
Understanding the Carbon Line workflow unlocks critical quest items and boosts in‑game economy, directly influencing player retention and progression in Starsand Island’s live‑service model.
Modern live‑service games rely on layered crafting loops to keep players engaged, and Starsand Island exemplifies this with its tiered workstation system. By gating Carbon Line behind a Spinning Wheel, the developers create a micro‑progression checkpoint that encourages resource gathering, blueprint acquisition, and incremental upgrades. This design not only smooths the learning curve for new players but also generates repeat interactions with core game mechanics, fostering a sense of accomplishment each time a material is produced.
The Spinning Wheel’s low entry cost—five Softwood Planks and a simple blueprint—makes it an accessible first workstation, yet it serves as a gateway to more valuable items like the Plume Bow. Because the Bow requires Worktable II and higher‑rank quests, players are nudged toward the explorer profession and Zerine’s quest chain, subtly driving quest completion rates and in‑game currency circulation. Such interdependencies between crafting stations and quest lines are strategic tools for monetization, as they increase the likelihood of players purchasing optional resources or premium boosts to accelerate progress.
Starsand Island’s simultaneous launch across PC, consoles, and the new Nintendo Switch 2, coupled with an early‑access window, amplifies community discussion and user‑generated content. Guides that demystify crafting steps, like this Carbon Line tutorial, become SEO‑rich assets that attract search traffic, reinforcing brand visibility and fostering a knowledgeable player base. By lowering barriers to advanced gear, the game sustains long‑term engagement, turning casual crafters into invested participants who contribute to the ecosystem through quests, marketplace trades, and word‑of‑mouth promotion.
Game writer · Published Feb 19, 2026, 3:36 PM EST
For the most part, Starsand Island has you buy the blueprints for workstations and then craft them if you need them to craft items for your main quests. However, when you get to the point where you need to craft Carbon Line, whether that’s for bag upgrades or other crafts, you might find that you don’t have the workstations needed to make Carbon Line.
As you go through the quests for the explorer profession with Zephyria, you’ll end up having a task that asks you to craft a bow. Depending on which professions you’ve been prioritizing and if you’ve been upgrading your inventory, this might be the first time that you have an item that lists Carbon Line as a required material. The good news is that it’s not a tough material to craft once you know what you need.

The Spinning Wheel is quite straightforward to craft. First, like most other workstations, you need to purchase the blueprint from Zerine’s General Store. If you haven’t been completing crafter quests, then you might not be able to purchase the blueprint. However, the blueprint isn’t locked behind a high crafting rank, so you shouldn’t have an issue reaching the required rank and purchasing the blueprint.
Once you have the blueprint, all you need is five Softwood Planks and access to a Worktable to craft the Spinning Wheel. After crafting it, you’ll place it on your property the same way you place furniture. You can craft Softwood Planks at the Cutter using four Softwood, so you’ll need a total of 20 Softwood for the Spinning Wheel.
You don’t need to buy any blueprints to craft Carbon Line, so once you have that Spinning Wheel, you’re ready to get to work. The materials for Carbon Line are quite simple. You need:
x4 Fibers, gathered from cutting shrubs.
x1 Charcoal, crafted at the Charcoal Kiln using x1 Softwood and x2 Fibers to produce x2 Charcoal.
Interact with the Spinning Wheel when you have the materials, and you can set it to start crafting some Carbon Lines. Since this isn’t a demanding material, it doesn’t take long for the lines to be finished. You can stand and wait for the process to be done, or step away to handle other tasks and return later.
When you have Carbon Line, the primary craft you’ll use it for is the Plume Bow, which is required to complete an explorer main quest with Zephyria. You can make the Plume Bow using:
x5 Hardwood Planks
x6 Carbon Lines
You need to craft it at a Worktable II, which means you’ll need to work with Zerine to complete crafter main quests until you can purchase your first set of workstation upgrades. Those upgrades will then allow you to craft additional items used for more mid‑ to end‑game content.
Aside from crafting the Plume Bow, the other main use for Carbon Line is a bag upgrade. It’s one of the later upgrades, so you might not reach that requirement quickly, but bag space is eaten up fast by the number of items and materials in the game, making upgrades a necessity. Occasionally, you’ll see a request on the board for Carbon Line, letting you turn this easy‑to‑make item into a small income boost and extra affection from the NPC requesting it.
Steam Deck Compatibility: Playable
Early Access Release: February 11, 2026
PC Release Date: February 1, 2026
Xbox Series X|S Release Date: February 1, 2026
PS5 Release Date: February 1, 2026
Nintendo Switch Release Date: February 1, 2026
Nintendo Switch 2 Release Date: February 1, 2026
Platform(s): PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PC
Genre(s): Farming, Life Simulation, RPG, Casual
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