Firmarlite Bar

Firmarlite Bar is an advanced metal product that is not made from raw ores or processed through normal smelting chains. Instead, it is obtained through the Space Station trade network, making it a late-game logistics item tied to space infrastructure rather than industrial refining.

To start receiving firmarlite bars, the Sales Warehouse technology must be researched. This tech appears immediately after Science Pack IV in the tech tree, but Science Pack IV itself is not required to unlock it. After that, a Radio Tower Base must be placed and fully constructed, and the space station cargo hold must be repaired through the Radio Tower before trading can begin. In practice, obtaining firmarlite bars requires the following buildings to be constructed, powered, and configured:

• Space Station Requester Warehouse
• Sales Warehouse
• Transport Ship Port

The Space Station Requester Warehouse should be set to request firmarlite bar. The Sales Warehouse should be set to request Maintenance Drone. Once the route is active, the first firmarlite bars are earned indirectly by sending maintenance drones to the station through the Transport Ship Port, where they are exchanged for bars. The bars remain in storage on the station until another Transport Ship Port collects them and delivers them to the Space Station Requester Warehouse, where they can be withdrawn for use in production lines.

Because firmarlite bars depend on a complete trade loop, they are less about conventional manufacturing and more about keeping the station logistics chain functioning. If the requester warehouse is not configured correctly, if the Sales Warehouse is not asking for maintenance drones, or if the transport route is not active, the exchange will stall and no bars will arrive. The item therefore serves as a good indicator that the player has moved into the space-station logistics stage of the game, where automated exchange and delivery replace ordinary resource processing.