N NeuronIdle
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Getting Started

Your first steps in NeuronIdle — the Welcome Tutorial walks new players through the first full loop. Here's the recap and what comes next.

Welcome to NeuronIdle. You are running a one-person AI startup. Your goal is simple: train brains, sell them, reinvest in better hardware, train better brains.

The Welcome Tutorial guides your first loop

When you launch the game for the first time, a terminal-style Welcome Tutorial opens automatically and walks you through one complete loop end to end — from your first pretrain to your first Black Market sale. At every step, only the button you actually need is unlocked, so there’s no decision paralysis. The flow:

  1. First pretrain — accept it at the sweet spot when the val_loss curve flattens.
  2. First Run (10 minutes, Balanced temperature) — the brain earns you Ru.
  3. First module purchase — start with REST (calms the brain between Runs).
  4. Second Run with Creative temperature.
  5. Third Run with Focused temperature + a Nu boost grant.
  6. First sale on the Black Market — closes the loop.

You start with a Starter chassis already installed — no hardware purchase needed to begin. The tutorial also gives the first brain a partial training head-start and the first overload Run a grace pass so you can feel the symptoms without losing the brain.

Key concepts

  • Brain = a trained model with quality, personality, and equipped modules.
  • Chassis = your rig tier (Starter → Builder → Deep → Cluster). Determines available GPU / RAM / model sizes.
  • Cu / Nu / Ru = the three currencies. Cu (main, earned from sales), Ru (earned during Runs, spent on modules and upgrades), Nu (premium, optional).
  • Modules = cognitive upgrades equipped on the brain. REST / EXPLORE / MONOLOG are the neutral core modules; everything else trades quality or Ru bonus for higher Run-time frustration and exhaustion rates. The total install count is capped by your installed RAM (you can deliberately overload past the cap at increased risk).

What to do after the tutorial

The Hub opens up fully after your first Black Market sale. Common next paths:

  • Upgrade your Starter (GPU, RAM, cooling) in the Hardware Shop.
  • Try a higher-tier model on your next pretrain — see the Pretrain Configuration guide for the trade-offs.
  • Take a Basic contract off the Contract Board — pays better than a Black Market sale if your brain meets the conditions.
  • Read the Hardware Basics guide for which upgrades matter most first.