Games tend to follow this rule where the rarer a certain item is the better it will be. Satisfactory is no different. SAM is a really rare material that's been eluding me for so long. That was until I randomly stumbled over it in what can only be called a happy accident.
What is SAM?
No, SAM is not a person. SAM is Strange Alien Metal. More thoroughly it's the main material component needed to start proper research into the Alien Technology tree. I've found things called Mercer Spheres and Somersloops before but SAM has been the missing ingredient. I've tried to keep my eyes out for it in all of my endeavors. An accident was all I needed.
This accident happened while I was travelling to one of my coal plants to expand on it. I had just unlocked the Blade Runners which let's me travel faster on foot. Perfect for when there's no cables around to use my zipline tool on. You can do this sliding jump maneuver with the blade runners where you slide on the ground then jump to be launched forwards. It's fast but uncontrollable. So uncontrollable I ended up falling down a really deep ravine which I was sure would lead me to a certain death. It looked depthless all the other times I ran past this place.
Turns out it actually has a bottom. It's not to far down either. The bottom is just shrouded in really thick fog. Happy to be alive I start exploring the cave for an exit only to stumble over this weird purple patch on the ground. What can it be? It's SAM!!!
Dimensional depots
Luckily I'm always carrying emergency materials on me and I even had enough to set up a miner and start mining the SAM. I rushed to the MAM (research station) and started unlocking what I could. One of the items, the Dimensional Depot, is such a game changer that even mentioning the rest isn't needed. I've been wanting this thing for so long and I didn't even know it existed.
The Dimensional Depot is a storage container that uploads the materials you put into it to the void. These can then be accessed with the build tool from anywhere in the world. Meaning I don't have to carry around a ton of materials anymore and I also don't have to run across half the world every time I forget to bring the most basic of materials.
These is a caveat though in that it doesn't store an infinite amount of items. Starting out it can hold one stack of each items and the upload speed is quite slow at 15 units per minute. These can be upgraded using the aforementioned Mercer Spheres so I'm quite glad I've been gathering those as I've been finding them. I've now got my depots upgraded to hold two stacks and upload at 30 units per minute instead.
This is going to make building factories so much easier and faster. I just need to gather more Merces Spheres so that I can build more of them to load my excess materials into... Mercer Spheres are rare so it's going to take a while. I'll probably passively find them as I go.
All images in this post are screenshots taken by me.