CaveCrafterGuide 02 · Profit Loss
Compare ways to supply the same factory
A product can have a positive result when you manufacture its intermediates and a negative result when you buy all its immediate inputs. Profit Loss makes that difference visible using your production parameters.
Buying base resources: producing from the base
This is the first view and the default option in Profit Loss. It expands the recipe down to the catalog's base resources and adds the power used throughout the chain. Levels and mastery of upstream factories also influence the cost.
Profit Cycle shows the profit corresponding to one cycle of the final factory. Base-resource quantities and costs use that same reference output. Sell Price, however, is the selling value of one unit of the token.
Profit Hour and Profit Day also use the final factory's cycle duration, with its speed boost applied. Their costs include the upstream chain, but their production rate assumes a continuous supply of intermediates. They do not measure the duration or production capacity of the entire chain.
The comparison uses proportional quantities for upstream stages. It is useful for evaluating the chain's cost, but it is not a plan of whole batches with surplus sales. Use Simulation for that different question.
Hypothetical example: selling 10 units in one cycle
If the final output is 10 units and Sell Price is 3 COIN, the cycle revenue is 30 COIN. If base resources and power throughout the chain add up to 14 COIN, Profit Cycle will be 16 COIN.
Do not subtract 14 from 3: the first value covers the cycle, while the second is the price of just one token.
Buying inputs: purchasing what goes into the recipe
In this view, the factory's immediate inputs are bought. The calculation does not manufacture each of them from the base: it adds their effective quantities multiplied by purchase prices, then includes the final factory's power.
In both views, the first columns are Token, Profit Hour, Profit Day (xH), and Profit Cycle, in that order. Token and Profit Hour remain fixed during horizontal scrolling. In Buying inputs, Inputs, Level and Mastery remain at the end of the table.
When you hover over profit values, check the explanation of cycles and daily playing time. It helps you spot when two factories have similar profit per cycle but very different durations.
Both tables start grouped by category. Use Group by category, to the left of All, to switch between category sections and a flat table. Category filters still apply in either mode. Click Token, Profit Hour, Profit Day or Profit Cycle to sort; in Buying inputs, Revenue per cycle can also be sorted. Click again to reverse the order. Sorting applies within each category when grouping is on, or across the whole table when it is off.
Category, grouping, profitable-only filters and sorting are remembered separately for each Profit Loss view while the site stays open. You can visit another tab or page and return to the same choices; the sidebar also returns to your last Profit Loss tab. These choices stay only in memory during this visit and do not require sign-in. Reloading the tab can reopen the same screen, but resets these filters, grouping and sorting choices. Your saved calculation preferences still apply.
Profit Hour, Profit Day and Profit Cycle
Profit Cycle answers: “What is the result of running this factory once?”. Profit Hour converts that result to one hour: Profit Hour = Profit Cycle ÷ cycle duration in hours, using the duration after the selected speed boost. Profit Day = Profit Hour × your daily hours.
You can configure the hours in your day in the header with the Change button, or in Settings. The day column shows that setting in parentheses, such as Profit Day (24H) or Profit Day (8H). The estimate is proportional, including fractional cycles: an 8-hour day and a 3-hour cycle produce 2.67 equivalent cycles, without rounding down to 2.
Hypothetical example: why the most profitable cycle does not always win
Factory A makes a profit of 12 COIN in a 4-hour cycle. Factory B makes a profit of 8 COIN in a 2-hour cycle. Over an 8-hour day, A estimates 24 COIN and B estimates 32 COIN.
Profit per cycle favors A; the result proportional to time favors B. This comparison still assumes that cycles can be maintained and that the prices considered remain valid.
A speed boost increases the equivalent cycles that fit into the period, but does not by itself change the output, inputs or power of a single run. See the daily-time formulas.
Configure the factory and Earth mine speed boosts in Bonus Speed. The header boost’s Change button opens that page. Your daily hours remain in Settings and in the separate daily-hours header control. Factories lists cycle time, output, Power, inputs, yield and level-up requirements; its My Factories panel opens your saved levels and Mastery.
A comparison you can reproduce
- Set levels and mastery for your intended scenario. Use My Factories to represent your setup, or the level modes to explore another assumption.
- Enter the power price per 100,000 units. At zero, power cost is ignored in the comparison.
- Select your actual boosts and daily playing time. Do not compare a boosted factory with another estimate without noticing the different assumption.
- Compare purchase modes. Buying base resources involves manufacturing intermediates. Buying inputs uses the market for immediate materials.
- Open Production Line to investigate the branches where costs are concentrated and try a combination of production and purchasing.