemy-factory-codex.com	HTML (scrape-only)	0.5.4471, cauldron values updated 2026-06-04	Human-readable reference, 10 calculators, spot-checks
Steam ISteamNews API, appid 3669570	JSON API	live	Patch-note feed for re-verification (SteamDB blocks bots — don't use it)
JoeJoesGit/AlchemyFactoryCalculator	JS-wrapped JSON	2026-01-17 — stale	Cross-validation baseline, item icons
moldy530/alchemy-factory-planner	clean JSON + TS LP solver	2026-01-13 — stale	Schema reference + LP-planner prior art (no license)

Known gaps / open questions

1. Skills tree is the weakest dimension (medium confidence): only the 5 calculator-modeled tracks have formulas; Catapult Speed, Commerce, level caps, and unlock costs are unsourced.
2. The v0.5.4467 conveyor system refactor's concrete belt-throughput changes are undocumented; the 60 + 15/level belt formula should be spot-verified in-game.
3. Entity counts vary across sources (Codex claims 142 recipes / 151 items / 35 devices vs. v41's 168/146/36) — counting methodology differs (e.g. crop entries, alt recipes); v41 is treated as canonical. A datamine of the actual game files would settle it.
4. starfi5h's v41 has not been line-by-line diffed against the official patch notes, only spot-verified on the 9 reworked items.

Refreshing the dataset

1. Check for new patches: curl "https://api.steampowered.com/ISteamNews/GetNewsForApp/v2/?appid=3669570&count=10"
2. Re-pull raw/starfi5h/ from the develop branch (not main).
3. Re-extract: node -e "const w={};eval(require('fs').readFileSync('raw/starfi5h/alchemy_db.js','utf8'));require('fs').writeFileSync('data/alchemy_db.v41.json',JSON.stringify(w.ALCHEMY_DB,null,2))"
4. node scripts/validate.js
5. Game is in active Early Access rebalancing — re-verify before relying on prices/recipes.