Signal Towers

Overview

Signal Towers are structures found throughout the world of Outbound that serve as the primary method for unlocking new crafting recipes, workstations, and building components. Players spend Download Vouchers (earned from the recycling system) to download blueprints from Signal Towers. Each tower offers a selection of blueprint options, and the available choices can vary from player to player, making every playthrough feel distinct.

Signal Towers are scattered across the game's biomes, encouraging exploration as players seek out new towers to expand their technology tree. They function as progression gates, rewarding players who explore widely and recycle consistently.

The Outdoors is the only biome with a published tower count, at 23, which is the highest concentration documented so far. Totals for The Coast, The Canyons and The Mountains have not been published, so the world-wide figure is higher than 23 but not confirmed. Some towers offer a free menu of options that the player can pick from, while others have a single pre-selected blueprint that cannot be swapped, so the route a player takes through the map directly shapes the order in which blueprints become available.

How Signal Towers Work

When a player approaches a Signal Tower, they can interact with it to view the available blueprints. Each blueprint has a Download Voucher cost, and the player selects which blueprint to download. Once a blueprint is downloaded, the corresponding crafting recipe, workstation plan, or building component design is permanently added to the player's known recipes.

The process follows these steps:

1. Approach a Signal Tower in the world.

2. Interact with the tower to open its blueprint menu.

3. Browse the available blueprint options and their voucher costs.

4. Select a blueprint and confirm the download.

5. The new recipe is added to your crafting menu immediately.

Players cannot download every blueprint from a single tower. Each tower offers a limited set of options, so visiting multiple towers across different biomes is necessary to build a comprehensive recipe collection.

Your First Tower

The very first Signal Tower, in the opening tutorial area, costs nothing to use. Its download has no voucher requirement and hands you the starter kit: the build hammer and the wrench. Earlier builds also handed out the Homing Boots here, an item that let the character sprint at night, but a post-launch balance patch enabled night sprinting for everyone and removed the boots, so they no longer appear in the starter kit. Every tower after that charges Download Vouchers, and most present a short menu where you pick a single option. An early example is a choice between the axe, the pickaxe, and the sickle for one voucher. You only take one tool from that prompt, so choose the one that fits what you want to do next and pick up the others at other towers or when this one refreshes later.

Blueprint Selection

Most Signal Towers provide multiple blueprint options to choose from. Players must decide which blueprints to prioritize based on their current needs and playstyle. For example, a tower might offer a choice between a new workstation for automation, a building module for the camper van, or an advanced farming tool.

This selection mechanic adds a strategic layer to progression. Players who focus on farming blueprints early will develop their farming capabilities sooner, while those who prioritize crafting or building unlock different advantages. Since towers refresh over time, missed blueprints may become available again later.

Randomized Options

One of the defining features of Signal Towers is that the blueprint options they offer can vary from player to player. This randomization means that two players visiting the same tower may see different blueprints available for download. The variation extends across playthroughs as well, so starting a new game may present different progression paths depending on which blueprints appear at early towers.

This design choice encourages replayability and makes each playthrough feel fresh. It also adds value to co-op play, where players can pool their discoveries and share unlocked recipes.

Refresh Mechanics

Signal Towers can refresh with new signals over time. After a player has downloaded a blueprint from a tower, the tower may eventually receive new blueprint options that were not available during the previous visit. This refresh mechanic rewards return visits and gives players a reason to revisit towers they have already used.

The exact refresh timing may vary. Players should check previously visited towers periodically, especially after progressing further in the game or moving to a new biome. Refreshed towers are a valuable source of late-game blueprints that may not appear on first discovery.

Multiplayer Sharing

In co-op sessions, Signal Tower unlocks are shared across all players in the group. When one player downloads a blueprint from a tower, every player in the session receives the recipe. This sharing mechanic means that the group does not need to visit every tower together or spend duplicate vouchers on the same blueprint.

Shared unlocks encourage a collaborative approach to exploration. Players can split up and visit different towers, then reconvene at the van with a combined set of new recipes. This is especially effective in the mid-game when players have accumulated enough Download Vouchers to make multiple purchases across the map.

Signal Towers and Progression

Signal Towers are the backbone of Outbound's progression system. The loop of exploring, collecting trash, recycling for vouchers, and spending vouchers at towers forms the game's core progression arc. Without Signal Towers, players would be limited to their starting recipes and could not access advanced workstations, building modules, or automation components.

Blueprint Catalogue

There are 107 blueprints in the download pool. Each one either unlocks a tool or system, or adds a set of build pieces to the Building System menu. Because a given tower only offers a slice of the pool and the offers are randomized, the catalogue below is what exists rather than what any single run will see in order.

Of the 107, 13 were available in the free demo. Those are the ones a returning demo player will recognise immediately.

Tool blueprints and system blueprints do not add build pieces, so they show as a tool or system unlock above. Their crafting costs are on the Tools page, and the recipes their stations run are on the Recipes List page.

Scrap Metal Around Towers

Signal Towers double as reliable Scrap Metal nodes. Loose scrap is scattered on the ground around every tower you discover, and it respawns within that radius every one to two in-game days after you sleep. Because scrap is needed in large amounts for tools, upgrades, and repairs throughout the game, this turns each discovered tower into a fixed, predictable harvesting stop rather than a one-time visit.

A practical habit is to mark the towers you have found and string them into a collection route. Drive from tower to tower picking up whatever has respawned, sleep, and the next cycle refills the same points while you keep exploring. Players who set up routes early tend to reach the mid and late game with a comfortable surplus instead of having to backtrack and farm scrap at the worst possible moment.

Tips for Signal Tower Exploration

• Explore every biome thoroughly. Signal Towers are placed throughout the world, and some are tucked away in less obvious locations.

• Prioritize blueprints that match your immediate needs. If you need better resources processing, pick workstation plans first.

• Return to towers you have already visited. They may have refreshed with new blueprint options since your last visit.

• In co-op, split up to visit different towers. Unlocks are shared, so covering more ground means more recipes for everyone.

• Save some Download Vouchers for late-game towers. Advanced blueprints in remote biomes tend to have higher costs.

• Look for Signal Towers near landmarks. Points of interest often have a tower nearby.