There are many ways to obtain various resources in this era. Harvested from machines, processed from exotic creatures, excavated from the megastructures, or stolen from rivals. However it is obtained, the materials listed below are vital to the development of a settlement.
Scrap can be harvested from the towers or supporting growths above and within the megastructure. Seemingly the least sophisticated parts of their bodies, it can easily be broken down into recycled materials used for basic tools and dwellings.
Hypermaterials are the basic elements of N-matter, distilled into utilities across the star system.
Meta-Alloy- Programmable alloys that can easily integrate into organic tissue without the risk of rejection, though they are also used in armor and endoskeletons for machines along with general tools and furniture.
Energetic Compound- Energy-dense storage systems with no fixed shape that can easily hold massive charges of power, rendering otherwise-impossibly-demanding machines and weaponry to be compacted into handheld devices.
Computing Substrate- Compacted circuitry of far greater efficacy than anything which can be produced by humans. Harvested from the data banks and computing clusters native to the megastructure, they are used as a near-universal currency along with being vital to many high-end computer systems.
Plastcrete- The binding excretion of the megastructure, a mix between concrete and coral substrate that binds the layers of living metal together. Ubiquitous in human civilization and used for anything that mundane stone once was used for.
Biomass- A homogenous organic tissue found sometimes in the megastructures, which can be harvested and cultured into countless forms of life, typically for use in cloning hydroponic plants or small animals in incubators for food sources.
N-Matter- The ubiquitous post-singularity supermaterial, it can be found in trace amounts throughout the megastructures and in sufficiently saturated sophonts, but can also be stimulated to grow in incubation chambers if fed meta-alloy, computing substrate, and energetic compound.
Feral architecture denotes the wild, ever-shifting body of the megastructures. While it can be burrowed into and partially tamed for human habitation, it is never truly safe. Rather, it exists as something to be excavated and rebuilt into something more compatible with human life. It comes in three primary varieties.
Superstructure- The least dense form of feral architecture, with the smallest amount of hypermaterials to harvest.
Infrastructure- The main bulk of the megastructures, the standard material holding it together.
Substructure- The densest, most hypermaterial-rich substance of the megastructures. An ideal layer to strip mine, but it always runs the risk of awakening security systems or ravenous underground hordes.
Domestic architecture is megastructural mass reprogrammed for human use, coming in three varieties:
Standard- Conventional, cheap repurposed megastructure. A mainstay of significant buildings.
Fortified- Heavy, seige-resistant megastructural materials. Favored for walls and bunkers.
Advanced- Opulent, high-tech material. Used for the elite classes to boost the value of their dwelling spaces.
Screens, holograms, hardlight, and other forms of illumination flicker in the darkness of the megastructures. These glowing trinkets are decorative trophies adorned on clothing, armor, weapons, and anything else they can be affixed to. While certainly they are beautiful little lights in the dark, perhaps someday they will have a far more important use...
Some parts of the megastructures will have the phrase (resource) in their name. This denotes a material which has no worth in itself, but is meant to be broken down into something useful. Focusing on extracting these nodes and veins is the best way to quickly accumulate crafting materials.