Solarpunk Co-op Guide

Co-op can make Solarpunk faster or messier. The difference is whether players test the shared world first and split systems instead of duplicating the same chores. Start with a short test save, check host and guest behavior, then assign one owner each for energy, resources, crafting, base expansion, crops, animals, and airship travel.

Quick Answer

Test joining, saving, reloading, storage, building, crafting, crops, animals, and airship use before the group calls a world permanent. If the host owns most progress, protect the host save and keep rare upgrades out of guest-only experiments.

Current Status

System	What works now	What to test in your world
Joining	Online co-op is part of the current Solarpunk pitch	Invite flow, rejoin behavior, and whether guests keep expected progress
Shared base	Bases, resources, storage, crops, automation, and airships all affect group work	Permissions, ownership, reload behavior, and rare-material safety
Platforms	Store pages help you choose where to buy	Cross-play, save movement, and platform-specific stability in your group

Player Route

Start with a short shared world. Test joining, building, storage, crafting, travel, save, reload, and rejoin before the group declares a permanent base. Keep one shared priority list at the start of each session.

Decision Table

Group size	Role split	Watch out for
2 players	Energy/base and resources/exploration	Both chasing the same material
3 players	Energy, gathering, crafting	Unclear upgrade spending
4 players	Energy, resources, crafting, expansion	Storage chaos and duplicated work
Mixed platforms	Wait for confirmation	Online co-op is not cross-play proof

Host, Save, And Progress Checks

Run this before choosing a forever base. The test should take one short session and use replaceable materials.

Check	Host should see	Guest should confirm
Join and rejoin	Same world loads without a new invite problem	Character, inventory, and position behave predictably
Storage	Shared chest or storage rule is clear	Items placed by guest are still there after reload
Building	Host can place, move, or remove test objects	Guest permissions match what the group expects
Crafting	Station output survives reload	Guest-crafted item does not vanish or duplicate oddly
Crops or animals	Basic care loop persists	Guest actions remain visible to host
Airship	Boarding, travel, cargo, and docking are understandable	Guest can use or follow the agreed travel rule

Role Split That Actually Helps

Do not give everyone the same job. Solarpunk pressures power, water, storage, resource trips, crops, crafting, and airship movement at the same time, so clear ownership prevents waste.

Role	Owns	First rule
Energy keeper	Solar, wind, water, batteries, machine load	No new machines until power is stable
Resource runner	Starter materials, rare finds, storage lanes	First copies go into protected storage
Crafter	Stations, upgrades, tool checks	No rare craft without group agreement
Farmer	Crops, water, feed, animals	Test a small field before scaling
Airship pilot	Routes, cargo, docks, island trips	Empty cargo near storage before exploring again

What To Verify In Your Save

Trust co-op advice only when host and guest behavior are tested separately. A full test covers joining, rejoining, inventory, storage, building, crafting, crops, animals if available, airship use, saving, reloading, and progress ownership. Mark every result by host and guest. If the game has cross-play, record exactly which platform combinations work rather than saying all platforms can play together.

Set co-op roles after the save test, not before it. If guests keep progress reliably, roles can be more flexible. If the host owns most progression, protect the host save and avoid splitting rare unlock actions. A smooth group needs one shared priority list, one storage rule, one energy owner, and a clear decision before spending scarce materials.

Common Mistakes

• Buying different platforms before cross-play is confirmed.
• Starting a permanent world before testing reload.
• Letting everyone spend rare resources freely.
• Assigning no one to energy.
• Building multiple scattered storage piles.

First Co-op Checks

Separate what the host sees from what guests keep. Test joining, building, gathering, storage, crafting, airship use, animal or crop care, saving, reloading, and rejoining. Mark every result by host and guest, because shared worlds often hide progress differences until the next session. After those basics are stable, use role templates for two, three, and four players so friends do not lose time to unclear ownership rules.

Priority	Confirm first	Check later
Save	Host and guest persistence	Backup routine
Sharing	Storage, building, airship	Role templates
Platforms	Same-store joining	Cross-play notes

When To Trust A Co-op Setup

Trust a co-op setup only after it survives a full cycle: host creates the world, guest joins, both players place and move a small item, shared storage persists, the airship rule is clear, everyone quits, and the same world reloads cleanly. If platform-to-platform joining is unclear, keep the group on the same platform until a direct test proves otherwise.

Next Pages to Open

• Solarpunk database
• Platforms guide
• Beginner guide
• Energy guide
• Airship guide

Shared Base Rule

Agree on one spending rule before the first real co-op session: common materials can be used freely, unknown materials go into protected storage, and rare upgrade materials need a quick group decision. This keeps energy, airship, crafting, and automation progress from competing with each other. It also gives guests a clear way to help even before the exact upgrade path is known.

Sources

• Solarpunk on Steam
• Solarpunk release announcement
• Solarpunk on SteamDB
• Cyberwave official site