Oil Tycoon! asphalt factory
The asphalt factory is Oil Tycoon!'s second production branch: a separate line that turns your oil economy into asphalt products instead of fuel.
What it does
- Runs as its own route — it does not replace or slow the main fuel line.
- Requires the factory base plate area and gate opened first ("open gate and then factory base plate").
- Produces a different product with its own buyers, giving you income that does not compete with the upgrader chain.
When to build it
| Stage | Build asphalt? |
|---|---|
| First hour | No — main line only |
| Workers hired, upgrader bought | Still no — save for the extractor |
| $50,000 oil extractor owned, line unattended | Yes — you have the spare income |
| Pre-rebirth | Only if the main line is fully balanced |
What it costs
Verified prices from the live game sit on the factory upgrade costs page. The gate and base plate come first and are cheap; the production machines after them are the real spend.
What the second branch actually is
Your plot grows sideways as well as forward. Once the oil extractor is owned and the main line runs unattended, the asphalt branch becomes available: a parallel route that turns the plant's output into a second sale rather than a longer single line. It is the game's answer to the mid-game problem where the main route is capped and cash sits idle.
| Stage | Condition | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| First hour | Workers hired, upgrader bought | Main line only — no branch |
| Mid game | $50,000 oil extractor owned, line unattended | Asphalt becomes worth opening |
| Pre-rebirth | Both branches running | Plant is at its widest before a reset |
When to build it
Three signals say it is time:
- The main line no longer stalls. If nothing backs up in an hour of play, extra capacity upstream is wasted — the constraint is value, not volume, and the branch is the volume answer.
- Cash exceeds what the main line can spend. Money that cannot be reinvested into the main route should be feeding a second one.
- Workers are covering the route. A branch with no one running it is a branch that stalls the moment you leave — see workers.
What it costs
Base plates, conveyors and the workers to hold the new route — the same purchases as the main line, priced in the factory upgrades table. The branch does not need its own extractor; it draws from the plant you already own. Budget it like any expansion: extend backwards from the sell point, and feed every stage before adding the next one (the factory guide has the method).
If the branch stalls
The asphalt branch fails the same way the main line does: a pile forms behind one stage. The difference is that a branch has fewer stages, so the diagnosis is faster — walk it backwards from its sell point, find the pile, spend there. If the pile keeps forming at the handoff from the main plant, the main line is the constraint, not the branch.
FAQ
What does the asphalt factory do?
It is the second branch of your plant: once the oil extractor is owned and the line runs unattended, asphalt becomes the parallel route to build before rebirth.
When should I build the asphalt branch?
Build it after workers are hired and the upgrader is bought — the branch only pays when the main line already runs without supervision.
